A Small Discovery

This picture makes me happy, because there's a little hidden message that my Grandmother included, just for me.  Keep in mind that she hand painted this Christmas house in 1987 and I just discovered it a few weeks ago. Do you see what it is?

Shopping Like A Top Chef

Of course cooking programs are always a fan favorite in our house.  Jim and I are big fans of Top Chef- and have been since season one, we're no bandwagon-ers here.  Now, everybody knows that Top Chef contestants exclusively shop at Whole Foods, so Jim and I were stoked to see one coming into a shopping center a few miles away.  Finally, we were going to get the opportunity to buy high quality food at top notch prices so that we I can make mediocre meals.  (Notice I said "I" and that's because Jim is a really good cook, I other the other hand could be classified as "not terrible.")

Okay, so I've gotta admit, the prices are outrageous, but the experience of how a grocery store should be is all sorts of amazing.  It's not all thin, ink-stamped cardboard boxes, it's biodegradable containers and intensely fresh and vibrant produce and gloriously delicious looking fish and cookies that will make you literally slap-yo-self for thinking that the Pillsbury Dough Boy is actually a chef just because he's wearing the hat.

Well, now that I've got your attention with those fascinating descriptions, how about a little look-see at how our trip went.  Hopefully, seeing these pictures inspires you to blow all of your holiday money on a trip to a Whole Foods near you.

Boom, Boom, Crash

So, Cullen got a mini drum set from Santa.  Needless to say, our lives for the past 24 hours have been pretty much nothing but: boom, boom, crash.  Eventually, it will get old, but for now, it's music to my ears.

Not to be left out, we got Arden a guitar; of course it's for 8 year olds, so it's totally unwieldy and we already broke a string and had to MacGyver it back on, so that means that it not only sounds terrible (tuning was never my strength), but now it looks terrible too.  If these boys don't turn out to be some sort of drumming, guitar playing chefs, then I have spent oodles of money all for nothing- just kidding, I guess it's for the experience...

Merry Christmas

Dear Everyone Celebrating Christmas,

We hope you have a wonderful day, which to us means wrapping paper flying through the air promptly at 7:00 am, lazy brunches spent stuffing our faces with bacon and mimosas (not together though) and good times with family and friends.  And who can forget the hours spent on the couch enjoying that classic-before-it-should've-been: A Christmas Story.

Love,
Me-Me, Jim, Cullen and Baby Arden

A Not So Silent Night

Every once in while, Cullen has a rough night, you know the kind where he just can't fall back asleep when he wakes up.  When this happens, I usually give him a few minutes to fall back asleep, but if and when he doesn't I go in and get him.  It usually goes something like this:

Cullen:  Hi, Mom!
Me:  Hi, Cullen.  What's up, you can't sleep?
Cullen:  Can I come downstairs?
Me:  It's 3:00 in the morning, I think you should go back to bed.
Cullen:  (blank stare)
Me:  Alright. Let's go.
Cullen:  Where's Daddy and Arden?

And you know what?  It usually ends up being a really good time.  We watch TV and chat and usually we fall asleep on the couch- but don't get me wrong, I'm no fool, I ain't doin this every night.

So, in the spirit of Christmas, I'm wishing everyone a not so silent night every once in a while, because that's really about all anybody can handle...

You Tell Him No

Last week, one of my friends asked me if I had an opportunity to do things individually with each of the boys, and after thinking about it, I told her, no not really.  As a parent of more than one child, I can totally relate to that little schedule that Jon and Kate (plus 8) used to adhere to: some sort of rotation for one on one trips with their children.  Now, I realize that the marriage dynamics were totally cray on that show, but the kid rotation actually was genius.  Spending time with just one of my boys makes it all the more special.

But there's this weird thing that comes over me when I'm out with just one of my children, usually they're so well behaved that I end up buying them something.  Most of the time, my inner monologue goes something like, "he's so cute and he's being so good, of course he needs that spatula."  Well, the other day, Arden got me with a chocolate donut.  We took an early morning trip to the grocery store and he conned me into letting him eat the donut right then and there; it was a mess.  The whole time I was thinking, "you know what? this probably isn't a good idea, but he's behaving so well, he deserves it!"

And that's the truth, he did deserve it.  He was definitely the happiest little guy in that store at that very moment and I was happy to just be spending some time with him all to myself.

Thanks, Walt

When I was a child, I had the awesome fortune of getting to visit Disney World an obscene amount of times... like to the point that I'm pretty sure we went once a year for just about a decade.  Perhaps it was because of all of this childhood time spent in Disney World that I hold such a fondness for the  happiest place on Earth; actually, I know it is.  (For the 100th time though: sometimes, for the happiest place on Earth, people sure are grumpy.)  So, when my family and I had the opportunity to visit Disney World, I seriously got my nostalgia on and agreed in a heart beat.

Disney World is still the same: a magical spot in the world that makes me remember that fun is sometimes about animatronic characters, stroller parking areas and overly Mickey Mouse-d everything. So, thanks to Walt Disney for everything and for bringing so much joy to my life.

One of the things I wish I had done more of was picture taking.  We managed to get a lot of good ones and I do have a whole lot more on my phone (spoiler alert, will there be a second post?) that I think are great, but it's still not enough.  However, there were two specific moments that I couldn't resist going overboard on the pictures with and here they are:

1.  Cullen totally working the camera and Arden just taking it all in.

 2. What I fondly like to refer to as The Character Move It Along Kid moment (Stitch wasn't getting that we wanted the picture together...)

Just Because He Can

What's a kid to do when he's 26lbs and has some time on his hands?  Bounce over to a wok and then Crawl into it and chill.  (Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming...)  Honestly, this boy has a seriously creative spirit.  He may be a handful, but I guess this kind of proves that he's a tiny handful.

The Truth

When the day comes to explain the spirit behind Santa, I'm going to do it just like this.  Please take a moment to read this letter, it's amazingly touching and it think it captures the meaning of what every parent tries to make happen for their little one.

ARE YOU SANTA? TELL ME THE TRUTH.

Christmas 2011, Arden's First Christmas

The First

I often think of these few pictures from Cullen's First Christmas as  some of my absolute favorite Christmas photos ever.  His face is priceless and the fact that this was his excitement level throughout the day, only makes these pictures more enjoyable.

So, to everyone celebrating a first, whether it's a Christmas, a birthday, a first day at a new job... whatever it may be, I hope that you celebrate it with as much overwhelming excitement as Cullen did on his First Christmas; you deserve it!

Three

This past weekend, we celebrated Cullen's birthday with our family and friends.  The party was a great success, and by that I mean that there were lots of screaming kids, tired parents and one very happy Birthday Boy.

At times, it seems like my son was born with a spatula in one hand and a pot in the other, so I decided to have a cooking themed birthday party.  I made personalized aprons for everyone, the kids made their best rendition of personal pizzas and the cooking portion of the party hit a crescendo when the kids decorated their own cupcakes.  The ratio of icing to cake was definitely an issue with most of the kids, most of whom wisely decided not to eat their creations, but a $5 bet was on the table for any party guest that would; there were no takers.

Happy Birthday, Cullen.  We love you.

Glory Days

So, Springsteen's song goes: 

Now I think I'm going do to the well tonight

and I'm going to drink till I get my fill

and I hope when I get older I don't sit around

thinking about it

but I probably will

A few weekends ago, I did that, I relived my Glory Days; college.  It's funny, because I remember one of my best friend's sisters talking about someone that went to the same school and she said at first they didn't like it, but now they "bleed blue and gold."  And it's sort of like that for me.  I struggled in the beginning, making new friends, being away from home on September 11th and waking up to go to class, but then something happened about 4 months in: this crazy coal mining town with smelly streets, couches on the front lawn and the nicest, most carefree people ever won me over and I was hooked.

My four strongest friendships have continued to develop from the mandatory roommate situations to the type of bonds that help us support one another through marriages, kids, divorces, loss of jobs, 30th birthdays and the memories of all of those crazy nights spent living. it. up. college style.

So cheers to everyone that had the time of their lives in college and aren't afraid to admit that while the party may be over, the memories are legendary- if only in your own mind.