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December 31, 2010
Quite possibly, my biggest regret this year was letting my kids stay up for the New Year's Eve party. The bags under my eyes today are all the proof I need to say I'm tired. Exhausted. Worn out. On the verge of catching some horrible, rotten illness from lack of good sleep. And wishing my kids were 16 and sleeping in until noon.
Pearl had a blast, until we told her the party was over and it was time for bed. Cole, not so much. That kid wouldn't fall asleep. Having just gotten over (sort of anyway) a high fever, cough, and nasty virus over Christmas, he needed to avoid the Martenilli sparking cider (or "bubbly" as I call it) that Jeff breaks out once a year, streamers, and late night gluttony and just go to bed. It was almost the new year before Jeff finally got him to lay down. A few hours of respite until he woke up TWICE that night. Story of my life lately. I know I need to enjoy this time - and believe me, I don't want him to keep growing up - but I'd sure enjoy it more if I got a full night's rest instead of getting up at least once every single night for the past seven months.
So, the first goal of 2011... learn how to apply makeup so you can't see the bags under my eyes 'cause I'm not so sure the whole good night sleeping thing is going to happen anytime soon!
December 30, 2010
Hundred-year-old houses come with lots of character but not a lot of storage space. We didn't really notice until kiddo #2 came along and suddenly our lack of closets, cupboards, and square footage was staring us straight in the face. There is a good thing about not having a lot of room though - it forces us to de-junk every few months.
Poor Pearl has taken the brunt of it. Every time she gets a new toy, we make her donate an old one to the D.I. It's quite traumatic. But I promise, it's out of necessity and not just because we are mean parents. With a bunch of new toys from Christmas, I knew we had to do some major re-organizing in her room. I've learned that if I want her to not only be able to play with her toys, but to pick them up afterward, we need storage bins she can open herself. Luckily, there are about 300 million storage tubs to choose from. And we've found the perfect ones for her little hands to pry open. Now every new toy has it's own bin and is organized, clean, and in their right place. If only she found this as exciting as I did.
December 29, 2010
This football field sized driveway is ours (I'm not exaggerating). It's long. Really, really long. Oh sure, in the summer it's heaven for sidewalk chalk but in the winter? It sucks.
With a big winter storm that blew in tonight and a husband in Logan watching his beloved Aggies beat Hawaii (I think we get a major storm every time they come to the mainland), I thought to myself, oh a lovely night all to myself... well, once Cole is in bed. I had nearly plopped by my fat butt down on the couch to do nothing but watch TV when a tiny voice in my head said, "Oh, Jeff will be so mad if he has to drive on all that snow when he comes home - it will turn to ice where the tires go. I'll just go shovel two paths for the tires so he can drive into the garage."
So I found some gloves, a beanie, and my sneakers and headed outside, shovel in hand.
Then that tiny voice said to me, "Oh, it would be really nice if Jeff could get to his car in the morning without having to trudge through snow." So I kept shoveling.
Once I had a path to the car made, that stupid, I mean tiny voice said to me, "Oh, Jeff's back has been killing him all week. He'd really hate to come home and debate about whether he should snow blow tonight or get up early and do it."
So I kept shoveling... heavy, wet snow. Then the voice said, "You really should shovel the sidewalk. The poor mailman shouldn't have to trudge through snow and what if someone is crazy enough to be out walking in this sub-zero weather? They would certainly appreciate walking on the sidewalk and not through snow."
At this point there was simply no turning back. So I shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled. All while cursing about where my 15-year-old neighbor kid was when I needed him. An hour later it was done, to which I celebrated my workout with a Snickers.
I sure wish I knew how to start our mammoth-sized snow blower.
December 28, 2010
I really need to up my list of children's songs because I typically sing "The Wheels on the Bus" about 3,000 times to my kids from the time they are born until they can tell me the words to songs they actually want to sing. But they seem to like it.
This is how Cole and I do the verse about "the babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah..." I put his chubby hands on my eyes and he giggles and giggles. I find it hysterical and simply adorable and so we repeat this verse a lot.
December 27, 2010
Every day the same scene plays out when Jeff gets home from work. Pearl runs in for several hugs and smooches from her best friend. Cole squeals and covers his mouth with both his fists in an attempt to hide his excitement. And then the wrestling match (or sock game) begins.
But they aren't the only ones who's glad when daddy comes home!
December 26, 2010
I didn't take this picture, I admit. And it came from yesterday's finale of the Christmas celebrations.
But it was fitting because today it was Pearl's turn to be sick. Jeff said it was a Christmas wish come true to miss church... the heathen. Pearl really is one tough cookie when it comes to having a high fever and feeling miserable. I forget just how tough she is with her whining about random scratches or made-up ouchies that require a new bandaid because when it comes down to the real ouchies, she doesn't complain at all.
December 25, 2010
Ever since I posted about wanting my kids to have a magical Christmas, Jeff has asked me every single day "if it was magical." Random things, like asking me if some TV show was magical or the snowman he built or who knows what else. You get the idea.
Well, today I finally got to say it was magical!
December 24, 2010
Since Jeff's brother was too sick to come over for the family Christmas Eve get-together, Jeff and his mom decided to honor him with the traditional squirt of Reddi-whip. After waiting all day to open presents and then the excitement of opening gifts, Pearl was more than hyper at this point. She laughed and laughed at herself. I think Uncle Roy would be mighty proud to see his rambunctious shinanagans carried on in his absence.
December 23, 2010
I took a few days off from work to spend time with my kids enjoying the Christmas spirit. You know, baking goodies, wrapping presents, staring at the tree in wonderment, reading Christmas books, and just enjoying the time together. What we ended up doing was trying to comfort a sick baby for three days. Three long, sleepless days. I've never seen Cole so sick before. He pretty much screamed for three days straight. Diagnosis? A slight ear infection which was secondary to some nasty virus that just had to run its course. Why does it always happen during the holidays?
December 22, 2010
Some friends brought over a plate of goodies a few days ago and today I finally gave in and let Pearl pick something to eat after lunch. As she started munching off our gingerbread man's head off, she told me, "I wish he could talk."
I couldn't help but giggle. That kid cracks me up!
December 21, 2010
Cole is definitely all boy.
He loves balls. (And yes, both kinds if you were wondering what I meant.... someone please tell me little boys out grow the touching, playing, and grabbing down there!)
Seriously, though the kid has quite the arm. He throws a lot farther (and straighter) than his mom or sister. I'm thinking a future in baseball is coming our way.
December 20, 2010
Our neighbors came over with a surprise for Pearl and Cole tonight. It was a new Christmas book, "The Night Before Christmas." But not just any book. One that you can record yourself reading each page so there's no actual reading involved, just listening. David and Vickie each took a turn recording a page and even personalized the story by inserting Pearl and Cole's names.
It was awesome and Pearl loved it. She's been listening to it non-stop ever since. Every time the story talks about Santa's nose like a cherry, she repeats the line and giggles to herself. And with the number of times she's listened to it, I wouldn't be surprised if she's got the whole poem memorized by Christmas.
December 19, 2010
No wonder we're always late to church.
December 18, 2010
Jeff continues to surprise and amaze me. Tonight, after a long day of being cooped up in the house, he trudged outside with Pearl to get the wiggles out and build her first snowman. She was quite excited about the idea. Until she realized there would be work involved in rolling the snow into gigantic balls, then molding them together, and finding some pretty poor accessories for eyes (two pears I colored black with a magic marker), arms (lacrosse stick), a nose (baby carrot), and mouth (licorice rope with two toothpicks to hold it on his face). Oh and the hat (a big, black bucket).
Let's just say that Frosty is really Jeff's snowman. Pearl was too busy playing on her swings to finish helping her dad. She was however, very, very upset the next day when she saw the rain had melted him. So upset that she told us we needed to go to the Logan Temple and ask Jesus why He didn't want it to snow so we could fix Frosty.
December 17, 2010
Tonight was the Ward Family Christmas Party. As part of the committee in charge of tonight's festivities, we were there early and stayed late.
We had a "Christmas in the Morning" theme. The kids (and a few adults) wore their jammies. We ate Christmas/breakfast casseroles, cinnamon rolls, and fruit salads. And not to be mean, but my casserole really did look the best. Plus it was the only one that didn't have sausage in it... I'm more of a ham-kind-of-girl myself. We had a visit from Santa. And we made gingerbread houses. Well, graham cracker houses. It was quite ingenious on my part I thought - to pre-assemble kits in giant Ziplock bags complete with candy, frosting, and graham crackers. Ok, so it was more that I refused to make actual gingerbread then assemble 50 houses at home prior to the party, which was the original plan. I was actually quite surprised to hear how many people there had never made a gingerbread house before. Jeff included.
Of course, you'd never know this was Jeff's first time he had assembled a gingerbread house after seeing his "apartment complex" and NOT an outhouse as everyone kept calling it. We were, as Jeff dubbed it, "slum Lords" with a two story building complete with a fancy tinfoil roof and two cars. Even thought Jeff disagreed with me, I insisted we bring this masterpiece home. We'll see how long it lasts before someone smashes, eats, or drops it.
December 16, 2010
The anticipation was almost unbearable for all the kids in Pearl's daycare this last week. They all knew a special visitor was coming on Thursday afternoon.
The REAL Santa Claus.
Seriously, he's the real thing. That is his REAL beard. He has a REAL ranch with reindeer, well technically caribou, in Alaska. He has a REAL sleigh. His suit is the most authentic I've ever seen. And he has a REAL sparkle in his eye.
And for the first time in three years, Pearl didn't scream, cry, or refuse to sit on his lap. Although she still had to have one of us right next to her. It must be the magic of Christmas. That or the fact that Santa had brought her a present. Which for the record, were pink snow pants. Snow pants that I didn't want Santa to bring for fear that Pearl was going to be crushed that she was the only kid in her class who didn't get a toy. But Jeff was right... Pearl immediately stripped down and wore them the rest of evening. And this morning I found she had gotten dressed all by herself... wearing those pink snow pants.
December 15, 2010
Thanks to Shutterfly, we are sending out our first official Christmas cards. Well, we usually go with the email update but this is the first year we have an actual card. Granted, most of you will probably just trash them but after reading this post by a photography friend, I decided we were sending the real deal this year. Jeff was a bit upset that I picked a card design with the year on it... he wanted to save half of them for next year. Funny. The only problem with mailing actual cards is that stamps are a lot more expensive than the pdf letter. And Shutterfly hasn't figured out how to find all your addresses for me yet.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
December 14, 2010
Jeff is awesome... he signs us all up for Baskin Robbins birthday club. Which means on our half-birthdays, we get a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream. Luckily for us, Pearl has to have her parents go with her to get her half-birthday treat which means we also get a delicious scoop. Yummm.
December 13, 2010
Any guesses as to what Pearl has come up with now?
I'll give you a hint. It involves sticking your little bum at your mom while saying, "Pssssssst!"
Give up?
Here's your final clue. After doing the above actions, you tell your mom, "Now you're stinky!"
A skunk. Pearl was impersonating a skunk. Seriously, where did she come up with this? Part of me laughed hysterically. The other half bowed in shame thinking where on earth did she come up with this?
After spraying her teacher, Ms. Sara, the next day because she didn't let her do something she wanted to, Pearl finally confessed that she had learned about being a skunk from Curious George. Apparently we will now be banning PBS Kids at our house.
December 12, 2010
I know what you're all thinking... has Jenny completely lost it?
Almost.
I ironed five of Jeff's work shirts, without him begging and pleading with me to do so out of embarrassment because they are so wrinkly. Jeff, in fact, told me I didn't have to iron them. But they were really wrinkly.
Then if that isn't enough, I sewed a missing button on one of them which had been patiently sitting in our room for weeks. Then, I reorganized the man's closet so all his long sleeved shirts were together and all his short sleeve shirts were together (color coded too). THEN, I got him a bowl of ice cream.
What in the world has gotten into me?
December 31, 2010
