Not so settling back in

First, some cute Christmas pix that I didn't have on the computer before! Then onto the other stuff...

Its been a crazy long week! The kids are so great about whatever we do, but I think it caught up with them. Delaney quit sleeping so well. She stayed up way late a couple nights (11pm, midnight) and on the nights she went down at a decent hour, she woke up at an indecent hour (2:30 am, 4am)! I'm pretty sure its mainly her crying that has given Joshua sleeping issues. He had night terrors for the first time which freaked me out. And nearly every night this week he has come in with bad dreams. I have a little kiddie pull-out couch on the floor by the bed and he has slept on that most nights.

Marian also came in once or twice with bad dreams. Poor kids. They are about back to normal now. Delaney slept all night after going down a little after 11pm last night. She's still not napping so well, but I have high hopes for that this week. Last night Joshua didn't come in till 4am and he said no, he didn't have a bad dream, he just liked to sleep on my floor. Good to know!

I'm also working on weaning Delaney. My sister in law, Kera is going to watch her while I go on an 8 day cruise!! So I need her weaned. We are down to just twice a day now and tomorrow we start cutting out the morning nursing. I am kind of sad about it. She will be 11 months old on Jan 14, so she's old enough, but I'm still sad. I would have preferred to nurse until she was ready to quit.... unless she didn't ever want to stop! I'd have been fine for a few more months.

I am waaay excited about this cruise though! It is a Book of Mormon cruise! How cool is that? Dan is sending me, while he stays home with the other 3 kids. It is pretty expensive, and for him to come too, and to figure out what to do with all the kids....! Well, it happened like this: my parents are going on it and they invited any of us kids to come too. My sweet hubby said I needed to go and he would make it happen. And he is! I am terrified to leave my baby for so long. And with my sister in law. I mean that in a good way! Kera will be great, but Delaney doesn't know her. I'm just scared. I'm sure it will be fine. And I will have a great time!

A successful return

It took 2 days and 750 miles through rain and horrendous holiday traffic, but we got home. ?The children were amazing. And that's with 2 DVD players that quit functioning halfway through. I think the older one may be dead-dead. the newer one just needed a new fuse, which I replaced today.

It was nice to be home, except now I have to deal with the mess and the cranky kids. they have been very good today. The new toys have distracted them, and I rotated toys out of the closet, so there is enough "new" stuff to keep them all mostly happy.

No pictures today. We drove up to Connecticut to have Christmas at my brother's house. SO MUCH fun!! My parents, 5 of 6 of us kids, plus 5 spouses and 12 kids are all here. Talk about crazy fun! It has been a blast. Jonathan has a fabulous house and we've mostly fit fine. The kids are all under the age of 10, and mostly 6 and under, but they have played amazingly well. Today is the first time more than one child has had meltdown issues. Go figure.

Right now Dan and half the grown ups are out to see "National Treasure 2". I'm home with the kiddies. They are enthralled with the "Planet Earth" DVD. Oh, I'm suppose to be helping Isabelle paint her new birdhouse, so I hope that's going well!

I have not run in over a week now. When we got here, there was a lot of snow on the ground. The combo of no sidewalks, no slow traffic areas, and the freezing weather has kept me out of my running gear. Then I decided it was okay to take 2 weeks off. So I'll start up again next Tuesday and work off the accumulation of too much chocolate and tasty treats.

Holiday Craziness!

I love Christmas! I love the songs, I love the sights, I love the smells, and I definitely love the food! We did decorate the house, even though we won't be here for Christmas. The kids have rearranged the ornaments on the tree so many times now. I still have to put bells back on the tree fairly frequently. Their other favorite decorations to remove are the little snowman ornaments that have the kids' names and pictures on them. I find these scattered all over the living room. That's why we have no breakables on the tree.

It was 76 degrees here today. I couldn't decide if I should turn on the AC or not. Not very Christmassy! I also haven't done my usually flurry of holiday baking. I usually attempt to make toffee at least twice before giving up, and I always make several batches of caramels. That's gotta be my favorite! But this year I've only made chocolate pie. A new thing for me, but so very melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

I have a bazillian things on the calender that I have to remember to do, and I have to get everything ready to leave next week. I'm a little worried about fitting everything into the van for our trek north, and I am a little concerned about a 15 hour drive with the kiddies. It should all be worth it though! I love Christmas the most because I love family!

The usual...

The kids were so doggone cute on Sunday! They even cooperated when I asked them to go right into church and sit on the couch so I could get a picture. They all looked good and I knew I'd never get a good shot once we got home, and who has time for a photo shoot BEFORE church?! They were very good. And all 4 pictures were great! That never happens! Usually I take about 15 and there is at least one kid in each shot who is being silly or grumpy, or something!

And then this week, Delaney discovered the toilet. Yep, she followed Marian in there and Marian didn't shut the lid. So I heard splashing and giggling and this was what I found! So pleased with herself about that!

Its late, I'm tired, all the kids are in bed, and I'm up alone and don't want to give up this peace and solitude! Dan has been super-super busy this week, and will be all week. He's working till 9 every night, which is so not normal for us! I don't like it. Tonight was the Little Caesar's Pizza fundraiser for Marian and Callie's preschool. I so wanted to do that and the kids were just rotten. Whining and fussing and complaining! They didn't even want pizza! I couldn't use not going as a threat, because I wanted it more than they did. It worked out okay; after 10 minutes of screaming and crying from 2 of the 3 girls, Marian and Callie sacked out in the car. Callie never did wake up and I just put her to bed at 6:30. So, yeah, everyone is in bed early, which probably means early to rise. So I really ought to get myself to bed too!