Snow is Falling

It feels a little bit like this here in Western New York these days.

This was me after coming in from the cold. Cara and I walked to her dance class which is literally only 3 doors and a parking lot down from my house. But boy, it seems much farther away when you are walking through snow, wind, and temps around 12 degrees. Cara was such a trooper.

I definitely am not complaining though! I so don’t enjoy the heat, and I certainly love when it looks like Christmas at Christmastime. So bring it on Old Man Winter!

My crew and I got a lot accomplished today. I like to think that this amount of work done amidst the usual whining, crying, and fighting that goes on in this house is quite remarkable. Maybe not, but I like to think it is! Sometimes the kids were helping, sometimes the kids thought they were helping, and other times I was thankful for some great Christmas cartoons which allowed me to work all by myself!

Here is what I checked off the to do list today!

We assembled a ginger bread house (thanks Schwartz family!)

 

Up next was a little cartoon time for the kids while I made some rice crispy treats. Yummy.

Then it was time for mommy to “bake” some cookies. Am I allowed to use the excuse that I have 4 kids under 4 to explain why I use premade cookie dough?

After lunch, the kids got to decorate their own cookies.

 

Next, 40 fingernails and 40 toe nails got cut. Then 20 fingernails got painted with sparkle polish.

Finally nap time. I finished up our Christmas cards and decorated the cookies we baked in the morning.

After nap and snack time, it was time for homework! Yes, my dear preschoolers have a little homework. Nothing big, just cutting out 5-6 pictures for the color of the week. However, 3, 3 year olds with scissors and their 2 year old sister wanting to have scissors too, can be quite interesting!

Then it was time for a quick dinner and Cara and I headed off to dance. 45 minutes later we were home and it was time for baths, which Matt so graciously handled so that I could make some reminder phone calls for our MOPS meeting tomorrow night.

All in a day in the life.

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we took our kids to the local community college where they were offering a breakfast with Santa that was free for kids 5 and under! This had our name all over it!!! There was a buffet breakfast, a craft table, and a sweet Santa there for the kids to meet. I was shocked at how few people were there at this event which only cost $10 total for Matt and I to eat.

We were one of the first families there, so we had a few minutes to waste after breakfast and before Santa arrived.

There were a few smooches.

 

A little bit of rough housing. (Can you say father & son?)

Some happy faces.

And lots of dirty plates!

Then, the moment arrived!

Remember the fairy godmother picture from Disney World with Cara holding her hand? This shot of Allie and Santa reminded me so much of that.

Then it was time to wait in line to sit on Santa’s lap! Some of us passed the time in line making sad and pathetic faces.

Brady told Santa that he wants something Spiderman for Christmas.

Cara told Santa that she wants an Ariel doll.

Eli told Santa that he wants a cannon and cannon balls for Christmas. Rumor has it that it took Santa two hours scouring Google to find something remotely close to this for Eli. I guess Santa’s elves don’t do cannonballs.

At this point I was starting to wonder if Santa had had enough of the crazy mom doing extreme close ups, but I had just a few more shots to take!

Allie told Santa that she wants pirate toys for Christmas. She only said that because the boys say that!

Finally, I had to include this blooper shot. Here are my sweet children staring at the elf taking pictures who had antlers on that lit up. I love Brady’s expression, Cara’s fake smile, Eli’s look of boredom, and Allie’s blank stare! Ha!

Holiday Happenings

It’s been a bit since I have shared some pictures. Here is a little of what the kids have been up to this December.

I came into the dining room last week to find Cara with a chair pulled up next to the kids’ tree so that she could color.

Allie was laying on the floor rolling around in a blanket. When I asked her what she was doing she replied, “I’m baby Jesus layin in the hay!”

 

This is what happens when I try to put a great idea into action. “How cool it would be to have the kids hold up signs that say “Happy Birthday Grandpa Wes" and then email the picture to him. It’s the thought that counts.

Finally, here are some shots from Grandma and Grandpa’s day with the kids.

 

Eli and Brady had been planning all week to bring their toy chain saw and ax for the great Christmas tree hunt.

Talk about overwhelming poor Santa! "

Here is Eli wearing a hat that Matt wore when he was little. How cute is that.

Time to decorate the tree!

Notice the Allie is without her socks. Apparently at some point during the decorating, she decided to take her socks off and dip them in the water under the tree. That girl could find water to play with in the desert.

LOVE this one!

We are really in the Christmas spirit. Eli, especially, wants to deck every hall in our house. He asks me at least a hundred times a day, “Mom, where can we put up more things to make it even more Christmas-y in here?”

I Would Love to be a Rockette

Stop laughing!



Where am I going with all of this?



It was just a good lead in to this post, that's where! I've been away from the blog for several days because of a few things. The first being that I was sick last week. I had the old stuffy nose, sinus pain, hacking cough, achy bones and chills-type-thing that is going around. I was still functional but cut out many extra curricular activities for a few days, including blogging:)



The kids had milder versions of this cold throughout the week, but we all seem to be feeling better now.



So back to the Rockettes. A while back my mom asked me if I wanted to tag along on one of her bus trips that she escorts quite often First Choice Travel. She travels all over the US, usually on longer trips, but she was going to be taking a group to NYC for just two days. The city at Christmastime is always amazing, so I took her up on her offer. By the way, if anyone is counting, I have been away from home for two consecutive weekends. This doesn't feel like my life?!?

We had a really good time doing all of the traditional Christmas stops in NYC. We saw Rockefeller Center complete with the 75 foot tree and ice skaters. We walked to Central Park, stopping along the way at Trump Tower, St. Patrick's, and to do some window shopping. Ever the cheapskate, I decided that we should not indulge the $50+ for 20 minutes in a horse-drawn carriage. Instead, we got 40 minutes for $40 in a rickshaw peddled by the sweetest 20-something from Ireland. It certainly was an experience. He wasn't a very large guy, so we had our doubts, but he did manage to take us all around lower Central Park and give us some NYC facts (1/2 of which were completely made up). We spent most of the time laughing and huddling together for warmth, but it was a priceless memory for sure!

Okay, finally the part about the Rockettes! Sunday morning we went to Radio City Music Hall to see their Christmas Spectacular show starring those amazing Rockettes! Honestly, if I had the body, skill, and a completely different life, I think it would be amazing to be one of them! Throughout the entire show you just sit there and marvel at it all. This is the 2nd time I have seen it and if I could I would see it every year for the rest of my life! Those girls work hard and are so great at what they do! Mom and I had to sit in completely different sections of the theater. My seat was unbelievable. I was sitting in the 3rd mezzanine, the very top, in the very last row, dead center. I could see everything perfectly, including the different sections of the stage moving up and down. The show concludes with a Living Nativity that is just breathtaking. What a way to start the Christmas season.

We spent the rest of yesterday at Macy's and then of course, traveling home to a snowy Genesee County. I was very ready to be home and missed my kids like crazy. They had spent Saturday with Grandma and Grandpa going to get a Christmas tree, meeting Santa, and then helping decorate the tree. Yesterday Matt got them all up and out the door to church. That is no easy job. What a guy!

Today we are just spending the day lounging around and getting caught up on some things. I might spend some time practicing my kick line:) Okay, now you can laugh.