Struggles and Joys

How's the new year been for you?  It's been crazy busy for us.  January is almost done, and I am fine with that. 

We have basketball every Saturday and Sunday, and it will be the death of me!  I know that some of you don't mind or even enjoy going to your kids' sporting events.  You may not mind that your whole weekend is dominated by these little amateurs.  But NOT ME.  It is so painful.  I like watching the sport of basketball, and I like that my kids are learning it. Laura and Hannah have come a long way in their development this year.  But once a week would be sufficient for me.  I need a break on the weekend to keep my sanity.  And Emma is usually horrible the whole time we are there.  She has made little friends, which is nice.  But she is constantly playing too rough, throwing a ball onto the court, or trying to escape.  Matt and I are both so ready for basketball to be over.  And we have a whole month to go!  I don't know what I'm going to do when Laura is in 4th grade and the practice days pick up.

Emma finished out her time at Primrose this month.  She is transitioning to a new preschool/daycare arrangement, and she and we are super excited about it.  We enjoyed our time at Primrose, and it was right for us at that time.  But this arrangement will be definitely be better for Emma.  She needs a lower ratio and more disciplined environment.  I also knew it was a good move, since Emma didn't care at all that she was leaving Primrose.  If she were super anxious or sad about it, I might have hesitated.  But Emma didn't look back when she left on Friday.

On a more somber note, our struggles are nothing compared to those of others this month.  We attended a funeral for dear friends' infant.  I can't even imagine, nor do I want to, the pain that they endure every day.  Their sweet baby girl was still born at 30 weeks. 

And my poor 10 year old cousin has been in Children's Hospital for the last 3 weeks and received a devastating diagnosis.  We have all praying fervently that she will recover enough to go home and adjust to her new reality. 

Please pray for these two families.  We need to recognize that every day is a gift and not a guarantee.

Some funnies from the month:

Emma was watching a show or playing a game or something on her Kindle, and she leaned over next to me and said, "Mom look.  That animal is just like you.  She is protecting her baby from witches."  Yep Emma, that's what I do - protect you from witches.  Everyday.  Hee hee!

Every night at dinner, Hannah rates my dinner selection and cooking.  One night we had something that she liked, and she gave me 100 points, or some high number.  Then she said, "Mom, I'm going to live with you when I grow up cause you cook good food."  Well, that only lasted until the next dinner that she didn't like. 

Laura has been very into reading.  Her favorite series right now is the Boxcar Children.  She is also loving piano.  She was trying to compose her own songs this morning.  Typical.  (Sense my sarcasm...)

Hannah is very into Shopkins too.  She and her buddies trade them and play with them in their after school program.  She is also very excited for her birthday in a couple of weeks.  She is requesting a Brave theme this year and wants to go to the American Girl store.  Curse that company!  It's fun to watch their faces though.

Tonight is our Downton Abbey dinner party at The Refectory.  I am sooo excited.  It's going to be a blast!  We are dressing in 1920s period clothing, and Matt of course has some special props.  Follow me on Twitter for a sneak peak! @MarieAAdams

Some random Lego playing...

Emma messing with my phone

They both said, "Mom, look at our toes!"  Umm...anatomy lesson?

Hannah doing a bball drill

Christmas Round Up

So the Holidays...they've been over forever, but 2016 has been a little on the crazy side.  So I'm just now getting around to telling you about them.  I'll be quick about it.

They were super busy, a little too busy actually.  We had a ton of fun, and got to spend lots of time with family.  The girls and I did some baking one day.  Laura was my peanut butter girl and measured all the PB for the Monster cookies, which let me tell ya is a lot  of peanut butter.  Funny, since Laura doesn't like PB.  And Hannah was my expert cookie spooner; she put all of the dough on the cookie sheets to be baked.  They were both a huge help.  We had a fun time too :)

We did Adams Christmas in Logan again this year.  Emma was completely infatuated with Santa.  And the girls loved their new baby cousin, Kylian.  At the after hours party, Emma burnt her hand on the fireplace.  Matt had to make a run to Walmart for some first aid supplies.  She was much better in the morning, and all three girls enjoyed swimming with Daddy. 

Christmas Eve was great this year.  We went to mass at St. Brendan and actually had a seat.  We had to go an hour in advance, but we had a lucky break - Emma slept through the whole thing!   Then we all went to dinner at Buca in Worthington, and Matt's brother's family met us too.  The food was yummy, and we had a fun evening. 

Christmas morning proved to be as amazing as we thought it would be.  The girls all still believe in Santa.  They woke us up super early and were bursting at the seams with excitement.  When we got downstairs, we could hardly hold them back while we got breakfast in the oven and the coffee brewing.  We always do stockings first, which I don't even know why we bother.  The kids get through them as fast as they can so they can start opening presents.  I try to make them go slow as we pass out presents, but they are like ravenous wolves.  It's kind of funny.  Their faces are priceless, and the living room ends up looking like a war zone. 

Later that day, we headed up to my parents for the afternoon and evening.  We ate dinner and had presents there.  Then we played games and visited.  Some highlights are ping pong, Head Bandz (game),  and Crown (Matt and Justin had a fun evening). The kids never wanted the evening to end, and the adults were ready for sleep.  I remember feeling when I was a kid.  Not sure when the transition happened.

After Christmas, Matt headed down to Arizona to watch the Buckeyes beat up on ND, and we started to gear up for school and work. 

Another year in the books.   I know we won't have too many more Christmases that the kids will all believe in Santa.  I hope we get a couple more, but we will treasure each year.  We know they'll be grown before we know it.