Merry Christmas!

Here it is.

Our Christmas card.

They may or may not arrive in time for Christmas delivery, but I just decided to do it after admiring the few I have received.

And, um, I am supposed to receive a little $25 credit for posting this on my blog.

Are you reading this, Shutterfly people?

Love Hope Faith Religious

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View the entire collection of cards.

Rylie's Letter to Santa

Last night Rylie wrote a letter to Santa. Well, she dictated and I wrote.

I wasn't sure whether or not she was ready for this, but after a tiny bit of prodding, she totally ran with it.

So here it is. Word for word. Italicized comments are my mine.

Dear Santa,

I want a new toy. I want a new Barbie. I want a new toy house.

I think Sophie wants little baby toys. Just four little baby toys.

I want 5 little big girl toys.

And I want a new, A BRAND NEW, dolly. She really stressed the "brand new."

I only want one thing. I want to know if I am on the good list so I can have some presents. She tends to contradict herself a bit.

Thanks, Santa. I love you.

Rylie

Then I asked if there was anything else she might like to tell Santa as a post script. Apparently, there were quite a few more things she wanted to get off her chest.

P.S. I want more toys. And I want markers, too. For me to color.

And I want some more owls and reindeers that we can make to put on the tree. She is referring to our latest craft projects, tree ornaments.

Santa, am I on the good list?

I wish I was big to ride your reindeers.

I want to make another Christmas craft.

And I want to be on the good list. I am gonna be good. Clearly, she has a little anxiety over The List.

And I want another snowman and a puppy and some more bunnies and some more mouses. No idea what this is about.

But I just want one present that's inside. Hmmm...Santa is confused.


And finally, she gets right to the heart of the matter...

Santa, come down the chimney and get ready to bring me some presents.

THE END

I was really hoping for a nicer letter. More "How are you, Santa?" and less "Bring me toys, Santa!" but she is only three and polite chit chat is a bit beyond her.

Now on Mommy's To Do List: Cultivate spirit of gratitude in oldest daughter.

Pop Quiz!

Written for East End MOPS December newsletter.

True or False:

1. I love folding laundry.
2. Today my children played outside. With dirty, snot crusted faces. In their pajamas. At four o’ clock in the afternoon.
3. I have a rotten pumpkin on my front door step.
4. I can keep fall mums healthy and vibrant well past their first week living on my porch.
5. This holiday season, my children will be models of kindness, generosity, and gratitude.
6. This holiday season, I myself will be the very definition of kindness, generosity, and gratitude. (See number nine.)
7. My house does NOT look like a toy bomb exploded in my living room.
8. Dum Dums are my secret to well behaved children during grocery shopping sprees.
   
9. Chocolate is my secret to well behaved mothering during stressful holiday madness.
10. While enjoying leisurely soaks in the tub with a magazine, I pretend that I do not hear the crying, fit throwing, and general chaos of my toddlers and their increasingly frustrated daddy.
    

Answers:

1. Absolutely, positively FALSE.
2. Sadly, all too TRUE. TRUE. TRUE. And TRUE.
   
3. I sincerely hope that by the time you read this, it will be FALSE.
4. FALSE.
5. Sigh. This will probably be FALSE, but not for lack of trying.
6. I will endeavor to make this as TRUE as I can (with or without number 9).
7. FALSE. My house is currently a war zone of toys and unfolded laundry.
8. TRUE, though good behavior is NOT guaranteed.
9. Unfortunately, I find this to be mostly FALSE (but it does not prevent me from indulging frequently and with gusto).
10. True...Guiltily.
    

Rotten

My family still celebrates each and every birthday of each and every family member, not just kids. We have full dinners, with presents and cake, and even the oldest among us will sing the birthday song and blow out candles.

I love it. The kids adore it.

This year Rylie will have two birthday celebrations. A family dinner, which was held on her actual birthday, and a "party" with a few of her little friends.

I feel wierd about this. I don't want to "overdo" her birthday. So I feel I must explain. Why not just one party?

Our typical family dinners consist of at least 14 people (aunts uncles, grandparents, cousins). I just don't have enough room (or enough sanity) for more people, especially little people, who need lots of space to play and jump and be obnoxious.

I plan to do this only every other year. Next year she will only have the family birthday dinner.

And now, the pics.

Rylie's Third Birthday
November 28, 2010
Family Dinner

Rylie really, really loves birthday cake.

Sophie does, too.

Mommy and the usual cast of characters.

Ava and Rylie.

Tearing into her presents.

She received her very first Disney Princess dress. You can imagine the excitement.

Sophie got a present, too. A unicorn pillow pal.

Which she promptly rested upon. This kid LOVES pillows.

And after presents, all three of them got to dress in princess garb...

And spent the rest of the day playing (i.e. fighting) in Rylie's room.

Later that night, Daddy put together her first twin size bed. Mommy forgot that she no longer has any twin size sheets.

But we made do.

She was very happy with her new bed and the new quilt. Meanwhile, Mommy cried through most of the night and wrote a sad, long blog post about her baby girl turning three. If you are reading this, you probably know the one.

This Saturday is her second party. She is sure to be as rotten as the pumpkin currently sitting on my back porch.

And then Christmas.

I recently heard a seasoned mother describe birthday and Christmas gifts as "spankings in a box." Rylie gets both types of presents within one month of each other.

Poor kid doesn't stand a chance.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I made a point to take pictures. I don't think there are any pics of Thanksgiving when I was growing up, as opposed to hundreds of albums of Christmas. I want my girls to remember all of our holidays, even the non-gift giving ones.

Anyway, we always begin Thanksgiving at Nana and Papa’s house (my maternal grandparents) with all of my family and end that night with Greg’s family. It makes for a busy day, but we enjoy it.

Making turkey cookies in our PJs on the night before Thanksgiving.

Rylie wanted to lick each candy corn before placing it on the cookie. So we were "forced" to eat most of the batch ourselves.

A few of the surviving finished products. I think they look like those weird creatures from The Labyrinth, the ones that throw their heads around. Does anyone know what I am talking about?

Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade at home that morning.

Uncle Sid's famous pies. I think this one is Coconut Cream. Get in line.

Homemade mac and cheese. My contribution to the Thanksgiving feast was a little overcooked, unfortunately.

Sophie enjoys her Thanksgiving meal sans shirt. We are a very formal family.

You can't tell in this pic, but Rylie was very disappointed in the turkey. She thought it would be the big glistening, stuffed bird with the drumsticks in tact. We cut it up before serving. She said she wanted the Thanksgiving turkey "with the bones sticking out."

After stuffing ourselves we all strip down and roll around in the floor.
Oh wait, I guess only Sophie does that.

And just to further the breaking of my heart...this was Sophie last year at Thanksgiving.

Baby Sophie. Thanksgiving 2009.