12.29.2008

Happy Holidays

We have finally (mostly) recovered from a whirlwind of a Christmas week. We had good visits with family, fantastic presents, fun games, great food, and a lot of great memories. Matt's sister Caroline was in town for a week, so we managed to pack in four visits with her and Matt's parents during the week. It was great for us and even better for the kids, who adore their Aunt Caroline and don't get to see her all that often since she lives in Kentucky. We spent Christmas Even with my in-laws and Christmas Day with my parents. The kids were exhausted by the end of it all, and yet they still were wishing for more presents to open! I'm starting to think that it's too much to do a big birthday fuss for John in mid-December and then Christmas a few days later. It's overwhelming for him and for us!

Anyway, the holidays were full of fun and family and very good food. We enjoyed our visits with everyone and at the end had a couple of weekend days at home to ourselves to relax and recover. Now we're trying to figure out what our New Year's Eve will entail. Right now our plans include the kids and I going to a kids' show at Jammin'Java (a local coffee place/small show venue) with a few friends of mine from college and their kids. Then we're heading back to another family's house to hang out, play, and eat until the kids decide the evening is over! ;-) Should be a lot of fun and although it will be low-key, I am looking forward to a fun afternoon and evening. And a very Happy New Year!

Hope you have all had a happy holiday season and have a wonderful start to your 2009!

Also, thanks to all who helped me get to 300 hits on this blog already!! Yeahhh!! And I promise to get back on track with more regular posts again in the new year! (It's one of my more important resolutions this year!) ;-)

12.23.2008

Whispers

Each year since I was in my early teens, my mother has made an advent calendar. Until a few years ago, it was for me. Now she makes four of them - one for each of her grandchildren. This is a slightly different advent calendar though. She gets 24 small presents, wraps each one and ties it to a ribbon. Then each morning of advent, the recipient gets to come downstairs and open the bottom present on the ribbon. It's a lot of fun and even though the gifts are fairly small items, it's exciting to find out each day what awaits you.

This year is the first time that Kara has had her own calendar. And the kids have been very good about opening them together so far. The other day though, Kara had gotten up early and was watching some tv before John came down. Once he gets up, he's ready to do the calendar and has had a hard time waiting for Kara to be ready. So this particular day, he asked Kara if she was ready to open her advent present and she said no. He asked several more times, with no change in her response. Then he changed his tactic. He went over to her and softly whispered in her ear about the benefits of opening her present sooner rather than later. It was so cute. And a moment later, she was jumping down off the couch ready to go find out what the daily treasure was. It was so sweet and definitely a little funny. He's figuring out that often he can convince her to go along with something he wants to do if he just acts sweet towards her. They're getting more mischievous as a pair!

I can hardly wait to see what the little whispers might result in during the new year!

12.21.2008

The Holidays are Upon Us

Last night we managed to get everyone dressed and out the door to go to a holiday concert that my mother-in-law sang in. Her chorale was singing with a band and doing a variety of holiday songs. It was a very nice concert and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Well, John actually managed to sit through almost half of it before getting the wiggles. And Kara sat for about 5 minutes before the concert even started and then was on the move the rest of the time. Fortunately, it was held at Fairfax High School, so there was plenty of room to wander the halls around the auditorium during the concert with all the other 2 year olds who were just not going to sit through the show! Matt and I took shifts and the kids made a fair number of new friends.

As I was taking Kara down to go for a walk I was reminded of a very eventful trip we took 3 years ago to Austin, TX to see my sister-in-law's doctoral graduation ceremony, when John was just 2 years old. The trip getting to Austin involved flying into Chicago on a very snowy, stormy night. We were on the first plane for 9 hours, then had a terrifying cab ride for another hour, ate dinner at midnight, slept on the airport floor, and made the rest of the trip to Austin the following morning. WITH A 2 YEAR OLD. All in all, it took us 24 hours to get there. The next day was the actual graduation ceremony. I'm not sure why we thought that John would sit through the event. Of course, he didn't. Not for one minute. I spent the entire ceremony out in the hallway, again with the other kids and their parents. It was okay, but I was a little bummed to have come all that way to have missed the whole thing. But, I digress....

So we did the holiday concert, saw another Santa, and got dressed up in nice clothes for a fun evening out. We drove home through some neighborhoods nearby to see holiday lights. It was a good evening. John and I baked cookies yesterday and Kara helped frost and decorate them. It was actually the first time I had ever made frosting, so it was an experience all the way around! We've been enjoying getting more and more holiday cards in the mail each day. And the kids are certainly enjoying their advent calendars this year. It's been a good season so far and I'm looking forward to all the holiday joy the coming week is going to bring for us.

12.20.2008

Relax - for a moment anyway

As I type this, I'm listening to Matt and the kids play with John's new Hot Wheels set in the basement. Kara's asking "Rea-ry Daddy?" (translate - Ready Daddy?). And the set is nice because to work the whole thing together you need to push buttons in two different places, which gives Kara a way to participate without making John miserable! It's a good time happening down there. We're also waiting (some of us more patiently than others) for some Christmas sugar cookies to cool so that we can decorate them. It's been a nice calm day for us, which has been very pleasant. We managed to get a bit of grocery shopping in. I did some of the gift wrapping last night, so I'm feeling a bit better about that task. The next couple of days are going to be busier again, filled with errands and visits with family, which we all love, but does sometimes leave me wondering when the other tasks of the household will get done. The day outside has been gray and dreary, but it has been that way most of the week. I'm really ready for it to either snow or clear up so we can see the sun again.

The kids seem to be enjoying the holidays so far. We've been making various holiday/birthday crafts, singing songs, watching holiday specials, and ready lots of good holiday books. Yesterday at the library we actually found a copy of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, which we read all together before naptime today. I love finally being able to enjoy the season and all that it entails. We're getting multiple holiday cards in the mail each day now and I love seeing how all the kids are growing and changing.

Okay, the kids aren't waiting too patiently anymore for decorating cookies. So off I must head to do that before total anarchy takes over my household!

12.18.2008

Holidays are Coming - Happy or Not!

Well, this week has been terribly busy for me. After the big birthday festivities last weekend, we hosted Kara's playgroup on Tuesday morning, followed by me having to work in John's class in the afternoon. Then yesterday, Matt stayed home with the kids and worked in the class so I could go out and finish the Christmas shopping. It amazed me at how much I was able to accomplish in a few short hours without the short people tagging along! I went to two different malls, a toy store, a shipping store, the Container Store, and had lunch in three and a half hours. I was totally wiped out at the end of it all, but it was done, so I felt like I'd actually gotten it accomplished. And it's still a week until Christmas! So this morning, with both kids up before dawn (which is just not the norm around here, and thus leads to super-tired and cranky kids), I decided to take things easy today. John was thrilled to help me put labels and stamps on the Christmas cards while Kara worked on her own sticker page. Afterwards we bundled up and walked up to the mailbox to send off our cards. Kara got to drop the cards in the box, much to John's dismay. Then we walked around the neighborhood a bit, delivered a few more cards ourselves and then headed home to warm up. It was surprisingly cold out this morning! By this point, I was exhausted, but the kids had finally woken up and were playing well together and running around while I was making lunch before getting John off to school. I was ready to drop him off about an hour early today, but held on until the normal drop-off time. ;-) Then I finally had a few moments to myself once I had Kara in bed for her nap. I briefly thought about spending the time wrapping presents or doing something productive, but quickly decided watching the last episode of Desperate Housewives, which I had missed, would be much more relaxing! After having some time to chill out, I headed for the laundry room and then the kitchen to make dinner. So now I'm about to head out to pick up John from school and figure out what on earth we're going to do to get through the afternoon. I'm seeing some art projects happening today!

Now that I've gotten so much accomplished, I'm starting to be able to relax and remember what the holidays are really all about. I'm finally looking forward to spending time with all our family and watching the magic of Christmas unfold. I wish everyone the luxury of time to stop and enjoy the holidays.

12.15.2008

Thankful Monday?

Well, I know it's Monday, but I wanted to do a Thankful post anyway...Here goes!

I thankful for...
1. the fact that it's now 10:30 and I am still in my pjs. The kids are dressed, but I'm not!
2. my big 5 year old son.
3. and his cute little sister, who did very well yesterday with John getting presents and not getting any herself.
4. the holidays ahead and all the time we are going to get with our family and friends.
5. that we all stayed healthy (mostly) through John's birthday. Matt's getting a head cold now, which hopefully will run it's course so we can all be healthy again by Christmas!
6. having so many grandparents that my kids know and love.
7. having a day of peace before hosting a playgroup and working at the preschool tomorrow.
8. the joy and love of the holiday season.
9. the Thomas birthday cake we got for John yesterday - he absolutely LOVED it!!
10. and having a (mostly) clean house and just having to do some tidying up before playgroup tomorrow.

I hope you're all having a happy and healthy holiday season and are taking some time to enjoy the season in amidst the craziness!! Have a cup o' cheer!!

Crispy Cinnamon Garbanzo Beans

Yummy recipe! I made it this weekend for one of John's birthday activities and it was a big hit. Even Kara was gobbling them up! So, since it was SOOOO super easy to make, I thought it was definitely worth sharing!

Crispy Cinnamon Garbanzo Beans
makes 3 cups

1 cup dried garbanzo beans
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. raw (or regular granulated) sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt

1. Soak the beans overnight in cool water. Drain and pat them dry with paper towels.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a bowl, toss the beans with the vegetable oil and sugar.
4. Spread them in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Roast them in the oven until crunchy and no longer soft in the centers, about 45 minutes. Stir them a few times to prevent burning.
5. Immediately toss the beans in a bowl with the cinnamon and salt. Cool and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Well, John is officially 5!

I can hardly believe it, but my little boy is finally 5 years old. As I looked in on him last night, he lay there sleeping soundly looking like such a big kid in his bed. Even 2 years ago when we got the twin bed, he looked so small in such a big bed. Now he's gotten so much bigger and is becoming my little man. It's hard to remember the days when he was just an infant. I am so proud of him and who he is becoming. He's sweet, smart, independent, and confident - all qualities I wished for him as a newborn. Of course there are times when he frustrates the heck out of me, but more and more I'm enjoying spending time with him. Often the best times are reading books or playing games together. Or just watching him enjoy being a big brother to Kara. I'm so happy that we had a great birthday weekend together and will get to celebrate again tomorrow at school. Happy Birthday to my big boy (and to all the other December birthday kids that we know)!!

12.11.2008

Pre-Birthday Week

So this week has been a little nuts around here. As I'm trying to get caught back up from our week of illnesses last week, I've realized that I've done very little Christmas shopping. Add to that John's birthday is on Sunday and you've got one overwhelmed mom! Fortunately, I've done the birthday shopping and yesterday the kids and I conquered the party store for supplies for the (very) small birthday party we're having on Sunday. Today we did the craft store to get a craft project for the party and managed to get a Christmas present for one of my nieces while we were there (ka-ching!). It's been a very busy week. I've been very thankful to have my afternoons during preschool and naptime to get a few things done and have a few minutes to myself. My brain feels like it's going too fast and I definitely need some time each day to make myself slow down a bit and remember to enjoy the season. This is my favorite time of year and I've been struggling to enjoy it so far this year. I'm hoping that after Sunday things will slow down and we'll be able to relax a bit. I just finished doing a bunch of shopping via Crate and Barrel's website (with free shipping, even to multiple locations - yeah!!), so that takes care of a lot of my list. I feel very relieved! Now I have a few more minutes before waking Kara to go get John after school. Then I'm intending to do some vacuuming, but maybe we'll do a holiday craft project or watch a holiday show that we've taped instead. I need to have a little fun today!!

Piggy Tails

Okay, so the main reason for this post is to get up a picture of adorable Kara with her pigtails in. She let me do it for one whole weekend (even asked for me to put her hair up) and then hasn't really let me do it since then. I'm hoping maybe over the holidays I can get it up once or twice while she's distracted, but we'll see. It's just too cute!!

12.07.2008

So, it's been awhile!

Okay, so I've been very lax in my blog posting since before Thanksgiving. But I have a good reason! Our family was inundated with sickie bugs for most of the last two weeks. Yuck! We started out the holiday with John, Kara, and I having head colds. Then Kara developed a nasty stomach bug late on Thanksgiving night. She was down and out for most of the weekend, which was too bad for our visit with all the extended family. The rest of us thought we were free and clear, but then we quickly realized we were wrong! On the Wednesday after the holiday, once my cold was finally starting to clear, I came down with the stomach bug. That night Matt succumbed and John was affected the following day. John was the only one who did not actually get sick, but he spent most of the day complaining of an upset tummy, stayed home from swimming and school and took a nap (which he only does when he's sick). So, after several more days of illness, we seem to finally have beaten back the bugs and be on the mend. Needless to say, it's been a long couple of weeks!

Fortunately, we did have a good holiday overall. With Kara being the exception, the rest of us really enjoyed the time we had with both sets of grandparents, my aunt, my uncle, and my brother, sister-in-law and their two girls. John had a great time playing with the cousins, while Kara mostly slept the days away. We cut down Christmas trees and decorated my parents' house, ate tons of yummy food, and watched some good football games. It was a busy, but good weekend.

This last week was a bit brutal for us, but with us getting sick in a sort of staggered fashion, we were able to get through it. That, and with the help of some good friends! We've been sick a few times this fall already, but this was definitely the worst. It made me appreciate the fact that we rarely get stomach bugs around here. Usually it's just colds, which are yucky, but not so bad when compared with this.

So, for now, I'm on to getting prepared for John's 5th birthday (which is a week from today - yikes!) and then on to Christmas. We tried to go see Santa today at the mall. Not quite sure what we were thinking - trying to see Santa on the weekend? Duh! Not likely! So I'm heading back tomorrow morning - going early and getting a good spot in line. The people we were in line with today waited at least 2 hours! No thank you! We waved to Santa and the kids were just fine with it.

Then later this week we'll be getting ready for a very small gathering for John's birthday on Sunday. We purchased a Thomas cake (at the preschool's silent auction), so John's delighted about that and wants the decorations to also be Thomas themed. So, off to the party store for us for supplies. And I want to get over to the arts & crafts store also for a few crafts to do in the coming weeks with the kids. Maybe somewhere in there we'll get to make a few cookies and treats too.

I really wish I had a few more hours in the day, a couple more hands, and maybe even a few clones of me to do all the chores that I can't seem to get to. Oh, and some extra cash to buy all these gifts and decorations with would be nice too!