someone please tell me how choosing and decorating a christmas tree as a family can be more stressful than airports with 3 small children, their carseats, strollers, backpacks, blankies, and attitudes. (i just tried to come up with one of the most stressful scenarios i could recall). anyhow, we decided that monday night would be the night of the big venture that led us to our perfect family tree. it was cold outside, so i told the boys to go get their sweatsuits on. i told aiden that we needed to go get her sweatsuit too. she was very excited about getting to wear it, which i thought was pretty cute. she followed me upstairs and i went to her drawer that housed her sweatsuit. i was not paying attention to the drawer she went to…but she had opened up her top drawer of the changing table, pulled out her swimsuit, and yelled excitedly, “HERE IT IS!!!!” she, evidently, was confused. so…i quickly explained the difference between a swimsuit and a sweatsuit and we were on our way. we had some differing opinions about what our prefect tree should look like. i wanted lightly flocked. colton wanted heavy flocked. chase wanted green. aiden wanted big. chad wanted cheap. i exaggerate…(a little). so…we head to the houston garden center that was right by our house. they wanted $89.99 for a green 7-8 foot tree…and you can forget about the flocked ones. they were way out of our league. we decided that the said price was asinine and that we would keep looking. we then went to home depot. i finally started thinking clearly and left chad and the kids in the car while i ran in to see what they had. i found a 7-8 foot tree that was the perfect size. was not too fat but not too skinny either. it was $49.99, which was sounding better. aaaaaand it was some kind of “fir” where there are spaces between the branches and looks like a real tree off the ski slopes in breckenridge and not a “bushy” tree that i don’t really like. so, i ran back to the car and told chad about it. he suggested that we could look at houston palm, where we got our perfect family christmas tree last year…that ended up being infested with spiderwebs, complete with eggs and weird, creepy bugs all up and down the trunk. i did not notice this until we were taking it down. it’s a good thing, because otherwise the neighbors would have seen a fully decorated tree fly through the back window of our house. why we decided to go back there, i’m still unsure of. we did though…wanting to make sure we had, indeed, found our tree at the best price. we got out…looked at the selection and decided to head back to home depot. by this point, chase would have taken some of the left over branches that had fallen in the parking lot and built his own. he had to have a “talking to” on the way back to home depot, and then was fine. so…we got the tree. however, part of the reason it was cheaper (in my opinion) was that chad and i had to carry it out and tie it to the roof of the suburban ourselves. this only added to the thrill. we finally got home and i went and got the kids bathed and in bed and told chad that i was going to bed too. i had been fighting a nasty chest cold and couldn’t last any longer. chad said that he would bring in the tree before he came to bed. when the kids woke up the next morning and saw the blank spot in the living room that i had cleared for our tree…you can only imagine what they must have thought. “our perfect family christmas tree has been stolen!!!!” it’s actually kind of fun driving around town all day with a tree strapped to the top of your car. that really didn’t happen. we used the van. skip to the decorating. if they had their way, every ornament would be in a 1 1/2 foot by 1 1/2 foot space right in front at their eye level. they each had a pile of “their” ornaments that they could put on the tree themselves. colton thought every one of them was his…even the ones that had the name “chase” or “aiden” engraved on the front. chase’s frog ornament from last year was not a red eyed tree frog…producing tears. a fight broke out between colton and chase as to whose ornament was superman and whose was batman. aiden kept ringing the jingle bells really loud making everyone jump at random. and once colton got his superman right in the perfect spot where he wanted it, chase “flew” it to another spot on the tree. chad had a headache and was asleep in the chair and i just tried to stay one step behind their 3 by moving the breakable ones that they put on up high so that they would not get broken. well…it’s done. and it looks great. now i just have to keep them out from under it or behind it or from playing in the water. and superman still “flies” to different spots everyday. chase actually brought it to me broken today and i had to send him to the ornament hospital for surgery. there are about 4 ornaments in triage right now. i expect to be buying a few more tubes of superglue before christmas. we’ll see. i guess the important thing is…we did it together and it really is our perfect family christmas tree. it makes us all smile. oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree…how lovely are your branches.

every day that passes, i hear more and more from my kids that make me wonder in amazement how on earth they come up with some of the things they think and say. for example, anytime my sweet, 2 year old daughter sees a dog, she says…in a very worried tone…”that doggys gonna eat my knees!!!!” she says this while bending down and covering her knees with her hands. i really have no idea why she would think that a dog would eat her knees. no idea, whatsoever.

then…last night, i was making dinner. i had chopped up some zuccini, squash, and bell peppers and was getting ready to roast them in the oven. i drizzled some olive oil on them and shook them on the pan to make sure they were all covered. colton was standing there silently watching me. he then proceeds to say, “mom…that’s not how rachel ray does it.” are you kidding me? how does he even know who rachel ray is? i don’t even watch her cooking show. i mean, are the kids in 1st grade talking about rachel ray on the playground? does the 1st grade have a cooking unit that i don’t know about? why am i always in the dark??

furthermore…chase is, by far, our friendliest child. he goes up to EVERYONE he sees and says, “hi. i’m chase. i like frogs. that’s colton. he’s my brother. and that’s aiden. she’s my sister. it’s nice to meet you. see you later. have a nice day.” sometimes he will add a “rock on” or a “peace out” and usually gives a thumbs up somewhere throughout the conversation…and sometimes a hang ten. it takes a while to get through target. who am i to stop him from loving people?

in other news, chad and i leave on saturday for new york. this is my first time to new york and i hold out hope that i will, indeed get discovered while i’m there. chad has to go for church stuff and he is bringing me along for our anniversary. chase thinks we are going to meet kermit the frog and miss piggy while we are there because the his favorite muppet movie says they are in manhatten. on broadway to be exact. i hate to bust his bubble, so i havn’t. 🙂 my parents are keeping the kids for us and we will get home on tuesday. yeah!!

well, that’s about it for now. tune in…you just never know…you may see my name in lights!!!! either that, or on the news after being kicked out of the city after rushing the stage at some off, off broadway show…knocking the lead out of the way and taking over the song. you only live once!!

here’s a little ditty. last night, while i was cooking dinner, chad and colton were bonding over a little game of play station. chad was using the time to talk to colton about what’s going on in the 1st grade. colton is a typical “guy” and usually gives 1 word answers when asked anything about how his day was at school. well, last night, he offered up a little more information than the usual “fine” or “good” or “o.k.” he began to tell chad that sometimes the kids at school talk bad. when chad probed a little more, he revealed that sometimes they say the “S-H” word. chad…who was sooo on it, being all understanding and open with colton…said, “really? so some of the kids say shit?” very confused, colton looked at chad and said, “no……shut up.” nice.

i’ll keep a tally of how many angry phone calls i get this week from little first grade boy’s parents informing me that my son taught their son a new word. i think i’ll have our home phone forwarded to chad’s cell for a while.

so, i was carrying aiden downstairs this morning after i had gone to get her out of bed and we were being all snuggly while we were coming down the stairs. i was asking her is she slept well and if she had any good dreams when she caught a glimpse of chase sitting at the table eating his breakfast. she said real excited like, “there’s chase.” she was pointing at him like she had been waiting for that moment all night. the moment when she would get to come downstairs and see her big brother and talk to him and play with him and know that all is right with the world…because she was reunited with her chase. i said, “yep…there’s chase.” then, while still looking at him from my arms on the stairs she said, “i like that boy.” there is something about sibling relatioinships that i just love. i had that with my little brother as well. he would follow me around all day long and wait for me at the door when i went to kindergarten…waiting for the moment we would be reunited…just like aiden. we have all these memories and stories from our childhood…and we are still making them…which i love. and i love that my kids are making those memories for themselves right now. when i’m in target or at the mall with all three little ones in tow, people always look at me like i had temporarily lost my mind when deciding to have kids so close together and i’ve had more than one, “you have your hands full.” yeah…i do have my hands full. absolutely. but isn’t there a song that says something about God having the whole world in his hands? i just feel lucky to get a little taste of the joy that he must feel.

in other news…i’m trying to get my pictures from halloween off my camera and onto the computer and i’ve had some trouble. surprise. surprise. as soon as i figure out the problem, i will post some pics from our fun night. we went to a concert up at the church that was outside and they had trick or treating for the kids. everyone was in constumes…including the adults…which i was extremely excited about. you just can’t get adults to dress up anymore…to my dismay. so, chad was clark kent and i was a cowgirl. (let’s face it…any reason to wear my cowgirl boots and hat is a good one.) colton was batman; chase was robin; and aiden was “kitty cat girl”. something about calling my 2 year old daughter “catwoman” just didn’t sit well with me. my parents showed up at our house as kermit the frog and miss piggy before we went to the concert. my mom had made the costumes to surprise the kids and it was hysterical. they parked several houses away and walked up the middle of the street. we were all out in the front yard and chase and aiden were flabergasted that kermie and piggy were actually coming to our house to trick or treat. colton, on the other hand was trying to reconcile the fact that he knew kermie and piggy were fictional…yet they did, in fact, appear to be walking down our street…and they were much taller than expected. who were these characters? a fun time was had by all.

this morning, i am taking chase and aiden to a birthday party at chuck e. cheese. a place that sends my anxiety and germ phobia into a near panic attack and uses up every ounce of antibacteria hand gel that i may have in my bag. today, i have to go up to the school to help out colton’s teacher. tonight, our small group is helping out lighthouse ministries by sorting clothes and stuff in the back storage room. and tomorrow is the fall festival up at the school. i have had to organize our class booth and get volunteers to run the game in hour long shifts. i have 1 hour covered at this point. the parents don’t seem to be too thrilled with volunteering at the football fling booth. it’s not my idea people. i didn’t come up with the idea to have a class booth…or a fall festival for that matter. oh well. what are ya gonna do? i guess i will be spending my saturday at a fall festival in a football fling booth. at least it’s not that “throw a baseball and dunk you in the water” booth. i think i would have to put my foot down on that one. then on sunday morning, the thing that i am most excited about happens. the thing i have been waiting for all season. the thing that is bringing me such comfort and joy at this moment. we pick up 1 extra hour of sleep!! whoooo hoooo!! fall back y’all!!

…ME!!!!!! here is a list of what all i got for my birthday. and a big thank you to the people who are closest to me who took time out of their lives to celebrate with me and make me feel loved and cherished.

the new, blue ipod nano

distressed lucky jeans

james avery ring (sort of) 🙂

billabong t-shirt

2 starbucks gift cards

fossil gift card

chocolate brown hooded sweater

a cold front…which i had secretly wished for and God delivered 🙂

the infamous and traditional homemade t-shirt from my brother…which gets funnier every year

dave matthews concert tickets (already used and oh so apprictiated)

kelly clarkson concert tickets (to be used in november and oh so appreciated)

a space shuttle cake (b/c discovery launched oct. 23rd…just 1 day before my big day and i was quite excited about that…and the fact that 2 astronauts from our church went up and we sent the ukrainian flag up with them…which is floating around in space right this very minute!!!!)

new quilt and sheets for mine and chad’s bed

a good book

a ride with good friends on the ferris wheel and pharoh’s furry on the water, at the boardwalk on a cold, star-filled birthday night

the realization that even though my sweet husband; my love; was in ukraine…things were being done to further God’s kindom in ukraine because of him and his ability to listen to and follow God and that life is not all about me on october 24th and that i have the greatest friends and family that will step in to take care of me.

many hugs and sloppy kisses and smiles and happy “birfday” wishes from 3 very sweet children

dinner at bj’s with a free birthday pizzookie

and last, but certainly not least…many cards and well wishes from family and friends

WOW!!!! do i feel lucky and loved.

the other day, i was in the living room picking up the videos and dvd’s that the kids like to take out of their appropriate cases and throw all over the floor, when i heard little footsteps coming down the stairs. the kids had been playing upstairs in the playroom for a while. i had been hearing different games going on from downstairs, such as zoo, toy story, superheros, kitchen, and the like. it doesn’t take long for me to realize that it is aiden on her way down the stairs. i assumed she was tired of playing with “her boys” and needed some girl time. although that usually doesn’t happen. she is dressed in a little sun top, with a matching bow in her hair and pink nail polish on her toes and a purse on her arm. she comes prancing into the living room, swinging her purse, looking just like i had always pictured a daughter of mine looking like. so sweet; so cute, with her little page-boy hair cut…the picture of feminine. there were some of her little dolls scattered on the floor, so i asked her if she wanted to put them in her purse to keep them safe. she did. so she took her purse, that was already full off her arm. she thought for a second, opened it, pulled out a g.i. joe accessory and, very nonchalantly said, “here mommy…hold my gun.”

i’m convinced it’s not a phase. it’s been going on for too long now. this is not good.

a while back, aiden started saying something…well……sketchy, to say the least. she will look at me, with a very worried look in her eyes, and put her hands behind her…as if to cover her sweet little hiney, and say, “don’t hit me.”

now, this is coming from a child who has probably been spanked twice in her whole sweet little life. (and not recently, either) i have no idea where she got this. but, she says it ALL the time. anytime i tell her to do anything; whether it be “come here”, or “go get your shoes on”, or “let’s get in the car”, …she replies with, “o.k. mamma. don’t hit me.” we can be at home, in public, at my parent’s house. anywhere and everywhere. it’s embarrassing, really. and a bit sad. what makes matters worse, is that sometimes, with her sweet little two year old voice, it sounds like, “don’t hate me.” i haven’t had anyone call CPS on me yet…but i am awaiting a knock on the door from the local police department. stay by your phones. if you get a call from me in the pokey…you’ll know why!!