The kids got this pop up tent from my aunt and it is one of their new favorite things. JP read Landon his new chapter book in there Friday night.
Tia and Billy stopped by our house last night on their drive back to Colorado. It divided their 20 hour drive into 8 and 12 hour segments and we got a bonus night with them! Landon and Claire immediately offered Tia a place in their tent. It was an offer she couldn't refuse.
My mom surprised me with a stocking stuffer of a Teavana tea maker and sample of loose leaf tea. I'm obsessed with tea. I probably drink 8 cups a day on average (only the first cup has caffeine), but usually it's just Bigelow or Twinings bags. I hadn't used fancy loose leaf tea in many years and now it's like I have it on tap (I stopped by the store and bought a few more tins at 75% off on Friday; I'm ruined again for bargain tea). Claire likes it too.
My mom also gifted me with a snazzy new pair of workout pants and matching jacket (my mom never, ever gives a gift that doesn't involve matching; usually jewelry and shoes are involved as well, but I suppose even she realized I didn't need matching earrings for a jogging outfit). This has motivated to run not once but TWICE in the last two days. Tex and I are totally losing the 5 pounds we've gained in the last few months. (As long as we can lose it before I go back to work on Wednesday and immediately lose all motivation to exercise.)
Landon got a scooter for Christmas and it went with us on our 3 mile walk this morning. JP stole it on all the hills and Landon raced him on foot.
It was 30 degrees outside for this particular trek, but Eskimo Claire stuck it out on the swings for a whole 4 minutes before declaring it was time to go home and drink tea.
The rest of the day has involved JP tending to his fire pit (still burning through the wood he chain-sawed up after that huge branch fell on our gate in September; that branch was bigger than the biggest tree we had in our yard in Austin); Landon scooting circles around the pool before coming in to build legos and warm up; Claire alternating between snuggling with me and tending to her babies; and me writing thank you notes, playing JP in Ruzzle (and losing every single time; I scored perfect on the SAT verbal and have a pretty big vocabulary- why I am so terrible at word games?), watching The West Wing on Netflix (we are so fancy with this streaming DVD player thing- I love it!), and wondering which tea I should brew next.
The kids have now disappeared into their tent. JP is temporarily inside, smelling like wood smoke and filled with the pride of having made fire. And I'm loving this alternate reality of no school, no work, no unemployment- just us, in our house, in our pj's, hanging out.
Your family holidays always seem so fun and awesome! How do you do it? Our family days usually involve temper tantrums, scolding, yelling, crying and all of us whinning at the end of the day!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of JP in the tent :)
Thanks I love that picture!
ReplyDeleteWe had two time-outs today, both Landon's, but post-walk and pre-nap, but were otherwise conflict free. He and Claire very rarely fight. I don't know if it's because they're opposite sex or because Landon is an unusually doting and easy going older brother (probably both; my sister and I fought constantly and I can admit now it was at least one third my fault ;), but these days our discipline mainly comes from someone breaking the house rules (timeout #1 was because Landon was using the couch as a piece of playground equipment) or not listening/being disrespectful to JP or me (very strictly not allowed, ever). Timeout #2 was Landon not making eye contact/making faces while I was talking to him (something that makes me crazy).
We've had our days of what seemed like interminable discipline and tears and spending hours of what should be family time in separate rooms while one kid or another is being punished, but I was actually just thinking today that it's so nice to have a long run of fun, happy days to remind me that staying strict was worth it even when I was more than willing to throw in the towel on many an evening (luckily, JP is far more stubborn and strict than I am; he keeps me strong). I hope you get a payoff happy day soon!
I'm just learning now how important it is to stay strict. discipline has always been my weakness. especially staying consistent! I like that you have a set of house rules. I May need to do that and write them down somewhere!
ReplyDeleteCan you write a post about house rules/discipline? I'm curious to see how it's done.
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