Not Me! Monday

MckMama is taking a break from her Not Me! Monday post this week. She is actually at the hospital with MckMuffin right now. He has a bad cold and accelerated heart rate. You can read about it over on her blog. And please pray for that sweet baby!

I'm taking a break from the Not Me's to focus a little on what I did do this week.

I did get my Christmas cards in the mail on Saturday, and even though I thought I had missed the Saturday afternoon pick up, the fact that my mom got hers on Monday makes me think they threw in an extra pick up just for perpetually late people like me. I also managed to lose my precious pink cell phone somewhere in the mad dash to get to the post office.

I did manage to fulfill my dream of not needing to leave my house on Christmas Eve until it was time to go to church. Of course, this was aided by the fact that I was stranded at home with no car, and my father-in-law had to pick me and the kiddos up to take us to church, but even if I had not been stranded, I still would not have had to leave the house. The Princess did spend part of Christmas Eve watching that timeless Christmas classic, Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, staring Michael Gross, aka Alex P. Keaton's dad on Family Ties. All the gifts were purchased, all the gifts were wrapped and placed under the tree. All the candy was made. All was right with the world.

I did survive a very low budget Christmas without feeling that my children were completely disappointed. They had a great time with all their cousins, and got most of what they asked for. Of course, they have spent most of the last few days playing with the $10 Pixos they got from their aunt, and the $2 PlayDoh they got from Santa, which makes me glad I didn't spring for any of the more expensive stuff I would have probably purchased had I actually had any money to spare.

I did get a massive migraine sometime late on Christmas Day. There is something about being in a room with 10 kids all twelve years old or younger, all hopped up on cookies and cake and candy and the excitement of all being together and, you know, PRESENTS! that does not equal calm, peaceful Christmas bliss.

I did get to spend a full day with my bff. We drank coffee, ate pigs in a blanket, and talked all day. It was wonderful, and somehow while at her house, my migraine magically went away.

The Princess did find my precious pink cell phone today. She is now my favorite child!

I do have an amazing family. I have great kids who are happy and healthy and smart and funny and just plain cool. What more could I ask for?

I will post Christmas pictures later when I have a chance to upload them!!

May Your Days Be Merry & Bright

Not Me! Monday

It's Monday! Time for a little therapy by way of brutal honesty.

I did not finally, six days before Christmas, put up the tree in the boy's room. It was not falling apart for no apparent reason. It was perfectly fine when it finished it's tour of duty as the Princess's princess tree last year. Once up and decorated with red lights and his daddy's match box cars from many years ago, it was not adorably cute, although leaning at an odd angle. And I was not awakened the next morning to a screaming baby while wondering what I had been dreaming that involved a loud crash. When I went in his room to retrieve the screaming baby, I did not find the cute little red lighted tree and match box cars lying on the floor in a sad heap. They are NOT still lying there in that same sad heap at this very moment.

I did not rush to the post office on Saturday to make sure I could get my Christmas cards in the mail before the 5:00 pick up only to find that the main part of the post office was already closed, and I would have to fly to Publix to buy stamps before dropping my cards off. I did not have The Princess putting stamps on envelopes as I drove like a mad woman back to the post office, and I most certainly did not realize after all that running that the last pick up on Saturday is 4:30, not 5:00, and my cards would be sitting there until Monday anyway.

I do not still have shopping to do, although I swore I would be finished by this time. I do not still have all of my wrapping to do, although I swore I would not be wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve at midnight ever again. I do not still have Martha Washington balls to make for my Daddy. I do not still need to purchase the ingredients for said candy. And with all that to do, I am most certainly not stranded at home with no car. And I'm not starting to panic in the least about how I'm going to do all I have to do with no time and no money and no car. Nope, not me, I'm cool as a cucumber.

So, how about you, what did you not do this week, what do you still not have left to do? Don't worry, you're not alone. Check out what MckMama, and all of her MckFriends have not done this week.

:::edited to add that there are supposed to be spaces between paragraphs, and this blogger spacing thing is making me crazy. Anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?

'Tis the Season

First there was Rudolph, complete with red pacifier!

When reindeer attack.

Santa saves the day!

Then apparently, Santa ate Rudolph!

A herd (is two a herd, do deer even run in herds?), and Miss Claus!

Someone drugged the baby deer!

And then everything went to heck in a handbasket.

Christmas Tour of Homes

It's time for BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes. Am I completely ready? No. Did I want to be ready? Yes. Did I plan to be ready? Yes. Did finding that only two strands of last year's lights still worked delay my decorating? Yes. Did life with a procrastinating 11 year old with a science project comparing the pigments in blackberries, spinach, red onion and paprika to the pigments in water soluble markers have something to do with my not being ready? Yes. Did having to rush the same 11 year old to the ER Wednesday night after she fell in the shower and momentarily dislocated her shoulder add to my inability to finish my Christmas decorating? Most definitely.

All that being said, I did manage to get some stuff done. The rest, quite honestly just might have to wait this year. Something about a 9 month old baby boy, who is all boy, into everything, banging his head and climbing right back up, pulling his sister's apple cider onto the floor twice....something about mixing all that little boy-ness and fragile Christmas decorations just doesn't add up to a calm relaxing Christmas season for the mama.

Without further adieu, welcome to our home:

Our front porch. The girls and I decorated it the other night. It's really pretty when you're not taking a flash picture of it. The flash sort of emphasizes the white wires on the lights. I don't know how we ended up with white wires, but there they are. The lighted garland, by the way, I purchased at Target last January at 90% off. Oh, how I love a clearance rack, and then to make things even better, I forgot all about it until I was unpacking our Christmas boxes last week. It was like I got an early gift.

Close up of our wreath brought to us fresh from North Carolina the Sunday after Thanksgiving. After sitting in the Florida heat for a few weeks already, it's not so much fresh anymore, but it does still smell good, and leaves a nice sprinkling of pine needles in the foyer every time the door opens and closes. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

My Our tree as viewed from the dining room. Yes, I go overboard with the lights. There are right at 2500 lights on this tree. That is not a typo or an exaggeration. I love me some lights on my tree. And the tree has ONLY gold and glass ornaments. Such as the Waterford ornament my sweet mother-in-law gave us as a wedding shower gift. Nothing else is allowed on that tree. Please note that there are no ornaments on the bottom portion of the tree. Remember all the little boy-ness?

How do I manage to have only gold and glass on that tree, you ask. I do have three kids, and while the little one hasn't made any ornaments yet, the other two certainly have. And no, they are not all gold and glass. Actually, none of them are gold or glass. So, I have this other little tree, which truth be told, is actually my very favorite. It has every single ornament my girls have ever made. Plus some special ornaments that were gifts from friends who didn't realize my freaky Chrsitmas OCD would prevent me from putting their gift on the big tree. I love this tree. We may end up with a bigger one once Little Man starts pre-school and starts bringing home his very own ornaments.

Those are our stockings behind the tree. Yes, there are currently only 4 of them for our family of 5. I have another set of 4, but I need one that matches these. I haven't found one yet, so I may have to use one of the 4 we already have, but seriously, remember the OCD? I have issues with matching.

And finally, the tree in the girls' room. I was so excited about this tree, I had it up before they got home from North Carolina after Thanksgiving. This was another of my 90% off purchases last January. I was in Michael's one day just looking through their picked over clearance rack, when I saw this tree. This pre-lit white feather tree for something like $4.95. Ummm, hello, SOLD! I couldn't decide which ornaments to use, but I wanted something to sort of match their room, so I settled on pipe cleaners. I think it's adorable.

Close up of the pipe cleaner "ornaments" (and FEATHERS).

Tree topper! Looks straight out of Whoville, doesn't it?

What's missing? Our beautiful nativity set, another wedding gift (see a December wedding wasn't such a bad idea) which isn't set up yet, and I would have done it just so I could take a picture, but it's tradition that the girls do it, so I just couldn't.

Oh, and Little Man's tree, which isn't up yet, but will be tomorrow. It will have his daddy's matchbox cars from when he was a little boy as it's ornaments.

I guess I'll just have to post those later.

Hope you enjoyed this little mini tour. When you have an hour or 12, pour yourself an eggnog, grab a batch of Christmas cookies, and head over to BooMama and check out her house and all the other beautiful homes on her tour.

Not Me Monday

It has been a long week, and I feel I need a reminder that I don't have to be Super Mom, and that it's perfectly ok when I'm not, so this Not Me Monday will be very cathartic!

I did not worry that Sweetpea would get to her 6th grade dance, see what the other girls were wearing and think that she looked too much like a little girl still. Of course, I did not think she looked just beautiful, nor did I think the little girls in skin tight dresses and three inch heels looked absolutely ridiculous. Nor did the thought, "What was her mother thinking?!?" ever cross my mind.

I was not thrilled that all the kids seemed to have a great time, nor did I feel a sense of pride when the principal commented that in his 7 years at the school, this was the best behaved group of kids and the best planned dance. I guess all those weeks of planning paid off.

I did not leave the dance completely exhausted only to have to face grocery shopping with the whole family. I did not come home, still exhausted, and instead of going straight up to bed when the kids did, I most definitely did not spend hours obsessing over our family Christmas card. This, of course, was after not even dreaming of taking my kids out in the cold twice in an attempt to get the perfect picture. This:

is not a picture of The Princess and the Little Man eyeballing the Moosehaven security guard who came on his golf carat to point out the fact that we were on private property. It's Mooshaven for Pete's sake. Old retired moose love cute little kids. Of course, I did not park my car on the grass, which is certainly not what drew his attention in the first place.

I did not look at this picture:

And think that maybe the gorgeousness of the sun setting in the background would distract anyone from the out of focus children in the front, the little person chewing on his sleeve or the little girl in mid word. Most likely not telling her mother that she couldn't pay attention and smile all the time because her little brother's hand, before going into his mouth, most definitely had not been pulling her hair. NO, he's a perfect angel of a baby. He would never do such a thing. He does not pull hair, pinch cheeks, try to steal your lips and eyelashes, put anything and everything into his mouth, try to suck on his 5 month old cousin's hands and feet or try to lick his Nana's dog.


After not obsessing about our Christmas card until way too late on Friday night, I was not pulled from my OCD-ness by Sweetpea telling me to come quickly because the Princess just threw up. She, of course, did not throw up in her bed and then just lie there in it, letting it soak through her sheets and mattress pad and onto her mattress. Therefore, I did not have to Lysol her bed and leave it dry, leaving her no place to sleep other than my own bed. I did not resign myself to sleeping on the couch, only to be awakened at 3:00 am by the Little Man. And of course I didn't sleep the rest of the night on the couch while holding him. NOPE, that would be silly and would probably cause me to be completely exhausted when I had to be back at the girls' school Saturday morning to set up for Breakfast with Santa. It also would certainly not cause my neck to be stiff and my head to ache.


And finally, once Breakfast with Santa was over, thus ending my responsibilities outside the house for a few days, when my sweet friend told me there was an open house at the salon where she works...an open house including free chair massages, I did NOT leave the sick kids home with their daddy, take Sweetpea with me, and jump at the chance for a free massage, knowing full well that I did not intend to buy a single thing while I was there.


So, that's my week. A week of being completely imperfect and living to tell the tale. Super Mom, I am not. Check out MckMama's blog to find out what more Super Mom want to be's managed to live through this week.

Curious

(Posted by a visiting author, a/k/a Little Man)

There is this box that I am dying to get my hands on. I get close, and Mommy or Daddy pull me away. I have even made it all the way to the box, but I can't seem to get the top off. WAIT...Mommy left me alone for a minute to....well, if this were Monday, she would tell you she was NOT checking her email/Facebook/CafeMom. I did it!! I got the top off the box!

Wow, I think these are all books and papers from two years ago that my big sister won't let Mommy throw away. And, oh, look, a candy wrapper too!

I better look into this a little more closely. I'm sure there is something in there I need to get my hands on.

NO, wait, I gotta put the box down. If I hold it up like that, I don't have a throwing arm, and without a throwing arm, how on earth am I going to empty all the contents of this box onto the floor?

BUSTED! Better give Mommy the "I'm-so-cute-couldn't-you-just-eat-me-up" grin.

Ok, I think it worked. Now what's this I have in my hand?

Hmmmm.....Curious? But my name is not George.

That's ok, I'll just eat it anyway!

BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes

So, BooMama is having a Christmas tour of homes on December 15.

See her cute little button on my sidebar?

I have decided to participate in the tour, and I thought it would be fun if those very few folks who read my blog did the same. As most of us are online friends, who have never seen each other's houses, I thought it would be interesting to share a little about our Christmas traditions and how we decorate for the season.

Plus, knowing I have a deadline might just give me the kick start I need to actually start doing a little decorating. Because right now, my motivation? It is running low to say the least.

To read BooMama's rules (a whole whopping two of them) and maybe get a cute little button of your own, go to her blog and check it out!

Not Me Monday

It's Monday again already? Time to fess up, I guess.

I did not miss my girls at all while they were on their week long Thanksgiving trip with their Nana, and I did not feel a twinge of guilt when I realized that the main thing I missed was the way they help out with their little brother.

I did not spend a large portion of the week cleaning their room from top to bottom, and I most definitely did not find Valentine candy under the bed. I could not have found that because, well....eewwww.

My heart did not melt when they got home, and the Princess ran in announcing that she got to hold her brother first only to burst into tears when she realized he was already in bed for the night.

I am not completely proud of my oldest child for deciding the red dress hanging in her closet will be perfect for her school dance instead of insisting that we go shopping for a new one.

I am not finding it more and more difficult to get anything done due to the sudden mobility of my son. He is not pulling anything and everything he can reach onto the floor. He is not finding anything on the floor to put in his mouth. Nope, he couldn't possibly. My floor is spotless. I did not, while still pregnant with the Little Man, warn is daddy that he would most likely be a bundle of energy and into everything based on how active he was at the time. The nurses who saw him while he was on the bilirubin lights in the nursery did not ask me how I managed to carry him without having a puncture wound in a vital organ because he was never still.

I did not procrastinate writing this Not Me Monday post until Monday is almost over. Lots of other people really did not procrastinate like I did. Go check out their posts over at MckMama.

Oh, and by the way, I'm still not frustrated with my bloggy spacing issues.