Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

I'm currently avoiding those last-minute Christmas tasks and writing this instead. One good thing about writing these posts is that it's something I can do while sitting down and it feels productive. I'm exhausted from the part-time job that is December. I made a list of everything I did this year, partly to see how much more I do this time of year than the other months, but also to keep it for next year so I don't forget anything. And I can start on the list even earlier next year. There were 65 extra things (and counting) on my December to-do list. Everything from decorating the house to taking the kids to see Christmas lights to coming up with 20 new ways to move the elves (I save up all my creative energy all year for this). So, I feel like I've earned the right to be tired today as I sit on the couch.

I love Mya and Winter's styles. Pretty and put together with every attention to detail, down to the headband matching the shoes; much like her personality. And then we have punk rock with a girly flair. Same for her personality as well.

Addie is doing her "plunges."

We thought it snowed in Azusa. We were so excited. Then I bent down to touch it and it was not cold. And this snowy white substance stayed there for over a week. It didn't melt... because it wasn't snow. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe a salt of some sort resulting from the rain? I didn't have the heart to tell them that it wasn't snow. So I just didn't say anything and they still think it snowed at our house last week. 

Just like 3 of them still believe in Santa and the elves on the shelf and the tooth fairy. Its fine. But I'm surprised their friends at school haven't mentioned anything... I'm not one of those moms that wants to keep the wonder and magic of Christmas alive for as long as possible. I'd prefer they knew. I didn't even tell them Santa was real. They just saw it on movies and came to their own conclusions. Mya never bought it. She's too practical. I don't really want to be the one to tell them the truth, however. I remember when my mom told me. It was traumatizing. Maybe I'll have Dan do it. 

I have a giant pile of wrapped gifts in my room that they've been aware of for weeks. We'll see if they ask questions on Christmas morning when they are all under the tree. My plan is to tell them that Santa mostly gets presents for the kids whose parents can't afford them... Maybe he arranges all those toy drives. That sounds like Santa. He's such a good guy.

While trying to make snowflake cutouts: "Look, I accidentally made a pokey elf bra thing."

Our Christmas party looked different this year. We were missing about 20 members of my family. Most of them moved away. Last year we didn't have a party at all because everything shut down again. I'm learning to accept the changes that come and appreciate some of the good things those changes come with. This was such an awesome group. Smaller than usual but that meant that we had more time to catch up. And the cousins enjoyed each other thoroughly, making up for lost time. 

The night of the party, the youngest, Johannes (pronounced Yo-HAW-ness), was nick-named "Your Highness." One of his cousins really thought that was his name so that's what he started calling him. "Your Highness, wanna play? Your Highness, let's go upstairs."
 Obviously it caught on because how awesome is that.  And it is actually the perfect way to address a 3-year-old. Because the world revolves around them and no one else. And if you don't treat them like royalty... well, good luck with that. 

Toward the end of the night, past "Your Highness's" bedtime, he requested milk with the blue striped straw that he used a few hours prior. His mom, being the caring mom that she is, washed his straw off since it had been added to the pile of dirty dishes. Your Highness was NOT happy with the clean straw and yelled, "NOOOOOO! No no no no no Ahhhh Ugh NOOO!" and proceeded to melt off the chair and have a nice little fit. He absolutely refused to drink out of the now clean straw. And his world was pretty much over.

It took us all a minute to figure out that he didn't want his straw cleaned. He liked it dirty the way it was. I looked at Your Highness's mom and said, "I think you're going to have to dirty the straw again..." She nodded in agreement. She took the straw and went over to the sink and fiddled around in the sink saying, "Hmmm okay dirtying the straw... getting dirty. Okay, now the straw is dirty again." Your Highness was pleased. He put the "dirty" straw in his milk and drank happily. They left shortly after that and hopefully, he took a long royal nap on the way home. 

I've been making loaves of banana bread for my neighbors for over a decade now. I tried to quit but Dan begged me to continue. He's big on Christmas traditions. We deliver to 11 families so it is quite the day of baking. This year, Mya offered to take it over. Bless her. She even let Angus help. Double bless her.

They decided to play "Spies." I don't know what kind. But it kept them busy for hours. Winter is awesome like that.

Otter, our 13 year old lab, had a little surgery on her paw. She's fine. But she had to wear "the cone of shame" and she HATES when anyone messes with her paws so she was pretty miserable. It was really sad to watch her try to hobble around with her cone and her hurt paw. And the vet sent her home with tons of meds and she was all doped up and confused. She's already pretty deaf and mostly blind. And her bandage started to come down a little bit, exposing her sutures. Dan came home from work the next morning and I was so relieved. I love having such a capable decisive partner. He looked at her bandage, carried her into the car and drove her down to the vet to have it rewrapped. When she got home, he took off the cone and said, "Let's just watch her to make sure she doesn't mess with her paw." She proceeded to pass out and sleep the entire day, poor thing. She was exhausted from the whole ordeal and didn't get any sleep with that stupid cone on all night.

She's so happy now. We still need to put the cone on at night for a couple more nights to make sure she doesn't mess with the bandage. But we leave it off during the day, and after a few reminders not to lick her hurt foot, she leaves it alone for the most part.

Winter turned 11! I always think of her as a little bit older and have to remind myself that she's not Mya's age even though she may look like it. Birthdays are always a little emotional for me as I remember the day the kids were born. Winter's arrival was much like the way she lives life. Definitely not textbook. Different than the typical way and on her own time schedule. 

She was the only baby that came too fast for an epidural. And she was 10 days early. She was due on January 1st. I started having contractions 10 minutes apart for hours. They weren't advancing so we went to the hospital to see what was going on. The doc said "Let's get this labor going" and broke my water. She was born 30 minutes later. It poured rain on the way home from the hospital. She was the easiest baby and not the easiest toddler. Winter is the reason I started this blog. Her hilarious shenanigans made good stories (after the fact) and making light of parenting and keeping a good sense of humor was one of my survival tools. She has has grown into such a cool person. People always say that about their kids but Winter really is a joy. Her funloving playful nature is infectious. She is loved by all and I'm so lucky that she's mine. 

Merry Christmas Eve Eve All!

 

beating december at its own game

 I'm not a super-motivated individual usually. When Dan gets home from work in the morning, he busily cleans up the kitchen and living room and makes it perfect so he can relax. That's not really how I function. I float through my day going here and there, tending to the urgent, making lists, checking things off, and maybe getting distracted by a random thing that sounds fun at the moment like trying clothes on and seeing what kind of outfits I can create or scrolling through Amazon to search for a new area rug. Neither of those are urgent or even really productive since we're not buying a rug anytime soon and I won't remember the outfits I've created. This is totally normal behavior for an Enneagram 9, by the way, if you're not familiar with the Enneagram. (Check out Type Descriptions — The Enneagram Institute for more info)

December pretty much kicks my butt every year. Well, I should say the butt-kicking starts before Thanksgiving when I need to start making holiday decisions and think about Addie's and Winter's holiday birthdays. I hate feeling behind and harried and December is so good at making me feel that way. I'm usually scrambling to 5 different stores to get presents for those I've forgotten and last-minute kid gifts because one or two kids have more presents than the others. And I always leave stocking stuffers 'till the last minute for some reason.

This year, I decided to get ahead of December. 

I did a brain dump before Thanksgiving which I highly recommend. Take everything in your brain and put it down on paper. Hand-writing is ideal because it's more therapeutic and it helps you remember what you wrote, but a digital brain dump works too.

I started Christmas shopping in October and actually had a few things saved from early in the year with certain people in mind. It would be a little weird and random to buy someone a gift out of the blue, but if you save it for Christmas it's thoughtful and appropriate. 

We took the family to Great Wold Lodge in lew of birthday parties for Addie and Winter. We will do this forever. Birthday parties are no fun for anyone during the holidays.

I made a list of all the things I needed to do during December and just started getting them done during November. Slowly. Amie style. I can't tell you how much difference it has made this year. I also decided to be nice to myself and get all the teachers Starbucks gift cards. Done. My sister Wendy says that's all they want anyway, being a teacher herself. She scolded me one year for suggesting I give them ornaments with my kids' pictures in them. "NO! Gift Cards!" she yelled. (Spoiler alert Darla 😆)

I also got all my stocking stuffers at the Dollar Tree one November morning. Another thing that made a difference was saying no to myself when I would think, maybe we should do something new this year. Like breakfast with Santa or a Christmas parade or buying elf babies on Amazon which would complicate the hiding of the elves on the shelf. I say no to myself when I think it would be nice to bring someone a meal or invite guests over for dinner. Not December, Amie I constantly remind myself. You can be a thoughtful person in 2022.

I created a December to-do list and a January to-do list. I want to start playing the guitar again and cooking through my favorite cookbook. January, Amie. January.  I have all these things I'd like to do but are not urgent. Like catching up on my correspondence and cleaning out my stack of old paperwork. (mostly 1000 pictures the kids have drawn in the last year) Anything not Christmas-related goes on the January list. It's very freeing. I get permission to not even think about it.

So, here's what's going on these days:

We had a family Thanksgiving at my cousin's house the Saturday after Thanksgiving which was super lovely and also Addie's birthday so it was a fun day. Angus asked the man of the house, "Is this actually a house?" To which he replied, "Ummm yes." Angus responded, "Well then why don't you have butt wipes?!"

My uncle Doug is the kids' favorite. He's under there somewhere.

My least favorite tradition. Dan taking the kids up the big ladder to hang lights.

Friendsgiving with these fabulous people.

Mya asked me to curl her hair for her orchestra picture. It took forever.

Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate Addie and Winter's birthdays. The Higerds joined us so we had an extra fun time.

One of their favorite parts is the buffet.

I can't really see without my readers these days so I just assume they're smiling when I take pictures.

It was so nice of Mari to have a boy for Angus to play with. James is working on his smile.

On our way back home, we talked about our favorite part and our least favorite part of going to Great Wolf Lodge. Everyone's least favorite part was mostly leaving. Mine was when I went downstairs to bring a pizza back up to the room for dinner and a pack of 8-year-olds went in and out of all the elevators and pushed ALL of the buttons. It took like 20 minutes to get back to my room.

Trimming the tree. 

I put the ornaments in two piles. Breakable and non-breakable. I requested that the littles hang the non-breakable ones. They were insulted and insisted on hanging only the breakable ones. Addie dropped this one last year and I glued it back together. It's my favorite one of my grandma's. So of course she insisted on hanging it again.

Mya's fake smile. She was mad at me for something I did. It happens a lot these days because she's 12. Love you, Mya. 

Angus brought his school photo proof home and I was like Oh my goooodnessssoooo cute!!

To which Addie replied. "I'm cuter! See here's proof haha!" Spectacular joke, Addie.

"Oh Addie, everyone loves me." Nice come back, Angus.

Winter borrowed Mya's sweater and won a contest for the best Chrismassy outfit. (You can't see it in the pic but it has a unicorn head coming out of it). Winter didn't think it was Christmassy enough but we didn't have anything else so I forced her to wear it. Mya was irritated that I let Winter borrow her sweater without her knowledge and even more irritated that she won a prize. Winning prizes without even trying is Winter's theme this year.

Always scrambling for elf ideas. Looking forward to the day when the kids find out that it has been me all along and they can come up with their own elf ideas.

I've never TP'd a house so this was fun... Dan cannot confirm or deny that he has skills in this area. The elves did it in case that's not clear.

I usually throw all the healthy eating out the window in December. 

Ain't nobody got time for that. Plus, I was good all summer. Okay that's a lie. Some of the summer I was good.

Addie made this ornament while at the christian after school club. 

"This is a terrible picture of me! I looked WAY cuter that day." - Addie

Hanging out in the early morning with this guy and his kickin' morning breath before anyone else woke up.

Angus: (whispered) Who's your favorite kid Mom?

Me: (whispered back) You are.

Angus: I knew it.

Angus, show me your pretty blue eyes.

The 3 younger kids were in The Living Nativity at our church last night. Angus invited his whole class and two of them actually came. He was so happy. The girls got to take turns being Mary and shepherds since they all wanted a turn being Mary and there were 4 performances. You can still see it tonight and tomorrow night. My kids won't be there but equally cute ones will be. 

Check out this link for more info:

Living Nativity - Church of the Open Door (churchcenter.com)

These two were my favorite Mary and Joseph. Yep, that's baby Jesus in Adde's belly. Joseph snuck a kiss on Mary's cheek as they were standing in front of the audience. Addie told everyone on the way back to the dressing room that he is NOT her boyfriend in case anyone got the wrong idea. 

The kids were inspired the next day to do it again at home. Otter participated too.

That's it! Good luck getting ahead of your Decembers!