So I don't attempt these sorts of things very often, but when it comes off without a hitch, it makes me feel pretty good. I had a whole long list of stores that I needed to get to. Things to return, things to buy. I ordered them by importance and convenience and we tackled it head-on. I chose to keep Anna awake until it was time to go, knowing she would sleep for part of the errands (a must in order to keep sanity!) So the girls got on the bus, we packed up and headed out the door.
Here is what we accomplished:
- Dropped off package at the post office
- Went to cleaners and picked up/dropped off some of Steve's uniforms
- Shopped at Target and got some pretty impressive clearance finds! The $0.11 Lightning McQueen ring pops for the boys were a huge hit!
- Stopped at BJs for a couple odds and ends
- Stopped at Home Depot to pick up an online order as well as find (and hand-cut with a saw) a dowel rod
- Stopped at Walmart to again get a few odds and ends... and of course donuts for two very well-behaved boys
- Last stop: Subway for a couple sandwiches
- Okay, really last stop: swung by Steve's work to drop off his dry cleaning and sandwich.
I have to say, I was so incredibly pleased with how well it went. 8 stops in almost 3 hours. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of this, but I did it and there was very minimal crying involved from my typically hysterical Anna. Ryan and Tommy were champs and I was beyond pleased with how well they did. There are some days when I feel pretty competent living life with my six children :-)
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
The Year Santa Didn't Come
Can I just tell you that this was one of the hardest things to do. Let me just give a play-by-play to set it all up.
We have started a tradition of matching pajamas for Christmas morning, a fairly common tradition these days. Finding matching jammies for baby girl size 3 months to big girl size 8 (with two boys in-between!) is not an easy task!!! But I was up to the challenge and after some serious searching and bargain hunting I found the right ones. My kids really like footed sleepers, so that was my goal. Plus they all just look so cute in them!!!
My next challenge (which was going to be a surprise) was to make matching pajama bottoms for Steve and myself. Since Joann fabric is 45 minutes away, I decided to order the fabric online to save time and money. I waited patiently for that fabric to arrive. It showed up one week before Christmas. I found a pattern online, printed and taped it up, then set out to cut fabric when Steve was away (to continue the surprise). Lo and behold... I was 1/3 yard short for both sets of pants. I wanted to just sit down and cry. Steve got home, I lamented to him and he sent me packing to get some new fabric. 3 hours later I was back home with my fabric and ready to go. I cut out fabric, then waited until bedtime to do some sewing. I decided to try mine out first, since I could try them on. I had them almost completely finished and decided to try them on. To my horror... they were too tight!!! I was forced to undo seams, add a panel on the sides and sew them up again. Sheesh. So to be safe, I compared Steve's current pajamas to the pattern and decided it was a go. I had them finished and decided... just to be safe... to ruin the surprise and have him try them on. He put them on and in that moment I wanted to fall over laughing and crying at the same time. They were low-riding, tight, leisure pants on him. Seriously hilarious to watch him do a little dance in those crazy pants. Aaargh!!! Spent another hour ripping out seams, adding side and top panels, and finishing them off. A 2-hour project took me 5 hours to complete. I was emotionally and physically exhausted by the time I was done. Needless to say, I had invested a lot into these Christmas pajamas.
So Christmas Eve came and I had all sorts of great things planned. We were going to read the Luke 2 version of the Christmas story and have the kids act it out. Props and everything. Then we would read some Christmas-y stories to get the kids into the the spirit of it all. Then the Pajama Elves book and present the jammies. Well, the kids fought over costumes and parts for the nativity. They were impatient with the reading of the kid books and were screaming and fighting over who sat where. Then the much-anticipated Pajama Elves book (this was new this year and it's not as awesome as the reviews said it was... but it did the job). They barely listened to Steve read this book. I pulled out the wrapped pajamas (wrapped to match, of course) and they were greedy and ungrateful and it broke my heart. They opened them, then asked for more presents. I didn't know these hellions and I wanted my good kids back. :-(
By this point I was done. We didn't put out cookies or milk for Santa. We didn't put out the stockings. We took the kids upstairs, did a quick scripture and prayers and I had to leave. I told the girls I was very disappointed in the way they had acted and I couldn't stay and read to them. I went downstairs and cried for at least 1/2 hour while I cleaned up the mess of a Christmas Eve we had just had. It was truly horrible. Writing this a month later and it's making me teary again.
Steve came down after getting everyone settled and we snuggled on the couch and had a very long talk about what needed to happen. He was ready to cancel Christmas presents completely. I was having a miserable back-and-forth in my mind. Christmas morning is supposed to be magical. I was supposed to sit downstairs watching "White Christmas" while I wrapped presents. I had looked forward to that for the whole month. I didn't even want to do that anymore. The girls came down one at a time and did apologize for upsetting me, which I did appreciate.
We decided to go ahead and wrap presents but not put them under the tree. They instead went to our closet upstairs. We did not put the stockings out. I did make up our traditional cinnamon rolls and stick them in the fridge to wait until morning. We then turned off the Christmas tree lights and went to bed at about 1am. It was pretty depressing, to say the least.
The kids were up at 5am. Sheesh! We made them wait until almost 6 before we went downstairs. We put breakfast in the oven then had everyone sit on the couches by the tree while we had a very long discussion about Christmas and the Christmas spirit. We explained that we had asked Santa not to come to our house because our children were not acting right. What is the point of Santa if him "watching" doesn't even matter? For the most part the kids were somber during the discussion. Unfortunately Sarah had snuck into our room and found the presents, so she knew there were still some to be opened :-/ Steve explained that he would let them exchange sibling gifts. If they showed appropriate appreciation for the gifts they had gotten each other we would consider getting one gift at a time from upstairs and let them open them. They were adorable opening the gifts they had gotten (and paid for with their own money) and we decided they had redeemed themselves. From then on the morning went great. Ryan was fully decked-out in Batman, all the kids got fleece blankets that they had picked out and I sewed. We had wonderful friends and family send gifts as well that the kids loved. We were able to Skype with my parents as well as Sybil/Dick while we opened gifts they had sent and they opened ours. It was a ton of fun to catch up with everyone and just enjoy family. A large majority of my family was out in Utah this year, and I admit I was feeling pretty sad to be left out. Just two of the six kids weren't there this year.
Then to finish off the day on an awesome note, we had our good friends, the Echeverria's come enjoy Christmas dinner with us. It was good food and awesome company. The kids watched movies and we played games. It was perfect.
In the end, Santa did not come. Even Ryan will tell you that Santa skipped our house. Next year there will definitely be changes in the way we do it all. I'm already planning changes to hopefully do better about bringing and keeping that Christmas spirit in our home. And I am hoping that Santa will be invited to Christmas next year (not that he's really all that necessary, honestly...).
I'll do a separate post with a couple fun pictures from Christmas.
We have started a tradition of matching pajamas for Christmas morning, a fairly common tradition these days. Finding matching jammies for baby girl size 3 months to big girl size 8 (with two boys in-between!) is not an easy task!!! But I was up to the challenge and after some serious searching and bargain hunting I found the right ones. My kids really like footed sleepers, so that was my goal. Plus they all just look so cute in them!!!
My next challenge (which was going to be a surprise) was to make matching pajama bottoms for Steve and myself. Since Joann fabric is 45 minutes away, I decided to order the fabric online to save time and money. I waited patiently for that fabric to arrive. It showed up one week before Christmas. I found a pattern online, printed and taped it up, then set out to cut fabric when Steve was away (to continue the surprise). Lo and behold... I was 1/3 yard short for both sets of pants. I wanted to just sit down and cry. Steve got home, I lamented to him and he sent me packing to get some new fabric. 3 hours later I was back home with my fabric and ready to go. I cut out fabric, then waited until bedtime to do some sewing. I decided to try mine out first, since I could try them on. I had them almost completely finished and decided to try them on. To my horror... they were too tight!!! I was forced to undo seams, add a panel on the sides and sew them up again. Sheesh. So to be safe, I compared Steve's current pajamas to the pattern and decided it was a go. I had them finished and decided... just to be safe... to ruin the surprise and have him try them on. He put them on and in that moment I wanted to fall over laughing and crying at the same time. They were low-riding, tight, leisure pants on him. Seriously hilarious to watch him do a little dance in those crazy pants. Aaargh!!! Spent another hour ripping out seams, adding side and top panels, and finishing them off. A 2-hour project took me 5 hours to complete. I was emotionally and physically exhausted by the time I was done. Needless to say, I had invested a lot into these Christmas pajamas.
So Christmas Eve came and I had all sorts of great things planned. We were going to read the Luke 2 version of the Christmas story and have the kids act it out. Props and everything. Then we would read some Christmas-y stories to get the kids into the the spirit of it all. Then the Pajama Elves book and present the jammies. Well, the kids fought over costumes and parts for the nativity. They were impatient with the reading of the kid books and were screaming and fighting over who sat where. Then the much-anticipated Pajama Elves book (this was new this year and it's not as awesome as the reviews said it was... but it did the job). They barely listened to Steve read this book. I pulled out the wrapped pajamas (wrapped to match, of course) and they were greedy and ungrateful and it broke my heart. They opened them, then asked for more presents. I didn't know these hellions and I wanted my good kids back. :-(
By this point I was done. We didn't put out cookies or milk for Santa. We didn't put out the stockings. We took the kids upstairs, did a quick scripture and prayers and I had to leave. I told the girls I was very disappointed in the way they had acted and I couldn't stay and read to them. I went downstairs and cried for at least 1/2 hour while I cleaned up the mess of a Christmas Eve we had just had. It was truly horrible. Writing this a month later and it's making me teary again.
Steve came down after getting everyone settled and we snuggled on the couch and had a very long talk about what needed to happen. He was ready to cancel Christmas presents completely. I was having a miserable back-and-forth in my mind. Christmas morning is supposed to be magical. I was supposed to sit downstairs watching "White Christmas" while I wrapped presents. I had looked forward to that for the whole month. I didn't even want to do that anymore. The girls came down one at a time and did apologize for upsetting me, which I did appreciate.
We decided to go ahead and wrap presents but not put them under the tree. They instead went to our closet upstairs. We did not put the stockings out. I did make up our traditional cinnamon rolls and stick them in the fridge to wait until morning. We then turned off the Christmas tree lights and went to bed at about 1am. It was pretty depressing, to say the least.
The kids were up at 5am. Sheesh! We made them wait until almost 6 before we went downstairs. We put breakfast in the oven then had everyone sit on the couches by the tree while we had a very long discussion about Christmas and the Christmas spirit. We explained that we had asked Santa not to come to our house because our children were not acting right. What is the point of Santa if him "watching" doesn't even matter? For the most part the kids were somber during the discussion. Unfortunately Sarah had snuck into our room and found the presents, so she knew there were still some to be opened :-/ Steve explained that he would let them exchange sibling gifts. If they showed appropriate appreciation for the gifts they had gotten each other we would consider getting one gift at a time from upstairs and let them open them. They were adorable opening the gifts they had gotten (and paid for with their own money) and we decided they had redeemed themselves. From then on the morning went great. Ryan was fully decked-out in Batman, all the kids got fleece blankets that they had picked out and I sewed. We had wonderful friends and family send gifts as well that the kids loved. We were able to Skype with my parents as well as Sybil/Dick while we opened gifts they had sent and they opened ours. It was a ton of fun to catch up with everyone and just enjoy family. A large majority of my family was out in Utah this year, and I admit I was feeling pretty sad to be left out. Just two of the six kids weren't there this year.
 |
| See... don't seem too traumatized Christmas morning! |
Then to finish off the day on an awesome note, we had our good friends, the Echeverria's come enjoy Christmas dinner with us. It was good food and awesome company. The kids watched movies and we played games. It was perfect.
In the end, Santa did not come. Even Ryan will tell you that Santa skipped our house. Next year there will definitely be changes in the way we do it all. I'm already planning changes to hopefully do better about bringing and keeping that Christmas spirit in our home. And I am hoping that Santa will be invited to Christmas next year (not that he's really all that necessary, honestly...).
I'll do a separate post with a couple fun pictures from Christmas.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Hundredth Day of School
There were two different days of celebration for my girls to celebrate the 100th day of school. How is it possible that two girls at the same school could celebrate that magnificent day on two separate days? I just found that funny. Anyway...
Sister Hohosh is usually so incredibly willing to come and sit with my little ones while I go do these outings. They last about an hour, so she gets some fun playtime with my kiddos and I don't have to lug them to school. Unfortunately she's been sick and Steve was teaching, so I told Sarah that I probably would not be coming. Oh, the tears that erupted from that girl. Seriously! I or Steve have been to every party so far this year, which I consider a feat in itself. So I hurriedly dressed everyone, got the girls onto the bus and 10 minutes later followed in the van. Since we have to park forever away I brought the double stroller, knowing there was no way Tommy was going to walk that far without issue. We took the last parking spot (thank goodness for that!) and trudged up to the school. I was pretty proud of the fact that we were right on time.
Everything started out great. Ryan found dinosaurs, Tommy had brought McQueen (his favorite toy) and Anna was intent on all that was going on around her. But then Tommy realized he didn't feel well and wanted his babash. I refused to let him have it. I think it was a pride thing about having my 2 1/2 year old with a pacifier in public. Should have just eaten that pride, I tell ya. So he was crying in hysterics. I handed off my phone to let him play and that didn't help either. Then Anna remembered that it was her nap time and she started to scream in her oh-so-charming manner that I usually keep hidden behind closed doors. So there I was with two screaming children trying to help Sarah do her little celebration projects. I was mortified. So incredibly embarrassed. And then of course the celebration lasted much longer than I had planned, which didn't help. To make matters worse, there were all sorts of parents looking over at me with their furtive glances, probably wondering who that crazy woman was with 4 little children in a Kindergarten classroom.
It is in those moments that I start to question myself. And I guess not really seriously, but it still makes me pause and think. I see all these kids that are the "center" of their parent's world. An only child or maybe with one sibling. Those parents can throw every ounce of time and effort they could ever want towards those kids. And as much as I try to do these extra things that are hard, I just don't have the time to do that for every single child every single day. I can't enroll my kids in a million activities. They won't be the best at dance or swimming or any of those things because we just don't have the time to be running around doing those activities. And I feel bad that my kids have to watch other kids get to do all those things. I've even seen kids "one-up" my kids with the talents they do have and it breaks my heart.
But then Steve centers me and reminds me that the most important years of their lives are right now. And where do I want them to be learning and growing? I need them to be here in the home. Maybe they won't be championship ball players. They won't be doing backflips next year like the other kids. But they do get a whole lot of love at home. And I am the one giving that love. I don't have to farm my kids out to strangers and have them rear my children. I already don't get enough time with them during the day, since they're at school so much. So at this stage of their lives they will be average kids. Well- what used to be average. West Point is fairly ridiculous in the amount of activities people enroll their children in. And I hope they will learn to be loving, respectful people that have a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father and know that because they are children of God they have great worth. I'm trying.
I have 6 children. There is no getting around that. I know that each of these kids was sent to our home and that we have been entrusted to do our best to rear them with love. And that is what we are doing our best to do. Some days it's just tough to feel like I'm doing enough.
ps- I did make it to Katie's celebration sans children and it went off without a hitch. Whew!
Sister Hohosh is usually so incredibly willing to come and sit with my little ones while I go do these outings. They last about an hour, so she gets some fun playtime with my kiddos and I don't have to lug them to school. Unfortunately she's been sick and Steve was teaching, so I told Sarah that I probably would not be coming. Oh, the tears that erupted from that girl. Seriously! I or Steve have been to every party so far this year, which I consider a feat in itself. So I hurriedly dressed everyone, got the girls onto the bus and 10 minutes later followed in the van. Since we have to park forever away I brought the double stroller, knowing there was no way Tommy was going to walk that far without issue. We took the last parking spot (thank goodness for that!) and trudged up to the school. I was pretty proud of the fact that we were right on time.
Everything started out great. Ryan found dinosaurs, Tommy had brought McQueen (his favorite toy) and Anna was intent on all that was going on around her. But then Tommy realized he didn't feel well and wanted his babash. I refused to let him have it. I think it was a pride thing about having my 2 1/2 year old with a pacifier in public. Should have just eaten that pride, I tell ya. So he was crying in hysterics. I handed off my phone to let him play and that didn't help either. Then Anna remembered that it was her nap time and she started to scream in her oh-so-charming manner that I usually keep hidden behind closed doors. So there I was with two screaming children trying to help Sarah do her little celebration projects. I was mortified. So incredibly embarrassed. And then of course the celebration lasted much longer than I had planned, which didn't help. To make matters worse, there were all sorts of parents looking over at me with their furtive glances, probably wondering who that crazy woman was with 4 little children in a Kindergarten classroom.
But then Steve centers me and reminds me that the most important years of their lives are right now. And where do I want them to be learning and growing? I need them to be here in the home. Maybe they won't be championship ball players. They won't be doing backflips next year like the other kids. But they do get a whole lot of love at home. And I am the one giving that love. I don't have to farm my kids out to strangers and have them rear my children. I already don't get enough time with them during the day, since they're at school so much. So at this stage of their lives they will be average kids. Well- what used to be average. West Point is fairly ridiculous in the amount of activities people enroll their children in. And I hope they will learn to be loving, respectful people that have a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father and know that because they are children of God they have great worth. I'm trying.
I have 6 children. There is no getting around that. I know that each of these kids was sent to our home and that we have been entrusted to do our best to rear them with love. And that is what we are doing our best to do. Some days it's just tough to feel like I'm doing enough.
ps- I did make it to Katie's celebration sans children and it went off without a hitch. Whew!
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