Hayley loved the Nutcracker on Friday. She was a little nervous about riding the bus and being away from school but our neighbor was a chaperone and she was familiar with 2 of the other moms going so when she knew they would be there she was more comfortable. The rest of the day was so full and exciting that she had a monster of a meltdown in the evening when she was getting ready for movie night at her school. I was so mad at the time but looking back it was kind of ridiculously funny. This is how the fight went.

"Hayley, we have to leave, RIGHT NOW. If you are not ready in 2 seconds, you will not go."
"Fine! Well, I hope you don't like kisses because you are NEVER getting one from me AGAIN!"
"That makes me sad"
"GOOD! IT SHOULD!"

This went on for quite some time and I had an no idea how to handle it. The responsible part of me was saying I needed to be a consistent mother and follow through on consequences and have her stay home. But the inner 6 year old part of me was saying that sometimes even though you try really hard not to lose control, it happens and you say things you don't mean and feel really bad. And movie night at school is important when you are 6 and all your friends are going. So, I caved and let her go. I prefaced it by saying that what she did was NOT okay but I was proud that she tries her best to always be good and helpful and we all make mistakes once in a while so it's good to give second chances. She responded that she didn't "get that" but, okay. I learned my lesson that too much fun in one day CAN be a bad thing.

The worst part of the fight is that I was so preoccupied with Hayley's behavior that I wasn't paying attention to much else as we walked into school for movie night. Once the situation was calmer and I had her settled in her spot for the movie, I assessed the other kids and realized that:
1.Julia had no shoes on (it was about 40 degrees outside)
2. Ace did have shoes on, they were size 10 purple Dora boots.
3. I had really bad garlic breath from dinner
4. My hair was up in a side ponytail with 3 or 4 Christmas barrettes holding up my bangs, thanks to my hairstyling session with Julia.
5. My outfit was cotton pajama pants with snowmen and candy canes, a half zip fleece with a milk stain on my right boob, and high heeled black boots.

Seriously, it was bad. One mom stopped me in the doorway and gave me a hug. I hope she didn't notice the garlic breath but sadly, I'm sure she did.

Some other tidbits from our weekend:

*We had another visit with Julia's least favorite person of the month, Santa. We were having a fun visit to the fire station enjoying some yummy treats and climbing on the trucks when he had to show up and ruin it. Julia immediately started packing her cookies and punch cup away and putting her coat on. She really isn't scared of him so much as she doesn't appreciate the fact that he keeps showing up and invading her "comfort bubble" as Andy calls it. It doesn't make sense to her that all of a sudden this strange looking man keeps coming around and we try and convince her to take candy from him and sit on his lap. Frankly I'm surprised the other kids have never had a similar reaction.

*Julia's favorite "person" of the month is most definitely Elmo (which makes me even more confident that the Elmo Live was a worthwhile investment for Christmas). She answers every question with "Elmo"

Julia, what do you want to do?
Elmo.

Julia, who is your best friend?
Elmo

Julia, whats your favorite show?
Elmo

Julia, what is the best part of the day?
Elmo.

Julia, what do you want for dinner?
Pasta.....

With Elmo.

Christmas Countdown

Its cold outside and Hayley had a half day of school so I've got all 4 home early today. Ace got all muddy at preschool and Julia spilled a milkshake down her shirt so I thought it was a good time for a warm bubble bath. Hayley wanted to get in on the fun too and so far these are a few tidbits of the conversations I've overheard from the bathtub:

Hayley: "I love our tub!"
Ace: "Me too! I like to pee in it!"

Hayley: "Julia, stop brushing my butt!" (with her little pony hairbrush)

I think this is what I'm in for the rest of the day!


Our decorations are up and the house looks like Christmas all over. Andy and I have had the same argument for 7 years about whether or not it is appropriate to hang stockings before Christmas Eve. I say no, he says yes. So every year he hangs them up, then the next day I take them down and hide them somewhere in the house so he can't rehang them. Now the kids are in on it and they keep yelling at me when I try to take them down. I really wish they all still took naps.

The shopping for the kids is done and the presents are being shipped. We stuck to our budget and still got something special for each of them that I think they will play with longer than just on Christmas morning. At least I hope so!

Breakfast with Santa was fun, I'll post later about the Saucy Santa and how he patted my butt but you need the pictures to accompany that story or it isn't nearly as funny. We also got to see the harbor lighting (they put Christmas lights on the boats and parade them around the harbor) on Saturday night, Ace and I loved it but everyone else complained the whole time about being cold and tired and hungry. I kept reminding them "THERE IS NO CRYING IN CHRISTMAS!" but they kept insisting on warmth and food. Wimps.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...everywhere but here.

To reassure anyone who may be worried about him (ahem, I'm looking at you, Aunt Katherine), Ace is feeling much better. Wednesday he had his playgroup at the library and a low key day after that and I didn't notice him relying on any of his comfort items (his family photos, his bicycle helmet, my lap) nearly as much as Tuesday and Thursday he was back to his chipper self. His teacher noticed the change as well so he had a great day at school.
So no, our decorations are not up yet, with the exception of the fabulously popular singing snowman that we got for the kids at The Christmas Tree Shop this year. It could be that Thanksgiving was busy and I'm tired, it could be the unseasonably warm temperatures have dampened my holiday spirit, or is could quite possibly be that in order to decorate properly I should clean first and cleaning is the last thing I plan on doing (I married an obsessive compulsive clean freak for a reason, people.) Tonight is the tree lighting on base and the breakfast with Santa party is Saturday so I assume that will jumpstart my holiday spirit enough to get the boxes of decorations out of the basement.
Shopping is a whole nother story. I'm just not that into it this year, ya know? Lucy is too young to need much of anything besides my boobs (and trust me, if I could buy another set of those for Christmas, I would), Julia isn't really into specific toys, she just plays with whatever she finds laying around (right now, for example, she is playing with the bulb I use to suck snot out of Lucy's nose, thank God I just washed it this afternoon) She loves her baby dolls but has reached maximum capacity with those, I can count 4 just from where I'm sitting right now. And Ace and Hayley just have too much of everything. Even with Andy's help I could only find one toy for each of the kids that I think they would be really excited over and I think that is plenty. We plan to get the kids some things they are needing anyway, like Hayley's new Brownie uniform and underwear and such and wrapping them up from Santa.
With all this present-talk, don't worry that my kids don't get the real meaning of Christmas. A few days ago I had this conversation with Ace and Hayley:

Hayley: "Why is Christmas always the last holiday in the year?"
Mommy: "Because that is the day we celebrate Jesus being born.
Hayley: "I know, that is God's special gift to the world" (a direct quote from Hermie's Chrismas special) "But, why is it the last holiday of the year?"
Mommy: "Hmmm, well, umm, hey, look, a reindeer!"
Hayley: "Did you hear me, Mommy? I'm asking you a question."
Mommy:"Umm, yeah, well, that is Jesus's birthday so that is when we celebrate, just like we celebrate you on your Birthdays."
Hayley:"Who said that His birthday is that day, it says that in the Bible?"
Mommy: "Sort of, I think, maybe, well, kind of, not the specific date but kind of... hey, doesn't anyone want to look at that reindeer?"
Hayley: "Mommy, maybe you could give Jesus a special gift and learn about His birthday"

Touche, Hayley, Touche.