Tidbits

Clearly blogging every day (except for one) in November took it out of me. I was hoping it would give me some motivation to write more, which it did. But then December kicked my @ss for several reasons and I have written a total of five posts this month. Hooray for me!

So here are some random tidbits of information about random things that I have not been writing about. You're welcome.

1. My laptop power cord broke for the zillionth fourth time in two years. I often let my kids use my computer and I also keep it in a high traffic area which has proved to be a not so smart decision. Getting a new power cord is not that big of deal, it's not like I dropped it on the cement again to save my Diet Pepsi, but it took me a few days to get a new one. During those few days I got a ton of stuff done around my house. I found being without my laptop strangely liberating. Of course, I have missed reading your blogs and it will take me a loooooong time to catch up. But my kid's closets are clean.

2. My husband and I got each other the same gift for Christmas. I got him a Le Creuset cast iron skillet and he got me a cast iron skillet from Crate & Barrel. We're keeping the Le Creuset one because, well, duh. I love getting new kitchen wares. Now I am coveting this Le Creuset tea kettle. I just can't decide if I want blue or red.

3. I can never figure out the correct way to spell "yeah." I mean "yeah" meaning "yes, or affirmative," as opposed to "yay" meaning "hooray." Dictionary.com says the correct spelling is "yeah" but everyone seems to spell both "yeah" and "yay" differently and it drives me a little insane. Also, when writing oops, please use two o's and not two p's (as in opps). Thank you.

4. I lost all three of my children's birth certificates and my passport. I needed the birth certificates to register my daughters for softball and kindergarten registration for my son is coming up in January. Somehow, when we moved out of our house and into our rental, my red file folder with all my important papers was lost. I spent an entire day looking in every possible spot it could be with no luck. I felt despair, frustration, guilt. My husband came home and I started to explain to him where I thought my red file folder might be. He walked into the garage, pulled out a blue bin from the huge pile of bins that used to be in our attic. It was labeled "Important Papers" in my handwriting and he pulled out the red file folder with my passport and the kid's birth certificates inside. I am so ready to move back into our house where everything will have a permanent place and we can start living like real adults again.

5. On the subject of my house. My house, my house, my house. There are lots of big changes going on at my house and I will write an update post soon. Most of the bathroom tiles are done and oh. my. gosh. never in my life have I been so excited about bathroom tiles. They look amazing. All the windows and new doors are in, paint samples are up and the hardwood floors will go in hopefully this week. Hooray!!

6. My son will be five in May and will start kindergarten next fall. I am very much looking forward to having all three of my kids at the same school. But I am really looking forward to a little more time to myself after seven years of stay-at-home mom-ness. And yet, I find myself wanting to hold on to his baby-hood desperately. There will not be anymore children for me, that is for sure, so he is my last. I carry him around more than I probably should and he is terribly spoiled. The other day I casually mentioned that we should move him into a big bed as he really is getting too big for his toddler bed. My husband had his bed set up an hour later and the toddler bed is no more. It was time, but he looks so tiny in that big bed. However, Raj is thrilled with his big bed, he loves it. *sigh*

That's it for my tidbits. Hope you had a lovely holiday no matter what you celebrate.

On The Eve of Christmas

It's 11pm-ish on Christmas Eve. My apple crisp is in the oven crisping. My husband is playing with Raj's new racetrack. The stockings are hung and little Zhu Zhu pets are hidden at the bottom.

We spent the day at home, just the five of us. It was lovely. There was gingerbread...

Table setting...

And cookie baking...

The loot is all wrapped and the coffee is set to brew at 6:30am...

The kids are now snug in their beds. But earlier my son apparently had one too many cookies.

I think he's throwing some sort of preschool gang sign.

Seriously, the kid was not in the right frame of mind for a cute little picture by the tree before bed.

OK, one more and I'll stop. But he was cracking me up. This one is my favorite.

We had to restrain him eventually.

Is there anything better than the anticipation of Christmas morning when you're four? I think not. Here's hoping your day is merry even if you don't celebrate Christmas. Happy, happy, joy, joy from me to you.

The 2nd Annual Great Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange

Here's wishing you all a very merry holiday and a new year filled with love and laughter.

Check out my cards from previous years here. And be sure to go here for other bloggers holiday greetings.

Lollipops, Waffles and Elfs... Now You Tell Me Yours

We've all done it. I know I can't be alone. You do something just once, like after asking your kids ten million times to get their f#*^ing shoes and jackets on and get in the car, you finally resort to bribing and offer a lollipop to anyone who is ready to go out the door. Then the next day you do it again. And quite possibly you do it the next day as well because it works. But then you realize it's turned into a routine and now your kids expect a lollipop every flipping day just for putting their f*#%ing shoes and jackets on and standing by the door.

Then you wonder why you started this little routine and tell them there will be no more lollipops in the morning. You then must find a better way to light a fire under them. You suffer through a few days of begging and threats. Eventually, maybe, just maybe you resort to Skittles... and we all know what happens the next day, and the next.

I recently read this post by AnyMommy and it made me think about these little habits we start for no good reason, like the waffles she mentions here:

"We made it through cereal only because Matt went down and got everything ready while I cracked the whip over getting dressed. I popped waffles in the toaster (because for some reason we have this pattern that they eat waffles after they eat a full bowl of cereal in the morning)."

I could relate. While Stacey's kids eat cereal and waffles for breakfast, my kids have the option of whatever they want. I am their b$#^@ in the morning and they know it. I just can't sending them to school with an empty stomach, it bothers me all day long. Therefore I end up making three different breakfasts and sometimes four for three different children. Why? I am the adult here. Why can't I just tell them waffles are for breakfast and if you don't like it you go to school hungry. I do that with the other two meals of the day. Why do you torture myself at breakfast when there are lunches to pack, there is hair to be combed, teeth to be brushed and jackets to be found and OH MY GOSH WE ARE LATE, PLEASE PUT YOU F@^$ING SHOES ON AND GET IN THE CAR!!!

And then there is this little habit. I'm sure you've heard of the Elf on the Shelf. It's a sweet, fun little tradition that I think I wrote about last year. In a nutshell, the little elf hides in a different part of the house each day leading up to Christmas and watches you during the day. At night he flies to the North Pole and reports to Santa if you have been good or bad and tells him your Christmas wishes. The kids love it. Our elf is named Jack and this is his third year with our family.

For some reason, the first year he was here my kids thought he also put the candy in the advent calendar. I went with it. There were only a few more days until Christmas and so in addition to leaving a small candy cane in the advent calendar, Jack also left a small present like a stuffed animal or new pajamas.

So, of course, the next year they couldn't wait to see what Jack would bring them along with the candy in the advent calendar. So I stocked up on pencils, stickers, ornaments and other little trinkets for 24 days worth of gifts from Jack. In other words, I stocked up on a house full of things that I will step on and will end up finding in the couch cushions next Easter. It creates a lot of extra work for me during an already busy time of year, but I think it might be my children's favorite part of Christmas.

So please, tell me one of your puzzling habits. Tell me something you do that doesn't really make any sense, but you do it anyway because it's part of your routine. I know you've got at least one.

Sunday's Simple Pleasures XVIII

We had a busy day today. But it was a good busy, a really good busy. We started the day with a family hike.

Hiking with my kids is one of my favorite family activities. We are lucky to live near several outstanding hiking spots. This was our first visit to the particular spot that is only about 10 minutes from our house and from the top of the trail you can see the house I grew up in where my mom still lives.

It was the perfect way to start our busy Sunday.

*I started Sunday's Simple Pleasures to highlight the simple things in my life that bring me joy. I believe one of the keys to overall happiness is learning to appreciate little things that bring you comfort and delight. You can see my entire list so far here.