Winter Blahs

Winter seems like it has been so long already, and Groundhog Day was only the halfway point. It's this time of year when I really wished we lived in the south, so the kids could go outside more often. They *seriously* need to get outside, because their running around inside the house is driving us nuts. Jordis made it outside one day to play in the snow. This girl LOVES winter.

We've been playing lots of games.

We've even had successful trips to the library. I quit taking both kids at the same time after an incident where I had to carry one of them sideways, kicking and screaming, from the back of the library to the car while said child was pulling my dress off. It was quite a show for this little town. But a few weeks ago I let them each get their own library card.

Now we're having successful trips where we cooperate, learn how to look for books on the shelves and *gasp* have calm bodies with indoor voices.

The kids have done some chillin' by the fireplace, which we also use to dry coats, hats and gloves.

This week Xander was out of school for three days due to ice and we spent 12 hours without power. You know it's bad when your kids get half naked and start trading fishing baits in your family room.

Mayday, mayday!

Scooby Dooby Doo!

Xander has been into Scooby Doo for the past 8 months or so. Want to know what cartoon I HATED growing up? Yeah.....I probably don't have to tell you. But I love the kid, so I went along with his idea for a Scooby Doo birthday party. The plan was for the kids to make their own pizzas, play a few games, then do presents and cake. It didn't quite happen that way. Only a few kids made pizza, some refused to play games, one stood in the corner and listened to his I-pod, and they all practically sat in my lap while Xander opened his gifts. I think his whole video is going to just be me asking the kids (over and over) to scoot back. Let's just say that Xander's already been told he's not having 11 people over for his birthday next year.

I found paw print wrapping paper to decorate the tables and the kids snacked on potato chips and Scooby Snacks served in dog food bowls. We also had punch in Scooby Doo colors.

We played Scooby Doo bingo and one other game, and Xander enjoyed sitting with his "girlfriend." She lives down the street and they share a seat on the bus together. Each day they rotate who sits by the window, although I'm not sure if the coveted seat position is by the window or on the aisle.

Xander opened presents

Then we had cake and ice cream (Xander picked mint chocolate chip) and passed out goodies. Xander gave his friends cupcakes that had Scooby Doo liners, Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks, Scooby Snacks and Scooby Doo Band-Aids.

And then it was time to finish working on Jordis' party. One down, one to go.

Christmas Carnival

Today was the annual Christmas Carnival at Xander's school. He was so excited to go. I was excited about the free coffee and Tim Horton's donuts because I didn't get a chance to eat before we left the house.

Cookie decorating had to be first.

Carnival games....


Face painting...




And Jordis' visit with Santa. She told me she wasn't going to pose for a picture, but I thought this would actually be funny when she's older so I had them take it anyway.

I also gave the kids money and BaDee took them to the Secret Santa shop to help them spend it to buy a gift for Jason and myself. I used to get my mom the most horrible things at my elementary school's Secret Santa, so I can't wait to see what she helped them buy.

The kids' birthday party

So today's party was the quickest whirlwind of chaos I've ever seen. The first 45 minutes was supposed to be games with the kids led by the parks and rec staff. About 10 minutes into the start of the party I had to tell them to get the ball rolling and the late people would just have to miss that part. If I'm paying for 45 minutes of activities, I want them to start on time. Then they couldn't get the kids engaged. Part of me felt sorry for them, because my kids are rough to work with anyway, but I'm thinking since that's their job they should kind of have a handle on it. We were able to get some small excitement with a parachute and some hula hoops, but that's about it. The rec leaders were pretty much oblivious to the 10 kids.





Then it was time for presents. Only 45 minutes is allotted for gifts and cake/ice cream combined, so the kids had to both open their gifts at the same time. I pretty much have no idea what Jordis got. My mom worked with her and I helped Xander. The rec leaders were writing down who got what with me shouting back and forth at them to make sure they got it. They said they're sure they got Xander's but not 100% about Jordis. So hopefully I don't miss anyone when it comes to thank you notes since I didn't see everything for myself when she opened it.







The kids seemed to like the cake and ice cream, though I thought it was pretty unprofessional that they were hacking up the cake with plastic knives and no spatula. I'd think if you do this often enough you could keep a good serrated knife and a spatula on hand so you're not touching everyone's cake, but maybe that's just me. And maybe they did wash their hands first and I didn't see it. I'm not going to comment on giving little kids purple Kool-Aid. Enough said there with just the mention.

At any rate, the kids are telling us they had fun, and I think after they go to bed tonight and we sort through their gifts and they can play with them tomorrow they'll be even more excited. And I didn't have to clean my house before or after. So I guess it was worth it for the money.

After arriving home we gave Jordis her gifts from us, like we did Xander on his actual birthday last Tuesday. These few pictures are our favorites. We're raising a diva indeed.





We decided to let them watch TV after dinner so they'd quit running around the house screaming. I think this last picture just about sums up how Jason and I feel about now, too. I'm pretty sure there will be no more joint parties. We can only take so much excitement in one day.