Merry Christmas!

May your family be close...
May your stockings be full...
May your hugs be warm...
May your hearts be full....
May your smiles light the room...

May your wishes come true.....

May your Christmas be blessed!

Christmas...BAM!!

So I made a bunch of holiday cookies this year. The other night, it was time to ice the cut out Christmas cookies. The entire time I made the cookies, Max was determined he needed to help me. Every 5 minutes he would walk into the kitchen..."Did you call me mommy? Did you say my name? Mommy do you need my help?" I promised him I would let him know when I needed his help and sent him off to play.

Well... now was his time to help. And he took it soooo seriously. He got is chair, arranged his sprinkles, cleaned up the area he was going to work in. I sat next to him. He would pick the cookie shape, tell me which color to ice it with and then he would decorate the cookie. When he was done he would present me the cookie and say, "Is it bootiful, mommy? You like it?" to which I would always reply..."Oh baby, that one is perfect!"

Ben - on the other hand - had a different approach to the cookies. He wandered up to the table and saw what Max and I were up to and wanted to join in on the fun. SO we made some room and called for Daddy to come help as well. Only after decorating the cookie, he would present it to me then take a bite out of each cookie.

Well Daddy thought it would be so great to teach the kids to decorate like that "Cooking guy" (Emeril). "You gotta do this....(he grabs some sprinkles and throws them on the cookies)... BAM!!" Of course the boys squealed with excitement.... and started throwing sprinkles E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E......

...the cookies turned out great...wish I could say as much for my kitchen.

I'm trying

I'm REALLY trying.
I'm walking into stores, even putting things into baskets, but then I give up, abandon the gifts and walk out empty handed.
...Christmas is 14 days away.... I wish there really was a Santa so I wouldn't have to shop.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

My Dearest, Benjamin,

It's just NOT possible. It is just not possible that it has been 2 years since you came into our lives. And at the same time, it is not possible that it has only been 2 years since you came into our lives.

I feel like I have known you my whole life. I cannot imagine what my life was like without you in it. You bring so much love, happiness, and laughter into our family. You have the biggest smile, the biggest laugh, and the biggest cry of anyone in our house.

You have become such a big boy in the past few months. You are tossing your toddler britches off and desperately trying to make your big boy pants fit, even though you are not quite there yet. You want so much to be able to do what your brother, Max, can do, and you melt into pieces when your shorter legs and arms won't mimic what your brother's arms and legs do. You are confident you can fly, you just haven't had enough practice yet. You know you are winning the video games that are playing on the TV (but you haven't yet figured out that we didn't connect your controller). You are certain that YOUR version of the books that you "read" to us is better than what is written on the page, even though the only part we can clearly figure out is your emphatic, "DE END!" as you slam the book closed and run for the next book. You have to try to do everything buy yourself first, but you are willing to let us help once you have confirmed to yourself first that we might be of assistance to you.

You love to dance, you love to run, and you love to be "NA-KED!" that you exclaim and sing as you wiggle your naked little toosh all the way to splash time (bath time). You eat with passion and paint the 3 foot radius around you with whatever you are eating. If I had to pick a cartoon character to compare you to, it would be Garfield... you love to make a mess, you have the most mischievious smile, and you love PASTA!

You love to be "ousside". You play hard at whatever you do. You also love to sit back and snuggle. You love the movie "Cars" and your favorite is Mater. Your favorite part is when all the cars go cruising down Mainstreet to "Life would be a dream, sweetheart".. at which point you jump to your feet and start rocking side to side dancing.

Thank you, my sweet angel. Thank you for being a constant blessing in our lives.

I love you more than the stars in the sky!


Love,
Mommy

Ti-red

Full.... very full.... good full.... happy full... but full.
That was my life this weekend.

Friday - my assistant called out with the flu on the busiest day of the week, during the busiest time of our year, and on a day that I was hoping to leave early to prepare for one of the busiest weekends of the season.

Friday night, make it home late, throw my hair in curlers, make a 45 minute trip to my sister's to drop my kids off. Finish getting ready at her house, rather than obtaining the latest Oprah curl hairstyle, I walk out with a Darryl Hannah from Splash type hairdo and travel over an hour to a party we are 2 1/2 hrs late for.... walk into the party and am welcomed from behind by "Todd Steven" (the husband half of the hosts) who grabs my hair in his fist and greets me with "S-e-x-y hair bi-ah-tch"... which was the effect I was going for in the first place. Drank too much orange vodka before even tasting the first food since 12:00 lunch and made it home and in bed by 2:00.
Saturday - Woke up around 8:30 to husband browning the meat for the sauce for the party WE are catering that evening. Ate a bowl of cherrios (which would be the last time I would sit down until 10:00 that night) and headed off to Walmart for last minute things. Made a menu (between, Mike, myself, my mother and Sam's wholesale club) that consisted of the following:

Drinks:
Sangria, Wassail, Coffee, Sodas, Wine, Beer

Appetizers:
Shrimp cocktail, Cheese cubes, Chex Mix, Peanuts, Pretzels

Main Menu:
Green Salad, Spinich Lasagna Rolls, Cheese and Chicken tortellini in an alfredo sauce with ham and peas, sausage & peppers, greens beans with bacon, onion & mushrooms, garlic bread

Dessert:
Cheesecakes, various cookies

It was wonderful, but by the end of the evening my body was literally cramping from exhaustion.

Sunday - 10:30.... my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, sent from heaven above children.... slept until 10:30...we were lazy until lunch time when my 2 year old, Ben, stood up, turned the TV off, placed his hands on his hips and said...
"I wan... I wanna.. ousside!"
"You want to go outside?"
"YES!"
So we went outside and put up all the Christmas decorations on the house. It was about time... I was pretty sure my 4 yr old, Max, was going to blow a gasket every car trip home when he passed other houses and said, " Mommy... we have to put Christmas out... SANTA IS COMING!!!" We went to get dinner while daddy finished up outside and I said tonight would be a great night to put a fire in the fireplace and he said, "Oh, NO!!! Santa will catch fire!" After assuring him that TONIGHT was not the night that Santa would be arriving, we lit the fire, had a picnic in the living room and watched a movie....

... and now I am so tired I want to throw up....

...It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....