This year we were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas multiple times with our different families. Our first celebration started the weekend before Christmas when Reva and Skip (Grandma and Grandaddy) arrived from North Carolina. We enjoyed three days together, and Parker got his first experience with Christmas gifts. Ainsley is a pro by now, and she was more than happy to open everyone's gifts for them. She also thought she should "help" Parker by opening all his gifts and then playing with them, just to make sure they worked.
Parker and Grandaddy
Ainsley, opening up her new doll.
Ainsley showing Grandma and Grandaddy the photo book we made for them.
Helping Parker open his gifts
Not quite sure what he's supposed to do with this box...
Enjoying a new book with Grandma!
Silly bug with her new hat
Grandaddy spent a lot of time helping Ainsley make a beaded bracelet and necklace!
We also attended the live nativity show at the zoo. This is a great event, where they have actors and use animals from the zoo (camels, sheep, goats, etc) to tell the Christmas story. Although we had to wait in line and it was a bit cold outside, we all managed just fine and the kids really enjoyed the show. Parker was fascinated by the lights and animals, and Ainsley really seemed to follow the story since she had spent a lot of time learning about it in preschool.
All bundled up and ready for the show!
Riding the "train" to get to the zoo.
Waiting to see the Christmas Nativity
One of my favorite funny stories from the weekend happened the first night of their visit. Ainsley is at that age where she asks a lot of questions but doesn't always listen to (or understand) the answers. Ainsley commented at the dinner table that Skip and Reva's dogs (Charlie and Annie) were scared of Dixie. Skip spent several minutes explaining that they weren't scared of her, but that they were old dogs and Dixie is a young dog, and they don't have the energy to play with her. He spent a lot of time trying to fully explain the dynamic between the dogs, their ages, sizes, energy levels, and personalities. Ainsley listened very intensely, and was very quiet and polite. When Skip was finished with his explanation, she turned to me and said "Charlie and Annie are scared of Dixie."
Our funny little man, Parker, is at the age where he feels the need to repeat things over and over again. As evidenced with this new toy that he received from Grandma and Grandaddy.
Over three days we spent a lot of time playing, eating, and enjoying each others company. What a great way to start off our Christmas season! Merry Christmas and lots of love to Grandma and Grandaddy!
It's Monday. 43 days down, 43 days left to go. I feel good about this. We've reached the halfway point, right? We made it to the top and now we just coast down for 43 more days. The kids had a decent day today. School work was pretty good, no major catastrophes, I was productive with my work. We got the house and fence power washed. It looks good - nice and clean and smelling like bleach. A nice way to start the week - fresh and clean. We can do this!
My day didn't start off well. I discovered my dear daughter had not been checking her school email (she "didn't know she was supposed to") and had 118 unread messages from her teachers. In addition to managing my own anxiety over having that many unread messages, I then had to sit down with her to go through everything and help her get organized. I remember posting last week that she was pretty independent and only came to me when she had questions. Well, apparently I only thought she was independent. She actually was missing all sorts of things. Nothing major, otherwise her teachers would've reached out to me. But enough that I felt bad for her. Cue #momguilt. I don't know why I feel like her performance reflects badly on me, but I'm sure I'm not the only parent out there who does. Then I feel guilty that this has been going on so long and I didn't catch it. I keep reminding myself that, although technology is part of MY usual work day, it has no...
I woke up this morning and a feeling of helplessness washed over me. All the unknowns are creeping up and threatening to smother me. It's a wave that comes over and over again. I get to the top of one and then another hits. I have always been a planner. Sometimes I worry. But I very rarely have anxiety. I try to focus on what I know and what I have control over. What DO I know? I know what will happen for the next 4 weeks. I know the kids have school until May 22 and I will do my best to balance it with work. Got it. I can do that. But what happens after that? What will they do all day when school ends and I'm still working and camps haven't started up yet? What if camps never start? Do I cancel the camps now and try to get some money back? Or do I wait and see if they cancel and give me a refund? Do I move their camps to later in the summer when they're more likely to happen? But if I wait to see if the June camps are cancelled then all the July and August camps mi...
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