Post Christmas Blues

I'm having a hard time right now.  It's December 28th.  Three days after Christmas and I'm feeling really sad.   I think I am suffering from post Christmas Blues.  

With young kids the Christmas season is so much more fun and magical.  There is a lot of build up with advent calendars, Elf on the Shelf, special Christmas outings and decorating for the holidays.  Then just like that Christmas is over.   It's not the same looking at Christmas lights now or listening to Christmas music.  In fact I don't want to listen to any music for a while. 

To make matters worse, this year we have had two post Christmas parties canceled. So what I thought was going to be an extended Christmas (as it usually is for our family) is now done.  Over. In the books.   And the icing on the cake is the main reason for those canceled parties is because of the sick kids that we have.  So Christmas is over, we have sick kids and I don't want to listen to music. 

Thankfully, February will be here soon and we all know that is the greatest month of the year. 

Seattle Reign

We (my husband and I) are big soccer fans.  We enjoy playing, watching and analyzing most soccer events.  For the past few years we have tried to attend most Seattle Sounders games.  This has been so much fun and we have really enjoyed watching the team evolve. 

Recently we heard about the new professional women's soccer team that is coming to Seattle.  It sounds like it is a recipe for disaster.   I only have a few reasons as to why, but I'm sure there are many more.

1.  There is already a women's semi-professional soccer team here.  They have been successful and have already drawn a crowd.  

2. The name is lame.   Seattle Reign.  Yes, it might sound kind of catchy and perfect for this area but it's not.  It has already been used and it was used for a women's basketball team that quickly went under.  It is a recipe for disaster, if you ask me.

3.  Logo - Does this remind you of anything?  I'll give you a hint.  COFFEE!!!  How lame is this? 




I love soccer and  really do want to support this attempt at getting a women's team here, but really?!  I'm just not sure I can do it.   

Christmas Eve Eve

Is there anyone that has everything finished before Christmas Eve?  If there is I want to learn their tricks.  I had grand intentions to do lots of things.  I wanted my christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving.  I wanted Christmas Cards to be done and mailed before Christmas.  I wanted to get plenty of sleep and stay consistent with exercise. 

Instead, we are still shopping for Christmas presents.  Our cards are ready but very few will get them before Christmas.  I'm averaging 6 hours of sleep, that's not straight sleep and my exercise includes going up and down the stairs numerous times throughout the day.  Ok, I will give myself a little bit of credit. I have manged to get to the gym a few times a week but it is not nearly as intense as I would like it.  

So here is hoping for a good night of sleep and for a somewhat stress free Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  'tis the season!

Countdown

The countdown is almost over.  Two days until Christmas.  The boys are so excited!  They keep asking when it is going to be Christmas. I'm not looking forward to three days from now when I will have to tell them we have to wait an entire year for Christmas to come again.  But until then we are in full Christmas mode.  We have a few more gifts to get but we have lots of fun things to do to help us celebrate.  

Here is hoping we are able to relax and enjoy it all too.

Forever Friend

We often spend time and energy talking about people in our lives we don’t see enough of. Describe a person in your life you are in contact with often. What does he/she mean to you?


I met SJ at my first real teaching job.  I knew she was about my age and that meant we would have a few things in common.  She taught 4th grade and I taught 5th.  But she had already been at the school for a year, so that meant she already had one advantage over me.  In some ways I was a little jealous.  She had it all together.  Her room was organized, the kids loved her, the parents loved her and all the other teachers loved her.  She was someone you just wanted to be around because if nothing else it would rub off on you.

Then I got switched from 5th grade to 4th grade and she was on my "team".  It was one of the best things that happened to me in my short teaching career (before having my own kids).  SJ is one of the most genuine, caring people I know.  She will always be a part of my life because we will both make the effort to stay in touch with each other.  She is now a vice principal so her job is even busier than it was before.   Yet a few weeks will pass and I will get an e-mail from her asking if we can meet up for a walk.  We find a way to make it work.  

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  (it's in the bible, just don't know where right now).

We sharpen each other.  Although I think I get way more from her than she does from me.  

What a blessing she is to me!

Snowflake Lane

Tonight we went to Snowflake Lane.  It's a nightly event put on at Bellevue Square. It's free and it's festive.   We have gone for the past few years.  And although its a little crazy it always reminds me of the magic of this season.  I love watching as a lot of people gather in the same place.  Characters dance around handing out candy cane suckers and taking endless pictures with little kids.  The joy and excitement in these kids' eyes is fun to watch.  What is going on in their little minds?

The show continues as a drum line comes out and plays favorite Christmas songs.  A few minutes into the performance it begins to snow.  It is pretty easy for an adult to see this is not real snow.  But the magic of it, makes the snow real in the eyes of the kids.

I love this season!

Kid swapping

Tonight I watched my friend's three kids.   It was a little chaotic.  They are great kids. It's just when you have 7 kids in your house, of different ages you can't expect much less than chaos.  The kids had fun and that is what really matters.

The best part is on Saturday my friend is going to watch my kids, all four of them.  So hopefully my husband and I will have our own little date.  Because the hardest part of having four kids is finding someone to watch them.  At least finding someone and not having to pay for it.

Spinning into Chaos

I'm not sure what to write about except a little rambling of some things I was feeling today.

I usually get up before the kids, 6 AM at the latest.  Today it was 7:20 when I was woken up.  It put me a little out of sorts but I was ok with it because I knew I could still get in a shower.  Saturday mornings are a little easier to do that.  But then my husband came downstairs and said "I'm going to practice.  I will take the boys."  He was so sweet and thought he was helping me by relieving some of my parenting duties.  Instead I was annoyed.  I missed my shower.  I had two of the four kids to take care of, which actually is harder than all four.  (you would understand if you had that many kids)  

So my whole day seemed a little off balance.  I didn't get much done on my to do list, but then I usually don't.  I looked around my house and felt like my place was just getting more chaotic by the second.  I'm not sure when it will end since we are moving into Christmas and after Christmas it is the New Year and skiing.  Then it is right back to track season. 

And then I try to just embrace this moment of life.  I'm going to miss this when it's gone.  Right?

Sick Days

I am on a quest to have two entries per day on this blog.  Mostly to keep me accountable so I can continue to improve my writing.   Well, I made it a day and a half. 

Then I got sick.   Yes, it's an excuse.   This was the kind of sick that I laid on the couch and I didn't know how I was going to physically make it through the day. I  have four little ones to take care of, one of which is a nursing baby.  I wanted to call my mom, or drive to her house and just sleep there all day while she watched the kids.   But since my husband was working from home I figured I could always call him as a back up.  

I made it through the day, barely.  I put on my rally cap when I had to but then I would find the couch as quickly as I could so that I could rest.   Fortunately, a few nights of sleep seems to have me back on track.

Through all of this I couldn't help but think of those people who are fighting sickness, such as cancer.  They feel like this EVERY SINGLE DAY, ALL DAY LONG.  It is something I can't imagine and hope I will NEVER have to experience.  I am thankful for my health and don't take it for granted. 

Kindergarten & Life

A little over three months ago I held back the tears as I watched my first born enter Kindergarten.  I'm not one to easily cry.  I watched him as he entered his classroom and was now in a new stage of life.  What a wonderful stage of life it is.  He comes home every day excited about what he has learned and eager to tell stories about recess or P.E.  

And today I cried.  I cried for those moms who "let go" of their kindergarteners but who will never be able to hold them again. 

This massive shooting spree in Connecticut, claiming the lives of 20 young kids has me (and most of the world) sick to my stomach.  It is beyond comprehension, beyond understanding and there is no way to begin to process it.

All I know is today when I was a little short or a little impatient I quickly said a prayer of thanks.  Thank you God that I still have all my babies.  Thank you for giving me these babies.   May I always be reminded how blessed I am.

Santa on the Ferry

Yesterday we took a Ferry ride.  On our way back home we were surprised to see Santa in the car behind us.   The bigger surprise happened when Santa came to our car to greet our kids.  They were so excited to see him.  He definitely had his "ho, ho, ho" down pat.  In fact that is mostly what he said the whole time.  The boys quickly told them what they wanted for Christmas.  He gave them each a candy cane and walked away as bells jingled around him.

Fast forward to the next day, today.  We took our family to a Christmas Carnival.  Part of the festivities included a picture with Santa Claus.  It went pretty smoothly even though I feared at least one of my children would not participate.   Surprisingly did they not only participate they also told Santa what they wanted while giving him a high five.   As we were walking away my oldest son said "hey, we saw you on the ferry yesterday."  I was caught off guard and had to quickly respond with a "yes, Santa, don't you remember we saw you on the ferry last night."   Santa, being the wonderful person that he is, said "oh, yes and you might see me somewhere else too."  

I will have to be a little more careful about what I say and how I say it.  These magical moments are just too precious to ruin. 

Knuckles

We have started a new tradition and now a bit of a phenomenon called Elf on the Shelf.  It's really cute!  Part of me is mad at myself for not thinking of something so clever and then making lots of money off of it.  I'll have to put my creative mind to work to think of something else.  

It has been fun to see Knuckles, our elf, appear in different places around our house.  The best part is usually my husband is the one who finds a new spot for it.  So in the morning I also get to go look for Knuckles.  At this point, with our kids being so young, he doesn't hide in very hard places.  He also isn't a very tricky elf or a mischievous one so he is easy to find.  I'm sure over the years Knuckles will be more and more creative with the places he ends up in.

So off to bed and tomorrow morning I will find Knuckles, except I know where he will be already.

10:50

Well, it's 10:50 at night and this is post one of my two a day posts.  Ugh!  This is exactly why I wanted to do this to make myself more accountable.  I was going to sit down and write something early this morning but I didn't.  Mostly because I slept in...meaning I got up at 7:10.  But my kids were also up at 7:10 or maybe 6:55 but they weren't loud enough.

I'm a morning person.  I do my best in the morning and boy can I get a LOT done.  The problem is I have 4 little ones to take care of and so I don't really get a LOT done.

But that's about it for now.  I will work on my other post after I check e-mail, facebook, maybe have some ice cream. 

Two a Day

I am lame.  I want to be a writer yet I haven't written anything in over 6 months.  Well, I take that back.  I have written stuff but it's only been for my family blog, not this one.  If I want to be a writer I know the best way to become better is to just write.  Write some more.  WRITE. WRITE. WRITE. 

So what is my excuse?

I have plenty.  But really there isn't much time for that.  Well I guess there is because I have been using that time to make excuses for not writing.   I'll just spare you.

I have decided to make a plan. 

Originally my idea was to write a blog entry once a day.  It worked for a little while.  But that quickly faded.  Now I am so far removed from this blog it is hard to start up again.   It goes back to my college soccer days when we had two a days.  Two practices in a day.  They were brutal.  Then again I had nothing else to do except play soccer, sleep, play soccer and eat.   Now I have LOTS to do.  So I will have to find a way to get my two a days in....every day.

I have titles of posts waiting to be written.

Otherwise someone (but probably no one except my dear husband) will have to read the boredoms of my day. 

Tomorrow begins my two a days. 

The busy life

Life is busy!  But it is always busy.  I suppose having four kids age five and younger makes life busy.  It is the kind of busy I wouldn't trade even though by the end of my day I collapse in exhaustion and wonder how I will ever wake up the next morning.  And then I do. I wake up and get through another busy day of to do lists and things that need to be accomplished.  I have learned or discovered that everyone is busy in some way.  We might be busy as parents or busy as students studying into the wee hours of the morning.  Or in some cases busy playing and too busy to come inside to eat or even to stop and go to the bathroom.

How we handle our busy lives is what is interesting to me?  We can look at our busy lives as an inconvenience, longing for our next vacation or "break" from the busyness of life.  Or we can approach the busy life as a blessing and as a way to thank God for giving us so much to "entertain" ourselves with...sporting events, television, video games, hanging out with family/friends.   We fill our calendars to make ourselves busy.

And so it is finding the balance of the busy life that becomes a challenge and that is what I am continuing to do, finding what I want to make myself busy with.

Maternity Leave

I haven't posted in a long time.  Too long.  I'm frustrated with myself for being undisciplined and not making my writing a priority.  I have so much to say all day long and would love to express it into words. But right now my time is occupied by our latest blessing.  It has been almost 4 weeks since we welcomed our daughter into this world.  I'm starting to feel a little more "normal" but I have to remind myself to give myself a little break.  So this is my maternity leave.  I hope to write more and be more consistent (yes, I know I have said that plenty of times before but this time I have a good excuse).  

Two more weeks and (hopefully) I will be back from my self imposed maternity leave.  For now, I will just enjoy the snuggles.

Italy

A country you would like to visit.

As a child the country I wanted to visit was Australia.  It had this appeal to me since it was the "Land Down Under."  It was the only place I felt like I had to visit in my lifetime.  Since then I have been to a few other countries but now I have added a new place to my list, Italy.

I really have no reason for this.  I've never really dreamed about it or thought I had to go there.  I think what makes me want to go there is the romantic aspect of it.  I keep telling my husband we need to go to Italy for our 10th anniversary (which is only 2 1/2 years away).  If I live my life and never visit Italy I won't be disappointed but I will always wonder if it would be a romantic trip or if I would be disappointed by my expectations. 

Life without Social Media

From Mama Kat's Writing Workshop

I know of a few people who do not have a facebook page.  It's crazy.  How can you not?  In all honesty I can understand the reason why you would not get one. It is the latest craze and to avoid being part of the masses it is easy to put down your foot and say I'm not going to be on facebook.

But as a stay at home mom who mostly interacts with people under four feet tall, facebook has become my world of sanity.  It reminds me that there are other moms who are having bad days or there are people who live normal lives and most importantly there are people who travel to far off places to explore world.  And at least I can live through them.

I know I could live without tv.  It would be my preference, actually.  But life without social media would very likely make me an out of touch, stressed out, overwhelmed mother.  Well, maybe I am already one of those but at least social media can momentarily help me slip into another world.

**And if we did not have social media I would not get so many people wishing me a Happy Birthday (my absolute favorite feature of facebook).

Eating Bon Bons

Return to work after baby was born or stay home? How did you make your decision?

(Mama Kat's Writing Workshop)

In our first few months of dating my (now) husband and I had many conversations about having a family and the roles we would have in them.  Although I was a teacher I knew I wanted to stay at home with my own children.  It was what I always wanted and it is what I had growing up.  

Now with 3 small children and one on the way I get to stay at home.  Most of the time I sit on the couch and eat bon bons.

The transition from working to being at home was pretty easy, at first.  About 5 months into being a SAHM (this was also the time when school was starting again) I had a very hard time with my new role.  I wanted to return to a normal schedule. I wanted more interaction than just a small infant that only smiled at me.  I wanted to feel like I was contributing to our family finances (since I felt like I just kept spending money on groceries, etc.)  

I am almost 5 years into this new role and am so thankful I get to experience it.  It isn't always easy.  But we are making it work.  

Top 100

Sometimes I don't know what to write about, but I know I need to write more.  Especially on here.   As I was thinking/researching about writing stuff I came across a top 100 list.  This list is for the top 100 children's novels and now I have a new "goal".   I am going to work on reading this list.  Not only is it something tangible that I can do but it will also be a great way to be exposed to even more children's novels.   If I still want to write my own book then I need to learn from some of the best. 

I think I might be putting too much pressure on myself but I don't have a date I have to finish by, just an idea to try and follow through with.