Christmas Day

This is what it looked like under our tree on Christmas day. And this is before Santa visited. There were so many presents under the tree.

Jay and EE woke up about 6:30 (actually Jay had been wake since 6am). We threatened them if they came out of their room. They had to wait for us to come get them and they knew we would not be up prior to 6:30. Jay actually woke up at midnight and was having a hard time falling back asleep because the wind was howling. We actually had a hard time sleeping as well. The wind blows so hard and then the screen on my window makes the most annoying noise. We probably just need to take it out.

Jay got a telescope and EE got a keyboard (he has been wanting to take piano lessons so we will see where this goes). They then noticed that they got DS games and looked around a little more to actually find their Nintendo DS system.

EE and Jay have been on their DS systems non-stop. They get another week of playing and then the time restrictions will kick in.

The baby woke up shortly after 7am. He was very surprised with all of his gifts. When we opened all the other gifts, he actually opened some of them himself. I wasn't sure he would know what to do, but as always he just follows in his big brother's footsteps.

The husband has been on vacation since Tuesday. It is so nice when he is home. He helps out around the house and with the kids. He also has been playing the DS systems.

Pre-Christmas activities

In the past my neighbor has a party for the kids to decorate Christmas cookies. Becasue the kids are getting older, she decided to let them build Gingerbread houses. She purchased a kit for all the kids, which was extremely nice.

EE took no time to complete his house. I helped him while helping others at the same time. He got it all done and then moved on. I think he ate a lot of the decorating items.

The husband decided to help Jay. I still am not sure who did more work on it. I kept trying to tell my husband to let Jay do what he wanted but my perfectionist of a husband could not stop. They took a break and then Jay went back in and worked on his house for another 30 or so minutes. He made some great additions....on his own.

Couldn't leave out the baby. We gave him one cookie with icing and candies to decorate. He was only interested in eating the frosting. I can't say I blame him.

I let the older boys make cookies for Santa this year. They made the dough, cut the shapes out and then frosted/decorated them. They had such a great time doing this activity. It was so nice to keep them occupied while I got other things prepared. Santa must have really liked them because he ate all but a little piece of one.

Please don't talk to me about your water problems

Shortly after we moved into our house a year ago, our neighbor approached us with an issue he had arising from our yard. Honestly, I am not even sure we had any conversation prior to him wanting to talk to us about this issue. He even had his nanny at the time tell us he was having the problem. That is when I sent my husband over to talk to him.

The problem was that the drain pipes off of our house were all directed to one pipe that let out at the fence line pouring right into his yard. My husband explained where the water was coming from. At this point our hands were tied but we told our neighbor we would try to come up with a fix. The neighbor has 2 dogs who have recently become more outdoor dogs than anything else. We understand the problem because we had a dog and dogs love to get dirty and then you really don't want them to come in the house.

In May, the contractor whom we hired to do our patio addition around the pool said he could fix the problem. We actually had a spot in our yard where the water collected as it had no where to drain. He would be able to fix this as well. He told us that the drainage had to be 10 feet from your neighbors yard, which at the time wasn't. We paid a lot of money to redirect the pipes from the house and add a french drain. The french drain goes around the pool and leads to the back part of our yard.

One more factor that is in play, our house is downhill from our other neighbor and the neighbor complaining is downhill from us. All of this water then drains into the houses behind my neighbor and there is a retention pond way behind those houses. So unless you are at the top of the hill you are having water drain into your yard.

We are the good neighbors right. We took care of our problem and fixed the drainage into our neighbor's yard. Imagine our surprise when he came over to complain again about the water and now it was at the back of his yard where his shed and firewood sit. My husband tried to explain that our water has to drain somewhere, it is within code and there is not much else we can do. When it rains heavily....you will see water in your yard.

When we have heavy rains we have to drain the water out of our pool. The pump drains it into the french drain. We have no other place to drain the water. We have had LOTS of rain lately also.

Yesterday we were at my other neighbors house (more on that later) and this neighbor happens to come over to drop off something he has had for a while. He looks at me and says I need to talk to your husband, perfect timing as the husband was walking in the door. He brings up this damn water thing again. I thought my husband's head was going to turn all the way around and fall off. I could see the fire burning in his eyes. He listened and said little and it ate at him all night.

So neighbor.....keep your water problems to yourself. We no longer want to hear how you backyard is so wet, guess what so is ours. We have standing water in our backyard when it rains just as you do. The ground has been frozen so it can't soak into the ground. We have done all we can to try to appease you and all our efforts have failed.

All I want for Christmas.....

You guessed it.....is my two from teeth.

I am hoping EE's other front tooth falls out soon. The one coming in is a lot larger than the others.

Gone camping

The husband decided to set up the tent (he got as a gift from me a few years ago) in the basement and camp out with the older boys. The tent is rather large and has a divider in the middle. He blew up air mattresses for each of them. They zipped up the tent and crashed out around 9pm. EE said that was the best night of his life and Jay agreed. Next up will be camping out back. We will see how that works.

Got it all done

Saturday morning I felt so relieved to have it all done. The baby and I got all the food up to the Husband's work party with 5 minutes to spare. Friday was a really gross rainy foggy day. We stayed for lunch and then headed home. I was able to put the baby down for his nap before heading up to the boys' school for their afternoon celebration. The kids were so wild on Friday. I am not sure how the teachers managed to make it through the day. Friday night the boys had a basketball game. When 9pm came around I crashed.

Saturday morning I was able to get all my packages together and mailed out. Now I just have a few last minute things to complete and I am done. It feels good to say that.

So glad tomorrow is Friday

When I was leaving the gym this morning after my workout. I looked at the car next to me and saw a dog in the front seat of this mini-van. The dog had a very comfy bed. I am wondering why the dog's owner thought it was necessary to have the dog wait in the car for him while he worked out. I would be taken to jail if I did that to my baby.

Friday will be the completion of my many commitments. It will also hopefully mean that there are less "things" in my house. I opened my mouth last year when my husband told me that they spent $300 on a department luncheon. I thought that it was too much money especially for what they got. On Monday, the husband called me from work to remind me of what I said last year and wondered if I would act on it. So I took the challenge. I will probably spend less than $200 and they will have more food. I have to get all the food together and take it up to work on Friday as well. The baby and I will stay for lunch.

I then will have to shift gears and get ready for the celebration at school at 2pm. I am helping out in EE's class but have all of the goodies for Jay's class. Luckily the classes are right across from each other. This past weekend I purchased all of the teacher gifts. That is right I collected for both classes. The other room Mom is putting a basket together for Jay's teacher and I am putting one together for EE's teacher. I got them gift cards to some of their favorite places. I also collected for the bus driver. I was a little upset that the person only collected $25 for him last Christmas. That is ridiculous....there are about 40 kids who get on the bus at our stop. I was able to collect $105 for him. He is such an awesome bus driver and keeps control of all the kids.

My last task for today is to finish baking cookies. I have baked some this week but I need to finish tonight. My niece who has been with us since July is going back home. We have enjoyed having her here and are going to miss her terribly. She is such a big help with the kids. She has decided at this point and time she does not want to be in school any more (4 years was enough). She will move back home and try to find a job. My sister will be here today and they will drive back to Florida on Friday. My hope is to have them take all my delicious goodies home. One less package to mail. I have 3 packages I hope to have mailed out on Saturday morning.

Why I am I sitting writing on this blog.....I am not sure. I have a huge headache and the baby decided to not nap today. Off to finish cutting up ham and then on to baking......

Sunday trip to DC

My husband and my neighbor's husband took all the kids to Washington, DC on Sunday to look at the National Christmas Tree.

Here is the tree. I am sure the picture does not do it justice.

EE and Jay with tree in background.

EE made a comment that all the trees had decorations on them. I am not sure he knew which tree they were going to look at. They all had a nice time walking around and enjoying some hot chocolate with some other yummy treats.

I stayed home so that the baby could nap and I could get started on baking cookies.

Santa visit

It has long been our tradition to see Santa during December. I have been a member of the Mothers of Multiples club since before the boys were born. Each year the club hosts a Santa social. In NC, the club had the real Santa visit. He loved our group so much and had twin Grandchildren. In MD, the club get a Santa helper. Here are some of our pictures throughout the years.

2002

2003 - No way am I sitting on his lap.

2004

2007

2008. I just noticed the older boys are wearing the same shirts from last year. Oops! They both had their list and gave Santa a few ideas for gifts. It was a nice social.

It is all wrong

Today as I was sorting laundry near the boys' bedrooms, I look as the baby is getting up on the bed and stepping off. Yes, this is the reason I spend a lot of money to have my hair colored every three or four months.

But this is not what this post is about. It is about sports. There are 2 major organizations and the Parks and Rec that offer team sports. The Parks and Rec does a nice job with their sports. The boys played instructional basketball in the fall and I was impressed. The other 2 orgs. are similar. I have talked to a few people who like one over the other for specific reasons. For example, Org 2 does a travel baseball league. We have played baseball for Org 1 the last two season. We have had no issues with baseball. In fact, I would say it was well run and any problems were not apparent to us.

I didn't think twice about signing the boys up for basketball through Org. 1. Because of their age, I had to sign them up for a 5/6 instructional league. I wasn't very sure about this but was restricted by their age. Oh and sign ups start very early. In fact, I can sign the boys up for baseball now and the programs begins in April some time. I am not sure why the long registration period.

We did not receive any information from the league until early November. This note said that the start date was delayed due to lack of coaches for all the teams. It was explained that we would meet each Wednesday and Friday. The first half hour is for practice and the second half hour would be a game between the two teams meeting at the same facility. Ok, didn't sound that bad.

We then got invited to a "kick-off" meeting so the coach could go over a few things with the parents and the kids could get acquainted. My husband took the boys to this meeting. He came home and was very disappointed. He could not hear one thing anyone said the entire night. He said that the gym was double booked and pure mayhem. Not a good start. And to top if off EE and Jay are about a head taller then everyone on their team. In fact, they are the only first graders on the team. Funny to watch how they tower over all of the kids.

The first real practice was the week that followed. They were assigned to a gym that did not have the 8 foot goals. So they were not able to practice shooting that day. We were also set to practice the following Friday but it got canceled because schools were closing early for the holiday and there would be no access to the gym.

We finally get a schedule set. I print it out and fill my calendar with the pertinent information. Then we get another email stating that the calendar had to be changed due to conflicts with some of the gyms.

I have a feeling we will be dealing with the chaos the entire season, which by the way lasts through February. I am not sure what to do. Part of me would like to pull them out, but we have already paid and they are not aware of the awkwardness of them being so much taller (and frankly better) than everyone on the team.

In talking with my neighbor, who also has three boys, she has said nice things about Org. 2. I wish I had known that before I signed them up. Org. 2 has a team of just first graders. How awesome would that have been.

Teachers are amazing

I had the pleasure of volunteering in both boys' classes this week. I have been in Jay's class about 4 times but this was my first time in EE's class. I have tried to volunteer in EE's class before. The first time I showed up, the class had a visitor and I was not needed (so I went shopping instead). I then signed up for a Monday when the class has technology and again wasn't needed.

My one big responsibility is to coordinate the volunteer calendar. This really is not so difficult. It entails sending out a calendar via email to all the parents. I wait for responses and fill in the calendar as requested by the parents. It is typically the same parents who volunteer and they are consistent with their days month to month.

I have also ensured that the Friday folders have been stuffed for both classes. Again this is not a hard task but something that lightens the load for the teachers. It can take about 10 or so minutes per class.

One reason I like to be in the class is to observe the dynamics. I like to see who behaves and misbehaves. I also like to be able to ensure they are hanging out with nice people.

Jay's class has a few rambunctious kids but for the most part not too bad. Typically the kids read me a short book. There are a series of books from level C-K, and each level contains approx. 10 books. If they read the book with no issues, then I change it out for the next one in the series. The books then go home for them to read with their parents. I also get to play Scrabble Junior with the kids when they break out into groups. This is fun for the kids. I had one difficult group on Monday but other than that it worked out nicely.

Today in EE's class I figured out why the teacher has a reputation for yelling. She has some wild children in that class. I was first asked to read the class a book. I read the book "I have a little Dreidel". I have never heard of this book before (nor the song). The children then broke out into groups. The first group I had was one that needs a lot of help on their sight words. I was given a bucket of chips with words on them. I had the children say the word and then make a sentence. One little girl cried just about the entire time she was in my group. Actually she was crying off and on until the teacher made her go to her desk to read a book. The children in the group did not behave and did not listen. It was almost impossible to get their attention. It is very sad and I wonder if they will ever be able to learn what they need to progress. Needless to say I had this group for a good 45 minutes. The next group I got was so much better and EE was in that group. We played a game where they picked out three words and made a sentence.

I am amazed at how much the teachers have to do in a day. In first grade, the children change classes for math. So each teacher teaches a different level. However, for Reading and Language Arts the teacher has to break the kids out according to their level. She then works with each group in the time allotted. This means while she is working with one group, she has to ensure that the other groups are occupied and quiet. Our teachers have such a huge responsibility! I think they are amazing.

A little snow

Yesterday is started snowing in the afternoon. It stopped early evening, just in time for us to go out to dinner with some neighbors. My neighbors niece watched all the kids here at our house. About 10 minutes after we sat down for dinner, we get a call. The baby ran into the pool table and got a large bump on his head. No sweat for us, not the first time this has happened and I am sure it won't be the last. Dinner was fantastic.

During the night it continued to snow and left about an inch on the ground. The boys wanted to go play so they geared up and went out. Here they are:

Not sure why the picture was taken on the porch, I wanted one of them in the snow. Good job husband.

The baby and I remained inside as it was just too cold for us. The wind was howling and at times it was blowing the snow all around.

The baby has a little bruise on his head. Today EE ended up running into the pool table also and has a bump on his head to match the babies. And wouldn't you know it we got dressed up tonight to get a family Christmas picture taken. Luckily, they are not visible in the picture.

The list

I have to say that The Rockettes were amazing. The show was fantastic. The show was held in an arena. We had seats on the floor, left of the stage. At various times throughout the show the Rockettes were right in front of us. The show was a little less than 2 hours. After about the 1st hour my backside was hurting from sitting in the no cushioned chair. But we just moved from side to side and it made it ok. Maybe next year we will take the boys as I think they would enjoy it.

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I have been in major clean out/pick up mode today. One thing that has been annoying me for the last week or so is the Christmas list Jay has started and added to and added to (you get the point). I had a great idea today. I had the boys type their lists on the computer therefore eliminating the 10 or so pages. Jay has one complete page worth of wish list items. His plan is to keep the list and mark off what he receives from Santa. EE on the other hand has about 5 things on his list. Can you tell which child is a little more easier going than the other?

Christmas shopping for myself

My plan was to make the best use of my time at the mall today. My niece was set to watch the baby and I had a list of items I wanted to purchase. First on the list, a new sweater for who other than myself. The husband and I, along with my neighbors are going to see the Rockettes tomorrow night. I need something to wear with my black pants. I had the hardest time finding what I wanted on sale. I have a thing about buying clothes that are not on sale. After going to 3 different stores I ended up at White House/Black Market. I went with this sweater:




I then took out my list and went on my way. I didn't find any great deals. I know as it gets closer to Christmas I will be able to find sales.

I have to tell you that I was VERY annoyed with the sales people who have carts of crap they want to sell in the isle of the mall. Several times in my 2 hours I was harassed by sales people wanting me to try this or that. By the end I couldn't even be nice about them shoving something into my face. I hope my next shopping trip is better.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

For the past 2 or 3 years we have talked about driving to a Christmas tree farm to chop our very own tree down. In NC, we would have probably had to drive 3 to 4 hours just to find a tree farm. In Maryland, tree farms are relatively close. We talked about doing this Friday, but decided we didn't have enough time. My husband didn't get home from work until 3pm and most farms close at 5pm. So we drove up to Frank's produce stand and picked out a tree.

They had just started putting their trees up and it didn't take us long to find the one we wanted.

Of course, I made the children pose for a picture. It was a little cold out on Friday.

We got the tree up on my car and away we drove.

The boys spent the better part of a very rainy Sunday decorating the trees. The real tree is in our family room. We have a small artificial tree that we put downstairs. This is strictly the boys tree. They get to decorate how they see fit. We will be stringing popcorn this weekend to finish it off. EE has also asked if we could put Candy Canes on it as we have in the past. I am not sure about this yet as somehow they end up off the tree and being eaten.



To get us in the Christmas spirit, we went to The Festival of Trees this past weekend. There were crafts and goodies for purchase, trees for purchase and a large room filled with fun things to do for the kids. This is a fundraiser for a very large hospital in Baltimore. We didn't get to stay long but it was fun. The amount of people was unbelievable, very hard to get around.

We are officially in Christmas mode. We hope to be done with our Christmas shopping very soon. I will then move on to making my Christmas cookies. This is a tradition that my family looks forward to every year.

Day 2 with the tree and the baby has not messed with it too much.....will it last.

No hope for a new fridge for now

I received a notification in the mail the other day stating that our escrow had a shortage. I could either pay $2k now and my payment for next year will increase slightly or have my payment for next year increased by over $300 a month. No way do I want to have an increased payment for next year as I want to keep our expenses to a minimum. Instead I now have to use the money I set aside for a new refrigerator to cover the shortage. How does such a large shortage happen? This is not a new house and my guess is that taxes have probably remained around the same for the last few year. I have now been on hold for 20 minutes trying to get a little more information around this invoice. I may have to try tomorrow.

There is nothing really wrong with the refrigerator we have now. It keeps a constant temperature, makes ice and provides cold water when desired. When we moved in the fridge was incredibly dirty. It took me a good day to clean it out, no exaggeration. I am not sure the previous homeowner cleaned it, EVER. Food was stuck in places that I could not reach. The water dispenser tray does not fit correctly and rust has formed underneath, which has now run down the front of the fridge. I just want a new one. In the next year or so, we anticipate updating the kitchen. We will replace all appliances with stainless steal and replace the counter top with Granite or something similar. I guess I will just have to wait it out.