All the Best Intentions

Why do the holidays always seem to fly by on a plane fueled with stress and loaded with unfulfilled plans?

It starts with Halloween. This year I was actually prepared. Ok, I'll admit I was only prepared because my mom gave Little Dude a Civil War costume for his birthday. But it worked. He made a handsome Union soldier. Even won the costume contest at our church's Fall festival. Little Dude was the North (the winning side, of course) and his cousin was the South (he can do a great rebel yell).

North vs. South

But when it came time to wear his costume to school, he opted for a ninja getup as he reasoned, "I don't want to get my costume dirty." And yet again I was (surprisingly) prepared.

I think he looks more like a mini Chuck Norris!

I had also planned to have the house decorated, the candy purchased and the pumpkins carved by Halloween night. Well, at least we had the candy purchased. My hubby ended up carving the pumpkins at the last minute because we were busy with Little Dude's soccer games and fixing my car after a truck slightly rearranged my trunk.

But it all worked out.

Trick or Treating happened. Candy was pillaged. And we got to meet a few more of our new neighbors.

Big Dude's handiwork.

Even Furry Dude gets in on the action!

Thanksgiving was next. A little different this time around as Big Dude's mom and my parents all left town for the holiday. Given my aversion to turkey, I tried to convince my hubby that the pilgrims could have eaten chicken tacos.

He didn't quite hold to the same creative historical interpretation, so turkey stayed on the menu. The only time in my life I've ever cooked the turkey was 7 years ago when I was cooking a little bird of my own. The morning sickness meant I spent more time leaning over the commode than the stove. So I wasn't prepared to cook the bird this year.

But it all worked out.

Luckily my sister-in-law offered to cook the turkey. My niece made the pumpkin pie. Hubby made he mashed potatoes. He asked his mom to make her awesome stuffing before she left town. I made the sweet potatoes and corn. And Little Dude set the table.

Then the race to Christmas began.

Why do I always feel like I lose the race?

I had the best intentions -- get Christmas cards out early so people would have our new address (I actually ordered the cards in October!), make family gifts, make Christmas cookies, decorate the house, put up Christmas lights, get all the presents wrapped right away and stowed under the tree, have a snow day, take Little Dude to see Santa, solve world hunger and give peace a chance. Um, well, you see...

Yeah, only a few of those things happened.

But it all worked out.

Little Dude did get to see Santa and play in the snow. It was the most magical Santa-filled weekend ever! And it snowed during our visit to the "North Pole" so he got to go sledding and have a snowball fight.

Top Row: L) Snowball fight! R) Holding his silver bell from Santa on the Polar Express!
Bottom Row: L) He helped the elves make the toys and then he tested the toys! R) One-on-one time with Santa. 

Other than decorate our tree, we didn't decorate much. And the Christmas cookies I planned became New Year cookies and then sometime-in-January cookies. I hurried up and wrapped all the gifts just a few days before Christmas. And we (Big Dude, Little Dude and me) all worked together to create at least one sentimental homemade gift.

But on the plus side the whole family worked together on the Children's Christmas program at church (Big Dude did sound, I helped direct the choir, Little Dude had a little solo, and even our niece helped with the choreography).

And although we had the best intentions, and our plans either didn't happen or were just seriously delayed (I blame the virus we kept sharing with each other), we still had a wonderful Christmas. We still kept an eye on what was important. And plans didn't get in the way of having some fun family time together.

Hope you had wonderful holidays and wishing you a wonderful 2014!

My Christmas List, part 2

So I already told you that the top of my Christmas list is to spend more time with my family. The next two items on my Christmas list may seem like they conflict: Have More Adventures and Relax More!

In my mind, those two actually go hand-in-hand.

Adventure should not equal stress. Yes, it sometimes accompanies adventure, but it shouldn't have to. Sometimes an adventure is simply allowing yourself to get lost and find your way back. I have my dad to thank for that lesson.

We went camping with my parents for Thanksgiving this year and I was reminded of all those times camping with my dad when he would just drive and sometimes we wouldn't know exactly where we were. He would just smile and call it an adventure. We explored the road less travelled and sometimes had to double back or take some unexpected detours. But it was fun and he didn't seem to stress over it.

Sometimes an adventure is trying something new. My hubby didn't grow up camping like I did. So our Thanksgiving camp out was an adventure for him. And he actually wasn't stressed. It was our first time using a camping trailer and he handled it like a pro. We hiked (and purposely got "lost"). He built a fire. He tried something new.

Sometimes an adventure is eating something new. Little Dude can be a picky eater. Sometimes I get frustrated with that, but then I have to remember that a lot of foods are still new to him. For instance... S'mores! He wasn't sure about it, but he tried them.

Sometimes an adventure is to be had in acting like a kid. My mom reminded me of this. During our 3-hour "lost in the wilderness" hike, she spotted some interesting, frilly, white plants by the riverbank. Like a kid in a candy store, she asked my dad to get one for her. He climbed through the thick brush to get one and she was so happy! She played with it for the rest of the hike, pelting us with it causing it to dust us with pollen. She was having fun.

I heard a quote about Thanksgiving that said something like: "We spend one day with others being thankful for what we do have, and then we spend the next day trampling others for what we don't have."

How can I not be thankful for a family that knows how to be goofy, how to relax, and how to enjoy what we have around us?

It sure makes the holidays sweeter!

My Christmas List, part 1

Oh, the holidays. They have a way of completely taking over your life. For a few days of celebration and joy, we spend a month or more driving ourselves absolutely crazy trying to make everything perfect. Gifts, parties, travel, finances, cleaning, coordinating schedules - it all leads to stress, moodiness, and a general desire to ram your shopping cart into the person who suddenly decided to sign up for the store rewards card at the register in front of you. (Or is that just me?)

It's not always easy to sit back and enjoy what you have. But, I'm behind on my photos so it forced me to take a break and reminisce.

When I was a kid, Christmas was about the presents. Sure, there was the whole "baby Jesus was born today" thing. And I totally understood that and respected it. But seriously, if there wasn't something for me under the tree, I would have been devastated!

Now, it's really not about the presents. (And I do spend more time celebrating baby Jesus!) This year, my hubby and family kept asking what I want for Christmas and, honestly, I couldn't think of much. Because the truth is that I have a wonderful family. No gift could ever beat that!

So the top of my Christmas list is: Spend time with my family!

I have a family that I enjoy spending time with. I have a family that tolerates all my quirks, my total OCD moments and my mild insanity. Sure, sometimes they laugh at me, but most of the time they're laughing with me.

First, let me tell you about my in-laws... They are top-notch, the best in-laws I could have ever asked for. I love this group!

Look at those smiling faces. The day I took this photo, I unintentionally led them on an wild goose chase. We had plans to go to a pumpkin patch at a botanical garden across town, only to find out when we arrived, that it was for the following weekend. Blondie, here didn't check the dates! Oops! They were probably laughing at me when I snapped this pic outside of the botanical garden, but they were still game to try another place. (Have I mentioned that my mom-in-law is a very positive person and keeps me upbeat despite my mistakes?)

So we drove way out of town to a farm that we've never visited before and had a blast!

I'll be hanging with this bunch for Christmas this year and we'll have a blast! I'm so thankful that I get to celebrate holidays with them.

For many, holidays can be weird/difficult/all the above with in-laws because each family is different. Your family is not usually like your spouse's family. Each family has their own traditions and their own way of doing things.

Hubby and I enjoying each other's families. And we have fun merging the way we did things growing up and creating our own traditions. The best part is that both of our families encourage us to find our own way.



So let the holidays begin... er, continue!

I'll have to add to my Christmas list later.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year!

How many times do I have to say "Thanks?" - part 2

Thanksgiving is TOMORROW! I'm looking forward to it. There is just sooo much to be thankful for.

Last time, I listed my top two things I'm thankful for. Well, now here's a few more to add to the list...

3. My Parents - I have them to thank for my love of learning, musical talents (OK, the talent's from my mom, but the love of music is from my dad), creative writing, and wacky sense of humor. Plus, they're just stinkin' cute together. There's a reason my friends dubbed them "The Lovebirds."

4. My Mother-in-Law - What?!? Some of you may be shocked, but I actually get along with my mom-in-law and our relationship has really grown over the years. Plus, if I ever need to complain about dear ol' hubby, she's the one I turn to. Why? Because I don't want to complain to my friends and have them not like hubby just because of something I said in anger. Instead, I turn to the one woman who completely understands and usually has some really good advice on how to deal with the man in my life.

5. My Sister - We used to be frienemies, but now we're just friends. I love hanging out with her. And Little Dude loves hanging out with her son. What could be better than raising our kids together?

6. My Sis-in-Law & Niece - Again, I seriously scored in the in-law lottery when I married. We all have so much fun together.

7. My Friends - You know who you are. You're probably reading this right now. Yep... you! Some of you I've known for a few years shy of forever. Others I've known only a few years. Some sit next to me in church or praise band every week. Others I haven't sat next to for years. No matter what, I love you all!

Other things I'm thankful for: my relationship with God, my wonderful church family, the fact that I still have a job, living in a free country, and so much more!

I hope you all have a terrific Thanksgiving! And I hope you find many things to be thankful for!


Next time: Will I join the Black Friday madness this year? It's very possible. Get a non-shopper's take on it!

How many times do I have to say "Thanks?" - part 1

Wow. Thanksgiving is next week? Where do the weeks go?

I'll keep it short and sweet today (heavy on the sweet) with a list of a few things I'm saying Thanks for!

1. Big Dude (a.k.a. My Husband) - OK, he doesn't read anything I write so I'm safe to brag about him here without his head exploding to gigantic proportions. He's handsome. He's handy (seriously... master carpenter). He cooks. He vacuums. He's always helping other people. And although seriously challenging at times, he supports me in all the crazy things I want to do.

2. Little Dude (a.k.a. My Son) - He amazes me every day. He's smart. He's funny. He's outgoing most of the time. His laugh makes my heart sing. I love watching him learn how to read and sound out the letters. I love the duets we sing in the car on the way to school. I love his hugs and "hundred kisses." Oh, I could go on and on and on. Just know this... I LOVE this kid!


I'm just going to stop there for the moment. I'll add more later because there is so much more to be thankful for!

Watch next time to find out what family member I'm thankful for that might surprise some people!

Mother's Day Mayhem

Today, I really wanted to write about how wonderfully perfect my Mother's Day was. I wanted to say that it was relaxing and my child was a perfect angel and everything was beautiful. And I could say that. How would you know? But that's not what happened. My Mother's Day was much more memorable! This Mother's Day will always be remembered as the one with nudity at church!

After the perfect Friday morning Mommy-and-Me breakfast at Little Dude's school, I had high expectations for the rest of the weekend. Apparently, I should never set expectations any taller than my child.

To start, let me give you a brief review of the weekend. When I picked up my little angel from school on Friday, he threw a massive tantrum. He didn't want to leave and screamed all the way down the hall. Once outside, he proceeded to have a 30-minute meltdown while doing everything physically possible to keep from getting into the car. Precious Hubby called to find out what was taking so long, and after hearing the commotion, was ready to come to my rescue. But somehow I managed to reform the wild creature before me into a humanlike being and strap him into the carseat. Luckily, the rest of the evening was much better, although my self-confidence as a mother was completely shot.

Saturday, we went to the zoo where I picked up a sunburn. Ouch! And later at home I felt uggy because I didn't drink enough water. (I wanted to make sure my kid had enough to drink, so I just sipped.) Then Hubby sent me to the store to buy something to grill at a BYOM BBQ that night. But Hubby didn't like what I picked out so I made sandwiches before we loaded up our grill to take to the BBQ. (Yes, we grilled for everyone else.) Back at home, I helped Hubby move the grill back into the backyard and somehow managed to filled my wrist with a hundred tiny splinters. My son watched me tweeze out most of the splinters and then he kissed it to make it feel better. After the boys went to bed, I stayed up to do some laundry and clean before my mother-in-law came over the next day.

So Sunday morning, I woke up sunburned, sore, splintered, and tired. But it was Mother's Day and I was looking forward to it.

The day started well. Hubby made waffles for our son and eggs and toast for me. Nice! I opened my cards (Little Dude personally picked out the one he gave me) and the little guy gave me a great big hug! We all got ready for church and headed out as one big happy family.

On the way to church, Hubby stopped to get us all drinks. Red Bull for him, orange juice for me, and apple juice for Little Dude. Just before we got to church, Little Dude wanted a drink. So we opened the juice and Big Dude reached back to hand it off to Little Dude. Suddenly, I felt something wet rolling down the back of my hair and my shirt. Big Dude had unfortunately hit the ceiling with the bottle of juice spilling some on me and my seat.

Did I mention that I had to sing a special in church and had to stand up in front of everyone?

OK. The juice wasn't really too big of a deal. After all, it was the back of my hair, and most people wouldn't really notice. After band practice, I brushed out the crunchy parts and everything looked fine. Plus, who doesn't enjoy smelling like apples?

So I headed off to Bible study where I found my guys. Hubby greeted me with, "Since it's Mother's Day, you can take him [Little Dude] to class. And make sure he goes to the bathroom." No problem. I headed off with Little Dude and we stopped at the toddler bathroom, which is a small lavatory just a few feet outside our Bible study door.

Here's where things went haywire. I was standing in the bathroom with my son who had his pants around his ankles and was pitching a fit. He didn't want to pee. And he didn't want to pull up his pants. He didn't want to calm down. He didn't want me to pull up his pants for him. I tried every trick I could think of. Then I started thinking that my husband must have set me up. Seriously! When he said, "Make sure he goes to the bathroom," I thought that meant Little Dude hadn't peed yet and needed to. But I realized that was not going to happen.

The screaming started to get louder and I was losing patience. Actually I'm pretty sure I lost my patience earlier that weekend. I told Little Dude to stay in the bathroom while I marched back up to my dear precious Hubby and said, "It's Mother's Day. YOU deal with him!" Clearly, he didn't hear me.

So I grabbed all my stuff (I wasn't going to stay in class) and headed back to the toddler bathroom. As I turned, I saw that my son had waddled into class crying. He still had his pants around his ankles and was naked from the waist down. (My husband later told me, "I was pretty embarrassed to see my son's pen** in the middle of Sunday school.")

I didn't even turn to see if anyone saw. I just grabbed his arm, pulled him into the bathroom and tried to get him to calm down and pull up his pants. When Big Dude knocked on the door, I let him in and I walked out.

I needed to calm down, so I went to the car for a quick pity party. Deep breath. 1...2...3...4...5... That was when I realized how much I missed my mom. A few months ago, she moved to the other side of the country. Having her three time zones away was really hard to get used to. We sang in a gospel vocal group together for the last several years and usually had plenty of events to sing at around Mother's Day. But this year, I was pretty lonely without her. So after crying on the phone to her, I sucked up just enough dignity to be able to go back inside... where I proceeded to spill my orange juice down the front of my hair and shirt.

Eau de apples and oranges. Who doesn't want to smell like fruit salad?

After cleaning myself off, wiping my tears away, and having heartfelt chats with a couple friends, I realized that it's ok to miss my mom. And it's ok to have a bad day now and then... even if that day is on Mother's Day.

The day went on. I survived. My in-laws came over after church and we had a good time. And that night I received a totally awesome Mother's Day gift from my son. He once again become my sweet angel as he held my head between his little hands and said, "I want to give you kisses everywhere." He then gave me dozens of kisses all over my face and hands.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Sweetie."

April Fool's and Pancakes

Today I'm a little disappointed in myself. I haven't pranked anyone!

I did have a few ideas for April Fool's... The first was Facebooking that I'm pregnant. But I realized that this could potentially create an absurd amount of responses from people who didn't realize what day it is. And do I really want to explain 200 times that it's April Fool's Day? The other idea was to park in my coworkers' neighboring parking spot. By parking one spot over, I would have thrown off everyone! But I wasn't quite in the April Fool's mood today.

Yesterday I worked from home while tending to my little boy who was sick with a stomach bug. Poor little guy! Luckily, he was feeling better by lunch. And after his nap, he definitely had his energy back.

So this morning we packed up to go back to preschool. He wasn't sure he really wanted to go until I reminded him that it's pancake day. Every Friday is pancake day, and he loves pancakes. He also loves waffles and oatmeal. He's really a breakfast guy.

We were running late this morning and the whole way to school he kept fretting, "There aren't going to be any pancakes left! All the other kids are going to eat the pancakes!" I kept assuring him that there would still be some pancakes for him, but it didn't ease his fears. He was really very worried about experiencing  pancake shortage at school.

I drove to school as fast as I could, and while I signed him in, he was already headed down the hall to his class. He peeked in the window and with a great big smile said, "The pancakes are still there!" He was so happy to see that the food cart was still sitting untouched in the classroom. All the kids were busy playing a Handy Manny board game, so the teacher hadn't served breakfast yet.

My little guy quickly went to work helping his teacher put chairs around the table where the kids eat. Then he sat down and she gave him the first plate of pancakes. In fact, I'm pretty sure he finished his pancake before the other kids had even finished their game and come to the table!

It's not like we don't feed the kid before school. He had oatmeal every morning as soon as he wakes up. In fact today, he talked Daddy into making waffles. But no matter how much he eats, he still likes having what we call "2nd Breakfast."

What can I say except... he's a growing boy!

Waffles Around the World

"I've waffled before. I'll waffle again." ~ Howard Dean

Every weekend, my sweet hubby rolls out of bed to make waffles. And while I would like to think that the love of my life is cooking up those delicious, golden wafers for me, I realize he's mostly cooking them up for our son.

Our little boy LOVES waffles! He can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and yes, we actually let him do this once when he was sick). He eats them plain or with syrup. Sometimes he even mixes it up eating 1 quarter of the waffle without syrup and the rest with syrup!

I'm pretty much a waffle purist. I usually eat them plain. I love it when they're crispy, yet fluffy inside. Sometimes I'll add apple butter for extra flavor.

And my husband... well, he's not really a breakfast eater. But if he's actually going to eat breakfast, it's going to be a waffle on those Saturday mornings.

Really... who can resist a waffle?

That's probably why today is International Waffle Day!

The holiday was started in Sweden. (They are clearly not neutral over their love of fried sugar dough!) And since I have a bit of Swedish ancestry, I think I'll go ahead and claim this holiday as part of my heritage.

While I was researching waffle facts for www.TidbitFun.com I discovered that people put almost anything on waffles! There's the "normal" powdered sugar, fruit, whipped topping, or syrup. Some people prefer, honey, peanut butter or chocolate syrup (over their chocolate waffles). And then (and I have heard of this before) there are several restaurants that serve chicken and waffles!

And there are many ways to make waffles. But the two main batter versions are either with yeast or without. Hmm... I may have to do some extra taste-testing to find out which one is the best!

Imagine a world where everyone had a waffle to enjoy! I'm sure peace could be established... at least long enough to chow down a delicious, golden, honeycombed treat!