All I want for Christmas, is a normal family photo

December is a busy month for professional photographers and with my familys’ busy schedule, appointments are almost a joke. Fortunately, I have a good camera and I don’t mind taking our family photos.

I thought this year was going to be a success because it was on our schedule, in our house, and nothing fancy.

BUT, NO! It was not what I imagined. Not only was my camera being uncooperative but my kids (including my husband) thought this was ‘fun’ time. They were giggling and being silly as soon as the flash went off.

"I just need one picture!" I said, ignoring the man-child. "Just one!"

I was not trying to get angry but, I was tired and already way behind. I used to be that person who patiently waited until the weekend after Thanksgiving to get her personally labeled, already stamped, ready to go Christmas cards in the mail. Oh, and did I mention that those cards were each handmade.

This year, there is notime to hand make anything....getting dinner on the table at a decent hour is a challenge so, no card making for me.

It is mid December, I'm getting tons of cards in the mail and, we haven’t even taken our family photo!!! Now that I have gotten us all together, everyone is being funny....with that, you can see my frustration.

In the 15 shots that followed, there was not a single picture where at least one of my children were making silly faces.

The quality of the family pictures dramatically improved once my tone got more begging and threatening.

"Close enough!" I shouted gleefully as I looked at the last few shots. DONE! I was just happy o get one.....ONE!

Next year, I think I will do whatever to let a professional take the photos:)

Thankful

So the family is not off on a road-trip to Florida for Thanksgiving. Being a nurse has it rewards but it also has it downfalls, like working on holidays. Not okay, in my book. This is the one holiday that we absolutely must be together for as a family and the one that makes me crave mom's home cooking, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and, hours of good family conversation.
But not everything that is bad is actually a bad thing: my fellow labor & delivery staff are making the most of it. We had a Thanksgiving feast at work today and Mike and the kids were able to come eat with me, I delivered a baby, and talked to my parents. Not to shabby for having to work. And since I work day shift now, I was home in time to have dinner with my sister and her family. I am very thankful this year for everything in my life: the ups and downs, my friends, my family, my health, and my career.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

they're falling all over

After a month in our neighborhood, we've come to the conclusion that you either have to learn to love the leaves each fall, or you'll go absolutely crazy trying to get rid of them. We live in an older neighborhood, with tons of mature trees all around us--a wonderful thing in the summer when you want to sit on your shaded front porch and sip lemonade, but not such a wonderful thing come this time of the year when you have to wade through piles of leaves to get to your front door.

All you have to do in our neighborhood to find the houses with kids is drive along the streets during November. The houses with kids in them always have front yards covered by the enormous eruptions of strangely shaped leaf piles that look like messy molehills. There might be an odd bicycle or scooter left in the middle of the leaves, or Ethan's soccer ball perched on the biggest pile and you can usually can find a rake or two somewhere in the mix.
When you have kids it's easy to make fun out of the leaves. We've learned to take a no stress approach, and while we'll rake and load the leaves to the curb, we've conditioned ourselves not to mind when five minutes later one child has scattered the same neat pile of leaves in every direction. And every time the front door opens and the wind blows in a stray handful of leaves across the wood floor in the entryway, I'll just go with the flow.
For now, though, we'll just let them fall, and fall, and fall.

Fall is finally here

Oh happy day, so glad it’s Friday! I took a brisk walk this morning to clear the cobwebs after dropping my kids off at school. This fall day could not be any more lovely, with bright blue skies, a gentle breeze, and turning leaves rustling in the trees. I plan to spend most of this weekend outdoors enjoying this autumn weather.

We took advantage of the warm day to get the leaves off of the driveway and walk and back into the yard… Hoping that they can be mowed instead of raked and bagged, we worked hard to spread the leaves around the yard as much as possible. The sad thing is there are still a lot of leaves in the trees!

Moving Along

Four years ago my husband, kids, and I left Florida for the suburbs. But it took four years of living here to scope out the perfect neighborhood.

The moment I drove up the driveway of this cozy home, I was charmed. This house is nine years old and the families that owned this house before us had a dog, a cat, raised children here and gave it lots of love. But, it desperately needed some attention, my husband and I knew it was a diamond in the rough and a house we could be happy in for the next chapter of our life.  We made an offer the same day we walked through and thus embarked on plans to remodel.

Three weeks later, we started the renovation and last week we moved out of the rental and into the house.  The contractor probably could have used another three to four weeks before I brought my three kids and all of our belongings into the house.  On moving day we only had one fully functional bathroom, about 75% of the light fixtures installed, and several other random projects still to be completed.  However, the lease was up at the rental and we decided to move, finished or not, rather than pay for another months rent.  

Every time someone asks me how I like the new house, I just smile and have to admit that I do love it, although I can’t wait to get rid of the smell of fresh paint! I don't complain about the dust or the unpacked boxes that I can’t seem to make time for. And I don't mention the three to four workmen I spend my days with from 8:30am to 5pm.    

You see, having several people who come in and out of my house every day has it's benefits.  Seriously. Not knowing who is going to show up at what time of day forces me to get up early in the morning before my children wake up and take a shower.  Before I leave to drop off the kids at school I do a sweep of the house and make sure all the randomly strewn pajama tops, legos, stuffed animals and books are picked up and out of the way.  I'm not usually bothered by a little dust, but we live in a construction site and I find myself picking up the vacuum much more often than usual.  My house has not been this clean and organized in a long time.

But the biggest benefit of having a houseful of plumbers and electricians has been quite unexpected. I've had to find other ways to deal with the sibling smack-down that seems to always happen when we're late for school and no one has combed their hair yet or they can't find their homework.  

Honestly, it's been a wake up call for me.  I can solve problems without yelling and guess what?  When I am not so quick to anger, the tantrums don't last as long and arguments actually get resolved faster. While surrounded by power drills, hammers and chaos all day my family has become calmer.  Hopefully we can maintain the peace after all the knobs have been put on the cabinets and all the rooms are finally put together.