this season

The upcoming holiday season means a lot to most people.  Here is a list of priorities for our family
1) First and foremost, this season is celebrating the birth of Jesus and how we want to keep him as a focal point in our lives.
2) Not having selfish kids-- I think this is going to prove quite a challenge.  A. is already making Christmas lists. This in itself is not an issue because I also make lists and one of my favorite things is to make lists of what I want to get for other people.  The problem is that after she wrote/drew 4 things on a piece of paper (doll, locket, ice skates, doll house) she asked for my computer to look for more things because she "didn't have much stuff."  What?  I tried to go the route of making a list of what she might want to get for other people.  She said, "they all have enough stuff".  I just got annoyed and said, "honey, so do you."  So, I'm not sure what to do about this.  I know that 4 year olds are naturally selfish but couldn't my kid be kind, and compassionate instead?  This is going to be quite a challenge...
3) decorating- When we moved from my favorite place to live, Richmond, up to this place we now call home, we had a brief stint in an apartment with lawn chairs as furniture.  Said apartment did not have a working oven and my husband refused to complain and get money off of our almost $2,000 rent.  This happened to be Christmas of 2006.  That meant that we did not decorate at all.  The whole season felt soooo different.  Since that time, we have had "Christmas house."  We have 3 Christmas trees, stockings by the fire, 3 nativity scenes, garland, and wreaths galore (I was going to post a picture but apparently this blog has exceeded it's picture limit... I'll mess with that later).  This year, we are in a time of transition again.  We are closing on our new house on Dec 27.  That means the room that usually holds the stockings and trees is holding boxes.  The garland and wreaths that usually make me so happy make me cringe because it is yet another box to pack on Dec 26.  Me, the lead Christmas elf, wants to tone EVERYTHING down and my family, mainly my husband, is fighting this idea.

I guess having a calm quiet Christmas with grateful children who love Jesus may be a romantic idea in my mind when we are packing up, moving, working, and carrying on all of our traditions. On second thought, look at everything I have to be thankful for:  so many people who love my kids and want to buy them gifts, a new house, a job that I sometimes love, and a whole house to pack.  Happy Thanksgiving!!!

an addition to the family

Yesterday, after church and lunch, 5 minutes before nap/quiet time, I showed A. this little creature on the ground.

 Little did I know that this would evolve into an all day project and a new love for my little mama.  She immediately started asking if she could keep it and said she had the perfect home.  Her idea for the perfect home was the pewter cross that her Godmother gave her for her baptism.  uuummmm, not so much.  Luckily, K.'s babysitter had this little gem of a habitat just sitting in her garage waiting for someone to call it home.

Daddy may have been trying to get the back yard ready for possible renters to come look but, instead he helped A. get dirt and water and leaves, and parsley all ready for the home of our new little pet.  

Just in case you want to get to know her better, here are some facts about our little pet:

1) Her name is Jewel because she really liked crawling around A.'s fake ring that she was wearing.  Now she has jewels in her habitat.

2) She has several tricks.  She can make a C, J, G, and even form a bridge out of her body

3) She loves A. (according to A.)

4) She loves parsley and sticks (again, according to A.)

Since Jewel found her new home, she has been on a walk, has her own place at the dinner table, and has entertained A. for hours on end.  

this morning, before A. came into my room, she went down to check on Jewel.  When I went down to get breakfast, A. had already set up their trays so that they could sit next to each other.   

momma and her baby

K. checking her out.  He's not allowed to touch her though.  A says, "He might squish her all up."  Its a legitimate fear.  

probably too much information

K. may hate me later for blogging about this, but it was a CRAZY morning that just means that I need to share.

 Yesterday, our morning started just as any other Friday.

5:45 am- I woke up and contemplated going down to work out.  However, since it was Friday, I knew that the trash truck would be there in 15 minutes thus making sure everyone in the Collins house was awake.  I was correct.
6:05- A. came into our room saying, "Hi, Mommy." and K. from his bedroom going, "Ma. Ma"  So we started the day.

6:10- I go in and change K.'s diaper.  I see a strange red lump on his testicle.  He is saying "oweee" everytime that I get near it. I immediately call B. since I figure he is more of an expert on testicles than I am.  He agrees, says its probably nothing and tells me to call the nurses line.

6:15 am - The lovely nurse asks if I've called before and then looks up my name and sees the names of both of my children.  Then proceeds to ask me how A.'s head is after she fell off her bed... 2 YEARS ago.  OK, so I have called a lot... We talk for a few minutes and then says that we should have that checked out right away.  She asks me questions about it making me torture my poor son who at this point is willing to fall off of the changing table just to get away from me.  I think the nurse is sparing me from the possibilities of what it could be.  She says calmly that we should call our doctor and if not we should go to the ER.  OK.... I wasn't expecting that.  I call B. back and he wasn't expecting that either.  We agree to wait until our Dr. office is open and go there first.

The next hour goes typically.  I get the kids breakfast and go get my shower.  we are all moving a little slower since I know there is no way that I'm going to make it to my 9:00 patient.

About 7:45- I come down stairs after getting ready and gathering the kids clothes and see this...

My little girl has decided that she is a surgeon and cut a slit in the 1 remaining pumpkin with a combination of a butter and a grapefruit knife.  She's scooping out the goo and saying, "You'll feel better soon."  I again, wish that I could be a stay at home mom and let her continue this.  I envision a doctor's kit and setting up chairs for a waiting room.  Instead, I remove the knives and giver her a bigger bowl along with a 10 minute warning before we need to get dressed.  

Meanwhile, I call the doctor as soon as it opens.  They agree that he needs to be seen and are squeezing us in at 8:30.  That's right, 30 minutes from that exact moment when I told A. she could play for 10 more then get dressed and go to school, which just so happens to be 15 minutes away.  

CRAP

We kick it into high gear.  The pumpkin and bowl go outside and wait for later in the day.  A. gets herself dressed and I go to change K.'s diaper and clothes.  Imagine that, the lump is gone.  Great... I'm going to rush over there and the doctor will think I'm insane... I decide to go anyway since a testicle lump is apparently a big deal.  

8:05- We finally get out the door to drive 15 minutes out of the way to drop A. off at school before coming back across the street to make our appointment.

8:17- we pull up at school (yes i was speeding).  A. decides this is the day that she will be sad when I leave her and asks for hug after hug after hug.  

8:18- my heart rips out of my chest as I leave her telling her I don't have time for more hugs...

8:20- I'm driving so fast to the doctor that K. is saying "WWWEEEEEEEE" in the back seat.

8:33- we pull into the parking lot and I run up the stairs with him only to realize that I forgot the HSA card.  They decide to bill us and we finally sit down to inevitably wait.

8:48- they call us back and K. looks like such a big boy walking up to get weighed.  He doesn't know what is about to come.  

8:51- The doctor examines him and then gives me a brief developmental history of testicles. Apparently, K.'s testicle appendecis was tworked and needed untworking.  This appendecis is not useful and doesn't really matter.  However, if it had been the entire testicle, he would have lost it.  The doctor did assure me that if one is lost, the other enlarges to take over.  uummmm... thanks for the comfort... maybe.  The untworking is surprisingly easy and not painful 

Anyway, we rushed and rushed and this little guy is thankfully just as sweet and innocent without a giant testicle.   

mommy's rule about messes

On Sunday, A. went to Sunday School.  Before I start with the story, let me just say that I was super impressed that with only a few questions from her teacher, she can recount the story of Moses. Anyway,  Sunday was their last week with Moses and they were talking about the 10 commandments.  They started with how the commandments were God's rules for people.  Each kid had to say a rule that they follow.  A's rule was, "messes are ok, but you have to clean them up."  Though I don't think that this rule is nearly as important as though shalt not kill, I'm pretty excited that it was her number 1 rule.

I know this rule came to her mind because I must say it 100 times a day.  And, I also allow my kids to make more than the average messes.  Here is a prime example...

We left town a while ago and my parents had both kids for the weekend.  i game my mom a recipe of clear glue and liquid starch to make this gooey mess. I guess it wasn't a huge success, according to my mom, but the picture were pretty cute (no, I don't have any of them).   I saved this gooey mess in a tupperware to see if it could again be fun on another day.  We used it one other time with cookie cutters for about 15 minutes and then again put it away.  Still not a super success like I was expecting.  Well, during frankenstorm, K. needed a little something to keep him entertained for a bit.

He pulled this apart and rolled it and stamped it for a good 20 minutes.  This is good for his little attention span.  It was going so well that I started to get a little lax.  K. looked at B. for a second and stretched the mess over his eyes and said "glasses" well it sounded more like "gase" but I digress.  I then left his immediate side to go get a tissue and this is what I came back to...

 I tried to pull it out for a few minutes as he was screaming before realizing that it was no use.  There goes his forever unruly yet so adorable hair.

 good thing Daddy was home to perform the cut, I don't know if I could have brought myself to cut it...

look how calm and pathetic he looks

note the remnants of the goo on his hands.  sooo sad

A.'s response to her brother's new hair cut

He kept saying, "hair" and trying to touch it all day.  When he saw himself in the mirror he was pretty confused.  He just pointed at himself, then his hair, then himself, all will a very sad face.

The crazy thing, I put the goo back in it's box for use on another day. ... After all, messes are ok as long as you clean them up.