Living the Life!

If you live in Northeast Wisconsin, or well really anywhere in Wisconsin, you might just be homebound for the entire weekend. We get a ton of snow some years. We're all used to driving in this. So why are there so many cars in the ditch! We got a foot of snow at least today. And tonight we're supposed to get another foot to foot and a half of snow. My only hope for tomorrow is that whatever caused my snowblower to stop working today is better by tomorrow! I think the gearcase got too much ice around it. Hoping that's all it is because I don't want to replace that and wont be able to do it if I have a foot of snow in my driveway preventing me from getting to the hardware store. Before getting it going in the first place I had to fix the starter rope. It broke off the handle and apparently I'm the only person who knows how to fix it. I showed the little guy how so maybe by the time he's five he'll be fixing things for me.

With all the snow I wanted to go sledding but I was overruled by a four year old. We stayed in and watched Prince of Persia after the first round of snowblowing and shoveling and then watched the first Harry Potter after the second round of snowblowing and more shoveling and a very very long nap for my two boys. One of my boys has a bit more hair than the other! No room left for me on the couch.

Tomorrow, more snow. More board games. Keeping a four year old entertained indoors isn't easy. Though he did ride his bike in the driveway today! Only my child would think a blizzard is a great time to get out his bike.

There are lots of things on my to do list for the house. Some of that can get done tomorrow too. Small repairs, patching up some nail holes, and painting a couple areas. I debate whether to sell the house this year. I love my home and realize I always have. I love my bedroom, how I have it decorated and painted. I love this room and the layout of my house. I would really like another colonial style home. But a single mom with only one child left at home has little use for a colonial style home with so much room. I've been looking at duplexes in the area my family lives in. I think it's likely I'll buy one of those for the short term and live on one side and rent out the other. Then someday maybe I'll rent out both sides. And if I don't have a tenant, well a duplex isn't more than what I currently pay so I know I will be fine financially. Emotionally though. It's going to be difficult.

Life Plans? Haha

Is there ever really a plan? I'm not so sure.

I have plans. I have plans to get in super awesome shape. I took a little over a week off with the vacation and a really excessive amount of yard work. Plan was back to it today but we had a parents group event that could NOT be missed! It was the Big Rig Gig in a city really close to us. Lil man got to "drive" semi's, a fire truck, dump truck, garbage truck, and even a police car! He had a great time climbing in and out of all the cool trucks. We missed going in the Humvee but he was way more interested in the semi's.

So tomorrow right? Back to the gym? But nope, I'm doing something way more important. Bringing my son to see his brother. I can't wait for them to have some time together! With their dad being basically absent they really don't see each other ever. It's good that my son's brother's mother wants to hang out with us too! 

Saturday night maybe. After little guy goes to bed, it's pole time for me. Put on the music and just dance. Especially now that my skin is feeling much better from last weekend! A bit burned on the belly, thighs, and chest. No peeling yet so I think I'm in the safe zone :). 

And I have plans to be financially ok. Which is sort of the case. I owe a private loan of a lot of money and a slight amount on my medical that would have been paid off first I didn't have my car break down twice in the last couple months and secondly I could have not gone on my very much needed vacation. 

And I have relationship goals. Well I've had relationship goals since I was 5. And that's probably the most significantly stressful part of life. There is one person in charge of my workout routine generally other than the small ways of activities getting in the way. There is really only one person in charge of my finances other than the unpredictable breakdowns on the car or random home repairs. But there is one thing you will never ever fully know, the mind and heart of another person. I want safety and security in a relationship. And hopefully that is how things will play out but really even after ten years with one person I thought would always be there, he left without warning. Everything can seem doable to you when the other person just wants to walk away because that's what's easier to them. I want what most people want. To wake up next to someone who loves you as much as you love them every single day. Someone who drives you nuts in all the right ways and puts up with your pet peeves and knows the little things that make you smile. Someday maybe. Until then, dating will suck and I'll keep planning my life around me.

Weekend Getaway!

This past weekend was Mothers Day weekend and I'd been having a pretty stressful time about a month ago dealing with an absent father for my son so I decided we'd take a trip away to escape Wisconsin for just a bit :).

We went to Carlsbad, California. We spent a day in San Diego at the zoo and we spent a ton of time sitting next to the ocean the rest of the time! Lil Man loved the sand and the waves. He kept running from them so they wouldn't touch his toes and get his feet wet. And he climbed on the rocks pretending to be a dinosaur and named one of the rocks Petrie for his favorite Land Before Time character.

The little guy was amazing the whole time. He cried twice, when he hurt his knee and when I made him eat the lunch he asked for :). Kids, they're funny sometimes. He has been the easiest traveling companion I've ever traveled with. I don't know that I've ever met such a laid back and easy going kid. And having only a two year old to talk to I was expecting to be really burned out by that by the time we flew back and I wasn't. Did help that I have some awesome friends who texted with me on Saturday! But truly he and I were so busy just enjoying the weekend I didn't have lots of time to text or chat with friends anyway.

This was probably the best weekend I've had in months if not years! I loved my trip in September with my parents but that was before surgery where everything still hurt. This is my first pain free vacation and just being able to fully enjoy it was more than I ever expected I'd be able to do again. I was able to chase my son on the beach and run through the waves with him. At the zoo I decided to forgo a stroller and carried him on my back and shoulders when he didn't want to walk. Things I couldn't have done before. Short months ago even when I was sleeping I was still aware of being in pain. And now this, it really just makes me realize how lucky I am to have a second chance to be alive basically. And I plan to continue to enjoy my life much more and see more of the world than I have before. And I'll see the world alone if I need to, I shall not be stopped!

Here's just a couple pics of us...

At the zoo

Just before Sunset

Two Days of Bad Workouts

Yesterday was my swimming day and the water was so warm. I could barely do the tempo swims, my return lap was 23-24. Usually it's closer to 19-20, 21 max when I get tired toward the end. So halfway through the mile I switched and just did some sidestroke and backstroke.

Today was weight lifting day and I just couldn't do it. I got in there and did the first half of the weight lifting and just felt too drained to do the other half. I think I didn't drink enough water yesterday. I feel just more tired than I should because I slept well last night so probably lack of fluids. Upping the fluids today and I'm going to try to do the rest of what I missed this morning for the weights and then get my mile tempo swim in. That and I'm still mildly emotional, had to make another tough decision regarding my personal life and that's weighing on me today too besides the lingering emotions from the past weekend.

My work life however is about to improve! There was a meeting yesterday and I'm switching to days, which we knew since last September but I am apparently irreplaceable ;). But finally my replacement is here, still a student, and still will need to be trained on my shift. By June 27th it sounds like she should be taking over my shift if all goes as planned. And I can't wait! Days!!! It'll be a huge change for me and I have a pretty set morning schedule so reorganizing my day will be interesting. After over 5 years on this shift I feel like it's changing my entire lifestyle to switch to days. That and with switching my personal relationships may become more involved. Working the same shift as my family, meeting with them at night, I expect to be much busier. Now when I want to go to the gym everyone's working so no one is asking to see me or hang out. That will change with this. It'll be nice to see friends more hopefully that I've not been able to see very regularly for awhile though! And I'll just have to utilize my basement more for my weight lifting workouts after my little man goes to bed.

14 Weeks Already?! And Adoption

I don't even know where the last week went. Seriously I jumped from 12-13-14 without really noticing it! Training plan is at a standstill for weights basically. I'm at where I'll be for a little bit.

Quick update, everything's great :). Right paraspinals are still getting occasionally sore and some mild right sacroilliac irritation but that's much better after seeing my Sports Chiropractor Guy the past two Mondays. Not much change from week 13 so lets get to the rest of my life!

Missed the gym a couple times in the past week, family time comes first. I had my biological daughter this weekend. I am a biological mother in an open adoption. In Wisconsin open adoptions are not legally binding. When I birthed my daughter and placed her into the arms of another mother I had to hope that they would keep up with what they agreed to. And they have gone above and beyond that.

For the past couple years twice a year I've had my biological daughter in my home overnight WITHOUT her parents! Yes, you read that right. I can truthfully say I've never heard of this situation with minor adoptees happening with any of the other biological or adoptive parents that I associate with. Having all my kids under one roof is emotionally overwhelming. It's truly amazing and surreal and at the same time very sad. I know the next day she goes home, to her parents. Her real parents, the one's that raised her and taught her all she knows and took care of her when she got hurt and sick. I've missed those things and seeing her in my home reminds me of the things I never got to do with her. That pain of that reminder is no where near the joy of seeing her laugh and smile and drive her big sister crazy and chase her little brother around the house. I am very grateful that I get to have these moments with her. She got to chill with  her cousins too and hang with the grandparents. She met her paternal grandfather for the first time.

It usually takes me a couple days to emotionally recover from seeing her, even when we didn't keep her overnight. Not just because I'm sad, but because I'm happy too. I know that she is who she is because of the decision all her parents made nearly 12 years ago. Us and them. They chose this path as did we and we share an amazing little girl because of it.

No More Pictures Mom!!

Another swimming PR!

From ONLY a week ago I've cut 3:04 minutes from my previous personal record. That is over three minutes!!! In one week! Super crazy excited about that. I checked my laps repeatedly to make sure I didn't double click and it all checks out. Best lap was a mere 58 seconds for 1/33 of a mile. This will be my last PR for a while. The following six week program that I start next week will be working more on speed drills and form. I have no idea how I did that well compared to the following week. The stars must have been perfectly aligned. And I was quite happy that morning despite only 5 hours of sleep the night before. I completely shocked myself. I'm still having trouble believing it, but yep, I did it :).

I had my nieces over the weekend. Two awesome girls who I don't get to see as much as I'd like. The older one may have been a little bored since there's an 8 year age gap. Hard to find something all three are interested in doing. We went to feed the ducks at the wildlife reserve near me and then wandered through the learning area of the sanctuary. None of them would go down the slide :(. With a possible change in my shift at work hopefully I will be seeing them more. I'd really like to be more involved with them. And I'm hoping I can take them for a long weekend this summer sometime. Get them all some time away and my sister and her husband can hopefully celebrate her upcoming graduation from the nursing program.

Congrats Sister and Brother in Law on your ten years of marriage! Remember the first 4 decades are the hardest...

1000 Islands

Thousands Islands is a nature reserve in Kaukauna. I've been here before. I visited here with Grandpa Muddy and the path in the lower woods I would say is NOT stroller friendly and parts of it are baby carrier friendly. 

This stairway is the way to the "upper woods" of 1000 Islands. The stairway is probably the most baby friendly part of the path. These pathways would probably be best for kids who listen well and can walk pretty well, like the 8 or 9 range or a very well behaved 6 or 7 year old. The outer loop of the trail is about 2.25 miles with a few trails intersecting back and forth so you could make this quite a good hike. 

Who can resist a selfie in the woods???

This is Baby Muddy and myself. I had just gotten done with an overnight shift and figured a quick walk was the best thing to do before going to bed. We did not see even one bit of wildlife because... ahem... someone... ahem baby boy... was being VERY loud! Baby Muddy was very excited the morning of this walk and squealed all the way to the end of the path and back. He had a great time!

Baby and I walked this path below. It's the Valley Bike Trail and runs 1.25 miles. Because even in the carrier, I couldn't walk the trails of the upper woods with Baby Muddy, we stuck to the bike path. The bike path would have been stroller friendly with the very well packed crushed stone/gravel pathway. Though the bike path ran along some homes, it was still quite a scenic walk in the woods.  

Wimpy Arms Part Two

Beginning of August I had some wimpy arms and my goal was to not have such wimpy arms. 

I'm keeping my arm goal for yet another month doing the 30/30, 20/20, 10/10 push-ups/tricep dips on the counter top here at work. 

Here it is after a month:

August Goals

1- Run 10 miles every weekend

Generally met this one. I ended up doing closer to 8-10 miles and this past weekend only four miles but another few with Grandpa Muddy walking. Hip pain got the best of me but we'll keep it up for this month too. 

2- Pictures and posting three trails

I made this :). Sunset, Thousand Islands Upper Woods, and a random third which was the trestle trail all made it into my blog in August. As well as yet again the East River trail. 

3-Pull ups and Amazing Arms

Check! My pull up bar will likely be returning upstairs soon but it was well used this month in the hallway downstairs. Kind of an eyesore though right off the kitchen like that. 

4-nutritional goal was a complete loss. 

5- Carpet

My hallway carpet is down. I need to get the transition strips in but otherwise, it's all set and I can finally stop getting irritated every time I walk through my hallway. It was more of a pain than I expected but it's so much nicer to have it out of the way. 

6- Family Time

I didn't get to spend as much time as I'd like with my daughter since she spent  a lot of time camping and out and about this month. And Mr Muddy and I didn't even get a night out :(. But we did some running and biking together which is just as good to me :). 

So for September:

1- Tough Mudder the first weekend and continue to run as close to 10 miles per weekend as I can. Adding in a 2 mile run every Wednesday or Thursday after my call night.

2- Three more trails. Heesacker Park and Doty Park in Menasha/Neenah on the same day since apparently they are quite close to each other. Memorial Park in Appleton. And a third to be determined close to home. I'm thinking Pamprin Park might be a good one or possibly Humbolt.

3- Continuing the Arm plan from last month while I'm at work as well as the 30 Day Ab Challenge I'm doing with some friends on facebook. 

4- Really got to get a bit better on the whole nutrition aspect and damn it... I'll do it. This month, writing down everything I eat and drinking at least 3 glasses of water a day. 

5- A full top to bottom house cleaning is in order.

6- More family time driving with my teen and a night out watching the sunset with Mr Muddy would be very nice. 

Sunset Park

Sunset is a park in Kimberly with a boat dock and also a swimming beach. I used to do a lot of swimming there as a kid. The beach was closed and water drained when I was there this past weekend, so no pics of that. 

I walked with Baby Muddy and Grandpa Muddy. We ran into an old friend as well! 

Trails, very stroller friendly. It's a nice scenic area, maybe 2 or 3 miles of trail altogether, but not certain on that.  

There are a few smaller trails that go into the wooded area more that are not stroller friendly but still appear to be generally baby carrier friendly. There are a couple hills that can be a little hard to push a stroller up, but Grandpa gave a helping hand there. 

There are two play areas, the one in the photo is the smaller one. The other is at the top of the other hill and near a pavilion and bathrooms. This smaller one is a bit away from bathrooms, but near enough to see the pavilion from this spot. 

The day was a little hotter than anticipated but it was absolutely beautiful out. This is also a good park for professional family photos. Lots of bridges and a nice build up stone area. 

Overall, very stroller friendly for walking, also dog friendly on the pathways, and great for the bigger kids too so they can get a break to play as well. 

Thousand Islands in Kaukauna

This is a nice little environmental reserve with some paths to follow. I was with Grandpa Muddy so we did a short path. Next time I'll head into the "upper woods" path and see what the trails are like. However, starting at the nature reserve, the paths really are not good for strollers. Or really for baby carriers either. The wooden path (shown above) has lots of overgrowth and no railings. It's difficult to cross paths with another stroller going the opposite direction since the wooden paths are off the ground and are not very wide. 

I could have worn the carrier (and should have but my back hurt) but if you go off this path and onto the next path it is wood chips and very uneven. It does go along the water and is pretty, however strollers can't be rolled easily though the wood chips and tree roots that make this path difficult to traverse. Wearing baby in a carrier would definitely have increased the risk of me falling and hurting one or both of us since it would have limited the visibility of the path (I front wear still). Tripping over a root would not have been ideal. There are also some steps along the path (not marked on the map) along the water to the observation deck. These steps are not something I would have wanted to do with the carrier and were difficult with the stroller (but Grandpa helped carry the stroller up/down them :) ). 

The water level is low this year and looking through the nature is really beautiful. We saw a deer though I didn't get a picture. There were some deer tracks along and across the low water areas. 

I'll be heading back to the "upper woods" area in a couple weeks and we'll see if that area is better for strollers or carriers. The "upper outer" loop runs along the Valley Trail (trail that runs through multiple cities) so I'm sure the Valley Trail will be paved even if the upper outer loop is not. 

So, my recommendation if you start from the nature reserve itself is to take kids that can walk steadily on their own and are not so young that they will run off on the paths. 

UWGB Trail

Google made this picture prettier than my phone did, but it is a good representation of how pretty this trail is! This is about a four mile loop on mostly gravel. It's a walking stroller friendly path. Fairly level and doesn't bind up the stroller wheels. It's also wide enough to walk with two people and the stroller, probably not for two strollers side by side though. It's mostly forest and fields but there is a nice area along the lake as well. 

This area along the water has a nice place to park and set up a picnic and maybe do a body weight exercise or yoga routine. I'm hoping to take Teen Muddy this weekend with the baby. She's awesome with picnics :). If anyone wants to join me, let me know now!!! We'll pack extra food. 

This trail also has a nice patch of clovers growing! I'll save that pic for another post about the wonderful joys of edible flowers/weeds. I have never actually eaten a clover. Baby Muddy ate his first clover this past weekend at the park. He's played with them before and put them in his mouth. This weekend though, he just popped off the flower part and ate it. 

So, this trail is in Wisconsin of course and I haven't ventured far out of Green Bay yet. There are just so many trails and path's near me. This area is just opposite the main entrance to the UWGB campus. 

7 Miles Today!

I've had a few personal struggles this weekend. It has been pretty crappy here but that's a post for a week or two down the line if ever. 

Despite the rough weekend, I got out there with my sister and our jogging strollers. With the stroller I can only run 2-3 minutes at a time with a 2 min walk. The first 45-60 minutes is almost all 3 min runs followed by two minutes walking. I didn't do really great today and it took us a bit over an hour and a half to do the full seven miles. 

We ran the East River Trail. It was very pretty! The trail is much more narrow then the one I usually run on. It runs along a very slow moving river and there were some wooden trails over the marshy area of it. The larger trail runs along a residential area and faster river; this one runs through woods and along parks as well as the slow river on the other side. The woods we did have to battle the mosquitoes and I did not survive unscathed. 

Overall, I'm glad I even just made the seven miles tonight. I'm probably a little dehydrated and definitely over stressed. With two runs to prepare for, I really couldn't afford to miss the run today. The Tough Mudder is coming up in 76 days! Just over 2 months to prepare. And the half marathon is about three months away. 

Not only did I need the run, I needed the company. It was nice to have some distraction for a part of today. And the nice nap afterwards with Baby Muddy was quite nice. He curled up on my lap and fell right asleep after my sis and her kids headed home. He was quite tired out too!

Bellin Run

The Bellin Run is a huge event around where I live.

It's also the first of only two runs I have planned for this year so far. It's a relatively inexpensive run. Some runs can cost a huge amount of money. This one is a whole $20. Seriously. For a 10K!!!

I'm going to run it with my sister's running partner. She's way way awesome :). She was part of our Tough Team last year. And she's the leader of our Tough Team this year. I'm not sure if she knows that... but she was the first to sign up for the Mudder so by default I say she's leader.

My daughter, aka Teen Muddy, is also running the Bellin this year. She's going to run with a friend of hers. They don't want to run with this here old lady :'(. Sad sad. Running is an awesome habit to get into. It keeps you young, literally! Seriously, there have been studies that runners age slower than non runners. All the more reason to run.

The run is on June 13th. Teen Muddy is starting her training this week. The weather outside is finally above freezing consistently so I can get Baby Muddy out in his stroller so I know I need to stop with just the weights and add on the running too. I'll still lift the weights and swing the kettlebell, too.

During the weekdays I know I need to get out for at least a mile on the days I start work later. That would be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I wish I had a second shift friend who lived near me to keep me on track to run. Maybe someday...

Everyone out there, find what you love and go do it!

Insanely Sore! Head to Toe!

So, as you can see from yesterdays post, I finished the carpet in my family room. I was sore yesterday, but today... OMG, so much worse! My shoulders are just crying and my hips are pure agony. This must be delayed onset muscle soreness. I was considering a workout today but when I woke up like this, forget it!

I haven't done a workout since midweek last week. We had a really bad stressful situation last week with day care and having to switch. I became overly stressed and then ate terribly and didn't work out at all. Then with this carpet replacing, I'm pretty sure that's a good enough workout for now. Tomorrow I'm skipping the workout because I'm returning all the furniture to the room. That will be another workout all in itself. Maybe I'll do a short walk if there's any time left before I go to work depending on how  long it takes to put everything together again.

This week I've done much better on not eating junk other than some Cheetos today. And I'm much less stressed now that we have a new day care provider for Baby Muddy. She seems very organized and nice :). Little guy did well yesterday with nearly no crying. He saved that all for me yesterday morning... Today he wasn't fussy at all and let me get some things done!

^^^ BabyMuddy staying busy while I do dishes :). 

The rest of my house looks like a disaster area because the furniture from one room somehow expanded and is now in three rooms... Trying to keep the half of the kitchen that isn't covered in extra furniture looking somewhat livable :).

Until this whole carpet laying business is done, I'm just going to hope someone drops a hot tub off at my place! 

Unsuccessful Attempts to Remember Recent Conversation

So my daughter and I have interesting conversations in the mornings when I bring her to school. We talk about all sorts of stuff from the really deep and thoughtful to the extremely mundane.

Regardless of what we talk about there is usually at least one unsuccessful attempt to recall what it was we were just talking about.

Case in point...

I stopped at MudTeen's dad's house. We drove three blocks talking about something. After three blocks we were laughing and I turn to her and said, what were we just talking about? She, thinking I'm joking laughs at me. Then realizes I really have no idea what we just spent three block talking about and NEITHER DOES SHE!!! So, then we're hysterically laughing. And trying to remember what we were talking about.

We continue our conversation. We remember we were talking about Muddog early on during the first half of block one. And prior to getting to her dad's we were talking about this blog. But that three blocks? Completely lost. No idea and absolutely no recollection for either of us.

And this happens ALL THE TIME!

Seriously, neither of us suffer from short term memory disorders but yet we have a terrible time recalling conversation in the early morning drive to her school.

So it's been a couple weeks since this incident and we still don't know what we were talking about.

Heading into 2014

Tomorrow is the start of yet another New Year.

People are scrambling to make lists and goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. Maybe as they think of those things, they think of what they would have liked to do this past year.

Much of what I would like to do this upcoming year is fitness related since I was pregnant last year. I could have done more being pregnant, but I didn't. This year is my year to get my body back since there will be no more babies.

Once upon a time I had six pack abs. I might never have that again, but this year, I'd like to give it a try. Though I would love to get myself back into top shape and amazing health, I don't want to miss time with my family. Over the years I have missed way to much time with my friends and family because of schooling and work.

This year is the first year I will have only one W2. That was a goal of mine for the past couple years, to only have one job and stop wasting my life away working. To have time for my friends and family and to be able to accept invitations more often rather than saying "sorry, I have to work".

I'm glad I was able to spend more time with family last year and I hope this year I will be able to see my friends more often too. For too long, I let many of those relationships slide and this past year I've tried to improve my relationships with my family. Now it's time to make sure my friends know that I miss them and care.

When my daughter was little, I worked 40 hrs at one job and another 10-20 at another job. Then when I got my first associate degree, I did full time school and worked weekends. Every weekend. Until about a year and a half ago, I probably had fewer than 4 weekends a year off in over 15 years. When I graduated from college the first time, I worked at least two, sometimes three jobs. Then I returned to full time school for my second associate degree while still trying to work full time. And still working a side job on weekends...

My family and time for myself and being able to have a life of my own is more important to me. Not just because I'm older, but because I know how much I've missed out on.

Just want to say to all my family and all my friends, I love you guys and I hope we spend more time together this coming year :).

Happy New Year everyone!

Oh Happy Day!

Once a week I'm on call from 11 pm until 7am. I live to far from work so I stay with my mom when I'm on call.
She works third shift so shes awake all night :). So we sit up late and watch true crime TV dramas.
Extra bonus, I get to hang out with my very awesome mom. She really is pretty darn awesome.
When I was younger and used to go out, I often brought Mom out with me. My friends would even ask, "is Mom coming tonight?".
Yes, my friends called her mom too :). I loved when she came along. Neither of us are drinkers, we just love to dance.
And dance we would... All Night Long!!!
But I'm getting old now. We don't go out and dance like we used to. Those times going out worth mom were some of the best nights of my young years. She often more fun than all my friends combined.
I'm very glad I get to have such a good relationship with my mom and that I have many more years with her.
Mom, I know you won't ever see this because you don't use the internet, but I want to say..
I LOVE YOU MOM!!! And you're awesome :).

Gettin' the Nails Done!

My awesome teenager painted my nails for me. She has all sorts of nail stuff, I don't even know the names of it.
She has hundreds of colors. And knows how to do hundreds of designs :).
The color is Black Mamba and then a powder blue snowflake on the thumbs with sparkle on the snowflake points.
She is really good at this stuff :). I hope she does them again next weekend!
Thanks Kid, you're awesome :D.

Santa??? Yes? No?

So many people in my area, okay just about everyone, does Santa every year.

I didn't do a Santa with my teenager. But some people, including my teenager, think I should do Santa for the baby.

I guess I'm just not sure. I'm torn apart over this issue. Okay, not really, but I'm just not for it.
I didn't do Santa with my oldest, or the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. If I do Santa with baby, does that mean I'm stuck with all that too? I wouldn't say it's "lying" to do these things, but at the same time I think it's not honest. So there is my issue.

If I turn a blind eye and allow those around me to be "Santa" and all the others to my child, will they expect me to not tell lil man when he asks as he gets older that it's not real? Because if he asks me directly, how am I supposed to say it's real?

And even though I always was honest with my teenager, when she was young she believed in Santa anyway. She was determined he was real. Nothing I was going to say or do would make any difference. There was a Santa and that was that.

I grew up with Santa. I don't remember when I realized he wasn't real. Maybe I always suspected. Would I have been dissapointed with a lack of Santa? I think I would have been fine with that. It's not like my parents bought "more". They bought what they were going to and that was it. Then they marked some from them and some from Santa.

However I was an odd child and presents, particularly opening them in front of someone, made me VERY uncomfortable. I hated it. Still do. So maybe that's why I think I wouldn't have minded a no Santa Christmas.

Anyone grow up without Santa willing to comment on your experience? We are a mixed Christian/non-Christian household.

Christmas is Coming

The countdown to the end of the year is getting so close and I haven't yet even put up either of my Christmas trees!

I was going to do it the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then we had stuff going on. Then I worked some extra hours during this week so I have still yet to put them up.

In good news, I did bring the cushions for the outdoor furniture in the other day. They did get a little snowed on but I figured I couldn't wait till they were actually covered in feet of snow. Or maybe I could have, then I could be like, "Outdoor furniture? What outdoor furniture?". But I know you're not supposed to leave that stuff out all winter.

I love putting up my Christmas trees. I love it so much, I have two of them :). I don't remember which decorations I used last year. I'll have to stalk my own facebook page of last years Christmas party so I can figure it out and not use the same this year.

I also have stockings to do and games to plan. We play really fun games for Christmas.

My favorite is pin the nose on the snowman. Our snowman is SOOOO marked up from prior years that I need to make a new snowman. I can do that pretty quickly though.

Other games we play are things like "Snowball Carry" where you have two mixing bowls across the room from each other. One side is full of cotton balls, the other empty. Kids can use their hands to hold the spoon, but adults must not touch the spoon with their hands and carry the cotton balls across the room. Do NOT try this with raw eggs at Easter time, that would be messy.

Some years we do a snowball toss. It's kind of like a beanbag toss except we use those white foam balls from the craft section.

And we do holiday Bingo, Word Finding games, Trivia...

The things we do NOT do are things like Pictionary and Charades. If it's something a normal rational family would do, we probably don't do it :).

I get prizes for the games, too. I can't wait to set up this years games and search for new ideas! I love wrapping the prizes. Sometimes it's hard to find things that are appropriate for everyone though so prizes work sort of like White Elephant. You either pick a prize or steal. For the most part, doing it that way means everyone gets something more appropriate for them.

I'm also doing the dinner, but this mess is getting long enough. I'm trying something new this year rather than the typical roasts so I'm sure you'll all hear about that soon :).

Happy Thursday people :).