What the Diva Wants

Ava's Christmas list was so girlie this year it's crazy. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since she has always been this way. I was just never into Barbies or dolls or dollhouses, so this is sort of new territory for me. However, I love that she's like this, and it makes shopping for her really fun.

Her list this year really wasn't all that big. The thing that cracks me up most is that she specifically asked for a "Costco" doll house.  This came about because she initially asked for the Barbie Dream House. I read up on it, though, and the reviews were pretty mediocre, most saying it was cheaply constructed. So, I sort of convinced her that it would probably fall apart. She had already seen the one at Costco, and changing her mind was pretty easy.

Costco sells the KidKraft doll house, which fits Barbie-sized dolls, and it's made of MDF rather than plastic. Plus, it was only $90, so much better than the $150 or so for the Barbie one.

via Costco

She also asked for McKenna's Beam and Bar. In case you don't have a girl aged 5-10, you probably don't know that McKenna is the American Girl's Doll of the Year, and American Girl has very kindly provided lots of overpriced accessories to go with the little gymnast. Ava got McKenna for her birthday.

via American Girl

I'm pretty sure I also got her a new outfit for McKenna. I need to go back through the loot and review the purchases. I'm losing track and trying to keep things even, which is hard. And yes, we do go overboard at Christmas. I'm the first to admit that, but I don't really buy them many toys throughout the year, so that's my excuse. Plus, it's just fun. 

Moving on. Ava also asked for a unicorn Pillow Pet (why??), some new Charm It charms, and some books. So, the list isn't that big. I love a good surprise, so I know she'll be thrilled when she opens this:

Yes, it's yet another American Girl doll. But it's JULIE! She's the one I  Ava has wanted for a while, and I told her that Santa was just not going to bring her another doll when she already has four of them. She was fine with that and said maybe for her birthday. So, naturally, I'm so excited for her to open this, and frankly, the hair possibilities are endless with Julie, so we will be styling away. 

I need to work on stocking stuffers this week. Time is running out faster than I'd like. I'm mostly done with big shopping, but there is a lot of wrapping to be done, as well as a trip to the post office, UPS store, etc.

Ava and I are going to see The Nutcracker tonight, and I'm excited for a Mommy-daughter date. Davis will be with one of his grandmothers for the evening (and a sleepover), so I really need to work tomorrow morning to the fullest and get it all finished up. 

The holidays are exhausting, but still so much fun.

The Delicate Balance

I was planning to blog about Ava's Christmas list today, but I feel like I have to address the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary school instead.

Like so many of you, I have a child who is the same age as those innocent children who were so ruthlessly murdered on Friday. Ava is in first grade, and on Friday morning, I went to Ava's school, where her first grade class was putting on a play. There were lots of parents and grandparents coming in and out of the school that morning, but it never occurred to me that we could really ever be in any real danger there. We're supposed to check in and out using the computer in the office, but frankly, it's pretty easy to just walk on in. And besides, as we know from Sandy Hook, there are some people who can not be thwarted by any security measures at all.

In all honesty, I have never given all that much thought to safety at our school. I realize now how much blind trust I have put in our teachers, our principal, and the rest of the school staff. If I've ever hesitated in dropping her off at school, the hesitation has come from my concerns for her happiness, not her safety. It's elementary school, after all. And the school is in a really good neighborhood. It's small. We all know each other.

On Friday, upon hearing the devastating news, I could not wait for Ava to get home. I felt anxious, ready to have all of my family together, safe in our house. Morgan called me and said that no matter what our kids' behavior that night, they got a free pass. We just felt so lucky to have them.

That feeling continued throughout the weekend for me, especially as more and more details emerged out of Connecticut. I felt like I just kept looking at Ava and Davis with newfound awe. I'm in awe of their innocence, and of the future that lies ahead for each of them.

Last night, we attended the Joy Gift Service at our church. This is a family service, and appropriately, no mention was made of Sandy Hook. However, I could not stop the tears when I watched Ava's choir - all first and second graders - and thought of those young lives that were so violently taken. I looked at the faces of our sweet children and wondered for the umpteenth time how in the world someone could do what Adam Lanza did?

I can't imagine what those parents are feeling now. I can't imagine how traumatized the survivors are. Kids are resilient, though, and their lives will go on. I was tucking Ava in last night and couldn't help but think of the poor parents who have to pass by empty bedrooms now. My heart is so heavy for them.

I suppose that if I had to look for a silver lining in all this, it would be the renewed appreciation for my children. Oh, I know it won't be long before they're making me batty again, but for now, I am reminded of just how delicate the balance of life truly is, and how lucky I am to have my sweet children with me.

Shopping from the sick bed

As I told you yesterday, we've been quarantined all week. Ava finally went back to school today, and Davis has preschool, so I'm doing a little happy dance about having the house all to myself. I still don't feel great, but good enough that I might be able to get out of the house for a couple of errands. Since I have not left the house since Monday except for a doctor's appointment and Davis' gymnastics class, the to-do list has really gotten lengthy. This week and next are kind of crucial. Davis' last day of preschool before the holidays is next Friday, so I have little time to get my act together and wrap up all my holiday shopping.

Also, holiday shopping = one for them, one for me.

Luckily for me, I have not been totally out of luck, thanks to my BFF, the internet. The UPS man and I are really good friends right now, mainly because he has been here just about every day this week. Also, I think we might be having a steamy love affair because one time when he delivered a new bag to me, I was really happy, and he said, "Yeah.....that's what brown can do for you." And he's African American, so I think there might have been a bit of double entendre going on there.

On Monday, I finished up my shopping for Davis using our trial Amazon Prime membership. Free 2-day shipping? Yes, please. So, on Wednesday, I got lots of boxes from Amazon, which included:

Melissa & Doug Blocks

 

Some Switch and Go Dinos

And a Transformer thingy

What's going to blow him away, however, is the John Deere Gator he's getting. Total surprise gift. We got kind of an amazing deal on it.

Oh, but back to the Amazon order. I got him a few books, too. And if you have some books that 3-4 your 3-4 year old boys love, let me know. He's not quite as into reading as Ava has always been, but his interest is on the rise. I can never resist a good book for kids.

I'll be back next week to share Ava's Christmas goodies. She's getting a fun surprise, too, although something tells me she'll love the Gator as much as her brother does. 

As a side note, I have caught a bit more morning tv than usual this week. So,  Kathie Lee and Hoda: if you ever need a third host to drink wine with you at 10am, I'm your girl. 

via

 

Never trust the flu shot

As I type this, I am sandwiched on my sofa between a 3 year old boy and a shih tzu. It's 3pm, and my 7 year old is in pajamas in the chair across the room. We are watching LazyTown.

I can't imagine the level of envy you must feel upon reading this, but please know that it's because the plague has hit my house. It started with Ava, on Saturday. She didn't feel well, ran a fever that night, yadda yadda yadda. I took her to the doctor on Monday, only to receive a FLU diagnosis.

Hey, wait a minute. Flu?

But she got the Flu Mist. In fact, the whole family has been vaccinated this year.

Well, Flu Mist be damned, because the flu has descended upon us. That afternoon, I started thinking I was getting a cold. I thought so until last night when I was running a 101 fever, which has kept up, on and off, ever since. My doctor gave me Tamiflu, so hopefully that will help quickly. I have Christmas parties to go to this weekend. Sick is not on my agenda.

The first two days of Ava being at home were fine. I finished decorating the house. I did lots of laundry. I changed my sheets. All of that was, I suppose, good planning, since I'm now down for the count.

The funny thing is, though, that kids kind of seem to come through for you when you need them to. Yesterday, I had both of mine home all day because Davis doesn't go to preschool on Tuesdays. What started as a day I dreaded turned into a day of two siblings getting along and entertaining each other all day. I think I had to call them down once. Seriously. Once.

Ava even took some time to teach Davis some new shapes on the computer. Or maybe she was shopping online. Either way, they were happy. I would show you a picture but I have a new Mac and I can't get the picture to post. Must practice that a little.

So, I'm keeping Ava home again today. She's fever-free and feeling better, but I think one more day can't hurt. Davis and Morgan are still flu-free, and my fingers and toes are all crossed that they stay that way. Maybe I'll try to be productive and address our Christmas cards.

Real or Fake?

Sorry for the long hiatus. There's been lots going on, although nothing of huge significance. We did take our adults-only trip to Vegas, which was really fun. I would tell you about it, but you know, it's Vegas, so it all stays there. Not really, of  course. I am so wild that out first night there I went to bed at 9:30. My excuse is that I was still on East Coast time, and I had to get up at 3:30am to catch my flight out there. So, I was up for about 21 hours. That's the best I can muster at age 36.

Anyway, we did have a great time, and it was a much-needed getaway, just before the crazy fun of the Thanksgiving-Christmas onslaught. The wildest thing was that my sister and her husband just happened to roll into town the last night we were there, so we got to have dinner with them. And the day before that we randomly ran into some friends from Raleigh and had a fun night out with them. We had some ridiculously amazing meals, and I had a great time window shopping the multitude of high-end retail shops.

The restaurant highlights:

Okay, back to current time. Thanksgiving was lots of fun, and fairly relaxing, which is always nice. It seems that most of Raleigh decorated their homes immediately following the turkey feast. We, however, did not. I'm a one holiday at a time kind of girl. I don't like for the Christmas decorations to go up when there are still Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge.

Also, I'm lazy.

We will decorate this weekend. But here's the thing: 2 or 3 years ago, we got an artificial tree. I swore up and down for years and years that I would NEVER do something so crazy. But then we got a really good deal on a pre-lit tree, and it seemed SO EASY, and we decided to purchase.

I have hated it ever since.

It's a nice-looking tree. Really nice, actually. But we have to haul it down in sections from the attic, which is annoying. Oh, and it takes up a ton of space in the attic, and storage is already at a premium in our too-small house. I can't find a good picture of it, but here's my best effort. Clearly, we need a tree skirt. This is from 2 years ago:

Then there are the lights. Pre-lit seems like a great idea. And it is, when the lights are all working. Ours, however, do not all work. So every year, the fake tree requires that we put a new strand of lights of 3 on it.

Plus, it doesn't smell like a Christmas tree. And I like that smell.

So, this year, I declared that the fake tree will either stay in the attic or go on Craigslist. A real tree will grace our living room, dropping needles all month, and we'll like it.

What about you? Do you prefer real or fake?

Death of a Fish (or three)

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we were the lucky winners of a goldfish at the NC State Fair. I use the word "winners" loosely, as I really didn't need another being to care for. But, the kids were really excited, and I went the next day to get a small tank and some rocks for our new pet. Sydney was welcomed into our home with love.

Well, about ten days ago, I walked past the tank and noticed that poor Sydney was floating, belly up. Luckily for us, the kids were asleep, so Morgan swiftly flushed Syd with a prayer that the kids wouldn't notice the empty tank in the morning.

Luck was on our side - the morning was hectic, and we were off hook. I ventured to Pet Supermarket where I bought two fish (one resembling Sydney, and one to serve as Syd's companion). I also forked over some extra money for a filter, because the water that I poured from Sydney's tank smelled so foul I could hardly stand it.

The plan worked perfectly. The kids thought the new fish was Sydney, and they thought I was the best mommy ever for getting a buddy for their fish. The fish seemed really happy in their filtered water. Until a few days ago. I noticed that Sydney II was looking a little off. Swimming slowly. Not going after his food like he had. Sunday morning, I woke up to find him dead. Poor Sydney. Again, the kids were still in bed, so I went to get our net, which was resting in the sink. I got Sydney out, flushed, and when I returned to the tank, soap bubbles were pouring out of the filter and covering the top of the tank. All I can figure is that some dish soap got onto the net when it was in our sink.

So, I got fish #2 out (he never really had a name - Davis called him Davis, and Ava called him Frank) as fast as I could, rinsed him in clean water, and temporarily put him in a large mixing bowl so I could clean the tank. You know where this is going. After being exposed to those bubbles, that poor fish didn't stand a chance. He was dead within 20 minutes.

It took until that afternoon, but Ava was the first to notice the empty tank. I thought she would be crushed, inconsolable, beside herself. She is, after all, super-sensitive.

Nope.

She actually giggled a little at the news of the deceased fish. It might have been that kind of uncomfortable laughing-when-you-should-be-crying kind of reaction, I'm not sure. I do that sometimes. Inappropriate reaction. Her only sad comment was, "Awwww.....now  we only have one pet!" She's a bit of a hoarder.

Davis, on the other hand, burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably for a few minutes. He wanted to know if the fish were ever going to see their mommies again. Or their daddies. He also wanted to know if he could just feed the empty tank. So, it's possible that his sadness came not from the loss of the fish, but from the loss of getting to feed something.

So, for now, there are no fish in our house. I really would like to keep it that way as long as possible, so I think I'm going to put the tank away and hope that the kids stop asking when we're getting more fish.

Weekend's here

I kicked off a gorgeous weekend  by getting my arse kicked on the tennis court this morning. So frustrating. I played with a new partner who's got a killer serve, and though we did manage a bit of a second set comeback, it was all for naught. The worst part is that our opponents were friends of mine. I would rather play a stranger any day, especially if I'm going to lose. This is pretty much how I felt:

via shutterstock

Post-tennis, I picked up Davis from preschool, whereupon he threw a fit because I wouldn't let him ride in the booster seat. That's a second kid thing. At age 3, Ava probably didn't even know what a booster seat was, and certainly didn't have a clue that it was an option. Davis, however, has ridden in one  a bunch of times once or twice, and, not surprisingly, prefers it over the prison of the 5-point restraint. Don't judge.  I did manage to insist on the safer option today.

On the drive home, D's little eyes were at half-mast. So sleepy. And once in the driveway, fit #2 ensued because I was making him go inside, rather than ride his scooter. I shuffled him to the sofa, turned on a show, and figured he'd fall right asleep. Silly me. So naive! Thirty minutes later, he's still awake. 

All this to mention a few things I'm looking forward to:

1) A glass of wine tonight (and believe me, there was a moment when I almost poured one a few minutes ago, before realizing drinking alone at 2pm is not really okay).

2) I'm getting my hair did this afternoon. Cut and color. I will be thrilled to see the distinct line between gray/brown roots and blonde highlights go away. 

3) This time next week I'll be in Vegas. With no kids. A grown-up trip is way past due, so I can't wait for it to get here!

This photo of Las Vegas is courtesy of TripAdvisor

And, we're staying here:

So, if I can just trudge through the next 6 days, I'll get some much needed downtime. 

Have a great weekend!