Christmas Chaos

It’s been a fun, but busy couple of weeks.  We certainly did our fair share of celebrating this season; it seemed like we had event after event, gathering after gathering.  All good times with lots of good memories made. 

Here are a few highlights of Skurski Christmas 2013.

  

Merry Christmas

A day spent...

waking up early

being so excited

having wide-eyes

reflecting on the reason for the season

taking naps

thinking of those we love

eating way too much

cooking and having yummy smells in the kitchen all day long

staying in pajamas all day

unwrapping and unwrapping and unwrapping

thanking Santa for our favorite gifts

giving hugs and kisses

consuming large amounts of sugar

enjoying an eggnog

being surrounded by those we love

counting our blessings

being thankful for all we have
staying up way too late

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night."

Celebrating Three

There has been a lot of celebrating recently in the Skurski household--three is certainly a number to be celebrated.

It started with a white dusting of snow...pretty exiting for a three-year old girl.  Sorry Carmen, we can't really build a snowman.  But, we can have Mickey Mouse pancakes and hot chocolate instead.  That will do.

 Of course the three-year-old had to get measured to see how much she has grown.

Then, a moment to remember.  Lamby gets stuffed!  Poor little Lamby has been looking a bit flat for sometime.  Enter the nice folks at Build A Bear who happily gave Lamby her fluff back.  They opened her up; Carmen was wide eyed as they applied the scissors. She wasn't so sure about stepping on the pedal to add the fluff but eventually complied with mommy and daddy's help.  A few quick stitches later and Lamby was as good as new and Carmen was in heaven.  Note: Nice people at Build A Bear did not cringe or even apply gloves to perform the surgery despite the smell and blakish tint of their patient.

Then, off to have a snack at the food court.  Lemonade and mini pretzel dogs--the perfect combination for a three-year old and her little brother.

 

The fun didn't stop there--next on the agenda, family dinner.  It was extra special since both Grandmas and Grandpas were there.  Lots of play time and lots of wonderful birthday gifts and surprises.

The celebration didn't stop there, the next day it was off to the movies.  Carmen's first movie theatre experience--Frozen.  She was so excited.  Not as much for the movie as she was for the popcorn.  The poor thing didn't weigh enough to hold the seat down so daddy had to hold it down for the entire movie.  She loved watching on the big screen, munching popcorn (she polished off the entire bag almost single-handedly and then wanted more) and slurping down a sugary drink (at 10:00 in the morning).  At the end of the movie, she leaned over and asked "what's on next?"  I'd call it a success.

 

After the movie, it was time for lunch and yet another birthday treat.

Phew...turning three is certainly tiring; so much to celebrate!

Three

Today my Carmen James you are three.  Unbelievable. 

There is no doubt you are growing into your own.  You continue to amaze us on so many levels.

You have a strong personality and know exactly what you want when you want it. 

You continue to love purple—you want to wear it every day and you often remind those around you that purple is your favorite color.  As if they didn’t know—purple hat, purple coat, purple shirt and purple shoes.

Your favorite pal Lamby is still with you at all times.  Honestly, this little thing is as flat as a pancake and almost black now but you don’t seem to notice.  She is well traveled and certainly well loved.

Besides Lamby, you are also in love with your little brother.  While the two of you have your moments (and there will be many more to come) you adore him.  You want to hold his hand, give him things to play with, you always give him a hug and kiss goodnight and make sure he is included in everything that you do.  You also are not shy about telling him to stop fussing and trying to calm him down.

You have a stellar memory and great attention to detail.  A girl after my own heart.  You like to take all of your animals and dolls and line them up in a row, put them all down for bed, covered up, put them away and then do it all over again, again and again. 

You still like Doc McStuffins and talk about wanting to be a doctor when you grow up but your new favorite show is Handy Manny.  Thank you Disney Junior. You can’t get enough of the tools he carries around and you have come up with your own tool box to cart around your possessions.  You still like to transfer your things from Point A to Point B.  Up and down the stairs and often in the car—‘Mom, can we bring it?” I’ve found it’s easier to comply rather than put up a fight. 

While you always get a good report from school—you are quiet, behave and listen—I swear your three-year-old ears are broken when at home.  You have the uncanny ability to tune me out.

There are moments I think I may lose my mind.  You are opinionated and have sass and are not afraid to let your opinion be known.  You are not a big fan of waking up in the morning and often roll back over, put your head under the covers and demand that you are not getting up for 5 more minutes.  You also protest getting dressed and insist on staying in jammies for 5 more minutes.   You don’t like to be told ‘no’ but you like to say ‘no.’  When I want to rip my hair out with frustration I quickly remember that we are cut from the same cloth—you, in essence, are me.  When I get upset with the way you respond, I can’t help but laugh after the moment has passed because we are so similar.   In that case, what’s not to love.

While we have our rough patches and run-ins, we also share some incredible moments.  You run and jump up in my arms when I pick you up at school, we read a story every night before bed and you like to snuggle. The way you still call me mama melts my heart. Moments I certainly cherish.

You love peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly) in the shape of a star, please.  Regular bread is just too, well,regular, for you.  You are on a squeezy yogurt kick and would eat them day and night if we let you.  In fact, you are on a breakfast kick.  You usually ask for a bowl of cereal every night before bed time.  I'm not sure if you are really hungry or if it’s just part of your procrastination routine.  I swear it takes you a good 20 minutes to go from downstairs to upstairs when it’s time for bed.  “But Mom, I just have to…”  There is stalling when we brush your teeth, go potty, get a drink of both water and milk.  There is always just one more thing you must do. 

Oh, but life would be so very boring without you.  You make us laugh, make us proud, keep us entertained, makes us think and certainly keep us on our toes. 

A very happy 3^rd birthday to our little girl who is growing up way too quickly.  We love you more than you will ever know.  Happy birthday to you, Carmen James.  The light of our lives.

Picture Time

Today we saw Santa. 

Carmen was a bit shy at first but put a smile on her face. 

Well, Max's picture speaks for itself...he was not a big fan of Santa this year. 

 

Carmen was happy with her candy cane and even asked Santa for another one for her baby brother. What a good, big sister.  No doubt trying to butter Santa up.

She then told Santa that she would like: a talking Doc McStuffins doll, a bike and two cups (one for hot chocolate and one for milk, both purple of course).  She made sure to tell Santa that Max would like a blue Lambie (not sure this is what's really on Max's list).  Santa said he would do his best.

 

Ho, Ho, Ho...

Tree

Tree has been carefully selected. 

 Lights are up. 

Decorations are on. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 

 

 

bah humbug

I must admit, I am not in the Christmas spirit.  Not yet anyway. The last week has been a bit challenging here at the Skurski household.  All of our Christmas 'spiriting' has been put on hold for the moment. Our Elf on the Shelf has been firmly planted in the same spot for three days, no Dickens Village is up and we are no closer to moving the mountain of boxes in our living room containing all of the Christmas decorations we envisioned putting out last weekend.

We have all been hit with the flu bug; that's why things are a bit bah humbug around here...

We are no doubt a family that gives.  Max got it last Friday and generously gave it to Jimmy on Sunday. I promptly picked it up on Monday morning.  We were counting our blessings the kids were doing fine on Monday so they could go to 'school' while Jimmy and I stayed home.  We never factored into our plan both of us being sick at the same time.  We thought we were in the clear, but Carmen was the lucky recipient on Monday night and I stayed with her on Tuesday. By  Tuesday night we were all doing much better, finally eating more than graham crackers and ginger ale.  Ah, getting ahead of ourselves I quickly realized, as just before midnight Max started round 2.  To add to the fun, our basement is getting remodeled and of course the laundry room was being tiled so we were without our washer for three days.  One of our bathtubs served as our 'holding area' for more linens, towels and pjs plagued by the flu than I want to share.  By Wednesday both kids were back to 'school' and Jimmy and I were able to actually both work a full day.  Success. Then, Wednesday night round 2 caught up with me too.

I am tired of us all being sick, extra sleepy and extra irritable.  I am looking forward to getting healthy, getting energy back and starting to get into the holiday swing.  I know this season is not about getting Christmas cards out on time, having the perfect gifts picked out and wrapped but when things don't go according to plan, I get a little bent out of shape.  Ok, a lot.  I'm trying to keep my wits about me, laugh at this comical week of errors and move on.

I feel better already. Thanks for listening. No more bah humbug.

Grateful

 

So many things to be grateful for:

 

Carmen is grateful for her animals (and purple Christmas lights).

 

Max is grateful for all things edible. 

 

  Despite a 20 pound turkey for the four of us, Jimmy still felt the need to smoke some turkey. 

Lots of leftovers are in our future.

 

 

Jimmy and I are grateful for each other and our family of four. 
(I am also grateful that the silly looking mustache for 'Movember' comes off soon!)

 



Saturday Sunset

With the cold, crisp, dry weather we've been having, there have been some beautiful sunsets.  Here is Saturday's sunset of  "Mount Reindeer" courtesy of Carmen.