Around Here: Weeks 47 & 48

Whew! Last week was an amazing whirlwind.  Because of that and our spending the holiday with family out of town, my regular Friday post never happened. So I will combine this week and last week.  Thanksgiving will have its own post soon.

Jack & Logan 2010

Wyatt 2012

Celebrating... my birthday (again!) with my parents when we arrived at their house last week.  The boys (& my nephew Ferris) got to try lighting matches and helped my parents light all thirty-four of my birthday cake candles!

Reading... Flight Behavior. It took nearly half the book for me to get hooked and now instead of showering this morning I read while eating Froot Loops as the kids got ready for school. I am so anxious to see how it ends!
The twins and I are also finishing up My Side of the Mountain. When that's done, we are going to read BFG by Roald Dahl.  I am loving that time with them each night after the little kids are down.

Decorating... for Christmas! We got our tree at Lowe's, but the kids were content to check out the blow up decorations, so I refuse to feel guilty that we didn't do the whole "Christmas Tree Farm" thing. They enjoyed decorating the tree and Wyatt has enjoyed un-decorating it everyday.  He takes a handful of ornaments off each morning and afternoon to use as makeshift toys. I remember loving to play with some glass bears we had growing up, so I let him, even though rearranging ornaments every night is getting old already.

Starting... our Elf on the Shelf holiday tradition with Dashy our friendly elf.  So far he has turned our milk green, held baby Jesus from our manger scene, climbed up on the clock on the wall, and been caught drinking syrup through a straw on the kitchen table. The boys really love his shenanigans.

Preparing... to do 25 days of kindness.  Each day has a simple thing we can do to bring a little more love into the world and I'm excited to get the kids on board.

Done... Christmas shopping.  We only bought gifts for the kids this year, and I bought every single thing except one online. I felt great about that until Jack snuck in my room and peeked into the box from Amazon that had all their gifts in it. Gulp.  Ah, parenting.

Hoping... to get our Christmas cards done over the weekend so I can get them out early since we moved.  I like people to have our new address before they send out their Christmas cards.

Enjoying... the roses Josh got me for my birthday. They lasted a super long time and made me smile each time I walked into the kitchen.

Watching... sweet Carly suffer from a terrible cold. She's snotty and coughing and so, so sad.  I wish I could make it go away!

Finishing... my first puzzle in our new house. It was so fun to work on it off and on over the last two weeks. I love doing puzzles so much.  I have a great one waiting for Christmas break. I can't wait!

Getting angry... at Ramona (our cat) for scooping water out of the tree stand in the living room like a person who can't swim bailing out of a boat that's taking on water. She is SO naughty!!!

Feeling... inadequate, especially at bedtime. There are four children in this house, and only one mother. I could really use another me, or three.  I often have Wyatt requesting that I lay with him, the twins waiting for me to read with them and do bedtime prayers, and Carly screaming to be fed and put to sleep.  It's so hard to juggle it all.  By the time they are all in bed each night, I feel as if I've completed a marathon.

Jumping... for joy as our ice maker and garage door opener have been repaired.  (New Home Warranty for the win!)  I've never been so happy to push a button and have something do what it is supposed to!

Choosing... the material I want to use for the taggies my mom is going to make for Carly. She's currently using Wyatt's, but we want her to have her own girly ones.  I am in love with the material choices I found in my mom's stash!

Looking back... at the twins and Wyatt when they were babies, as well as paging through photo albums at my mom's house. So much fun!

Rejoicing... that we got good, normal results from Logan's EEG a few weeks back. It seems that seizure was a fluke.  I am so relieved and grateful.

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Weekly goals:

1) Write my Christmas letter

2) Address our Christmas cards

3) Paint my toenails