The Many Faces of Three!

Seriously... "Three"... The hardest and most hilarious stage of parenting yet. I have mixed emotions when I think of "Three".

First there is the Frustration of repeating things time after time after time and never quite being heard... Happily we aren't having to say "Leave the cushions on the couch!" quite as often. Sadly, the new most repeated phrase is "Don't tackle your sister... be nice!".

Then there is the Confusion. The other day Sam and I were chatting and I was reminding him that he can change the world - one person at a time. His reply: "You can change the world Mom. I'm going to change the rainbow and Maarti can change the bus." What does that mean?!

There is Embarrassment too. We let our kids open a Christmas present early. It was from my parents and we even phoned them so they could hear the kids open the presents. Grandma and Papa bought them beautiful Olympic hoodies. Sam's reponse: "I don't want that... I wanted a toy." (At that point I'm pretty sure I heard my Dad say something about pay back time.) So much for my great idea of letting Papa and Grandma hear them open their presents.

And just look at this face! ...

Okay... there is some pleasure in three too, like observing pure joy in his face as he enjoys simple pleasures.

There is those heartwarming moments when he stops being busy for just a moment, looks at me and says "I love you Mom".

And at the top of this post I mentioned hilarious right? Did you know that last night we ordered pizza for supper and as Jeremy was paying the delivery guy Sam yelled "Dad, is that the Grinch!?"
I'm still giggling.

So all in all I'd say I love "Three"... especially ours!

Christmas Times A Comin'

I've decided it's time for a little honesty. No more pretense.

This is how my house usually looks between the hours of 6:30 am and 7:30 pm:

It's ugly, isn't it? It does absolutely nothing for my Christmas Spirit, but what is even uglier is if I let it get to me. If I let it bother me then the *other* Mommy comes out and NO ONE likes her!... she does absolutely nothing for everyone else's Christmas Spirit! So... I'm just trying to let my kids actually live in our house and remember it won't always look like this. In the meantime... We do have a few pockets of Christmas around the house that are out of reach of anyone 3 ft. and under.

And I do enjoy our Christmas tree too... after 7:30 that is!

The Silver Lining

Jeremy doesn't always love his job, but there is one benefit that keeps him going to work every day... the hero's welcome he gets when he comes home at the end of the day. The kids watch for him at the window and the minute he arrives I know it 'cause the house explodes with shouts of "Daddy! Daddy!" followed by the pitter patter of little feet racing to the front door. Jeremy works so hard for our family and I'm glad the kids reward him so well.