Thursday, January 13, 2011

giddy anticipation

CHristmas was good last year with a 4 year old and an 18 month old but I have to say that this year topped it. These two little cherubs just fed off each others glee, and the excitment about Santa and presents. Little Sammo was a champ about Santa. He's in on the up and up (isn't a believer) but he played the older sibling like a pro and made it all the more magical for his little sister.

 Opening Christmas jammies

I think I got more reaction to the pajamas than I did on sleepy Christmas morning. I have a hard time peeling these jammies off her, even now.

 They also each got a sleeping bag. I wanted to start a tradition that I grew up with. My siblings and I would all sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve. Passing on the tradition wasn't such a great idea. According to Sam, Sophie wouldn't stop "chatting" and he just wanted to fall asleep. Perhaps we can try again next year.
 Sophie's only request from Santa was "Princess Popcorn". If you are like I was and are asking yourself, "What in the jingle bells is princess popcorn?", you can imagine my elation when on the 23rd, at Walmart, I stumbled upon a popcorn tin with princesses on it. Yay! She looooved her popcorn and still does.

Sammo's request was a "General Grievous Spinning Light Saber that comes with a gun." It seems that his favorite present has been his night vision goggles and remote control car. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Not Christmas, New Year's or some great news... sorry friends

     Wow ... over a month and no posts ... I suck. Perhaps other things have been sucking the blogginess out of me. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. Not that you have missed me, but I kind of miss blogging.

Christmas was so great this year, but why the heck did I not wrap a dang present 'til Christmas Eve? Yes, I will post pictures at some point.

   So, no pictures tonight but you do get my thoughts and it won't cost you a penny — lucky you!
It's a new year and this ought to be a good one ... 11 is my lucky number after all. I can't really think of anything in particular that 11 has done for me, but it has always been my favorite. When I was little I loved to see 11's. I liked how 1 always had a buddy ... one that was just like her. A 1 by itself always seemed so lonley because it can only ever be paired by a 0 — a non-number really — or a number bigger and better, and who wants to be constantly outdone?? Not me, and not No. 1  I tell ya'. I was a 6-year-old philosopher I guess ... or just weirdly obsessive compulsive. 

In this year of the 11, I am hoping to learn from the previous year. The good and the not so good.
Here's what I learned in 10 ...
  • I still don't like to cook — but I'm going to keep trying
  • Facebook is such a time suck ... I sort of hate it
  • Sam is a good negotiator/arguer
  • I can't get by on five hours of sleep and still be a pleasant person
  • I can't will away my baby hunger with logic and and practical thinking.
  • I love my job but I'm ready to work from home
  • You never know what people deal with from day to day — even the ones who seem to have it all
  • That a lot of people mistakenly assume you can't be a good Mormon and a Democrat at the same time 
  • My kiddos are only going to get bigger and it's really not the end of the world
  • My mother-in-law is so, so helpful and I don't know what I would do without her
  • My willpower consistently fails over the lure of chocolate ... I already knew that one
  • Typos in my blog posts really don't bother me 
  • After nearly nine years of marriage, my husband has never been sexier to me
  • I can't do everything I want to do — I spread myself too thin
  • I wish all that spreading of myself would actually make me thin but it's done quite the opposite
  • The only way to lose weight, unfortunately, is to diet and exercise
  • The Gospel makes me so happy
  • It takes a long, long time to create the layout of a newspaper
  • The BCS (college football) is a completly screwed up system
  • It makes me so happy that my kids have boots, gloves and snowpants ... Mom, not that putting socks on hands isn't a super creative solution to keeping hands warm in the snow when gloves can't be purchased
  • Steve's grandma was an incredible woman and there is so much I didn't know about her
  • I sill love my wedding ring
  • Using old-school Mormon slang can make activities like grocery shopping and cleaning the kitchen hilarious ... "They are all out of Pringles!!! That's bull crud!"

Onto '11! so I can learn more things and hopefully how to philosophize like a 27-year-old.