Ice Ice Baby

This is absolutely beautiful...


This, not so much...



Other than the trees snapping, we were without power for a few hours, internet and cable a little longer and the ice snapped the phone line. Luckily by the time the boys got up and realized there wasn't any school today, everything was back on. I am incredibly grateful for that! Hope you all came out ok too. Something tells me it's gonna be a long winter.

Scrooge? Not anymore.

Well, it looks like I wasn't the only one with a lack of Christmas joy this year. I only received 1 happy memory! That's so sad... Christmas is supposed to be a magical time, full of love and sharing. You big scrooges! hehe
That's ok... I've actually started singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....everywhere you go..." It all hit me Sunday night. We were all home... something that's very rare these days. With the whole evening "unplanned" for once, we turned on the Christmas lights and all nestled in to watch the Christmas Story. That's all it took. Everything's so busy all the time. We all rush around from one place to the next and the stress just builds and builds. There is no time to think about Christmas or anything that's not happening at that very moment. I hope you all take the time to slow down, take a breath, and share some quiet time with your families. After all, that's really all it takes to reconnect and honestly what's most important. Merry Christmas everyone! May you get everything your heart desires this year.

I seem to have misplaced my Christmas cheer...

Christmas has always been so big for me. I love giving gifts, all the pretty decorations, and all the fun activities Christmas time has to offer. Even into adulthood I've never been able to sleep the night before... usually laying there until the wee hours of the morning... and after sleeping only a few short hours, I'm always the first to wake up. I remember years when my kids were little and Mr. M told me not to wake them up. So, I would just go around the house making noise until someone heard and woke up all on their own... I had nothing to do with it. hehe I couldn't help it. I was just so excited for them to get up and see all the wonderful surprises that Santa had left for them.
This year though, something seems a little off. We've done the decorations, and most the shopping, and even some of the fun activities. For some reason... I just don't feel it. Nothing feels "Christmasy" this year. It can't be that I've finally grown out of my childlike love of Christmas...I simply won't accept that as an option. I don't believe anyone should ever give up their Christmas innocence.
In a couple weeks the tree and all the pretties will be coming down and I certainly don't want that to happen before it ever "felt" like Christmas. So, I invite you to share one of your favorite Christmas memories with me...or two.. or three. I'll take all the Christmas cheer you'd like to give.

Where's the fa la la la la?

It started out one of those perfect days... but isn't that how they normally start out? It all changed rather abruptly when I began my nightly pick up voyage. I hadn't gotten to very far into the country before my wiper up and decided to mangle itself into it's mate. I drove that way until I found somewhere I could pull in, thank god I wasn't on the interstate, which just happened to be a deserted church parking lot. Why oh why couldn't someone be there right then? As I stepped out of the van I realized that it was also a flooded, deserted, church parking lot. Good thing I'm wearing those suede boots. What better way to wade through a pond? errrr It took me about 15 min. to untangle those little wipers that didn't seem to want to let go of eachother...in the pouring rain...standing in a pond... as youngest boy child is calling Mr. M in a panic. We finally get back on our way as I myself begin to panic because we're down to 10 min. to pick up oldest boy child. All the time trying to use the wipers as little as possible..turning them on for 1 quick sweep when it was impossible to see anymore. I was almost there when we reached a stand still in traffic. How can this be happening? 5 min. of barely moving traffic later, we realize there's been an accident. We finally get around that, get to the school and due to lack of parking spaces left at this late hour, am parked in some remote area. Then comes the frantic text messaging to oldest boy child to let him know where we are. No response...I begin calling... Voicemail..what? 20 min. later he decides to turn his phone on to see why he's been standing on the other side of the building for so long! After finally locating him and getting back on the road, I had to pull over yet one more time to fix the wipers. It took me almost 2 hrs. to do the nightly pick up. Yes, one big shit sandwich evening delivered to me in a urine soaked lunch sack.
I'm ready for the Christmas cheer to begin.

Goings on

Other than getting the tree, nightly wrestling practices, school stuff, and the preparations for the oh so dreaded banquet, which will thankfully be done and over with after tonight, here are a few other things we've been up to this past week...
Nugget shoveling snow...

Pickle dressed for 80's day at school...

The best little Christmas pageant ever...

The Pickle starring as Robert R. Robot...

The Nugget starring as the little shepard boy...

An outstanding performance boys!

A Pickle and some flap jacks

I've been fretting for some time now about the alarming rate with which my children are beginning to grow up into these .....grown people, that are getting harder and harder to recognize. The little boys that used to be within them only show rarely anymore. Like I said, I've been adjusting to this. I recently realized though, that not only are they growing into these practically adults before my eyes, they are now beginning to do things that I, being an adult, don't even do. One such example is the pickle, who like the nugget, always seems to get up earlier than we do....Mr. M and I have never been early birds. The other day he wakes us up wanting to know if he can make pancakes. huh???? At this hour??? He's not talking pancakes like mom makes either. Me, I make it from a box..add some water or milk. I've even been known to buy the frozen flap jacks.. just pop 'em in the microwave and have at it. No, the pickle learned how to make pancakes from scratch in school and proceeded to get things out of the cupboard like flour and baking powder. Wow.. my son can make pancakes from scratch... and they were good.

The little show off even make a couple Mickey Mouse ones for him and the nugget.

I try not to look at it as my 12 yr. old showing me up and more as how you're supposed to want your kids to turn out better off and more talented than yourself. Looks like he's gonna be just fine.

Where's our snow day?

I was very surprised to wake up yesterday morning and see the winter wonderland that developed while we slept... and it hasn't stopped. Today I'm pretty ticked off that our district has felt it necessary to be one of the few schools in the entire area still having school. My poor pickle was at the bus stop freezing his little ass off for 40 min. this morning. If it's that hard for the buses to get to them... why in the hell are they having school?! This happens every year. It's usually us and the one rival district the last two to do it...and it almost never happens. The pickle had his first snow day.. since he started school... last year. So, I guess I shouldn't be surprised....
Wish me luck as I brave this treacherous weather to pick up the pickle after wrestling tonight.... home schooling is sounding really good about now.