Merry Christmas from the Maniacs!

If you didn't get one of these by snail mail and would like to be on my Christmas card mailing list for next year please email me your address and I'll add you to the list.

We hope you all have a very blessed Christmas!

Santa Ruby

Today's Drama

The cats or dogs helped themselves to part of Charlotte's gingerbread ornament that she made at school yesterday and hung on our tree last night.

A Perfect Holiday Season Day

The day started out with Rehm making waffles for the family.  I love have a child old enough to do some cooking, with adult supervision, of course!  Then the kids and I were off to church for their choir practice for their Christmas performance tomorrow.  While they were practicing I used the hour to find Charlotte a Christmas dress as she did not have one and would have nothing to do with just wearing a regular Sunday dress.

 

 After choir my Bible study group and all our children met for a pizza lunch and then headed off to a local assisted living facility to sing carols.  We were only at the facility for about 20 minutes but it was so much fun.  The kids had a great time and the residents seem to enjoy us coming as well.  It was a great experience except for a very dramatic melt down over a candy cane in the parking lot when it was time to leave.  I'm blaming that on the drama level of said child and the fact that everyone was up too late last night.  I can't tell you who it was as they have asked to remain anonymous.

On the way home I stopped to get the mail.  The kids asked the question they do every time I get the mail, "Can we race you home, Mom?" I was in a good mood so the answer was "Sure!"  Unfortunately Rehm and Eliza Claire tripped over each other and fell almost immediately.  Rehm hit is knee wrong and decided to ride home with me.  The girls were determined to beat me today.

My kids have an obsession with silly faces.

And once one kid does it...

They all have to.

The afternoon was spent hanging out at home and getting stuff marked off my to do list.  Why is it every time I get something marked off, something new gets added.  I went to hang Ruby's new curtains only to find that one of the panels is the wrong length and will now have to be returned!  You know I really needed one more thing to get done this week!  Luckily I needed to buy gift certificates at Target so I can at least do both errands at the same time. 

This evening we went out to dinner at Chuy's.  Then took the kids to buy Christmas presents for each other.  To keep this somewhat affordable, the children are given a total of $10 to spend on a sibling - meaning, for example that Rehm, Charlotte and Ruby have a total of $10 to buy a joint gift for Eliza Claire.  It is a great exercise in working together and agreeing with each other and remembering to actually pick out a gift the recipient will like not just something the giver would like.  It makes for a crazy hour of shopping and switching off kids.  I know it is teaching them about a budget and I hope it is teaching them to be aware of their siblings interests as well. 

Not the best picture but it was taken with my phone and caught Ruby in mid sneeze.  We were holding up other people so I didn't have the opportunity to retake it. Notice how proud they are of their Starbucks.  This was their first Starbucks experience.

After gift giving we made a stop at Starbucks to get coffee/hot chocolate for everyone.  I has the salted caramel hot chocolate (yum!) and tried Micheal's peppermint mocha (also yum! and I don't like sweet flavored coffee, though you couldn't taste the coffee for all the mint and chocolate).  I had no idea that kids drinks were only $1.10.  For a once a year treat it was actually pretty reasonable.  We took our hot chocolate with us to view Christmas lights.  We walked our favorite cul-de-sac and read 'Twas the Night before Christmas. This year, Rehm and Charlotte helped with some of the reading. 

It was a great day.  The kind of day that is all about making holiday memories that I hope my children will one day cherish and emulate. 

It really put me in the Christmas spirit in a way nothing else has this year. 

"Happy Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!"
Jenn

Ruby's Night Time Retrospective on the Afternoon Shower Fit of 2010

Ruby pitched a major fit this afternoon when asked to take a shower.  She did not like her bathroom or shower vs. bathtub choices.  And in typical Ruby fashion pitched a fit.  Eventually, we helped her out of her clothes and into the shower in spite of her protests.  It was not pretty.  It was not quite.  It was not dry.  It was not short.

At bedtime (over two hours late) she was talking to her Daddy about the fit.  Here is how the conversation went on:

Ruby: Daddy, I got really grouchy, which is past grumpy, and that is past mad and upset. 

Daddy: So how did that work?

R: Not very good.  I got mad at Mommy and then Charlotte and then Eliza Claire and then you, Daddy

D: So what could we do to help you not get past mad or upset.

R:  Charlotte could give me a Tic Tac (she bought some with her allowance today and is not sharing as many with Ruby as Ruby would like)

D: What about just me and you and not involving Charlotte and Tic Tacs?

R: Well I could just say "Guts! Guts! Guts!"

At this point I came in the room and Micheal left.  She told me that she and Daddy had had a nice conversation and next time she got mad she was going to say "Oh, Guts!"  I told her I thought that might work better and asked if when she said that we should ask her if we could hold her.  She said we could but that she didn't want me to hold her "like a spider web" like I had that afternoon (I had my arms wrapped around her and one of my legs over her legs to keep her from kicking me).  Then she said, "You was actually like a spider in a spider web holding me, except you didn't try to eat me!"  We then talked about how there were many reasons why I wouldn't try to eat her including that if I ate her she wouldn't be here anymore and then I would be sad and that she wouldn't taste good.  She is such a funny girl.

Now if she really would just say "Guts! Guts! Guts!" when she got mad instead of spewing her wrath loudly on all those around her. 

Jenn

PS.  On the way to a friend's house tonight Eliza Claire and I saw a deer in a driveway.  When Eliza Claire said she saw it, Ruby ask her where it was.  Eliza Claire told her it was in a driveway and Ruby responded, "That's a good way to get runned over!"

Eliza Claire Funnies from this Week

Eliza Claire Christmas 2009

 Tuesday night Eliza Claire had a stomach bug.  This is not her first stomach bug but apparently she does not remember past ones.  The first time she threw up she was in her room alone.  She started crying and when I went to check on her she said, "Somefing happened!"  I asked her if she threw up and she said, "I don't know!"  Of course looking at her floor it was obvious she had but she didn't know that that was throwing up.  I was really surprised that at four and a half she didn't know what throw up looked like.  Yes, I know I have a very weird since of humor.

The next evening we were home, just the two of us and were getting ready to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  She asked if she had ever seen it and I told her she had.  I explained that the Grinch dressed up like Santa Clause.  At that point she interupted me and said "I don't know what Santa Clause looks like."  I'm not sure if I should feel like a horrible mother or a really good mother if my child doesn't know what Santa looks like!  How can a four year old not know what SANTA looks like?  Granted, we don't make a big deal about Santa. He does visit our house but we don't talk a lot about him and we don't go visit him at the mall or anything.  Of course, five minutes later a commercial came on and she piped up with "Oh, there's Santa!" So obviously she really does know what he looks like.  I guess she just couldn't figure out how someone would dress up like him.

One day this week we were in the car and Eliza Claire was saying that her daddy usually sat in the seat I was in (the driver seat) and that then I sat in the "waiter" seat.  I guess that is the seat the person sits in who is waiting to drive. 

She always comes up with the funniest names and descriptions for things she encounters in her life. 

Aren't you glad after not posting hardly at all I've now posted twice recently about throw up?  I'll try not to make it a habit, but I make no promises

Twins Take on Jesus

Eliza Claire: At Christmas Jesus is going to rescue us.

Ruby: Yeah, and then He'll be back to dying.

Cracked me up!

Jenn

Sent from my iPhone