Tree Time!!!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree......la lala la la la la....

Friday night was the annual Monahan Tree Decorating!1 (minus Dad who came and supervised and put a couple ornaments on). The boys LOVE this night!!! For me, it is an exercise of letting go....Letting go of the fact that there are 700 ornaments on the bottom of the tree, letting go of the fact that the "good" ornaments made their way to the back of the tree this year. Letting go of the fact that my beaded garland did not reach all the way and my ribbon garland is getting old and annoys me:) Yes, the tree decorating is therapy, as my little Elves think it is the BEST thing in this world. For the record, I only moved 5 ornaments that were on the same branch. It was left as is besides that;)

This was Benny's year to put on the Santa. A tradition that I had as a kid and plan to carry on with my dudes. He thought he was the you-know-what!! Look at that face!!!

It was a great night. No one cried or carried on about being poked by real needles and I was not left to finish the job. Good times!!!

It's about the little things.

So last week we FINALLY got around to getting new beds for Ry's new room. Now let me just say this is a long and complex process. Noah's room will become Ryan's room and Noah will be moving in with Ben....(Dear Lord in Heaven, help me get through this transition. Please give me strength to not strangle these two as the beat and tease each other and keep me up all night. Please keep my wine glass full. Amen.)

John was all proud of himself as he found some mattresses that came in a box??? Yes, they did and the are comfy!! Anyway, he brought them home and the boys had a party of sorts jumping on them in the formal, (or attempt to be), living room. It was all fun and games until they started to see who could do the best flips.....I put the smack down on that one:)

Noah is currently sleeping on the mattresses as Ryan will NOT sleep in a BABY room until it is painted and ready for HIM. Noah, on the other hand is LOVING his big boy bed and looks so little in it:( :( I have no more babies people......Let's take a moment of silence for this.......okay, that's done, carry on:)

Because some days you just need it:)

Some days, you just need this. My Benny did this for me at school. As I sit here in my too tight p.j. pants with a big hole in the side, blue socks and black slippers, yellow t-shirt and a nasty, sloppy pony tail, I need to see this:) Thank you, my Benny!! Mommy loves!!!

Moon Sand.....I hate you!!

Once upon a time, about 3 years ago, a handsome, young 6 year old came to me and begged for Moon Sand for Christmas. Those big, brown eyes......How could I not. The commercials all said, "easy to use. Easy to CLEAN UP." Yeah right!! Well, that handsome brown eyed boy played with it once or twice and I cursed it each and every time.

Fast forward to today. My handsome blue eyed child asks me, "Mom, that's Moon Sand up there!! (it's been hiding on top of the "beer fridge"). Can we PLEASE play with it????" Now let's not forget the difference between Mr. Brown eyes and Mr. Blue eyes and his accomplice. The difference, my friends is RULE FOLLOWING!!! But I had a brain fart and thought, it won't be that bad. One hour, and two baths later, it WAS that bad. Moon sand in ears, Moon Sand in hair, even Moon Sand in armpits. Two baths and a slow bath drain later, all was right once again, (oh besides Noah trying to dump the entire bathtub out onto the bathroom floor while I put clothes away). Sigh...Never dull here.

So the moral of my story....The creators of Moon Sand should be dealt with and should have to suffer major consequences for their actions. There should be a panel of Moms that OK all their creations. They should not lie:) THAT is my profound thought for today!!

p.s. Mr. Blue eyes looks like he has brown eyes in this photo. You know who I speak of:)

Halloween!!

A few days late, but hey!! We had a great time out and about with some good friends for Halloween. The boys got a great loot and the weather was not too cold. I am still enjoying the fruits of their labor:) :)

I voted!!

God Bless America!!!

Morning Time Harmony:)

Good Morning!! I found this picture surfing the web this a.m. and I felt a very close connection with it....It felt like home. As the boys get older, I feel like this is pretty much what life has become. I can see why many believe we come from monkeys....My children are first cousins of the animals!!!

Before I was a Mom, I thought my mornings would consists of me pleasantly waking up my kids, who in turn, would tell me how much they loved me with smiles. We'd eat a nice big breakfast, homemade by me, of course. We'd calmly and happily get ready for school. We'd get out into the van orderly and without incident. We'd drive to school and sing songs and be joyous. That was before I had kids:)

In real life it is nothing like this. It pretty much resembles a zoo. I am usually "strongly enforcing" the fact that you HAVE to get up. They in turn let me know that I am the Devil for making them get up. They eat cereal or pop tarts each day:), usually while playing the Wii. We quickly and chaotically get dressed. Teeth brushing becomes Wrestle Mania 27. We rush to get out to the van, running around the yard and then having me "strongly enforcing" the fact that if they don't get their butts in the van, I am leaving. (this makes no sense, but surprisingly works). And then they are gone. Yes, before I was a Mom I had a lot of lofty goals. Morning time harmony, was clearly not achieved. Time to move on to the next goal:) Happy Tuesday!!