Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! We had a great week!

Sunday:

Couch naps is what vacation is all about.

NO STOP IT STOP IT NOW

I think E was wishing he was back at sea instead of playing the rainbow game

Monday:

Apparently he was very comfortable in that one

The post office was a poor choice

That looks like something I can put in my mouth! Give it to me!!!

Tuesday:

My husband and father murdered my bushes (I asked them to).

Why are we at the grocery store AGAIN?

I had a Lego emergency

Wednesday:

It’s a good thing I don’t like peanut butter blossoms, because I made a LOT of them

Doing her best statue of liberty impression

Pretty excited about our Christmas

Thursday:

Happy with her stash

His Christmas mostly involved doing this

Plasma car success!

Friday:

FAT BABY

SLEEPY BABY

HAPPY BABY

Saturday:

Disapproving grouper judges you

Santa?!

What does the fox say? Zzzzzzzzzz….

Linc has like, a million new teeth coming in right now, so he’s pretty miserable. We were supposed to go to Virginia this week but I can’t handle the car trip plus sleeping at someone else’s house with such a grumpy baby. Not when the alternative is staying home in my pajamas. I did manage to get ALL THE LAUNDRY done today (or at least as much as is physically possible when you have children) so I feel pretty good. Tomorrow my goal is to vacuum every floor/rug in the house. Or maybe I’ll just try to catch up on laundry again.

BIRTHDAY WEEK! Today, Sunday, the day after Caroline’s party, I’ve finally managed to think about the fact that Christmas is 4 days away and I can’t even FIND half the gifts I bought the kids (no for real, WHERE DID I HIDE THEM????).

Sunday:

Swiiiiiiiiiiing

I only burned myself three times and the beer was an effective painkiller.

I REJECT YOUR BABY BATHTUB! GIVE ME REAL WATER!

Monday:

Proud of his gold star from the dentist

Wraps make good blankets when you use the stroller

You brought me to a casino AGAIN?!

Tuesday:

School uniforms don’t have sock and shoe requirements

WHY U PUT ME IN THIS CAGE?

NOM TULA NOM NOM

Wednesday:

She insisted on the jaunty hat

Screw you candy thermometer, you are USELESS

He’s disappointed none of those things are food

Thursday:

Daddy chat time

Outtake from my attempt at a santa baby picture. I have 30 more like this.

SHUT UP.

Friday:

Cookie time with Aunt Carolyn

I do not want to talk about what is happening here.

Two fancy ladies at The Nutcracker

Saturday:

Two selfies in a row is ridiculous, but the birthday girl is too cute

A shark playing Pin The Tail On The Mermaid

In the Rainbow My Little Pony game, EVERYONE WINS

If I posted a picture of my house right now, I’m pretty sure Wayfair would throw me out of their Homemakers program. But since they totally understand my aspirations to one day have a catalog perfect home, they’ve kindly sponsored a post so I can at least DREAM about getting organized. 

We’re hosting a bunch of people this year, not for Christmas exactly but for Caroline’s birthday party the weekend before. Don’t ask how party planning is going, the answer is AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But even if I’m running around like a crazy person writing a menu 12 hours before the guests show up we’ll have a house full with more company staying at hotels. No matter how behind I get, I am committed to the house being MAGICAL and FESTIVE and WELCOMING, so here’s a look at how I’m getting my home ready for the holidays.

Linc is totally ready for the holidays with those jammies

(more…)

We played a little hooky this week. Since E is on actual non-working vacation for the first time in three years I’ve declared December the DON’T CARE month and we’re doing as many fun things as possible, even if it means skipping school. The kids are 5 and 3, I’m pretty sure they won’t be educationally handicapped for life just because they missed a few days. Especially considering last week was half-days and Evan spent them watching movies. They’re probably better off with us in Ohio, learning useful game-playing skills like Battleship and Hand & Foot.

Sunday:

No no, no pictures please

My extremely fancy and professional set up for Christmas card photos

I COULD have gone to the grocery store alone, but then who would have said hello to all the lobsters??

Monday:

The pretty sky makes this house look extra creepy

MOMMY TAKE A PICTURE

Magic garden of the future!! Caroline tried the parsley. Said it tastes like parsley.

Tuesday:

Abominable snowman ring pop was an excellent choice

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Look Ma, found my foot

Wednesday:

Internet, meet my new baby, Laptop, meet the internet.

5 pm teacher conference might as well be the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

She made up a song about his feety-feet and sings it all the time

Thursday:

Abandoned gas stations make surprisingly good places to stop on long trips

She’s the Queen of Burgers

“Mom, did we trash the place?” “Yes honey, you trashed the place.”

Friday:

Teaching Evan about targets… “And that’s why Daddy works on submarines!”

A quick wrap job so I had my hands free…

…for the important stuff.

Saturday:

Why yes you may go outside and play in the freezing cold if you want.

Hello, is it me you’re looking for?

Linc and I went for a freezing cold walk to look at lights. He lasted 2 minutes before he fell asleep – and stayed asleep – for almost 2 hours.

I can’t believe it is already the second week of December. TOO FAST TOO FAST. I need more time to do all the holiday stuff. Plus I haven’t even MAILED Caroline’s birthday invites. If I hadn’t ordered them already I’d be tempted to just make a Facebook event and send it to my entire friends list and just hope a few people show up. I can’t imaging why I feel so rushed and disorganized this year. Maybe I’m not drinking enough Diet Coke. That MUST be it.

I’m not going to lie, I am not a huge fan of Thanksgiving. I feel very meh about all the traditional food (except for pie #teampie) and if we aren’t going anywhere I end up doing A LOT of work for people who also feel very meh about the food. It ends up being much more about the tradition of making the food – being in the kitchen, letting the kids help, timing everything perfectly – than the actual food.

This was the first year I enjoyed having the kids participate in the cooking. I really WANT them to have good holiday memories of togetherness in the kitchen but sometimes I just want to pour a cup of flour without anyone dumping half of it on the floor. I am TRYING. I am allowing the floor to be flour-covered and the pie to be over-cinnamoned and my patience to be stretched thin in the hopes that they will one day face the same thing with their children and realize “Wow, my mother really loved me.”

In the spirit of accepting that the holidays don’t have to be perfect to be special, here are some photos from our Thanksgiving weekend. We went full Christmas on Black Friday – tree shopping trumps gift shopping – although I’m not happy with my current decorations. Caroline’s mermaid birthday is clashing with my previous princess/woodland fairy themes. I need a LOT more silver and pink. But in the meantime, enjoy pictures of dirty dishes instead.

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