Needing to take a breath

This morning, the kids and I walked in from getting some art supplies at walgreens and at that moment there were at least 10 needs that needed to be met by me all at once.

• Carsen wanted cereal to eat
  
• Canon needed to be put in his high chair for a snack (I gave him some pop corn to eat)
• While walking in from our errand, Canon squeezed out a juice box on the wood floors (so it needed to be cleaned up)
• Canon had a dirty diaper (that had needed to be changed for 30 minutes)
• After I got the milk out of the fridge and started to fix the cereal, the door did not quite shut all the way, so it was just left there open.
• Canon decided he hated the pop corn and wanted cheerios. He threw the pop corn everywhere. Now, I needed to clean that up.
• Canon decided he wants his own bowl of cereal that he can feed to himself, not any of this dry stuff - throws the cheerios too.
• Carsen wants a drink now
• I am so thirsty, I want a drink too
• I am still in my pajamas and my friend, Stacy, is dropping off her little girl Aubren any minute now...OH well...that need will not be met.

I felt so overwhelmed at that moment for some reason...it was like I could not get ahead. I finally stopped and just prayed that I would be patient and have a better attitude toward my children. It seems that when I feel like things are unmanageable it is because I am easily annoyed and am letting the small things become too large.

Now, Carsen and Aubren are entertaining each other, and Canon is being the pesky baby brother and following them around. Life is as it should be.

Would you look this cute in a winter hat?

My Favorite picture - pure joy

After a few minutes of playing, Carsen stood under the roof and just watched (I don't blame her). She was a little under dressed for the occasion.

Totally amazed by snow!

I love this hat - I have to sneak put it on him b/c he does not love it and tries to take it off

Canon saw his first snow yesterday, and he was a HUGE fan. He also turned 16 months, so it was a great 16 month birthday present for him. He yelled to the sky, ran up and down the side walk, tried to eat the ground, and carried on like it was Christmas. Carsen cried when the snow stopped falling and then cried some more when it had melted off the ground.

How are kids not affected by the temperature outside? It can be a Texas summer with 100 degree heat or snowing and windy, but either way kids are always happy to go outside and play. Meanwhile, if it drops below 60 degrees, I am shivering uncontrollably and need a snow suit.

How I wish I was a ballerina

Check out these head pieces!

Whoa - who dressed Carsen? You can almost see her belly button

They are super cute - cannot wait to see them perform!

Carsen had class pictures made last week in ballet, and I was that mom who accidentally put her leotard on backwards - awesome. So, she will be the child with an extremely low cut front in all of the pictures. Way to go me!

Decorating Our House

I am more in the Christmas decorating spirit than usual this year; I actually told Simon that I wanted to hang up lights on the outside of our house (we have NEVER done it before), and I am thinking about finding a tree that is taller than 4 ft when we head out to the tree farm on Sunday. I am always Ba humbug about trees because we are never home on Christmas, but I think we will get a 6 footer this year and hang all the ornaments on the top three feet so Canon cannot steal them.

We even bought supplies to make a homemade advent wreath with candles so we can light one each Sunday and teach Carsen what it means to anticipate Jesus' birth. Simon also let Carsen pick out one Christmas decoration at Target yesterday to decorate her room with...I am sad to say that she chose a very ugly white tree made out of pipe cleaners with red and green balls glued onto it. Poor thing did not really have a choice though; she wanted a 3 foot tall solid red tree made out of ornaments and bells that cost $30, but Simon drew the line and said it had to be less than $10.00. My heart was breaking as she carried it around Target begging and pleading with us...
Hopefully the giant red tree is forgotten and she loves her little white tree just as much.

You should feel a little sorry for him

Poor Canon, he has had to wear Carsen's girly feety pajamas from when she was a toddler because he does not have any in his size. I need to buy the boy some clothes, but then I think that Christmas is coming and I should wait and give them to him as a gift (won't he love me, pajamas instead of a new shiny toy). Sometimes, I am just too practical. I have seriously headed out to buy him some new pj's twice and then turned the car around...it is like I cannot justify spending the money right now for some reason.

Poor Canon, I guess he will just have to wear the girly clothes (only at night) a little bit longer. To defend his manliness and honor, I picked out the least feminine pair :)

P.S. - UPDATE: Simon told me to get my kids some dang clothes. He said we have the money and I am being silly. And as we all know, pajamas NEVER = a Christmas gift.

Laundry Loather

I really dislike folding my laundry...does anyone else wash and dry all their clothes and then let them wrinkle in a basket for weeks forming one giant mountain?

I do not mind the doing...it is the folding. People have told me tricks about how to make the task more desirable, like to pray for each person that you are folding clothes for; I just do not think I am that holy. I decided yesterday that I would do every bit of washing and drying and then rope my husband into the dreaded folding task. That made it much better...but now they need to be put away. Maybe he will do that too?

What we have been doing in a nut shell

1. Having my parents in town...as you can see my mom is a very fun grandma. She wore a clown suit for Halloween to go trick or treating (Simon and I did not even dress up) and she also did a dance routine with the kids...hilarious.





2. Playing dress up and having an attitude. More sass brought to you by Carsen every day.


3. Loving being a part of the marriage ministry at our church and leading a Foundation group. We had our old foundation group over this week to share what they have learned in their two years of marriage to our new couples who have all been married 9 months or less. It was a really cool time. We ate dessert outside around an unlit fir pit (it was just not cold enough) and listened to some cool stories.


4. Being Sick. The fall and winter are never kind to us here...


5. Letting Canon play in odd places. He is so funny