It's that time again...

Time to make a come back.  It's only been radio silent for a month and a half or so... so, yeah.  Hello.

the mr and I all dressed up to see The Phantom of the Opera which toured to our local PAC from broadway!  So good! 

I'm like Cher.  Or uh... Lindsey Lohan.  Or... someone famous who takes a huge break and then goes back to doing what they were doing as if nothing happened.  Except not famous.

I do not have a good excuse this time (You know, like being pregnant and hurling all the time).  Rather life just got... full of LIFE.  You know?  I've gotta ask.  How do all of the crafty/handy/sewy mama bloggers with kids do it?!  For real?  Like how do you LIVE and blog at the same time?  I don't know if I'll ever figure it out.

So there's some stuff that happened that I didn't show you.  Halloween for instance.  (Which was technically before radio silence but I still haven't shared it yet.  Pip was an adorable octopus and mini was a clown fish with the specifications that she wanted to be a GIRL clown fish, NOT Nemo.  So bug stuck with the theme and requested... an electric eel costume.  What the... how do you make that??  So I made a tail that velcroed around the waist and sewed white Christmas lights up the back of the tail and onto the back of the sweatshirt.  I'm fairly certain no one knew what he was. 

There were a lot of park visits.  Mr. had lots of random trips for work that left the kids and I alone and needing to get out of the house - A LOT.  So. Yes.  Parks.

It was nice.  November was unseasonably warm for a while so we played in the leaves.

Some of us tried to eat them.  Weirdo.
It almost took my mind of the fact that mr was in Italy - the one country that has been on my bucket list of places to visit since BIRTH.  Almost.  No, actually, it totally didn't.  Not at all.  Italy.... sigh.

"Hello, Dad?  Yeah, uh, you better come home now.  Mom's going NUTS over here.  NUTS."  I have to be careful letting him play with my phone now... recently while he was relaxing in his crib and I was in the shower he called my mom and had an entire conversation.  Not one she could understand, mind you...

When mr WAS around we took the kids on a few day trips around the state - trying to take advantage of the nicer fall weather we are definitely NOT used to.  We went to a beautiful hilly, forested area called Quartz Hill where all the rocks are quartz.  I wanted to haul a few boulders back to the van so we could renovate our kitchen counters, but mr said it doesn't work that way...

I did manage to get a few good shots of the kids - which is a feat in and of itself...

I mean, this one smiles but never sits still and

this one never smiles.  But look at that.  Nice photos!

Oh, and more parks.  But much colder.

And THEN - and this is REALLY REALLY CRAZY - we did something completely atypical of us and actually spent money on a real family vacation.

Something we have literally NEVER done.  Because vacations are always about going to visit out of state family (which is super cool, don't get me wrong, I love Justin's family... hi guys!) But this was our first totally all fun and playing and just us kind of vacation. 
The kids saw the ocean for the first time (and yes, it was cold on November 29th, but MUCH warmer than here, so...)

And then we put on our Mickey shirts and fun sunglasses and

walked through the Mickey head entrance onto a real live Disney Cruise!

It was surreal.  Like I said, we don't really vacation, so everything was extra magical - for me too!  We had a fun little verandah outside our stateroom.  The bunk bed disappeared into the ceiling!  We saw musicals and movies and ate awesome food and had impeccable service and swam in the pool and played in the splash zone and ate more food and then we went to the Bahamas and went to an amazing little tropical island with literally the most perfect weather on the planet and we played in the sand and did I mention we ate amazing food?  We ate some more food and looked out big portholes, and dressed up like pirates and watched fireworks and ate more, and played mini gold at 10:00 at night and the kids got to play in a special "kids only" club and Justin and I ate at the fanciest restaurant of our lives and then... THEN...
we met all the princesses!!!  And Minnie and Mickey!  And Tinkerbell!  And Donald!  And Sofia the First and Jake (from "and the neverland pirates" fame) and Doc McStuffins.  Seriously.

And then we came home to this weird polar vortex where is was like 20 below zero WITHOUT windchill.  It was, searching for the right word here... ugh.

And of course there was Christmas.  Which is pretty much the ONLY good part about winter and one of my favorite times of year.  So there were magical lights strung, and

decorated pianos since we have no mantel.  I made that chalkboard.  Remember that?  I also put tied little squares of tulle around LED lights - two per bulb all down the string.  You can see it there behind the music holder thingy.  It's kind of pretty, I like it.

We decided on a "peacock tree" again this year - aptly named because it is navy, purple, green and turquoise and makes use of feathers inside glass ball ornaments.  Those globe lights?  Not globe lights.  I decided those were too expensive so I made my own.  Know what they are?  Bulk ping pong balls.  Yep.  Normal lights, cut a slit in the ping pong ball and slide it over every other light.  Bam.  Want to know a secret?  If you order the super cheap generic balls on Amazon not only are the waaaaaay less expensive, but they have no logo or company name printed in black, they're just plain white.  They're also easier to slice through with a craft knife.  So now you know.

We had my whole family over for Christmas, which was loud and busy, but fun.  In the morning it was just us.  The kids got lots of new books to read!

And appropriate shirts to wear.

And isn't it funny what the favorite presents end up being when you pick and choose so carefully and in your head you've gotten the very best, most awesomest gift (like SKYLANDERS for the wii, FINALLY!!) and then they end up loving the fake shaving cream and razor that you got for like 5 bucks and stuffed in their stocking instead?  So weird.

I did NOT finish this rocking horse.  Turns out he's too short anyway, so I think it's ok if I take my time with it.

Also on the list of things I haven't shown you yet... this baby had a birthday!  Way back in September I'm ashamed to admit, but we DID have a party of sorts which I WILL be sharing at some point... oh, and there were other birthdays too...

Like this "Excellent Elephant" party for bug which we had in January although his birthday is right after Christmas - poor kid -

because elephants are his favorite animal.

Now wait, you're thinking.  That's only two parties.  Doesn't she have three kids?  And you'd be right.  I do.  But we were actually in the Bahamas for mini's birthday so she celebrated on the cruise.  Not exactly the DIY kind of party you share details about, but she obviously had a fun time.

Oh, and in that same vein, I threw ANOTHER party for my sister in law and my new niece Gemma!  This was actually a while ago, too, because she's like 4 months old, but still.

And yes, in case you're wondering, I HAVE been making stuff.  I just haven't been blogging about it...

The kids and I even decided to make some more recycled crayons... which is a story in itself, but you'll have to wait for it.  Short version?  Don't use molds from the target dollar section and definitely don't forget they're in the oven... just sayin'.

Also.  I made a wreath.

So welcome back.  Yea!

*Be sure to check below for all the fun parties I link to!*

On Christmas, Utah, Sledding, Jumping and Traveling With Kids.

(Warning.  You are about to be inundated with photos.)

Is Christmas your busiest time of year? I'm always very ambitious about what we'll accomplish as a family around Christmas.  There are traditions to forge, charitable giving to volunteer, teaching and learning to accomplish!  There must be caroling, toy drives, deep discussions and scripture reading, visits to Santa, ice skating, cookie making, sledding, tree decorating, porch festooning, advent calendaring, quality family time enjoying MARVELOUSNESS!  Go, go, go!!! 
And of course, December rolls around and I realized how many gifts I have yet to make, how many concerts, parties, programs, etc, to attend and obviously, there's still work and school.  So many things fall by the wayside.  Inevitably, once the hubbub is over, the presents ripped into, the food consumed and the games played I feel as deflated as a week old helium balloon.  I suffer from what we term around here "PPD" - Post Party Depression.
I came to what seemed as if it should have been VERY OBVIOUS realization this Christmastime.  I let myself down.  I procrastinate, and fill my plate to heaping messes of overflowing.  And then I can't seem to understand why I don't feel "Christmasy."  
Well, not anymore.  I've vowed that next year will be different.  I'll be spending the majority of the holiday season making memories, not gifts.  Not plans.  
Christmas morning started with a note from Santa, read by bug (who is excited to be reading on his own now, thank you very much).

There were, of course stockings to unpack.  Pip was completely nonplussed.

I managed to do one handmade gift for each kid this year.  mini was pretty excited by her dr. kit (to be shown at a later date):

And bug got a Spy kit (also shown at a later date) which Santa must have known about, since he gave bug these awesome spy glasses.

pip was particular thrilled with the incredible amount of bow ties I created and overwhelmed with the thought of how debonair he is going to look.

We had games, food and fun at my brother and sister IL's house with my whole family.  We do a family game exchange where everyone buys a game and wraps it up without labeling it in any way; we draw numbers and pick the packages numerically.  Then each family has a new game and we get to try them all out on Christmas!  There was an epic Jenga Tetris battle that came down to my sister and me... but my old lady dexterity caused my ultimate demise.

bug was an adorable shepherd for the live nativity the Primary put on at our church.  It's pretty hard to tell, but he's not the only actor in the family - pip got to be baby Jesus!

After all of that fun and craziness, we packed in a hurry and set off for Utah to visit mr's family.  pip was a trouper on his first plane ride.  Very little tears and quite a bit more sleeping than is normal for him.

(The kids found the light tunnel in the Detroit airport great fun for everyone.)

When we got to grandma and grandpa's, there was even MORE fun.  Including baby meeting:

mr's sister had a baby girl just a few weeks after pip was born.  It's fun because her older daughter is just a few months older than mini, too.

Thanks to grandparents for watching kids at random times and mr's siblings, we had a ton of fun things planned (both for the kids and us too!  mr and I got to go see Catching Fire!  Yea!)

There was mini bowling.  Which is cool, since bug loves bowling.

He's such a pro.

(I've been inducted into the world of baby-wearing, since this baby is 100% refusing to be set down at all costs.)

While we were in Utah, we decided to take a "quick jaunt" (hahaha!) up to Idaho to visit some of mr's extended family.  We haven't seen them in... well, I honestly don't know, but for most of them it's been years and years.
So there was family seeing:

Aunts, uncles, cousins, 

Great uncles, 

First cousins (once removed),

and it was particularly fun for mr to introduce pip to his grandparents.  How fun that our kids know their great-grandparents - even if from a distance most of the time.

and friend seeing!  Great, wonderful friends we never see often enough.  Such as this girl who was my best friend in the world back here in Wisco who now lives in Idaho.  Hadn't seen her for about 9 years.

Oh, and MORE baby meeting!  Her little guy was born a few days after pip!  (and they matched!)

and these guys who have been friends with Justin since before there were wives and kids and houses and flying out to see them only once a year.

And we all agreed what a shame that was.

There was also a bit of appreciating the beauty.

I admitted I loved the view.  Though when I lived in Utah it made me claustrophobic.

There was a lot of jumping.  Literally.  We visited this fun new (to us) place with trampolines everywhere!  The kids were in heaven!

mr got in on the action.

And bug once again shocked me with his fearlessness.  

For someone who sometimes seems afraid of his own shadow, that kid has a bit of a daredevil streak no one would guess at.

Playing with cousins is fun.

Jumping on cousins is MORE fun.

mr attempted to kill himself.

Or at least cause himself serious harm.  Thankfully he failed at both.

mini was more cautious than normal.  Which made for some funny faces.

I do believe her favorite part was just being around tons of kids her own age. (or slightly smaller).

By the end of the morning, she was helping random kids get ready to leave.

All in all, a successful outing.

There was some sledding, as well.  bug is a huge fan of sledding.  It's another activity which brings out the daredevil in him.

mr was the first to try the little jump on the hill:

Grandpa had baby duty until this little guy had a poonami you wouldn't believe and I had to leave to take him home and change him.  Right after this photo was taken, I think.

When we returned, he was happy as a clam to be worn around the hill.  Notice I have no coat.  We were astonished by how warm it was.  Back in Wisco, my family was experiencing an arctic freeze, the likes of which we hadn't experienced for years with record breaking lows.  So THIS:

was a nice change of pace.

bug tried the jump once with success:

But just about broke his neck the second time around.  Thank goodness there was a passing puppy to lift his spirits.  Until said puppy made off with his mitten...

mini is usually far too cold to enjoy sledding.  She tries to have fun, but is generally finished with the whole idea too soon for me and bug - and only the promise of hot cocoa will keep her on the hill.

It was fortunate for us, then, that the day we went was in the low 40's - plenty warm, even for her.

Though she preferred log-rolling down the hill to sledding.

We also took an afternoon to go play in an indoor playground nearby.

At which point I learned that it's really difficult to get quality photos of your kids when they're playing.

There was also plenty of lounging around.

Unfortunately, our trip home was a bit of a nightmare.  We made it to Detroit without incident, but discovered once there that almost all flights into Wisconsin were cancelled.  Not just that day.  The day before as well.  We got a flight for the next day and went to work getting a hotel for the night, which was insanity - most had no vacancies, which meant we had to stay in a hotel almost an hour from the airport.

THIS is what the line for the baggage department looked like.  And next to that was the completely asinine amount of luggage sitting around after two days of cancelled flights.  We were assured our luggage would be on our plane the next day.

We ended up waiting for the shuttle in the little loading area for over an hour.  I put the kids on the radiators finally so they wouldn't freeze.  That was were mini fell asleep.

The next morning, bright and early, we were at it again!

And I finally spotted home.

It had never looked so good to me.

Also, I should mention that mr closed his backpack strap in the hatchback of my car and got it completely stuck.  This was on our way into the airport TO utah.  So we had to borrow a scissors from someone who worked in the airport and cut his backpack out.  Which left our hatchback in this weird limbo, unable to close OR open.  Which meant that during that arctic freeze, my car was slightly ajar.  And also that we couldn't easily get our luggage into my car once we got home.

We can't figure out why something like this happens nearly every time we travel.  Freak thunderstorms that ground flights... lost car seats, the whole Mexico thing...

Of course, once we got home, we learned our bags were lost.  So we didn't have to worry about getting them into the car, anyway.

Happy hectic holidays!  

*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!