Christmas Pics

A picture of all of the young cousins at Laurie's house on Christmas Eve... Almost the entire Crazy Clan opening presents tonight....yeah, we had to really squish in to my livingroom!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I know, I know. Christmas has already passed. I'm sorry that I didn't get to wishing y'all a Merry Christmas until now. You'll forgive me, won't you?

While I'm asking for forgiveness, I have a confession to make. I have been lazy with the camera this holiday. I brought it with me to Laurie S.'s house on Christmas Eve, so that I could take a few pictures there. I did. My confession is that it stayed packed away in the diaper bag until tonight, when I went to grab it while all of my CRAZY extended family was here to celebrate Christmas. Meaning I didn't take even one picture all day yesterday.

There are no pictures of Santa's goodies all wrapped up under the tree. No pictures of the kids looking through their stockings to see what little trinkets Santa left there. No pictures of the livingroom floor all strewn with torn wrapping paper. No pictures of the kids playing with their new toys and bits of technology.

So, again, you'll forgive me, won't you?

Pretty, pretty please?!?!

I will be back to upload a couple of the pics from tonight....

Mini Me

I've been scrutinizing Dianna lately. The length of her hair right now, coupled with the way she's been styling it, has reminded me of something from my past. So last night I searched through a stack of old pictures to find the one I was seeing so clearly in my mind. Once I found the picture, I handed it to Dianna and asked her to pose in front of my camera with it.

Here is the result:
I've always said how Dianna is my 'Mini Me', but it's almost scary just how much she looks like a little Phyllis. Good thing for Dianna, though, that she won't always look just like me -- she's not had her nose broken so she won't have that awful bump in her nose that I do!

Mechanic in the Making

Looks to me like Will is DEFINITELY a mechanic in the making. He's taking after his father's footsteps! As I was heading back downstairs, after putting Nora down for her nap, I stumbled upon William 'fixing' my vaccuum. He had opened up the top (where the bag goes in) and was pretending to fix something in it.

Of course, by the time I ran back upstairs to grab my camera, he had moved on to fixing a different part of the vaccuum. I took a picture anyway!

Out of the mouth of Will....

I have a ton of errands and things to do today. Because of all that's on my to-do list today, Will, Nora, and I headed out first thing this morning. We're back at the house for just a little while to get Will ready for school then Nora and I are off again.

As my luck would have it, I failed to put gas in the car again last night, so my gaslight came on shortly after we'd dropped the big girls off at school. We made a quick detour along the way this morning to stop and get some gas. Between the highway and the gas station, Will spotted a Dunkin' Donuts. He immediately asked if we could stop and get a donut. I explained to him that we weren't stopping anywhere till we got gas in the van because if the van ran out of gas we'd be stuck. With his quick thinking mind, Will responded with, 'When you're done passing gas, can we go back to the donut store and get donuts??'

I immediately felt a bit of stress leave my body as I laughed aloud. It took a minute or two before I could explain to William that there's a difference between GETTING gas and PASSING gas. Hopefully he's got the idea now!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I was trying to take pictures of Nora the other day, because she had pigtails in her hair and was FINALLY leaving them alone! And she looked so dang cute. I told Gordon that she reminds me of the animated character, Boo, from the movie Monsters, Inc.

But Nora has become too fast for me and my Canon Rebel DSLR. So you get to view some pretty cute, amusing, not-great shots of my girl. You can fill in the blanks and enjoy her cuteness.

Tuesday Tip

I have a tip for you. To be totally honest, this tip isn't one of my own creating, it's one that I'm passing along to you. I originally heard it from Will's preschool teacher, Mrs. B. For all I know, the rest of the world already knew this little tidbit of info. It could be that I'm the only person on this earth who had never tried this trick.

Do you have Playdoh that's not as fresh as it used to be? Did your toddler leave a clump of Playdoh out for a bit longer than they should have? Or did your toddler leave the lid on the Playdoh container not quite sealed tight enough?

You can refresh your Playdoh with a little water!

Now I'm not talking about the hard as a rock Playdoh clumps that you find months after your toddler last used the Playdoh. And I'm not talking about Magic Dough or any other brand but the one and only Playdoh brand.

Will's preschool teacher mentioned this trick to me when I first met with her in October. I don't remember how we got on the topic, other than the fact that we were talking while watching a couple of the children in the class play with the playdoh. I thought to myself how cool this knowledge is and then filed it away for possible future use.

Yesterday the perfect opportunity arose. Will and Nora both wanted to play with the Playdoh, so we pulled out our bin. As soon as I started opening the different colors, I discovered there were a few that were no longer as fresh as they once were. I was tickled pink to be able to try out Mrs. B's trick!!!

Imagine my giddiness when it worked like a charm!! I don't think I've had that much fun playing with Playdoh since I was a kid myself.

So I task you to file this tidbit away for your own future use. You never know, maybe one day you'll be thanking me. And Mrs. B. Because we saved you from having to toss some Playdoh and buying new.

Gingerbread House

Grace has been asking me if we could make and decorate a gingerbread house this year. I'm pleased to say that our first attempt was an absolute success, even though I've never done it before! (Unless you count the time I made one with graham crackers back when I was a young girl in Brownies)

Grace and I mixed up the dough last week, rolled out the dough, cut out the pieces for the house, and baked them. I didn't get a chance to pick up all of the candy pieces until Saturday. All four kids and I sat around the diningroom table on Sunday evening to decorate.

Well, Grace and Dianna decorated. Will and Nora happily sat there pilfering candy. After getting the big girls started, showing them how to use the melted white chocolate as 'glue', I whisked the Little People away and let the big girls have at it.

Here is the finished project:
First thing Monday morning, the kids were all begging if they could start tearing the house apart to eat. I held them off until Tuesday evening. While the house isn't exactly demolished right now, it is missing some major pieces!

Spare bed not for much longer

Remember back in August I posted about redecorating and moving the 'extra bed' from Will's room into the big girls' room? I had mentioned that the bed would be used as a spare bed in the girls' room until it was time to move Eleanor to a Big Girl Bed.

Lately Eleanor has taken to going into the girls' room and climbing up on that bed. Just last night she was on it repeatedly chanting, 'sleep! sleep! sleep!'

She pitched a fit when Gordon picked her up and got her ready to go to bed in the crib instead! I think she thinks she's a big girl now that she's walking, talking, and learning more and more new things every day. And if big girls sleep in Big Girl Beds, then she should too!

Back when Grace was about this age, I began putting her down for naps in her Big Girl Bed. Gordon had made a side rail for the twin sized bed we already had in Grace's room. It was perfect in helping prevent Grace from falling out.

Today I was thinking about all of this. I was thinking how it was a shame that we no longer have the homemade bedrail. It wouldn't have worked as well because Nora's Big Girl Bed is not alongside a wall, but it would have been better than nothing. THEN I remembered that both sets of bunkbeds came with siderails! One to fit the full length of the bed, one about 2/3 of the bed length. I'd be able to use both full-sized rails to help transition Nora from her crib to her Big Girl Bed without worries of her falling out!!

So Nora is now officially napping in her Big Girl Bed for the very first time. When I first peeked my head around the door to check, she was falling asleep while sitting up. I snapped a picture, but the noise from my camera disturbed her a tad.

Here's the picture I took:
I went back in after she'd settled down again to find her asleep for real this time:

Gordon is certain that Nora will no longer wish to sleep in her crib ever again. We'll see. Right now I hope to stick with naps in the bed, nighttime sleeping in the crib. If it ends up being too much of a hassle, I just might cave and take down the crib way earlier than I ever expected.

O Christmas Tree

As promised, here are the pictures of our Christmas tree.

Gordon, Dianna, and Grace setting up our artificial tree.

Grace hanging our Christmas Nail. It's always the very first 'ornament' on the tree, and the last taken off. It symbolizes the nails that hung Jesus to the cross and is to help us remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Dianna placing the angel on top of our tree. She's finally tall enough to not need Daddy to pick her up!

Our fully decorated tree. It's an eclectic mix of homemade and bought ornaments. Perfect in every way, IMO!

Nora has learned early on that she can look but not touch the ornaments. She still tries, mind you, but quickly moves away from the tree every time I begin to say, "ELEANOR RUTH!!"

I just HAD to share a picture of what our mantle looks like. I just love looking at how perfectly full it is with each one of our stockings hanging. (As a matter of fact, I teased Gordon last night that it's a good thing we're 'done' having children -- there's no room for any more stockings on the mantle!!)

Christmas is coming together!

I know, I know. I still have yet to post the pictures of the girls decorating the Christmas tree. I have most of them uploaded, I just need to upload the picture I took of the final product.

Still, even without pictures to show, I can tell you that Christmas is coming! As a matter of fact, it's descending upon us with a rapid speed.

Our already-full calendars are filling even more. On deck as of right now, we have Laurie S's annual Christmas Eve party to go to. It's always great to celebrate the holiday with Gordon's family at Laurie's house.

Then we'll have our usual Christmas morning here at home. This year Dianna has requested I make fried dough for breakfast. Because Grace doesn't care for it, I'll also be making some Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls.

The White Family Christmas gathering will once again be held here at the Crazy House. We'll be hosting that on Saturday the 26th this year.

None of the details above really include all of the chaos that is that last week or so before the holiday. By the end of it all, I figure we'll all be in major need of a getaway. Maybe Santa will put some Calgon in my stocking so that I can have my 'Calgon, take me away' moment. ;)

Introspection

I'm often asked how I manage to do all that I do. My usual initial response is to blush. Then I quickly brush the question off, saying that it's really not that much. I don't know if anyone actually believes me when I say this, but I'm probably only fooling myself.

Honestly, if I were to admit to myself exactly how much I do (and how much more I need/want/should do), I'd keel over from the overwhelming enormity of it all.

Earlier today, I attempted to write down a list of all that I've done, tackled, or attempted in this last year. I never completed it. It got quickly abandoned. Even trying to make a condensed list caused me to start sweating.

What's behind almost every one of the tasks I listed is my constant yearning for perfection and the want to please everyone. Disappointing even one person has the potential to send me into an anxiety attack. Especially if this person is near and dear to me.

I'm not posting all of this as a means of soliciting a few pats on the back. I'm just waving a white flag of surrender. I know me, and I'm sure I'll continue to truck on doing what I do because that's what I do. But I want to take a moment to admit that I'm not infallible. I'm really quite fragile. Mostly, I'm only as strong as my biggest supporters (thank you, Gordon!!!) help me to be.

So if/when the next person makes a request of me, I'm hoping they remember that I'm only human. I'll try my darnedest to accomodate your request(s). But in the end I'm not truly the superhero Supermom. I'm just a mom who tries to be super.

Friday Night Family Traditions

In our house, every Friday night is Pizza Night. We try to make sure we have a new movie from Netflix on hand to watch, though we've been known to just watch a movie we already own and/or find something interesting to watch on the television. I toss the ingredients in my bread machine to mix the dough for homemade pizza. Sometimes one or more of the kids will want to help roll out the dough or put toppings on the pizzas. While we normally do not allow the children to eat in the livingroom, I usually make the exception on Pizza Night. We pull the coffee table out onto the area of the room that has a linoleum floor and the kids sit there to eat their pizza while they watch the movie.

This past Friday night we had Christmas classics on hand from Netflix to watch. The kids watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the Year Without Santa, and a couple other movies I remember from my childhood.

I love creating memories with the kids through simple traditions like these. I hope that when they are grown and have families of their own, the kids will look back fondly on these Friday Night/Pizza Nights. Maybe they'll even continue the tradition with their own children.

Pictures from Will's birthday

This is the cake we had to celebrate Will's birthday on his actual birthday. Every year, on their special day, the kids get to pick what we'll have for dinner and then the family celebrates the birthday child with a cake or cupcakes.

You can still see remnants of the 'sgahbettis and meatmalls' we had on Will's cheeks.
We had a party for Will on Saturday. The house was full of family and friends who came to share in the fun. Will had requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Though he did better about opening the presents this year, Will still wanted to stop after each one to play with that one thing. He didn't fight too much when one of the kids or I pointed out another present to open first.

He was finally able to play with some toys! Everything got opened in record time. Will took turns playing with every single one of his new toys. Here you see the house that Grace was building with the Lincoln Logs and the 'fire' that Will was building. I think he was born to be a camper!!

Grace and Dianna put the big box to good use! I swear, I'm going to stop buying them expensive gifts for Christmas and birthdays. A box keeps them entertained for hours!

Winter Wonderland vs. Redneck Winter Games

What started as rain early yesterday finished off in snow. This is how our front yard look first thing this morning:


What else would you think of doing in that delightful, snowy, wonderland but this??

Yeah, we really know how to have a grand time. Good thing we're teaching our kids the finer things in life, ya know?

Happy (Belated) Birthday to my boy!

Yesterday was Will's birthday. No, let me rephrase that. Will was born four years ago yesterday. He didn't want to acknowledge his birthday.

When he awoke and came downstairs yesterday, the big girls excitedly called out, 'Happy Birthday William!'

He immediately responded that it wasn't his birthday. He didn't want a birthday. He didn't want to turn four years old, he wanted to stay three.

Ahhh....if only it were that easy. I'd stay twenty three forever. ;)

So Will's birthday came and went. He ended up having a pretty good day, if I do say so. The local schools had some power outages, so they called for early dismissals. This meant that the afternoon session preschool and kindergarteners (including William) didn't have class. Once the big girls returned home, we went over to Nana's for a visit. After returning home, we ate Will's favorite dinner -- 'Sgahbettis and meatmalls'. That was followed by a yummy cake. Pretty good day, no?

Anyway, now my boy is four. Even if he wishes it weren't so.

Countdown begins

Today is December 1st. We're heading into the homestretch. The time left before Christmas Day will begin to dwindle rapidly.

In an effort to try to make the best of it, I decided we'd start decorating the house for Christmas now. In recent years, I'd held off such decorating for AFTER Will's birthday party. The problem with that is that the holiday seems to be over before we really get the chance to enjoy it.

So we're decorating before Will's party this year.

Gordon and I had to do a little rearranging of furniture last night to accomodate the placement of the tree. We have set it up in front of the livingroom windows. I just love that you can see the tree all lit up at night when you drive by the house.

At first I strung up the white lights on the tree. Grace wanted colored lights on the tree, but Gordon remembered tossing them last year because they were old and not working properly. So I put up the white lights. Everything looked good.

This morning I discovered two new sets of colored lights. I suddenly remembered that I bought them at the end of the season, when they were on mega-sale. They've never even been used.

So I pulled down the white lights and started stringing the colored lights up. Wouldn't you know that one of the strands is already broken?? About 1/3 of the strand won't light up. According to the box, if a bulb goes out, the rest are supposed to stay lit. Still, I tried swapping bulbs. Nothing has worked. I think there's a faulty wire in there somewhere.

I'm hoping Gordon can fix the strand. Otherwise I'll be heading to the stores and paying more for one new set of lights than I did for the two of them combined last year.