Mommy's letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my four children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my son's boy scout uniform with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month two pregnancies ago.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with three kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season.

Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
Motherboard

Royalty in our Home.

This week we got a new addition to our family. Tom and I talked about it a lot, not sure if we could handle another mouth to feed, but Tom had heard a story on the radio that melted his heart.









So I took the kids to Animal Control and we found a perfect little kitten for our family.

She's a 3 month old gray tabby and she was promptly named Duchess. You know, like from Aristocats? How would we ever think of pet names without kids' tv shows? All the people in our house love her, she's very tame and cuddly and tolerates all of the Bug's physical affection. She and the dog are getting used to each other. Just now they were both laying on the sofa within breathing distance of each other and there was no noise. A vast improvement from just a few days ago when he knocked over the Christmas tree trying to get to her.

And yes, I'm still trying to fill a nurturing void that I feel by accumulating furry children.

Why didn't I think of that?

I found a great blog, Diaper and Divinity, through one of my other favorites, My Real Life Was Backordered. DeNae is hilarious, you should go check her out.

Stephanie over at Diapers started an online book club using General Conference talks. Every Sunday she picks a new talk from the last Conference and then throughout the week people can post comments to have a "discussion." I'm so excited about this because I will hopefully have an easier time working personal scripture study into my day. I can read the talk one day, read the individual scripture references following days and (if I have time) delve deeper into the meaning and circumstances surrounding the scriptures themselves. I encourage all of you to join us!

Let's play a little game....

that I like to call, "What would you do if?"

What would you do if you were called to be president of say, the Primary and the Music Leader is extremely unreliable. This person does a great job (when she shows up) and has great ideas (that sometimes get followed through on).

Now, let's also say that this person's spouse writes their own play of " A Christmas Carol." This person calls you up begging for help in filling extra slots because they need boys and hey! you have boys the right age. Then you are told that two of your kids have been cast to play the children of Scrooge's ex-girlfriend and that you are needed for the choir. Well, a couple of weeks go by and it's getting closer to time for rehearsals to start and you ask this person when you and your family are needed only to be told that the cast is full. That's right, the parts were taken away from YOUR kids and given to someone else. THEN, on Thanksgiving you are chatting with a cousin-in-law and SHE tells you that her kids are playing the children of Scrooge's former girlfriend! And in the mean time your kids keep asking when they are going to be in A Christmas Carol. You are at a loss as to what you should tell them and just change the subject each time they bring it up.

Now. You have to go out of town for an unexpected family funeral and get home very late Saturday night. The next morning, lo and behold, said Music Leader doesn't show up. No phone call. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Then you run into said Person at Wally World the day of Opening Night for the play. She apologizes for not letting you know she wouldn't be there on Sunday but after all, she's been up to 2:30 a.m. every night working on sets for the play and oh by the way, could you help out in the box office tonight?

Not that this happened to me. It's all hypothetical. I'm just sayin', What would you do?

What could be better?!

Lately I've been having a lot of body issues. After the Tank was born I joined Weight Watchers and lost 48 pounds. I was 7 away from my goal when I found out I was expecting the Bug. I turned into an eating maniac during that pregnancy and gained back everything I had lost because I was just going to join WW again after I delivered. Well, I've struggled in losing those pounds for almost three years and lately I've hit my limit. I got back to what I weighed the first time I joined WW and I think a few extra have snuck in there.

So, in addition to getting on track and reaching my goals there's a new blog that joins weight loss with........Twilight! Eclipsed is a Twilight-themed weight-loss cheerleader. I love Twilight and can't wait for the next movie to come out. Even more, I want to be able to wear one of these shirts in a smaller size. Who's with me?


There's also a fantastic blog that gives you the entire WW program for FREE! Go to Gina's WW Recipes to find out.

New blog

My fantastic-super-talented-SIL started another blog showing her creative talents made edible. She just started her own cake business and has a site showing what she can do. Everyone head over and check it out!

Music class

Due to my lack of musical instrument training (ie: my mom played piano and organ and I know neither) I realized that there is some education that I just can't provide myself. So, in less than an hour I will be taking Tweedledum and Tweedledee to their first piano lessons. Any tips on motivating them to keep at it when they get really frustrated?