The Saturday 7

1. We got off to a great start with our Advent activities this week. On Sunday, we got our tree. It was a beautiful 50* day, so we didn't freeze our booties off for once! The kids all had great attitudes and we were able to agree on a tree pretty quickly. I even got some cute pictures.

Levi missed his nap for the excursion, so he got to keep his Binky.

Tentative cooperation

Cooperation is over

The Binky makes everything better.

The dolls had to help decorate.

Levi with no nap . . .

Every year, Lena wants to put the angel on top, but every year she's too scared to be lifted up high enough. Haha.

2. On Monday, the kids got to open their special ornaments. Levi got a car ornament of course. And the girls each got gymnastics ornaments. Our history with gymnastics was actually quite tumultuous this year, but it was the only noteworthy event I could think of to document. I had to drag Lucy kicking and screaming to gymnastics again only a few hours after she opened her ornament. Only 2 more classes. We can do it!!

3. I realized this week that I'm obsessed with creating happy memories around Christmas and birthdays and other big events, because I'm overcompensating for my failure as a mother the rest of the year. Haha. This week was bad. Everyone was sick at some point, the weather turned abysmally cold, and I was just irritable all week. I feel like I'm constantly ignoring and/or snapping at my kids. And I'm so over disciplining them and "training them up in the way they should go." Lol. Can I admit that out loud? I feel so overwhelmed with the responsibility and just want a break from it. Honestly, they've been watching a lot of TV and I've been taking way too many naps . . . #brutalhonesty

4. I've also noticed in the past couple of weeks that I'm gaining a ton of weight - like to the point that my jeans barely fit. I only squeeze myself into them if I leave the house. Otherwise it's yoga pants all day every day. Of course, every pound that I gain goes straight to my stomach, so I look even more pregnant than usual. I used to be able to hide it fairly well with loose fitting shirts, but now none of my shirts are loose fitting anymore. Ha. I've thought about dieting, but really? 3 weeks before Christmas? Why bother? So to everyone that I see in our various holiday gatherings this year: I'm not pregnant. I just lack self control and clothes big enough to cover my abundance. ;-)

5. Levi had a rough week. Last Thursday he and Lucy both puked a few times, but got over it quickly and I figured that was that. But he's continued to randomly puke since then. About once every other day. He's never had a fever. He sometimes eats like usual. But then there are times that he refuses to eat, cries for no reason, and just wants to snuggle. He keeps pointing to his mouth and saying, "ow," but I don't know if his throat hurts, he's getting teeth (I don't feel anything), or he thinks he's going to puke? The poor kid just can't get over whatever is plaguing him.

6. Last night was the girls' school Christmas program. Lena is notoriously anxious about most situations in life (her new fear is that she's going to swallow a bug - seriously . . .), but she never batted an eyelash about getting up on stage and singing with her class. She was so excited and spent all afternoon exclaiming, "I can't wait for my program!" I thought the nerves would hit her when we got to school, but they never did! Apparently her teacher told her to smile the whole time she was on stage, because Lena took that very literally. From the time she climbed the steps to the stage until the time she descended them, her smile never left her face. It faltered a bit and at times looked more like a grimace than a smile, but she shone those pearly whites proudly! Lol. It was hilarious, and I wish my phone would've worked better in the dark auditorium.

Lucy also did great. She didn't exhibit any of her nervous tics, but genuinely grinned, sang, and danced the whole time!

Levi was a disaster and wouldn't sit still, but that was to be expected. And 2 kids in the program puked during the performance, but neither of them was mine! Miracle of miracles! Lol.

I don't bother attempting to take pictures of the actual performance. Here are the pics we took at home.