On My Mind

Dear rude people,

If your facebook status on Saturday said that everyone in your house is throwing up, has chills, and fevers, why were you all at church on Sunday? What happened to the 24 hour rule? If the virus was so awful and debilitating, do you really think I want my children to get it? Stay at home.

Unfriended,
Meg

Dear Santa (part 1)

Ho Ho Ho! It's time for the annual Willy Family Christmas Wish Lists.

Let's begin with Aaron, this year.
Oh, that's right. He bought a boat without telling me, and doesn't get presents anymore.
Moving on.


Kidding.
Sort of.

Numero uno on Aaron's list is an acoustic guitar.
I think he must have been inspired by Reese's request for a guitar (we told her she has to wait until she is 8) and figured if he starts now, he'll have a 2 year head start.

He's been dropping subtle hints to make sure I get it for him. Every time he does this, I not-so-subtly remind him that that isn't how Christmas works. He's gonna have to wait, and just be surprised or disappointed on Christmas morning.

The rest of his list is more of a checklist, rather than a wish list. That's right. My man likes to make it easy for me to Christmas shop for him.
A lovely golf club showed up on the doorstep last week.
2 new dress shirts and 2 regular t shirts appeared on his bedroom dresser.

He also went Black Friday Shopping (against my professional advice) and bought a digital camcorder that we plan to bust open on Christmas morn.

and the George W. Bush book that he wanted.

See how easy he makes it for me?
Merry Christmas, Aaron! I really think you're going to love the gifts you got yourself.
I am totally wrapping up that golf club....and probably sticking a big bow on the boat.


Meg:
First and foremost, I really want nothing more than one of these, for Christmas.
I think that should make things pretty clear, for "Santa", in regards to what I want for our 10 year Anniversary.

Ahem, which is in July, btw.


This weekend, I learned a good lesson about the importance of waiting 24 hours to clear one's head, before purchasing furniture.

It's not important. It is stupid. When 24 hrs is up, you will go (excitedly) to the store to pick up your beautiful mid-century buffet with glass cabinet cut the perfect size to hold all of your milk bottles, and the perfect place to house your kitchen aid mixer, and 1/2 dozen drawers for everything that is currently crammed into your kitchen cabinets, and it's extra perfect because it's already been painted black, and it's so cheap that you can buy it with the Christmas money you were given, and and and...


and someone will have already purchased it the day before, and taken it home to make HIS wife the happiest in all the land. Boo.



I am still holding onto an ounce of hope that the mystery buyer is maybe, possibly, hopefully-but-probably-notfully MY husband, buying it for me, and somehow, a beautiful buffet will appear in my dining room on Christmas Day. Keeping fingers crossed for a Christmas miracle.


Lesson learned here: Don't hesitate. just buy it. That system is clearly working out nicely for Aaron.


And here we have the lesson learned in waiting for an item to go on sale before buying it. I've wanted these orange running shorts for awhile. Now that they're only $14.99, they don't carry my size anymore. So if you find them in Small in your local Gap store, please please buy them and send them to me!
Lesson #2 Learned. Don't wait for the sale price, cuz they'll run outta your size.

Winter running means frozen noses, rosy cheeks, icicles on my eyelashes, and cold hands. There's not a lot that can be done for a cold face, but I could really use some of these to keep my hands from freezing off. Huh. Maybe I should just buy them for myself. I really don't want Lesson #3 Learned to be "wear gloves or you'll get frostbite". That would suck.

I totally want these clothbound cassic children's books. Actually, I'd be thrilled to open just about ANY of the Penguin Clothbound Classics. One of the things on my 2011 "list" is to read something by Jane Austen. So maybe this one or this one.

I'd also love to add hardcover copies of books 1-6 (I own #7) in the Harry Potter series to our library.
This clothbound complete set was once available on Amazon...but it's no longer there. What the heck? I want it! BTW-check me out, I'm shopping online...well trying to, at least. Baby steps.

So I totally set myself up for disaster, this year. A week ago, Reese and I selected and checked out, "Meet Felicity an American Girl" from the library as our chapter book to read together. She loves it, and is fascinated by Felicity's character. So, when the American Girl Catalog came in the mail (now seriously, WHO ordered that??? Not me. Is this a joke?) on Friday, I (foolishly) thought it would be fun for the girls to flip through it and look at all the pretty dolls.

Yeah yeah, I know. It's Christmas time. Who gives their kid a toy catalog at Christmas time? Dummies, that's who.

Call me a dummy, but I figured the worse case scenario would be the girls asking for dolls for Christmas. Done. Tangled Barbies coming right up from Grandma, this year.

Uhhh, what I didn't expect was Reese running into her bedroom, grabbing the Felicity book (that has pictures! doh!) and finding Felicity in the catalog and announcing,

"MOM! it's the SAME Felicity! She's a doll, too! I want that one for Christmas. I love her. "

Oopsie.

Felicity has been added to every mile-long Christmas list in our house, including this one. $150 for a freaking doll. A doll! Not just any doll though. Oh no. I vividly remember asking for an American Girl Doll every year until like 8th grade. Now that I see that you have to sell a kidney on the black market to afford one, I totally forgive my parents for not seeing that part of my Christmas list each year. (I wanted Addy Walker) Sara Parker had like 3 of them, and I was totally jealous and wanted one for myself. Reading this, you might conclude that I'm still bitter that my childhood dream never came true, but that's not the case. I'm bitter because if I had gotten one of these beautiful but over priced dolls, I could have saved it for 20 years, given it to Reese, and then it would have been my parents that are out $150 and not me.

I'm thinking this will make a great Christmas gift for her when she's a little older (like when I've had time to read her the Addy books and convince her that that's the one she wants, so I can play with it too....uh, I mean...)

Lesson: I have the maturity level of a 6 yr old.

But really, I think maturity is out the window, considering I'm 28 and still make (and post) a Christmas List, every year.

Speaking of 6 yr olds....Reese's birthday post is coming atcha tomorrow.

An Ariel Birthday Party

My little Q turned 4!

She requested a Princess Ariel Mermaid Party.

Luckily, Grandma Lynda was here to help me out and had great ideas. The party was a success, and Quincy is already dreaming up birthday parties for the future.

There were presents,
8 Little Princesses (L-R Party Princess Leah, Phoebe as Belle, Cinderella Hannah, Cinderella Addison, Hannah as Belle, Ariel Reese, Ariel Quincy, and Brightyn as Tinkerbell.

I painted Ariel on a posterboard and cut out 8 fins for Pin the Fin on the Mermaid.

It was pretty cute.

Food:

Starfish PB&Honey Sandwiches

Smore's cupcakes (note to everyone: marshmallow creme looks great when used as frosting, until the next day, when it runs and oozes everywhere.) I sprinkled them with graham cracker crumbs to look like sand, and made cupcake pokes from pop sticks and Little Mermaid stickers.

Snack Mix (a little bit of everything in a fish bowl. Our mix had cereal, crackers, goldfish, fruity snacks, mini cookies, mini marshmallows and candy corn.
Capri Sun juice boxes

The tablecloth was leftover from Reese's 4th birthday party (also a princess party).

As the girls arrived, they sat at the table and colored a Little Mermaid poster. While they colored, we hung up a blue table cloth and the girls took turns "fishing" for treasures. They each got bubbles, stickers, candy, sparkly rings and silly bands to take home in an ocean blue party bag.

It was a great party. At one point, we looked around at all the girls happily coloring and talking to one another and we couldn't believe how mellow they all were. That would never happen at a table with 8 boys at it.
Quincy was a a great little hostess and thanked each of her guests for the gifts and gave them a hug as they left the party. She is such a grateful little girl, it is easy to love and serve her.

Happy Birthday, Quincy Bee! We love you very very much, and hope that you love being four.

26.2

miles.

26.2 miles?!

I think maybe I want to run a marathon.

Thinking.


Fortunately, I have time to think about it. it's 18 weeks from now, so it's not like I have to make a decision right now about it.


Unfortunately, it's 18 weeks from now.

Which means training starts tomorrow....so I kind of do have to decide now.



I think I'll just train now, just in case, and decide later.
Anyone want to join me, and "think" about running a marathon, too?
{Click here} for the schedule.

Tangled

We are living in a Tangled obsessed world right now.
Thanks for the outfit, Grandma!
Rapunzel loves it, and wears it everywhere. The wig is looking pretty scary already.

Grandma Lynda, Come Back!

Rob and Lynda came to visit for Thanksgiving, and Lynda stayed with us for the following week. It was so fun to have them here, and the kids were in heaven. I was in heaven, too as I might have taken advantage of having a grandparent here and slept in every single morning. Corbin and Quincy loved getting to know their Grandma and Grandpa. I made the mistake of saving a bunch of pictures of the kids with Rob on the old laptop, and it finally gave up the ghost, a few days ago. Looks like we got the new one just in time, but I'm still sad that we lost some of those pictures.
Corbin quickly became Grandpa Rob's little buddy and follwed him around everywhere. If they were both in the same room, you could be sure that Corbin was somewhere near Rob, if not in his lap, with "PaPa" reading him a story.
Grandma Lynda brought a bunch of fun projects for the kids to do in her Mary Poppins Carpet Bag of a suitcase. I seriously think that she and Hermoine have worked out some kind of deal, and that her luggage is bewitched. One visit, she managed to bring us (among other things I can't remember): Aaron's entire childhood baseball collection, a remote control car, a remote control helicopter, a lamp and a rocking chair. Yes! A rocking chair! She is amazing. Or magic. Or both.

This visit, her bag was filled with goodness for the kids, and the fun didn't stop from the moment she arrived. My mom affectionately calls Lynda the "cut and paste Grandma" because that is where you fill find her. She is always making something fantastic with the kids, and they love it.
It was just a blast to hang out, laugh, do some crafting, cooking, and shopping together. Lynda is so loving and helpful with my kids. I rarely even changed a diaper or bathed a kid while she was here, not because I didn't want to, but because she beat me to it! She rocks.
She also helped me throw Quincy's birthday party. It. Was. Fabulous! I'll post on that another day, but for now,
We miss you Grandma Lynda!

It was evident when I got out of the car to wish you goodbye, and unload the suitcases at the airport. When I got back into the van after to drive away, I turned around and there were tears running down the cheeks of all three of my kids. They're going to miss you so much. They loved being spoiled by your undivided love and attention and it was really special to have you here. I think Corbin is experiencing withdrawals already and keeps climbing on the table, hoping you'll appear out of nowhere to play with him.

Thank you so much for coming to visit us. We love you!

Reese On the Christmas Spirit

Reese: When I grow up, first I'm gonna be a movie star, and then I'm gonna be an Elf for awhile.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Reese: Let's play with the (Little People) Nativity.

Meg: Ok, I'm the wise man.

Reese: [sigh] Alllllriiiiight. But I'm everyone else.


minutes later...
Meg: waaa waaa, Hey Mary, your baby is crying.

Reese: No. He's not.

Meg: waah waaaaaaaah waaaah! Yeah, he is, can't you hear him?

Reese: Nope. Baby Jesus doesn't cry.

Meg: Sure He does, all babies cry.

Reese: Nuh UH. See listen...

She then pushed the button on the nativity stable that plays the music to "Away in a Manger"
When it got near the end, she exclaimed,

"See that?! Right there. It says so. 'NO. CRYING. HE. MAKES.' I told you so. The song is right. Not MY baby crying, Wise Man."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Reese: Could you tell me about the naughty list thing again? I can't remember exactly how it works.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Last night, we sang, "Joy to the World" for our FHE opening hymn. Reese was mad that we weren't singing Jingle Bells, and crossed her arms, scowled, and refused to sing.

When we got to "....let eeeaaarth receeeeeeeive her Ki-----" Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and she intterupted our singing and shouted
"REESE?! The song just said, REESE! Did you hear it?! Another one about ME! This is the best Christmas song ever!"

That girl is such a Lucy.

I love her.