HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

FIZZLED OUT

Someone in this house has been waiting and waiting and waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus. I quit trying to keep count of how many times I have heard "when is Santa coming?" from his little mouth, but if I had to guess, I would say it has been asked about 1000 times over the past few weeks. Don't get me wrong, the other kids are excited as well, but Anthony has really showed much more enthusiasm about his arrival than the others. Much more.

In the midst of all of this waiting, he has not been getting much sleep. He tends to go to bed a bit after 8pm and rises in the morning way before the sun is up at 5:15am. Apparently the stress of waiting for Santa's arrival has proved to be too much for this little one of mine as this is how I have been finding him the past few afternoons.

Yes, fast asleep on the couch. My Anthony Thomas quit napping at the ripe old age of two so this is a very rare find. Very rare. Actually I would go as far as to say it is nothing short of a Christmas Miracle.

GIVING BACK

My Lucas is always thinking of others. That is why I was not surprised when I found this taped to the wall right next to the fireplace.

He had decided it would only be fair to leave a gift for Santa to receive after he came bounding down that fake chimney, into our glass enclosed fake fireplace [details, details] to fill the family room with presents him and his siblings. At least this is what he thinks is going to happen. Seems that kids don't really understand this whole recession thing.

Anyway, I told him how much Santa was going to love the portrait he had drawn of him as it really was quite perfect with the hat and beard and all. I also asked him what he had ever so nicely wrapped as a gift for Santa in that nice shiny Reynolds wrap that was taped right next to the portrait. He proudly explained that he decided to give his Go Diego Go Kazoo (actually it's his brothers) to Santa as he thought he would really enjoy playing it on the sleigh while delivering presents to all the kids. Nevermind that the toy is not his to give away. I guess it's the thought that counts, right?

YOU TURN YOUR BACK FOR A MINUTE...

Miss Olivia is at the wonderful age where she finds it quite fun to get into everything and anything. She pushes chairs up to countertops, climbs on the chair, onto the counter and gets into cabinets. She opens up the one unlocked cabinet (unlocked because it is broken), pulls out all of the games and puzzles, dumps them all over the floor and proceeds to walk away. She manages to get on her tippiest of tippy toes and reaches up into the pantry to pull down snacks when she is feeling hungry. When one of the kids leaves out the case with the Wii games in it, she quickly grabs it up, spilling its contents all over the floor and getting her little fingerprints on each and every disc. When the bathroom door is left open she does not miss the opportunity to run on in there, unroll the whole roll of toilet paper and splash around in the toilet for good measure. On some occasions she happens upon my box of tampons and unwraps them one by one, leaving a trail of them around the house. She sometimes finds it fun to get into the garbage and dump it all over the kitchen floor, dragging some things into the family room as well.

You get the idea, the girl is unstoppable. She gets into everything.

So this morning I put on Max and Ruby in the hopes that this would keep her attention long enough for me to get a few emails sent without her getting into any of the things mentioned above. And for the first few minutes it was working perfectly.

Then I heard something, the crinkly sound of a bag of sorts. I stopped my typing and turned around in my chair to find this.

She managed to get her hands on my box of granola cereal and dumped it out all over the kitchen floor. A mere 3 feet away from me. She is certainly quick on her feet, isn't she?

The mess was already made, so I just let her be with her granola. She sat there happily eating for about 10 minutes before she decided she had enough and walked away.

I can't turn my back on this little girl for a minute, can I?

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

2 Sundays ago (I know, I am a bit behind), we did our annual Breakfast with Santa. My Mom is ever so generous each year and takes my sister, myself, my aunt and all the grandkids to a really, really yummy brunch at the Pool and Yacht Club. After filling our belly's with all of that delicious food, we make our way downstairs to a room in which Santa and Mrs. Claus reside.

I was not sure what to expect this year. Ava and Lucas are old enough to be very fond of Santa, and have no problems whatsoever hopping on his lap and listing off the many, many things they want for Christmas. But Anthony can be unpredictable in this category. The year before last he would not even go near Santa. It did not matter what I used to coerce him into that Jolly Man's lap, he was not going to do it. Last year he was scared of Santa as well, but I did manage to get him to sit on his lap. All the while he stared at the ground, biting his nails out of nervousness and not saying a word. But it was progress.

This year presented us with a whole different Anthony. Yes, this year excitement overtook him when he walked into the room where Santa was. He was so excited that he could barely contain himself. Really. As he stood in line waiting he squealed in delight, jumping up and down with his hands over his mouth saying "It's Santa Mom, it's Santa!!" "When do I get to sit with Santa Mom?" More squeals and giggling. "Oh my gosh, it really is Santa!!" At one point I thought he was going to wet his pants as he was standing with his legs crossed, bouncing up and down. Turns out he did not need to use the bathroom, and that this was yet another way of him showing his excitement about being in the same room with Santa. It was really all too much for him to take in.

I think at this point Lucas was wondering what in the heck had gotten into Anthony.

Throughout his excitement, other Mom's and Dad's who were waiting in line smiled and giggled at his love for Santa. The people that worked there, taking pictures of each child on Santa's lap, and helping Santa give out little gift bags to the kids were so taken aback by how sweet and excited he was they snapped a few pictures of him as he stood in line. [Can't wait to see those.] The sheer delight that overtook that little boy in those ten minutes would have put a smile on anyone's face.

Can't wait to see what next year's meeting will bring. 'Cause how can you top that? I really don't think he could have been any happier or excited this time around.

OUT OF THE LOOP... AGAIN

Here I am, busy as ever. Again. With what you ask?

Keeping the house clean, doing laundry, taking care of the kids, cooking, cleaning some more, helping with homework, baths, grocery shopping, you know, the daily grind. This is nothing new, but of course, it is the Holiday Season, so there are just a few extra things that are added to my list this month that really add to the stress level:

Sending out the Christmas cards, which entails addressing, stamping, licking, addressing stamping licking [75 times to be exact], holiday parties to be at, holiday parties to host [this weekend and we still don't have a menu or have done any sort of planning for it], Christmas shopping [driving all around town in pursuit of the ever popular Zhu Zhu pets], wrapping all the presents [enter me, the worst Christmas-gift-wrapper ever], putting together furniture and decorating the new study room that is a Christmas gift to the kids, make 10 dozen cookies for our annual cookie exchange which will be very interesting [on top of being a horrible gift wrapper, I am also blessed with the inability to bake as well.]

And this is just a taste of what goes on during this lovely Holiday season.

I am not sure why I cannot prepare myself every November for the whirlwind of a month that December brings, as it is like this every year. Maybe I need to start practicing Yoga at this time of year to calm myself, or maybe I should join some sort of support group for crazed Mom's during the Holiday season. I am sure there is no such thing out there, but I just may start a support group of my own next year, as I am certain there are other Mom's out there who could use it at this time of year too. Then maybe the world would be a happier place during this joyous season. At least for this Momma.

BRINGING SEXY BACK

The Mr. has never been big into the whole lingerie thing. His mentality has always been, why spend a ton of money on something that is just going to come off within minutes of me seeing it? And I have always agreed. But lately he has hinted around the fact that I could spice things up a bit in the going-to-bed attire. If I felt so inclined.

Apparently he is sick of my cotton hanes underwear and cozy warm flannel pajamas I don every evening at bedtime. And I guess I don't really blame him.

Today I was doing my weekly shopping at Target when I happened upon the women's intimates department. I usually wiz right on by this department, but today I thought I would stop to peruse the racks. Maybe, just maybe even purchase something for the Mr. - something for me to wear for his viewing pleasure.

[I should clarify that I do know all about Victoria's Secret, and I do know that this would more than likely be the better place to look for such items, but I am cheap in this department and not willing to pay $50 some dollars for such things. Just not going to do it. Nope.]

On with the story....

I did my perusing, and was not really coming up with anything. Some skimpy little pajama shorts and cute little T's, some grandm-aish nightgowns, and my standard warm fuzzy fleece pajamas were all I could find. But nothing I could see myself putting on and having the Mr. go Ga-Ga over. Not a single thing. As I was getting ready to leave the intimates department, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. Nah, it couldn't be, could it? I looked again, and found it was what I had thought.

Here, take a look for yourself.

My question is, what self-respecting grown woman would wear these? Or Man for that matter, as I saw they come in Men's sizes/colors as well. Obviously there are people out there, or else they would not be producing them. Call me crazy, but my thought is that there should be some law against making footed pajamas in adult sizes so as to make it impossible for these yahoo's to purchase them.

Anyway, I left the store, still in disbelief at what I had just witnessed, and without anything for the Mr. to feast his eyes upon. I guess I was just a little bit too disturbed to look around any longer.

I think this one will baffle me for some time. I will forever wish to get inside the head of any being that would purchase such pajamas, and find out why they would do such a thing. 'Cause I am all about comfort, and love feeling warm and fuzzy in my flannel PJ's.

But footed pajamas? with animal feet to boot? C'mon. Really?

MOUSTACHE

Lucas sporting his first ever "Moustache"..... Well, at least that is what he was calling it.

I will forever wonder what brought on my children's obsession with personal care products for women. 'Cause this is not the first time Lucas (and the other stinkers for that matter) have gotten into such things.

One time I caught the boys playing "shooter guns" with my tampons, another time they were using them as earplugs. And the mini-pads? They have managed to find many uses for those. As I mentioned above, Lucas has used one as a make-shift moustache [which technically would be a beard if you look at the placement, but close enough, right?] I have also found the kids sticking sticking them all over their bodies, claiming they were covering themselves in protective armor, and they also found them quite useful as eyepatches when playing pirates.

Their imaginations seem to be endless when it comes to playing with mini-pads and tampons.

Funny thing is, Ava never is a part of all this. Just the boys - little partners in crime.

THE PAST SIX DAYS ~ IN A NUT SHELL

Very, very long post, filled with ramblings about my very long week that most likely will be boring for most to read. Just wanted to warn, so that if you choose, you can skip it altogether.

Wednesday Morning, the Mr. got himself up out of bed at the ripe hour of 4am and left on a little road trip to Ohio. What for? To deliver a boat to a customer.

Me? I got up at about 6am and started the daily routine. Drag kids out of bed, dress them, feed them, and race to get them on the bus by 7:30am. Then it was on to Anthony. Pull the PSP out of his hands, get him dressed, lunch made, and off to preschool for the day. The rest of the day was spent with Sam and Liv - play, lunch, nap time. Kids off the bus at 2:45, Ava with a friend for an afternoon playdate. Snacks are given, pizza ordered, quickly eat, drop of Ava's friend, race to Lucas' Karate graduation. Thank heaven for the little miracles known as Grandma and Grandpa, as they were there to help me with the kids. Lord knows I needed it seeing I had to reenact some moves with Lucas on the mat, and take pictures. I would not have been able to do either if I didn't have them to hold Olivia and keep Anthony entertained. Thankfully Ava is old enough now to sit down quietly and behave. After the little ceremony, we made our way home got the kids in jammies, settled, and into bed.

Thursday morning, up again at 6am only to repeat Wednesdays activities. (minus the playdate and Karate - oh, and instead of Pizza for dinner, I threw them all some happy meals.) In place of Lucas and the whole Karate thing, we had Ava's dance class. I loaded all the kids (pajamas on) into the car in order to get Ava to her class at 6:50pm. As I raced in I got some weird looks from people, most likely wondering why my children were dressed for bed.

Why the pajamas? Well because the dance class goes until 7:40pm, and by the time I would get them all home they would be asleep in their car seats. SO, it only makes sense to have them in their pajamas when I go - then I do not have to wake them all up and try to get cranky, sleepy kids into their pajamas and back to bed. This convienence trumps all the weird looks I was getting, so I simply disregarded them.

So, the dance class ended, I got the kids loaded into the car, and home. As expected, they all fell asleep in the car enroute to home sweet home - so I spent the next 10 minutes carrying each one up to bed, and having to wake Ava to get her in pajamas as she was in her leotard. [No, I did not put her in her pajamas before going to dance class, as even I know, that would have been going a bit too far.] Finally everyone was in bed, with me following shortly after.

Was woken up at about midnight to the sound of Mr. Shelton crawling in bed, back from delivering the boat. Only problem was, he still had the boat. Turns out he drove 12 hours to Ohio, delivered the boat to the guys door only to find the guy did not like the trailer the boat was on. The trailer. So he decided to go back on his word, and not buy the boat. Never mind my husband taking two days out of his schedule to deliver the dang thing. Nope, he didn't care, he decided he didn't want it. Douchebag. Two days away from family and work all for nothing. Grrrrrr, I say, Grrrrrr.

Friday morning came, and again, I repeated the activities of both Wednesday and Thursday. Afterward, I drove Mr. Shelton to the airport. Yes, he was leaving us again, this time for a fun trip to Las Vegas with a friend. surprisingly a pretty uneventful afternoon followed. The kids came home from school and we had our neighbor friends come over to play. After playing for some time I was somehow convinced to take all four of my kids to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. So we piled into the car and headed over to the kids favorite restaurant to meet our friends for a nice, peaceful, relaxing dinner. [Yah, right.]

The kids were pretty great, sat and colored, the food came they started eating, and then one of them [Ava] realized they did not have balloons and crowns yet. Oh the outrage. A nice girl working there (not our server, let's just say patience was not her strong suit) came over and gave the kids the balloons. Immediately two went right up to the ceiling, crying ensued. The nice girl brought two more balloons over - this time tying them to everyones wrists. By this time the kids were done eating and thought it would be fun to run in circles around the table. We were trying to pay our bill, but our ever so lovely server was no where to be seen. Finally we gave the bill to someone else and got the heck out of there. We made our way home, played for a few more minutes with friends, said our goodbyes and started the bedtime routine. Another day done.

Saturday morning came all too soon. I was up again at 6am, dragging the kiddos out of bed as well, dressed and fed them all, piled them into the car and raced over to Grandma and Papa's house to drop everyone off but Anthony. Anthony and I had an appointment at the Early Childhood center to have his mandatory screening before starting Kindergarten. We managed to make it to the appointment on time and started in on his testing. As I suspected, Anthony was nervous and a had a bit of anxiety going on. He spent most of the time sitting in a seat, head down, biting his nails. Occasionally he would whisper an answer to a question that the lovely lady who was testing him asked. It was all frustrating to watch, knowing he knew the answers but was too nervous and overwhelmed to answer many of them. I guess it all went well enough, as he did "pass". After all that rigamaroll, we headed home, I got myself all gussied up and again we headed over to grandma and papa's. This time I dropped Anthony off and picked Grandma up.

Where did we go? A Bunko party. I had never played Bunko before, did not really know much about it, but at this point in my week I was just so happy to get out of the house sans kids I did not care what I was doing. Turned out to be quite a fun afternoon, rolling dice to play a mindless game, drinking wine, eating food, talking with adults... what's not to like, right?

Alas, the party ended, so we made our way home to relieve Papa of his duties. I headed home, did the whole bedtime routine as usual, and drifted off to dream land in the hopes of a nice relaxing Sunday.

I woke up Sunday morning, and for some reason thought it would be fun to decorate the house for Christmas. 'Cause you know I have not had a busy enough week. Of course the kids were just thrilled, so I made my way to the basement and dragged up all the Christmas stuff. We spent a few hours decorating the house and the Christmas tree, and had a grand time doing it.

Then our neighbor friends called to play. So we played and went to lunch at Culver's. I guess I am a glutton for punishment with this going out to eat thing lately. We ate and everything went pretty smoothly. We made our way home and I was ready to relax when Lucas asked when he got to go to the birthday party. Uh-oh. I forgot about the birthday party Lucas was supposed to be at.... in one hour. So I got him ready, threw everyone in the car, and headed out to the birthday party. Driving there I realized what a long week it had been with the constant running and always having to be somewhere. As I was lost in my thoughts Anthony was crying and yelling because he could not pass a level on his PSP, Olivia was screaming out of sheer exhaustion because she was missing her morning nap, and Ava and Lucas were in the back arguing about something. I was feeling overwhelmed and very ready for the Mr. to arrive home.

As I pulled into the parking lot at the location of this party, I went to pull into a parking spot and realized it was much to tight for me to fit into. So, I put my car in reverse, stepped on the gas to back out - and CRASH. Apparently there was a car right behind me trying to park as well that I did not see. I swear it came out of nowhere. As all the kids were crying, clearly shook up from the little fender bender I just go intot, I looked in my rear view mirror to find a lady throwing her arms up in the air and yelling. I could tell this was not going to be good. I parked the car, got out, walked up and said

"I am so sorry!"

[Accompanied by a very nasty look:] " You better be!"

"Gosh, I did not mean to run into you, I just did not see you."

"This is a brand new car you know!"

"Again, I am sorry. It has been a really long week, I am feeling crazed and was late getting here."

"Well, I sure hope you have insurance."

Alright, now I was getting pissed. I had already had a very long week, and I did not need to end it like this. With a mean woman yelling at me over a small fender bender that resulted in a little nick to the front bumper of her beloved spankin' new Saturn.

"Listen lady, do you have to be so rude? Relax, it's a car and it can be fixed, no need to be so snotty about all of this. Oh, and yes, I do have insurance."

"My God, you are the one being rude, AND acting like this is my fault!."

"I clearly stated when I got out of my car that it was my fault and that I was sorry, so what part of that did you not understand?" I never said it was your fault as I backed into you. I don't need this, I have 4 little kids in the car."

"Well I have kids in my car too you know!" [From what I saw, she had 1 teenager in the front seat. Not quite the same as 4 kids age 6 and under.]

"You really don't have to be such a brat about the whole situation."

"Takes one to know one!" Yes, she did say that.

"Wow, how very classy of you."

This was getting ridiculous.

I made my way back to my car to get my insurance info, when my girlfriend (mom of the little boy who was having the birthday party) walked up and said to the other woman, "oh, it's alright, this stuff happens, really I don't even see any damage!" She was chatting some more but I could not make out what they were saying. I only heard the very end where she told her to talk to me because she sure wasen't going to. My girlfriend then walked up to me to ask how I was, which was when I started crying and babbling on about how crazy my week had been and how this was just topping it all off, etc. etc. She then said how sorry she was, and that she could be mean sometimes. This is where I stopped, looked at her and said:

"She? Do you know her??"

Well of course she did, it was her sister. Her sister. Of all people to back into, and end up having a not so pleasant confrontation. Truly unbelievable. Of course I apologized ten times over to her, but was assured by my ever so understanding friend that her sister was not a very nice person at times, and that she tended to overreact about things.

All this time the kids were sitting patiently in the car, wondering what was going on. I just explained there was a little accident, and hoped they did not hear the nasty exchange that went on between this woman and I.

I finally got Lucas into the birthday party and headed home to get my insurance info ready for when I picked Lucas up. When I arrived, I handed over my insurance info to my friend (her sister was no longer there, which was probably a very good thing) and apologized again, and was again told not to worry.

As we were driving home, Lucas told me all about the party. How he played, had cake but not ice cream and he did not want any ice cream, how it was a Pirate party and got an eye patch, hat and "sword hand thingy". When we got home, he did not waste a moment getting into his Pirate garb and showing it off to his brother, sisters and I.

I was happy he had a good time and that all the kids seemed unscathed by Mom's little ordeal.

And now we are at today. Today I again went through the whole getting the kids off to school routine. I have my little day care boy over, Sam. He and Olivia just ate lunch and will soon be taking naps. Grandpa will come over today at 2pm to watch those two, and get Ava and Lucas off the bus while I am at Anthony's preschool for Friendship day. A day where they sing songs and put on a little show for Mom's and Dad's and then end with a snack and some juice. I will then head back home, let the kids play for awhile, then get myself ready before the babysitter gets here at 5pm.

Yep, I got myself a babysitter. And let's just say her arrival has been much anticipated over the past few days. [She will be taking care of the kids until the Mr. arrives home from his relaxing vacation in Las Vegas at about 7pm.] I will then steal away to the Olive Garden to meet a very close friend of mine from Highschool for some dinner and drinks. A friend I have not seen for over a year and miss tremendously. I will eat, talk, drink wine, and take my time. Because come 5pm, I am officially "punching out" and putting Mr. Shelton in charge.

TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL

I love babies. I love the way they smell, the way they coo when they are happy, the way they kick their little legs and arms around when they are excited, they way the toot and manage to make it seem cute, the way the sleep, and look around at the world in sheer wonderment. It is safe to say that I love every darn little thing about them. I also love who these little babies morph into - infants, then toddlers then little kids, onto teenagers and finally adults.

Because of my undying love for babies, I frequently find my mind wandering to thoughts of adding another one to our brood. I wander to thoughts of how fun it would be to have an extra large family - 5 little crumb snatchers running around the house, playing, fighting, and reaking havoc on the house. 5 little crumb snatchers loving eachother, loving Brian and I. 5 little crumb snatchers eating us out of house and home, and putting us into the poor house. Actually, this is pretty much how it is now with 4 of 'em - Chaos in it's purest form. So why not add one more to the mix?

Well, I figure since I want another baby it is only wise to ask the kids what they think of all of this. To heck with what Mr. Shelton thinks, right?

I have actually asked them their thoughts on this subject many times. Just to see what they will say, and also because I think their responses are always so funny and sweet. Surprisingly, their answers are usually pretty consistent.

Ava's thoughts? She would love another baby to play Momma to. She is so very sweet with Olivia, helping to her dressed in the morning, feeding her, playing baby dolls with her, and even on occasion changing a diaper. She is quite the mother. But, she does have on stipulation to this whole one more baby thing - it needs to be a girl.

Lucas? Well, he seems quite alright with having another baby too. In fact, he says that he will take two. At the same time. And they must be boys. Oh, and he just wants to see what they will look like and then send them back.

And Anthony? Well, he usually just ignores the question but today was different. Today we had quite the discussion about babies.

"Anthony, should we have another baby?"

[With a very exasperated sigh] "No Momma. I don't want any more babies in this house."

"Why not?"

"Because. Then we will just have hundreds and hundreds of babies. And I don't want hundreds and hundreds of babies. They just cry too much."

"Oh, but Momma really wants another baby."

Apparently this sent him right off the deep end as he started sobbing out of control. [And me being the sympathetic Mom I am, took this opportunity to snap some pictures of the turmoil as it unfolded.]

I am going to say it would be wise for me to leave the whole baby thing alone for now. 'Cause really, no matter how much I want another little bundle o' joy, I just don't think it is in the cards for us. And seeing from Anthony's little production, I am thinking he will be quite happy with my decision.

GREEN BELT

Someone has been working very hard over the past few months, perfecting all of his yellow belt karate moves,

and kicks.

As a result, there was a little ceremony that took place last evening,

in which my Lucas was rewarded with a brand spankin' new belt from his teacher.

A green belt.

Was he ever proud - and frankly, so was I.

White belt, done. Yellow belt, done. Now onto the task of that green belt.

A PERFECT LITTLE SPOT

Apparently Liv found the lighting to be insufficient when sitting on the couch to read her magazine. So, she did what any other smart little one year old would do,

and planted her little butt directly on the end table, right underneath the lamp.

I started to make my way over to get her down, but stopped. She seemed very content and really wasn't hurting anything, so why not let her be, right?

SHELTON FOOD DRIVE

Since the kids are getting older, I decided it would be a good idea to start teaching them how to give back to the community. I have been trying to come up with ideas as to how to go about this for a while now and have really come up with nothing. That is until last week, when a friend from Mom's Club sent an email out to our club with a grand idea. An idea that would be hugely successful in teaching the kids how to give back to the community. An idea that would be fun and engaging for both them and myself - I was thrilled to say the least.

The idea? Have the kids do a food drive for Valley Outreach, our local food shelf.

Once I had the idea, I put myself to work and made my way over to Kowalski's to ask the manager if he would be ever so nice as to donate 75 of his bags, which he was. I then put together a flyer that could be attached to the bags in order to explain what the kids were asking our neighbors for, which I did.

Then we put on our walking shoes, got out there and delivered all of the bags to our lovely neighbors doorsteps. The kids had a wonderful time running up to each doorstep delivering their bags they help put together. At times someone would come to the door and they would proudly explain that they were having a food drive to help other kids and families. Surprisingly as we finished up, they did not seem to be tired out from all of the excitement and running around.

All this, in the hopes that come Sunday evening we would find a plethera of bags throughout the neighborhood full of food.

Sunday afternoon came, and that is exactly what we found.

Daddy took the car seats out of the car, and put down the back seats for us to fill the back with all of the donations. The kids hopped into the car excited as ever to be able to ride around the neighborhood without being strapped into their car seats, and off we went. I was amazed by the generosity of all of our wonderful neighbors - as pretty much every other house we passed had a bag waiting on the doorstep for us to collect.

The kids really enjoyed running up to each house in an attempt to drag the bags back to the car. Sometimes they were successful, but most often I had to run up there and grab the bags for them as they were so full! Another great testament to how generous our neighbors were.

I was sure that by the time we were finished collecting all the bags the kids would be exhausted and ready to rest for the evening, but I was wrong. We returned back to our house with a car packed full of food - once we parked the kids were out of the car and anxious to unload it all into the garage, and with help from both Mom and Dad, they were successful in doing so.

After all their hard work, I decided a special treat was in order. I told the kids that they could choose whatever they wanted to eat for dinner and I would let them have it.

What did they request? Happy Meals from McDonalds!

And that is what they got.


As we sat at the table eating our dinner, we talked about what a great thing they had done. Both Dad and I explained to them how wonderful it was for them to work so hard to help out other families. We explained how all of this food was going to go to other kids, Moms and Dads that do not have enough money to buy food, soap, diapers and other things. We explained how much these families will appreciate all this food that they collected for them. And we explained how it was a great way for us to show that we are thankful for what we have, and compassionate toward those who are less fortunate. The kids did not really say much in return, but I could tell from the smiles on their faces and the way the looked at eachother how very proud they were of themselves.

I know sometimes (well, a lot of times) I am feeling frustrated, like I just want to "pull my hair out." Always feeling like the kids are yelling at eachother, fighting, saying naughty things, and just plain old not getting along. Sometimes I feel as if I am failing somehow, not being a good enough parent, not discipling them the right way, and just not getting through to them.

But then there are times like tonight, where all that is forgotten, and I understand that I have to be doing something right. That I have 4 wonderful, giving, loving, compassionate kids who have the ability to help others out who are in need and have a great time doing it.

This makes me so very proud to be their Mom, what great kids I have.

THE OBSESSION IS GROWING STRONGER

Brian and I were laying in bed this morning, chatting, being lazy and trying to get ourselves out of bed for the day. While consumed in our laziness, this little one

happened to meander up the stairs and plop his little self right next to the Mr. and I with his beloved playstation in hand. It was not surprising to me that it was only 7:30am and he already was well into passing the next level on his Indiana Jones game. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the child is obsessed with video games. So much so that I am thinking I need to limit his use of them, as if I didn't, I think he would permantley glue his hands to the thing and play forever. No jokes.

Anyway, he was deep in concentration with his face inches away from his playstation, when suddenly he bent all the way in and planted a big wet kiss on the screen. Brian and I both stopped and thought about what we had just witnessed. Our son had just kissed his video game.

"Anthony, what did you just do?"

"I gave Indiana Jones a kiss Mom."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I love him. I am going to give him a hug too."

He stopped playing for a moment, brought that beloved playstation of his close to his head, pulled his shoulder up against it, gave it a nice big squeeze and said:

"I really love me ESP Momma." [PSP]

As I made my way out of bed [laughing a bit], I thought to myself, really? I would have never guessed.

SNACK TIME

Someone managed to get on her tipiest of tippy toes and grab her ever beloved snack out of the pantry. Without me knowing.

But have no fear, I found out soon enough when I made my way over to the stove. Turns out the culprit decided to dump the cheetos out on the floor, in an attempt to reach them a bit easier when in need of one.

After surveying the mess for a while, I realized that the culprit was no where in site. I made the decision to leave the mess there and go in search. It did not take long before I found her, in the back hallway, happy as could be with a cheeto in her hand.

Little stinker.