Magical Merry Christmas

I was awake for over an hour in the middle of the night last night (Wednesday to Thursday) full of worry and stress. I worried that the kids would be disappointed to find fewer presents under the tree. We usually give each child three gifts, but since we opted to buy a Wii for the whole family this year they are each only getting one other gift to open. I beat myself up for failing to mark the season of Advent in any kind of meaningful way. I agonized over the lame presents I bought for Husband. Eventually I fell asleep. I prayed for peace of mind and surrendered my feelings, which was made somewhat easier by the fact that there was little I could do about it at that point.

I woke up and went to the store early. I brought home donuts. I made two batches of sugar cookie dough and two batches of fudge. I started some potatoes gratin in the crockpot. The kids and I decorated lots of cookies. We got ready for Mass. I was frustrated at the disappearance of Butterfly's shirt. I got over it. We got to Mass an hour early and thank goodness, as ten minutes later we would have been hard pressed to find seats together (the seven of us sat on four chairs as it was). Butterfly was spectacular during Mass (the no-nap strategy worked, as she slept for a good part) and all the kids did great. When we came home, this is what our yard looked like.





The wind was blowing so hard and so sideways that our firewood on our back porch got snowed on!


We enjoyed our "fancy" dinner and opted to stay in for the rest of the night, instead of driving around to look at Christmas lights. Husband and I can't remember the last time it snowed on Christmas Eve or Christmas day.

As the day (and year) draw to a close, I realize that it does not matter what is under the tree and how well or poorly we celebrated Advent. There is magic to be had in this life and we have it in abundance.

Merry Christmas!

The Best Laid Plans

What I thought I would be doing today:

1. Getting my hair done. But, the appointment was yesterday and I realized that too late. Thankfully my kind and generous stylist is allowing me to come in on Monday! She's so nice.

2. There is no number two, my hair appointment was the highlight.

What I have done today:

1. Changed a gross diaper that required using a warm washcloth in lieu of wipes due to skin irritation. I put the washcloth in my bathtub to address a little bit later.

2. Given the same child a bath after she decided to climb into the tub and play with the aforementioned dirty washcloth.

3. A load of laundry that included the dirty washcloth.

4. Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and washed remaining dishes by hand.

5. Cleaned out the refrigerator.

6. Apparently clogged my disposal or something because as the dishwasher was running every time it drained I got water gushing out of the thing on the sink that led to water all over my counter and floor.

7. A second load of laundry including the towels used to dry up the mess on the counters.

What I should be doing:

1. Folding the clean laundry (but that is what kids and commissions are for!).

2. Making fudge, pumpkin bread, and sugar cookies.

3. Wrapping presents.

4. Making Christmas music CD for listening to on Christmas Eve while looking at Christmas lights.

5. Ironing kids clothes for Mass tomorrow and taking a picture for the New Year's card.

What I wish I was doing:

1. Eating something terribly bad for me like a cheeseburger and fries.

2. Going to the library by myself to pick up the book on hold for me.

3. Sleeping.

4. Gazing upon my sparkling clean home that is radiating peace and joy and contentment while the angels sing.

More in Common with Carol Brady Than I Ever Thought

We both have short blond hair (or partially blond, and fake in my case).

We are both parents of six kids (or will be in May).

Our husbands have curly hair (well, mine did, once, a long time ago).

We have three girls and three BOYS (BTS will be here in late April, early May).

Husband was so excited he teared up, the kids were thrilled (Princess was maybe a little disappointed, but got over it quickly), and I am happy for a healthy baby. Husband is especially pleased as our son's name will be in memory of both of his grandfathers, men who lived lives to be remembered.

I had hoped to post our Christmas picture here, and make it my last post of the year, but we haven't taken it yet! So, if you have free time later this week or next, stop by and you might see a picture of our growing family.

Being Totally Honest

I should not be writing this post right now, but I feel like I've left the last one up too long. The next four days will be somewhat busy in our house and I should be getting ready for that.

What I should be doing:
1. Baking sugar cookies for Buddy's classroom party tomorrow
2. Making fudge for friends
3. Baking chocolate chip cookies for us and friends
4. Cleaning in preparation for a house full of guests this weekend
5. Playing with my kids

What I am doing/have done:
1. Writing a blog post
2. Reading blogs and Twitter
3. Snoozed on the couch while the kids watched TWO Mickey Mouse Christmas specials
4. Watching Beverly Hills 90210 while on the computer (silly, silly, guilty pleasure)
5. Thinking about a plan of action to accomplish my myriad tasks

Excuses: Bad night of sleep, general tiredness, cold weather, just don't want to do anything.

In more exciting news, we find out the gender of the baby tomorrow! But I can't publish it here until after Saturday, because we are waiting until then to share the news with Husband's parents and brother and his wife. BIL's wife is expecting as well, we might have our surgeries on the same day! So we are waiting until we are all together on Saturday to reveal the big news (they found out the gender last week). We usually don't find out the gender, but for some reason we just want to this time. Both of us have had dreams that the baby is a girl, but who knows. I'm not a person who has ever had that instinctual feeling about the gender.

Perhaps sometime in the next few days we'll also find time to take a picture to put on a card. It is looking like we'll be sending New Year's cards this year, at the rate we're going. Still the Christmas season!

Quick Takes

Hello Friday! I love Fridays!

1. Tonight Husband and I are going on a date! Just the two of us! Can you tell I'm excited? We get sitters to go to parties and to meetings and other group functions, but we never go out just the two of us. I miss that. I was hoping for free babysitting but that didn't work out this night. But we're worth it. We're going to see A Christmas Carol and have dinner. Maybe we'll share something at dinner to be a little less spendy. We also want to see two other movies, but the timing is better for this one and we figure out of the three it is the one that really should be enjoyed in the theater. Even the frigid temperatures can't bring down my excitement.

2. This might be one of my most unorganized Christmas shopping years ever. Even though we know we are getting the Wii for the family, I still have other people to shop for and stocking gifts and so on and so forth. I have no plan, no list, and I'm beginning to feel a bit panicky. Perhaps I should make a list. :)

3. I have done no festive baking this year. Last year it seemed I was baking something every day. I guess I'm just feeling uninspired or something. I did buy the ingredients for pumpkin bread, and I plan to bake that soon because warm pumpkin bread sounds really yummy. I've read a few recipes here and there that I want to try, I just haven't done it yet. After I started this post, I put it on hold to bake this recipe of pumpkin bread. Delicious.

4. I think all this disorganization and lack of interest is really a sub-conscious desire to simplify and scale back. But I also think I'm failing at that. We foolishly stored our Advent candles in the attic (clearly not thinking when packing up decorations) and so of course they were melted. I finally got a new set yesterday. So maybe now we'll actually recognize the season. One can always hope, right?

5. We made a gingerbread house last night, and if I can muster up the energy to figure out the new camera and get the pictures on the computer, I will come back and add them to the post over the weekend. Let's just say that this kind of activity requires a lot of surrender, and I can always practice that.

Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

I Got a Good One

Yesterday was not a good day. It started off poorly in the very early a.m. when Butterfly woke up crying/screaming. I brought her to bed with me and she fell back asleep, but I did not sleep peacefully for the remaining hours. Since she was in bed with me she woke up when I wake up to get the kids ready for school. She's having some sleep issues.

We put her down for a first attempt at a nap around 8:oo or so, I think. Completely unsuccessful. She cried and screamed but did not sleep. So I got her out of her bed. She played for a while and then she got whiny again. I tried giving her food but all of my offerings were not to her liking. Back to bed she went. Out of bed she came. I put her down for a nap three times before noon, and she slept maybe 20 minutes total.

Needless to say, by the time Husband came home I was not in a good place. Butterfly had still not had any kind of effective nap and so neither had I. I need a nap most days to have the energy/will to make it through the afternoon and evening routine. After serving the kids their dinner and making some necessary phone calls (I hate talking on the phone, most of the time), I was preparing to figure out what I was having for dinner.

Husband took one look at me and kicked me out of the house. He told me to go eat and read a book or see a movie or something, but to just go because I obviously needed the break. So I did. I saw New Moon all by myself. If I could have stayed home and had a stiff drink, perhaps I would have. But Husband recognized that I needed to be away from the noise and the chaos and the clingy toddler more than I needed to be home. We even had an extra kid hanging around as a favor to a friend. And still he told me to go.

I'm so blessed to be married to a man who can see what I need and give it to me. Who didn't think twice about managing six kids on his own while I fled the madhouse. I came home to a quiet house with children sleeping (even Butterfly, who made it until 5:30 before waking up this morning) and clean bedrooms. He feigned interest in the movie (not as laughably cheesy as the first, but I didn't like the second book so I didn't love the movie either) and did not begrudge me the time at all. I could learn something from his charity I think.

If you are married, choose today to focus on the good your spouse gives/does, not the frustrating/annoying things. Remember that you got a good one too.

And please pray that Butterfly gets back together with sleep (she is back in bed now, at 7:49 a.m.).

Perspective

My weekend did not get off to a good start. I decided rather tardily that Husband and I needed a date night but could not find a sitter. What a surprise--no one available at the last minute on a Friday! Ha. I let my frustration affect my attitude way too much. I was frustrated. I was short with the kids. I sulked around. It seemed the kids (especially Butterfly) were extra hyper and demanding. Poor Husband came home and suggested I leave the house for a bit. I could have taken him up on it, but I wanted to spend time with him, not just be by myself. I rallied and managed to cook dinner and then sit on the couch and read my sports magazine and happily let Husband handle most of the kids' varying demands. Not my finest hour, but I did pull myself out of my sulk at least a little bit.

Saturday was a new day. A local high school choir was hosting a craft fair. I decided to see if I could complete some Christmas shopping. I invited the big girls to join me. We made a stop at the post office (thankfully minimal waiting) and headed to the craft fair. We saw many things to tempt us and I collected a lot of business cards. It is surprising how many of the vendors did not have a website or use Etsy. Since I wasn't supposed to be shopping for myself or the girls, I had to pass on many things that I would be interested in later. We found a few gifts, some crocheted beanies for the big girls, and a pillowcase dress for Butterfly. I spent most of the cash I had and could have spent a lot more. I am always seeking more will power.

The rest of the day our big plan was to drive to a nearby German town to buy some nice steaks for our Christmas dinner. The cattle is locally raised and is excellent. Definitely worth the hour drive once a year. We also loaded up on smoked cheeses and homemade jams and such. On our way home we decided to eat at Babe's, a fried chicken dinner house. They serve everything family style. The fried chicken is divine. The kids enjoyed the food, the singing waitresses, and we even indulged in some dessert. Compared to my attitude the day before, it was remarkable. Everyone was happy and cooperative. We laughed and enjoyed each other's company. It was a good day.


Sunday was our usual relaxed day (Butterfly is having some sleep issues though) until it was time for Mass. I actually got to hear the homily! Butterfly made it all the way through Mass. A banner day! Husband and I had the chance to grab a quick bite alone before heading to our training for our couples study. We watched the Cowboys lose. Boo. We shared appetizers. We're finally getting smart about how we eat out, at least most of the time. Our study was good and our drive home was great. I ended the weekend aware that my attitude had a lot to do with how things went. Instead of whining about needing a break I chose to embrace my family life. I got over myself and decided grumpiness wasn't worth the effort.

Why did I call my post perspective? Go read Kristen's post at We are THAT Family and see how the money I didn't spend on a date night Friday can be put to much better use, for families that really do know suffering. A bad day for me is one that is busy and without a nap. A bad day for some is one that includes putting your child to bed with no blanket to keep them warm. I can forgo a date night to make another Mother feel that she is doing all she can to take care of her children. What can you do?

Because I Have To

It snowed this morning! So of course I must be one of the hundreds of North Texas citizens to provide photographic evidence. Monster looked out the window at breakfast and said it was snowing. I didn't believe him. I told him it was just frost. Until I actually looked out the window and saw that it was in fact snowing. As of 8:09 a.m. it has already stopped. But you can bet that it will be enough snow to keep me home from the gym. I'm nothing if not opportunistic in my laziness. Thankfully I got out of the house yesterday and we have more snacks than is reasonable due to a trip to Costco while hungry. Oops.

Speaking of Costco, I'm wondering if I'll ever stop being surprised by how much food my family eats. Yes I know we have five kids and one on the way. I suppose I should be used to buying six loaves of bread at a time. I only buy two gallons of milk, but only because we tend to limit consumption of milk to one glass a day (except for Butterfly) and because I don't have room for any more than that. We are definitely going to have to upgrade to a second full size refrigerator/freezer in the near future. I kept my old crockpot when I got a new one last year, knowing that the day will come when I need both of them just to make one meal for my family. It can be overwhelming if I think about it too much. I'm going to have to get better at grocery shopping wisely. But right now it gives me tired head, so that can wait.

Also, look who is a big girl now.