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December 28, 2010

How We Single Handedly Almost Ruined Christmas AND Created A Real Life Grinch

For weeks my son has been talking about Christmas, Santa and the party at my Sister's house. We took him to see Santa at the mall and he got to tell Santa everything he wanted on his list........the conversation took almost 10 minutes. Then at his school's Christmas party Santa showed up and Lex was again able to tell him what he wanted. So imagine how excited he was when it was Christmas Eve and we were on our way to my Sister's house for her annual Christmas Eve party. We ate, we played, we had fun and ate some more. Lex was in high spirits and just could not wait to open his presents. Finally my Sister told him to go find his gifts under the tree and get ready to open them. He was ecstatic!!! He found 3 and looked a bit bewildered. I heard him say "Where are the rest?", but thought nothing of it. Then he began opening his gifts. The presents he got were not what he wanted, what he had on his list. They we things my Sister had bought for him, little things. A coloring book, a Monchhichi and some SpongeBob bath bubbles. That's when it happened......Lex had a complete meltdown. All he kept saying was....'None of this stuff was on my list. Where's my science kit?" O_O Of course he's asking for the one thing we didn't get him. We tried explaining to him that Santa would be at our house soon, after he was asleep and when he woke up there would be presents. He said "All I really want is a science kit! This is a terrible Christmas!!" and he cried. What on Earth were we supposed to do?!?!?! Not only wasn't he understanding what we were saying, that it wasn't even Christmas yet, but we didn't get him a science kit!!!! Kevin and I decided to leave right then and there to make it to the book store to get that damn science kit he wanted so badly and to get him away from his cousins who were all opening a ton of gifts. He seemed to be doing a little better once we left, Kevin was able to get that damn science kit and we got home early enough so Kevin could get the wrapping done. While Kevin was in the basement I asked Lex if he wanted to put the reindeer food out with me. "Sure" was his response and he didn't look happy at all. I gave him the plate and told him to scatter it on the ground.....he just tossed it on the ground and walked back inside looking like someone had just kicked his kitten. While I was getting things ready for bedtime I noticed he had taken my decorated wine box and was filling it with small toys. After it was filled he came to me and asked if he could have a bow. I gave him one and watched as he put the bow on, placed the box under the tree and then said "There. Now I have a presents under the tree." and he started crying again, then he looked out the widow and said "This is just the terrible Christmas ever. Santa didn't bring anything on my list". I have never seen something as pathetic and as cute as that in my entire life. He thought Santa had forgotten him, or that he brought him the wrong toys. It was just awful. Kevin and I decided to give all the kids something small before bed in hopes that it would cheer him up a little. We explained that on Christmas Eve the children get to open a gift from their Moms and Dads. So we gave Lola her Pillow Pet (which was obviously the best present ever!), Raven her pjs and Lex his little delorean with a mini Marty McFly in it. He loved it! He went to bed with a smile on his face and saying he loved us.

I was not ok though. I thought for sure that we had somehow traumatized our son, turned him into a real life Grinch. He would never forget "The most terrible Christmas ever". We didn't do a good enough job of explaining the whole Santa thing. All night I kept asking my husband..."Do you think he's going to be happy?!", he thought I was worrying for nothing. And he was right. Christmas morning was great! He was so surprised with all his gifts under the tree, he kept saying "Santa DID come!!! He left lots of presents!! I hope he brought my list!!!" :) Now, I know there will be some people who read this and think to themselves that our kid is spoiled, Christmas isn't about presents, we shouldn't lie to him about Santa.....shut up. He is only 4 and just doesn't get it yet. Next year will be different. How do I know? I've done this before, Raven was the same way. She didn't really "get it" until she was 5, then it was all good. We teach our kids that Christmas is about family, love, being together and yes, Santa. Santa comes to your house and leaves you presents on Christmas Eve. It's magical, it's wonderful and I think it is very important to keep the magic in their lives as long as we can. They grow up so fast and I want them to remember their childhood as fun and, well, magical. :) I love the word MAGICAL!!!!

So that was our almost "Terrible Christmas Ever", but we made it through and our kids were thankful and very, very happy about the things they got. And so was Mommy.....that's a post for tomorrow. So many gorgeous pictures to show off from all my new camera toys!! :D

December 22, 2010

Preschool.......The Beginning Of The Never Ending Artwork

When Raven was in preschool she would come home every day with something new. I felt like I had to keep everything. It was all just so cute and hey, my kid can write her own name and knows the alphabet and can draw houses/animals/pets...blah, blah, blah!!! All the things new Moms think. So I kept everything. You can imagine where this is heading, right? Yeah....6 months into the school year and I realized that I in fact could not keep everything. Well, I could, but I'd need a bigger house. So I went through the bin of every piece of paper she had brought home and sifted through what I wanted to keep, what I would give to my sister and Mom and what I would trash. It was hard, I got all teary eyed a few times, but I did it and I had a system going. Let me just say this....it's hard trying to trash your kid's artwork without them finding out. She found a few things in the trash and the drama queen emerged and threw the most dramatic fit ever. Doesn't matter, I had made up my mind. I would only keep Holiday arts and crafts, special art she made "just for me" and of course anything I thought was just too cute and I could not throw it away. She made a wind chime out of empty toilet paper rolls and paperclips. How could I throw that away?! I would not, however, keep pieces of paper with a few splashes of paint on it, nor would I keep her endless amount of alphabet writings. A to Z.....that's a lot!!! Done! Plan in place and believe it or not, I followed that plan all the way till now. Of course, the art work stopped coming home after about 3rd or 4th grade, so I was kinda off the hook. hehehee!! But now that Lex is in preschool the vicious cycle has started all over again. I'm just hoping he doesn't find things in the trash. I already have his bin started. Important/cute/sweet things will be store away for the future when I want to stroll down memory lane and look at all the things he made in his first year at school. It's glorious. I've been meaning to find Raven's box and go through it. I think I'll make the MAN go down there and find it. Too many spiders waiting to attack me down there and it will probably make me very sad. Having a teenager is tough and we've been going through some difficult times lately and seeing things she made as a little girl, before the teenager spawned, well, that would make me very sad. But that's something for another post. For now I will leave you with pictures of my son's very first Christmas program.  :)












And OH SHIT!! We did not get him a science set. Santa is screwed! Speaking of Santa!!! I just have to add this. I was over at Leelou Blog today and saw that she is giving away something great and fun! She's giving away five $10 gift cards to iCaughtSanta! It's a website that will photoshop Santa into a picture you've uploaded of YOUR Christmas tree, so it looks like Santa was really there. There are different poses....him putting presents under the tree, eating cookies or coming down the chimney. Some of the poses are actually pretty damn funny. So yeah, needless to say we will be doing that. How could we not? It's so magical and fun. The look on his face will be priceless!! 


December 21, 2010

Pancakes!! Pancakes!!! PANCAKES!!! and blueberries....

I wrote about the awesome pancakes I have been making and promised pictures. Well, here they are, and the recipe, too!!


Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.








Well, I'm off to make cupcakes, cookies and more!!! Lots to do before I leave for work. :)


December 15, 2010

Best. Pancakes. Ever. And The Terrible Twos.

I'm all about trying to perfect my pancake recipe. My Grandmother used to use Bisquick, so I did, too. Until one morning I had none left and I was forced to make them from scratch! I'm pretty well stocked with everything I need to make just about anything, so I set out to find a recipe. I found this one on Allrecipes.com......

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes


Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
  2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

I tweaked it a little by doubling the recipe, adding 1/4 tsp of vanilla and half milk, half buttermilk. Yummmmmmmm!! They are sooo good! Last weekend I added blueberries to the mix, a bit more sugar and BAM! The perfect pancakes. I like using frozen fruits when they aren't in season around here. The kids had seconds and then they had leftovers for a snack. They were so good I barely had to put any syrup on them. I'll be making some this weekend again, so I'll post some pictures then. :)

Now...on to the "Terrible Twos". Can I just say that I'm terrified of Lola turning 3? I really am. She has been just awful. I actually caught her doing something bad. When she didn't think I was looking, I peeked in on her and Lex, saw her grab Lex by the hair and then slap him in the face. I rushed in and guess what she did? She started crying and holding her face saying Lex had hit HER! WHAAAAAAT?!?!?! I could NOT believe what I had just witnessed. I put her in time-out and told her "No!! No hitting! And NO pretending!" I'm fairly certain she understood what I was saying. I mean, HELL, the kid knows enough to lie about the situation, right?! I am in so much trouble. ((sigh)) Just look at her.......


You'd never know she was really a Demon trapped in an adorable, little 2 year old girl. She's going to make a fine teenager. I can just see the meetings now. HAH!



December 10, 2010

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I am so ready for Christmas!! We've had our tree up, lights hung and the house is decorated for over a week now, Christmas shopping is almost done, just a few more things to get. And the kids are super excited to see Santa. I love this time of the year because it's magical. I think it's very important for kids to have fun, magical things to believe in. My teen used to love going to see Santa and tell him things she wanted. Seeing her face on Christmas morning was priceless! Even if it was 5 am. -_- I'm not going to lie, there were a few years when I was a single Mom and I couldn't get her a lot of presents, but she was always very happy with the little bit she got. And to be honest, Christmas around here is more about family, love and just being happy that we are together. I will be honest though, as much fun as it is to see the kids' faces light up Christmas morning, life without Santa is a bit easier. I'm always afraid of getting caught! HAH! I'm pretty good at covert operations around here and I've yet to be caught. -fingers crossed- I'm really looking forward to the cookie baking. We do that this weekend. I'm making little baggies filled with sweets for Lex's teachers. Cheaper than buying gifts and I think they'll like that more. Or they'll hate me for making them sweets. HAH! So that's our plan, or at least my plan for this weekend.....baking, baking and even more baking!! Wish me luck! I'll leave you with some picture of our awesome tree topper that Lex made us, my cute kids and of course my fabulous wreath I made myself. Yes, I channeled my inner Martha.