Life At The Circus

It has been a very relaxing Christmas vacation at the circus house.  My sister in law and her family came in to town the evening of the 23rd.  We had too much fun making cupcakes for the kids for baby Jesus’ bday party on Christmas night.  She is an awesome trooper.  She happily obliged my request to roll out 19 baby Jesus figurines out of marshmallow fondant at 10:00pm.  Seriously, worlds best sister in law.   Christmas Eve was low key.  We did a gingerbread house with the kiddos.  Which was a mess.  I think it remained standing for all of 2 hours before it collapsed on itself.  But, we had fun and that was the idea.  Scott and I took our nephews to the playground for a little while so we could have some time alone with them.  Then the girls went with my sister in law to Nana’s to do a little cooking, while I grabbed a shower and tidied up the house.   Then it was church in evening and Scott and I started w...

I know it isn’t very seasonal to have 66 degree weather the night of winter solstice.  But I gotta confess I didn’t mind it one bit as that was the evening I’d been planning to take the kids to see the lights at Brookside Gardens.  I had never been but heard someone talking about them once.  Unlike other light displays, this one you park and get out and walk.  Which could be a hard sell for 4 kids on a cold winter night.  But, this Saturday the weather was perfect.  (and clearly we weren’t the only ones who thought so as we had to sit an hour in line at the parking lot before we could get in).  Seriously, my three year old walked around all night in short sleeves with NO JACKET… In DECEMBER.  The lights were impressive.  It was really enjoyable to walk around the gardens and enjoy the displays. The bull frog which actually croaked was amongst our favorites. The lightning storm and rainbow were pretty cool too. Two of the kid...

Dear Children of Mine, 10 years from now when you are wondering what in the world to get Mom for Christmas, I have an idea for you.  So write it down and stick it away and remember it when your 19, 17, 16, and 13.  All I want for Christmas, is you.  It’s true… nothing wrapped under the tree could possible come close to time spent with you.  So, if you really want to make my day, ask me if we can make sugar cookies together. Like we did back in 2013.  You can invite your roomate from college, that boy from church you think is kinda cute, your bff… the more the merrier… just promise me you’ll lick the icing and giggle over the snow men that turned out looking more like moustaches.  And then, AFTER your friends all leave, I’ll pull out these pictures from back in the day and we can laugh and giggle over the flour ALL over your shirt and pants and those goofy 3D glasses the you decided to wear while icing the cookies.  I’ll tell you that even then ...

A traditional Christmas card will not be arriving in your mailbox this year from the circus fam,  instead I give to you this greeting from me  to you.  I’ve thought a lot about what I want to say in this card.  What image I want to share with you from my family to yours.  We’ve had a lot of great moments this year.  Many of them I’ve shared on here so I can look back and remember them in the years to come.   But, as I ponder this year about what image I want to capture our family this Christmas it isn’t the one of us all enjoying a National Park or the one of the kids all smiling in front of our tree before we chopped it down.  No, this Christmas I want to share with you my mess. Because, despite what those holiday movies and songs say over and over… Christmas isn’t about feeling good or just believing… it’s not about wishing or mistle toe or presents under the tree.  Don’t get me wrong I love me some mistle toe and presents and ...

We are on break here at the circus.  And I couldn’t be more excited about it.  I have been looking forward to this week for ages.  The week before Christmas.  All I want to do is enjoy the kiddos and catch up on some house work.  And bake.  And do some shopping.  And maybe see some friends.  (ha, ha… can you tell I am an introvert?  read over that list, when I proof read this and re read it, it made me laugh)… Well yesterday was rough.  We had a fun filled family weekend that left us all tired.  Mom was tired.  The kids were tired.  I let them watch too much tv and play too many video games which left us all grumpy.  I attempted a craft but it was way harder than I thought and ended up more frustrating than fun for all of us.  Except the 3 year old.  He loved it, which truthfully provided some sense of accomplishment to this tired and frustrated Momma. But, today is a new day.  And even though I am...

We got our tree today!!!  We started decorating the house yesterday, but it wasn’t quite right without the tree.   I don’t think our three year old remembers the Christmas tree b/c after we cut it down and tied it to our van he asked, “Can we keep it in our yard as our Christmas tree?”  He had no idea it would go in the house.  And then when we added lights, he was beyond excited.  I love, L-O-V-E cutting down our tree. Apparently, I am not the only one who loves it as smiles were easy to come by this afternoon. We got home and Scott put the lights on it and then the kids and I decorated it.  I love unwrapping the ornaments.  I love the memories that each one holds and this year I really enjoyed sharing those memories with the kids.  They were so eager to listen.  When my 9 year old found a little ornament he had cut and drawn on notebook paper in 2009 he said, “Mom, I am sorry I gave you such a lame gift.”...

Nothing like a back seat driver.  Especially a 3 year old back seat driver. At 1 am.  On a Snow covered back country road. As we slip slided around the roads approaching my parents the other night, I seriously thought we might end up in a ditch and all the while my 3 year old was WIDE awake and chattering non stop about all the snow.  He kept saying, “Dad, don’t get in an accident.  We wouldn’t want to get in an accident and die dad.”  Over and over.  Truthfully, it provided a little comic relief to Scott and I as the conditions were less than ideal. Thankfully, we made it safely.  And my dad greeted us with his plow and tractor.  At 2 am.  He was out plowing the driveway.  My three old thought he was out to give him a tractor ride.  We figured, “Why not.  It wasn’t like he was asleep.”  Besides, how often do you get the opportunity for a 2 am tractor ride in the snow.  The snow was gorgeous and we h...