Belated Christmas Update: Christmas Day

In what is surely the latest Christmas update ever, I need to capture these images here before we move on to other holidays, spring and well, summer.  

Excitement was running very high Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The trio were up early and ready to see if Santa visited. Spoiler alert: he totally did!  

Santa brought the girls a dollhouse, probably because he knows these tween girls are leaving most toys behind, and he wanted them to have a last childhood hoorah.  

Santa brought William George a new bike - one like Dad's! He has done such a good job learning to ride without training wheels, and Santa knows he is ready to take biking to the next level.  

Grace is really happy... just a little sleepy.  

Santa included all of their favorites in their stockings... candy, new wallets, headlamps, "fuzzy" socks, etc.  

Also, lots of clothes, books and a couple of games.  

William George is under-represented in the photos because he was running around like a madman, although in a good way.  

Lauren had three special items on her Santa wish list. First, she wanted a "wheelie chair" for her classroom in the basement. She also wanted a suit and heels.  

Grace wanted a doll carrier for her bike and some other goodies.  

George wanted a sword, cars and trucks.  

Christmas 2016 was a delight.  

Enumerated Update

I started drafting this entry on Friday and Saturday while the immigration debacle was unfolding. Therefore, it pertains to the Women's March on Washington of last weekend instead of the various marches that took place this weekend.  

1) How are your nerves? If you have watched any news at all, you may be having an emotional response to the upheaval. I haven't seen a particularly good article on this yet, but it would be good to remember that freedom of speech was given the number one slot in the Bill of Rights for a reason... because the founding fathers expected contentious debate, because they were constantly having debates themselves.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2) Women's March on Washington

The girls had a science olympiad last Saturday, but we marched in spirit for

a) Women's equality - women still earn $.70/$1.00 that men earn

b) Misogyny/violence against women - our duo will attend college in a few short years, and we are deeply concerned about the frequency of assault on campuses and at large

c) Immigration - the duo's closest friends are first generation, Mexican-American citizens. The duo have celebrated birthdays and holidays with these friends, and we stand with them. Doing so is easy for us because we recognize that every person standing on American soil today either descended from Native American Indians, immigrants or some combination thereof

d) The environment - we believe the scientific data, and we want to be good stewards of the earth

3) Jefferson/Resist: Like James Monroe when crafting the Bill of Rights, Thomas Jefferson also anticipated heated discourse over policy.  

What country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that its people preserve the spirit of resistance?-- Thomas Jefferson

4) Gaslighting: I am not going to play amateur psychologist and attempt to diagnose the erratic nature of last week. However, I will share this article about "gas lighting"because I found it useful. Skip and I have been debating whether or not the administration's behaviors are  a) symptomatic of mental illness or b) strategic in nature.  [Edited to add: Certainly, there appears to be a huge element of inexperience at play.]

5) On a lighter note: GREENVILLE, SC—After 36 hours on the run through the woodlands of South Carolina, a bloodied and exhausted Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly cowered behind the trunk of a willow tree Wednesday as President Donald Trump's vicious hunting dogs closed in on him. 

I don't know about y'all, but I really needed that laugh. 

.........

Have a wonderful weekend. 

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

MLK Jr.

Inauguration, 2017

We deliberately scheduled a trip to the District of Columbia over Christmas break so that the trio could see the city during the historic presidency of Barack Obama.  (Updates on that soon.) As we are watching the changing of the guard at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I think it helps the trio appreciate the significance more, having seen the White House in person (at least from the fence :), and seeing monuments honoring our nation's founding fathers and other significant leaders helps to keep a single election in perspective.

We are also excitedly watching the Women's Marches this weekend. Without getting overly political or specific, more can and should be done for women's rights. Equal pay, assault prevention and equality in the classroom have such a long way to go, but I am optimistic that women are using social media to express themselves and showing up for old school marches. As for us, our city is hosting a march, but the duo will be competing during a science fair during the protest. We hate to miss it, as the aforementioned women's issues will be lifelong battles for our girls.

In the meantime, here's what's on our minds:

1) The Marches: 200,000 women are expected in Washington, and cities across the United States and around the world are hosting as well.  The 2017 march is inspired by the 1913 suffragists' march on Pennsylvania Avenue prior to President Wilson's inauguration. Although women had been fighting for the right to vote for 60 years at the time of that march, the march was considered a pivotal event in the movement. Protesters were tripped, kicked and assaulted - approximately 100 women were hospitalized for their injuries - but ultimately the right to vote was granted to women in 1920.

2) Viewing: This election and upcoming administration was/will be nothing if not fractious, and I am, therefore, interested in watching Frontline's Divided States of America this weekend.

3) Moving Day: I am always fascinated by inauguration day... all that moving! The Washington Post shares how the busiest five hours at the White House go down.

4) Books: I feel a kinship with anyone who reads, and I love knowing what books you may be reading. President Obama recently shared his passion for books and which writers he turned to while occupying the White House.

5) First Ladies: On a much lighter note, I totally loved Michelle Obama's outgoing Jason Wu ensemble, while Melanie Trump was stunning in Ralph Lauren. Five stars for both ladies.

Also, Michelle's facial expressions were a bright spot of the day.


While the first ladies were visions of class, KellyAnn Conway, in her Brit-inspired Gucci, was a swing and a miss.

Bless it. Maybe she lost a bet.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Eve (Night)

Raise your hand if Christmas Eve night at your house was absolute pandemonium. (Raising both hands and waving them wildly.) While this is always a busy night, the trio took it up several notches this year with their mania. Luckily there had been a great deal of parental preparation, allowing us to focus our full attention on the craziness, but still, there are some time-sensitive things that must be completed in due course.

Somehow we wrangled them into the shower and into pajamas.  Sure, they were shrieking, singing and laughing every step of the way, but we got it done. We needed to decorate the gingerbread house because we have started leaving that our for Santa in lieu of cookies. Fortunately, Melinda (my sister-in-law) had mentioned a manufacturer's problem with the kits this year (i.e, they will not stay assembled) so when ours would not adhere, we didn't bat an eye about our decision to only decorate the roof. It's the most fun to decorate anyway, and it saved me from supergluing the house together and exposing Santa to ingestion of a toxic substance.

You may judge, but I stand by my decision.

We also needed to make reindeer food and have that available for the reindeer. Finally, we completed our prep by writing a letter to Santa, leaving him a snack and saying a final goodbye to Zippy.

We concluded the evening by reading The Night Before Christmas and Luke 2:1-20.  

Grammie joined us for the night, and we kept tracking Santa on radar. When Santa reached North America, the trio became very serious about being in bed and asleep.  

Finally, the chaos was quieted.  

Christmas Parties and Christmas Eve

The trio were absolutely giddy by Christmas Eve morning. They woke and sought out Zippy, who had left them a personal message, saying that he had had so much fun with them this year and that he couldn't wait to see them again next year. Although we are happy that Santa picks Zippy up on Christmas Eve night, saying goodbye to Zippy is always bittersweet.  

After visiting with Zippy, the trio delivered some cookies to our neighbors.  

After that, it was time to visit Grammie and all of the family at her Christmas gathering. William George had to give a special hug.  

And, of course, the trio love any opportunity to visit with Lexie.  

At long last, we also got to meet baby Caleb, my nephew's adorable son. Here he is getting some smooches from MeMe.  

Obviously, Caleb was passed around quite a bit and needed a nap to recover from all of the attention. When he rejoined the party, he was full of smiles.  

We had so much fun visiting with family (and their pets!).  

There's no place like home for the holidays.  

Christmas Parties, Grandparent Edition

Although late in getting our Christmas activities posted, I want to quickly capture everything here so that we do not have to rely on my faulty memory in the future.  

On December 23rd, we loaded up our excited trio and went to Gran and Poppa's house (Skip's parents) to have dinner and celebrate. Pixie came along for the party, and was tortured by our delicious dinner.  

After dinner, the Gran let the trio have a sneak peak by opening one, early Christmas present.  

We had a wonderful time.  

We left early so that Poppa could get plenty of reset and fulfill his duties as Santa in the neighborhood the following day.  

2017 Re-Organization

Welcome to 2017!

We are still recovering from the holidays and from traveling, but we are getting ready to hit the ground running in 2017.

When the trio returns to school next week, we will be kicking off a full re-organization/re-set. In doing so, I'll be reaching for my two favorite sources:

First, for the very best of all organizational fantasies, I turn to A Bowl Full of Lemons.  I completed her organizational challenge a couple of years ago, but since then she has published a book, The Complete Book of Home Organization, a book that will either inspire or depress you.

Second, there is my favorite classic, Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook.

This encyclopedic book is an exhaustive guide to maintaining the home, i.e., appliances, furniture repair and maintenance, etc. Like most homes, ours is subjected to some heavy use and could use a thorough round of upkeep.  

The re-org schedule looks like this: 

• Week 1 (1/7/17) – Kitchen
• Week 2 (1/14/17) – Pantry
• Week 3 (1/21/17) – Dining Room
• Week 4 (1/28/17) – Launch Pad
• Week 5 (2/4/17) – Living Room
• Week 6 (2/11/17) – Master Bedroom
• Week 7 (2/18/17) – Master Closet
• Week 8 (2/25/17) – Kids Closets
• Week 9 (3/4/17) – Linen Closet
• Week 10 (3/11/17) Bathrooms
• Week 11 (3/18/17) – Office
• Week 12 (3/25/17) – Playroom/Toys
• Week 13 (4/1/17) – Laundry Room
• Week 14 (4/8/17) – Car

We have our work cut out for us.  We usually joke that it would be far easier to move, and that's the general idea... to clean as if we were moving. 

What is on your to-do list for the new year? Any resolutions or re-sets?