To move like that....

I watched Bird in her most recent competition in amazement. Oh to be able to move my body like that. She is so graceful and powerful all at the same time. I love to watch her. Her self confidence and poise is amazing considering she just turned 13. I am so proud of her. We are heading into the busiest part of the season for her and I am praying she can stay healthy and injury free. We head to Florida in a few weeks for another meet there and we are all going this time. I can't wait to get into some warmer weather. I know the little kids are excited too. Only a few more weeks and 3 more competitions to get through and 1 swim meet. We are going to need a break. Until then I will be sorting through the 1000 pictures I took in the last few weeks and try to be good in deleting some of them:)

Princess Goldilocks and the tale of the mystery scissors!

My sweet princess has hair of gold. It truly is like golden spun silk that hangs down her back in soft spiral curls until it almost touches her bottom. Well I should say she DID have beautiful long hair that hangs down her back until a few days ago. Princess and Monkey were playing quietly in the toy room and that should have been my clue that something was up, they are never very quiet. I called Princess to come and get her hair brushed and braided for bed. When she came in I noticed a few chunks missing and as I started to brush her hair more fell out onto my lap. Apparently her and Monkey were playing hair stylist but no one could explain the missing hair. The scissors had mysteriously disappeared as well as the pile of locks they cut. I guess that we will have to live with the fact that we have a pair of scissors in the house that just cut hair without anyone operating them. I was sad, Mr. G. was sad, princess was not so sad. She was excited to go visit her Aunt's salon for a hair cut. She looks as precious as ever, missing over 8 inches of hair. She loves her new look and Monkey Boy has promised to never touch those mystery scissors again.

Monkey Boys Not So Great Adventure

It all started innocently enough. The boys went out to play and collect natural materials for Einstein's diorama project. It is cold here, like 28 degree cold and windy. Needless to say they didn't stay out long, they collected 2 bags full of stuff and came in. But long enough to contract poison ivy. Monkey boy is super sensitive but I thought we would get a break through the winter. Turns out he ended up with it all over the bottom half of his face. Nothing to crazy right??? Not in my world, it is always crazy. He scratched it open, who can blame him, but it got infected. We headed off to the pediatrician and brought home a prescription for special cream. Still not to bad, just a really itchy kid who was happy to be out of school. Two days later his face looks as if it was on fire and he is in serious pain. We head back to the pediatrician for a new oral medication and an appointment for the next day (which happened to be Sunday). Still not to bad, just a really whiny little boy who needed extra cuddles, perfectly OK with me. Sunday morning we head back into the office and here is where the fun really begins.....

Three hours later Monkey Boy is admitted to the hospital for a full course of IV antibiotics. We are placed in isolation until they can do a culture and see what the infection might be. Lets just say getting the IV into said 6 year old boy was not to fun. I got to hold him down, my least favorite job as a mom. It tears at your heart to see your child in pain and then you have to help while it is administered. After that we got to stay in the little room by ourselves. On the plus side Monkey Boy and I had some quality alone time. We played games, watched movies and cuddled for hours. He was thrilled to be able to pick his own meals. We hung out and waited to see how he would react to the antibiotics. Thankfully he started to improve right away. The doctor had found the right antibiotic. Our adventure lasted 2 days and 1 night in the hospital. They sprang us Monday afternoon and I was very thrilled. Monkey boy is still on the most nasty tasting stuff around. He does great taking it because of the threat of returning to the nasty hospital(his words not mine).

So to wrap it all up I don't think he would call this his most fun adventure but it was an experience. One I hope not to repeat.

Is it January already??

How did this happen?? The first 2 weeks have flown by so quickly. We headed to Florida on New Years Day for Bird's competition. She competed for the PA Team in the National Judges Cup. She did great and the team took third. When we landed on New Years we drove to the Rossetters for dinner. We had to have pork and sauerkraut on New Years, it's traditional. It was so much fun to see some family we haven't seen for a while. The weather was perfect and the company was great. When we headed to the hotel we were pleasantly surprised with the suite. It was actually a villa and was like a really nice apartment. SO much nicer than a regular hotel room. We spent time by the pool, at Downtown Disney and at critical care. Yes I did say critical care. Bug's ear infection got worse and spread to her eyes. I was quite scared. We sat in the waiting area for hours and then back in the room for a few more. After a shot of heavy duty antibiotics and 2 new prescriptions we headed back to the hotel. Bug was quite the little trooper. Mr. G. held it together and I held and cuddled her as much as she would let me.

The adventure didn't stop there. Bug started puking her guts out as we were pulling in to return the brand new rental car. Oh the fun we had on the flight home.

Overall we had a great time. We went to Sea World, saw Shamu. We visited family and friends. Bird had a great competition. The weather was perfect. The virus followed us home though. We are now taking turns in the bathroom. So I will spare the details and head off to take care of the growing mound of laundry in the laundry room. I pray Mr. G. will be able to find me amidst the pile.

Saturday Morning

The Christmas rush is over. The paper shreds have been cleaned up with all the bits and pieces of packaging that found its way under the couch. The toys are out of the boxes, Rock Band is our new favorite, Monkey boy is amazing on the drums. The leftovers have been hauled out more times than I care to admit. We had a lovely Christmas. Lots of fun, food(way too much) and family. The let down is starting to set in. It is inevitable. After the hours of preparation and anticipation, the days of parties, the bulk of our holiday celebrations are over. I can feel the post holiday mood setting in. I have come to expect it, to understand it, to embrace the feelings and then move on. It’s part of how I savor the holiday even the down time afterwards. The kids will have meltdowns, the tears will flow, the sugar crash will happen..... so is the life with 5 little people. But then things mellow out into the beauty that is the afterglow of Christmas. Today the afterglow is starting to set in. We are reading new books, watching some movies having lots of conversations and just spending time together. It is so rare that we have unstructured time together and the last few days have been glorious. I love when we can all just "be" together. I am taking it all in before we head into next week and the crazy preparations for a New Year's Day flight to Florida for some of us and off to family and friends for the rest of us. So until then I will bask in the afterglow, I will just be and I will be grateful for every moment.

Sweet Christmas!!!

It is Little Christmas Eve and I am done. I have crafted, papered, printed, taped and beribboned anything that would sit still long enough to be done. The packages for my littles are wrapped in neat little towers all tied up with bows. I suspect Santa has done his end as well. I am exhausted but still smiling. In the midst of it all the princess has come down with something. Some kind of fever, cold thing. Not much fun but she has been very subdued today. Bug is snug in her crib all played out from the day. The boys are reveling in the fact that school is out for 2 weeks. The excitement is palpable and is contagious. I love being around it. I love being in it. These little people have blessed me with the joy of their presence. The holiday season is so much more fun through their eyes.

Although it has snuck up on me again, even though I started planning months ago. Life has a way of catching up with you; and fast. But at this point in the game whats done is done and I just want to sit back and enjoy the rest. The girls will look lovely in their dresses. The boys will look handsome too. I will stop and breathe, take it all in and give thanks. For I know in the depths of my heart how very blessed I am at this moment. How we are so fortunate and so many times that goes unsaid. How getting caught up with the list and all that "is Christmas" sometimes overshadows the true Christmas. I will stop now, it is enough and as we gather together to celebrate the birth of our savior I will give thanks...

Christmas blessings to you.

Christmas is Upon Us!

Wow!! We are already in full swing of Christmas activities around here. Thanksgiving weekend is my weekend to decorate. I love to decorate and I spend most of the weekend doing just that. Mr. G. brings up all of my boxes from the basement storage room and I start to plan out where things will go this year. I started by remaking some of my garlands. I took some of my older, scrawnier garlands and put them together with some new elements. I added lights and just about anything I could find to my mantle garland. I love how they turned out. Garlands are so much fun.

Saturday morning we put up the tree, we have an artificial tree this year because of the baby. It is hard to keep up with the needles and I don't want Bug ingesting to many pine needles. I do love a real tree though and try to make this one as "real" as possible. Including using potpourri to scent the tree. We put a few ornaments on the tree. The kids love to look at all the ornaments as we take them out of the boxes. Mr. G. helped do the decorations in the foyer because it takes the really tall ladder to put those up. The kids help where they can and as I ask, but I like to do most of the decorating. We plan our tree trimming party for the first weekend in December every year. It gives me a deadline and a goal to get the house cleaned and dressed before that date. Then I can enjoy the rest of the month and concentrate on just keeping up with the cleaning and enjoying the season.