1.08.2014

Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Giving...

Happy New Year!!! Merry Christmas!!! Hope everyone had a great holiday season. I know it has been a while... the holidays are really just psycho. We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. Christmas morning actually brought tears to my eyes... the girls were just good and happy. I was shocked. I had them buy each other a gift they picked out themselves and they all were SO excited to give their hand-selected presents. Summer was beside herself to give Matt what she picked out for him... shark socks. 


She was beside herself giggling. So the giving during our little family's Christmas morning was phenomenal... but whenever we were around extended family, all Olivia wanted was "More! More!" of everything. Overstimulation at its best. And of course Matt spoiled me ridiculously. I mean to the point that I was like okay, come on, now I feel like a total idiot with everything I got you. I am a lucky girl. 

Now for the last week I have had sick kids so I haven't been able to write any new posts. Too busy holding feverish/snotty/vomiting kids and getting essentially no sleep. Here is a story that happened the last week of school before Christmas break that I never got a chance to finish up and post:   

So it is Layla's last day of school before winter break, which is also the day of her class Christmas party. It is also my day to drive for carpool, so I get up extra early to shower before the girls get up. I see Olivia is already awake with her light turned on but refuse to get her so early. I throw on a pair of black skinny jeans, a sweater and boots. I realize that in the four seconds I have had them on, my jeans look like they have a nice dog fur coating on them... but vow to find the lint roller before I leave the house. Matt had to leave early for work so I had to get all the kids ready to take Summer to the bus stop. Slowness, spilled cereal, making lunches, random dog poop, etc occurred. I was putting Summer's lunch in her backpack when I see a note in her folder dated 12/17 (the day before) regarding a book for her reading program at school: 

    
 Dear Parent, 
           Your child Summer, has not returned Read to Me, Talk with me materials to school. The book titled Swimming was signed out on 12/13. Please return this book so other children may enjoy it. If the book has been lost, please make arrangements to pay the replacement cost so our book collections can be complete. The book needs to be returned or replaced in order for your child to continue to participate in the program. Thank you! 


Seriously? I don't even remember even SEEING this book in her bag. I am frantically running around yelling at her to find this book (I may overreact when it comes to doing something wrong school-related. I should work on that.) Then I realize the date... 12/17. She just checked it out 12/13. They have a week to complete these activities. WHY are they yelling at me when she only had it four days??? Grrrrr, now I am just irritated. I find the book exactly where her Read to me Talk with Me stuff is, and I am seething that this mistake has caused me undue stress and now we are running super late. I throw the other two kids into the car in pajamas and we get down to the bus stop on time. Race back up to the house, get the other two ready, throw them back in the car, remember the OJ I am supposed to bring to Layla's Christmas party (woohoo!), and am on my way to pick up the other kids we carpool with. I get slightly embarrassed as I look down at my jeans with the dog hair coating (definitely forgot the lint roller) when I arrive at school to see other parents carrying things that look like teacher gifts. CRAPPPPPPPPP! Someone in the class usually organizes and collects money for this kind of thing but no one did this year. And I have to be back at the school within 45 minutes for Layla's party. Okay, think fast. Everyone likes coffee. Especially if you have to deal with preschoolers all day. I will run to Starbucks and just be boring. I order myself a venti while I am there and see two Kelly Clarkson Christmas cd's at the checkout. Perfect. Grab those, run home, leave Livi in the car watching a movie, get ribbon, tape, scissors, a gift tag and pen and run out to the car. Throw together two of these: 


Boom. I make it to her school at 10:12 (party starts at 10:15). Success!!! They sang three songs, we ate, and then decorated gingerbread houses. 




Thank God they had an extra one for Olivia to decorate because she was borderline frantic when the other kids started. And I've never seen Liv focus so hard on anything in her life. I mean, it is food-related. I shouldn't be surprised. Then, of course, came the meltdown when I told her she couldn't eat all of the candy. And then came the one when the candy had to be put away. And then came the one when we had to go. And then Layla didn't want me to leave. Awkwardly sweating because I was trying to contain Olivia from ravaging the candy table and just not in the mood to deal with a sobbing Layla, I took them both home with me. The problem was, I had to somehow get them both to the car (I parked in the upper parking lot which has about a bagillion stairs you have to go up. I precariously am holding the two gingerbread houses on shockingly flimsy plates, along with all of Layla's crafts and whatnot I was supposed to bring home, while sternly directing my two and three year old through the parking lot and up the bagillion stairs without a) getting hit by a car, and b) falling down said bagillion stairs. It was not awesome. Then while I was driving home I realized that I needed to pick up for carpool so now I will have to get both kids packed up anyways. Ughhhhhh. And then I forgot Layla's lunchbox. Ughhhhhhhhhhh. It is not even noon and I am ready for a glass of wine. My sister was awesome and picked up for me so I didn't have to get everyone out of the house again. When I told her "No, it is my day for carpool, it's not your problem," her amazeballs response was, "You are my sister. If it is your problem, it is my problem." Family is phenomenal. 

So hopefully you had a disease-free winterbreak. Mine just keeps continuing between the sicknesses everyone is passing around. I am praying this is the final go-around. 

Happy Wednesday!!! 

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