Can't keep up

We had Christmas Tuesday morning because it was Tony's day off. I hardly got any sleep the night before because I was wrapping presents and made a 2 am run to Walmart for stocking stuffers. I kept trying to clean up after the boys but I couldn't keep up with them. We had two friends stop by Tuesday who got to see all the aftermath. Tuesday evening Tony, the two youngest and I went out because the three oldest were spending the night at some friends' houses. So I still didn't get to clean up. Yesterday I had people stopping by to drop off kids and presents. One of them knocked and knocked but I was taking a nap with the youngest three while the oldest two were still gone. Koen just broke in to the basement window and then they came in and I woke up totally embarrassed. So it should be clean by now but it isn't. I am totally worn out. I have a huge headache that won't go away. It's probably from lack of sleep because I try to go to bed at a decent hour but then I just lay there totally exhausted but not able to sleep. Then I doze off only to have horrible nightmares that wake me up to where I stay up for a couple more hours. Then I wake up and take care of the boys. So why am I writing on my blog instead of cleaning? I don't know, but I guess I better get to it, huh? So here I go to clean up. Wish me luck.

Here We Come A-Caroling

Tonight I went caroling with the ward choir. This was not easy for me. I had to take all my kids with me and my brakes are going out so I couldn't drive all over the place. I thought about not going but I knew the choir needed me. I ended up being the only alto there. I was also assigned to bring cookies and the cocoa mix. So I drove there, switched all the car seats over to a nice gentleman in the ward's minivan and took them with me to the assisted living home and to the nursing home where we caroled. The boys were not too bad and Taygan only got a little fussy during the singing. Afterwards we went back to church for hot chocolate and cookies. I had to switch all the car seats back to my van and then get all the kids ready to go. The choir director thanked me for coming and said that he understood it was hard for me to drag all the kids along with me. That reminds me. The brother who drove us around tonight kept saying things like, "I remember lugging children around." and "I don't think we ever had car seats in this van before." He also told me the following story.
One day his sons got into some moth balls. The mom and dad rushed them to the hospital where they gave them the charcoal. When all seemed okay they left for home. On the way home they both began to projectile vomit and had explosive diarrhea. He said it just got absolutely everywhere. So I guess things could be worse than taking your children caroling, huh?
It really wasn't that bad. I think last year was worse because we went out in below zero weather and I had to leave the kids in the van every time we went to a different house. I was frozen and the kids were bored to death. I'm glad we didn't do that again.

My Holiday Meme

I think anyone who reads this has already read someone elses first so you know what I did

The last time I went caroling-is tonight with the ward choir

My favorite Drink in the winter is- boiled custard

My favorite holiday meal is- ham, cheesy potatoes, and pie

I think fruit cake- is nice to look at.

One tradition we had growing up- was singing that mistletoe song when we hung it in the doorway.

One tradition we have now- is making sugar cookies during the holiday season.

I get my Christmas tree from- the basement. We got it 3 years ago from a friend.

On Christmas Eve I/we usually- read Luke 2 to the kids.

On Christmas morning I/we wake up- early and open presents.

One special thing I make at Christmas time is- cinnamon glazed nuts.

My Favorite Christmas song is- What Child is This, but I also love Silver Bells

Every Christmas- we go to my in laws to open gifts with them.

I hang my stockings- along the bottom of the stairs.

Something I look forward to at Christmas time is- the movies.

My favorite thing about the holidays- is how people act a little nicer.

Something I want to start incorporating is- putting up a nativity scene.

Singing

Tonight I sang a duet at the Stake Christmas thingy. I was sitting in the very back row near the exit and had my boys sitting on the couch in the foyer so I could keep my eyes on them. We were the second performance so I went up there and left my boys in the hall. While I was singing I saw all the boys come in to watch me. I already had a hard time not crying every time I practiced this song but then you add actually performing it and then having my boys come in like little angels following the voice of their mother I thought I was going to lose it. I stayed strong and just teared up a little and I had my voice crack only twice. After I sat down Eades came up and said, "You sang beautiful Mom. I mean, I was amazed. I didn't even know." It was so cute.

Interviews

I realized I haven't done any interviews this year with the kids. I'll start with Dougan.

Me: Do you like to go to school?

Dougan: I like it a little bit but it's a little hard playing.

Me: What do you like best about it?

Dougan: Playing and doing things.

Me: Do you like your brothers and sister?

Dougan: I like Koen Eades and Taygan but maybe not Brandis, there you go.

Me: What's your favorite thing to eat?

Dougan: Pancakes and rolls and I like to smell roses

Me: What's your favorite thing to do?

Dougan: Play buildings

Me: Do you like all these questions?

Dougan: Uh, I like them a little bit, I do, and Yes.

Me: What do you love most in the whole world?

Dougan: You

Me: Do you want me to stop asking questions?

Dougan: Yeah um, I mean no.

Me: What other question do you want me to ask?

Dougan: I want you to ask me about glow sticks

Me: Do you like glow sticks?

Dougan: Yes

Me: Okay Dougan, thank you.

Dougan: What does that say on the computer?

Me: It says, "what does that say on the computer?

That was Dougan. He really does like Brandis, he was just being silly. He's four years old and he likes to sing and dance. Dougan is really smart and he loves preschool. We love having Dougan around because he is almost always happy and he has a love to share.

The Very Exciting Day

The day started with my alarm going off. I immediately went to the t.v. to see if we had school or not. School was cancelled. I wanted to go back to sleep but the boys all woke up and were ready to watch cartoons. So I decided to go to the store and get donuts and orange juice. We ate breakfast and dealt with some donut drama. Apparently a chocolate long john is way better than a caramel long john and nobody was willing to take the later. We then went on with our lazy day. The baby was taking a nap so I used my prime shower time wisely and hopped in. I got out and was blow drying my hair when I heard a great crack. I ran into the boys room to see glass shattered everywhere and two little boys standing there staring at it. I carried them both out of the way, quickly looked them over, grabbed a box and began picking up the glass. Tony then showed up with the shop vac and finished cleaning it up. It turns out Koen sat on our glass table in there and that's what broke. He felt really bad and was crying not because he was hurt but because it scared him so bad and because it was so overwhelming with all that broken glass everywhere. We calmed him down and then I started lunch for the boys. I had to go to church then to practice a duet for Saturday.
When I got back I thought my eventful day was pretty much over. After a couple hours of calm Eades runs down the stairs and tells me the toilet is leaking. I run upstairs plunge the toilet and start soaking up the water. Then I see the shop vac and get rid of all the glass that was in it and make it wet ready. I clean up all the water and wished I would have seen it before I threw blankets into the water because now I have soaking wet blankets to clean up too. As I go downstairs the boys are freaking out in the kitchen. The water was leaking through. I start grabbing paper towels and cleaning up that mess. Unfortunately it got all over my stove, my pots and pans, my blender, my baking containers, and just everywhere. Now I have a ton of things to wash.
Luckily after things calmed down a bit my sister Ruth called and I got to just relax and talk for awhile on the phone. Now it's night time and the boys are all quiet and we can go to bed. I'm kind of hoping that we don't have a snow day tomorrow after the day we had today. It's just too much excitement for me anymore.

Fun Fun Fun

I was trying to think of anything fun that was happening to blog about. Again I realized how boring my life is. We're going through another round of colds again. We had a great Thanksgiving. We decorated for Christmas. Then it was back to school. I had doctors appointments today for the two youngest. We met with a new doctor who I really like. We changed insurance so I could have picked a local doctor but I couldn't get the one I wanted so I decided to stay with my old office because they are pretty good too. My usual doctor didn't have any openings so we met with someone else. I might just keep going to her now. I don't mean anything bad about my old one. He is a great doctor and very friendly but nothing was a big deal to him. The one I saw today really listened and seemed to understand my concerns. I like those kinds of doctors and teachers for that matter. Tomorrow is our ward Christmas party and then the two oldest will spend the night at a friends house. I know they'll have a lot of fun. They've been looking forward to it for weeks. Gosh, like I said, really boring, right?