Today

*** I know I am long winded. It is just me. Could you expect any less***

I started my day on 12 minutes of sleep – maybe 13. If that isn’t a recipe for success I don’t know what is. It wasn’t that I wasn't tired, cuz I was. I really wanted to sleep. Just one of those times when I couldn’t sleep. But I thought. A LOT. Can’t remember about what. But it was A LOT.

I managed to do some laundry. Determined to finish it all (meaning 97 loads) no matter what. The fifth load is still in the washing machine. Getting moldy. I did notice however that the kids socks look remarkable like softballs (or maybe cheese) once they have been washed and dried in said form. Mental note: staple to their forehead remind the kids again to turn their socks out. Thank goodness no electronics came through in their pockets.

I pretended I was awake enough to drive the carpool this morning and loaded too-many-kids into the car. B had to watch Little Mermaid (again) while we drove. But so grateful for the carpool, so I bit the corners of my mouth really hard and rapidly flashed my eyes to stay awake. It worked. So glad.

Spent the next few hours trying to convince B that going poopy in the toilet really was a good idea and it really would make her tummy feel better. It made me sore to watch her walk partially bent forward, on her tippy toes, moving soooo slowly. Potty training is so hard when you are little. (That’s partly the reason I let my children’s Kindergarten teachers take care of it.) Finally, I talked B into it. She felt much better. In her own words, now she could “run and jump and play and (her) tummy doesn’t hurt anymore.” I am not sure I ever thought I would party with a 3 yr old about these kinds of things.

B sat at my feet and “sewed” her Barbie a wedding dress while singing “Kiss the Girl” (she’s kind of obsessed with the Little Mermaid) while I did my best to stay awake sewing our new Christmas Stockings. (No, we don’t need them. No, nobody but myself wanted them. Yes, I am too busy to start a new project. And yes, I have to say, they are turning out VERY cute – never mind that Hubby doesn’t like them) I rested my head on my sewing machine until I realized it was too hot and would probably leave an ugly mark, so I kept sewing. I sewed my finger twice – which is remarkable considering I had just been partying with a three year old.

Somehow pulled off the afternoon carpool.  Bit my cheek again. Slapped myself a couple times. But I stayed awake. You see, once a carload of  elementary kids climb in the car -- there is no problem staying awake.

So glad for the carpool. I have hours of my life back.

Driving back home from the carpool and I get a call from J. He got hit by a car, could I please come get him. Wait, no, he got swiped by a car. Oh, maybe it wasn’t a swipe, maybe just a bump. At any rate, whoever hit swiped bumped him, drove off honking. He had fallen off his bike and was hurt.

Of course I am wondering what kind of person hits swipes bumps a kid off his bike then drives away. J was pretty banged up. Cuts, bruises, road rash – he looked awful. But overall, he was ok (thankfully).

I was a little ticked off and ready to call the police. Ready to hunt down the little red Miata that hit swiped bumped him. So, I told J I was ready to call the police and I couldn’t tell them any information that was wrong or they would send me to jail (thinking of the Balloon Boy’s family here) so “please tell me the truth.”

Oh – wait, the car didn’t actually HIT him, but got really close – J could totally feel the air rushing past and that was AS GOOD AS hitting him.

Hmmmph. Well. I am just glad he is ok. Cuz a broken kid would make me sad.

Of course our puppy that we were never-going-to-get-in-the-first-place-and-have-threatened-to-get-rid-of-every-day-since was kind enough to leave a present on our floor.

I did not party with the puppy.

I added some more awesomeness to my our Christmas Stockings and B ended up emptying the contents of my hope chest. Some how, she managed to prove to me that her Blessing dress really does still fit while growing big enough to fit into my wedding dress -- at the same time. Unbelievable. And to think she was only 3 this morning.

And now, I could be going to bed. But I have to blog.

Why? Because that is what Blogger is for. To listen to my long tired days and help me feel better.

Thank you Blogger.

I love you.

Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Well Family and Friends, a lot has been happening this year... follow any of the links below to get an idea of our life. Let me apologize in advance for any messed up links... just let me know which ones and I will fix them.

This year  J graduated from elementary school and S got his braces off. We did some traveling here, here and here.We had some close calls here and here (not so much this one :-)). T had surgery and we made some visits to the doctors here, here, and here.  We had some interesting Mac & Cheese, made an awesome castle and rebelled against the heat. We made the difficult decision to move and got a puppy.  B got into mischief here, here, here, here, here and here. I learned a few things here, here and here and plead to the children here and here.We had some good days here, here, here, here and here. And some bad days here, here, here, here and here. We counted our blessing for the important people in our life here, here, here, here and here.

I am hoping each of you, my family, friends, and blogging buddies, have a wonderful season full of goodness.

Merry Christmas!


BTW -- do you remember what movie the title is quoting???

FAMILY FOTO FUN

We just had our pictures taken by this AMAZING photographer. Really, she is so talented and my breath is constantly taken away by her work... check out her blog. Its loaded with photos and stories of her life as a mom... Thanks Shawni!!!

So here are just a FEW of my favorites...

Check out B's pose -- too funny!

About this point in the gig, one of our kiddos began to have a melt-down... probably not who you would expect. Since this child no longer wanted pictures and would no longer smile, we had to get creative...

(not staged, promise)

(ok -- nobody smile -- really)

I know, I know... this photo speaks volumns!

What is she ever going to do when she realizes the world DOESN'T revolve around her??