Once upon a time...

A year ago...

Two years ago...

Three years ago...Four years ago (on our babymoon in Hawaii)...
Eight years ago (on New Year's Eve)...

I once heard a quote about parenting...
The days are long but the years are short!

This couldn't ring more true for us. It is amazing looking back at these few old photos of the boys to see just how much things have changed. And though the days are long (very long, especially over the winter break) I wouldn't change a thing.

In desperate need of New Year's traditions...

Scott and I never go out without the kids. And I really mean never...at most we are without Jack and Logan 3 times a year. So this evening, New Year's Eve, was no different. I was happy to be with the boys but was looking to make it special. Unfortunately, we are a bit lacking in the tradition department for New Years. Here is what our night consisted of:

6:03 PM - dinner served with sparkling cranberry juice

6:37 PM - get the boys to help make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

6:39 PM - the boys lose interest in making cookies and begin rough-housing

7:01 PM - turn on The Secrets of the Furious Five (Kung Fu Panda's extra combo pack DVD) however in an effort to get the boys to wind down and sit still for a few minutes, Mama clearly picked the wrong movie

7:11 PM - eat said cookies warm, again Mama rethinks her decision...giving sugar to already wild boys while watching a martial arts cartoon?

7:24 PM - enact new family rule: no performing Kung Fu moves on Mama

7:49 PM - carry the boys in their PJs out front to yell "Happy New Year!" because Jack was concerned that the rest of the world was unaware of the holiday and felt it his duty to shout it from the top of his lungs

Tomorrow, the first day of 2009, I'm hoping we head to the beach or take a hike.

So what does your family do to ring in the New Year? I realize it's a bit late for our family this year but I'm hoping to get some ideas for next year.

Happy New Year!

3 Me Mornings!

Logan is starting school after winter break. He'll be going to the same preschool as Jack and in fact, will be in the same classroom as there is only one. Since the school is a co-op, I'll now be required to work there at least two days a week (since I'll have two kids attending). But what all this really means is:
I'LL HAVE THREE MORNINGS A WEEK ALONE!

Here is my to-do list for my three mornings a week:

• Catch up on all the sleep I've been deprived for the past 3 3/4 years
• Become fluent in Mandarin
  
• Get in shape
• Shop for new clothes (preferably after I get in shape)
• Get my wedding dress cleaned and preserved (as it's been hanging dirty in my closet for 5 1/2 years)
  
• Waste time surfing the web
  
• Take advantage of all the farmer's markets that my city has to offer
• Go to the bathroom without anyone else in the room with me
• Read a good book
• Buy new makeup (something I haven't done for at least 2 years...yuck!)
• Clean and organize all the catch-all drawers and cabinets around the house (of which there are about 147)
• Get a haircut
  
• Drink tea at a sidewalk cafe while soaking up the sun
  

In reality, I'll:

• Buy groceries and put them away
  
• Do several loads of laundry
• Get a haircut (well, it has been 9 months or more)
  
• Run random boring errands
  
• Clean the kitchen
  
• Miss my boys terribly and count the minutes until I can pick them up from school
  

"Not Me!" Monday

Time to get cathartic and fess up to all the things I absolutely positively did NOT do this week:

I did NOT imitate Jack whining to demonstrate how annoying it was to him. It did NOT backfire on me.

I do NOT convince myself daily that while the boys nap I must sit perfectly still while reading, watching TV or playing on the computer because if I were to do something like the dishes or laundry I might wake them up (and their sleep is sooooooo important).

I did NOT get more than a month behind on updating the boys' private website because I was obsessing over my newest hobby (AKA blogging).

I did NOT break down sobbing because I was feeling tired and frustrated. Logan did NOT comfort me by patting my shoulder and saying, "It okay Mama. It okay."

I do NOT let my boys get up and roam around after sitting at the dinner table for a mere 15 minutes. I do NOT feed them when they walk over to the table and ask for a bite.

Wow...it did NOT feel good to get that stuff of my chest!

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

• listening to my husband play the guitar (quietly)
• carved hair sticks
• Candy Cane Joe-Joes
• hearing my boys giggle
• the prospect of travel to exotic lands
• hearing Logan call me his "bef fiend" as he throws his little arms around my neck
• The Sound of Music
• getting a squeeze and kiss from Jack for no reason
• a good book
• the one hour every weekday that I spend talking with other moms after my boys' school
• Numi Dry Desert Lime Teasan
• my bed
  

*Some words blatantly plagiarized by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Christmas - A Recap

As usual Logan was up early at about 5:30. Luckily he had forgotten that it was Christmas so he was happy to watch some TV in our bed while we tried to sleep spent quality time with him and waited for Jack to wake up on his own. Unfortunately Jack got up a half an hour later and we headed out to the living room.

Jack had asked for one thing from Santa...a blimp (named Al Oft) from the Cars movie (they are so easy to please at 3 years old!) so he was very happy to find that in his stocking. Logan was most excited about the chocolate race cars which he promptly opened by himself and ate them double-fisted. (Why is it that kids are never able to open healthy snacks themselves...but give them candy and they will find a way all on their own?)

We had very limited time before we need to get on the road and, as an immediate family, we are very slow present-openers so we barely made a dent in the presents under the tree. After showering, stuffing chocolate croissants in our mouths and packing enough stuff for a 3 week stay (though we were going to be home that night), we headed out for the day.

This year we were headed to my in-laws where 25 of us would participate in the the mad dash to open as many presents in as little time as humanly possible. This year my husband and I secured seats on the much coveted sofa so we wouldn't be trampled as in previous years. Yesterday there were a couple of times when the boys squeezed their little bodies close enough to the tree to grab a present or two but I feared for their safety. Luckily we left with all our limbs and no damage to our vital organs some really nice loot.

My mother-in-law must crash on the 26th of December. Can you imagine buying for 25 immediate family members? And she is so careful to spend the same amount on each person and try to have an equal number of presents! I don't know how she does it. If it were me, I'd make everyone say our family motto as they enter the house...you get what you get and you don't get upset!
This is what my in-laws tree looks like with just the presents that my MIL buys:

The real fun happened when my sister-in-law realized that she threw $100 away. We had to haul out the several bags full of wrapping paper and go through everything. Luckily, on the second pass through I found it.

Considering the boys had eaten approximately 376,714 calories of junk food and missed their nap they fared pretty well. It was a long day and not without tears (from the boys and nearly my husband and myself) but a happy day none the less.

Today I was on a mission to get things back to normal...no more candy and plenty of rest. It looked like unwrapping presents here on the homefront was going to take a full three days but we managed to push through and get everything opened by this evening. My parents got the family Wii so we have spent some time tonight looking like lunatics as we try to figure the games out. It's been an amusing way to burn off some of those extra calories consumed yesterday. (I can actually hear Scott grunting in the family room right now...I'm guessing hoping he's playing tennis.)


Note to self - Remind Santa to not buy candy for the boys' stocking next year!

Dear Santa,

I realize that I'm writing this letter kind of late. I'm really sorry to be making last minute requests but I'm a procrastinator by nature. And I've been busy. Really busy. I know, it's no excuse...everyone is busy this time of year. But I've been really good...I promise. Well, I guess it depends who you ask. (Don't bother asking my kids...they never have anything nice to say about me.)

Anyway, all I want for Christmas is:

• gift receipts for any gifts I or the boys get. But not for your gifts, of course. We always love what you get us.

• for Logan's horrendous diaper rash to go away. Of course, it might have a small something to do with all the clementines he keeps eating and eating and eating. But he loves them...so maybe if you could just take the acid out of our clementines that would be best.

• a longer night. And wouldn't that help you out too? You've got so much to do on Christmas Eve that if you could just make the night a bit longer I'd get to sleep more and you've have more time to visit all the houses around the world.

• for the boys to not get out of bed in the middle of the night especially if you've been so gracious as to make the night longer.

• for Jack to quit patting me on the belly trying to get my attention when I'm talking to other grownups. The last thing I need is for the thickest area of my body it be thumped and jiggled in front of other adults.

• the biggest box of Oxyclean you've got.
  

Sincerely,