Gingerbread Houses Galore!

On the agenda for today; Gingerbread houses, hot chocolate with marshmallows*, and lots of tickling!

Things that will be avoided at ALL costs; Getting dressed.

* Did you know the word "marshmallow" is spelled with an "A" and not with an "E" in the end part of the word? WEIRD! You learn something new everyday, I guess...

Charlie Brown called, he wants his Christmas tree back.

This past weekend marked the fifth annual S family Christmas tree gathering. This year we were fortunate enough not to have to spend any money on it. Pete's granny owns some property up in the mountains and she graciously let us cut down one of her many. Fun was had by all. I forgot how nice it could be to hike around in the woods with my family. It took us a while to find our tree. But find her we did. I couldn't help but think that "natural" trees weren't as perfect as Christmas tree lot trees. They're sparce, they have big holes in the sides and sometimes they're lopsided. However, they also aren't half dead either. I guess you take the good with the bad.
My Charlie Brown tree is sitting behind me, hideously decorated just the way I like it. Every bare inch covered in SOMETHING.

This is by far my favorite time of the year. I get giddy when I think about Christmas trees, sweaters, Santa, peppermint mochas, peppermint ice cream, peppermint in general...and all of our special traditions that are specific to my family. I've had Christmas music playing continuously around the clock, much to the annoyance of my husband. Deep down I think he loves it! Having kids makes it even sweeter. I can't explain the joy I feel when I see the delight on their faces when they see the pile of gifts under the tree. I can't help but laugh when they see the tree for the first time and THEY laugh. It's something everybody should experience.

These are the happy thoughts that I force myself to think of at the end of each day. A day that has required constant vigilance due to my one year old's determination to pull the tree down on himself or choke himself to death on an ornament. A day that was filled with my three year old asking again and again if he could have just one more chocolate from the advent calender. And me having to say, "no" again and again. A day filled with long lines at the store, impossibly big piles of presents to wrap, and no time for a nap. And you know what? Thinking about the above truly works in lifting my spirits. When I have so much to be thankful for it's simply too much effort to be angry. For the first time in my life I could get nothing on Christmas morning and still feel so incredibly blessed, because honestly, I totally am.

Burrrr, it's cold in here!

Do you know what I did yesterday morning? I walked my son to pre-school wearing a coat, hat, and scarf! The best part about it was that I didn't even look like an asshole! Because it was cold! And foggy! California got the memo! Finally! I love the holidays, they make me happy. As evidenced by all of the extra exclamation points! And for all you perverts out there, I wasn't ONLY wearing a coat. I also had on pants, a shirt, and all the proper under-garments. I'm no exhibitionist.

Yes, folks is that time of year again. Pete and I have been having nightly wrestling matches over my frosty toes. He absolutely refuses to let my feet get anywhere near his. And I absolutely refuse to put my feet anywhere else. It's my own fault, I guess. I should have included, "I promise to let you warm the ice cubes you call your toes on my deliciously warm feet ALL winter long" in our(his) wedding vows. Sigh, hindsight's a wench, ain't she? All is not lost however. I've been going to sleep after Pete which means that I can slyly sneak my feet over to his side of the bed. He puts up MUCH less of a fight after he's already asleep. Who would have thought?

I'm in the mood for Seasons

Um, I don't think California got the memo. Somebody needs to tell California that it's late October and it's probably time to start getting, you know, COLD? Yesterday, the high was 92. Ninety-freakin-two, people. Is it me or does that seem completely wrong to you? Sigh...I think it's time to move, I'm in the mood for seasons.

A little random to go with your coffee

Can you picture my prophesy? I don't know what's worse, the fact that I opened this blog with a 2pac quote or the fact that I actually quote 2pac. Am I even cool enough to quote rappers? On one hand I'm still pretty young, only 25 and I'm sure that at some point, someone must have thought me cool. Admittedly they probably didn't know me very well. On the other hand, I'm a mother of two who drives a station wagon, mini-van, SUV thing. Technically, it's an SUV-station wagon "crossover". But in reality, it's just a nerdy car trying to be cool. In this way we are perfectly matched, unfortunately.

So, here's my question. At what point do us moms give up trying to be cool and just give into our "momness"? I've known a few woman who never stop trying to be cool and I guess the question for them is this; At what point does this become pathetic? My guess would be when you start quoting rappers.

In other non-random news, we're all doing incredibly well. We're all incredibly boring. Which is okay, boring is good. Boring is NOT chaos. Kyle is almost walking. IN fact, he's doing a creepy run on his hands and feet thing. When I first saw him do this I thought, "ooohhh, I'm not sure if that's cute or not..." He looks like an alien spider something or other when he does it. I don't know...

Caden has started pre-school. He seems to be enjoying it. When I ask him if he had fun all I can get out of him is "yesss, I shared cars!" So, your guess it as good as mine! We're minimizing the melt-downs which is good for me and my recent twitch.

Oh, I didn't tell you? My kids have literally given me an eye twitch! After having it for two weeks I broke down and called my doctor. She informed me that they do nothing for twitches and it's almost always caused by stress and lack of sleep. I was kind of clued into the stress aspect of it when I noticed that it would get worse when Caden was acting up.

"Caden(twitch) stop body slamming(twitch twitch) your brother!!! Twitch twitch twitch." Awww, the joys of parenting.

If only for a little while, please stop.

I've been a mess lately. Crying randomly and uncontrollably, lashing out at my husband and kids, and falling into endless funks. The reason seems silly to me, but no matter how silly I tell myself it is, I can't escape it. I feel like lately, time has been throwing itself in my face. Laughing at me as it flies past. Continuely whispering in my ear, "look how fast I can go..." and no matter how hard I try to shut it out, it's always in front of my eyes.

Time is everywhere. It's in the changing leaves outside and the forecast on TV. It's in the box of baby clothes I gave away, and the baby I gave the clothes to. It's in my nana's face and my sons unstable walk. It's in the catalogs that came today, and the catalogs that'll come tomorrow.

Time is cruel.

We very recently put an offer on a house and to put it mildly, I'm ecstatic. I can not, CAN NOT wait to get out of this apartment. We're crammed in here like sardines and it does nothing for my mood. I'm sharing a room with Kyle and Caden is sharing a room with all of our storage. Toys are littering our living room and laundry is littering the bathroom. Our closets are overflowing and to be blunt, so are we. But here's the thing, however miserable we are now, I know I'll miss this. One day, very soon(or so it seems) I'll be cooking dinner in my big kitchen in my big roomy house. Caden will be away at school and Kyle will be locked in his room, moodily listening to music. Or maybe, he'll be gone too. I'll remember this apartment, and I'll ache for it. I'll ache for the times when Kyle is crying because Caden pushed him, and Caden is yelling at Kyle because he's crying. And I'M crying because I have nowhere to hide. I'll ache for the times we all cram into one bed for naps, and the times we squeeze ten plus people into the living room for Christmas dinner. I'll ache for the times that have long since turned into memories.

How do we slow this down? How do I get time to stop and let me have my fill of babies, and toddlers, and hot husbands? To give me so much of this that I have to say, "okay, enough. I'm ready to move on now. I'm ready for whatever is next." How can I ensure that twenty years from now when I'm cooking dinner in an empty house, I feel contentment instead of longing? Because if there's one thing I know, it's this; I sure as hell do not want to miss this apartment.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Today I was almost trampled by a herd of stampeding children. I wish I could say I was kidding, but I can't. Due to my stellar balance(okay, more like luck. Balance and I have never gotten along) I was able to remain upright and ride it out. It was close though. Who would have thought that the hay pyramid at the pumpkin patch could be so dangerous?

Rabid children aside, it was an awesome day. For the first time ever I felt comfortable just letting Caden run amok and trusting that he wouldn't wander off so far that we couldn't find him. And guess what? He didn't! He picked out a cute little pumpkin, played nicely, oohhhed and aaahhhed at the tractors and(IF you can believe this) came quietly when we said it was time to go. Kyle was content to sit in my arms, play in the hay and he tolerated the adorable puppy hat I made him wear. I know, I know, sounds a little "out there" but I swear it's all true! Ask my husband! He'll back me up! Because it's trruuueee! I'm flying here, folks.

After we came home I found a recipe (that turned out to be awesome) for pumpkin black bean soup. Like I said before, it was awesome. It was the perfect way to ring in autumn! I can't imagine anything better than sitting at my pumpkin adorned table(because I got a few, too) eating hot soup, and listening to the wind howl. Bliss.