Nutcracker Weekend

If I could describe our weekend in one word, I'd have to say

NUTCRAKER....

 no, wait....

EXHAUSTED....

no, wait....

NON-STOP!!!!!

That's my way of cheating and getting in three words as opposed to one! Because really, our weekend was all these things.

But I have to admit, it was also so much fun! I'm very surprised to be tyiping the word "fun" when speaking about this past weekend. When I orignally signed the girls up for this performance, I have to admit I wasn't thrilled. The girls were, but not the mama!

We had a two+ hour meeting at the beginning of September to discuss all that entails being in The Nutcracker. There was fundraiser after fundraiser, rehearsals every weekend, volunteer hours to fulfill, t-shirts to buy, wigs to buy (that, or I was supposed to learn how to cork-screw curl two girls' hair while mothering my other children), money to donate for cookies, and special leotards to buy. I'm pretty sure I've left something out, but I think it's safe to add the word INVEST to our weekend description.

That would not only be money, but also time. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure we will be doing this again next year. Partly because I feel like we need to get more use out of those wigs and leotards. Partly because I feel like now I've got the logistics, or ins and outs, figured out. AND, mostly because we had so much fun!

I enjoyed getting to spend special time with Brownie and Bug at all those rehearsals. I absolutely LOVED seeing the girls' faces as I greeted them after their performances.

They were beaming with pride! And they should be. They are 4 and 5, and they performed on a big stage in front of several people.

This was by no means a small gathering of parents of the dance students. This is our local theater where I've seen Beck, Johnny Lang, and danced in my own recitals. Big things happen here, and now our family got to be a part of a big production.

The crazy week began last Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 3 and 4) with rehearsals at the dance studio. Then we actually had Monday off. Starting Tuesday we were at the theater before 7pm. We anticipated delays in the first day or two, and we got them. We were at the studio until 8:30 or so. The girls thought it was weird to come home when their sisters were already in bed.

Thursday was super crazy because we didn't have to be at rehearsals until 9pm! I was dreading this day the moment I found out about it. I was anticipating several mishaps with behavior. I totally expected tantrums. But we really didn't have any (we had a big one on Wednesday, though). I think the girls went to bed around 10 that night. Luckily, we were in and out in a matter of moments for that super late rehearsal.

Friday was an early start. We had to be at the theater by 9:15, and we were! There was a flurry of activity in our dressing room. The girls stayed entertained, though.

I got pictures galore as my friend's sister did the girls' hair. I also happened to get a video of their dress rehearsal/benefit performance, but for some reason it won't upload to blogger.

It was a quick debut, but a beautiful debut nonetheless! I think they have more guts than I would have at four or five years of age!

We performed again at 8pm on Friday (Grammy came to this one) and then at 2pm on Saturday (Gram, Aunt Amy, Daddy and sissies, Brownie's teacher and my friend Caroline and her daughter came to this one).

We didn't go to the Saturday night performance, but then the older two girls and I went again on Sunday.

Peach couldn't get enough and Brownie hadn't actually seen the whole production yet. Both girls loved their time at The Nutcracker on Sunday. I thought it was nice to be able to just sit there and enjoy it too (without having to run around and get kids ready)! We went to the autograph/cookie time after the performance. Several of the girls' dance teachers signed their program. They loved this part!

Bug and Brownie-

Thank you for starting what I hope will become a wonderful family tradition for us. You two looked adorable on stage, and I am very impressed with your courage for going up there. You'll always be my little stars. Thank you for helping us create wonderful memories that I'll always treasure! Here's to many more performance in The Nutcracker!

DITL 5

I missed my DITL post for day five. Once you've reviewed this (because I know you were on your toes waiting... HA!), you'll see why it's taken me three days to post. I still can't believe I'm even up at this hour to write this silly thing. But I'm hoping one day, I'll appreciate myself for doing so!

7ishAM- I don't even remember waking up this day because it was so long ago. I do the girls' hair which means I hook their wigs onto their head and I do some make up as well.
8 Breakfast is complete and my nerves are about shot due to late night rehearsals and the craziness I'm anticipating with our three performances--oh, and I give Peach a kiss goodbye. TGIF!
8:30 My mom arrives to stay with the little two while I take the biggen's (that'd be Bug and Brownie) to the theater for their first real performance of The Nutcracker--it's technically our dress rehearsal, but it's a benefit performance as well.
9:12 I'm putting a whole bunch of change in the meter so I can park downtown. Great, the max is two hours--that's about halfway through the performance and about the time my girls go on!
9:20 I feel a sudden urgency to get the girls ready despite the fact we have a ton of time! My friend's sister curls those tedious corkscrew locks on my girls' heads. This is after I've learned ow to properly secure the wig under a ponytail, and THEN you curl the ponytail.
10 The show starts and we wait.
11 The girls are called to the stage. I snap even more photos and head up to watch them dance. I'm so excited to see them shuffle across that stage.
11:20 We're back in the dressing room to get regular clothes back on. Since we don't have to stay, I take the girls home an hour earlier than I thought I'd be.
12PM We ate some kind of food--I think it was a turkey sandwich.
1 I beg them to nap, but they do lay down quietly for a little bit. I'm pretty sure there was no sleeping. I tried to lie down and nap because I was completely exhausted. But between the baby and the big girls taking turns needing something, I didn't catch more than 20mins.
4 Peach comes home in tears. According to her, some friends hurt her feelings and she was upset. This has happened a few times in the last couple of months. My heart breaks for her, but at the same time I realize I don't know the other side of the story. So the other mama, who happens to be a good friend and our daughters are as well, and I discuss the two sides. I talk it over with Peach and things seem to be better. No more tears, though I do offer to bring her to the show tonight. I thought maybe she's been feeling left out and would like to come, but she opts to stay with Daddy, Scrunchie and Boushka to watch Frosty.
4:30 I put dinner on to cook--white chili
5:30 The kids are trying to eat. I get the dancers ready to head out the door soon!
6:15 My mom comes by to give the girls their new Christmas jammies--this coordinated with our AC event for the day!
6:35 Mom, the dancer and I head out to the show. I'm a room mom tonight, so I know it's a long night ahead!
7 Head into the theater to start getting the girls ready by re-curling their hair, redoing their makeup, getting them in costume and waiting it out. The older girls who are in the same scene as my girls bring a sweet little gift for each cherub. They were so nice.
8ish My girls go on stage! Bug waves to Grammy! HA! I got a good laugh outta that! I'm sure it's on video somewhere for me to buy!
10:30 I think this was about the time we left the theater. We were some hungry girls!
11 My mom took us out to Steak and Shake for a late dinner. I guess it had been 6 hours since we'd eaten. And we were working hard (SMILE)!
12AM Some minutes after midnight we finally arrived home. 100% exhausted. I prayed for a nice husband to let me sleep in the next day--well, technically I guess it'd be the SAME day!

For the weekend, I'm just going to post normal posts. I have many pictures to share--they're all mostly from The Nutcracker. So I'll be back soon with those!

DITH Day 4

I'm just going to start by saying GOD I'M TIRED! This week has been so out of the ordinary, which I didn't really think about when I decided to do my DITL posts. So I guess this whole idea about documetning an average day for me as a mother to five littles is kind of inaccurate. But, odd and out of the ordinary weeks happen all the time, so maybe it's okay! Anyway, like I said I'M TIRED!

THURSDAY

6:30AM I remember waking up, but any other details have since been erased from my memory

7:25 I think I finally crawled sleepily form bed (I've had too many late, late nights in a row) to assist children getting ready, ready myself, etc. 

8-8:40 Get me some Peach kisses, make and drink my green smoothie, forget to take my B6 and B12 pills (hmmm, maybe that's why I feel extra run down), realize I have no black tea K cups so I drink and "old" favorite--pumpkin spice, nurse the Scrunch, and get the other four kids out the house. Oh, and I kissed Matt goodbye. He was home some this morning (by himself= me totally jealous) since he had a mornign appt. 

8:53 Kissed the Brownie and Bug goodbye as they left the car for school. Headed to our doc's office 30 miles away for Scrunchie's 9m check up. We listen to Christmas music and occasionally sing along!

9:18-9:45 I'm ridiculously early for our appt. I wonder what I could do to fill the time, but I decide to take the girls (Boushka is with us) in to the waiting room and let them play, hoping that they'll call us back early! I fill out paperwork and enjoy seeing my girls play while we wait.

9:45-10:30 My girl is healthy 18# 4oz, 28 in and her head is 17 3/4 (?). She's developing normally and hitting her milestones. We turned down vaccinations again, but I love that my doctor is supportive and non-combative.

Sometime after 10:30-12PM I call Matt and head home. I got a call from a friend offering a coupon for something from GAP, so I get Peach a hat. Thanks again, Caroline! We grab a quick lunch before I have to jet home and get ready for our next appointment.

12:20-1:30 Scrunch, Boushka and I meet Gram and the preschoolers at home for lunch. They have some grilled chicken and Gram bread. I feed Scrunch some carrots and she squeals with delight. That girl is so loud--I'm worried about these screams down the road. She already sounds older than she is because her scream is so different from a baby's. I wonder what this means for our toddler years together? We settle the girls down after daddy comes home from his appointment. Bug and Gram lie down to rest and Boushka is with me. We read a winter story as she tries to slumber. Brownie also goes to her bed.

1:30 We get Bug out of bed and leave for our appointment to see about Bug's behavior situations. We were asked many questions, as asked many questions, Bug whined a lot and was shy; she kept demanding Daddy's attention as we were trying to talk. This was our first appointment here and we're told it's going to take a while. We don't get done until...

5 Headed for home. As soon as we get to the car, Bug starts in again with a tantrum. We wait it out a few minutes to get her calm enough to discuss consequences. She finally complies with our request to get buckled up, but screams for the next 5 minutes as we drive. Then suddenly, she's asleep. 

5:20-6:30 When we get home she is sent to her room, but of course she doesn't stay there. So I go up to hold her door shut as she screams. Gram tells the girls goodbye since she watched them while Matt and I had Bug at her appointment. Daddy starts dinner without any direction from me--nice change--except I'd rather be racking my brain about dinner instead of listening to screams that honestly hurt my ears. Bug finally calms down enough to have an age-appropriate conversation about what just happened. When I know she's "with us" again, we discuss the fact that she needs to eat dinner and then rest. She agrees. We hug and she eats. 

6:30 I talk with my mom for a bit about our day, but not without 5 interruptions from 2 cute ballerinas. Bug heads to her room to rest before we have to leave for rehearsals. 

7:15 We do Day 7 and 8 of our Advent calendar--we read a holiday story and color pictures for Santa. 7:35 Peach and Boushka head to bed, Brownie and Bug get ready for rehearsals, Scrunchie goes to bed and I go to the store. I spend too much money on fruits and veggies, but I don't feel that guilty since it's healthy food! Don't worry, I threw in a ciabatta loaf, milk and tortillas to round it!

8:17 I make it back in time to finish bunning (yes I just said that, mom) the girls' hair and we head to rehearsals. 

9 The girls go on stage on time tonight--woohoo! The look super cute and I'm super proud of my cherubs! 

9:44 We leave rehearsals a little late because the girls were enthralled with the dancing--and I was talking to my friend who was waiting for her hubby to come pick her up. 

10 We get home with two tired girls who fell asleep in the car. Tuck them in ASAP and I pack all sorts of ballet stuff for tomorrow's benefit performance at 10am and their first "real" performance at 8pm. Yes, snacks are included! But they're not allowed in the arts center. 

10:45 Check email and do other computer activity while I listed to my stomach growl. 

12:13AM Decide a piece of fruit for  a midnight snack won't kill me, so I hop off of here and eat an apple. 

How's that for exciting, folks? Folks? Ohhhhh fooolks??? ..........................................

Oh, it's just the crickets making noise!

Day in the Life Day 3

WEDNESDAY

5:30 Unfortunately, the time I woke up

5:45 I woke up again--oops. I began debating what I may look/smell like without a shower today, because I wanted to be under my warm covers. Matt had to leave by 6:30, so if I had any hope of being clean, I must wake now

6 I'm finally out of bed-- Guess I'm publicly confirming my lack of motivation to have good hygiene. 6:15 Stressing about the short time I have to get ready, so I start praying all children stay asleep until I have to wake them at 7 (by the way, Scrunchie now sleeps through the night--4 nights in a row)! I actually have time to dry and straighten my hair and add make up to this dull and lifeless face (which I plan to get back now that we're getting sleep, but I'm jinxing the situation as you read this, so really I'll probably still look less than well-rested since Scrunchie will start getting up in the night again, now)

7 I wake the oldest two girls. We are slow to rouse, but I don't usually play the house waker-upper, so I'm taking it all in

7:10 Scrunchie starts squealing happily in her bed, and Bouska wanders into the big girls' room and we snuggle for a minute

7:15-7:35 Everyone is mostly dressed and we head downstairs for breakfast

7:40 Apples and pb, turkey sausage, and left over caramelized onion/spinach bread for lunch-breakfast of champions

8-8:10 Finalizing for Peach's departure and seeing her off

8:15 Feed the eating machine that is the Scrunchie baby

8:40 We finally get out the door for preschooler drop off

9 Enter heaven's gate--er, I mean Michaels. Plan to finish up some crafting in time for the holidays

10:18 Head towards my kids' version of heaven's gate--kids' museum

10:30-11:16 Let the museum things entertain my little things

11:30-12:30 Lunch is on me--pizza

1 Rest time (which I insisted upon due to our crazy Nutcracker schedule) in mama's bed. They have been resting better and actually sleeping when I turn on a movie--not a kid show, but an actual movie--so I turned on Polar Express and it all goes down hill from there

1:30-6:30 These five hours are pretty much a blur to me. I know Matt came home during this time, my mom dropped off Peach from an after-school shopping trip, and I sank deeper and deeper into my "my kid is throwing a fit so I'm now unmotivated to do anything that requires me to move or not remain detached" phase. I hate it when I enter this mood, but it happens every time Bug throws one of her long, drawn out, hysterical, screeching fits. I feel helpless--like ten times that feeling where you have so much stuff to do that you just don't do anything. It sucks. And I hate that I go there, but I do. And since I'm doing this Day in the Life posting stuff, I'm trying to be real. That's how messed up parenthood is--even the bad stuff you don't want to forget.

6:33 Brownie and I area out the door to rehearsals. Bug's consequences for not resting and throwing a fit instead was no rehearsal. Which when I broke the news, I thought that meant she was out of the show all together. But I since discovered she's still in--that is, if her behavior allows her to be.

7-8:15 We wait for our turn to rehearse, then Brownie does her part. I remembered my camera this time, so I'm snapping pictures and I recorded a short video

8:30 ish We get home and Brownie is eating again. Ballet makes them hungry! Me too, of course. Or was it the moping I did earlier in the day?

8:40 Matt and I discuss something awesome he discovered that may help our daughter with her fits. I'll share more on this later

9:15 I use a gift card to go get Matt and me some Chipotle!

9:27-11:47 Eating Chipotle, talking with my husband, thinking about skipping this post and going to bed, watching The Middle and Modern Family, and finishing off the night with a little Christmas Vacation. Because, deep down, I'm totally the female Clark Griswold. 

Good night!

"Eat my rubber!"

~Clark Griswold

Day in the Life--Day 2

TUESDAY

7:15AM make fruit salad, bacon in blankets, green smoothies and one egg for littles' breakfast
7:46 Get myself ready for the day
8:35 dsress and nurse sweet Scrunchie and tell preschoolers goodbye
9 head (late) for mops-I'm bringing food, two kids, and three bags= hands full!
11:15 grab the kids and head for a friends house to drop off some goodies
11:55-12:45PM We are making lunch--just the little two and me today (Boushka wants more Green Pasta and we enjoy a bite of some yummy chocolate bread). Little baby eats more pasta--oops just realized I left out her bananas. Do apple puffs count for some fruit? HA!
12:45 Scrunchie is acting crazy and wants to roll around on the floor, so I let her while Boushka and I cuddle on the couch.
1:30 Scruchie goes down for her nap after some rocking by mama
1:33 Boushka and I are now cuddling in mama's bed (I'm also writing in Peach's journal--I haven't written in over three months)
2 My preschoolers are home from lunch and playtime with Gram. We talk about new purses, lunch and the importance of napping due to our Nutcracker rehearsals. They require a tuck in via Gram which is good because I have a Scrunchie baby wake up and need some extra snuggles and rocking.
2:30 Everyone is finally asleep, so I straighten up the kitchen and living room, and then I finish organizing my craft area before coming up stairs to meet my co-organizer for Peach's Xmas bash at school!
3 My co-organizer arrives and we spend the next hour discussing craft and game ideas for a bunch of cool kindergartners.
4 Our meeting comes to an end and Peach gets home. We try to do a better job at watching Arthur today (SMILE)
4:30 I start our dinner. I make another pinterest recipe (no, I'm totally not obsessed) or two--broccoli and cheese soup and caramelized onion and spinach bread. Both were quite delish!
5ish-6ish Daddy comes home to save the day while I finish cooking. He gets the two bigger middles ready for ballet rehearsals while carrying around a Scrunchie baby while also gathering the whites to start a load of laundry! The girls partially decorate one of our fake trees and drink their favorite holiday drink (Advent Calendar Activity)! We realize there's a missing ballet bag that has 3 of our 4 pairs of ballet shoes--we only needed two pairs tonight!
6 The kids eat in shifts because they're helping dad look for the bag. I manage to take several bites of the soup and a bite of bread after serving the food to the family.
6:15 We realize the bag is probably not with us anymore (I'm hoping it's at the studio) and I rush them out the door to Target so I can buy more dance shoes on our way to rehearsals
6:22 pull into Target and get shoes
6:26 back on the road to rehearsals
6:40 We walk in and hear that the show is running 30-45 minutes behind. We're supposed to start at 7--late night in our future :(
7:53 After entertaining the girls with bathroom breaks, Netflix on my iPhone and games as well, they are called to the stage. I loved watching them perform (SMILE PROUD MOM SMILE)
8:26 We are back in the van on our way home. I was happy we were dismissed after our little part was over.
8:45 We are home and I immediately go cuddle Boushka who is already in bed. We talk about Mickey Mouse (DUH), giraffes, Christmas, how much we love each other, kisses, and I tell her a story with our address and phone numbers in it. Then it's Scrunchie's turn--I try to rock her, but I can tell she's uncomfortable after a couple minutes. So I lay her down in her crib and tel her goodnight. She rolls over, looks up at me with a sweet smile and waves bye-bye. Then she rolled back over. I said, "did you wave bye-bye to mama?" And she rolled back over and did it again. This happened about six times in a row. Oh, I was practically in tears. It was one of those moments where you see the fruits of your labor come into being. It was precious and I'll always remember that feeling. I give her one final goodnight and then grab my favorite six-year-old. We have some much deserved and much needed cuddle time--but Dad cuts it short. We talk about the 10 kids (5 girls and 5 boys) she plans on having. She says she wants to be a mommy, singer and doctor. I guess she'll be able to afford those kids with all her doctor and singer money.
9:15 I tuck in Bug, who's being silly, and give one more kiss to Boushka. Then I tuck in Peach and Brownie. Peach seems to have a little extra sugar in her system tonight--but passes out easily.
9:45 I grab the darks and start a load of laundry, finish my dinner and sit down to blog.
10:22 Matt and I turn on our DVR'd Two and a Half Men and I decide to sign off they blog--knowing full well that I'll be doing more laundry, showering, and probably watching the Teen Mom 2 season (?) kick off once I hit the hay. And then I'll be out until I absolutely HAVE to get up!

My Monday

MONDAY

I've wanted to do this post for quite some time, but I never have. I decided to post what my day-to-day happenings are because this is a precious time in my life and I never want to forget it! I wish I had done this every six months or so since becoming a mother, just so I could see how life has changed by leaps and bounds. I can only imagine what my posts six years ago would have looked like...

......SIGH......

Anyway, here's my Monday! Try not to bore yourself if you bother reading this. Really, this is just a post I'll want to look back on years down the road!

 

AM

6:30 Baby Scrunchie wakes me up 

6:45 I'm still rubbing sleep from my eyes in between my conscious and sleepy states

7 I roll out of bed and grab the one kid who didn't bathe the night before and we quickly get in and out

7:30 I promise to braid Brownie's hair while she eats breakfast--then I proceed to dress, put on deoderant and a little root lifter

7:45 I'm kissing Peach and asking if she's ready for the bus-- I learn she hasn't even eaten yet, but her lunch is made. Phew (sigh)!

8 I make my black tea (can't live without it) in the Keurig and double check all bookbags leaving the house

8:09 Peach is out the door (I'm glad Matt's home to do the bus thing this morning...brrrr!!!)

8:20 I braid Brownie's hair, tell Bug to put on socks, and laugh at a squealing baby

8:30 Daddy and Brownie are off to the rat race

8:45 I sit down with my tea, my baby, my toddler & preschooler and we play (in between playing I tear out recipes from old magazines to add to my binder collection)

9-10 I realize we won't be making play group so I turn on Sesame Street and watch it with the girls while continuing to pull out recipes and nursing a baby

10-11 we color, eat a snack (frozen fruit and a couple pieces of bacon), I make my breakfast egg sandwich

11-12:30PM I organize my terribly messy craft area while the girls all play in the toy room

12:30-1:30 color some more while I make lunch. Girls get bored so I let them finish watching Curious George while I complete making spinach and cheese ravioli with pesto, slicing oranges and making the enchiladas for dinner. Then we eat. Scrunchie eats lots of chicken and one piece of ravioli

1:30-1:45 I nurse and rock Scrunchie and put her down for a nap

1:45-3:30 Girls rest on fold out couch (special treat for being good) while I address 50 Christmas cards, clean up the kitchen, answer fb and email messages and texts, and do a little recipe research

3:35 Boushka is the only one awake so we play downstairs in the toy room just the two of us (per her request) I read a Mickey book until...

3:50 Scrunchie wakes up. I see an opportunity to vacuum upstairs while I hold her in my arms post-nap-- I only finish half the job before it's time to get shoes on and...

4 Watch for Peach's bus

4:08 I sit with Peach and Scrunchie trying to ask Peach about her day--we get interrupted by a hungry baby

4:09 make a bottle and feed Scrunchie

4:10-4:30 I hang out with Peach, Scrunch, and Boushka as a sleepy Bug tries to wake up

4:30- Grammy brings Brownie home and we all get ready to go see Santa's helper (as per our Advent Calendar)

5:30 We finally leave to go see Santa's helper and get pictures made

6:20 We arrive home and I start dinner, the older two unload the dishes, Matt feeds Scrunchie, and I honestly have no clue what Boushka and Bug did

6:25-7:15 I finish our enchiladas by making the sauce and baking them & cooking Chipotle's cilantro lime rice, start a tripple chocolate bread recipe for MOPS brunch tomorrow and clean up the kitchen as I go

7:30 We sit down to watch Polar Express as a family while we enjoy our dinner picnic style. I also cuddle Boushka and Bug per their requests. Happy to oblige. I tell the girls that we are going upstairs at 8:15.

8:15 Peach does her homework. Four littlest go upstairs to brush teeth and get pj's on. Daddy rocks Scrunchie and I brush Boushka's teeth. Then we switch because Scrunchie HAS to have MOMMY rock her to sleep. I love this! Daddy checks Peach's homework

8:55 They're all tucked in and kissed and loved on. 

9:04 Daddy is doing his grading work while I finish some Christmas card addressing, pack 6 bags for tomorrow, check texts and messages, finish cleaning the kitchen, take laundry upstairs (but don't fold it-- HA!), Pinterest (can we use this a verb--it's so new, I don't know), and kill several hours looking at recipes, crafts, photography ideas, and baby shower ideas (in case I ever get to throw one of these things)! I do research for a meeting I have with another room mom tomorrow by looking up Christmas party ideas for school kids. Lots of ideas!! By the time I compile a list I realize it's...

12AM and so I decide to blog! HA! See that black tea does last me all day!!!

12:45 signing off, America!

Week in Review

Well, let's start this post off right--with food of course. We, I mean I, have been finding must-have recipes on pinterest and trying them. Just thought I'd introduce you to this week's choices:

 Autumn salad from espressoandcream.com (not my picture, actually none of the food pictures here are mine).  I liked it and followed it to a T, except I halved it for my family. We enjoyed it with that yummy potato soup I've already posted about.

 Matt made this lemon and garlic pasta from imonthings.com one night earlier this week while I was out shuffling kids places. He did a great job with it. I thought it was real lemon-y at first, but my second helping (shhhh!!) was a lot less lemon-y. And leftovers were good too.

 I started this crock-pot Sesame Chicken from kendallandkeith.blogspot.com before ballet on Monday, and Matt finished the sauce for it. We paired it with some steamed broccoli and rice. Matt left off the green onion and sesame seeds, though I would have put them on there for sure. He's not an onion fan, but I think that would've taken this dish from ok to yum!

One night I decided I was tired of leftovers, but I wasn't about to forget them either. So we ate leftovers and these tastey little boogers--chicken taquitos from mommyimhungry.blogspot.com. Yes, they were good--and we made the creamy avocado dip to boot (this is included with the recipe).

Okay, now that the important stuff is done, you can either choose to continue reading or decide you've had enough. The rest of this post is just cute pictures and what we did!

I posted to the blog this week, but as usual, I posted about the previous week. I left off with Scrunchie turing 9 months on Monday. So here's an abreviated version of the rest of our week!

TUESDAY:

We saw Santa (the real one, I swear!!!) at a special MOPS activity on Tuesday.

 The two-yr old wasn't so sure of the jolly man with a beard. Can you tell by the look on her face?

 She wouldn't go on his lap forever, but with a promise of getting to tell him what she wants (a Mickey guitar, or as she says it so cutely "a Mit-ee De-tah") for Christmas, she hesitantly approached his lap. And then sat of course, and quietly said what she wished for for Christmas this year. 

 Oh, this one? She was good!

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WEDNESDAY:

 When we got home from preschool and playgroup on Wednesday, we ate lunch and then we hit the trails. There's a little park near by that has a nice little sidewalk trail. I told the girls we'd go for a nature walk if they ate well and behaved! 

 Bug found a pine cone right off the bat. Proud indeed!

 And we can't be outdone by little sis! So here's Brownie's pine cone.

 Trees with berries. I didn't touch the things. We had these bushes in our yard when I was a kid, and every time one of our balls or some other toy wound up in there I'd have to fetch it. And I'd always come out in hive rashes all over my body where I'd touched the dang bush. Ick!

 She's just posing!

 This one is giving me her goofy smile. Man, this girl can rock a cheese smile! Boushka seemed to have fun exploring the woods by our house!

 What I call, itchy berries! Thankfully, none of my kids had any reaction to them. 

 Yep, more berries! You'll see that it became a thing--for lack of a better word-- for us to find these!

 This one just rode along and stuck out her tongue--quite frequently, I might add! What can I say? She's good at it!

Bouska was excited to find these... what are they called? I don't know, but she was happy.

 And these two were thrilled to find that nature put a heart on a tree... yes, I let them think that. It's okay, they won't go to college thinking hearts on trees are part of the norm! But it will drive their imagination wild at this age. So the white lie wins!

 See, more berries! I had to break the news that they were not edible! HA!

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THURSDAY

 

 We ventured off to Festival of Trees. The girls loved this tree. Can  you guess why?

 This one didn't get the memo that dream catchers are not necessarily worn as jewelry. But who cares? I thought her fashion statement was awesome! By the way, YES, she asked for me to put this on her as you see it pictured here!  She won it by throwing a super tiny ring on to a peg that was on a spinning Christmas tree. WOWZA, this kid is lucky!

 Brownie also brought home a cute Advent Calendar from preschool. You pop the bubble (on the bubble wrap backing) each day. How cute is that?

 Thursday night was craft night for some MOPS mamas and myself. I went to PTO first and then grabbed a coffee bev and conversation with my friend, Heather. And then we crafted the night away--literally! It was after midnight when we shut down.

Thursday was also our first day with our home Advent Calendar. We had an easy activity since it was almost impossible for us all to be in the house together more than 6 minutes. So we shared our favorite Christmas memory.

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FRIDAY:

I went to bed early Friday morning feeling rather icky. I had a horrible head and stomach ache and was convinced I was the first victim of our annual December stomach bug. I spent all morning in bed (thanks to Matt for staying home) and felt a little better around noon. Matt made me some chicken noodle soup for lunch and I was able to perk back up rather quickly. THANK GOD!

 Brownie and I went to a birthday party for a sweet friend on Friday night, while Peach went to a drop and shop at her school.  (SIDE NOTE)To give you an idea, here's how much Peach has grown in the last few years: In her first year at preschool, my girl was totally shy. She wouldn't even sing the songs at song time. Now, she's begging to go to her school's drop and shop and when I ask Well, do you know anybody who will be there? Her reply was I don't know, mom! But I know I'll make friends! Plllleeeeaaaasssseee can I go?! PLEASE!!!! Yeah, I couldn't say no to that little confidence booster (SMILE!!)

 But we all finally gathered 'round our Christmas tree and completed Day 2 on the AC: Enjoy your slumber around the lights of the Christmas Tree. I was on pinterest, but everybody else slumbered.

Well, Daddy and Mommy eventually went to bed in our real bed. No floor sleeping for me, thanks! But we watched them pass out while watching their holiday favorite The Grinch. Fun memories!

When I come back to give a review of this next week , I'm going to have a lot of stories about Nutcracker rehearsals. We've been rehearsing since October every weekend, but now we'll be doing so everyday! There are some late nights in our future (like, leaving the house when everybody is already in bed) this week, so cross your fingers there are no major tantrums from my tiny dancers. Thanks!