What Might Have Been...

So Doug has decided that we will not send out

Christmas Cards unless they have a picture of all four of us (me, Doug and the kids) Therefore, we will not be sending out Christmas cards at all since all four of us are never in the same place at the same time for more than five seconds. I am hoping some time between now and New Years we can take a decent family picture and send out New Year's Cards. I can dream....but anyway- I thought I 'd show you my pick for a Christmas card...the one we're not using....sigh. Funny kids. So Merry Christmas and be looking for your Happy New Year cards...could be Valentine's...

My First School Party...

As a "parent helper" that is. I use that term VERY loosely, since Hudson was with me. I spent more time keeping him from swallowing legos than I did helping the preschoolers, but oh well. I just kept looking at Ellie and thinking, "When did she turn into a little girl???" I feel like it wasn't very long ago that I was the one gluing glitter onto ornaments and pretending to be a reindeer.... Luckily, no kids got sick from my rice krispy treats shaped like gingerbread men, and all the other moms were impressed with my collection of decorations for the gingerbread/rice krispy men, so I'll call the day a success. I'm just wondering...does the weirdness ever go away? I feel like an impostor when I take Ellie to school, like someone is going to grab me by the arm and say, "You're supposed to be in class down the hall, young lady!" Sounds like I have some unresolved schooling issues I need to clear up! Anyway, it was great to see the kids in all their holiday glory. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share of the party, only a couple of Huddy being his usual charming self earlier this morning, as well as Ellie the fashionista in her Christmas Light Hanging Outfit.

Is This What I Was Born To Do????

I love that from Marjorie Hinckley, describing the harried days of motherhood. I'm echoing that sentiment right now, as I am trying to prepare a lesson for Personal Progress tomorrow night as my three year old daughter sits on my lap at 9pm doing "homework" because she "absolutely can't sleep." Exasperated would describe my current state quite nicely. All of a sudden, Ellie says "Oops, sorry Mom. My bad." because she accidentally hit a computer key. My Bad???!?? I fight to hold the laughter in as I tell her it's ok and then I realize how blessed I am that yes, indeed- this is what I was born to do.

There's Got to be A Morning After...

Hudson's face pretty much says it all! I love these pjs. I have the sneaking supspicion they were meant for Christmas, but let's just say the box accidently opened, all by itself of course. Anyway, Ellie has been running around singing/rapping "I'm a horse girl, just like ya said...." over and over. Just in case you can't tell, those are horses all over the pjs.

Ellie and I just got back from doing a little shopping in Williamsburg. What a mess. I now remember why I do most of my shopping (such as it is) online! The crowds were terrible, and there's nothing like having to explain to your three year old daughter why two women are screaming and swearing at each other over a parking space. Tis the season to get into a fistfight, I guess. Luckily she was pretty engrossed in her ice cream cone from the "Chocolate Store" as she calls it. Big thanks to Grandma K for introducing that store to her! Can't go anywhere in that mall without her insisting we make a visit and get her fix...

But I digress- the whole shopping episode just got me thinking about how far removed a good majority of folks are from the real meaning of Christmas. For a lot of people, this is it- the shopping for gifts, decorating a tree, maybe eating a good meal or a party or two. In today's world it is definitely easy to forget what the underlying theme of Christmas really is. Peace on earth, good will towards men, and the birth of our Savior. Let us all do better (I'm a the top of the list, of course!) to remember and ACT like we remember. Happy Holidays.

Huddy's Practice Birthday

Since this is my first and therefore practice post, I thought it would be appropriate to commence with Hudson's "practice" first birthday that we had last night. Grandma Judy had a party for Hudson and his soon-to-be two year old cousin, Trenton who was here for Thanksgiving weekend. It was so much fun, complete with Hudson slathering himself with cake and frosting. Glad it was at the cottage and not at my house! It was so great that I'm tempted not to have another party for him on his real birthday (December 2) I don't think he'll notice....

Here's Ellie and Trenton waiting for their dads to come back from fishing to take them on a boat ride on Saturday. Fleabo the dog is just waiting for someone to drop some food.

Last but not least, I have to give credit where credit is due to my old pal Amy Hutchins, who inspired me to get on the blogger bandwagon. She has, hands down, the funniest blog on the planet. She is so famous that she even has her own trading cards (see above.) http://www.hutchgirl.blogspot.com/