Resolution 2012

It is a funny thing as we approach an ending to a year, we all seem to assess our failures, accomplishments, heartaches, happiness and then we sum it up as a "great" year or a "lousy" year. As I recap the year in my head my first instinct is bog myself down with the negative and sum it up as a "lousy" year.

As I sit here and assess my year in my head I begin going through mental snapshots in my head of the past year and then I turn my attention to actual pictures I have taken and cataloged on my computer and I began seeing images of some of the places we saw and some of the things we did:

I see images of the people I share my life with:

I see fleeting moments of 2011 captured in snapshots:

 I see moments I captured less than 24 hours ago that may be otherwise forgotten over time:

I find myself not necessarily forgetting the struggles we have had this year but taking that moment to realize what gratitude I should have for all the amazing things I experienced this year and those I got to share it with.

I saw on the internet a project called lasso the moon. It is a challenge to take a daily picture...something in your day that captures your attention...capturing a daily moment that may be forgotten...a daily realization of the gifts that everyday brings us.

I am not a resolution kind of a girl but I like this idea...a daily realization of what a gift everyday is

Some days there may be 50 pictures taken because I won't want to forget anything and I suppose there will be days where I struggle to find  something but I think those will be the days I need something like this project the most.

So I am giving it a shot am I going to take a daily picture and I suppose share a week here and there on my blog.....

Here it is my resolution for 2012:

Capture on camera every day a moment to remind me of the gifts that life gives us.

Chips Farewell and Christmas Day

 Remember the seeds we planted?

 This is what grew from them.

 This is the smile that resulted from those magical North Pole seeds.

 Well...I have a already discussed this day in another post...by far my favorite day with the elf!

 Of course an elf's favorite game is Candy Land!

 ...and who else would you play Candy Land with?

 We made sugar cookies that day and the elf made one from himself an attempted to decorate it.

 That elf certainly makes a mess some nights.

 Chip gathered all the big Santa's in the house and hung out with them by the Christmas tree.

 The four basic food groups of elves are????....candy, candy cane, candy corn, and....syrup!

 Christmas eve night...Chips last night. Makenzie said goodbye reluctantly. Before Chip left he trapped all the kids their room to ensure no one snuck out in the middle of the night to peek.

 He left a note for Makenzie saying he will miss her and he will see her again next year.

 Sweet

....but...this is really what they do between poses!

We honestly had a great Christmas. I think Santa brought everything the kids wanted and plus a couple of extra surprises. Adrian has been working a temp job with the a company that has contracts with the post office through the holidays. When he took this job he knew it was temporary but it paid well and it was something to get us through the holidays while he kept looking. He worked horrendous hours for about three weeks but the job paid very well so we were extremely grateful for the extra money because we were not sure what the job situation was going to be once the job ended on the 24th. Anyways, He went to work on Christmas eve and the owner asked him to come back the next week he would like to train Adrian on some contract stuff he has with the post office. The stuff he has Adrian doing is a permanent contract the employer has with the post office and the guy he is working with is a full time employee so though we don't really know if it is permanent job...it is steady work for the time being...it pays well...and it will pay the bills...it really was a huge Merry Christmas present for both Adrian and I.



Just in case you have no clue what they are talking about, the twins are in to these things called monster high dolls...it is teen girls who are the offspring of Monsters. If it is ghoulish, monstrous, or part of the undead they love it! They are also darn near impossible to find, they are that popular, but we found the one that is the hardest to find by pure stroke of luck...that is right, I am a rock star mom in their world!!!!
Makenzie: Rapunzel's castle, and Disney squinkies
Cheyenne: Lagoona's hydration station. and Nintendo DSi
Kaitlynn: Monster High Abbey Bominable doll, and Nintendo DSi

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

I Blame My Upbringing

I was raised in a house where teasing was mandatory..it was not optional...I was teased until I cried. My father and my uncles took it upon themselves to teach me to always be on alert for any potential bodily harm or verbal ribbing's. As a result, my upbringing has warped me into a relentless tease with a sarcastic undertone. I do not tease my children as badly as I was teased.....BUT....if I find a weakness...something that works them all up...I circle like a lion waiting for the sickly gazelle to fall...I wait till they are least expecting and I pounce....the result....me laughing and them either pissed,embarrassed, or crying.

Some parents may not understand this.... these are the parents that have the kids that cry if any other kid does anything to upset their little world and thus the parent is over there explaining to the child that the person did not mean it and they were teasing and blah, blah, blah.....ughhhh....those parents drive me nuts! I want to scream from the top of my lungs that I was sat on by my uncles for not a minute or two at a time but for periods of time that border lined on child abuse...and when you would finally wiggle your way to freedom they grabbed you and sat on you again for another round, and while they sat on you they gave you wet willies (wet willies are the process of licking ones finger and putting into another's ear!). This is 1/16 of the things I endured but I came out alive and never once did my parents have to explain to me when another child was teasing because I could easily dish it back.

Anyways, I am getting off track here...back to where I am going with this....Makenzie....Makenzie is a sickly gazelle...she is easy to tease! She has a flair for the dramatic and reacts with zeal when she is being teased. The twins are more laid back and tend to blow off teasing with their nonchalant attitude....but Makenzie....there is nothing nonchalant about her!

So Makenzie's weakness is her underwear, and nakedness...she gets very embarrassed if we discuss anything on such topics. She wants privacy when getting dressed, flips out if you walk in on her if she is naked. She is sensitive to any of her undergarments being exposed to the world and will ensure we don't see her underwear at all costs. Though I hope she continues this quirk as she hits her late teens and early adulthood...right now it is funny to tease her about her Dora panties

....soooo...we have been doing this elf on a shelf thing ......of course I am going to do something that involves her underwear and the elf......

I know...I know what her reaction is going to be...I know it will upset her and she will be horrified and she will carry on about the elf touching her underwear and her underwear being exposed for the world to see...I know her reaction before I even do it...

yet...I do it...

I blame my upbringing...my upbringing has turned me into this..it just makes me do these type of things!

Week Two With Our Elf!

I am done with school for a few weeks and honestly once I was done with my last final Wednesday.. I collapsed.... I have moved from the couch, to my bed, to the computer desk...I have maxed out my laziness to the fullest extent for a few days. Last week we began our elf on a shelf adventure and this week it has gone well but I honestly have handed some of the responsibilities of the elf to the twins this week because I had no brain cells left to be creative and it may have interrupted my unadulterated laziness!

Anyways, here is part two of our week with "Chip" our elf.

Night 7: Chip left a present under the kids tree for Makenzie...what could it be?

That sweet Chip knows Makenzie loves Jessie from Toy Story so he gave her a small Jessie doll (it was a McDonald's toy I found when cleaning out Christmas stuff)...she loved it!

Night 8: It was a rough night in the Brand household..Lets just say Makenzie was trying to make her way to the naughty list and I may or may not have been on the brink of loosing it as I approached the last of my finals. She went to bed in tears and in trouble so we decided Chip needed to remind her why he is here.

Chip sat down and typed her letter to remind her to be good, kind, helpful, and honest. He also brought up the Santa tracker to show her how close Santa was to come visiting her.

Night 9: Chip left an envelope with seeds from the North Pole and requested her to plant them to see what grows.

Let me explain the thing on his head and body. Makenzie decided he needed a house. I think she thinks if she builds Chip a house he will want to stay all year, and if she built it with marshmallows he  REALLY will want to stay. I explained that I thought the house was to small; she felt otherwise......So this is Chips "house".... Do you think it is to small?

These are the seeds from the North Pole that Chip gave to her. It is a mix of Christmas sprinkles and a pack of wildflower seeds I had in the drawer.

She planted her seeds as soon as she got home from school. It takes a few days for something to grow... so this day is to be continued.......

Night 10: It apparently was party night for Chip and a lot of other toys in the house...even Mr. Potato head and Thor were invited. I actually handed Chip over to the twins for the night and let them decide and stage the evenings event. They told me they wanted Chip to have a party, so when they were done staging the event they wanted to show me...it was Chip and three Barbies...that was it??? Listen, I don't want Chip to give the wrong impression, him wining and dining three ladies is a little reminiscent of Hugh Hefner, so I kindly convinced them that for it to be a good party they needed to invite more people than three ladies...our Chip has a respectable reputation to uphold.

Chip still did manage to find himself keeping company with two lovely blondes.

 Lets face it if you are going to have a party like Chip did the night before...even an elf has got to get caught up on his sleep...So he got Makenzie's stocking and got some sleep.

 He fell asleep at the end of her bed. Here is the funny part, though she was thrilled to see him in the morning at the end of her bed, she was not thrilled to have him in her bed when she went bed that night. She said,"that kinda creeped her out and did not want an elf walking around her bed while she slept!" So we moved Chip under the Christmas tree so Makenzie could sleep peacefully!

 Uh Oh...what did Chip do?

 He T.P.'d the kids Christmas tree.....Makenzie scolded Chip and told him he really should not waste toilet paper like that.

 Cereal spilled on the counter top (Yes! Those are my counter tops...Yes! I have the most hideous 1970's kitchen in the world....and no I don't think this look will ever come back in style..."sigh")......the cereal spelled out her name....well at least her nickname.

Chip hanging out in the cereal tub

This next week will be our last week with Chip, Saturday he will be leaving for the North Pole.

Tonight....I think...something is finally going to grow from those seeds that Chip brought back from the North Pole!