1.) I took the whole Martha sermon to heart this week. (Go to
http://www.findhopehere.com/ if you want to listen to the sermon.)
I have been VERY guilty of being a Martha this month, not only with God, but with my family. I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off (as my Mom would say) trying to get everything done, and trying to manage our household. But I have neglected more important stuff, and the sermon on Sunday was a much-needed reminder of what I should make time to focus on. So today, instead of trying to get anything done, I took Anna to the library instead. I offered several different places, the library, the beach, the park. But she chose the library. We checked out books and videos, and we played a Dora computer game together. We looked at the beautiful view of the river and the causeway from the
Eau Gallie Library. We attended Story Hour. The librarian read three different storybooks, all about Christmas. We sang songs and did a craft. I realized as I sat there, how good it was to just sit and be in one moment, to focus on one thing. I think they need to invent preschool for adults. I think we could all benefit from having a story read to us in a slow and upbeat manner! I actually listened to the stories, and Anna and I have been discussing them and laughing about them all day long. That hour and a half I invested in her this morning seems to have paid off. Her behavior has been much better. I think she was crying out for attention by acting very immature. I really have been absent lately. I have been spread thin and even when I am present at home, I have been absent. I'm just not there with Dave and the kids. I think I tend to cope this way sometimes. Just by spacing out and sort of withdrawing a little bit. I know I always did this as a kid when things were hard to deal with. So I am really making an effort to be more present with my family. And here's the funny thing: I still got all my errands and to-dos done today!
2.) Anna said something cute at dinner today! Well, she says something cute at dinner every night, but I thought this was extra cute. She said, Mrs. Hoffman lives in two places!
Mrs.
Hoffmann is Jonathan's
Pre-K teacher, but Anna has sort of adopted her as her own. What she meant by this, is that the kids think she lives at school (does anyone remember thinking this as a child? And then when you saw your teacher at the grocery store you were just shocked?). But the other place Mrs.
Hoffmann lives is the
Webkinz store (a local gift shop that sells
Webkinz). They are always so thrilled to see her in there.
3.) I am making plans for Anna's birthday on Monday. We are just having family over for her traditional Mexican dinner and cake. On her first birthday, my sister-in-law Erin's parents were spending Christmas down here, and Marty made her famous chicken enchiladas. Erin made guacamole. On her second birthday, I also made chicken enchiladas! So why ruin a good thing? I am so happy that my brother and his wife Erin will be here for Christmas this year. Which also means they will be here for Anna's birthday. Anna is having a Dora themed party, and she has requested a pinata. And since that was SO MUCH FUN at Jonathan's party, I thought, why not! And since it is a Mexican dinner with Dora the Explorer as the theme, a pinata just makes sense.
Anyways, Amanda is going to let me borrow lots of her cake decorating supplies and I am going to make Anna a cake. I was going to make a pattern from a Dora paper plate, ice the outline of the pattern, stamp that on the cake, and then outline and fill in Dora on the cake. But instead, I opted for sanity. I bought a fancy Dora figurine at Toys R' Us tonight, and returned all of the complicated Dora-specific gel colors for the icing. I am still going to decorate the cake, I am just going to avoid making myself crazy in the process. I know it probably won't live up to my
Spongebob Squarepants cake, but let's face it, I almost drove myself nuts with that one. And this close to Christmas, I am already 1/2 way there anyways, so I don't need anything to push me over the edge. I have something very cute in mind for her cake. Expect pictures of her cake and party soon! (I can't believe my baby girl is turning 3!!!)
4.) I sold some stuff tonight at one of those gold parties. You know, where you bring all of your unwanted or broken gold, silver or platinum and they weigh it and offer you a sum for it? I was pleasantly
surprised at how much cash I will get. And I got rid of all of the ex-boyfriend jewelery I had left, including a platinum ring and some small diamond earrings. That was like 14 years worth of ex-boyfriend jewelery! I wish I had kept more of it. I sort of gave a lot of it away over the year. Gave it away to the trashcan or to people. Either way, wish I had kept it. Never knew gold parties were going to become a thing. Actually, I still wear one thing that an ex gave me. My first boyfriend, Barry, from ninth grade gave me a bracelet that I have been wearing almost all the time for the past 14 years. It almost broke once when I was at the beach petting a giant dog and he was licking my hand and got his tooth stuck in one of the links. I can still see where the link is bent but it did not break. I sort of have a sentimental attachment to this bracelet. But not to the boyfriend.
5.) Tomorrow is the last day of school! Then we will be on Christmas break. I think the kids and I need a break from preschool for awhile. I seem to be getting them there progressively later each week. This morning, it was an alarm clock malfunction: I set it to go off at 7 PM instead of 7 AM. Anyone could make this mistake, right? The shameful thing is just how MANY times I have done this over the years.
6.) I was very happy to meet Amanda and Mikey for lunch today. My kids were well-behaved during lunch, so that made it even better. And I got my favorite thing ever: creamy tomato soup with
Asiago cheese
croutons.
7.) Anna was asleep when we got home. I accidentally fell asleep next to her. But my sweet Jonathan just played quietly. He is such a good boy. He only woke me up when he had to go "poop and he needed me to wipe his butt." Last week we had a breakthrough, and he actually wiped his own bum for the first time (yes, yes, he is FIVE years old). But now we are back to our old routine. He is so finicky about getting his hands dirty. Even when I make him wipe his own bum, he always asks me to follow up with Wet Wipes. He likes to be REALLY clean. This would be a good question to send into a parenting expert: Why won't my 5-year old wipe himself? I already know what the answer is:
Because you wipe it for him! 8.) Dave got home early from work. We made bacon pasta together, and it was delicious! I love cooking with Dave. He is like my sous-chef, my prep cook, and my dishwasher too. I really don't know how I got so lucky.
9.) The kids have their Christmas parties at school tomorrow. I offered to bring something, and was assigned finger food. Does anyone know what finger foods are for preschoolers? I mean we aren't talking shrimp cocktail or mini quiches. Would a bag of Cheese Doodles make me seem like I just don't care, or would that be appropriate? I have really been puzzling over this. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning so Dave will be the one attending the party, since it is his off Friday. He said to just let him take care of it. I think that will be better because if a Daddy commits a preschool
faux pas, it just seems expected or maybe even a little endearing. But if a Mommy does not know what she is doing, then we've got a problem.
10.) Jonathan used a gift card from Nana Jo to get an awesome Bat Cave he has been wanting. We were playing with it this evening and I commented that it is like a boy version of a dollhouse. Dave was indignant, saying That's insulting! It's NOT a dollhouse. And Jonathan glared at me and said, It's a
Bat Cave, Mama! The Bat Cave came with a Batman and a Robin, which the kids have been fighting over all evening. Right now Anna is crying hysterically, saying But I WANT TO BE BATMAN! I heard Dave say to her, Well, everybody wants to be Batman, Anna!
I swear I rotated this one before I uploaded it! Oh, well. Just turn your head. A LOT.
Anna just decided to lick my face as we were taking our own picture. I was a little suprised and grossed out.
Jonathan was using my hair as a wig. Or a hairpiece.
Katie molesting a reindeer.
Anna at the 3-D movie, Bolt. Which was adorable, but I am still trying to decide if we got 35 dollars worth of enjoyment out of it.
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