And So It Begins

The HOLIDAYS are here. And can you believe I have not started listening to Christmas music yet? I guess I'm working my way into it. Our weather has been unseasonably warm here (highs in the upper 60s) and while I'm not complaining, I guess the Florida girl in me is finally used to the more traditional cold holiday season.

I am fully embracing the season, though, whatever the weather. We pulled out the decorations tonight and I started putting things around the house. We'll get our tree this weekend. I need to find some stocking hangers that will work with our marble mantle. The ones I have aren't deep enough for the curved and beveled edge.

We also introduced the boys to The Elf on the Shelf, and they are fully on board. I had thought that he would make his appearance a little later in the season (so there wouldn't have to be so many days when the elf needed to be moved around) but the boys watched the TV special on CBS last Friday night and William was ready for a scout elf that minute! The boys named him Chippy--they're so original! (If you didn't see the TV special, Chippy is what the kids on the show named their elf.) Chippy is having a great time playing with the boys' toys so far. I just hope Chippy remembers to go to the North Pole every night and return to our house in a different spot from where he took off.

Other fun Christmas plans are coming along. Beginning December 1, I have 24 holiday-themed books wrapped and ready for the boys to unwrap--one each night until Christmas. I also got tickets today to our local Santa Train. It's not the Polar Express trip we took last year, but it will still be fun for the boys. (Hopefully) We went ice skating on Sunday morning and we'll try to go again at least once before Christmas. We went to the Sculpture Garden in D.C., and it was a gorgeous day. But it was almost 70 degrees and the top layer of the rink was just one big puddle. Seth got pretty wet from all the falling. Hopefully the next time we go, the weather will be a bit more seasonal! Also on tap--visiting Santa, of course.

I still have holiday cards and calendars to design. Presents to shop for and gifts to make. We have neighbors that we actually like this year, so I need to come up with something to give to them. When I was growing up, my mom was a cookie-baking machine this time of year. She made an incredible variety of cookies that she would place on trays and we would deliver them to all the neighbors and relatives and friends. I would love to follow that tradition, but OMG--I would go nuts having to bake all those cookies. Not to mention the fact that I don't have time. I guess I'll have to figure out some scaled-down version.

In the meantime, I'll be decking the halls and moving the elf wondering where the elf will show up and just trying to keep my priorities in line. December can be a crazy month, so I want to do everything I can to keep the crazies at bay!

Thankful

There is so much to be thankful for in my life, and as hard as the last few months have been professionally (which, of course, affects things as home as well), I have not lost sight of all my blessings. Things are great in spite of the stress. In spite of the 3 year old in our house (who shall remain nameless) who has decided to pitch crazy fits when he doesn't get what he wants and who thinks he can and should dictate the terms of EVERY SINGLE THING we need him to do. In spite of the fact that today, the first time William got to ride the bus home from school, I didn't make it to the bus stop on time, so the bus driver had to take him back to school, where I picked him up (oh yeah--Mother of the Year award headed my way!). In spite of the fact that I'm in charge of the daycare center's holiday party AGAIN this year because the board member who was supposed to be in charge resigned; in spite of the fact that OMG THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!!!

Like I said people, blessings. Children, health, family, jobs, a home, financial security, love. I want for nothing. I'm working on a way for our family to give back this year. We buy toys for Toys for Tots every year. But last weekend, I talked to the boys about choosing a cause that we could donate money or needed items to. I talked about different options, and Seth said he wants to donate to an animal shelter and William wants to donate to a homeless shelter. I asked them what we should give and Seth said he wants to give $3 because he's 3. And William said he'd like to donate $12. I printed a list of needed items from the animal shelter and next weekend, the boys and I will make a little shopping trip. I know we can make our donation to the animal shelter and visit the actual location. For the homeless shelter, I need to do a little more research. I want to pick a shelter for women and children or families. It's a small gesture, for sure, but I want the boys to take ownership and to really feel like it's something they're doing.

In the meantime, I'll spend tomorrow with family, and the rest of the long weekend soaking up the time off and enjoying time with the boys. My life is fuller than full, and it hasn't been that difficult to keep my head above water when I think about just how good I have it. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Darn You, Netflix

For the most part, we love Netflix. We don't have cable, but I think we actually watch more TV with Netflix than we would if we had cable. The only problem with Netflix is there are no parental controls--no way to block certain shows. Thanks to this feature, William has discovered Power Rangers. Are you aware of how many different versions there are of Power Rangers? There's the original series from the early '90s and then there's a newer series, which is all Croching Tiger Hidden Dragon special effects, and then there are movies. William especially loves the newer series. Lucky me. After one episode, of course, Seth is ready to fight the bad guys. I told Seth and William they could practice the moves, but they could NOT fight each other. They can only fight imaginary bad guys. We'll see how long that lasts before Power Rangers get banned from the Hahn household.

*Sigh*

Go Go Power Rangers!

Working, Working, Working

I'm drowning in work right now, facing a huge deadline that I'm not likely to meet. I work until 5:00, get the boys, do the night routine, then pick up where I left off around 8:30. Some nights I have to go back to my office. Not getting to bed until midnight. How did I live on so little sleep for so many years when the boys were little?

I have to say, November and December are terrible months for deadlines. WAY too many holidays. Way too many people taking time off. Oh well. Life goes on. Maybe tomorrow will be an uber-productive day. Maybe I won't get pulled into daycare center business for more than a few hours. Maybe Seth won't request eggs and bacon at 6:00 a.m. Maybe the super committee will COME TO THEIR SENSES AND FREAKIN' INCREASE REVENUE ALREADY--IT'S CALLED COMPROMISE PEOPLE!!! Well, I think we all know the probability of any of those things happening, so on that note, I'm going to bed.

Laying Low

There seems to be lots going on lately, but little to write about. Or at least, by the the time I get to the end of the day when I have time to write things down, there is little left in my brain to write about. Things are good though. Not much to complain about. We have all been a bit under the weather, but that hardly seems like reportable news anymore. This is already our second round of mild colds this fall, although maybe the first round just never quite went away. Seth has been okay, but William has been coughing a little since Thursday. We had a long weekend (Friday off) and no obligations (woo-hoo!) so we took advantage and layed low all weekend. No tae kwon do for William. Not a lot of physical activity. The weather was pretty nice so we got outside a bit. William rode his bike and Seth rode his scooter. They "did work" on the back patio.

On Saturday, I took the boys to the library and William checked out a book on how to draw monster trucks. William LOVES to draw and Ed thought it would be a good idea to find books on how to draw. Great idea--except that meant I had to sit with William and "help" him draw ALL the monster trucks in the book when we got home. He was so excited and engaged--I couldn't say no. He spent the rest of the weekend drawing a million monster trucks. And then he played monster trucks. And then he drew a million more monster trucks. I need to find a library book on how to draw stuffed animals, or pillows, or clouds.

Seth, meanwhile, is his same old self. On Friday morning, he helped me clean the bathrooms. He LOVES to help clean. And he's actually not half bad at it. He scrubbed the sinks (I sprinkle baking soda around and give him a damp rag) and the toilets (Borax) and I let him put on the rubber gloves and use a Clorox wipe to wipe the toilet seats. He was thrilled! He also loves to be outside, working with his tools, riding his scooter, helping Ed sweep up the patio. He puts on Ed's work gloves and grabs big piles of leaves to put in the yard waste bags. May his love of helping last forever!

The other thing that Seth loves lately is eggs. He can not get enough eggs. Every morning, around 6:00 a.m., he wakes up and says, "I'm hungry Mommy. I want some scrambly eggs and sausage." So every morning, we've been making scrambly eggs and sausage. This morning I made bacon. He ate three pieces of bacon, an egg, and half a waffle. There are some mornings when he'll ask for a second egg, and once, he even ate three eggs!

In other food news, William has stopped asking for chocolate milk first thing in the morning. And throughout the day. He used to want chocolate milk constantly. He would gladly drink his way through the day. But today, he asked for a snack, and when I asked him if he wanted chocolate milk, he say, "Mom, I said I was hungry. If I wanted chocolate milk, I would have said I was thirsty." Well, excuse me! I guess wonders never cease. Maybe it's because we finally threw away all the sippy cups. That was hard for William. Instead of sippy cups, we mostly use straws, now. Slowly but surely, I'm tossing in a regular cup and there have been a few times when he's actually drunk from the cup without complaining. Seth, on the other hands, loves to drink from regular cups. In fact, he prefers "grown-up glasses." Oh joy!

I almost forgot that we went to the doctor on Wednesday to follow up on Seth's ears, and to talk about William's asthma treatment plan. We're keeping William on the Pulmicort through the winter, and will check in again in March. Seth's ears looked good and his lungs sounded fine. William weighs 38 pounds, Seth weighs 30 pounds. Fingers crossed that William will get over his cold without having to use Albuterol!

So that's about it for us. Next weekend we're heading to Great Wolf for our delayed vacation. The boys are excited and I am, too. Ed, not so much. But he'll come around. And oh yeah--I almost forgot! William has a new kindergarten teacher starting Monday. She's been an assistant in one of the first grade classrooms, and the principal said that she's been in William's class. But William said he never heard of her. Oh well--he'll get to know her tomorrow! We have a meet-and greet with the new teacher on Thursday night. Hopefully we'll love her!

Trying to Remember What I Want to Write About

So many things going on, and yet I can't seem to coalesce my thoughts into one coherent post.

William's kindergarten teacher unexpectedly resigned. William is in his third week of substitutes and I really have no idea what's going on. We've been getting letters from the principal assuring us that our kids' learning has not been affected, that they team teach and the lesson plans are being followed and the kids are not behind. William seems non-plussed by the whole thing. But when I picked William up from after care today, I spoke to the after care teacher who is also an assistant in his classroom, and she said things today were much smoother than last week. Um, okay. Great. We were supposed to have had parent-teacher conferences this week, but those have been postponed until they hire a new teacher and that teacher has a chance to go over the assesments and get to know the kids a little. It feels like we're starting over. But when we got home tonight, William announced that his school was the greatest thing ever. So I guess all is not lost.

We've had a pretty easy transition with the time change this year. We brilliantly pawned the boys off on their grandparents for a sleepover Saturday night. So Ed and I blissfully slept in on Sunday while the boys bounded out of bed at 6:00 a.m. Why didn't we think of this before? And you may be wondering what Ed and I did with our freedom? We cleaned our house. I dusted every surface and cleaned out toys and drawers and junk and then I mopped. We did go out to dinner. And we got to sleep in. Pretty fair trade!

Seth's Spotlight on Me week is this week. Except we've managed to make the spotlight more of a day rather than a week. (We being the parents.) We made Seth's poster tonight. Seth directed the effort and William helped. It was definitely a group effort. A little different than William's poster from two years ago.

I'm doing a special snack with the class tomorrow. Seth is really into construction and tools, so I'm bringing pretzel sticks and cheese in the shapes of triangles, sqaures, and rectangles so the kids can "build" with their snack. And then I'm teaching them a construction song and reading a construction book. Then on Thursday, Seth wants to have pajama day, where all his friends can wear pajamas. And we're going to bring in two big appliance boxes so the kids can "build" houses and decorate them. Fun huh? Except I haven't actually gotten the big boxes yet. And I don't have the pretzels and cheese for tomorrow's snack. (Lunch-time errand, I guess.) And Seth wants to give his friends candy, not pretzels and cheese. (Who can blame him?) So we'll just have to see how it all turns out. Nothing like doing things half-ass at the last minute! (The story of my life. LOL)

Meanwhile, William's writing and drawing skills continue to progress, despite the instability of his classroom. He made a book at school with a bunch of pages stapled together and lots of drawings. This was one of the pages:

We couldn't be more proud!

On that note, I'm going to bed!

Halloween 2011, and Other Stuff

Halloween was a blast this year. It was a wee bit of a challenge having it on a school night, since we didn't get home until 6:00 p.m. But we managed to get some dinner in the boys and get their costumes on them in less than 30 minutes. I never had a chance to change out of my work clothes, so I trick-or-treated as Millenial Working Mom, but it all worked out well. All the kids on our street trick-or-treated together (more or less). We hit all the houses on our street and then went around the corner to a house with an awesome haunted yard display. There were all kinds of mummies and bones and bloody creatures and bats in the trees and gravestones. Very cool. After that we hit another street, but William was ready to head home by then. My mom was visiting us, so she graciously stayed home to pass out candy while Ed and I went around with the boys. It was fun to do it together.

We were home at 7:30 and we let the boys check out their loot. We confiscated all the peanut-contaminated candy from William, which left him with a pretty pitiful pile of goodies. Our neighborhood this year must be a lot more affluent than our last neighborhood, based on the type of candy purchased. Last year it was all tootsie rolls and dum-dum lollipops and sweet tarts. This year it was snickers and twix bars and reeses peanutbutter cups and butterfingers and m&ms. Too bad for William. Fotunately, he takes things like that in stride and it didn't seem to bother him one bit. We let the boys eat as much candy as they want (which wasn't all that much), got them out of their costumes, brushed teeth, and got them in bed. All in all, a pretty awesome Halloween! The best part was how excited the boys were to get in their costumes and join their friends outside. Last year, Seth did not want to trick-or-treat, but this year, he got really into it. It was great to see him having such a good time.

Without further ado, the costumes! William's homemade, good-enough bat costume:

Seth as a construction worker:

Ready to head out:

Other than Halloween, our other big event was the snow we got on Saturday. It was cuh-razy. The boys were pretty excited, even though it didn't stick to the ground. William ran around in it for about 30 minutes. Seth ran around in it for about 10 minutes, but then he decided to start jumping in the crazy-huge puddles forming on the curbs, getting his pants and feet completely soaked in the process. I let him get soaked and then dragged him in. He didn't seem to mind. I didn't get any pictures though. It was pouring snow and for some reason, I didn't think to use an umbrella to shelter myself. Duh. What can I say--I was in the moment!

Other October activities included a local truck touch, which the boys loved, hanging out with Baba (my mom), planting daffodil bulbs in the backyard, and seeing A Dolphin's Tale at the movie theaters with friends and teachers from William's old school. As busy as October was, THE HOLIDAYS are now upon us. And the next 10 weeks are likely to fly by as never before. Hopefully, I will find ways to slow things down a bit and capture the joy and gratitude that are meant to be shared and savored this month and next. Bring it on!