Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for it's my life, too!
My turn
I knew I should say that we were hoping this sickness didn’t catch the whole family! Now I also have a miserable cold, and I can certainly understand why the kids have been so crabby the last few days. I had been a little bit stuffy earlier in the week, but yesterday afternoon my voice started to get all raspy, and by the end of the day today I could barely make a sound. Today was day 2 of Grandma Kerber daycare at our house, because both kids are still battling fevers and full of congestion. It’s not pretty.
Please, oh please, let this mean that we’ll be healthy for our trip to Florida. We really don’t want to spend that drive down being all coughy, sneezy, and sniffly. Really.
Shopping day
Today was the second annual Mother/Daughter Christmas shopping day in Bloomington/Normal. Unfortunately, because we were having 40 mph winds and it was snowing up in Sycamore, Mom and Nancy decided they better not brave the elements and come down. We were all so disappointed, but it really wasn’t a good idea for them to be on the road when the weather was so ugly. So much for our “annual” event…it lasted one year! But I had taken a personal day off of work, so I was determined to get through my shopping list today.
I was uber-organized, which of course everyone thinks is hilarious. I’m sure that not many people make detailed spreadsheets for their Christmas shopping lists. But it’s the way that I work best…planning everything out before I ever leave the house. Because the weather was so crappy I wanted to be as efficient as possible, too. Being out in it as little as possible was a definite plus.
I started with a few stops at department stores like Wal-Mart and Target, and then headed to the mall. It was hard to make some decisions by myself, but I really did well overall. By 1:00 pm I was close to being done with all the big presents. I just had a few gift cards and some stocking stuffers to get, so I was feeling great. Then I hit the book store and everything came to a screeching halt.
Each year Santa brings each of my kids a nice, hardcover book. So far, Dave and I have gone together to pick these out, and we really try to pick books that we think the kids will like. This year, it was really hard for me. I swear I looked at every picture book they had on display and again as many that were on the shelves. I did find two great choices, but it seemed to take me forever! Finally I was out of there and just had a few more stops to make before heading home.
I spent a lot of money and had to call Dave about a dozen times, but I did get done with my list and really enjoyed my day. I do love buying gifts for my family and friends. Now to get them all wrapped…
Mmm…steak…
Tonight we partook in one of our favorite winter traditions…going to Alexander’s for steak. We went with our friends Buck and Amy, and it was a really enjoyable night out. The reason I call this a winter tradition is because at Alexander’s you grill your own steak. They have giant brick enclosed grills that are constantly hot, and you get to pick your own piece of meat and cook it the way you like it. In addition, they have a big pan of potatoes all wrapped in foil, loaves and loaves of Texas toast, and a giant vat of butter with brushes so you can add as much or as little to both items. Add to that the many seasonings that sit around the grill and you really end up with a seriously good meal. To be honest, none of this is that fun in the summer heat. But in the winter, there is something about standing around a giant grill holding a cold beer that works. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend you visit one soon.
Home daycare day
Sadly, Danielle has been sick the last two days, and hasn’t been able to watch our kids. Yesterday Grandma Kerber was able to sit for us, which was a huge help. Today, though, I stayed home from school to watch the kids. Ali and AJ’s mom Addie was in a bit of a bind, so I told her that she could bring her kids over here, too. So technically, I was operating a home daycare at the house today.
The day started at 6:40. Ali & AJ arrived while my kids were having their breakfast, and they had brought theres along, so they were all up at the table eating together when Dave came downstairs to leave for work. “You’re crazy,” he said. “Good luck!!” With that and a couple of kisses good-bye, he was out the door and I was left completely outnumbered by toddlers. I was confidant that I could do this, but I wasn’t sure how easy it would be.
Actually, I was very pleasantly surprised. The kids entertained each other very well. There was no meltdown from Ben when I said that we were turning off the TV after breakfast. They all went downstairs and just played, played, played. AJ especially loved it down there, because there are so many cars, trucks and tractors that he could drive around. The big kids were excited to play up in Ben’s room for a while. It cracked me up to listen to them chatting away up there through the monitor. Just before lunch I did turn on “Merry Madagascar”, a Christmas cartoon we taped the other night, so I could fix everything. And after lunch, the big kids must have been re-energized because they were all crazy! By that time poor AJ was so tired that he just wanted to go to bed.
But…we had to stay up until it was time for Ben to go to preschool. We all loaded up in the van (which was NOT an easy job, let me tell ya) and headed to Tomorrow’s Promise. I met Addie’s mom there to drop off Ali & AJ, and Ems and I took Ben into class. After he was settled we headed home so Emma could take her nap. By 1:30 it was actually silent in the house, and let me tell you I was very thankful for this.
I’ve always known that I am not the stay at home Mom type, but the occasional day home with the kids is kind of fun. However, I now know that there is absolutely no way I could ever be a daycare provider in my home. I did it for 6 hours and I thought I may lose it a couple of times. My plans for getting laundry done, my Christmas cards stuffed and stamped, and dinner made were all dashed because I was so busy keeping peace and keeping the kids entertained. And that was with the kids all being mostly well-behaved! (When I say mostly, I mean that Ben and I had to have a few “talks” throughout the morning…the other three were all very well-behaved!) Anyway, I guess a day of perspective is good for us all. We’ve always appreciated Danielle, but right now that appreciation is at an all time high!
The finished product
I’ll admit that I was worried about decorating the tree this year. The kids were so excited to help and I knew they’d go at it full force with no regard to ornament placement at all. Anyone who knows me knows that this would be difficult for me. I love decorating the tree, and part of that is finding the perfect spot for each ornament. But when you’re two or four, it’s all about getting as many ornaments on the tree as quickly as possible in an area you can reach. Obviously we have very different approaches, which is a challenge.
Happily, though, I found that I could relax and let the kids hang their ornaments wherever they wanted. We had so much fun sorting through all of the ornaments…each one bringing back so many memories. The kids especially liked seeing the ones with pictures of them as infants. Emma couldn’t quite understand that the cute little baby was her. We kind of worked as a team…Dave was at the tree helping and I was at the ornament box pulling things out a little more carefully than they would have. As they hung more and more (most of them on the same few branches, of course) 
we all just had more and more fun. I will admit that we had to move several of the ornaments to other branches later, but the kids didn’t really notice, so they were satisfied and proud that they did it all by themselves. It was so awesome to watch them have so much fun doing this. I was happy I could let them!
We had such a great time, and we ended up with a gorgeous tree again.
The perfect tree
The kids and I got home from Sycamore this afternoon, and as soon as we did we all headed to Growing Grounds to get our Christmas tree. 
It’s nice tree shopping there, since all of the trees are inside their greenhouse. But today was warm and sunny outside anyway, so no matter where we were going, it was a great day to buy a Christmas tree. The kids were excited, and it literally took us about 5 minutes to find the perfect tree. Then they just started running. 
The greenhouse is probably about 30 feet from where we were to the end, and both kids just ran back and forth and back and forth about a million times. It was great to see them burning off some energy. It made me sad we weren’t at the tree farm getting our tree this year, because they would have loved running around there. Conversely, we would have had to keep track of both of them when they just wanted to run freely, so maybe Growing Grounds was big enough!
We have the tree in the stand, and I’ve got the lights on. We’re all very excited to decorate it tomorrow. I hope I have patience while doing so, because I’m pretty sure the kids will not be able to contain themselves.
Ahh…I love me some Thanksgiving
Last Thanksgiving I wrote about how thankful I am for all of the blessings in my life…and at the top of that list of blessings sit my loving husband and wonderful kids. So this year I thought I should probably change it up a little bit for my Thanksgiving post. Unfortunately, I can’t even pretend that I am thankful for anything more than Dave, Emma & Ben. They truly make my heart full and my life complete.
I hope that anyone who reads this blog has the same kind of happiness I feel on a daily basis. Sure, the kids make me crazy sometimes, and Dave and I bicker more than I’d like, but my life is truly filled with three monumental blessings.
I hope that I can always remember how lucky I am when the little stuff gets in the way.
I truly am thankful, but not just on this Thanksgiving night.
- I am thankful when I have to get up in the middle of the night to someone yelling, “MOMMY!”
- I am thankful when I and trying to get dinner on the table and someone’s at my side begging for attention.
- I am thankful when I’m the only one who can stop the fights, the fits, or the tears.
- I am thankful for the arms thrown around me every day for giant hugs.
- I am thankful for the millions of smiles and giggles that fill up this house.
- I am thankful that I get to hear, “I love you” absolutely every day of the year.
I’ll say it again…Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I hope you stay thankful all year, too.
Fun times at NCHS
The NCHS Family, Career and Consumer Leaders of America (FCCLA…what used to be called FHA) sponsors a babysitting night at the high school once per month as a fundraiser. We’ve debated taking the kids before, but to be honest, we get most of our babysitting for free, so it’s sometimes hard to shell out the cash for it. But tonight I decided that it was finally the right time. I thought the kids would have fun there, I knew Dave and I could use the time for more Christmas shopping, and of course it’s a great cause. So off to the high school we went tonight at 5:00 p.m.
It’s always so funny to take the kids somewhere in the evening. Of course it’s already dark at 5:00, and they think that means it’s late. Emma said, “Ooo…it’s VEWY wate!” as soon as we pulled out of the garage, even though we hadn’t had dinner yet. Cracks me up. Ben was so thrilled that we were going to his ”old preschool”, and as soon as we got inside the room they both bee-lined it to the toys and forgot all about us. I was a little concerned about Emma being happy the whole time we were gone. Lately she’s been a bit of a mama’s girl, and I wasn’t sure that she’d make it through the whole night.
Three hours later we returned to the high school to pick them up, and of course neither of them wanted to go home. They had such a great time playing with new toys and with other kids. Ben’s face was beet red from running around with two other 4 year-old boys. I should have known that we’d have nothing to worry about…except getting them out the door to go home. That wasn’t an easy task. It was a great night for all of us. Dave and I got almost finished Christmas shopping for the kids, the kids had way more fun than they would have at home with us, and the FCCLA got a donation to help fund their trip to the state convention. Well worth the $20 it cost us.
Early shopping
I have never been an early Christmas shopper. I like shopping when I’m in the Christmas spirit. And it super annoys me when people skip over Thanksgiving…my favorite holiday of the year. But this year, since we’re leaving for Florida on the 18th, I feel more urgency and stress surrounding our holidays. So this afternoon Dave and I started shopping for the kids. We went to Farm & Fleet with the intention of simply browsing and getting ideas, but we ended up getting several gifts for the kids that we think they will love. We also got a few gifts for some friends, and more importantly, we got organized. That helped me calm down a lot. Later, while grocery shopping, I even picked up some stocking stuffers! Me…buying stocking stuffers in November…when it’s still fall outside and our Christmas lights, while already hung due to nice weather, will not be turned on until the day after Thanksgiving. Unheard of!
I still hate shopping early, and I did miss shopping while being caught up in the spirit of the holidays. But you gotta do what you gotta do, and if being ready to leave on December 18th means I have to shop early, I’ll gladly do it.
Girl time
Tonight I got to have some serious girl time. My friend Amy, who used to teach with at NCHS with us but has since moved with her family to Fargo, ND, came back to Normal for a visit. A bunch of women from work got together at another friend’s house, and as always we had a very fun time.
Since I don’t get girl time very often anymore, I think I cherish it even more than ever. It was so nice to have Amy in town, and I know that some of her older friends were so estatic to see her. As much as I enjoyed the time together, though, it really made me miss my old girlfriends even more. While I have definitely made some great friends here, I still don’t have that close-knit group of friends like I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I really do love my life here. I just long for some of the girl time I used to get.
