New Years Eve 2016

Rewind to New Years Eve 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 21 years ago... (no comment), but Holy Smokes, am I seriously that old? 

It's New Years Eve 2016 and here I sit wondering what to fix my littles for dinner, whether I should have one more glass of wine or two, what time I'll need to leave in the morning to get Maisie to her gymnastics rehearsal, if the girls left chocolate cake crumbs all over the kitchen counter/floor, whether any of my kids brushed their teeth over Christmas Vacation, if the dog will finally attempt to use his new doggy door and if the spaghetti stain sauce on Maisie's shirt will come out or not...

On Friday we spend the afternoon with the kids at the Science Center.

Yep, it's all educational until Daddy starts relating various underwater sounds to bodily functions.

Ross could barely contain himself.

This is Ross learning how herring communicate through their anuses.

Silent hysterical laughter ensued.

Seems we can turn almost anything into something inappropriate.  It's a skill we don't take lightly.

We saved the 1/2-Pint area for last as it's the 'baby area'.  The stench hit us immediately.  Poopy diaper or sewage leak.  However, once you get used to it, you no longer notice.  The boys spent nearly an hour working on this maze.

The girls got good and sticky with the bubbles.

And then went on to milk the cow.  Ignore the plumbers' crack.

Boys still at the same place...

Yep, I think I'll have one more glass of wine; be grateful it's 2016, enjoy a handful of saltine crackers, some string cheese and maybe splurge on a Fruit By the Foot   I've got all my people with me this New Years. 

The Mission Is Accomplished.

The Countdown is On

I recall Christmas Vacay as a kid being filled with sledding, hot cocoa, dried-out gingerbread and thumbprint cookies.  Enter 2016.  We have zero snow, the kids are into coffee coffee-creamer and the cookies barely made it to Christmas.  The times they are a changin'

Prior to the 'Sing' movie, we ate lunch at Fudruckers (we had a gift card).  The moment the kids realized we weren't at Chick Fill A, you'd have thought I took them to eat at a homeless shelter.  Ross refused to eat and announced to the entire lobby how disgusted he was, Mack completely shut down and would only respond to chocolate ice cream, the girls saw the pop machine flavor options and suddenly became dehydrated.

By the end of the ordeal, all was good.  I'm not sure if the employee in the background was a creeper, or just secretly cussing us out under his breath.

Upon arriving at the mall, we learned the movie had been sold out. 

Of course it was.

So we shopped.  We found ourselves at Scheels where the boys each bought mini basketballs with a Christmas Gift Card.  I was fortunate to find a toilet (with non-existent privacy, of course).  And yes, I took a photo of my audience.  This is my life people.  Gotta entertain myself someway or another.

Basement activities followed as we made arrangements to try the movie again the following day. 

 The girls each received a pair of used in-line skates and they both still have all their teeth. 

5 days of Christmas Vacation left...

 Fingers crossed.

Christmas 2016 Recap

December 26 has arrived.  As it always does.  So much excitement, so much wrapping paper, so much food, so much alcohol, so many Christmas songs, too much gas and so much time figuring out where to put the aftermath.

I'm still not real sure Mack gets the whole Jesus-correlation yet.  On Christmas Eve-Eve, we took him to a Live Nativity Scene complete with Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, a cat, Shepherds, Singing Angels, Luminaries made from milk jugs (thought of you GG), horses, a barn and an Inn.  He either made some sort of relation to the reason for the season, or decided we were completely off our rockers.  Don't know.

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorite evenings of the year.  I love the anticipation, it's almost as though magic is floating in the brisk, star-filled sky.  Grandma and Papa Boyd are also some of our favorite people, so that makes it extra special as well.  Grandma was getting her craft on, and constructed a puzzle for the kids to assemble.  The finished puzzle was the key to their gift.  A family pass to the Science Center, Zoo and Living History Farms.  Plus they're planning to take the kids in a Field Day one Sunday of every month!  Not sure if the gift was more for the kids or us, but I'm calling it win/win.

Christmas Morning was filled with non-frill gifts under the tree, while the 'Big Gifts' were waiting for them in the basement.  Mike and I would have gotten the basement completed before Christmas Eve, but we all had the flu and it wasn't an option.  It was a lot of work and totally worth it.

Much of the girls' gifts were repurposed from things we already had.  Score!

Maisie got her very own Art Studio!

Molly got a Grocery Store!

And the boys got a basketball hoop and dart board!

Ironically, Ross and Mack were the only ones who sat on Santas lap this year.  Again, I can't imagine what he must be thinking about this Christmas business... sheesh.

We were super-lucky to spend Christmas afternoon and evening with the Schulz's. 

And without missing a beat, the girls put on a performance to remember... as always.

Trying to post a video from my phone, but it won't work.  Go figure.

Tomorrow with be December 27th. The kids will have incredible amounts of energy to burn from all the carbs they've been swallowing.  If I don't create a game plan soon, I'm gonna wish I had.  We've still got a week.  Therefore, Merry Christmas to all and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Christmas, Nike Socks, Stockings and Dicks

Seems the 'heaves' have officially left the premises... and before Christmas- whata-ya know!

We've reached the point in the season where I go on ridiculous shopping sprees trying to 'even-up' the kids' gifts.   I've come to the conclusion it's an inevitable sign of becoming an old woman.  Or maybe just being a mom to kids old enough to realize if they're being short changed. 

It's that mindset which led me to spend 90 minutes tracking down Nike socks online; tall, colored in a mens small, as well as Nike socks; tall, black/gray, in a mens medium.  I've never entered the Nike sock arena this close to Christmas and Holy crap, this stuff is wicked.  If a store does carry the right size, it's some girly teal color.  Of if they have the right color, I discover during 'check-out' its in "Boys", not "Mens".  For the love of God, college finals were less intimidating than getting my hands on these bad boys at Christmas-time. 

Some justify the evenness of gifts with the amount spent, others with the quantity.  I kinda wish there was a category for 'how long it took you to find the item'.  If that were the case, the boys would definitely be in the lead this year.  But since quantity wins at our house, the girls will be bringing home the gold. 

Did I mention we've got the stocking situation going on this week?  Yeah, we do.  The girls squeal with delight each morning as they discover sleep masks, adorable necklaces, makeup kits, soft slipper socks, candy; then go on to discover the Elf and wherever his crazy adventures led him though the night.  Mack's perfectly content confiscating the candy and inhaling it instantly.  Ross on the other hand has been striking out this year.  Day one was headgear which he swears is too big (it's one size fits all, so I dunno).  Day 2 was Nike socks which turned out to be labeled wrong and should have been sold in the toddler section.    Day 3 was just candy (I was seriously out of options as I hoped the 3-pack of socks would have bought me more time).  He finally broke down and desperately asked for some'thing' in his stocking, not just candy and beef sticks which he didn't like and gave back.  I asked Mike to pick up a few stocking stuffers for the boys and exchange the socks while in Des Moines.  Lets just say by his reaction you'd have thought I'd asked him to sever his leg. 

After finally placing my online order for the socks and realizing there was a 50% chance they may not make it for Christmas, I received the below message from Dicks...

We deeply regret to inform you that despite our best efforts, we were unable to complete your order. The following item(s) were cancelled:

Sigh...  Apparently Dicks can't find any either.

I realize all my struggles are 1st world struggles.  I couldn't be more grateful to have 4 kids this Christmas.  Each with healthy hearts, teeth and minds.  They've all over-eaten at least once this week, have medical care a phone call away, warm beds and a family who adores them. 

I've been attempting to teach Mack a little about Jesus.  Lord help me- (No, seriously, I need help).  I've discovered it's not easy to share the story of Jesus to a non-believer; let alone someone who is just beginning to learn English.  I know his heart wants to and will welcome Jesus with time and that Jesus already knows the outcome of my clergy attempts.  As botched as they are, I'm trying.

Meanwhile, as the days leading to Christmas come and go, I can't help but know the purpose of the season happens in broad daylight, in the middle of Summer, or Fall, Spring or Winter.  It has nothing to do with socks or pajamas, Nike, reindeer, elves or stockings.  We're living in the midst it.  Each day we wake up and get to 'do it all over again'.  That was the idea, the plan.  That's the gift Jesus was born to provide us with. 

Merry Christmas my 'Blogger Friends".  I wish you 'ENOUGH' this Season and plenty more in the year to come.

My Little A

Can you find my little cutie pie?

Friday night

Needless to say, by Friday they were dropping like flies...

Looks like Heidi, Mack and Mike are still on deck.

Tis the Barfing Season

I'd been feeling as though I was forgetting something all week.  With Christmas on my heels, I knew I had to figure it out before it was too late.  Ahhh, then it finally occurred to me as Molly barfed all over the couch, end table, American Girl doll clothes and rug Wednesday night, nobodies puked yet this season...

And it reoccurred again hourly throughout the night... every hour... on the hour. 

Halfway through the night, as Molly showered again and I scrounged up clean towels for her bedding again, Mike was busy in the downstairs shower trying to remove plastered on puke from her bedsheets before starting another load of laundry.

As I waited for Molly outside her bathroom, I was constantly reminded of who got the worse chore by Mike's consistent 'gagging' noises in the bathroom downstairs.  When we finally crawled ourselves back to bed, Mike couldn't stop talking about the puke and how he had to 'scrape it off her sheets' as the shower head wasn't strong enough.  5 minutes pass before he refers to the puke again as a 'spread'.  Something you'd put on a piece of toast... so thick...and why would it be so brown?....

Yep, this was my Wednesday night.

Luckily, there's not much I love doing more though the night than laughing, and this guy I married, he has a way.

Luckily number 2, I have a mother-in-law who's retired, willing to stay home with my sick kids, clean my house, do my endless piles of puke laundry as well as clean my puked-on-rug while I work.  Yep, lucky doesn't even begin to describe it.

Christmas 2016, Take 1

We drove our new conversion van (aka: 'Olaf') to Eastern Iowa Saturday for the Green family Christmas. Snow flakes were flying and Talk Radio was the background music. Christmas was thick in the air. Did I mention we also pulled a trailer? Yeah, of course we did because Mike decided to buy a fancy 4-wheeler from Moline Saturday and needed a way to get it home. Tis the Season.

Cookies needed to be decorated, piping bags were hot commodity and the frosting was going fast.

Sprinkles too.

One week prior to the festivities, GG informed me Papa bought a massage chair on a whim.  Apparently, Christmas is in full swing throughout the entire state.

It's as though Mack's always been a part of this crew.

Dad even helped me finish a few Christmas Gifts which will be arriving from the North Pole...

1-12... look what we've done!

This is what Mack thinks of me taking pictures of him in the snow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.