Living in Munchkinland

Yesterday Michael and the kids played outside with the neighbors while I puttered in the house. We had lunch out at Orlando's and then I had a wonderful nap. Marcie and Ann and the kids had hoped to arrive already, but were delayed so Michael and I loaded the kids up and drove up the mountain to sled with just the four of us. The snow was deep and powdery. We had a blast. Sledding is so fun. Michael and the boys made snow angels and we all wallowed in the snow. We drove back to the house and had soup and Salad with the Davis- Martinez' who had finally arrived. We put the kids to bed early and then gathered aroundd the fire laughing and talking till bed time. Today we got up early and Michael and I ran to the store while Marcie watched the kids. Then we all loaded up and went back to the sledding spot for more sledding adventure. We all had a splendid time and I discovered tha whiskey tastes good out of a flask on a winters day. After an hour or so we drove into

Yesterday we went on an adventure. We loaded up the captiva with sleds and ski clothes and presents and children and drove up to Espanola to see Marcie and Ann's home. They've lived there forever and I've never been and so I was very excited to see their lives. Their house was cozy and warm and lots of fun. They made us a delicious lunch and the kids played hard. We loaded the car again and then followed Marcie and Ann and the family another half hour to Los Alamos. We had never been there either and it wa doss fun to explore the area. The Black Mesa was very impressive and we really want or go back this summer and see the cliff dwellings. There is only one road in and out and you can see that this town was once a very important research facility. We drove down into a valley with a wonderful, inexpensive skating rink. We all ice skated for an hour. Michael and I remembered how again right away and glided with confidence. Davis took a couple of turn

We are in Taos and it is a snowy winter wonderland. I've never seen Taos with so much snow. It is beautiful. Almost everything looks like a post card. It is currently four degrees outside, but somehow cold weather never feels as cold here. We arrived on Wednesday and it was a very long day. I was sick with a stomach bug and wasn't sure I would make it, but thanks to nausea meds and great kids and husband, I made it. We left our house at 6:30am and got to the Taos house at 6:30 pm. We were delayed in Dallas, but our drive from Albuquerque to Taos was easy and pretty. Our driveway had a foot of snow and we got stuck on our way in, but we managed to wiggle and slide our car into the garage. It snowed overnight on Wednesday and we woke to a gorgeous sight of beautiful, untouched snow. We also woke to the unhappy news that my parents and grandparents were not coming that morning after all, but had been delayed until Sunday due to flight cancellations because of ba

Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you all had a happy day filled with love. We followed tradition around here. Sam and Michael and I woke up Davis to see what Santa brought. He brought the boys Zoobs, a penguin puzzle game, bey blades and a kindle fire for Davis. Then they opened their stockings and we all sat around in our jammies for a while. Around 8, we loaded up the car with all the presents and a breakfast casserole and drove over to my parents house. Grandma was sick today and so we had to do without her or my mom for a while, and we missed them, but we moved on as best we could. We opened presents and then did stocking stuffers and then prepared lunch. We got some wonderful, thoughtful gifts and I so enjoyed watching everyone open the gifts we got for them. Unfortunately, I felt ill all day with a stomach bug. I can only hope it goes away before we get on a plane in the morning. Still, we persevered in our Christmas fun and had a lovely day with people w

We had a lovely Christmas eve. We spent the day puttering around the house and watching the cousins play outside. We spent the evening at our annual Christmas eve party at Casa Pacifica. We had tamales and beans and chili and salad and many snacks and sweets. The kids played hilarious games where they had to get a cookie from their foreheads to their mouths with no hands and where they tossed marshmallows through a wreath. We sang Christmas carols and exchanged presents and tracked Santa. We spent time with friends and family and celebrated the season with lots of love and joy and merriment. I am so lucky to be surrounded with so many friends and family. I am filled with Christmas spirit.

We have had a great visit with my mother and father-in-law. They came in on Thursday and whisked the kids away for a shopping trip. They let the boys pick out their Christmas presents at Target and let them play with them right away. The children thought this was a wonderful plan. After the Target trip, I made dinner (home-made seitan pot pie) and we opened presents by the fire. We let the kids play for a while and then put them to bed. Friday I took Sam to the doctor and ran a few errands and then made time for a quick run. I made a warm lunch of green chili stew and crostini and salad. After lunch, Martha and Clark and I loaded the boys into the car to explore New Braunfels. Michael had to work and wasn't able to join us. When we got home, it was time to turn around and drive to San Antonio for our dinner reservations at the Riverwalk. We decided we didn't want to do that so we quickly made new plans. We decided to order in Thai food and watch Home Alone w

Saturday morning we were very tired from our cocktail party. We also had to address some of Sam's tummy trouble and that required us to stay close to home. We decided to institute pajama day. We stayed in our pajamas all day long. We did no housework. We did no work at all. We read and played board games and played on the Wii. We eventually went on a walk down to the river, but we stayed in our jammies. Michael made on trip off the ranch to fetch us thai food and then we curled up in the lounge to watch Elf. (Davis hated Elf by the way. It totally stressed him out. He was so worried for him because he was wearing a stupid outfit and didn't know how to negotiate the world, and his father wouldn't acknowledge him.) He spent most of the movie out of the room. Sam loved it.) It was a lovely day. I had never taken a day off when we were home before. ever. I liked it. On Sunday we cleaned and did laundry and chores and then left the kids with a sitter and

Mom and I hosted our annual book group holiday party on Friday night. Mom did decor and desserts/snacks and hosted and I did invitation and booze. It was so fun. I went in just happy to see my friends and have fun and didn't carry any stress. Mom and I had discussed canceling after the tragedy, but we decided to move on in love and joy. It was a wonderful evening. Our signature cocktail was a French 75 and most people seemed to enjoy it. Mom had done a beautiful job on the food and it was so yummy. We did our white elephant gift exchange and then sang karaoke. I love my friends so much and it was wonderful celebrate the season with them all. They know how to party and to make a party fun!

Today a terrible tragedy occurred. A man with a gun entered an elementary school and killed twenty children and six adults. When I heard this on the news after lunch, I was sickened. Every hair stood up on my body. I wanted to go get my children out of school and hold them and kiss them and keep them safe. I had just spent the morning reading to the children at Davis' elementary and at the same time, this tragedy was happening at a different school. It is horrible and terrible. It has changed me today. I went to bed last night in angst because I have spent a lot of time lately worried about improving myself and feeling myself failing. I woke up this morning excited about our book group Christmas party, but a bit stressed about hosting it properly. I had dreamed about it all night and ended the dream in a plane crash where my mom closed the plane windows and advised me not to look outside. I've been working so hard to be perfect and not let anyone see how imperfect I

This week has been busy. We've been out and about with almost no downtime all week. Davis and Michael made bird houses in Cub Scouts on Monday and brought one home for Sam which he then painted and Michael hung. I bought and wrapped eighty million presents. I worked. Michael worked. I went to the park twice with the kids for playdates after school. We got new posts put on our back porch to replace the rotten ones and Michael is painting them right now. I went to the hair salon and became more blond. The kids made a dreidel and played and played until they ate their gelt. The dogs had their annual vet appointment and we learned that Henry is losing his sight. Though he's only almost ten, he seems to be aging rapidly. I wonder if that has to do with his pre-adoption life. Sam has had some stomach troubles and will see a gastro specialist on Monday. We attended a children's production of Annie yesterday and had a wonderful lunch at Bouldin Creek Cafe

We spent our week home from Taos in recovery. We were just trying to keep up with regular life again. Saturday we spent almost all day working on decorating the house for Christmas. We had to clean the house thoroughly, then move the furniture around for an hour while we tried to figure out where the tree goes now that we have a new couch and a new piano. Then we set up the tree and put lights on it. A pause had to be taken while we went to my parents and rescued their cat Razz out of a tree and then went to Casa Maria for lunch. Then the kids (including Lilliana) helped me decorate the tree and the house while Michael took off to meet with fellow cub scout leaders. All too soon the kids abandoned me to go jump in the leaf pile and wrestle and be outside. I was left to finish and clean up and sweep and fall down exhausted for thirty minutes before we loaded up in the car and got ready for Sights-n-Sounds of Christmas. We love Sights-n-Sounds. Tiffany and Kade came