Breakfast with Santa

Today was a good day, a crazy day, but a good day. I say that quite often, don't I? It seems most days are crazy days for me.

Anyway...today we went to have breakfast with Santa. My mom does this each year with the grandkids, it is a tradition of sorts which the kids love.

We started the morning by picking Nonna up, and dropping Daddy off (he was hanging with Papa Scotty, watching football and drinking bloody Mary's) and drove out to the Pool and Yacht Club where we started the festivities by listening to the Teddy Bear Band. After listening to music for a while, we headed in to see Santa, and had the kids sit on his lap to tell him everything they want for Christmas. Daddy had rehearsed their answers with them this morning so they were all set. He also made sure to ask them to tell Santa Daddy wanted a Porsche for Christmas, which they promised to fill him in on. Here is what they asked for....

Ava wants ice skates, and an American Girl doll. I should say that she wants the American Girl doll sooooo baaaddd. She speaks of it every day, asking if I think she will get Julie (name of the doll she is yearning for), asking if she will get her purse and hat, and books, etc. Oh how she wants this doll....

Lucas wants ice skates, and a skateboard (the skateborad is not happening.... I simply told him Santa does not make them. Ahem.) Is this terrible of me?? I have not had one single trip to the emergency room yet and I have a feeling if Santa brought one of these, we would have our first trip.

Anthony told Santa he wants a Star Wars book and an Elmo book. This I found odd as at home he proceeds to sit on the couch and yell "I want that from Santa" to every single toy commercial that comes on the television - no joke. I think it may have had to do with how painfully shy he was acting.

After finishing up with Santa, we headed upstairs to be seated for brunch. This is when the craziness ensued. Imagine boatloads of hungry kids, grandparents, moms, dads, etc. all squished in a small corridor, waiting to be seated to eat. Now this sounds bad enough on it's own, right? Add to it we were supposed to be seated promptly at 11am, and actually did not get seated until 11:30am. I managed to get my three lovely children seated, and headed right to the buffet line as I knew how hungry the kids were and I was not in the mood for a melt down. Unfortunately, I proceeded to wait in line for 30 minutes just to get food for the kids. As I was walking back to the table with food in hand, a part of me was frightened of what I was going to see when I returned. Sure enough,there was Anthony on the floor next to the table laying on his blankey. He was quiet, but I was not fooled.... I knew this was a precursor to what was to come - a melt down. Sure enough, it came and continued on and off for the rest of the meal, out to the car and about half way home until he finally passed out in his car seat. Boy, that was a loooong morning.

Ava and Lucas are at a great age for things like this, but for a week prior to this Breakfast with Santa, I was debating whether or not I should bring Anthony this year.... I was thinking maybe I should wait one more year until he was a bit older and could handle himself a bit better. Looks like I made the wrong decision - oops. But he got to see Santa for the first time, sit on his lap, and tell him what he wanted for Christmas so it was all worth it.

To end, it was a long, crazy whirlwind of a day. But the kids had a fabulous time which made it all worth it - for everyone but Daddy.... The kids forgot to ask Santa to bring him a Porsche.

A day late..

So it is the day after Thanksgiving and here I am writing what I wanted to write, and post yesterday on the actual day of Thanksgiving - Yesterday was just too crazy of a day to get it accomplished. As I am sitting her typing this I am finding today may just be too crazy of a day as well. Anthony is laying on the couch yelling "Mommy, I want that!!" to every toy commercial that comes on. Ava and Lucas are wrestling each other on the carpet (just waiting for someone to get hurt), and Olivia is crying in her carseat as she is waaay over tired. Days like this are pretty normal around the Shelton household, so I guess I should succumb to the fact that this is just how it is going to be for the next 15 years. Wow, that sounds a bit overwhelming to say the least -- 15 years of all of "this"?? It guess it is all worth it though..... Alright, I am rambling and getting off course here - that seems to happen a lot with me.

Now, back to the point of this whole post. Thanksgiving. Oh it was a wonderful day. A day filled with turkey, potatoes, stuffing, loafing around on the couch, pie, more turkey, etc. In a nut shell - over eating. I love it though, and it seems like for some reason everyone gets a free pass on Thanksgiving to stuff themselves silly without having to feel bad about it.

The kids had a great time playing at grandma and papa's house, and hanging out with their new cousin Lucia (pictured above). I was sort of amazed at how interested Anthony and Lucas were in her - like they had never seen a baby before, or at least not for a long time. This is funny as they have a baby sister that is only two months younger than Lucia. Hmmm... Anyway, they had a great time and were kept occupied the whole day which was very nice for Brian and I as it gave us all the time in the world to lay around, eat, and do nothing. Here I am rambling again... So to sum it up, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with wonderful food, and spent with wonderful family.

Anywhoo, I thought it only appropriate seeing it is (was - a day late - oops) Thanksgiving to count all my blessings and think about all I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful for my wonderful husband

2. I am thankful for my 4 beautiful children

3. I am thankful that Brian loves, and is incredibly passionate about running the family business. Without his passion the business would not be where it is today

4. I am thankful that Brian works as hard as he does ( I know, sometimes - O.K. a lot of times I complain he is gone waaaay too much) so that I am able to stay at home with our kids

5. I am thankful that we are all healthy

6. I am thankful for Grandma Diane and Papa Ron for taking my kids every Tuesday so that I can have a day for "me". The best thing ever!!!

7. I am thankful for my mom - for raising me in a home filled with warmth and love. I only hope I can raise my children half as well as she did

The list is really endless. I am just so very, very, very thankful to have all that I have.

Now that I have listed all the many things I am thankful for, I thought it only fit to list what the kids are thankful for this Thanksgiving....

Ava: "the tree's." Simple, but nice.

Lucas: "my booty" hmmm...always has to be silly. I asked him for a better answer (as I felt his butt was not something to be all that thankful for.) To which he responded, " I am thankful for my family mommy." Much better.

Anthony: "I am thankful for pizza." - which does not surprise me one little bit as it is his favorite food of all time.

What a great Thanksgiving this was....but there is no more time to reflect as it is now time to gear up for Christmas!! Decorating, Christmas shopping, parties.....

These little wonders

I was getting myself dressed after my shower today while having the pleasure of listening to my baby Olivia Grace coohing and laughing, (which is so much better than any music or T.V in the background.) I was happy that she was content in her bouncy chair and that her brother was engrossed in wathing Maggie and the Ferocious Beast (his favorite show of all time) on my bed so that I was able to finish up with the necessities - putting on deoderant, lotion, drying my hair, etc. You know, all the little things you take for granted being able to do in your pre-child days.:) After I finished, I went to grab Olivia from her bouncy chair when she suddenly turned to look at me and gave me a HUGE smile,and made a loud squeal - I love, love, love moments like this. Times like this make me smile and get teary eyed all at the same time. After reveling in the moment for a few minutes, I finally bent down to pick her up and whispered in her ear something I have said to all of my babies a gazillion times over "I love you soooo much Livi Grace, your mommy would do anything in this world for you."

Little things like this often have this type of affect on me, this sudden wave of emotion... this feeling of overwhelming love and affection for these little beings that I had a part in creating -that lived inside my belly for 9 whole months before entering this world. What wonderous little beings. This feeling is truly amazing.... it actually brings to mind something my mom always said to me when I was young. She would tell me everytime I came home late, or did not call, (or any other things a typical teenager will do without thinking twice) "Maria, do you have any idea how worried I was?" To which I would reply, eye roll and all "Oh mom, I was fine, geeze!" You could always here the quiver in her voice, and see the tears in her eyes as we had this conversation. I thought nothing of it at the time.... She would always end by telling me I would never understand the worry and the inexplicable amount of love that goes with having children until I had children of my own. As I walked away I could always here a great sigh of relief coming from her - knowing that I was home safe and sound. Now that I have four children of my own I can say - was she ever right!! I do still have a long ways to go before the teenage years, where most of the worrying comes into play, which I am thankful for as I do need some time to prepare. :) I pray that I am strong enough to deal with it all. Lord knows if my kids are anything like I was as a teenager I am in for a bit of trouble! But then isn't every teenager a bit "rebellious"? Looking back, I do have to say - My mom was a saint!!

Anyway, with the bulk of the worry aside for the time being, I can say that I know a ton about the love part. The love I feel for Ava, Lucas, Anthony and Olivia is a crazy out of this world type of love (frankly, is there any other kind??) Sure, there are difficult times - tantrums, whining, fighting, etc. It is certainly not always paradise around the Shelton household, but these acts of rebellion are easily forgotten when you witness all the sweet little things....oh,the sweetest things....

1. The little conversations they have between one another when they think I am not listening

2. The way they snuggle with me in the morning when they have just woken up

3.The way I can make an owey better by simply kissing it

4.Putting them to bed at night and saying "where does mommy love you to?" and having them respond without even thinking "to the moon!"

5.Going into their room at night and watching them sleep.... oh so peaceful

I could go on and on. These"little wonders".....my four beautiful babes. So can you see what I mean by all that other stuff being easily forgotten??

Worry is my middle name

You are probably wondering why in the heck I posted a picture of a carbon monoxide detector. Well, let me tell you... We had a guy come over this morning to do some duct work in the basement for us, as he was finishing up, he asked me to come down to the basement so he could show me something that needed fixing. He brought me to the back utility room and showed me a large pipe or duct or something of the sort without a cover over the bottom of it. (bear with me here, I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to this sort of stuff.) He proceeded to tell me that this was very dangerous as it was most likely causing carbon monoxide to enter into our house. He told me it was very important that Brian get to the store and buy a "5 inch end cap" and get it closed up. Needless to say, after hearing all this, panic ensued.....

I hate to admit this, but I am a self professed hypocondriac. Tell me the symptoms of some disease, ailment, etc and the next day I will have it - guaranteed. So you can only imagine my reaction to hearing this... After the "duct guy" left, I hopped on my laptop and looked up the

symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning (which my ever patient doctor told me to never do), and realized I had been exhibiting some of the tell tale signs of carbon monoxide poisoning (of course.) I immediately grabbed the kids, packed them in the car and left the house. Not sure where to go, I drove a few blocks down the road to the Pizza Hut parking lot, all the while calling Brian on his cell and getting no answer. After I grabbed a parking spot I started calling everyone in my family to relay my state of panic to them - my mom was not answering, my sister was not answering, no one was answering!! I finally got through to my wonderful step dad who talked me down off of the "ledge" I was on after convincing myself I was dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. As I finished my phone call with him, Brian finally called back, I relayed the story to him, tears and all - he sighed, told me I was not dying, and that he would be home within the hour to figure it all out.

This whole time my Anthony Thomas and Olivia Grace were sitting patiently in the back seat - my poor kids... at least they are not quite old enough to know just how crazy their mommy is!! After I got myself together, I left the Pizza Hut parking lot and drove aimlessly around waiting to get the "O.K" to go back into my house. Brian phoned soon after and told me he successfully plugged in the Carbon Monoxide detector he just purchased (I was convinced the one we already had at home was not working correctly) and that there was no trace of any in our house - phew. He was then given the O.K. by me to run back off to the work that I interrupted with my state of emergency. Gosh I love him.... always there when I need him, even in my irrational, crazed states... My husband, my knight in shining armor.

Dad

My heart is sad today... I spoke to my Dad today. I have not spoken to him in a very long time - I would say it has been about a year. The sad truth is that the time span in between phone calls seems to get longer and longer after each time we do talk.

As I was laying on my bed nursing my beautiful daughter Olivia Grace, it came to mind that he has yet to meet her, in fact, I believe he has only met Ava, Lucas and Anthony a few times - sad. The picture above is from the day Lucas was born, one of the two times he has met my little Lucas. I have been thinking about calling him for months and have not actually gone through with it as it seems the conversation is always so strained and hard to keep going. But today I decided to pick up the phone and call him. He answered - I said "Hi Dad" silence on the other end of the line. I said "It's Maria". He said, "Oh...Maria, Hi." I proceeded to talk about how long it has been since we have talked or seen eachother, and he agreed. He said to me "I am so sorry honey, it is all my fault." I have never heard him take on any responsibilty for the disolution of our relationship, so this really shocked me - I did not know what to say... I just mentioned that it was both of our faults and that we need to work on getting things on track. I asked how work was, how Tracey was, and a few other odds and ends but was getting one word responses from him. I am sure this was due to the fact that he was extremely intoxicated, trying his best to put coherent sentences together to carry on a conversation with me. I thought it would be a good time to end the conversation, so I told him to call me soon so we could get together. He agreed - I told him I loved him and would talk soon. As I hung up the phone I cried as I was sure I would not hear from him - either because he would not remember the conversation, or he would be too ashamed to make the call after speaking to me being so intoxicated.

This all made me sad for him, and for me.... Sad that his drinking was the catalyst to all of this- my mother leaving him, and his inability to spend time with us when we were young children, which in turn got us to where we are today, not a part of eachothers lives. He has missed so much... the births of my four beautiful children, baptims, birthday parties - all of the wonderful little moments that should be enjoyed by grandparents. They do not know their own grandpa, and sadly I do not believe they ever really will.

I am in awe that after all of this, all the sadness, pain, and heartache, that he is not able to quit drinking, or try to quit drinking. I am not angry though, I forgive him for everything - all he has done and not done throught my lifetime as my Dad. I have learned that it is of no value to hang on to anger, it only festers and builds and makes you into someone you would rather not be. I have learned to accept my Dad for who he is, an alchohlic who does the best he knows how to. I love him, and always will.

It was a momentous occasion

For the past few days Ava has been obsessed with the fact that she has a loose tooth. Every day this week she comes home from school telling me all the tales of the other kids in her Kindergarten class that have lost their teeth. One of her friends, Emily, lost - get this, 2 teeth already! Ava was just baffled by this. :) Anyway, she came home from school yesterday asking me to please pull her tooth out while she was sleeping as that is what Emily had her mom do. I told her I wanted to see how loose it was before I did that and asked her to open up her mouth so I could "wiggle" it... she obliged, and within a few seconds I had her tooth in my hand.

After the excitement of actually losing the tooth wore off she started to ask questions about how much money the tooth fairy was going to leave her. Just the other day our neighbor Tyler (who is 6) came running outside yelling "I got $5 whole dollars from the tooth fairy!!" I looked at his mom and proceeded to ask if the tooth fairy had gotten a pay raise or something - geeze, $5??? Or am I just cheap?? I remember when the tooth fairy came to my house she left a few quarters, I know it was a long time ago, but has the price per tooth really gone up that much or was my mom just cheap too?

Anyway, she went to sleep last night with her tooth under her pillow and so full of excitement I was not sure if she would actually go to sleep. Early this morning - way to early this morning - 4:45am to be exact, Ava came running into my room yelling, "mommy, mommy, guess how much money's the tooth fairy left me.... 5 dollars!!" Too cute. :)