16.5 hours...

In 16.5 hours another year will come to a close and a new one will show it's beautiful face. Wow. Christmas was a lot better than I expected this year. I was a little nervous because of our decision not to exchange gifts among the adults but it was wonderful. I never realized how stressed out I was trying to buy a gift for this person or that. This year I focused on feeding my family with yummy belly warming food. We had Prime Rib (thanks to Gigi), Carrot Souffle (My Dad's suggestion), Sour Cream Corn (Aunt Mel's recipe), Mashed Potatoes, French Onion Cauliflower (My Dad's Contribution), Candied Yams (Nana's recipe), and Green Bean Casserole (of course). Some of these I've made so many times I can make it from memory. The kids had a great time and got some wonderful gifts. Maybe next year it'll be a little more low key (with the gift giving). I'm thinking that the kids should only get 1 gift from each person, instead of multiple. I would also like to start a tradition where the kids pick out a few toys from their room on Christmas Eve to leave out for Santa to 'recycle'. Out with the old, in with the new! I'm babbling. This post is not as interesting as others but I felt I needed to write. Happy New Year Everyone!

My Little Blonde Angel

I'm sure that you've noticed that Emma gets alot of airtime on my blog. As usual Tommy gets the back burner. I guess I feel a little guilty for not ever writing about just him. So here goes.
He is so sweet. He hates to go to bed and cries (yelling MAMA! for up to half an hour) every night. He even throws his board books out of his bed (they make a loud thud on the hard-wood floor that sounds like he fell out of the crib) hoping that this will make me come back to him. He is always happy to see me and loves to give hugs. He lets me eat up his legs. Those scrumptious little chubby legs. He is starting to talk more every day. He loves to eat. Anything, anytime. He loves bathtime and when I say 'Come on Tommy, it's time to take a bath.' he throws his hands up in the air and yells his version of 'BATHTIME!'. He loves lotion on his belly and can never resist tasting it. Every time. Even thought he knows it's tastes yucky, he has to put his lotion covered hand in his mouth. It must be laced with some addiction inducing drug. We read books and talk every night before bed. After we read, I turn him around on my lap to face me and I ask him about his day. He babbles on and on in a language only he can understand. I nod and say 'Did you have fun?' and he enthusiastically nods a big wide eyed 'Yes'. Then he tells me something about a ball and Daddy. I assume he is saying that he played ball with Daddy. I don't really care what he is saying anyway, I just love watching him talk. Then we say goodnight, give kisses and then he puts his head on my shoulder and sings. Who knows what song but I love it. Only one word can describe the way I feel about him. LOVE. Totally, completely, utterly, absolutely, perfectly in LOVE.

Drama Princess...

Last night Emma and I stayed up late to make Christmas Cookies (see photos on Buttercups). I told her before we went to bed that i would be waking her up early to take a shower because it was too late to shower. We brushed our teeth, read books and went to bed. When it was time to wake up (about 5:45 am) I went to her room to wake her up. I whispered in her ear 'Emma, it's time to get up and take a shower.'. She said 'No mommy, you said I could shower in the morning, it's still dark.'. I said 'I know Emma, it is morning the sun just isn't up yet.' She promptly tore the covers back, jumped out of bed, stormed down the hallway with clenched fists, went to the back door, pulled back the curtain, pointed outside and said, 'See mommy, it's dark outside, it's not morning yet!' How could I argue? I said, 'OK, go back to bed.' and I started back down the hall to the bathroom. She stopped me halfway, rubbed her tummy and said. 'Mommy, can you make me something to eat, I'm really hungry.' I told her that we had to take a shower first and then she could eat. Then my agreeable little girl said 'OK mommy.' She is so darn cute and I love that she knows (or at least thinks she does) how to prove her point.

Her dance recital was this weekend. Still working on a video so stay tuned.

Emma Grace Schaeffer Rose

So yesterday while I was driving Emma to school, we were discussing the proper spelling of all of her names. She spelled "E-M-M-A" then we went on to "G-R-A-C-E" then to "S-C-H-A-E-F-F-E-R". She had trouble with this one so we sung our last name to to a little tune to help her remember how to spell it. After talking about this for a little while, she proclaimed that 3 names is not enough and that she has to have 4 names. She then said "My name is Emma Grace Schaeffer Rose." How could I argue with such a pretty name? After all she is as pretty as a rose.
And I have to say that my little girl has some pretty awesome manners. The other night, I was enjoying a small after dinner treat. Every few minutes, she would crane her neck to see if my bowl was empty. When my bow finally was empty, she got up, took my bowl and spoon and put it in the sink. What a sweet girl I have. It may seem like a little thing to you, but to me it shows that she has great observation skills and will be a wonderful care-taker. She is eager to help with anything and is always looking for praise (which I try to give her at every opportunity). She always says "Please" and "Thank you", "Bless-you" and "Your Welcome". She constantly says "I have the best family." or "You're the best mommy." I'm so proud of this little girl. There are few moments in motherhood where you feel like you are doing something right or that you are doing enough. It's times like this that remind me that I'm doing alright. Of course I've made mistakes and there will be many more to make. But more often than not, she makes me feel like a good mom.

PS: Emma and her class made a Thanksgiving banner. On it the teacher wrote all the things that the kids were thankful for. Some kids were thankful for food, others for toys. Emma was thankful for her family. Gosh, what this little girl could teach some people.

Madonna, Madonna, Madonna...

My bestest girlfriend Cindy and I went to see Madonna. She is a phenomenal performer. We had a blast! It was really awesome to hear all of the songs that we grew up with. The best part was that she added a twist to the music. When did she learn to play guitar? Thanks Cin for the great time!

The Great Southern California Shake Out

At 10:00 am on Thursday, November 13th, the largest earthquake emergency preparedness drill in US history took place in Southern California. Millions of people throughout Southern California participated in the ShakeOut Drill. The shake out drill was based on studies made by over 300 scientists from the US Geological Survey. Every public school in Southern California participated, including the one that Emma attends. When I returned home from work on Thursday, Emma explained to me what happened at school. She said with great enthusiasm, "Mommy! We had an earthquack today! We had to get under the tables and hold on! Then, the earthquack lady came on the speaker and said 'All Clear' and then we could get out." So, I asked her, "What is an earthquack?". She answered, "It's when everything shakes and you fall down. And you have to get under the table so you don't get hurt." Thankfully we have an earthquack expert in the house now. I'm glad someone knows what to do.

Buttercups

It's here! A blog containing a pictoral of all of my cupcakes. This one will not be updated as often as Mama Duck but I'll email updates when there are new pics.

http://buttercup-cakes.blogspot.com/