My Little Life

How is it that it's already been a week since Christmas? Did I not tell you this was going to happen? And tomorrow it will be June and the next day October and pretty soon we're doing it all over again. Just watch. That's exactly what will happen. Anyway, Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses have run off to join the circus after the craziness of Christmas. I decided to vlog it today...haven't done a vlog in a loooooooong time and wasn't feeling like tappity tapping it out, so, you're stuck with 6 minutes of me talking to you. I tried to keep it to 4, but I couldn't. Not with the display of the oldest "member" in my closet and interruptions from my Babe. Rules for 5 QF : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! Oh, and remember (pay close atten

5QF Sneak Peek at 2:30 in the afternoon?! Unheard of! I must be ill. Wait...did you know that "ill" is the new "cool". As in, "those shoes are so ill"? At least that's what my brother says. Weirdo. (Hi little bro!) Still recovering from the Christmas mayhem. We have been non-stop since Christmas Eve...and it won't end until this weekend is over! Craziness...and I wonder why life goes by so quickly! Okay, so...sneak peek time. Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses have run off to join the circus after the craziness of Christmas. Rules for 5 QF : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! Oh, and remember (pay close attention...this is the important one)...HAVE FUN! Questions for Friday, December 30t h : (Special thanks to @ KatieB 38 , @ amy _ mcm

A couple of months before Christmas, I had read somewhere that if you have had a major life change in the past year (death, divorce, move, etc.) that you should create a new tradition for the holidays. Something to look forward to in the (in our case) absence of a loved one. Knowing how hard it was going to be on everyone to not have Verd at our Christmas this year, I thought "We have to do something new.". As I pondered what new tradition we could start, the only thing that kept coming to mind were the Chinese lanterns from "Tangled". To be honest, I didn't even know if they were real or not. I mean, I saw them on a cartoon, for Pete's sake! So, one night I turned to Google and sure enough, there they were. With an explanation of how they work (hot air balloon theory). I wasn't sure how the rest of the family would feel about it, or if anyone had something else planned , so I checked with them and got a resounding "YES!!"! And the ordering be

I said I would. Wait. No I didn't... I said maybe I would . But I'm gonna. Yes, at 11:30 pm, but still! Okay, here is one of my favorite photos...the Mr. took this with his phone. I was *this* close to not having any photos of it...I forgot my camera back at the house, but lucky for me I have a strapping husband who was willing to jog the jaunt back to the house to get it. Me? I would've died 17 steps into that jog and then, so sad, instead of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" it would've been "Mama Had a Heart Attack Jogging Home For Her Camera", not quite the same ring to it, but still just as tragic as grandma and her reindeer accident. So, thankfully, my husband and his musculature saved the day and we DID indeed get photos. Lots. And they're good ones. And I'm so glad we did this. Here is your sneak peek...my boy and his lantern: More tomorrow...

So, does anyone else feel like Christmas comes and goes so fast every year? Seriously, it won't be long and we'll be preparing for it all over again only to have it *POOF* be over in .073 seconds like it is every year. One of my friends on Facebook posted something that made me smile...she said, "Merry Christmas! Remember, Christmas is only just beginning...the three kings are on their way!" I loved it! It was a fresh new perspective for me and made me feel like I CAN still enjoy the Christmas season! Only then, I got hit with some sort of tummy bug and totally took away and all desire to enjoy ANYTHING except for my bed and sleep. 24 hours later though, and I'm as good as new! I can NOT wait to show you our lantern release. CAN. NOT. WAIT. But, that deserves a post all of it's own. It was awesome. Christmas Day with the Mister's side was fabulous. Emotional, but wonderful. Lot's of laughter amongst the tears. Oh, and...I got a really fun gift from th

In the hustle and bustle of our celebrating, I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope you are able to enjoy today amidst the craziness that surrounds Christmas! Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!!

So much to do, so much to say, so little time to do it! A snap shot (or so) of our busy last month: Piano Recital(s): Dance Program: Christmas Program: Photoshoots: Christmas Parties: And now, I'm off to chop, stir, mix, saute and combine in preparation for tomorrow so that we don't show up an hour late to my parent's and make everyone mad at us and say a very cheerful, "Merry effin' Christmas" to one another like we have in years past. Or, wait. Maybe that was just me. I will be back for more Christmas good wishes tomorrow!

Am I exhausted. Three late nights in a row coupled with early mornings, multiplied by Christmas frenzy, heaped with teenage angst? The perfect making of a Merry Christmas Meltdown. Which is what happened tonight. Things have been...stressful here, of late. Not bad, not good, just stressful. Then, I was sticking labels on our Christmas cards and felt sucker punched when I saw two labels that were missing names. To address our cards to just "Grandma" and to just "K.", felt so wrong to me. So...heartless. But it's reality. It's reality that leaves me with a heavy heart and misty eyes. On a positive note...I'm almost done wrapping presents! I thought I WAS done, but then I discovered another present and remembered that there is another in the van. Ooops . But, THE END IS IN SIGHT! And now...as I've been burning the candle at both ends, my flames are about to meet. And snuff each other out. I need sleep. Long, deep, uninterrupted, blissful sleep. Good

Instead of waking up as an 80 year old woman, I instead woke up as a 13 year girl. I've got the zits to prove it. Seriously. Apparently I squatted on the wrong green tube and was morphed back into teenage-dom. Speaking of which, all of you mother's who are battling temper tantrums, sleepless nights and diaper blow outs? Embrace them. These are the easiest years of your life. Trust me on this one. When that sleepless babe grows to a teenager, the stakes rise. Even the "good" stuff is heavy. I'm nearly ready for Christmas...some gifts to wrap and some baking to do, but then BRING IT ON! My stress level is still through the roof, however. My neck tells me so by becoming so tight I can't help but take notice because it feels as though it is going to consume my brain in a cannabalistic fit of binge eating. That's all. Goodnight. Oh, but wait...because I love you, (back to the teenage stuff) may you never be blessed with having to be a part of the team meal the

Me? Oh, you know, just sitting here trying to decide how I can convince the universe to slow down just a little bit. Christmas is in one week. ONE WEEK. 7 days. 420 hours. 25,200 minutes. Okay, I'll stop. My point is THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME TO GET EVERYTHING DONE!! *Deep breaths* If only I could take a leave of absence from work for the last two weeks before Christmas. But, alas, I can't. Well, maybe I could, but, you see, I'm saving vacation time for a certain trip to Mexico that is coming in 4 weeks...FOUR WEEKS!! That means that tomorrow, I'll wake up and I'll have to catch a plane at 7 in the morning. Because that's how time works around here...I go to bed one night as a small child, I wake up as a married woman of five children who is stressing out about the holidays and a vacation that will be here any minute. Seriously, I swear to you I live in some sort of "Mario- esque " time warp. Maybe if I find a little green tube to squat down on it

Can you believe that Christmas is in *gulp* one week and two days (or one day if you start celebrating on Christmas Eve but we won't talk about that because I need my psyche to think that I have as many days as possible otherwise she might just spontaneously combust into a big poof of Christmas glitter). I have some shopping left to do. More than I want to have to do. And, my baking? Nada. Zilch. Nunya. Not a single thing done. I WANT MY MOMMY! Or, a nice leave of absence from work so that I can finish everything I need to do. Think they'd approve that? ;) Anyway...let's get a move on! Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses have been Christmas baking and are covered in flour and chocolate. Rules for 5 QF : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! Oh, and remember (pay cl