One Red Sock

Isaac skinned his little toe yesterday. He refused a band-aid, but when I offered to put a sock on it so that he would stop crying, he agreed. This was about 36 hours ago, and that sock has not left his foot.

I didn't really care that he was attached to this sock, until bath time tonight. He refused to get in the water, because his "sockie would get wet!" I tried taking it off, but you would have thought I was removing the foot with it, the way he carried on. So...what else can you do? I called in reinforcements. Josh came up to help me bathe him. I washed, and Josh held the red socked foot out and away from the water, so that at least the majority of Isaac would be squeaky clean for church in the morning. Perhaps as he sleeps tonight, I'll have to switch this red sock for it's clean match. 3 straight days of sock wearing is never a good thing.

"Hooray For Christmas!"

Before

After

The addition to our train set collection was a hit.

For Christmas I got a new mouse for my lap top, a pancake griddle, and new leather gloves. A funny thing about the gloves--I opened the gloves and noticed they were labeled XL. Most girls, I'm sure would fit into something much smaller, but, I on the other hand have amazon hands, and an XL, well, fits like a glove. Next time you see me, ask to compare hands, you'll see- no exaggeration here!

Josh got a GPS and Madden 'o9. We are now the proud owners of three different years of Madden football for the XBOX. This seems excessive to me, but I've been told by those who claim to know more than me, that this is not the case.


All in all, we had a really nice Christmas. Josh and I both feel thankful that we were able to produce such a nice Christmas for our boys. It breaks our hearts to think of the parents who would like to, but can't. I look forward to a day when I can do more to ease other's burdens.

The boys got more than they know what to do with. We have taken many of the smaller toys and put them into a box, so we can pull them out at a later time and have Christmas all over again. We missed our families this year, but I would say definitely less than the first year we were away from them. I have two theories as to why this is:

1) We are more used to being on our own, or...

2) They have become less lovable over the past two and a half years, making being away from them, almost like a blessing :)

Merry Christmas everyone! Now for all of us here in Milwaukee who have been the lucky recipients of 35 + inches of snow this December, may we all settle in for the "big freeze" and the upcoming months where the snow seems less like a magical accent to the season, and more like a big albino boa constrictor threatening to either smother you or grasp you so firmly that the life is simply drained from your body.

'Tis Better to Give than to Receive

Picture it...K-Mart, Hales Corners, Wisconsin (remember Sophia on the Golden Girls?) For those of you have never been to this particular location it is the exact same as K-Mart, Anywhere, USA.

The boys and I had just finished a sad winter tradition that we have begun since living in Wisconsin of 'go to the store and look at toys, but not buy' (I know sounds like some sort of torture treatment, but I swear the boys really like it) and as we were leaving I heard that all too familiar bell ring of the Salvation Army guy. "Ooh!" I thought to myself, "what a great opportunity to teach the boys a valuable lesson." It went as follows:

Me: Here boys (I hand them each a quarter) Would you like to put this in that man's red bucket?

Isaac: Yay!

Will: No.

I was actually kind of hoping for this response from Will, because it was just what I needed to open up my can of charity wisdom to share with him.

Me: Will, the money that we put in that bucket is for little kids who don't have warm coats to wear in the cold, and don't have any food to eat. Would you like to help them?

Will: No. I would like to put this quarter in my bank. Then I can buy my excavator (a toy that he has been coveting on each and everyone of our look but not buy toy trips)

Me: but Will, they don't have any food.

Will: I don't have an excavator!

I sat for a moment in stunned silence, Will looked lost in thought, and then said,

Will: I know! I will give them some of my food, and I can have an excavator.

Pretty Steep Learning Curve

I have been at this parenting thing for a little over 4 years now, and I keep wondering when I'm going to get it, when the "good mommy-ing" is going to kick in. It must be in there!

Yesterday, we woke up and I excitedly asked Will if he'd like to put up the Christmas tree with me. Of course, he was more than exuberant with a joyful response of, "YES!" We got out the tree, set it up, and then came to untangling the beaded garland. Will was holding his wadded knot of beads and asked if he could put them on the tree. The good mommy in me said, "Oh, of course," each word practically dripping with honey it was so sugary sweet, and then the natural Megan emerged just moments later. All it took was a little "help" from the boys with the untangling process before I was shooing them away with a bribe of a popsicle to the basement to play so I could work in peace. Every few minutes or so they would come up looking to help a little more, and each time my words came out less like an angelic mommy, and more like a growly gremlin. By the end of the whole experience I found myself saying to them in a low grumble, "Just go! Don't touch MY tree." Fa, La, La, La, La.

The beautiful thing about kids is they aren't much for holding grudges. Will thinks that our tree is the best tree ever, and my sour mood did little to take away from his overwhelming Christmas spirit.

I Warned You!

I had one of the most peaceful afternoons yesterday. It started with a simple request from Will for some "sticky tape", and ended in this. He thought it was fun, and I was its biggest supporter when I saw it was headed in this direction. Peace and quiet.

What I love About Wisconsin Winters!

Fully loaded version of winter, the safest route to take.
My favorite flavor of winter. I think that he looks so cute in his snow pants.

You've heard people say, "Fake it, 'til you make it"? Well, that's just what I'm going to try and do occasionally, as I continue with my "take winter by the horns attitude". I thought this might help me appreciate more of this time of year instead of hibernating in my house for 6 months and waiting for it to be over.

So in this, my first installment, I choose to document how stinkin' cute kids are in their snow clothes. Every morning before the bus comes for school, we get Will all "puffed up" in his snow gear. By the time we are done he looks just like the little brother on the movie, "A Christmas Story". (that's what it's called, right? with the red-rider beebe gun?) He can't hardly walk up the steps on the bus, but it's worth it to maintain his fingers and toes.

The second thing is how your garage turns into the perfect refrigerator. I know, I know, everyone's garage gets colder in the winter, but it truly is the perfect temperature for chilling my many cases of Coke Zero. I am choosing to be thankful for this in the month of December, because come January, February and even March, this is no longer the case. You are a fool to leave drinks out there, because they will surely be frozen...do you know what happens when canned soda pop freezes? It aint pretty. That is neither here nor there. Back to sharing the love, December is perfect for my refrigeration needs. That is a real treat.

Progress report...my exercising goals are going well. I love my gym membership! I mentioned to Josh that I wore my wedding ring to the gym tonight. He asked if I had been getting hit on. He! He! Not hardly. Going to the gym as a married person is a lot different than going when you are single and looking. There are many reasons why I wouldn't be getting hit on at the gym. Let me list a few for you that came to mind as I was running tonight. I noticed behind me this row of perfectly made up girls, full make-up and hair, mind you, for their "work out". I can tell you now the reason they stay thin is because they don't eat, not because they hit the gym every day. Which brings me to my list of why I don't get hit on: When I am done with my workout, my face is beet red and my neck is all splotchy. From nearly head to toe I'm glistening, and it aint body glitter. The varicose vein that I proudly display as my badge of honor due to pregnancy and motherhood takes on a life of it's own as it throbs behind my right knee, and the grand finale...there is not a soul in that gym with a smaller chest than me! Boy and girl, man and woman, I take the cake and beat them all. Why would you hit on the gal (or is it? IT's chest gives no tell as to the true sex) with the blue critter crawling up the back of it's leg, drenched in sweat, with no make-up, when you've got a whole row of stationary bike perfection to choose from. So, Josh, no worries. I wore my ring just because I thought it might help those fence sitters lean to the side of "yeah, that's a chick." I love every minute of it though.