1.03.2011

Back to Reality

Christmas Break has come to an end.
Kevin and I both had to go back to work today.
After 2 weeks off, it was BRUTAL going back.
Can I just tell you how nice is was to have 2 weeks together as a family at home?
It was such a great week of hanging out & spending time with one another.
We had big plans of getting things done around the house...putting new tile floor in the Master Bath, doing work in the backyard, painting, etc....the list goes on & on.
We actually didn't get most of the things on our "to-do" list done, but we did get a lot of quality time as a family (Kevin & I even got to go on a date one night!)
So, what did we do over Christmas Break?
Kate had one final romp in the leaves in our front yard before they were cleaned up for the winter.
This girl loves her colored leaves just like me :)
A wind & rain storm last week wiped out all the leaves & trees are now bare.
Claire burned off a lot of energy on the days it rained. Her new favorite thing is to run around the downstairs in her Super Girl Halloween costume yelling, "Super Claire Bear! Super Claire Bear, Bear!"
I really need to get this on video! I'm telling you, this girl is quite the character.
It was a cold & rainy 2 weeks, so when the sun came out one day, we knew we had to take advantage of the nice weather & take the girls on a walk to the park.
Claire would have rather walked her tricycle, but that only lasted a few houses.
Kate showing off her new Princess bike basket & bell that Grandma got her for Christmas!
The whole family out for a walk.
The girls LOVE going to the park. I really should take them more often.
Kate climbing at the park:
Claire looks SO old to me in this pictures. Tear.
Since some of the days were cold & rainy, we decided to snuggle up in the Family Room & show the girls some movies:
(check out my out of control laundry pile on the couch. I just can't keep up!!)
Here are some of our DVD's we watched over Break:
For the first time, we showed the girls The Sound of Music.
They LOVED it. We split it up over a few days.
This was only my 2nd time seeing it. The first time I saw it was a few years ago.
Yes, I was deprived as a child. ha! My parents never showed us musicals.
And, we showed the girls Mary Poppins for the first time.....and it was my first time seeing it!!
(I told you I was deprived as a child!)
My friend Rachel should be proud! Now I understand her blog name!
Kate is now OBSESSED with Mary Poppins and sings the songs throughout the day & says "spit spot". Hysterical.
Santa brought Kevin & I season 6 of The Office & we are trying to catch up since we have Season 7 on our DVR.

Let's talk about this little 2 year old for a moment.
(check out her lack of pants & the dress diaper cover she is wearing without a diaper, might I add)
Originally, we were thinking about doing the 3 day potty training method with Claire over Christmas. For the past month she has been showing A LOT of interest in the potty, refuses to wear her diaper (and most clothes) and goes pee on the potty at least once a day. She is ready....I just need to bite the bullet & do it. I just didn't want to deal with potty training over my break. (Call me lazy, selfish, etc...I agree....but I just wanted to enjoy the break)
But, in 2 weeks it will be MLK, Jr Holiday so I think we are going to go for it that weekend & just do cold turkey, no more diapers that weekend. (Maybe typing that will help keep me accountable)

Kate also got an early birthday present over New Years Weekend.
As you might know, her favorite color is purple.
As you may know, purple is one of my LEAST favorite colors.
But, ever since we moved into our house 7 months ago, she has been asking us everyday to repaint her room purple.
We told her that *maybe* for her birthday we would paint her room.
Well, her birthday is in a few weeks, and since we had the time off, we decided to bite the bullet and paint her room over the weekend.
Here is a sampling of the colors we tested out:
We chose the 2nd one on the right.
Kevin was the amazing edger & I had the easy job...rolling.
Kevin's mom also came over for a bit to help us paint.
Kate absolutely loves it.
Even if I don't love purple, I love that she loves it.
She has thanked us about 100 times.
To quote Kate, "I LOVE my room now. It is SUPER fun!"

The paint is done, Kevin put in new baseboards & in a few weeks she is getting new bedding for her birthday (from the Grandmas), so I will post the finished room in a few weeks.

So now, I am off to bed to get some sleep...it is already past my bedtime.
I tried to go to bed on time last night, but 2 weeks of staying up late caught up with me.
I couldn't fall asleep until 1 am last night. Yikes.
Let's just say I wanted to throw my alarm out the window this morning.
All my students were tired today as well.
Like me, I don't think they were ready for break to be over.

12 comments:

  1. With ya on so many levels...sleep, though I have an excuse as to why I'm up...just got done feeding the baby :), potty training...Anna is SOOO ready, and I am good some days, bad the others. We've been wearing pull ups (which is just a glorified, more expensive, Disney princess diaper!), but panties too (which have been sometimes dry and sometimes filled with surprises...gross)...love the color, it looks darker than my shade, can't wait to see it!...with ya on the park, but lost ya on The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins-GASP!!!-are you serious?...can't tell you how many times I've seen both over my lifetime, I can sing and recite them! :)...and yes, going back was brutal, especially after having 7 weeks with my leave!

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  2. I can't believe your leaves are still such beautiful colors- lucky! Great pictures! And that was sweet of you to paint your daughter's bedroom her favorite color- can't wait to see the makeover! Hope your Tuesday is easier than your Monday!

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  3. I only had a week off and it was tough coming back!!! Sounds like you had alot of fun though. We had a snowstorm here. I love all your pictures especially the leaves ones. Your girls are both so cute.

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  4. I am so jealous b/c (a) you had TWO weeks off, how fun!, and (b) you all still have leaves on the ground! It's enough to make me want to move to the west coast. :) We had lots of to do's planned as well, but sometimes I think it is best to set aside the to do list and have some good quality time like you all did. I was very sheltered, too - can you believe I have NEVER seen Sound of Music?! That just isn't right. Love the shade of purple you all picked - before you noted that you chose the second from the right, that's the one I picked as my favorite. Good luck with the potty training! We were getting there ourselves but had a set back with the "#2" situation!

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  5. Oh, just wait. I have an 8.5 year old who is begging for her room to be orange. Bright orange.

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  6. Hope getting back to work wasn't too hard for ya!
    Wow Claire is ready to potty train already! I don't think my Claire is anywhere near ready. I dread the day too. I hate potty training. It's tougher than I thought.
    I've never seen Sound of Music all the way through! I need to buy it. And Mary Poppings, I've been wanting to buy that for a while now. It's one of my favorites!!

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  7. I awarded you with A Most Sylish Blogger Award...please feel free to stop by and see the post!

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  8. You were supposed to get the potty training out of the way before me! We are going to do it (fingers crossed) over MLK weekend too. What book/website did you use to read up on that whole 3 day method? I need some guidance.

    And you are such a good mom with that purple room. :)

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  9. My husband was off the WHOLE month of Dec. and we also had a to do list that didn't get tackled! HA! It was nice just to be home as a family and not really have a schedule, but we were paying for it today! :( The first day back was brutal for all of us!
    Get some rest, and I LOVE Kate's room :)

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  10. I'm right there with you on going back to work this week, oh has it been painful! How many weeks 'til summer vacation?
    I can't believe you hadn't seen Mary Poppins!!! You poor deprived thing... definitely one of my all-time faves.

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  11. I am not going back to work, but getting back to normal life again...and it is hard, but we are having a good week so far.

    I can't wait to see the purple room...and what color did you go with. We might be moving one of the girls to the 3rd bedroom...they are having some issues with sharing right now at bedtime and she love purple!

    Easy back into it Mel...if that is possible!

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  12. I agree that it was so hard to go back to school this week after our two week break. I'm counting the days until Spring break :) I love musicals and my husband hates them. I have a feeling that we are going to be raising our sons in a musical-free home because of that. Good luck with the potty training. I don't judge because I wouldn't have wanted to bother with the hassel over Christmas break either. Hope your first week back was a good one!

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