Be Jolly

this year, i said no to shelling out $200 for the picture taking, designing, purchasing, addressing, and mailing of christmas cards for 150 of our closest friends and family.  however...it doesn't mean that i didn't want to photographically chronicle our family at this time of year, as usual.  so...if i were to send christmas cards...this would be it.  after...what could have been considered a

"minor" tantrum (and i like to refer to it as "asserting myself") at the picture people...we got this candid shot.  dare i say...it was worth it?

Love and Warm Holiday Wishes to you and Yours. 

*

Be Jolly.

~mr. and mrs. c. and the sugar plums

THE HAPPY

this weekend, chad and i got to cash in on our valentine's day present from my parents...which was money to go out and babysitting all 4 of the loves. let's not even discuss how long it has been since we have been able to go out.  friday night...we went to the galleria to shop and then to dinner at the cheesecake factory.  my favorite part was the shopping.  chad's favorite part was the dinner.  i can honestly say that i experienced a happiness that i have not felt in a while that night.  you know...the kind where you can't contain your happy and you start jumping up and down...embarrassing the person you are with and you don't even care who is watching?   well...that is the kind of happy i felt friday night in the middle of the toys r us inside the galleria. 

i was already in a good mood...due to a little stroll through TIFFANY'S.  i got to try on a necklace that i have been salivating over for several years now.  then...a guy held up two very sparkly and very expensive diamond rings in front of my face and asked me which was my favorite.  i tried them both on my finger while chad watched...and i didn't mind at all that it could be considered "inappropriate" to let another man buy me such an extravagant gift right there in front of my husband!  *ha*  even if this very tasteful and drool-worthy bling was intended for someone else's finger...my finger was happy with the treasure for a moment. 

this leads me to the "find".  chase only has one wish for christmas.  he wants indiana jones legos.  only...the problem is, they are totally discontinued.  which means...you can not find them anywhere.  we have looked all over houston and even online.  you can find some sets on e-bay and sites like that, but the prices are so jacked up...it's not even feasible.  so...on friday, i tried to break it to chase that his one wish...the only thing he is asking santa for...will probably not be an option.  this gentle warning was met with big, crocodile tears that made me want to go track down an elf myself and teach them how to make indiana jones legos.  at that...colton piped in with the fact that chase shouldn't worry because santa was sure to be able to find them.  (he's trying to be so crafty to not blow the whole "santa" thing that he lost his head there for a second.)  so, the conversation ended with chase feeling quite sure that colton was right...and that santa could find them.  well...while at the galleria, we checked the lego store, just in case.  nothing.  they said that they are not available anywhere.  and i don't know if you've ever been to the lego store...but those people know their business.  so, we decided to come up with something else for chase and eyed a small toys r us that moved into the mall.  we split up and began strolling the isles looking for something for aj.  about 3/4 the way down the isle, i glanced down to the bottom shelf to my left and i could not believe what i was seeing.  it was a huge box of indiana jones legos.  i started jumping up and down, screaming and scooped it up faster than i could throw whatever else i was holding in my hands down.  there was another smaller box of indiana jones legos behind it and i grabbed it too.  the people at the check out didn't even know where they had come from.  i'm positive they were placed there specifically for chase. 

this kid is getting his legos!

so, i may or may not have "over-reacted".  i'm not really sure.  i think chad was super excited too...when i tracked him down.  he was searching for the screaming, i think...due to having a sneaking suspicion that it could possibly be me.  i ran up to him and showed him the legos and he just kind of stared at them and said, "are you kidding me?"  he was more calm than i was...but i'm sure just as excited.  i mean...he didn't jump up and down or anything.  but...let's face it...i have a flare for the dramatic tendencies.

so...that's the happy.  i think i'll remember that forever. 

we ate lunch at my parent's house the next day.  we had hamburgers and fries with chocolate malts from a burger joint up the road.  (sometimes i just MUST speak as if i live in a cute, quaint, little town instead of the ginormous city that it actually is.)  i had a black bean burger substitute, as usual...and got made fun of by other family members...(who shall remain nameless)...as usual.  but the best part was when chase handed me all the picked off sesame seeds off of his bun.  i thought he just didn't want to eat them...but then he asked if we could plant them.  i said, "sure.  we can plant them."  then he said, "great!  i'm going to plant them and grow hamburgers!!" 

i guess that's the happy too.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH...

...THEN I COULD WISH A MERRY CHRISTMAS.

is there anything better than a toothless grin?

maybe a toothless grin at christmastime.

a bonafide intellectual

when you get a letter home in your child's backpack addressed "to the parents of..."

the immediate thought (for me, anyway) is, "uh oh.  what did you do?"

however this letter from the school that was address to "the parents of aiden clarkson" had a nice, little, unexpected surprise inside.  (not that we don't all think our kids are all little geniuses)

"your child has been referred for possible placement in the clear creek independent school district's gifted program."

gifted program???  is this where she will learn how to wrap presents?  or possibly learn the art of gift giving?

wink wink

  sure...i'll fill out your forms and permission slips!!

in my best southern drawl:  hay dar pa...looksy likes we have ourselves a bonafide inti-lectul!!

we are proud of you aiden annee-grace.  and all of the "giftedness" that God has blessed all four of you special, special lovies with in different and unique ways.  may you all feel celebrated for your individual uniqueness.

welcome to my own little world

i'd be fine if my day started around noon.  let's be honest.  i'm worthless before noon.  after getting the kids off to school, i pour myself a cup of coffee, feed aj breakfast, and then settle in on either the couch or the lazy boy in the living room and get out aj's toy bucket to keep her occupied.  i usually catch up on e-mail, watch tv, drink my 2nd cup of coffee, play with aj, read a book or my bible, and often call a friend to chat.  today was no different.  except for a lovely little treat called a nap.  puddie went down for her morning nap at 10, and i shortly followed.  i knew i was tired from our travels...but i didn't know how tired.  i woke up when she did at noon.  i was out cold.  after stumbling up the stairs to get her, we ate some lunch and officially started our day.  

i emptied the hutch in the living room in order to move it to the entry way to make room for our christmas tree.  then proceeded to move the hutch.  now, the minute i started this endeavour, i knew that it was too heavy for me to move alone.  i think aj knew it too, because she was standing at her toy bucket...peering over the couch watching me like a hawk.  every time i would take a break in the pulling and pushing to look at her, she would make this "if you let that hutch fall off the base of that thing and shatter all the glass in the doors you'll be sorry" look.  at the half way point, i thought about quitting, but then thought...i must finish to prove to myself that i am strong and am not one of those "i need a guy to do this for me" sort of girls.  and to prove to aj that i could do it.  i just know she thought i couldn't.

after that accomplishment, i put everything back together; marveled at my perfect christmas tree spot; and cleaned the kitchen.  then, i got dressed, got aj dressed, and went to get the kids from school.  i guess it was a result of tapping into my athletically strong physique of my past that got me into heavy manual labor mode, because when we drove in the driveway, i announced my grand plan to hang all the christmas lights on the house.  this involved getting the ladder down from the garage and carrying it to the front...a task that is always performed by chad.  no worries...i got it.  i did notice what seemed to be rat poop in the garage...which is exactly why i try to stay out of that place.

after setting the ladder up, (a few different ways to insure it was set up correctly in order to avoid a lampoons christmas vacation lighting ladder disaster) i fluffed all the garland, checked all the twinkly lights, and re-tied the bows before climbing the ladder to the second story to hang it above the door and also the top windows.  my eldest son was kind enough to hold the ladder and shout up warnings to not fall.  the others abandoned me at the first mention of garland fluffing.  i really can't understand it.  my favorite activity of the holiday was doing the outdoor lights with my dad.  in fact, when i was away at college, i made him wait until i got home for christmas break to do it.  what happened to the magic of it all.  i'll tell you what happened.  anything that requires a little bit of work is out of the question for kids these days.  don't even get me started...

then, i summoned up my limited electrical knowledge and decided to use some left over lights in the trees.  after attracting chase by showing him my indiana jones style lassoing capabilities and tossing lights up in the trees, locating a power strip, and 2 extension cords later, we were ready for dark.

since chad was not going to be home until late, i took all four kids to cici's pizza for dinner so we could drive home after dark and see our lights.  (ok...and so i didn't have to cook)  usually i would never take all four loves out to eat by myself, but after this day...i felt i could tackle the world.  well...at least a pizza place.

when we pulled up to our house after dinner, i gasped at how beautiful our light display looked and asked the kids, excitedly what they thought.  annslee started crying.  colton muttered, "it looks good."  i think aiden ignored me.  and chase said, "bad."  in my language that i have made up for my own little world in my head, that translates to..."YOU'RE THE BEST CHRISTMAS LIGHT PUTTER UPPER AND MOM EVER!!!!  (and you are beautiful and very muscular too.  and should think about a career in modeling or motion picture acting.)"