Suzanne McGrath Photography

Make Up Monday

We spent the weekend at my mom's house down in AR so by the time we got the little girls into bed last night I was just too tired to blog.  So I'm here tonight, instead.  Let's get started!

1.  As you know, the hubby took #1 to her swim meet in Wichita the previous weekend.  (13th/14th)  Then he turned around and flew to Florida early Monday morning and didn't get home until after the kids were in bed Tuesday night.  I was basically a single parent for five days.  It was tiring! I was ready for him to put the little girls to bed just so I could have one night off.  My hats off to you single parents out there.  IT IS HARD.

2.  While I was single-parenting, #2 had a choir concert.  The little girls were really good during the concert so I can't complain.  (Of course #1 was at swim practice.)  And it was fun to hear the 6th grade (and 7th and 8th) choir sing!

 

We came home and celebrated with hot chocolate and cookies!

 

I'm not usually a huge hot chocolate fan but I couldn't resist drinking out of my favorite Christmas mug!

 

3.  #4 has had this little speech impediment ever since I can remember.  She has a hard time saying her "K" and "G" sounds.  So "Caroline" sounded like "Taroline".  And "kitty cat" was "titty tat" (my absolute favorite!).  "Gamma" was "Damma".  You get the idea.

Well, she has worked with the speech pathologist at school a few times.  (Nothing serious enough for an EIP.)  Anyway, the speech impediment is almost gone.  It pops back up if she's really tired.  But really, it's kind of sad.  She's my baby and she's growing up.  It's really bittersweet.

4.  Back to last week...one of our Advent calendar activities was putting together a care package to send to my cousin, Alex, and his team who are stationed in Afghanistan.  Tangent:  Actually, Alex is my cousin's son which makes him my first cousin, once removed.  Or he's second cousins with my kids.  And also?  Alex was the ring bearer in our wedding.  Got it?  OK.

Anyway, the girls and I walked around Target picking up things we thought 20-year-old guys would like. We grabbed magazines, cards, movies - especially Dumb and Dumber - because what guy doesn't like that awful, stupid movie?!  We also picked up some toiletries and candy.  The girls each wrote a card to send to Alex.  I took a picture of the cards the little girls made.  (It took a lot of discussion to explain what Alex is doing in Afghanistan.  They also remember Papa was in Vietnam.  They sort of understand and sort of don't understand.  But it is a start!)  

The card from #3:

 

The card from #4:

Adorable, no?

5.  We got our first real snow of the season last Wednesday night/Thursday morning.  The littles were absolutely giddy with excitement!  They hurried up and got dressed and ready for school so they could play outside.  

All in all, I think they were outside for about 30 minutes before they had to leave for school.  It was adorable!

6.  We headed down to Arkansas on Friday afternoon.  My sister and her family were down there, too.  It was a really fun weekend!

Friday night we just hung out at home and had pizza.  The cousins all played together really well and watched Elf.  (Except #1 who had her nose stuck in a book trying to get to the end!)  The adults drank beer and/or wine and just chilled.  

Saturday morning the hubby indulged me with a 6 mile run:

I'll be honest, my main motivation for wanting to run was so I could wear these:

It was great running weather so we both really enjoyed it.  For reals.

7.  We all went ice skating Saturday afternoon.  I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to it because I thought #4 would be a nightmare but I was mistaken.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  All the kids had a blast and no one cared if they fell down.  The older two are already solid on skates and #3 really improved a ton in the hour we were there.  Even #4 kind of got the hang of it though she preferred to hold someone's hand.  My niece and nephew were great, too.  My nephew fell about a bazillion times and just smiled and laughed each time.  Such a great spirit!

My mom and my sister's boyfriend both decided to sit this one out.  My mom is a good skater but I think when you are 68 you think about falling with a bit of trepidation.  And Jason never learned to skate and figured now wasn't the time.  I don't blame either of them!

Here's the whole crew:

My dad was a great ice skater and I remember when and how he taught me to skate.  (I was five.  I carried a broomstick.  No joke.)  I would like to think he was there with all of us because he would have loved that.  

8.  Last one.  The kids did the Natvity scene again.  It's tradition and must be done:

I think the organizing and setting up of the scene actually took far longer than actually performing the scene.  But this is something they'll remember when they are older.  And kids love traditions so we keep doing it!

And there you have it.  Since I waited a day I gave you two bonus numbers tonight!  

If you celebrate, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!


 

 

Christmas Decorations - House Tour 2014

Well, hello!  Tonight I have a special house tour for you.  Well, at least the first floor.  I don't really decorate the bedrooms except the girls each have a 2 foot tree in their room.  And I didn't want to take pictures of their trees because their rooms are not photo-ready!

Last year it took me three separate posts to show you my Christmas decorations.  This year I haven't had time to do that.  So I'm putting it all in one, giant post.  Grab a coffee or a beer and get comfortable.  Because here comes photo overload!

Let's start with the foyer since it's the first thing you see when you walk in:

I used live garland again but I'm going back to fake next year.  The live stuff that I use (read:  cheap) just doesn't do it for me.  I want it to be fuller.  But I have a LOT of stairs and don't want to shell out for the real stuff.  

I did the same thing on my round table as last year - just changed the colors a bit:

You'll notice both the blues and reds.  This is sort of my bridge between the two color schemes I have going on:  pinks, greens, blues in the music room and more traditional reds and greens in the family room.  In my brain, this display brings the two together!

And the same goes for this wreath - it has ALL THE COLORS and I love it!

 

Moving on...let's go to the family room:

This is all very similar to what I did last year.  But I still love it so why change it up?

 

We put up the Nativity scene every year:

 

Last weekend the girls received a Lego present for the Advent calendar activity and it was a huge hit!

 

I sewed these stockings back in 2008 and I'm still not tired of them.  I think that may be a record.

 

We finally found a stocking for Darby (the stone cold killer cat):

And you know I love me some brass animals and milk glass!

 

 Last Friday night I got the urge to sew pillow covers.  I indulged that urge and came up with this:

Pillows!!

I know I'm going to be sad when it's time to put the normal covers back on the pillows.

 

Behind the couch is the sofa table we built this fall.  It's perfect for my New England village:

I'd actually love to collect more houses so I could fill this whole table.  Wouldn't that be fun?!

I love having such a great place to set this up.  In prior years it's been on the mantle or on top of the kitchen cabinets.  But when it is so high up the details get lost.  Having it down here has been great and the kids play with it by moving the people around which is fine by me!  (Thank goodness they're gentle.)

 

We also have our Charlie Brown Christmas tree in this room:

 

This is our fifth year of doing "something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read".  I have used the same gift tags all five years.  I love traditions!

 

OK.  The kitchen.  I didn't go crazy in here and I'm fine with it.

 

Those plates on top of the cabinets?  The three round ones are presents given to us by the kids.  Every year they were in first grade they drew a picture and the teacher had that transferred onto plastic plates.  They're precious.  

 

I set out the gingerbread houses on my cake stand.  There are only three houses because #4 promptly ate hers.

 

We've hung these wreaths for years and they're so pretty when the sun shines through them.  (Albeit difficult to photograph!)

 

The girls love lighting and then blowing out the candles on the Advent wreath!  (I think we may be raising pyromaniacs.)

 

This is the view to through the dining room to the music room from the kitchen:

 

Those aprons get regular use during the Christmas season!

 

I just added a couple things to the china cabinet but didn't set out all my Christmas china.  I just couldn't motivate myself to do it.  I know.  The shame.

A little bit of Husker bling of course:

 

And the pretty tree:

I think this is my third year with this tree and I love it as much as the day I bought it.  (And yes, it's slightly crooked.  But it doesn't bother me enough to fix it.  It's just how I roll.)

We made those glittered pine cones two years ago and they still look beautiful!

 

And to bring this whole tour back to where we started.  This is the view from the foyer if you turn to the right:

And there you have it!  I hope you enjoyed this little tour.  Have a Merry Christmas!

 

Six on Sunday

Hello!  Did you know there are only 4 1/2 days of school this week?!  That means I only have to make lunches four days and not five.  That, alone, is reason to celebrate.  WooHoo!!  Let's get this show on the road.

1.  I am a complete and utter failure.  I did not install one tile this week.  Not one.  I was planning on tiling today but that just didn't happen.  I ran out of time and I had to debate the merits of tiling for less than two hours or starting the week out with a clean house.  The clean house won.  I just couldn't go any longer with a bedroom overwhelmed with clothes ranging from size 6 to Men's Large; much less stairs that were a virtual forest of dried evergreen leaves.  And I have to tell you, it feels good to have a clean* house.

* Note:  "Clean" means organized and picked up.  Not necessarily dusted and mopped.  

2.  We had a busier week than usual but it was really nice.  We started off with #1's orchestra concert on Tuesday night while #3 was at her First Confession.  I attended the concert and it was great.  For real.  8th grade orchestra is fun.

One of our Advent calendar activities was a manicure/pedicure night.  While #4 was originally not pleased with such an activity (she wanted to go to the actual nail salon.  Yeah, right.), it turned out to be really fun!  The girls all really got into it and I had fun painting all their nails!  (#1 missed the festivities since she was at swim practice.)

Then Thursday night I had dinner out with my running friends.  We hadn't done that in at least six months and it was really fun!  Plus, it's nice to see everyone dressed up with make-up.  Some of them didn't even know I cut my hair.  In September!  

3.  This weekend was a little more hectic than usual but it was all good!  Friday afternoon the hubby took off for Wichita with #1.  She had a swim meet and it was his turn to take her.  She swam in 7 events over three days.  She made the finals in three events - or both last night and tonight.  While she didn't have the greatest meet of her life, she did manage to get a "AA" time in her 200 breaststroke and I know that made her happy.  

Meanwhile, the three little girls and I took advantage of a coupon for a free pizza I had in my stash.  It was really nice not to have to cook or do dishes on Friday night!

After dinner I dropped the girls off at home and ran to the grocery store.  I just wanted to get it out of the way!  (Yes, I lead a very sexy life.  Ha!)

4.  This was our cookie extravaganza weekend!  As the Pioneer Woman would say, "the cast of characters":

I made a couple batches of sugar cookies Friday night and just put them in the fridge to roll out Saturday morning.  

Then yesterday we also made gingerbread men, pretzels with Hugs and M&Ms, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate truffles and peanut butter balls.  Honestly, I usually make more but this was all we accomplished this weekend and I am just fine with it!  (We finished this morning.)

We also had a lice check (more on that next),a guitar lesson, a birthday party, and dinner along with cookie decorating at my sister's house.  Yep, yesterday was a full day!

Here are the kids decorating (and trashing my sister's kitchen) last night:

We hadn't been out to my sister's house in a long time and it was really nice to get a break from dinner!  Plus, the cousins had so much fun playing together.  I loved it.

5.  The lice check.  Damn.  #4 was clean.  Nothing on her so everything worked last week.  #3?  Notsomuch.  She had two adult lice which means she got re-infested.  And it's not coming from our house or #4 would have had it.  (Plus, we've done everything we need to do!) It has to be at school!  I'm not sure the school nurse can do anything but I am going to call her first thing tomorrow morning.  This is getting absolutely ridiculous!  

6.  Today.  Today was a good day.  I bought a huge Lego kit and gave it to the girls for their Advent calendar activity.  I am not joking when I say it kept them busy for HOURS.  All three of them!  And they are all so proud of the work they did on it.  Plus, they played together so well with no fighting.  I loved it!

I also managed to sneak in a 9 mile run this morning.  It was gorgeous!

Lastly, we had our cul-de-sac get-together tonight before our neighborhood's annual Hay Ride.  It was so much fun to talk to the neighbors, eat yummy food, drink wine, and watch the kids play.  My heart is full.  It was a good weekend.

Here are the three younger girls with their former summy nanny visiting with Santa in our neighbor's garage while waiting for the hay ride.  Aren't they cute?

Anyway, that's all I've got.  I hope you have a fantastic week!

Six on Sunday

Hello there!  I hope you had a good week.  Our week was fine but we had a most excellent weekend!  Let's get started.

1.  While we did have a fabulous weekend there were a couple blemishes in there as well.  (Of course - that's how we roll.)  Four of us have horrible rashes.  I will say #1's rash is the worst of all.  I think hers is a combination of dry skin and chlorine.  She hasn't been able to swim since Tuesday!

 

Despite running humidifiers in rooms at night, slathering on lotion after baths/showers and every morning, the little girls and I all have rashes, too.  Tonight we resorted using the hydrocortisone cream #1 has been using and topping that with Aquaphor.  If you have any suggestions, I'm willing to listen.  Otherwise, we may resort to running around our house naked.  Kidding!  I think.

2.  I was able to starting tiling today.  WooHoo!  However, I was supposed to begin yesterday.  But I think the universe really, really does not want me to have a finished shower.  What happened, you ask?  Lice.  Stupid f*cking lice.  Again.  See what I mean?  The universe is mad at me right now!

#3 was scratching her neck - way down low beyond her hairline and asked me to check her.  At first, nothing.  But within a minute of me shining my flashlight into her head, I saw it.  A bug.  Then, I checked #4 and what do you know?  Nits.  I immediately made an appointment at Combers KC and everyone but the hubby got checked.  (He was fine - he's easy to check with his super short hair.)  

Luckily, it was contained to the littles.  But it took up a solid two hours of our afternoon yesterday.  2014 is not my year.  2014 can suck it!

3.  OK.  Now that I got the bad stuff out of the way I can move onto the good stuff!

Friday was my birthday and for the most part, it was a great day with one exception.  That morning I attended the funeral of my co-worker's mom.  I really didn't anticipate how hard that would be for me.  I walked in the doors of the church and everything came flooding back about my dad.  That was HARD.  I didn't talk to Nancy because I knew I'd cry and it wasn't about me.  It was about celebrating her mom's life and I didn't want to upset Nancy.  (I know how hard it is to pull yourself together at a funeral.)  So I sat in the pew and counted the light fixtures.  I made up lists in my mind so I wouldn't think about what was happening.  I'm glad I went to show my support but I was also really glad when it was done!

To console myself, I stopped at Michael's on my way home and found 3 awesome Christmas garlands that I will use next year on our bannister.  The best part?  They were 60% off!  And since it was my birthday I went to Mr. Gyros and treated myself to Greek food for lunch.  It was divine!

That night our friends came over for our third annual Christmas crafting night.  We had so much fun!  Christi made the adults Moscow Mules which are delicious.  I need to get myself some copper mugs.  ASAP.  The kids made garlands out of straws and beads and really got into it!  

It was about 10pm when I snapped this picture and #4 was DONE.  As in, she asked Christi to leave so she could go to bed!  I think she was asleep about 5 minutes after this picture was taken.  All in all, another great craft night.  

4.  Saturday started off with a really nice 8 mile run with my friend, Sarah.  After coming home, discovering lice and making an appointment, we went to visit Santa.  (Don't worry - we didn't touch anyone's head and spread the lice.)  The big girls are so awesome because they go along with it and therefore the little girls don't get suspicious.  

In the end, I think the big girls go along with it because we always go to Starbucks afterward for hot chocolate.  I don't care.  I am just so happy we get to do this!  Aren't they cute?

That night our friends had us all over for dinner and Katie was so thoughtful.  She had my favorite kind of beer (Miller Lite) and wine (Cabernet).  Plus, she got me an ice cream cake.  My favorite!

I can tell you it was delicious!!  And it wasn't bad getting spoiled for two nights in a row.  In fact, I will admit I kind of liked it!  That was such a treat for me.

Anyway, after we got home, put the little girls to bed, told the big girls they were in charge, we headed back out to our other friend's holiday party.  We had a blast and stayed out until nearly 2am.  I guess I forgot I had just turned 41 and must've thought I had just celebrated my 21st birthday.  It did not feel like we were there for three hours since the time just flew.  

And you know what?  I woke up without a hangover!  Oh yeah.  I paced myself well!

5.  The shower.  I would be remiss if I didn't talk about it again.  This week I was able to get up all the waterproofing membrane.  That alone is a feat!  So today it was all about the niche and the floor.  Check it out:

I can't wait to have several hours to devote to tiling.  Once I carve out some time I should be able to knock out a TON.  I'm just not sure when that will happen?!

6.  We are doing our Advent calendar again this year.  It's still a huge hit.  Here's what we've done so far:

• Monday, Dec 1st:  Make an Advent wreath for the dinner table (we used greenery we clipped from the neighborhood)
• Tuesday, Dec 2nd:  Buy chapstick and gloves for the elementary school's drive to support their sister school
• Wednesday, Dec 3rd:  They each got a candy bar under their pillow (the little three all had School of Religion from 6:00 to 7:30 which meant we lacked time to do anything)
• Thursday, Dec 4th:  Go out to dinner (this was really for my birthday)
• Friday, Dec 5th:  Craft night
• Saturday, Dec 6th:  Visit Santa and go out for hot chocolate at Starbucks
• Sunday, Dec 7th:  Decorate gingerbread houses  (I had to stop tiling so we could do this activity - it was worth it)

So there you have it.  I hope you have a great week!

P.S.  Thank you everyone for all your birthday wishes.  It was so fun to get all the Facebook messages, phone calls, texts, and emails.  I loved it!