Apparently I have not blogged here since DECEMBER 15. The holidays really threw me off my game, and then January just BLEW by! So I will catch this thing up a bit and go from there.
After my last entry, there was the HOLIDAZE. We celebrated the Solstice again this year. That is when Santa visited our home this year since we were going to be away for Christmas. The kids were really flexible with me emailing Santa and asking if we can move his visit up. Go figure.
Santa brought Princess Tomorrow her first pair of ballet slippers! **insert pic of ballet slippers here** (and I just realized I have not yet uploaded those photos to the laptop) This year there was less quantity of gifts and more quality, which appeared to suit the kids just fine. Tomorrow's brothers both got the instruments they had asked for, a guitar and a lap harp. So Hammy handed his guitar down to Moose, and Moose handed his glockenspiel down to Tomorrow. It was a very moving and precious moment that made me feel really proud to be their mother.
We tried to beat a blizzard out of town the week of Christmas but it caught up to us in Kansas. The weather was just horrible, and I really regretted that I didn't listen to my husband when he said we should just call the trip off or go after the storm passed. We were very fortunate that we did not go off the highway as many others did. We drove very slowly at times, and the kids were absolute angels. We drove much longer than we wanted to because we thought if we stopped for the night there was a chance we would get stuck wherever we stopped. So we drove as long as we could and finally stopped at 3 a.m. to spend the night in Hays, Kansas. Our van was covered in ice on one side! We finally arrived in Kansas City the next day, and so did the weather.
We got snowed in at my aunt and uncle's house on Christmas Eve! It would have been fun had we not stayed up so late and if the kids hadn't been so eager to get back to Grandpa's house where we were staying. They had been so looking forward to waking up at Grandpa's house on Christmas morning, and when we told them we couldn't make it because our windshield wipers stopped working, they cried so much that *I* started crying! It was a hard day's night.
Our Missouri trip was a comedy of errors, but taught us some important lessons. The biggest one is NOT TO TRY TO BEAT BLIZZARDS BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS WIN! I learned not to push my will with regard to travel. When God and/or Mother Nature tried to keep us at home and we decided to hit the road anyway, we were just asking for trouble. I had a nagging feeling about taking the van, but the SUV-- designed for Winter weather-- was having defrost problems so wasn't safe for visibility. Used cars are fine for local errands and outings but not for road trips.
Also, we will be staying home for the holidays from now on. Or, in Mike's words: "We will not be going to Missouri for Christmas until we can afford to fly, stay in a hotel and rent a car." And I gave that declaration a great big AMEN. Also, Christmastime in Kansas City is all go here, go there, and never stay anywhere long enough to relax. We would much rather enjoy a rejuvenating four-day weekend at home instead of a week plus of sleep-deprived travel with three kids-- and visit family in Missouri at a time that is less stressful (and warmer).
Mike gets ten days off a year now-- plus all of the federal holidays which make for some three day weekends here and there-- but we keep on using his annual vacation leave to go to Missouri (actually, we went to MO twice last year) and that is just not happening again this year.
Meanwhile, the family traditions that we've started at home are far too meaningful to forego: baking cookies and taking them to our favorite neighbors, going to church, seeing the City County Building lights turned on, waking up at home on Christmas Day. Moose said we got "ripped off" and Hammy must have said three times, "It was nice to go to Christmas but I wish we would have stayed home."
Of course, we always want to see our family in Missouri, but the holidays tend to be such a stressful time for everyone and dicey when it comes to getting out of Colorado on time. So it's a good time to visit, because everyone will be getting together-- but it's kind of a bad time to visit, because everyone will be getting together! Funny how that works. With the rushing here and there, one is never able to be in the moment and just BE with family. There's a timetable to each day, including a two-year-old's nap, and that's just not how a vacation is supposed to be.
The highlight of our trip was absolutely holding the bundle of joy that was my new niece Norah. Being able to see her just a week and a half old was such a blessing that we will always cherish. I don't have permission to post any pix of her here so I won't, but rest assured she is ADORABLE. My youngest sister had a homebirth at my mom's place and we missed the family while they were recuperating there, but we stayed close to where they live so we could visit without causing the tired new mom of two to have to drive to see us with a newborn and a toddler.
We had a very nice stay for a couple of nights at The Keeter Center on the campus of the College of the Ozarks. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the turn-down service with cookies and milk, and we all benefitted from getting caught up on our sleep and just hanging out and relaxing a bit.
We were so glad to get back home in January that we didn't go anywhere for about a week! We returned to find our new male kitten being lovingly mothered by our female cat. They groom each other and sleep together now. Our kid sitter who watched the cats, house and mail for us said that every day when she came over, the cats had gotten into something else...the cereal dispenser on the counter, the Wii remotes, magazines, and other things I can't recall now that they never mess with when we are here. She said it was as if little kids were home alone.
We took care of a three-month-old baby boy for two weeks in January, and all of us now agree that while we love babies and they are very cute and nice to hold, we do not really want to have another one! The kids were really sweet with the baby-- even Mara was loving and not jealous at all-- but the sheer reality of parenting four children was just completely overwhelming. We managed it one day at a time, and it only worked because Mike is a big help around the house. But now I definitely understand why my friends who have four children have had such messy homes at times (you know who you are and I love you): because they like to sleep and shower!
Speaking of sleep...this is dragging on far too long and my bed is calling me. There is so much more that I want to blog about, but I've begun writing my book and that tends to get most of my "free time". (As does Facebook-- yes, I admit it. I can access it from my phone and I have SMS Subscriptions to the posts of my closest friends, so I can socialize on my terms and at any hour while the kids are eating, playing, riding bikes or sleeping. You have your addictions, too.)
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