Confessions: Part 2…. I think

I’m pretty sure that I have had a “confessions” post before.  I can’t be quite sure without actually going back and looking and since I am in the middle of a Hallmark Channel After Christmas movie marathon, I am far too busy for that.  You’re just going to have to take my word for it.

So on to the confessions…..

I’m going to be really honest with you, I haven’t always had the best hair.  Some periods of time were worse than others

Example A)

There was a mullet going on here, but the party part was in a ponytail

Example B)

Mullet was grown out and now I had awesome bangs, too!

Example C)

There is no explanation for this….I was on vacation….and sadly I loved it.

And though I am always aware that my hair could be upgraded, I think I do a pretty decent job keeping myself from embarrassing my children on a regular basis.

There was, however, a time in my life that was particularly dark, as far as hair goes. This particular time was when I fell victim to a self-induced mullet.  My brother and I came upon an ancient pair of mens clippers while digging around in one of my grandmother’s closets and he strongly encouraged me to put the clippers right up next to the side of my head.  Always looking for ways to make my big brother proud of me, I am sure that I eagerly did just as he requested, not even thinking for a minute that I might be in some sort of hair danger.

And danger it most certainly was.

Have you seen that YouTube clip where the girl is giving a tutorial on how to curl your hair and she holds the curling iron in too long?  Right there on camera, she pulls the curling iron away from her head and a big chunk of hair comes along with it.  She has this look on her face, absolutely stunned at what has just happened.

I’m pretty sure that is probably similar to the look on my face when I pretty much shaved the side of my head.  And then because a one-sided mullet would look ABSOLUTELY ridiculous, we had to go ahead and clip the other side, as well.  It stayed that way, growing out, for probably around 2 years.  I suppose the smarter thing would have been maybe to have cut it all off rather short and have me sport a pixie cut.  But A) I had already had a previous incident with giving myself a very uneven pixie cut a few years back and it was VERY obvious that I couldn’t pull off that haircut…….Don’t worry, I tried it again later in my early twenties when hair is really important and people actually notice.  I also let it get really yellowy blond with the help of Sun-In while working as a lifeguard.  It was incredible……in all the wrong ways. And B) my brother and I resemble each other and until I started wearing make-up and grew what little boobs I have, I would have looked far too much like a young boy had we gone that route.

My time with my mullet not only cemented in my mind that this was a mistake I would do all I could to keep from repeating, but it also convicted me to make a vow to my unborn children.  Whether they boys or girls, that I would do all I could to keep them from making the same hair mistakes that I had.  That is the reason why up until her first day of Kindergarten, Mattie had never been allowed to even hold a pair of scissors.  I knew the temptation would be far too much and I was 100% certain that she would give in to temptation and hack off her hair.

My children have so far made it pretty easy to keep my “good hair” vow to them.  Keeping scissors off of her radar and natural curls that all grew evenly helped Mattie out and she has yet to really go through a weird hair phase….yet.

And Reese, well, I realize that good hair is subjective, but I personally think he has been very blessed.  Even his bed head looks uniquely disheveled and it fits his personality.

So when kid number 3 came along, I though I had a pretty good handle on how to control little kids hair.  And even this time last year, though Lila’s hair wasn’t nearly as prominent as her siblings had been at that stage, things were still on the up and up.

Then her hair started growing in

At almost 2, Mattie’s hair looked like this:

And here’s Reese:

But Lila, I am going to confess to you, my Birdie was sporting a full-on mullet.  To the point that she strongly resembled Harry Dunne from Dumb and Dumber:

So that is confession number 1 – I had allowed my child to grow a mullet.

But now comes confession number 2 – Even though I knew that my friends were strongly against it and even my precious hair stylist didn’t want to go there, I decided to take it upon myself to give Lila her first haircut.  I have absolutely no business cutting anything other than paper (let’s remember my sideburn clipper incident and I have screwed up my bangs WAY too many times to even count).  But that didn’t stop me, I went ahead and sat my little one down in front of the mirror.  She smiled, completely unaware of what danger I might be putting her in.  This had the potential of going really bad.  My husband just shook his head at me when I told him what I was about to do, signaling that he in no way wanted to be held accountable for any of this.

But I did it anyway.

And I think I did a halfway decent job.

I was so proud of myself that I proceeded to cut Reese’s hair next, which really isn’t saying much because his hair is very forgiving.

I might be failing at helping Mattie in 3rd grade math and I can’t for the life of me put together a menu and buy all the groceries that I will need for one week  in one trip to the store.  Reese still insists on walking on his tip-toes and Lila is doesn’t speak in any sort of intelligible way even though she’s almost 2.  But I saved my child from a mullet, and I kept my vow to her even though those around me were doubtful.

Mama tried and won this one.

All Joking Aside

I was going to post about something else today.  Something reminiscent of a confession regarding an act I knowingly participated in even though it could have been to the detriment of others.  That will have to wait until maybe tomorrow though because tonight something magical happened.

Tonight, like many families, my family had a very special visitor.

However, instead of arriving in secret and under the cloak of darkness while we were sleeping….and in a sleigh pulled by reindeer….wearing a flashy red suit……our visitor showed up around dinner time, in a heavy-duty Ford pick-up truck…..wearing a flannel shirt and jeans.

Who needs Santa Claus, we had a visit from Uncle Marvin.

My Uncle Marvin probably isn’t anything like your Uncle Marvin.  I would probably be pretty safe to say that my Uncle Marvin isn’t anything like any of your uncles.  Unless you are related to me…..

Getting some love

Uncle Marvin used to live across the street from my Grandma (he is her baby brother) and it wasn’t uncommon for him to call her in the evening as she was preparing supper, pretending to be someone else.  It was never just a quick prank call with a silly joke, no he preferred to carry it out for a while, often pretending to be a woman.  She would fall for it every time.  It was also not completely out of the ordinary for him to slip up to Grandma’s house, wearing a mask and then bang on the front door scaring the bajeebees out of us.

If Marvin could tell a “fib” instead of the truth and it not cause too much harm, the “fib” almost always won out.  Something as simple as saying he was an only child when actuality, he came from a family of over a dozen kids.

Marvin is a prankster, a jokester and one of my favorite people.

A jokester still loves a baby, especially a baby Reese

As a little girl, Uncle Marvin used to give me ducklings in the spring to raise as my own pets.

As a teenager, he built his own golf course, which he later turned into a paint ball course.  I knew that Brandon had been accepted into my family when he received his first invitation to play at Uncle Marvin’s course.

And every Fall, without fail, Marvin and family host the best hayride ever.

My Steph and I riding shotgun on our last hayride before we both moved away from Tulsa

Uncle Marvin’s hayride many moons ago

And back when we were just a little family of 3 and lived in Tulsa, Uncle Marvin acted as chauffeur for us for those early morning/ middle of the night trips to the airport.

Uncle Marvin frequently has gum in his pockets, which has also helped him in winning over my own daughter.

And his visit tonight was met with just as much happiness as always….and he came bearing treasures.

Like a frozen rattlesnake

That probably seems crazy to you, but this frozen snake comes from a long line of frozen snakes that Marvin has kept on hand to scare people with.  Those of us who have known him for a while know better than to ask “is it real?”.  Mattie would have kept that snake, best Christmas present ever, had we even acted for a minute that it might be somewhat negotiable.

Keep in mind that snake is very much not alive

This visit, he also brought some poultry.

When I first heard word that Uncle Marvin was bringing some pigeons for us to keep and give to his friend Reggie who was taking a while to come and get them himself, I thought it was a joke.  I don’t know why I thought this might be a joke, maybe because everyone else was so laid-back and cool with the idea.  I mean, doesn’t everyone just keep live birds for friends in their garage?

But when he showed up with a cardboard box, that was making scratching noises, I was pretty certain that this wasn’t a joke.  Sure enough, there were 3 Fan-Tailed pigeons in that box and for a moment, Mattie looked like the picture of Christmas happiness…..the little girl sitting by the perfectly decorated tree, the lights all a’twinkle just like her dancing little eyes……only instead of pulling out a perfect, tiny kitten or a wriggling little puppy with a big red bow around its neck…..my daughter was cradling a pigeon.

The pigeon unveiling

He gave me a hard time about my NASCAR driver, got hugs and kisses from the rest of the family and made some ridiculous comment about his saint of a wife, Aunt Lana and then he was off.

Another Uncle Marvin memory tucked away

Uncle Marvin and his great-great niece Mattie

And for the record, the pigeons seem to be settled just fine in the garage.  Each one being cuddled and tucked in by Mattie.

Twinkle Twinkle

Things have been hectic around my little world lately.  Nothing particularly pressing, nothing life threatening, nothing really that if I was standing around with other people talking about life pressures and stresses would get me any “amen sisters”, but hectic just the same.

The Spirit of Christmas is alive and kicking at our house

One thing that has kept my kitchen messy has been the shepherd factory that Reese and I have had in operation over the last week.

Over the past 2 years, the kids and myself, as I do not yet feel that they are ready to wield the glue gun on their own quite yet, have made some of our loved ones pieces of the nativity using little terra cotta pots.  The first year it was Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in his little terra cotta manger.  It went over really well with the grandmas in our lives and so last year we (I) decided that we would make a few more pieces to gift our special ladies – the 3 wisemen.  They turned out really cute but involved way more hot gluing than I had bargained for.  This year it was two shepherds and an angel.  With Mattie in school during the day, Reese was my chief pot painter this year.  He took his job very seriously and though I don’t think he’s quite ready to leave home and make a living off it, I was pretty impressed.

The Shepherd/ Angel Factory and Nativty Phase III

I would share of picture of the little shepherds and angel but they haven’t been presented quite yet to their respective auntie and grandmothers.

This is a really quite easy little project for kiddos to do, but let me warn you should you decide to take this task on, that it might require many trips to the craft store and in my case, each one of these trips also involved toting at least 3 children (if not 4) in with me.  Prepare yourself with snacks, a map of the craft store for easy in and out, maybe one of those kid leashes because if you have any children that are capable of walking they will wander through the wonder that is Michael’s, and possibly some duct tape.  I think my trips could have been done in half the time had I just duct taped Lila into the basket and secured her arms as well…..maybe even a put a little strip of tape across that little mouth too because it has taken to screaming in public places.

The nativity – phase 1

Also just a little note should you truly be interested in making the terra-cotta pot nativity, the taller yet smaller pots can only be found at Michaela and the little round wooden heads that are the right size can only be procured at Hobby Lobby….at least here in Memphis.  So be prepared for making two trips to two different places.

The nativity – phase II

In addition to making pot people, we have been busy enjoying the holidays and doing special once a year activities like going to see the lights.  We loaded up in the car the other night to hunt for an elusive street in a neighboring town/ suburb which we had heard from a reliable source on Facebook, had an incredible display of lights.  The first stop address, I think was maybe a mistake, though they did have a lively porch light, there really wasn’t anything more to take note of.  But the next address, wow, it was something special.  Two houses had joined together to unite their yards in a Christmas spectacle unlike anything I have ever seen before.  There were lights everywhere across their front yards, lights that flicked in a continuous stream choreographed to 5 different Christmas favorites.  We parked our family mobile, turned off our own lights and let the little ones climb out of their safety seats.  And we sat in a foreign  neighborhood admiring the electricity usage of these two homes in Bartlett, TN.

I think this was one of the first times that Lila really “saw” Christmas lights and she was fascinated.

This little trip kept the kids up about an hour passed bedtime on a school night during a very busy week, but clad in their pajamas, cramming their still little enough to fit all of them in my lap bodies in the front seat….I feel like it was completely worth it.

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We have also been busy doing other festive activities around here….like making the annual gingerbread house.  We have done this every year since before Mattie was quite one and this was the first year that Mattie did it solo.  I am learning to let go a little, even if that means our gingerbread house doesn’t look a thing like the picture.  I will admit, I did use the handy-dandy hot glue gun to secure the walls and roof because we don’t have time to sit around and wait for frosting to dry in our house.  That’s a little trick we started utilizing a LONG time ago.

Mattie and her all-by-herself gingerbread house

If you look closely, you can see that many of the little candies have been removed from the roof.  Lila has been vandalizing the little house pretty much since it came into residence. That and our tree have had more than their share of groping and defacing.

Our tree vandal

And I personally have been enjoying the tradition of people bringing goodies to my husband’s place of work and him bringing them home for the rest of us to enjoy.  As a little girl, I used to love Christmas for many reasons, but one of them was definitely because as a teacher, Poppy received many homemade treats for Christmas.  Tins of choclately goodness would accompany him home at the end of the day and it pleased me greatly.

I am always happy to see my Honey walk through the door at the end of the day, but when he came home swinging a little brown plastic take-out box decorated with festive ribbon and a monogrammed sticker, I will admit, I was even a little more excited than usual.  It appeared that one of the other doctors wives had made turtles for the holidays.  Now, it’s highly possible that she only purchased these little bits of choclately heaven and then gussied them up with a homespun exterior.  But because it’s the holiday season and because they were amazing, I am giving her the benefit of the doubt as well as a huge round of applause.  My mama has been making turtles for years and they are always delightful.  I love my mama’s turtles and think they are second to none…..except maybe these that came from Ms. Rebecca…..and only because they were the size of the palm of my hand.

Definitely a gift that I did not NEED, but oh so greatly enjoyed.  For a moment, the fact that my husband doesn’t receive a christmas bonus didn’t matter, payday didn’t matter, because while I was eating that turtle, for a moment I could have been convinced that from now on it would be fine if he was paid in turtles.  I don’t know that our mortgage company would feel the same way and I kinda don’t think Memphis Light Gas and Water would go along with it, but it might be worth a try.

Something else wonderful about Christmas is the element of surprise.  Little kind gestures being done by complete strangers, and the opportunity to do your own random act of kindness.  Some of the best presents are the unexpected ones.  I texted one of my besties to wish her a happy birthday on the 19th and she replied back that she had a gift for me.  Something that she had seen over a year ago and thought my girls just had to have it.  She had been hanging on to them forever, trying to figure out a way to get the girls names put on them.  Because she knows that my love language is spoken through monogramming….

A surprise gift from my incredible dentist/ fellow Okie/ Awesome friend whom I love dearly

In closing for today, here with only a few days left before Christmas, right smack in the middle of the magic.  The days where family gets together, grocery stores are nuts and if you look closely, the miracles start happening…from my family to yours, may you have a moment of wonder where you see the lights of Christmas for the first time and may you sit back and delight in watching the ones you love discover their own holiday magic and may their be turtles….big, gigantic palm-sized turtles.  Maybe you aren’t a sweets person so the turtle equivalent of something that you love.  Either way, to all of our loved ones and the ones that have welcomed me and my tales of motherhood into your lives, have a beautiful holiday  season.  Be safe and be nice and remember that we are all trying.

Merry Christmas from my little cherubs

 

Sometimes I Forget Things

It is Christmas time, which means this is my time to really shine as a person………don’t for a minute think that I mean “shine” in a positive way here, friends.  No, rather this is season that seems to offer me more opportunities to mess up than I really think are necessary.  Way more than are my share, but I seem to take advantage of the generosity just the same.  Let’s start with my wake up call this morning.

To really understand, we should probably go back to last night when Mattie lost a tooth.  This was a pretty big deal because she went from them all falling out in handfuls to over a year and a half of no dental excitement.  She was pretty stoked when she went to bed last night, her tooth safely tucked in a little gift box waiting for the tooth fairy.  I made a mental note to make sure and get some quarters out of Reese’s piggy bank (our tooth fairy always leaves coins and mama didn’t have any in her wallet…..you gotta do what ya gotta do).

And then I made a dreadful, rookie parenting mistake.

I went and laid down with Reese for just one song.  One song in Reese’s bed means a whole cd and often leads to you doing the walk of shame, still fully dressed from his room to your own, about an hour before your alarm goes off.  I know better than to go in there for even a second goodnight kiss or that sneaky “drink of water” trick.  And if I do go in there, I know to make sure that all of my duties for the day are done because there is a high chance that I won’t be coming out until morning.

My Tooth Fairy duties had not be fulfilled, and yet I entered into the room of no return anyway.

So back to my wake up call.  I was (thankfully) in my own bed and in my pajamas (though I don’t recall getting there) when a little girl voice spoke to me very matter of factly, “Mama, the Toothy Fairy FORGOT”. Mattie knows good and well that there is no tiny little fairy that slips into our house leaving money for her teeth.  She was completely calling me out on my failure as a mother, there at dawn all vulnerable in my bed.

So I did what I felt like I had to do, I told her that it’s Christmas time and just like her mama, The Tooth Fairy is swamped.  Plus, this weather has been terrible lately and with all the ice and snow, by the way, did you know that Mumsey hasn’t been able to go to school for the whole week?! (I thought that might be a good distraction).  All because of the snow and ice on the roads, so a little fairy with delicate wings would probably have a rough time too.

She looked at me quizzically, or at least that’s how it felt because I really couldn’t see her very well in the dark.  We were obviously playing a mental game with one another, she was going to call me out but in a sneaky sort of way and I was to give her a good enough, creative enough excuse for my forgetfulness.  It worked.  And she crawled in beside me so that we could cuddle a spell before the alarm let us know the day officially had to start.

It has been a few hours now into my day and I realized that some pictures I had ordered to completely some Christmas presents I was planning to give out tomorrow, were having a really rough time at getting here to me.  That would probably be because I never actually ordered them.  Yeah, I have been checking the mail daily, going out in the bitter Memphis winter sometimes 3 times a day, expectantly looking into my mailbox…….for nothing.  Yeah, it often helps speed up the process if you actually order the goods.

And another little project that the kids and I have been working on, a little nativity set that they make using little flower pots (we gave the first 3 pieces 2 years ago and they did the 3 wisemen last year) – well, the pots are nowhere to be found this year.  Michael’s had them 3 weeks ago…..when we weren’t making them yet…..but now they don’t even know what I’m talking about.  So I’m not really sure what my next step is going to be with that quite yet.

And I have to say, the company that goes with me to hunt for craft supplies really does help the process out too much.  Lila has a really strong disdain for shopping carts and walking upright in any sort of shopping establishment and Reese just can’t seem to stay with me.  He doesn’t so much run off, he just doesn’t pay really close attention and ends up attaching himself to someone else.  He stood right beside an elderly, African – American man yesterday, even calling him mama a few times.  I wasn’t very far away and myself and the man just sort of exchanged smiles and waited to see how long this was going to play out.  Earlier this week I was a mannequin, a really tall, thin pubescent boy, and a tiny asian woman whose basket he put his hand on and walked with for almost an entire aisle.  The whole time, looking at something else.

So seeing as I have to spend my visits to the store both reintroducing myself to my kid and wrangling Lila as well as politely asking strangers to please not touch my extra baby’s hair, going out hunting for more tiny pots just seems very daunting.

Is it wrong to get your parents gift cards to Target?  I don’t really feel like my parents need anything and they have money to buy most anything their hearts desire, so these grandkid-made and themed gifts are usually perfect.  But this year, the odd are not in my favor.

Speaking of gifts though, I would like to share with any of you out there who are having a rough time coming up with ideas for the kids in your life, a fantastic gift idea that both the kids and the kid parents will love.

My dear mother-in-law, who lives way across the country knows that anything she gets for the kids either has to be ordered and shipped or she sends us the money and we go out and get it, which she knows with my “helpers” can sometimes be difficult to say the least.  So this year, before even asking what the kids wanted, she presented me with an idea, she had been looking at the Jewish Community Center’s (which we are members of) website and saw all the awesome kids classes that they have, art classes, sports, that kind of thing, and wanted to know which ones the kids would want to take….with love from Nana and Grandad.  So now, the kids are so excited about the month of January because they get to take a pottery class and Reese finally gets to take a class where it’s okay to do experiments.  These are classes I would love to put them in, I just needed that extra little push and it’s a novelty to them because its only something they get to do for a little bit.  It’s new and exciting, lasts about a month to bust up the boring winter, and doesn’t cost their dad and I thing.  Nana and Grandad have given an awesome gift that the kids will love and there are no worries about if they have it already or will it fit.

Another friend of mine has mentioned that she and her family are hoping to go to Disney this summer and their family is donating to the Disney fund for Christmas.  While yet another friend has asked about grandparents possibly paying for season passes to a local amusement park or the zoo instead of giving more toys.  This way, it’s easier for parents to actually get out and do these fun things with their kids.  Even if it’s just passes for the kids and the parents still pay, that’s way cheaper. Toys are great, but I can’t think of many kids that would rather play with a thing over spending time with their special people or actually getting to do something.

So just a thought, classes or passes make great gifts.  Thanks again Nana.  You outdid yourself this year.

And one last little thing.

Last week, school was cancelled due to our wintry weather so we spent a lot of times inside, doing inside things and not changing out of our pajamas.

We made cookies:

There was some dough sneaking:

We washed and curled our hair even though there was no place to go:

There was also a lot of fighting and arguing and plenty of time out, but I didn’t take pictures of that.

Happy Weekend to you all and may you remember that Christmas is a feeling and that feeling shouldnt be anxiety shouldn’t be stressed out.  Be easy on yourselves!

P.S. – when I asked Mattie the other day what Christmas looks like to her, when she closes her eyes and thinks about it really hard, for it to feel right what does it need to be, she said this:

“Christmas smells like green, wintry things and something that kinda smells like cinnamon and sparkles. It’s warm and cozy and there’s happy music everywhere.  We get cards in the mail and do a special performance at church singing my favorite songs.  I also get to eat dessert way more than usual. It’s Jesus’ birthday, but we do a party for a month and don’t usually eat cake. And all the lights, I love all the lights.”

Not a word about presents.  So as long as I have Glade scented candles and plenty of candy and sparkles, Christmas is good.

It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas

The signs are everywhere and it makes me feel all warm and cozy.

The familiar red, heavy weight twine is hanging from our car…..you know, the kind they use to tie your Christmas tree on the roof so that it can safely travel from point a to point b.  Ours last year stuck around until that first good car wash in the spring.  At the time it was hanging on Lila’s side of the car and she seemed to get a real kick out of watching it flap around.  This year it’s on M’s side and I like to think that she too is enjoying all the Christmas spirit that it brings.

Another sign of Christmas is that the cards are starting to arrive.  I LOVE Christmas cards and if you are reading this and usually don’t send me one, or are a stranger and for obvious reasons don’t send me one…..just know that should you be so inclined to this year, it would be very well-received.  Even as a little girl, probably when my love for mail began, I loved the holidays and the daily “presents” that came in the mail.  Back in those days, it wasn’t quite as expected for people to include a photo in their card but was more of a treat and I loved getting to see what mom’s old high school friends kids looked like.  Even when I went off to college,(or last year) I love to pull our her little green basket and see who she has heard from this year.

It should be no surprise that one of the first holiday purchases I  made when Brandon and I got married was a little sleigh, just the right size for putting Christmas cards in.  And I am seeing history repeat itself as every day when she comes home from school, I notice Mattie peer into the little sleigh, taking stock.  So when last week we received 2 cards on the same day here in the first week of December (my friends tend to be slightly less than punctual with their holiday cards…as am I…..birds of a feather I suppose). I may have skipped up my driveway.  They were from our realtor and my dear friends parents, but hey, they sent Christmas cheer just the same and I will take that any day.

Other signs of Christmas that are around out house would be things like the giant tree in out playroom.  Reese, being the boy who loves Christmas, has slept beneath it every night since it’s arrival.  Fact is, he has only left that room for meals and to use the restroom.  He also smelled very strongly of tree sap last night when I was washing his hair.

And the icy winter storm has also really worked overtime to create that cozy ambiance that we don’t usually have here in Memphis during December.  I don’t think it really spread much holiday cheer to our poor neighbors that had a tree fall on their house yesterday, but for those of us that are tucked snuggly in our homes wearing our pajamas for days, we are giving it two thumbs up.

And speaking of wearing our pajamas for days, I am glad we haven’t had anywhere to be that would require matching clothes, because my washing machine went on strike this Monday.  Mondays are usually laundry days around here and I got one load in and things went sour. Apparently, the tub no longer felt the need to drain and with every rinse cycle, the water levels were just rising dangerously higher.  This of course led to an overflow which I discovered when I went to switch the clothes over.  My husband was pretty sure that he could fix it, or at least wanted to give it a try before we called out an SOS.  And I have to say, I ‘m glad we waited because even though it took him most of the week to get around to it, he did fix it…..with the help of Pedro the plumber who keeps a YouTube channel stock full of his Maytag repair tutorials.

The clothes part we were doing okay with, except for underoos.  Had we had to wait much longer, it’s possible we would have had to break into that box of way too big diapers in Lila’s closet for the older two.  Well, for Mattie at least….it turns out that upon actually doing the laundry, Reese hasn’t been changing his underwear this week.  Everyone else had quite a stack in their pile…except for the boy.  I have made him change twice today just to make up for lost time.

One thing that we were getting dangerously low on was towels.  We had just come off of a holiday weekend with company that used towels and a flood in the utility room that also required QUITE a lot of towels.  We were getting to the point were either paper towels or possibly the Christmas tree skirt was going to have to be used.  Maybe that’s why Reese insisted that he really didn’t need a shower, trying to conserve the towels, and thus the lack of underwear changing ensued.  don’t worry future wife, we will get right on that lesson that every day should include fresh underpants….no matter what.

And completely unrelated, but I feel like it deserves mentioning.  Our family thoroughly loved NBC’s live version of The Sound of Music.  No, it did not start out with the awe-inspiring footage of the majestic Alps, building and building so that the magnitude of Julie Andrews vocal stylings just about makes your heart burst.  But it started as a live stage production would.  We watched it as a family and the two of us who have seen the original kept an open mind.  This wasn’t even comparable to the original, but I don’t think the actors or NBC were trying to do that.  Instead, my children got sort of the “abridged” version of the great classic.  And they both loved it.  Mattie now has the original soundtrack downloaded and our house is alive with the sound of little voices, a music only a mother could appreciate.

So for all of those out there who took to social media to voice your opinion about how silly Carrie’s wedding head wreath looked, or how flat little Greta’s voice was during her rendition of So Long, Farewell, or even how monotone the actors were……I would like to put my own two cents in.  There will never be an equal to the original.  It is a classic and a masterpiece in its own right.  However, the attempt that was made was sweet and something special in its own.  I can’t think of the last time, people have actually made plans to be sitting down in front of their tv’s at a specific time to watch something Live.  It was an event that even if you didn’t like, from the looks of Facebook and Twitter, the country still watched.  Maybe Carrie shouldn’t quite her day job and go to Broadway, but kudos to her for giving it a try and going out of her comfort zone.  And for lighting a fire in my own little girl’s heart…her little tone-deaf voice singing, and looking at my curtains as a possible outfit, making Reese wear his suspenders with a belt around the chest to create lederhosen……these are a few of my favorite things.

A Few Things To Make Note Of

While looking through my pictures from Thanksgiving, I realized that there were a few highly important events that I needed to make sure and document.  And an event hasn’t really happened if I didn’t blog about it, so here for the record are a few monumental moments of the life and times of me.

Last Tuesday (last week, not really the last Tuesday as that would be this week’s Tuesday) was Early American Day for Mattie’s school.  You may have noticed a pattern here that every month there is some sort of theme day…..anyway, I think that the idea was sort of to have the kids dress as either pilgrims or indians, but Mattie insisted that technically, it wasn’t America yet when that whole first Thanksgiving business went down.  Instead, she would rather dress up as Harriet Tubman.  Now, I am all for supporting Mattie as she is learning about brave women in history.  I pray that when she grows up, Mattie will have the strength and the passion to stand up for what’s right.  That she will not just sit back and watch things happen when she believes that she can do something about it.  I really hope she doesn’t land in jail or worse for these beliefs, but even still, I would be proud of her.  That said, I really wasn’t sure how to go about dressing her as Harriet Tubman.

She offered me a few suggestions, but they all seemed like they might come across as a little bit offensive to those she might come into contact with, especially if they had no idea what she was supposedly dressed as.  It just seems like a really bad idea to go in that direction.

Instead, we went with what we had, and though I think she looks a little more Nelly than Laura, Mattie was very happy to play the part of an extra on Little House on the Prairie:

Little Mattie on the Prairie

Mumsey makes a mean bonnet, doesn’t she?

I’m not sure about the small girl standing next to Mattie. I am not responsible for her headwear

I am also very proud to say that she didn’t even think twice when I told her we would be running into Michael’s to pick up a few things.  To say that we got a few looks would be an understatement, but she wasn’t phased in the least.  Maybe with her blinder of a bonnet on,  she couldn’t see anything except what was right in front of her.  Either way, I loved that she was dressed as an old-fashioned girl and felt completely okay with it.

The next thing I would like to mention as a monumental moment, is this right here:

Dare I say they are being civil?

Here is photographic proof that in this season of their lives, my two oldest children actually loved one another contrary to the screams of “Get him out of my room!, Stop looking at me, I wish I was an only child, Why do you have to touch everything! And Sissy is being Awful and needs to be sold to another family!”

For a brief glimmer of time, they were friends.  They shared a blanket without anyone getting hurt and are actually *gasp* smiling.  They were watching a very corny christmas movie that I am too embarrassed to even share here, but still……I will take it.

Huge moment here.  One we probably won’t see the likes of again until Mattie gets her license and we tell her she can take the car as long as she takes Reese along with her.

Something else, that caught me completely off guard was looking around a bit later for kid number 2 and finding him outside doing this:

Earning his keep

When asked if he wanted to come back inside or some help, he let me know that he could do it a lot faster if I stopped interrupting him.  Okay…….it’s all yours…..knock yourself out with you leaf sweeping kiddo.

They say Danica Patrick started on a bike, too.

Stay out of the street girls

Don’t look at your feet, Girlie

These two are quite fond of one another….for now, just wait Mattie, she will be 5 one day, too. You liked Reese when he was almost 2, also.

And the last monumental even to share today is this:

I am both thrilled and terrified and even a little depressed by this picture.  What is my tiny infant daughter doing on a big kid bike?  It’s not even a tricycle!  And other than the fact that her feet are nowhere near the peddles, if you just glance at it, this picture looks like Mattie is really teaching her how to ride a bike.  I am not ready for this.  Thankfully, she was only going for a ride and with the brains doctor in residence here, helmets are a must even if it’s just a pretend little ride.  Concussions are not something to be joked about.  Concussions pay our mortgage, but still we would rather they not happen, there are still plenty of other brain debilitating diseases and injuries out there that would keep him in business.  As a matter of fact, I am wearing a helmet right now as I type this, just to be on the safe side.

So that is it for now, my monumental moments……for the week.

 

I Am Thankful

I hope each and every one of you had a fabulous holiday.  That you took time to really take stock of how you have been blessed this past year and that you were reminded that you have been a blessing to others.  My family came to spend the long weekend with us and it was fantastic.  I think one of my favorite points in the whole visit was being able to look in both the refrigerator and my pantry and they were both stuffed full.  I enjoy eating food and I am a very skilled shopper for food, I just have a horrible time ever coming up with meal ideas and therefore, I don’t do really well when it comes to keeping out cabinets stocked.  Give me a menu and a list and I am your girl, I’ll probably even save you a few dollars with my shopping savvy, but without a little guidance.  I’m a mess…….

This abundance of food was almost more than I could handle.

Even now, almost a week after the troops first arrived, my fridge is more crowded than it has probably ever been.  If only it could stay that way……………………..

I am happy that I get to host my family Thanksgiving.  It makes me feel like a grown-up.  I apparently am not really a grown up though if all the food has to br brought in by other people, but still, it makes me kind of feel like I am.  In actuality, this holiday is celebrated at my house for two reasons, A) I have the most kids and 2) I am in the middle.  But still, I will take it.

Our festivities included lots of crafting….got the last of those Thanksgiving decorations pumped out just in time to take them down…..Brandon never did make his turkey plate…….he has no reason to complain when the kids make family snowmen for the mantel and he wasn’t included.  Reese spend several hours working on a little wooden race car.  He carefully painted the body and though he ran into some issues with the wheels, Papa came to the rescue with this ingenious idea of using a dinner roll and tooth picks to balance the wheels as he painted.  He did all this detailed work and then just walked away from the whole thing.  I’m pretty sure it all got thrown away sometime on Sunday, but for those few hours, it was worth every penny that was spent on it because boy did he love painting it.

This was supposed to be a Christmas Tree made of rubber gloves, let me save you the $15.00 of buying your own box of rubber gloves….it was a big failure. But a very fun attempt.

Making their very own wreaths

Nene came with her glue gun, the crafts were flowing and the kids loved it!

Turkey wreath made with Mattie and Reese handprints and a Reese foot print. I realize that green isn’t a very common turkey feather color, but I was not the picker of the paper

Wheel painting using the dinner roll method

Reading…..

Reading, not Lila’s usual pick but Reese enjoyed it

Lila immediately greets you with a book should she find you sitting down.

And of course eating……………

This is an honored guest at our Thanksgiving dinners, or really any time it decides to grace my house with its presence

I think these paper coloring placemats are intended for the kiddie table, but all the adults enjoyed the coloring halftime between the main course and dessert

I was tempted to just send Mattie to school with a V8 because it feels like we have done nothing but eat for the last 96 hours, and none of it was particularly green and leafy.

And just spending time with my special people.

I am very thankful for my Shannie

Sometimes, you just need to pull up a chair and sit beside your Nene

Though she hasn’t seen her in several months, Lila picked up right where she left off with her love for Auntie Brandi

My peeps

Also, very thankful for my punkin