Favorite Things & Monday Musings...

It's been a few days! Things were busy, busy around here...not bad busy, just, too busy to blog busy. I'm in a hurry to get back to work and feeling really random, so buckle up...

A couple of weeks ago, Noble played with Play-Doh for the first time at school. I was waiting until he was closer to 2 to introduce it, thinking he wouldn't be interested yet...but he loves the stuff! He and Kayci have been playing with it a lot since then, and I'm mellowing in my old age--I even let them play with it...sigh...on the floor.

Yesterday's Advent activity was to make homemade playdough--I thought, if he loves Play-Doh, he'll LOVE the scented, softer dough we make at home. Um, yeah...this morning he brought me a can of Play-Doh and wanted to play with it. I tried to switch it with the stuff we made yesterday, and he'd touch it then make the nastiest face and jabber at me to get it OUT OF HIS BOWL. So much for mother of the year. Sigh.

Another sign I'm mellowing in my old age, and also one of my new favorite things: this is a pretty normal sight these days. It's usually toys mixed with cereal or half a banana or whatever Noble's touched...but there's ALWAYS a mess around here lately. This made me smile last night--we hung out at home yesterday afternoon, and a neighbor brought over some homemade cookies. While we were visiting on the porch, Noble helped himself to the cookies, so we were finding them for HOURS last night in odd places. And the candy cane...well, we like to put them on the Christmas tree as the last decoration. Noble loves candy canes, so he'll have one every day or so. But this is what usually ends up happening...

Guilty Pleasure...Favorite Things

Noble and I are at Mom's house tonight; she had a cataract procedure today, so we came in to hang out with her. She's totally fine, albeit a bit annoyed that she can't see so well just yet. Makes it hard, but not impossible, to sew. :) I had a LaPorte meeting today, so Noble and I went to Gringo's for a while and hung out with the group. It was fun! We came back to Mom's and Noble played HARD for about an hour and a half...then absolutely crashed. I'll change him into his PJs in a bit...he's just too cute this way.

So, here's my guilty pleasure: bad reality tv. You know we don't have cable, right? We got rid of it when we lived in the Heights to help pay rent...and just got used to NOT having it. If we had it, I'd watch a LOT of tv, I know. That's why I love staying in hotels and visiting our parents, so I can watch bad reality tv after the kids go to sleep. :) And that's exactly what I'm doing right now. I won't tell you what I'm watching, because I'm sure they don't intend for it to be bad tv, but seriously, none of my housewife friends look like this. Geez. But I can't look away! Nah. I'm hanging out with the tv on and getting a little work done. I sat down yesterday with my "Fall 09" to-do list for my main job, and realized that I've made, um, zero progress on a couple of my biggest goals. I have had a very productive week work-wise, and I have a lot to accomplish by this time next week to be on track for the spring semester. Like you care, I know. :) I'm babbling because I'm avoiding getting back to work...but it's sitting beside me, calling to me. Sigh. I miss my Daddyboy and Kayci. It may be a long night!

Favorite Things

Oh, what a difference a day makes...the sun is shining and I woke up happy and motivated to have a productive work day today. Of course the sun shining helps...the clean house helps me focus, too. And the old jeans, and James' sweatshirt--told ya I wasn't wearing the zebra scarf or any zebra shoes today. Perhaps I wore the candy cane scarf this morning...don't judge me. It was warm and matched James' red sweatshirt. I'm not a big sweatshirt & jeans outside the house kind of girl, usually...

Anyway...today's favorite thing: a lazy Mommygirl trick. We live in an old, old house (wouldn't trade it for the world. Perhaps for another bathroom, but not for the world. Hee hee.). Old houses = lots and lots of dust. My least favorite chore? You guessed it. I've discovered, though, after years of decorating for Christmas with snowmen, pine trees, and polyfil snow, that there's a hidden benefit: a month without dusting. Ahh....You see, one of the things I'm trying to work on is my need (read: wild-eyed frenzy) to have a clean and neat house. I'm working on letting things go...not being so stressed and compulsive about having things clean. And neat. And in their places...see, I can't even write about it without getting uptight. But I've really, really made a lot of progress!

Here are a few pics--you'll see in a couple that we didn't go all out this year: the fruit & veggie stand is still on the buffet, our fridge top is the same...just with an ever-changing collection of random decorations. But with the snow, no dusting...and happy Mommygirl. Yea, me!

Okay, okay, some favorite things...

Too many people are having a yucky day to leave it with no GOOD THINGS. So here are some of my favorite things this morning:

Our new bed: It's freakin' high, but I really enjoy being IN it. Or ON it, whichever is correct. Seriously, it's like staying at the Marriott every night. Love it! And I have the quilt flipped to white for the Christmas season...love that, too. :)

Zebra scarf: My friend Dee was wearing this AWESOME scarf last week--imagine my surprise to find out you can be all fabulous with a $5 WalMart scarf. So I held off for...less than 24 hours. Hee hee. (The candy cane scarves we wore to the parade were also of the $5 fabulous variety.) I stuck my boots in the pic because the scarf is SO fun with them. And it was fun yesterday with my zebra flats...I will try desperately to NOT wear the scarf...or zebra shoes of any kind...tomorrow. Hmm...

OH! Our first Christmas card of the year: Our first card came in the mail this morning! It's from Ginny & Marty (also known as Mandy's parents). So thanks, Ginny--your card totally snapped me out of my funk!!! :) See, you're ALWAYS good for a smile, friend!

Not so favorite thing...

I know I've been posting about happy things, but I'm not in a really happy place today. Part of it is that there are a couple of situations right now where I'm not exactly sure what to do. (Sorry, I don't, in fact, know everything. I just like to act like I do!) Part of it is my trashed house, big pile of laundry and even bigger pile of work I need to plow through today. A big part of it, too, is the weather. I HATE DREARY DAYS. I need sunshine, people. I know that dreary days are a part of life, but so many in a row...blech. So that's my not so favorite thing: the dreary weather today. I'd much rather go to a movie and drink some hot cocoa somewhere than have to sit here by the window that doesn't have sunlight streaming through it and work. Double blech.

Favorite Things

So this one isn't really a holiday favorite thing, but it makes me smile. :) I've got to work in Houston tomorrow, so I'm posting Monday's blog a little early...

Noble has gotten back in the habit of finishing out the night in Mommy & Daddy's bed. Which isn't horrible, and yes, I do enjoy the cuddling. He has developed a new trick, though, that I will probably never forget...he tends to wake up before I do, and the kid wakes up ready to play. Sometimes he's content to lay in bed and talk for a while, but when he's ready to get up, he wants to get UP. Now when he's ready, he just climbs over me, gets my glasses from my bedside table and puts them on me, all the while saying "eye-yeyes, mom mom's eye-yeyes." Come on, how cute is that?

And how cute is this? Those are my eye-yeyes from about 6 years ago...Kayci likes to wear them when she teaches sometimes. We cracked up at him wearing them around tonight! Noble eye-yeyes...

Favorite Things

If you read our family blog, too, you saw these pics already. Oh, well--some of you only read this one, so here they are again!

One of my favorite weekends of the WHOLE Brenham year is the first weekend of December, when they hold the Stroll and Lighted Parade downtown. Daddyboy is in charge of Germania's float, which means we don't see him much for a couple of weeks and, of course, that we get to ride on the float. Also, every year until this year, we have a huge family group at the parade which, honestly, is both wonderful and stressful. But since nobody--yup, nobody--was able to come this year, it made us realize that the wonderful cancels out the stressful. So next year, we'll be MUCH more appreciative! And now I need to figure out what to do with all of the cocoa, cider, and cookies I'd stored away for the annual event at our house... :)

We started off the day yesterday with a snowman building competition. This is one of my FAVORITE classroom/family night activities EVER...so we do it at home at least once a year. I know, I know...

That led into a lazy morning of Christmas DVDs and a family nap on the couch. I can't remember the last time we just...sat. It was awesome! We got up and around in time to get to the Dallmeyers' house for Alex's birthday lunch, and that was really fun, too. Daddyboy got to try out his new camera and the kids and I had fun visiting with friends. And the cake...let's just say, Noble's hands may permanently be stained orange and it was fun to cuddle with a cake-scented baby yesterday!

Here we are arriving at the parade...Haitham gave me this coat for Christmas last year, and I've never had an opportunity to wear it. I LOVE IT!!!! And with our candy cane scarves...let's just say, you'll be seeing me in this coat anytime the temps drop below corduroy jacket! (And ahem, look at my shoes. No animal prints--just Mommy Nikes. So they have a little silver, sue me...)

This is Germania's float--I'm a bit biased, but I think they've got a shot at the big prize this year. It's all bragging rights, no money or anything, but they worked so hard and it looked GREAT. The theme for the parade was Candy Lane Christmas, and the Germania float committee did a great job of bringing the game of Candy Land to life! What you can't see is that the gingerbread house puffs out sugar-cookie scented smoke...it was too, too cool!

Today looks to be another laid-back day; we've already been up for hours and it's already time to wind down again. We had planned to put up our outside lights today, but the rain is probably going to prevent that. But you know, it's okay--we're heading into a busy week, and it'll be nice to have another day of rest under our belts before things get too crazy. With everything going on, work-wise and personally, it can be really easy to get lost in the busy-ness of the season and forget to stop and enjoy the little moments. I think that's why I'm sticking with the Favorite Things posts, so I have to stop and take a minute each day to just appreciate one of the special things about this season. :) Remind me of that tomorrow, after I commute...