Welcome to the Toy Shop

I have been home from work for six full days, it has been three days since Christmas, and the kids are finally settling down. Thank goodness. They were killing me!

Having just turned three, this was the first year Leon and Michael really "got" Christmas. And that made it really exciting. They eagerly wrote letters to Santa (and thankfully, after reading Berenstain Bears, were fully happy to limit their lists to around four items each). When Elfie, our Elf of a Shelf, finally decided to grace us with his presence in mid-December, they eagerly helped Ree look for him every morning and (thankfully) laughed hysterically when he forgot to move for three days. (Following Ree's lead, they kept joking, "What was in that eggnog last night?" in reference to his laziness.)

But it also meant they had Christmas energy. Leon spent the entire month in turbo, never sleeping. He was, however, a fairly happy little dude and the fighting with Michael was only a little worse than usual and the tears when I left for work only a little louder and longer than usual. Michael, though, wears his emotions on his sleeve. He has been known to skip up to me and announce, "I'm happy!" He has also greeted me at the front door at the end of the day with his head dropping, his shoulder slumped, his arms hanging and lamented, "It was a SAAAD day." When it came to Christmas, he told me through big tears, "I'm nervous."

At first the poor little guy was nervous Santa wouldn't come. Once Christmas day arrived, we thought for sure our little stressball would be happy again, but he was a big ball of emotions on Christmas Day. It wasn't until I walked into his room on the 26th and he gleefully announced, "Welcome to the toy shop!" that we realized he had been nervous his presents would all just disappear.

Now that he can relax, he is sleeping. And now that he is sleeping, he is a much happier guy. And because he is sleeping, Leon is sleeping too, and just having two sleeping boys is making life so much easier. It really is too bad I have to go back to work in five days and the drama will begin again...

Our Holidays...

...as seen in bad photos.

Here are some of the scenes of Christmas from our house. Martha Stewart would probably be horrified, but the kids are relatively happy and we are surviving.

Growing up I always swore I would have a beautiful, elegant Christmas tree when I grew up. One covered in white lights and coordinated ornaments. Instead, we have a village of Charlie Brown trees on a bar in the corner of the dining room and they are bursting with colorful, clashing ornaments. And I can't help but love 'em cuz they are just so dang homey.

And so you can fully understand how small and cluttered the trees are, Pru and Max will help put them in perspective. The trees are behind the dining room table in this picture. (This is the dogs on Christmas morning. They are obviously thrilled with the whole holiday thing.)

Jeff and I have been married for 7 1/2 years and together for quite a bit longer, and we've never had a full-sized Christmas tree. We were too lazy and cheap (I guess) before we had kids, and we've always had a reason not to bother since the kids have been born. One of these years we will get around to it. Really.

Our excuse this year was a super grabby monkey toddler. Natalia is not walking yet. (Although getting closer every day. She is cruising with wild abandon, and like her brother Leon, spends a great deal of time standing and pushing things around the house). However, the girl can climb. And she practices frequently. We took the kids to the mall the Saturday before Christmas, and she got to play on the mall playground for the first time. She wasted no time figuring out how to climb up the little slide.

And it wasn't just the stairs. The girl actually climbed the slide too.

We did manage to get Christmas lights on the house this year. It was a wonderfully warm December, except for the night I finally got around to putting up lights. That night it was windy and the temperature was dropping into the 30s, and I pretty much ended up actually throwing the lights on the bushes after the kids went to bed. (And, of course, we had to decorate the willow in our front yard. It's had quite a year.) Still, the kids were completely excited about the lights and gleefully ran out to watch us plug them in each night, at least until the night we drove around and looked at Christmas lights done by people who actually tried. I thought Ree was pretty tactful when she said the people with nicely decorated houses, "Don't have kids, do they?"

On Christmas Eve, we finally got around to decorating some cutout Christmas cookies. With the exception of Jeff, everyone in the house had a cold and was coughing and sneezing, and I am pretty sure the cookies could've been considered biological weapons despite the kids washing their hands before decorating. But they did have fun. And yes, we had pink icing.

And there was a significant colored sugar-to-cookie ratio.

Somewhere along the line, Leon insisted I take a picture of Baby Mickey because he participated in ALL holiday events along with us. Thankfully Mickey is quiet AND potty trained. (Leon has him sit on the big potty several times a day.) We like Baby Mickey.

I don't have a picture of one of my favorite holiday scenes. The kids have a Little People nativity set in the toy room. I love it mostly because it's so darn cute, but it also lets them act out the Christmas story. Leon's play kitchen is also in the toy room, and one night while cleaning up, I found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus all standing on the turntable in the microwave. I can only imagine the scenario that landed them there. I am just hoping they were riding the carousel and Disney World and no one was cooking up the holy family for dinner.

We Should Spend More Time in Nature

Bananas are a big deal at our house, especially since Leon and Michael recently graduating to eating them "like a big kid" right out of the peel. The boys love to discuss favorite foods while they eat them, usually reciting the recipe. The other day Michael asked where bananas come from.

Me: From banana trees.
Michael: From banana trees?
Me: Yup.
Michael: And apples come from McDonald's?

Something like that...

These Kids Don't Wait for Santa

The kids are having a tough time recovering from vacation. Leon especially is struggling with returning to "normal" life and there are lots of tears and angry moments. However, there are moments when it is okay that our adventures are so fresh in their minds.

Last Saturday we went to the mall so the kids could see the holiday decorations. The trip was, for the most part, a disaster. Everything was WRONG. Even Ree was upset about everything. I've blocked most of it out now, but she even had a meltdown when I wouldn't buy her a toy, not that we ever buy random toys. I think part of the problem was that the kids were so excited about the prospect of eating lunch at the mall that they barely ate breakfast, and so they were starving. But we survived, and we ate a disturbing quantity of chicken and shrimp teriyaki with vegetables, and we did (sorta) enjoy watching Natalia climb in the play area. Little monkey girl has no fear! She happily climbed a little slide over and over and over.

As we were leaving the mall, the kids spotted Santa. We have been reading lots of Christmas books, so they are well aware that you can go sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want for Christmas. I realized we have never taken them to see Santa (I know. Bad parents! We need our token picture of crying kids with Santa!) and was not opposed to doing it. However, the line was really long, and I was hoping to avoid it. Thankfully, the kids spied the line and one of them (probably Michael) asked what the line was. And when I explained it, I know it was Michael that asked what it meant to wait your turn to see Santa. So I asked if they remembered what it was like to wait in line to see Mickey. All three big kids collectively said, "Ohhhh," and then just kept on walking.

November Flowers!

We are enjoying a nice, warm December. Actually, I'm not sure it is all that much warmer than average, we have just had very cold winters the past couple of years. Many of the locals are complaining, but I realized this is the first year I am not finding it weird to be in short sleeves in December. If nothing else, it is so much easier to get kids in and out of the car while taking care of the massive list of Christmas errands when they aren't all bundled up and shivering. And when we are stuck in traffic, it is great to crank up the radio and open up the sunroof and just enjoy the day.

It was also warm in Florida while we were on vacation. We managed to go swimming three days while we were there. Michael found the experiences to be too cold, but everyone else had a great time. And it was great to see so many flowers in November. We took a long walk around the hotel property one afternoon and got some great pictures of the Florida version of all colors.

Bathing Beauty

I think we forgot something...

Sleeping Beauties

Leon and Michael have a long history of just passing out when they are tired and strapped in together.

It happened on the way home from a doctor's appointment when they were 6 weeks old.

It happened when they were a year old and exhausted from having visitors.

And it happened when they were three years old in the Magic Kingdom.

Disney World!

Ever since we returned from vacation, Leon has been asking when we will go to Disney World again, and most of his play has involved reenacting our adventures. At bedtime each night, when asked about his favorite part of the day, he always shares his vacation memories rather than the actual events of the day. The boys is in firm denial that vacation is over.

We had another (not so) awesome night at our house last night, and consequently, I'm going to follow Leon's lead. Sometimes it is just better to pretend you are at Disney World.

We drove to Orlando in one day, leaving at 6:15 a.m. and arriving in our hotel room around 5:45 that night. The kids actually did pretty well with the car trip, but they had a lot of energy when we arrived at our hotel. So much energy that they would not go to bed, especially in a new place. We had planned on going to the Magic Kingdom the next morning, but when they finally passed out after 10:00, we considered changing our plans.

We shouldn't have worried. The next morning I stumbled into the kitchen at 6:11 because I'd heard squeaky little voices. Michael looked at me and smiled as he hugged my legs and exclaimed, "I'm awake, Mom!" All the boys had slept in a separate room from us girls, and apparently Michael woke up Jeff at 5:45 when he looked out the window and asked, "Where's the sun?" He was ready to go!

Because we were staying off property, just getting to the Magic Kingdom was an epic adventure. As Leon will tell you, you have to get in Goldie (our van), then get in the stroller, then "get on the purple bus that says 'Magic Kingdom'," then get back in the stroller to get there. My aunt, who has had an annual pass to Disney World for years, bravely volunteered to help us navigate the park the first day. This was us actually arriving at the Magic Kingdom. She was carrying Ree, Leon and Michael were "back in the stroller," and Natalia was in the sling, which is where she pretty much spent our entire vacation.

The first thing we did inside was meet Mickey and Minnie. This was one of Leon's favorite moments of the whole trip. One of my favorite moments was when Leon told Mickey that he was him for Halloween and Mickey gave Leon a giant, spontaneous hug. Forget Santa. That was an amazing moment for Leon.

My aunt was holding Ree when Ree first spied Cinderella's castle. I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Yes, we were really there!

The kids all LOVED It's a Small World. The first time we rode it, Natalia was sleeping in the sling when we boarded the boats. She woke up about a minute into it and literally had to shake her head in disbelief. Had she really woken up in this crazy world filled with singing, smiling little kids?!? She was ecstatic and started bouncing up and down and clapping her hands.

It's always so funny to see what captures kids' attention. One of the big kids' major highlights of the day was watching a tube of water with bubbles in it while we waited for the Monsters Inc. comedy show.

But truly the best part of the day was that we made it the whole day with no tears. Now that is some Disney magic.

Phone Home?

I have started so many entries (or at least thought about many entries) over the past few weeks, and none have been completed. Things have just been INSANE. Most of the time life with four kids is actually pretty manageable, but right now we have four kids, at Christmas, following vacation, to Disney World. It is a miracle that we are all still alive.

I could share what the past few weeks have been like, but I am pretty confident it will just sound like whining. Yes, the kids have drug me down to their level. So in lieu of whining, I think it is time to start sharing a pic or two a day from vacation. I have a feeling these will be in no particular order.

This is our hotel room, or more specifically, our family's bedroom in a three bedroom villa we shared with my parents and grandmother. It was quite lovely. We were at Mystic Dunes resort, which is only a mile or two from Disney property. Jeff and I slept in the bed that actually looks like bed, with Natalia joining us after midnight. (She actually went to sleep each night in a pack and play. Amazing!) We put the other mattress on the floor for Leon and Michael since they are used to sleeping in toddler beds. And Leon and Michael discovered land line phones. We only have cell phones, and they loved learning about this new toy. I'm not sure the hotel operator felt the same way.