This new year, I am looking to be better.  A better mother, a better teacher, a better wife, a better blogger, a better friend…you get the point…

My resolutions for this year:

1. Make certain I spend most of each day enjoying my family, with a time for work and crafting mixed in…

2. Try to be less anxious and stressed….at least less visibly anxious and stressed.

3. Grow my own produce and eat/shop locally as much as possible when not eating from my own crops.

4. Learn to sew (better).

5. Tell King Phekus, Buddy, and Little Guy how much I love them more often.

What do you plan on doing differently this year?

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…a week ago (remember this post?).  But, in all of the hazarai associated with the holidays, I forgot to show you the letter Santa sent us, postmarked from the North Pole (North Pole, Alaska, that is…).

It contained a letter that ensured Buddy that if he stopped wrestling, pushing, and generally being in Little Guy’s personal business, Santa would come this year.  Whether or not Buddy got out of Little Guy’s space is still up for debate, even though Santa did make a grand appearance.

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…instead Buddy just “blew up” all over a display at my favorite local sandal joint.

I’m home dealing with the stomach virus that has overrun the house, while King Phekus is offering renumeration and a twelve pack of Kalik over at Summerland Sandal.

{Cringing}

What’s proper etiquette for when your kid damages property via projectile vomit?  I’d love to hear your take on it.

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This was really the first Christmas that Buddy “got” the idea of Christmas and Santa and all that mayhem.  I really couldn’t get enough of watching his face as he opened presents – and the odd things he would say.  Little Guy ate his way through some wrapping, and spent most of the day “in his brother’s business”.

Below I will provide the hits {and misses} for the boys’ gifts this year.

BUDDY (2.75 Year Old)

Captain’s Shed {Hit}

Sitting at the top of the stairs Christmas morning, Buddy was chanting, “Captain’s Head, Captain’s Head”.  Can you guess what that meant?

Fisher Price GeoTrax Batman Batcave Remote Control Train Set {Hit}

He has no clue who Batman is, but he thought this train set rocked.

Hot Wheels Wall Track Starter Set {Hit}

This gift gets the “Best Reaction Award.”  He opened it up and started screaming “There’s a car in there!  There’s a car in there!!”  Daddy liked this one, too.

Thomas and Friends Rumble and Race Mountain {Hit}

Noise, rumbling, lights, and crashing…what’s not to like if you are into trains like my guy?  Warning for Parents:  ”Some Assembly Required” on this set means you need a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering to figure it out.

Fisher Price Imaginext Batcave {Hit}

It’s like a Barbie house for boys.  Batman and Robin are enjoying playing with their friends from Toy Story in these digs.

Rock Star Mickey {Miss}

My Nana made Buddy open this first for Christmas.  I think he thought Santa was playing a mean trick on him by sending him a possessed mouse.  We hid it and all was okay again.

Hot Wheels Car {Miss}

We give Hot Wheels cars occasionally as potty treats.  When Buddy opened this up from my sister, he thought she had wrapped up his potty treat without letting him pick one.  Tantrum ensued.

Little Guy (9 months)

B. Zany Zoo Activity Cube {Hit}

Colorful cube with a ton of activities.  My Little Guy has loved standing at it moving the beads around.  My 2.5 year old has been caught playing with it, too.

Zoobie Monkey {Hit}

Little Guy’s new best bud.  A pillow, blanket, and stuffie all in one.  He was caught kissing his Zoobie under the mistletoe.

Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair (in Chocolate) {Hit}

Finally, Little Guy has his own chair for lounging and playing.  When we put him on the ground Christmas morning, he crawled right over and sat down in it.  His brother is happy that Little Guy has his own space, too.

Well that wraps up our favorites in the kids’ department – what toys did your kid(s) like best (or surprisingly dislike??) this holiday season?

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I tripped and dropped 3/4 of a cup of flour while making these cookies.

I should probably mention that the flour landed on my pug.  Whoops.

At least this time I didn’t set the house on fire.

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My sister and her family are going to make the 26 hour trek via car to visit us in the Keys later this year.  While my crew is used to being strapped in the car for hours upon hours, I am a little concerned that my niece is going to freak out as they hit the Florida border (with only 8+ hours to go!).  So, this Christmas, I created a bag of activities to keep her busy in the car.  At almost 5, she is really into art, and is super girly.  Thus, packaged with this crash-tested car tray, I am giving her the following bag:

Sure to give her hours of entertainment, my adorable niece will receive this bag with a weaving loom, Barbie paper dolls, invention kit (complete with random junk from around the house such as string, googly eyes, and pom poms), Wikki Sticks, glass beads, foam beads, rubber alphabet stamps, stamp pad, paper, doorknob sign, wooden princess decorating kit, Model Magic, glitter pens, Crayola Pip Squeaks, stickers, and books.  In the bag is also a list of included materials.

Hopefully this helps my sister keep some sanity on her drive…

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I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I opened the app.  I mean, an app for kids with two mustached men on the icon?

And the name Jib Jab?  According to the Urban Dictionary, jib jab has 3 meanings:

• 1. A phrase to tell someone that something has been posted so frequently on the Internet that it is overdone.
• 2. A language used by someone who is drunk.
• 3. Something you don’t want your husband to do (see link).

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…met me at the door.  Wanna see what swag I snagged?

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1. I named my kids for children’s book characters.
2. I secretly love running statistical analyses and reading results.
3. I have a pug named Olive…
4. But, I am terrified of dogs.
5. I love reality TV – nearly any kind.
6. …and chick lit.
7. I’d like to create an app…
8. …and write a children’s book.
9. My favorite characters in children’s lit are The Pigeon and Scaredy Squirrel.
10. I set several toaster ovens on fire as a teen…
11. (and one house as an adult).
12. I was on the rowing team in college.
13. I wear a 36″ inseam in my pants.
14. I prefer jeans to anything else.
15. My family personally keeps the GAP in business.
16. I’m Italian, German, English, Irish and a smidgen French.
17. I have tried (on several occasions) but I cannot seem to learn how to speak another language.
18. I was a Behavioral Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics major in college…
19. …until I switched my major to elementary education.
20. I taught second grade.
21. I can’t dance for the life of me.
22. I can’t even clap on beat.
23. Honestly, I am so clumsy that I can barely walk half the time.
24. I received my Ph.D. at age 28…
25. …And people still think I am a graduate student several years later.
26. I could barely eat a thing when pregnant with both boys.
27. It was so bad with DS1 that I had to wear an IV backpack that sounded like Darth Vader breathing.
28. DS2 delivered himself.
29. I have uncontrollably curly hair.
30. I once won a trophy for best tennis player at camp….but I wasn’t very good.
31. I love the idea of traveling.
32. But I hate the thought of airplanes.
33. I will only go into the ocean up to my ankles.
34. I live for hammocks.
35. I remember most of my dreams.
36. My favorite toys as a kid were Barbies and Micro Machines.
37. When I go to FL, I sometimes read 2-3 books per day…
38. (or at least I did until having 2 toddlers).
39. I don’t like interacting with wildlife.
40. Yet, my yard looks like a wildlife show (fox, groundhogs, coyotes, deer, etc.)
41. My favorite animal is the manatee.
42. At camp, I loved hanging out in the ceramics studio.
43. The time 7:47 weirds me out.
44. I am a cupcake cooking queen.
45. I love planning birthday parties.
46. Right now my iPod is playing lots of Adele, Cee-lo, and other top 40 junk.
47. I love the show Glee.
48. I think Country music is pretty cool.
49. When anyone over 21 calls me “doctor”, it also kind of weirds me out.
50. I occasionally find myself watching Thomas with no kids around by accident.
51. I think my husband is one of the most wonderful men I have ever met.
52. I had a lisp as a kid.
53 And even though everyone says they can’t hear it, I still swear it is there.
54. I can’t speak any foreign languages…
55. …though I desperately want to.
54. I once received tickets to the Smashing Pumpkins as a birthday gift
55. …and was the only one at the concert not dressed in black.
56. My favorite colors are yellow and black…though not together.
57. I think purses are the best accessory.
58. I think Petunia Picklebottom Diaper Bags make for a great purse.
59. I hate smelly things (both good smelly and bad smelly).
60. Hay and grass make me itch like crazy.
61. I probably read on average 100-200 books a year (mostly young adult fiction, though).
62. My research is focused on nonfiction,
63. …but I rarely choose to read it myself.
64. My least favorite subject in school was social studies/history.
65. I think I terrified my industrial arts teacher in the welding room…
66. …and embarrassed my home economics teacher in the kitchen.
67. I had a 4.0 in college (after freshman year…) and grad school.
68. Grades caused me a lot of anxiety and I was very happy when I would never have to get graded again.
69. I wear a size 10 shoe.
70. I have a fat pinky toe, and so does my younger son.
71. My ears fold over, and so do my younger son’s ears.
72. My hair stands on end if I blow dry it.
73. I have played the violin, piano, and french horn – all horrifically.
74. My favorite word is “amok.”
75. My sister, mom, and I have danced to “Jump” like Hugh Grant in Love Actually since the song came out decades ago.  We have a routine we do on Christmas Eve.
76. My wedding dress train fell in a small creek at my wedding…
77. …and I forgot to wear my veil.
78. My all-time favorite book is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.
79. I hit two parking cones and a curb on my driving test…
80. …and still passed.
81. I cannot parallel park, though I rarely need to.
82. Pools weird me out.
83. I love vintage jewelry that comes with a story.
84. I cannot shake both hands at the same time (if I try, my right one stops shaking).
85. I live in my UGGs.
86. I don’t really like malls or shopping, though I lived at the mall as a tween/teen.
87. I worked mall retail from age 14 though 18 (I was so proud of my holiday working papers).
88. My favorite childhood memories were at camp.
89. We have found approximately 14 snakes in or next to our house in the past few years.
90. I don’t like snakes one bit.
91. My college transcript says I traveled abroad in Belize…
92.  I have never been to Belize.  I did do a 2 week flora and fauna trip to Arizona, though.
93.  I have only been out of the country a handful of times.
94. Florence, Italy is the coolest place I have ever been.
95. If I could only shop at one store for the rest of my life, it would be Pottery Barn.  Or J. Crew. Or Anthropologie.
96. The Goonies might be the best movie ever.
97. When I was a kid, I had a card catalog to keep track of all of my books.
98. I had surgery when I was a kid to remove a mole next to my eye.
99.  I don’t remember which eye.
100. I think it is hard to come up with 100 things about yourself.

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