Christmas in my heart the whole year long, blast it all

The baby is quietly waddling around the house undoing things--taking all the bottles out of the bottle basket, all the gray square mats out of the workout corner, all the toilet paper off the roll, all the clothes out of the laundry basket, all the kitchen towels out of the drawer, all the parts of the kitchen aid out of the cupboard, all the low lying ornaments off the tree.

Yes, we still have the Christmas tree up. I hate looking at it. I lie on the couch every evening and imagine taking the ornaments off, one by one, and wrapping them carefully and placing them in their bin. I can see, in my mind, where each of ornament will go and how they will fit together. But then, when I stand up, it all fades away and I forget that we have a living room or that Christmas was a month ago or whatever.

So I thought perhaps today, being a snow day, I might take a stab at coping with the tree. However, I've already made pancakes (does anyone else experience abject rage when, after serving up an entire meal at great personal expense of energy and time, 3 out of five children come back TEN MINUTES LATER to say they are "hungry" and what else is there to eat?), bread dough and done a load of laundry. That's probably enough for the whole day, given that shoving all the children in and out of snow pants, boots, hats, mittens and scarves will take about three hours, and then it will be time for supper or lunch or something. But maybe I could start by just getting the bin out to stare out for a few more days.

It might be really nice to have it down by Valentine's Day. Or the Super Bowl. Or the time my mom arrives (next Tuesday, PRAISE THE LORD). On the other hand, maybe we could leave it up "so she could see it" and then I could actually stage that now totally false picture of all the children in their Christmas clothes in front of the tree, followed by the equally false picture of all the children in their Christmas pj's in front of the tree.

Either way, when it all comes down to it, its not about the tree still being up or the baby wrecking the entire house or the children eating all day long, its about the fact that I am probably NEVER GOING TO GIVE BIRTH EVER.

Matt's Sermon from Sunday

Matt's sermon was so helpful to me this week. I thought I'd share it with you.

Baby Obsession--I'm sorry, I'm 37 weeks, I simply have nothing else on my mind

Matt appears to have the flu or something horrible which is in direct conflict with the baby who loves him SO MUCH that she wants to bounce up and down on his stomach and pinch him and be the center of his life.

I am delightedly watching the ice fall from the sky and humming songs of gratitude for a day off from school. I am exactly one day away from being totally on top of my laundry--including new baby things. I'm going to make the kids do puzzles (clean clean clean puzzles) all day and read books while I launder order back into our lives.

I spent nearly the whole morning at the Dr. yesterday--down to weekly visits now which is such a pain. This wretched baby is so seriously head grinning, waving, yawning and generally flitting away her time that I nearly had a temper tantrum. I'm not really prepared to try the ironing board thing, but I am going to try the music thing today, which I've heard first hand does work. I am really agonizingly afraid of a C-Section, just the whole idea of it makes me burst into tears. On the other hand, I've been very blessed to have five healthy normal deliveries with no complications and no trouble who have turned into five healthy stubborn messy children. So, having been commanded by the doctor not to go into labor this week because "the baby is going to turn, stop freaking out Anne" I am going to go merrily along my way and try to trust God.

Anyway, what with the flu and the laundry  and whatever else we have going on, the Tooth Fairy AGAIN neglected to visit our house last night. That makes twice for Elphine and once for Alouicious. His tooth has been hanging out of his mouth in the most foul looking way for weeks, but he wouldn't let anyone lay a hand on it or aid him in anyway. I finally convinced him to take a bite of a big juicy apple and out it came. However the Tooth Fairy apparently got stuck in the ice (just like an airplane) besides being so old and decrepit she can't keep a thought in her head, much to the disappointment of us all, and so we're going to have to write her a letter today and hope that she will pull things together.

Saturday on the links

I've succumbed to some kind of nasty cold and can't talk very well, for which I'm pretty sure all the children are delighted. Some of them keep coming and sitting very close to me and gazing rapturously into my fog filled running eyes. I don't know what they have to be insecure about. Just because we had something every night this week and haven't in any fashion carried on with our normal routine--honestly.

Actually, without forethought, we came to the end of the week and found it had been almost as bad as Holy Week (the standard of exhaustion by which all other moments of exhaustion are judged).

Anyway, so I woke up in the middle of the night and seriously gave some thought to entering MCJ's competition for Next Top Episcopal Bishop, and later took comfort in Simcha's furnace troubles (I'm probably not as busy as her!), and then later I used Jen's Saints Name Generator to pick a patron Saint for the year. I got St. Martha (Feast Day July 29) whose domain includes laundry workers, servants, housekeepers and cooks. Nothing, actually, could be more pertinent to my current station in life.

Have a great weekend!

in the bleak horrible snowy winter

There is something deeply mesmerizing about listening to the list of school closings on the radio. Even looking at the list online or watching the local news doesn't produce that deep sense of peace as our local NPR guy's strange lispy vaguely southern voice of soothing calm. I've listened to the recitation a total of 5 times this morning and have not been disappointed or bored by it once. Sadly, the hour is nine and everyone pretty well knows who's on a 2 hour delay and who is actually closed, so I'll have to wait until the next big snow for this small morning pleasure.

The hour is indeed nine and even though I can barely keep my eyes open. the throngs are clamoring to be allowed to go out in the wretched stuff. Monday, if you popped by, I was facing a sledding extravaganza which did, in fact, take place. It took me about three hours and one temper tantrum (mine when the closet door leaped off and smacked me in the foot) to find everyone's snow suit, boots, hats, gloves, scarves and the camera. Fortunately, when we finally made it to the slope Romulus completely spooked after one ride down the hill and screamed so loudly and longly that I was Forced to sit in the warm toasty car with him and the baby watching the madness from afar.

Today I'm going to watch from the window while they all fall down and cry and stuff. And then we'll all have a nap.

Let it snow let it snow let it..............

We're going to have to buck up and take the children into the snow today. I've been putting it off all weekend due to the fact that I HATE snow and being cold. I dislike it so much I don't even think its pretty. My ideal winter, of course, would be the hot hot dry dry north wind blowing sand everywhere and everything getting chapped in the dryness but so cold at night that you can put on a sweater and a pair of socks.

Instead of that, I have five children's worth of snowsuits and boots to dig out of bins This Morning because I have managed to put it off this long. Our old neighborhood included lovely children who would come and take my offspring into the snow while I stood at the window and snapped pictures. This new house is on a busy street and so Someone will have to go out with them. I'm assuming, of course, that that Someone will be Matt but since the snow began we have ceased making eye contact whenever the subject arises. Matt says with his lips that he "loves the gray sky of winter" but he hasn't made any move to take any child out in it.

While I am wrestling with crying sniffly frozen children this morning I will remind myself that Dante's lowest part of hell was actually cold, I think, not hot. Clearly God agrees with me.

Saturday Muddlings

Really miss blogging. However, just tried to perch the computer on my tummy only to find it slide off and hit the floor heavily. Am now trying to lean over and type so that it won't fall but am too enormous to really reach the keyboard.

Not really sleeping any more out of anxiety that we are Not Ready For This Baby!!! The house isn't clean. I don't have any baby clothes out and washed. We haven't even moved the current baby out the car seat into something bigger. The baby bed is full of toys. I don't have anything arranged to take to the hospital (my special socks, my special hidden pen, my special hidden toothbrush, the exact right novel...).

And, even more worrying, the baby is head up and already 7lbs.
So, um,
the only thing I can think of is to give you is this.

If you make it through the video you have to be sure and read the comments. I laughed for over an hour and ended up in so much pain I had to take a handful of Tylenol. I only discovered this Amazing video by trying to read about the inauguration of our new governor. I still don't know anything about that event because of only having time to read about this cake--although calling it a cake seems kind of a stretch.

In  other news we think the cat is trying to kill us.

Don't you hate it when people just change the picture/blog look without actually posting? Yeah me too. Have a great day!