a list of things on a Monday night when I thought all day that it was Friday

“Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
“Cue the mouse!”
“I’m here, I’m here, the mouse is here!
“What’s the bowl for?”
“So you can see that I am not stirring. Note the hand never touches the spoon.”
-A Muppet Family Christmas

1. The parents of Liliana’s Sunday School class were told of a little performance the kids were doing after the service Sunday. Noah and I went upstairs right after the service and waited while the younger class did their thing. Liliana’s class then filed on to the stage. Liliana decided that her BFF Nathanael was in her way and hip-checked him. He would have fallen off the (foot-high) stage had a SS teacher not been right beside him.

You’ve seen that scene in Home Alone 2, right? The one where Buzz lights up Kevin’s ears during his school concert solo and then Kevin knocks over the entire choir? I couldn’t find the scene by itself, but you can see it in the first part of this clip:

Liliana totally pulled a Kevin McCallister. I’ve compared her to various fictional characters in the past — Dennis the Menace, Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes, the Tasmanian Devil — but this is the closest we’ve come to an exact replica. Except that Liliana is a girl. Anyway, here is her Sunday performance:

She’s the one who can’t keep still. She’s also the one who tells the other kids at the end, “Stand up again!” So helpful, my girl.

2. Preston wants to do nothing but stand. Except when he’s demanding that you help him walk. Or jump.

Or play with Christmas ornaments while attempting to pull the tree down on himself again.

Which is why we re-introduced Baby Jail.

3. We decorated gingerbread houses last week and for the first year I can remember, I let the girls eat them almost right away. Usually we let them get all dry and crusty and dusty and we pick the candy off and throw the gingerbread out. Not this year.

I picked the village of gingerbread houses so that maybe it would keep the girls from bickering over how one gingerbread house was decorated. Kaylie’s friend Abby helped out as well.

4. Noah and I spent quite some time this evening talking with this kid.

She’s dealing with some of the crap that I did at her age and it kills me that I can’t just *poof* solve all of her problems. I know, though, that teaching her to deal with her problems will benefit her much more than if I solve them for her. It just sucks seeing your kid in pain.

I’m glad, though, to have a partner in this parenting thing. I didn’t find single-parenting that difficult — I mean, it was still single-parenting, but Kaylie was an easy baby and a super-fun toddler. This whole parenting-a-pre-teen thing? Hardest thing I’ve done in my life. The in-laws were right when they said that the easy part is over. I’m thankful I have someone very unlike me to share parenting challenges with.

She’s such a great kid, though. She’s smart (her last report card was perfect)(literally)(I’m bragging now, aren’t I?), she’s witty, she knows the right time to roll her eyes at Noah or Russ, she cares about others’ feelings, she makes wise judgment calls. But, she’s also 10, and sometimes I want to send her to her Grannie for a month like I did when she was three.

(When she was three, she and I were living in Caronport, SK and my mom missed her terribly. So, when Nick and Teresa got married, Kaylie and I went to the wedding, and she flew home with my mom while I flew home by myself. I picked her up when I went home for Christmas. It was the worst month of my life. Noah tells me now that I was not a very nice person while Kaylie was gone. Well, DUH, I missed my baby! She was well taken care of, though, obviously, and she even came back completely potty trained!)

5. I got a rare shot of Liliana and Nathanael earlier today and I wanted to share it with you. It’s not blurry! They’re both looking! They’re smiling!

(Nathanael is the son of a good friend of mine.) Don’t they look adorable and innocent? Looks can be deceiving. (Although they are cute.) I’m pretty sure that no kid ever EVER has had as much energy as these two do. They are so hilarious and fun. And frustrating. I’m glad they have each other. They fight like siblings, tattle on each other, and get really sad when they have to part ways.

6. DID YOU SEE WHAT MY HUSBAND DID?

It’s one of those things where guys are like THAT IS AWESOME! and the womenfolk are like THAT IS CREEPY! Kaylie and Liliana love it and I … well … mustaches aren’t my favorite. Noah loves it, though, and I think he should shape his facial hair any way he likes. As long as he’s okay with me not liking it, which he totally is.

7. I’m doing a bunch of Christmas baking on Wednesday with a friend of mine. Since Noah is constantly asking me (nicely) to do Christmas baking (I have done some, not a lot), he is quite looking forward to Wednesday. And so am I. Noah’s more of a fan of the things his mom made when he was growing up, but since his mom lives a mere six kilometres away and Noah feels an entitlement to whatever is in his mom’s freezer (much to his dad’s dismay), I’m making WHATEVER I WANT. Ha! (I may tease Noah about being a mama’s boy, but in reality I’m hoping my son is a mama’s boy, too.)(So far, he is.)

8. Did you know that Christmas is only six sleeps away? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Filed under: Christmas, Kaylie, Liliana, Noah, Preston, friends