Christmas Magic

There is something about the season.  The lights.  The songs.  The decorations. The magic….

Truth be told.  I really only like religious Christmas music.  I’m not a fan of the Chipmunks Christmas or even Winter Wonder Land.  I don’t link Jingle Bells or Decking the Halls.  I like We Three Kings and Silent Night.

And then I had kids. … 3 year old kids.  That believe in everything … with a twinkle in their eye.


And so we are “Elf on the Shelf’in” it and going to see Santa and Decking the Halls every chance we get. 

And I love it. Every minute of it.

We took a trip this past weekend.  We went to Colonial Williamsburg.  It was awesome for so many reasons….

First and foremost – a year and a half ago, we thought our days of vacation were over.  We did take a vacation this summer, but we did it with help.  This was a true triumph… a vacation alone. 

Secondly – everything was Christmas Magic.  The lights, the sights, the sounds, the smells.. It was all magic.  We went to Bush Gardens one day and the entire park was lit up.  The kids just stared in wonder at the lights as we walked through the park.  At one point – Andrew asked me for a kiss.  My 3 year old baby never asks for a kiss anymore.  The next day we went to Colonial Williamsburg.  There were wreaths hung everywhere and – they were so cool.  But we also traveled into market square that evening, caught up with Santa, and window shopped the stores filled with goodies.  Christmas Magic.

Christmas Magic…. I can’t explain it any other way.  These next shots are of Colonial Williamsburg.  Yes, some of them are of wreaths – but check out how cool they are! They made these wreaths out of anything they had laying around!



He knows…. this is where he would be standing if we were, “back in the day.”




So there you have it.  Our winter mini-vacation.  Just the 5 of us… sealed with a little Christmas Magic to go on our little trip alone.  Next summer we may have to take  a little bigger trip…. alone.  Because it was just one more hurdle we crossed.


Thanks – as always – Shell….

This post is the equivalent of a “Real World” Episode

Who ever invented the term “terrible twos?”

They are the Terrific Twos. … The real terror starts at age 3.

I beg them. I remind them. I time-out them. I take things away. I do every single positive / negative reinforcement / punishment known to man.  They still don’t listen.

They climb on everything. They talk back. They refuse to eat. (Unless it is a cupcake.)

They steal toys. They hit each other. They try to throw chairs in anger? (Seriously… where did they learn this stuff?)

Tonight, I was speaking to a friend. I asked her, “Have you ever talked to someone and walked away thinking – ‘they must be on drugs?’ … This is exactly what it is like to have a conversation with toddlers.”

Later, we decorated the Christmas Tree.  I had to give the twins a broken strand of lights to choke each other with play with.

They dug out everything break-able and said, “Should I drop this?” as I shouted, “NO!” every 3 seconds.
If an ornament had a movable part – they tried to move it.  If it didn’t have a movable part before… It probably does now.

I give that tree until approximately 7pm tomorrow night. Then I say that tree is on a pile on top of two silly children.

And yet…. they are so cute.

And these pictures are completely true.  And they are also part of our night.  They are also part of life with twin 3 year-olds.  In reality TV… photos and video clips are compiled to show people in a certain “light.”

Tonight… my kids were angels.  Just look…..




This right here is the “Twin Money Shot.” You never seem to be able to get them to hug.  (or even look at the camera at the same time.) Super proud of this picture!



Oh yes… and that is totally a small cheese “knife” in Addison’s hand on the big photo.  It was the only way I could get them to let me photograph them…. to let her hold a knife. *sigh* Mother of the year award… again.

I’m going to start a “Therapy” fund… ‘Cause they are going to need it.

I’m going to pour my heart out. Ready? I love my life.  Most of the time.

Look at how well Alexander is standing! Can you see that my fingers are not touching him? Only my thumbs and ring fingers.  I wish I could get a picture of him standing somewhere other than the tub… but – what can I say? He likes to stand there.


Anyway, Our life… the good, the bad, the ugly… I don’t mind sharing it.  I hope people will read it, identify with us, offer us hope, and find hope from the resilience of my family.  However… Ray would be just fine with our life being private … kept just to us.  Sometimes I share too much.  This week, for PYHO, I thought I would tell you a purely fictional story.  Because, there is no way 2 – college educated parents of 3 could have so many “mishaps” in one evening.  No way.  We only make great parenting decisions… so please remember that that this post in no way represents the people or opinions of this blog.



Once upon a time there was this family.  For sake of argument, let’s call the dad Ray and the mom Kristen.  And pretend they have twins named… Andrew and Addison.  And, maybe they have another kid named Alexander.  (This will just help us keep the story strait.  No way implying the people in this story are real.)

This family decided to go camping very soon.  They made preparations. 


They had tents.



This family was known for “testing” things before the big event.  In fact, they practiced hunting Easter Eggs before Easter, Dressing up for Halloween, and other events were serious melt downs could occur.  The Daddy decided he and the twins should “practice” camping in the back yard to ensure no “freak outs” happened during our first big trip.



First…. the Daddy set up that small, baby sized tent.  The twins eagerly asked, “Is that our tent?”  Mommy thought, “well… maybe they are going to squeeze into that tiny tent so no one is scared.”






Then…. the Daddy set up the big, family sized tent.  The twins eagerly asked, “Is that our tent?”  Mommy thought, “Probably Ray is just vacuuming out those tents for while he is messing with the camping stuff.” 


When the Daddy came inside, the twins asked, “Daddy – what tent are WE sleeping in tonight?”  At this point, I’m pretty sure Ray was suffering from some concussion or something … because he answered, “You twins are sleeping in the small tent and I am going to sleep in the big tent.”

He wasn’t joking. Seriously. He thought the twins would be sleeping in one tent and we would sleep in the other.  Have I mentioned that in this “hypothetical” story the twins are not yet 3 years old?

The Mommy might have gone a little crazy.  She might have started yelling things about slasher movies and John Walsh and ….. it might have gotten a little out of hand.  In the end – the twins and the Daddy might have decided to sleep in the same big family tent.

 

*Crisis averted*

At this point, the Mommy probably decided to go visit a friend in the hospital.  She probably dropped Alexander off with his grandma and headed down to spend some time with one of her lifelong friends.  She might have gotten home (with Alexander) close to 10pm.  Let’s just say… 9:50.  She turned off the headlights as she pulled in the driveway as to not wake her sleeping family.  Only, when she opened her door… she heard twin giggles and the screams of WWF style body slams.  I’m not going to lie.  If this story were REAL … it was hilarious.  They would shout to each other, “No! Don’t get me!”  Followed by a body slam.  Apparently Ray blew up the air mattress for them and they thought it was like a wrestling ring.  The Mommy couldn’t help but laugh and laugh because they were so cute. 


The Mommy went in to put Alexander to bed and clean a bit in the house.  She couldn’t turn on any of the lights because she was afraid the light would shine into the tent.  So … she cleaned in the dark.  Just as she was putting the finishing touches on the kitchen, she realized she had several soda cans left on the counter.  The Mommy decided to be a “good wife” and throw those cans in the recycling bin outside.  As she crept out the door, she heard the blessed sound of silence.  She smiled at the thought of her sleeping babies.  She carefully placed those cans in the recycling bin and turned to go back inside.

When she realized she had locked herself out of the house.  Completely out.  No jiggling of the door fix.  No hidden key. 

And she realized she would have to go wake her sleeping husband (who…. due to her insistence was sleeping right next to the twins) to help her break back into the house.

*There are no pictures of this …*

I would like to end the story here…. for the sake of the “kids” and anyone else who is reading.  No one needs to know what happened after this – except - the hypothetical couple were happily in love the next morning.

Because I couldn’t resist – here are a few more cute pictures taken today of the real Andrew, Addison, and Andrew … and our beautiful life. (Under the guidance of great parenting.)



So…. have any “fictional” stories that would make you look like Parent of the Year?  Come on… make us all feel better.  Did you suggest letting your twin toddlers sleep alone at a campsite?  Did you wake your entire family at 10:30 because you locked yourself out of the house?  Spill it.