Whew!

Let's just start with today and work backwards.

This weekend I traveled to Cincy with the kids for Katie's 7th birthday. Spencer traveled to Nashville to attend a 'big boy' birthday party. One of our best friends turned 40 and is celebrating in style.

New Year's Day I made 2 recipes from a Southern Living Magazine. One was a fried black eyed pea cake and one was a mini roast beef sandwich. Both were very yummy. (you'll have to follow the links for recipe details)

New Year's Eve Spencer and I sat on the couch like an old married couple and enjoyed the quiet of our house. We were in bed by 11:15 I think. Nevermind that Claire woke up at 12:30. I don't think that counts.

Claire's new sleeping schedule is killing us. We had her downstairs and she was sleeping through the night. We brought her back upstairs to her bed and she was still doing well. Once we started traveling for Christmas it all went to pot. Now she's waking up twice a night again. I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt. If she doesn't sleep tonight or tomorrow then she's going back downstairs.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. When Easton was a baby I declared that we would not "do Santa". I don't know why. It just seemed logical to want to keep Christmas 'pure' and uncluttered without the commericalization of it all. It didn't matter what I wanted because we soon found out that Easton was scared to death of Santa (and anyone or anything in any sort of costume - see story about Buddy the Bat) so it worked out great.
But this year - he started talking about Santa all on his own. So we went with it. Put out cookies and everything. When I was little Santa brought all of the presents and left them unwrapped in little piles in our living room. On Christmas morning we all could identify our pile by the contents. Spencer said Santa wrapped his presents. We decided that the presents would be wrapped and under the tree from mom and dad but Santa would leave one present for each child unwrapped. That worked out great. Anyone want to guess what Santa brought Easton?
A cupcake maker. Yep. That's a girl toy alright. But he reaaaaaalllllly wanted one. I think that he thought that it would just spit out a cupcake whenever he wanted. Of course we all know that it just is an expensive way to make a really big mess - but is it worth that mess for one excited boy on Christmas morning? Yes. He loved it. And we can blame the mess on Santa. Mom and Dad would never buy something so silly.
Santa brought Camille three little ponies (Pinkie Pie, Triple Treat and Rainbow Dash for those of you up on your pony knowledge) and Claire a rolling duckie toy that she can chase as she crawls about the house.
Our big present to the kids (and to ourselves) was a reorganization of the downstairs. I bought an art table for play dough and painting and coloring, etc and some toy bins to organize all of those little toys that kept getting lost in the toy box.

Spencer's big gift this year was not a Wii. But I should win a small award for making him THINK that it was going to be a Wii. Actually, he got a flugel. He's wanted one for years and we kept putting it off. He was finally serious about buying one when we found out we were pregnant with Claire. And then there was the minivan to deal with....it was just never practical. So it was a perfect Christmas surprise. With the help of a sneaky friend he was lured into thinking he was getting a Wii so he'd be thrown off track. I don't know who's reaction was better - Easton with the cupcake maker or Spencer with the flugel. Both were perfect :-)
My gift was a gift certificate to a very pish posh spa in Louisville. Next Friday I have an appointment to get my very first massage. It includes several stages where they will take parts of my body and squish them until they are in a jello like state. I'm very excited about this.

Before Christmas things were very hectic at school. The band is great - I love them. Piano students are also great - very fun to work with. That freshman general music class - not so great. They require me to work VERY hard. And I have too many other things to worry about besides apathetic 14 year olds. But the other two classes make my day worth while so the glass is half full. I am realizing, however, that being a mother of 3 is much greater than being a mother of 2. I can't explain why the jump is so vast - it just is. Perhaps it's because we're outnumbered now? But it's causing me to reconsider. On paper it just seems silly. I mean - I only work part time. I'm home by 1:00. That's easy, right? But it's not. A lot is falling on Spencer and it's not fair to him. I don't know... I have many years left to teach. Part time and full time. I may be okay with no time for a year or so.

Camille has been evaluated for the second time for speech therapy. She had a few sessions with the First Start program (for children under 3) and did very well. Now that she is 3, she has to go through JCPS. She has completed testing and we've set up an IEP. We'll be contacted this month to see when she starts sessions. She'll probably go twice a week for 20-30 min each. And Easton will be doing Upward Basketball twice a week starting next week. And Spencer and I will start training for the Triple Crown of Running starting next week.

Whew.