Christmas Carols According to Me

(Ideas for a better renditions will be fielded in an untimely manner; wrote these to keep me smiling through the Christmas Eve packing)

The Kibbes are Coming to Town

Mama's made a list,

Checked it 100 times

Gonna find out what she forgot

The Kibbes are coming to town.....

And we're only leaving the house for 22.5 hours and this is the amount of mess we require

We Three Bags

We three bags of E, R and M

Stacked and packed to travel not far

Stuffed with clothes, pjs, and toys...

Hope everything makes it in the car....

Ohhhhh... Oooooo

Bags, bags, bags, bags, bags, bags!!!!!

Yep... 

Van Rides

Gassing up the van

Just in the nick of time

Driving on 64

And over 95

Ha ha ha

Girls with there snacks

Hoping mama will stay sane

For the hour long van ride

Oh what fun it is drive and snack with the Kibbes 

Oh....

Van ride van rides are so very fun....

Not... enough... petrol to get there and back

The snacks lasted all of 7.6 minutes just in time for me to finish pumping gas

I survived packing up our stuff for our 1 night stay at Grammys on Christmas - and I even managed to not forget anything. I had thought I left R's Nini and M's one single present but I'm a rockstar. That 3.5 hours sans Papa in the rush to pack and get Christmas outfits out and organized was not hairy at all and I definitely did not hang over not opening presents over E's head AT ALL - I promise. 

We had a super great Christmas celebration in Raleigh-world and the Mount. I'll make a X-mas highlights post once our house has absorbed all of it's new contents. 

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

R's Stocking Complete!

Special thanks to my 2nd mother for backing R's stocking. Her Christmas stockings are what inspired me to make them for my family!

7 Quick Takes - The Progression of a Newborn's Smile

E had her Christmas preschool program last night and it was awesome... but since I did not take any pics with my iPhone you'll have to wait

--- 1 ---

Triple stroller anyone? Papa is not 100% convinced - nor am I that a triple stroller is in order. We have been sharing the 3 girl load. Though I do NOT push the 90 lb stroller; I opt for the 15 lb one : ) 

--- 2 ---

Speaking of outside... The weather was in the 60s (and is getting up into the 70s this weekend) this week so we took the girls outside one afternoon. They loved it but I am not sure who loved it more - us or them. I am seriously considering the installation of an indoor playground - like one at Chik-Fil-A or something because afternoons inside around here are... LOUD. 

--- 3 ---

Papa has been trekking off to daily Mass a few days each week and gives the homilies on Wednesdays. One Tuesday night the priest called him at 9:45 and asked if Lee FDJ could give the homily the next morning. So after a mere less than 2 hr prep that morning 5-7am he gave a homily that got raving reviews...so I am just a tad bit proud of him : ) Considering 18 months ago I'm not sure how it would have turned out. He's giving the homily at M's baptism so I have told him it had best be awesome because... well.. its his daughter : )

--- 4 ---

Speaking of said daughter... {since we have to qualify which one around here : ) }

Yep... LOVE HER so so much even though she has got this crazy I'm not going to sleep in the afternoon/evening thing going on - unless she is in her carseat. 

--- 5 ---

Then there's these daughters who are off of school for the next 2 months weeks. Fortunately between Christmas and New Years activities, M's baptism and Grammy taking E to the Nutcracker - which she does not know about yet - I think we should not go too, too crazy. They'll probably take 100 more selfies though!

--- 6 ---

Yes it is too cold for a bathing suit but allow me to step up on my soapbox for a moment-ito. So St. Nicholas brought E a new bathing suit that he had found on sale at a kids store here in town. I NEVER buy anything there but everything was 50% off so I was game for a few nice things. Bathing suit was maybe $15 and it was a two-piece - which is awesome when you have little ones who need to go to the bathroom you/they are not messing trying to get the entire thing off - only the bottoms. Well, well here is where I feel like I'm from the 20s speech...

The bathing suit was fine and fit well but when her hands were at her side there was a little bit of her tummy exposed - fine she's 3 not a big deal. BUT when she lifted her hands over her head.... The top rode halfway up her tummy. Not cool. I'm just not game for my little girls wearing stuff like that - I don't even like putting them in spaghetti strap tank tops and dresses - I have been known to allow it. 

So back to the bathing suit. Now I'm definitely not as conservative as say the Duggars when it comes to swimwear - I think they were something like Wholesome Wear, maybe? But E's new bathing suit was not here to stay. So we went on Amazon and found a more acceptable one (pictured above). She was pretty much a tearful wreck when I/we told her that she could not keep the other one BUT she loves her new one and as an added bonus she knows that we do not like to see her tummy so she learned a bit of preschooler modesty in the process - score one for the mom team!!!

--- 7 ---

It seems like there is a mountain of stuff to do before Tuesday night when we trek to our 2.5 hour Vesperal Liturgy for the Nativity. So let's see...

E has to get R a present - I'll go into our family present exchange later

Laundry - and lots of it

Get Christmas tree

Decorate said tree on the 24th

Decorate outside

Put candles in the windows

Wrap presents - Amazon Prime dropped off a bunch of our stuff the other day

Figure out how to transport E's scooter and R's trike to Grammy without them seeing it

                                                  

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

                               

Theme Thursday - Dreaming

Okay okay... I know this is SUPPOSED to be only one picture but hey... I think might have been dreaming that all three girls were sleeping during rest time. Good thing it was reality : )

What could M be dreaming about? Probably eating... or getting a diaper change

What is E dreaming about? Likely needing another blanket or doing something with her little family of animals. Apparently the tan bunny is Mickey and Minnie's mama...

And then R? She looks like she is dreaming about sitting on a beach relaxing.

5 Favs - Less than 168 hours until Christmas!!!

Again not much rhyme or reason behind these....

1. Done... done... done!!! 

Me - Who do you want to send Christmas cards to?
E - Hailey and Landen... and Asher
Me - Well if we send one to Asher that means Sam will get it too
E - They are twins
Me - What does that mean? {Just wanted to know what twins means in the mind of a 3 yr old}
E - Ummm... Two plus two is four
Me - Oh, okay

I let E and R... even though R does not really get it... pick a few friends to send Christmas cards to. Kids in their classes etc... This is the art they decorated the envelopes with. I think E would have done all 135 for me BUT I just let her do 4. 

E and R's cards they are sending

Return Address Stamp = AWESOME

Stamps... I really wanted the Holy Family stamps... but

these were all the PO had. Not super crazy about the Madonna and Child pic that was chosen this year

2. What little girls wish their Daddies knew...

Came across this post on FB the other day and it is a keeper. Totally worth 2.5 seconds of your day. 

3. WestJet Christmas

Watch this video... Yes it is 5 minutes and yes it is worth every second

4. Christmas presents for kids debate...

This is another FB find about one mom's thoughts on what to and not to get kids for Christmas. For me, I would opt to take a less grinchy approach but I think the author is trying to be humorous about it all. Truth or not, the comments range from your are preaching gospel to your are a total grinch.

5. 5th week of Advent

I think we are going to take the easy way out and get out the Nativity set for Advent this week. Should be a good discussion piece. It is cold and there are 100 million things going on since Christmas is a week away. Sorry totally copping out on this one : (

Monday Morning Musings

How about yesterday at church E was singing so insanely loud that I was cracking up for a good part of the first half of Liturgy... And so was Papa and the priest. It was awesome. She was slightly off tune and about .5 seconds late and very loud so her voice was very noticeable. She was so in to singing and very proud to be singing the words... Couldn't ask her to tone it down : )

Wondering how we are going to survive Christmas break with no school and me working and Papa wanting to maintain his sanity? Babysitter.

Thinking about making 12 Sweets of Christmas... Think Papa will be on board?

Thrilled that Christmas is on a Wednesday which means I don't have to work Christmas Eve so that means I can decorate the tree and deck the halls outside. 

Waiting for the second day of Christmas sales to get more outside decorations on sale... Because man those things are $$$

Pondering if we will see Grammy and Grandpa Joe at the Farmers market Sunday getting our trees. We ran into them last year and E totally wants there to be a repeat performance.

Trying to come up with another Advent activity for the week.

Reminded that drinking a cup of coffee at 4:30 in the after is a HORRIBLE idea but since I was wide awake at 11 pm I cranked out this post Mosts Post

Busy week... Aside from the general antics:

1. E has a dr appt

2. I have nursing mothers group meeting- M and I are excited 

3. I have a dr appt

4. I want to do M's footprints in Wil-town

5. Might swing by the consignment shop when doing numbers 3 and 4 just because

6. E has her Christmas program

Most Posts of 2013

This link up looks fun and exciting and for whatever reason I decided to drink a cup of coffee at 4:30 this afternoon... soooooo... here goes

Post with the Most Clicks

The three hr glucose test post is supposedly the most clicked by and large but probably because the search engines like the title... There was really no major content on the post.

The Five Favs - Those Awkward Pregnancy Questions is next in line. This post is hilarious and one I'll definitely want to remember

Post with the most comments

From the Keep Christ in Christmas Link-up. This was a fun link-up and I had a good time reading about how other people celebrate Advent and has totally got me wanting a Jesse Tree for our Advent next year

Post with the best picture

Is it really necessary to chose one picture? Here is my favorite picture from a picture-y post. This is my favorite picture post. E's first day of 3 yr old class. R's pig tails. E in her goggles and lifejacket. R in the sand. E swinging in the waves. 2013 Fam-mee beach pics (sans Papa - only bummer part) Sorry I cannot just pick one : )

Post that was hardest to write

Seriously it probably took an entire tissue box to do this one. Start with a close family friend dying + being 8.5 months pregnant (and all those lovely hormones flowing) + innocence of a 3 yr old + the sentimental-ness of the Ninis = that post

Post that is my personal favorite

5 yr anniversary post? Oh yes... I LOVE going back and remembering our wedding day and looking at the pictures.

M being born... This was a pretty fantastic post too!!!

Oh Summer Where Art Thou?

Okay I think I am getting a bit of cabin fever already in the crazy NC winter weather

Well maybe not exactly wintery, but cool/cold/wet enough to not be able to go outside with the girls. Which means we are homebound in the afternoons and weekends. Translate that into crayons and coloring books scattered about, dress up clothes COVERING their bedroom floor and books on most surfaces outside of their room.

The mess is temporary mostly because they clean it up or Lee gets so frustrated with the 150 crayons dumped - or about to be dumped - on the floor that he cleans them up which generally equals whatever mama and papa clean up it gets taken away for a while - unless we are feeling like we want to be the especially cool parents run around behind their kids cleaning up their messes. The ploy works well. But the crazy thing is the amount of STUFF that the girls have, drag out, play out and temporarily litter the ENTIRE downstairs with. AND what is scarier is that a good portion of their toys are upstairs from the re-no that we never brought back downstairs. They will go up and play with those occasionally.

Being inside with all the stuff causes me to go on purging sprees. So it needs to hurry up and get warm again... ASAP so we can go outside and leave all the mess in the garage and not run/dance/scream around the house like {cute} banshee children.

We are also in organizational flux in the laundry room. Everyone needs a cubby to put all their stuff because I don't know how much more I can fit on the rack plus the shoe bin is overflowing. Also I think it would be totally fantastic to have a craft cubby so that the crayons and markers and coloring books would have a designated home rather than just strew around on the coloring table.

Catch all kitchen counter... This is piled up with artwork, mail and other STUFF by Friday

MUST. HAVE. CUBBIES.

The playdough and dots live above the laundry... Might be breaking those out this week

Entryway... organized!

The Pottery Barn catalogue can just come to my house and set up shop and take all the fantastically beau-te-mous pictures they want and leave my house cool, calm and organized for my troubles. Seriously Pottery Barn sends out 100000 catalogues a week and I can't even look at them because I think everything in them is awesome.

I could go on but I won't bore you to death. Just want to get these pictures in my back pocket (the blog) so when we do get around to organizing the laundry room I'll have some clue as to what I think would work.

M's having an off kinda day/night so I am being summoned. Maybe she just wants to get back to the regularly scheduled weekly programa. Let's hope so!