Lists, day 1: 7 Things I Learned in Chicago

I don't know how it happened, but I suddenly find myself with a variety of lists on my mind--the "Top 5" this, the "Best 7" that. So this week is going to be a Week of Lists. Every day this week I'm going to post a list of something.

Let's start with my weekend. I was in Chicago!!! I had the opportunity to speak to the MOPS group in Aurora, IL, and had a blast doing it. And since they meet on Friday mornings, Mr. Fantastic and I decided to just make a weekend out of it. It was an amazing time of just being a couple--I am so thankful for the opportunity.

I think we all know that I am not great about carving time out to blog as often as I'd like, and if I gave you a play-by-play of our trip I would never get it done. Instead, I give you (in no particular order)...

(I left out one very important thing on my original list! I had to come back and add it in.)

 

7 8 Things I Learned from my Trip to Chicago

1. I really do love sharing and connecting with women through speaking. Yes, I already knew that. But every time I get the opportunity... oh! It just makes my heart sing. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to be with those women. (Thank you, Penny, for setting it up!)
2. My hubby and I love to spend time together. Whether we were eating dinner on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building or just riding together in the car, we relished our time together. Laughs were shared, dreams were discussed, plans were made.
3. If you're going to take 5 pairs of shoes on a 3-day trip, probably at least one of them should be tennis shoes. Or at least comfortable walking shoes. Just sayin'. My poor tootsies.
4. Parents should have some kind of re-entry program after being away from their children, like the astronauts do. Just a gradual reacclimation (and according to dictionary.com I just made that word up) to real life. Because when you have 72 hours of talking at a normal pace and volume paired with periods of silence, and then you go straight back into full exposure to 3 excited children... it is a stressful situation.
5. Apparently our dog has issues with change. Not only did she pee and poop (in her crate!!!) while my mother-in-law kept her over the weekend, she came downstairs and peed on the floor right in front of me and Mr. Fantastic! And can I just add that I am already NOT a dog person? This animal is not helping her case.
6. Chicago has some amazing architecture. We were blessed with unusually nice weather while we were there, and were able to take a beautiful river boat cruise that discussed the architecture of the buildings along the river. It was the highlight of our stay.
7. Sometimes you get away to sitesee, and sometimes you get away to relax. This was definitely the latter. We enjoyed a stroll down Michigan Avenue, dinner at the Hancock Building, a horse-drawn carriage ride (Yep, my hubby is the BEST!), a river cruise, and a walk to Navy Pier... but we also took a 3-hour nap on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday we went to see a matinee ("Captain Philips", which I highly recommend), and then went back to our room when it was done... at 6:45! Yep, we ordered room service, watched a movie, Mr. Fantastic watched football, I played Candy Crush, and I think I was asleep by 9:30. It.was.HEAVEN.
8. We are extremely blessed to have grandparents who live close by and who are willing & able to keep the kiddos for a weekend. We missed them terribly, but were very thankful to know that they were loved and cared for--and we were pretty darn thankful to have some time to ourselves, too.

That's our trip in a nutshell. Thanks for your prayers before and during my speaking engagement. They just get to be more and more fun every time. I can't wait for my "Joy" talk in December and back to "Created to be" in January! :-)

Weekend Review... in time for the next weekend...

I have been waiting and waiting to tell you about last weekend. Now it's Friday again, time for another weekend. But I still want to tell--and show--you what we did last weekend! So here I am. Better late than never, so I've heard.

My kids had the day off of school on Friday--YAY! Instead of just hanging out at home or spending the day focused on our own fun and happiness, we decided to make our day about others. This will be the subject of a whole other post, because it.was.AWESOME. Seriously fabulous. We had a GREAT day giving to others. And then at the end of the day, we DID do a little family celebration... by taking the kids to Boo at the Zoo.

This is a terrific family event, and we have gone every year since Lamb was just 1. (Well, last year we got TO the parking lot, and then Roo puked all over Daddy, so I don't know if that really counts as GOING. But other than that.) Everything is decorated for Halloween, nothing is scary, and there are 12 trick-or-treat stations, featuring full-size candy bars and Little Debbie snacks. The kids have a blast--and so do we.

This year... oh my heart... my three munchkins decided to wear coordinating costumes...

ASSEMBLE THE MINIONS!

Are they not the cutest minions you have ever seen?

And talk about the perfect costume...

I wish he would have left those goggles on, because they were PER.FEC.TION.

Unfortunately, around 1 AM (back at home, while everyone was in bed--not still at Boo at the Zoo!) I started hearing an all-too-familiar sound... the barking cough. Poor Roo gets croup so darn easily! I was up with him off and on until 5, and then I just sat up with him, trying every trick in the book. No luck. Finally around 6 I decided to take him to Children's. Since this has become a semi-regular occurrence for us, we decided not to bother any grandparents or babysitters, and Mr. Fantastic just stayed at home with the big kids while I took Roo to the ER. I have to say, I have been SO THANKFUL for our Children's Hospital in the 3 years since we have had Roo. I think we have taken him in there 5 or 6 times since he was born, and we have NEVER had to sit in a waiting room. We always go directly to triage and then straight into an exam room. They are really great.

Of course, although I had waited for hours to take him in... he improved GREATLY during the 20-minute drive to the hospital. His breathing was still labored when we saw the triage nurse, but by the time we got to the exam room he was almost back to normal. He did still have the barky cough, though. This was a mixed blessing, because I felt like an idiot, but it meant that we didn't need the breathing treatment--which is never a fun experience with Roo. They did give him an oral steroid, though, to reduce the inflammation, and that worked wonders. Within 20 minutes he was totally fine, no cough--and it never came back. They discharged us, and we were home less than two hours after we had left!

And then we could get down to the real Saturday business: a whole lotta nothing. We played board games, we did crafts, we read...  we just hung out together as a family. It was glorious. It was the second weekend in a row that we had time for that. It needs to become more of a habit. We really enjoy just being together, the 5 of us. It's lovely.

And just to completely bookend our day... right before bedtime... this same child who had needed a trip to the ER that morning... SLAMMED his head into my nose while we were playing on the ground. About a year ago, he broke my nose during a fit, and I am pretty sure he did it again. OH.MY.WORD. that is some pain. Mr. Fantastic was in the basement watching the Buckeyes game, and poor Lamb called him up because she knew I was hurting.

But I have to say, it completely warmed my heart to watch my big kids take care of me. Mr. Fantastic had to leave a few minutes after it happened, and Lamb and Monkey did everything they could to make life easier. They got their own dinner, they made up a bed for me on the couch, they got MY dinner, they rubbed my feet! Who are these children? I ADORE them!

And Sunday was more family time... church, lunch, a few errands/chores, and a family birthday party. A bit busier than Saturday, but still lots of fun.

Weekends like this make me want to be one of those parents who doesn't let their kids be involved in ANYTHING. It is just so nice to be together, to not have a bunch of places to run. Which reminds me of this post I saw today on Becoming Minimalist. This really struck me! You know that I have been doing some soul-searching lately, and as part of that I have been working toward simplification. But I think I often forget that simplification doesn't just mean "less stuff." There are other things we can simplify--like our calendars. Amen.

So how was your weekend? Or maybe a better question at this point: What plans do you have for THIS weekend? Do you do Halloween? What are your kiddos going to be?

EVER

I have run the full gamut today. During a grocery shopping trip this morning, I was declared to be "the best mommy EVER" when I dropped a box of frozen smiley-face potatoes in the cart.

My reign as Queen Mama was short-lived, however. I received a new title as the kids cleaned their rooms. When I told Monkey that we would not eat lunch until it was done--and then proceeded to pull out all of the things that were stuffed under beds, dressers, etc--I was promptly renamed "the WORST mommy ever."

I had no idea that my position was so precarious.

Just wait until he finds out that we're having waffles for dinner. Maybe if we eat close enough to bedtime I'll be able to reclaim the more desirable title... and hold it all the way until tomorrow morning.

Mixed Signals

What the man said: "Oh, we got a new shower curtain."

What the woman heard: "Really? You decided that what we needed to spend money on right now was a shower curtain? And out of all of the shower curtains in the world, this is the one you liked BEST? You really thought it was a good idea to purchase this, bring it home, and display it in our house? Honestly, I don't know why I even trust you with our children!"

What the man really meant: "Oh, we got a new shower curtain."



True story.

The Best Mom Ever: A Recipe

Have you wondered what it takes to be the Best Mom Ever? Have you spent years questioning your parenting decisions? Have you worked and worked to be a good mom, only to have your children embarrass you with their behavior--or worse, get angry with you for your efforts? Have you been waiting and waiting for your "Mom of the Year" trophy to arrive in the mail with no results? Well, never fear! I have come up with the perfect recipe for being a great parent... AND it's a lot less complicated (and cheaper) than I have been making it out to be for the past 7 1/2 years!!!!

The Best Mom Ever
You'll need:
1 day off from school
1 vehicle, big enough to fit you and your children
$5 (plus money to pay overdue fees at the library, if needed)

What to do:
1. Start by bribing assuring your children that you can go to the library as soon as their rooms are clean and they are dressed. The more desperate they are for new reading material, movies, and puzzles, the less time this will take. Be prepared to call out encouragingly to keep them motivated as needed. Note: If you have a trouble-making toddler in the house, you may need to contain him/her in a crib or Pack 'n Play for this step. (As an added bonus, you can also use this time to fold laundry or do other household tasks!)

2. Drive to the library, allowing them the rare treat of watching a DVD in the vehicle, if possible. This piece of the recipe can take as little as a few minutes, or up to an hour or more, depending on the time available and how involved your children become in searching and playing.

3. Check out any selected materials at the library, paying fees as necessary. If applicable, allow your children to now watch a DVD they selected at the library for the rest of the trip.

4. This is the key step--pay close attention! Despite the several meals' worth of leftovers you may have at home, drive directly to Little Caesar's Pizza (you know you don't feel like the going through the effort of figuring out who wants which leftovers and heating them up and all that hassle), and get a Hot & Ready Pizza for FIVE DOLLARS. Yep, 5 bucks can buy you and your children lunch! Who knew?!

5. Drive home (still watching the library movie), serve up some pizza, and wait to hear your children say, "YES! You are the BEST. MOMMY. EVER!!!!"

That's it, friends! Just those 5 simple steps will take you from being plain old Mom to "BEST MOMMY EVER!" (AND your kids' rooms are clean!) I don't know about you, but I feel like I have wasted so much time and money. I had no idea it was THIS EASY. Try it out for yourself, and don't forget to tell your friends!

Vacation! (Part 1)

Good morning! It's been another little bloggy break for me, but I have a good reason. Let me start from the beginning...

As you may remember, Mr. Fantastic and I went away for the weekend at the beginning of the month, just the two of us. It was a wonderful weekend, which culminated in our rushing out of the movie theater mid-movie to head to the ER back home, where my mother-in-law had taken Roo because he was choking. WELL, during the movie (spoiler alert--if you have plans to watch "Tower Heist", this will give away part of the plot... but not the ending, because I haven't seen that part...) a robbery takes place in New York City during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. My hubby leaned over to me and whispered, "We should go to that sometime." (This was literally about 30 seconds before we got the phone call, because we actually had to leave during that scene, also known as the-climax-of-the-movie. ;-) )

Well, about a week later (which, for those of you who are keeping track, was less than two weeks before Thanksgiving), he came home from work and said, "I have a new plan! I think we should go to New York City for Thanksgiving!"

I wish I could say I responded with enthusiasm. I can't. You see, there were a few factors working against me. For one, I am a planner, and two weeks before a major holiday, I already have it planned. I don't like to change plans. Second, I am sentimental and love traditions--and there is no way in which a last-minute trip to New York City is "traditional" for me. And third, we have THREE small children, and the idea of fighting for sidewalk space with 3.5 million people (yes, that's how many people watch the parade each year) was NOT appealing to me.

But I tried to be as supportive as I could in a this-ain't-never-gonna-happen kind of way.

So guess what happened next...? I got outvoted.

We alternate our Thanksgivings, one year with my family, one year with my husband's. On his family's years, it is mainly his mom that we coordinate with, and we go along with whatever she would like to do for the holiday. This was her year, and she and Mr. Fantastic were both very much on-board with the NYC thing. I decided to wait and see if we could actually find a place to stay that was close to the parade site AND within our budget, which I figured would never happen.

It did.

Now, to be fair, I did NOT go into this with a bad attitude. I expressed my concerns, I whined to a friend, and then I turned it over to God and said, "You're going to have to be in charge of this." And I decided that if we were going to go, I was going to go with a great attitude and have as much fun as possible. So it's not like they dragged me kicking and screaming.

ANYWAY, once we knew for sure we were going, there was tons to be done in a short time. Since I normally decorate for Christmas right after Thanksgiving, I decided that my decorating HAD to be done before we left. So I cleaned the house, put away all of my fall stuff (some of which was still waiting to be put out!), and decorated the entire house for Christmas, along with doing all of the normal household stuff, AND packing myself and all three kids for the trip. It was a crazy 7-10 days before we left!!!

But everything got done (well, almost everything), and we left first thing (OK, not FIRST thing... but 9 AM) on Wednesday morning. And can I tell you something? It was FAB.U.LOUS. Amazing. Fantasting. A HUGE success.

We got there Wednesdsay around 5:30, and then had a minor mix-up with the condo we had rented, so it was around 7:00 before we got in and settled. Our place was small compared to what we are used to here in Ohio, but we were very thankful to have 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms in downtown NYC. We basically just threw our stuff down, then took off to grab some dinner and see the parade balloon inflation.

The inflation event goes from 3 PM to 10 PM the day before the parade. By the time we got there it was after 9:00, and the line was HUGE. We were only able to see about a third of the balloons before it was over, but it was cool to see them up close.




Lamb & Monkey waiting to see the balloons

 


Buzz Lightyear was huge!



The inflation event was fun, but if I had to do it over again, I would skip it. The kids were out until around 11 PM, and then we had to wake them up early the next morning to get to the parade.

Luckily, Mr. Fantastic and his mom volunteered to get up REALLY early and be at the parade route with our chairs and blankets at 6:00 AM. They left everything set up and came back to help me get the kids ready and loaded up and head back to the route. We weren't close enough to walk easily, which was a little disappointing, but the subway was only 2 blocks from our condo. By the time we got back down there, it was a MAD HOUSE. I was really starting to forget about my resolution to have a good attitude when I realized how hard it was going to be to get back to our seats, especially when the road we needed to walk down was closed off and guarded by police...! But then a very nice officer listened to my husband explain the situation, and he let us past the blockade to go to our seats--which we found were still set up and waiting for us, even though people were PACKED along the street for as far as you could see!

We weren't right in the front (even though they had gotten there at 6 AM!), but there was only one row of people in front of us, and they were VERY nice to let our kids go in front of them to be able to see better. (Don't worry, we could still see them the whole time.) Once we got to our seats, it was only about 15 minutes before the parade began! It was SO MUCH FUN! Oh my goodness, it was great. I'm still getting my pictures sorted out so I'm not going to post a ton, but here are a couple...





Roo is ready for some fun!




Buzz looks much better "in action"




Scotty McCreery, for you American Idol fans :-)




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Spiderman was the 2nd biggest hit of the day, next to...



The big guy himself! When Monkey saw him coming down the street, he started yelling, "He's real! He's real! Santa is here--it's really HIM!" :-)

 And you know what? I'm going to have to stop here for now. Roo graciously gave me a few extra hours to my day by waking me up at 3:45 this morning (and let's not forget to give some of the credit to Mr. Fantastic as well, whose snoring kept me awake even after I got Roo back to sleep), but I have used up all that time now, blogging, catching up on e-mails, and checking out some Cyber Monday deals; and now I must get back to reality. Vacation Part 2 to follow tomorrow!

A (Snow) Day in the Life...

Welcome to the Midwest, where we've had a snowflake or two fall in the last 24 hours.  I don't actually have any pictures of the outdoors today, but every single person I talked to today compared our current weather to being in a snowglobe.  It wasn't just snowing, it was blowing.  A lot.  And snowing a lot too.  And it's not done yet.

So I wasn't surprised when my day was kicked off by a call from our school district saying that Lamb could stay in her jammies today.  (OK, so that's not exactly what they said, but that was the gist of it.)  The only thing that surprised me was the fact that the call came at 5:45 AM.  A snow day!  Yay!  Who knew that I would be as excited about it as my child?

Lest you think, though, that I used this day as an excuse to be lazy, that I just sat around in my dirty, smelly sweats... that is just not true!  I got up bright and early (OK, 8:00), took a shower, and put on CLEAN sweats.

The kids and I made "snow day pancakes", an idea that I shamelessly stole from a friend (Thanks, Megan!  They really do taste better on a snow day.), and then I dressed them all up in their Christmas outfits to take pictures for our Christmas card.  Yes, I curled Lamb's hair, dressed them all up, put on clean shoes & socks, the whole deal... and never left the house with them.  But I think the results were worth it...

Ha ha!  I jest, of course.  That is NOT our Christmas card photo.  Here it is:

Oh, I got you again!!  I am just on fire tonight, folks.  Seriously, though, here are my lovely little ones...

And no, I don't have any pictures of Roo by himself in his Christmas finery, because he was DONE by the time I took the few pics that I did... so I put him down for a nap, and when I got him up, I forgot about getting more pics and just changed him into something that I didn't mind getting baby food/poop/puke on.  So I'll have to get some pics of him when they wear their Christmas clothes to church.

Anyway, in order to actually get the munchkins to cooperate with the picture taking (and by "munchkins" I mean "munchkin", and by "munchkin" I mean "Monkey"), I had to bribe them with TV time.  So after the pictures we (and by "we" I mean "they") threw their PJs back on (because I never got out of mine), and we watched some of those old Christmas classics--you know, the one wear Dora and Swiper have to go back in time so he can learn the true meaning of Christmas, and the Team Umi Zoomi where they fix Santa's toy machine... Oy.

And then it was time for some more Christmas fun.  Last year we made a gingerbread house, and honestly... it was a disaster.  The icing had to dry between each step, so it took FOREVER, and it didn't hold up too well and I'm not very good at that kind of thing anyway... It wasn't pretty.  Literally or figuratively.  So this year I got a gingerbread train kit, and thought we'd give it a try.  Well, today was the day!

The kit came with this handy tray to build it on.  It actually helped a lot, although it doesn't look the best sitting on the plastic tray...

"No, Mommy!  I can do it myself!"

We've got the structure up--now it's time to decorate!

All under the watchful eye of our supervisor!

Two proud builders with their finished product!

Santa didn't come with the kit, but we thought he made a nice addition.

The M&Ms didn't come with it, either, but what's a train without cargo???

My "plan" is to cover the rest of the plastic tray with frosting that I have in the fridge so it looks like snow-covered ground instead of a white plastic tray that says "E-Z BUILD" on it... but we'll see if that happens.  Already, though, it is a 1000% (and yes, I mean one THOUSAND, it's not just a typo) improvement over the house from last year.

And that was pretty much our day.  Throw in some on-your-own time for the big kids while I folded laundry, a second round of pancakes for dinner (yep, we were on a health food kick today!), baths, and some Little House in the Big Woods, and you've got yourself one fine snow day.

Did I mention that it's still coming down?  I wonder what we'll do tomorrow...

PS - If you haven't entered to win the iPod Touch yet, the giveaway has been extended until Thursday because she's getting so much new publicity!  YAY!  Olga now has over $6,000 in her account--what a fabulous difference we are making for this little girl.  Please donate AND pray that the right family will find her.

Snow Day, Snow Play

I've been up since 4:30 this morning, and I'm S.P.E.N.T., but I wanted to share my day with you.  Be forewarned, although you probably know by now, that I love to take photos but am NOT a mom who takes really cool photos and Photoshops them and has a fabulous camera and can take all kinds of cool shots.  No, these are just snapshots taken so that we can remember the day, and they serve that purpose well.  :-)  Also know that I had great intentions of having some witty running commentary through them all, but it got lost amid my exhaustion, and Roo will probably be waking me up in about 4 hours, so I'm not going to stay up trying to come up with something new

Today was Lamb's first snow day!  OK, she probably had a couple last year when she was in preschool... but for goodness sake, her preschool was only 2 hours a day, so that hardly counts.  And yes, she hasn't actually been to school since last Wednesday, but this is the first day that we've been HOME and HEALTHY together in quite a while.  So we enjoyed it.

First we decorated...

 I let the kiddos help me decorate our big tree... but I'll admit, I go back and change everything after they leave the room.

BUT they do get their own tree to decorate any way that they want...

... and they have plenty of ornaments to use, too!

And since it WAS a true snow day, we just had to check out the white stuff for ourselves!

Lamb has never been much of an outside kinda girl until this year.  She has always liked the IDEA of snow angels, but I think this may be the first time she's actually done it!

Forget RUNNING in the snow... let's just CRAWL right through it!

It was a great day, and we capped it off with hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies, which made it even better.

Oh, and if you're wondering about baby Roo, no, I did not take him out in the cold!  Mr. Fantastic was home from work after having a minor procedure done last Friday, so he kept the little guy inside while I was out with the big kids.  It worked out perfectly, especially since Daddy is usually the play-with-us-outside parent.  I'm not a big cold weather person, but I REALLY enjoyed being out with the kids today.

All-in-all, today was a success.  Except for the drawing in pen on the wall part.  But that's another story.

The Weekend Zoo: Monkey Business

Welcome to the Weekend Zoo, where we explore only light and fun topics. Today we're talking about the Monkey in our zoo. He is definitely our family entertainer, and this morning I want to share with you a few of his recent antics…

Monkey Tail Tale #1…
Monkey: "Mommy, I wish I could have car boots for Christmas."
Me: "Car boots? You mean… boots with Lightning McQueen on them?"
Monkey: "No… car boots. You know, so I can roll around the house."
Me: "You mean… roller skates?"
Monkey: "Yeah, roller skates."

Monkey Tail Tale #2…Monkey: "I am such a good boy!"
Me: "Yes you are, Buddy."
Monkey: "Yeah, so don't worry, Mommy. I'll tell you any time you do something wrong."

And my personal favorite…Monkey (carrying a toy drill, hammer, and screwdriver): "Mommy, lay down. I'm gonna doctor you."
I lay down. He begins to examine my belly.
Monkey: "Oh, Mommy, I think your belly is just too big! I'm going to have to make you a new one!"
Ahhhhh… if it only worked that way…

Girls’ Day Out... in 10 easy steps

As promised, I am back to share our girls' day with you. First, a back story. Several years ago—before Mr. Fantastic and I were even together—my mom got a group of girls from the family together to see "The Nutcracker." It was my first ballet, and it was wonderful. (We tried to recapture the magic the next year, and this time took the men along, and it was a terrible production… not a good time to drag guys to the ballet…) At the time, I (obviously) didn't have kids, and my brother and sister-in-law didn't have any girls yet. Now Lamb is 5 and very into dance, and my niece is 8, so my mom thought this would be a good year to revisit the ballet.

First step to make the day perfect: Preparation.

The girls were so excited to get their hair curled, but I didn't have enough curlers so we had to do it in stages.  :-)

Second step: Matching outfits.

My mom found those beautiful gowns, and it just so happened that they also had matching doll dresses with them—and it just so happens that my parents bought the girls dolls last year for Christmas. The girls got their dresses on Thanksgiving, and they had a blast dancing and twirling in them. In fact, when Lamb put her dress on, she asked, "Mommy! Do we get to be in the ballet?"

Third step: Good company!  Somehow I didn't get a picture of our whole crew on our camera, but I'll try to get one from my mother-in-law and get it on here a little later.  But the group was my mom, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, her mom, Lamb, and my niece.
Fourth step: Fun pre-ballet activities. The theatre was full of fun things to explore…

…from a Nutcracker photo op...

…to a Nutcracker tree...

…to big fun chairs...

…and they even got to see Santa, although somehow I didn't get a picture of that. If I'm able to get a copy from my mom or mother-in-law this morning, I'll update with a picture of that as well.

Fifth step: A beautiful location.

I had been in the lobby of this theatre before, but had never actually been in to see a show. It was beautiful in there! These were the best shots I could get with my current camera. (Anyone want to buy me an SLR??? Anyone?)

Sixth step: Good seats.

Lamb and my niece led the way to our row, which was very close to the front. Also, we were surrounded by other families with young children, which made it much less stressful for me. Lamb is… ummm… very inquisitive, so I knew I would be answering lots of questions throughout the show.

Oh and, of course, they had booster seats for the smaller patrons...

Seventh step: A kid-friendly production. This show was perfect for the girls. A narrator came on at the beginning of each act to explain what was going to happen, which was really helpful for Lamb. There were also LOTS of kids in the show, which was neat. And it was just overall a really well-done show. The sets and costumes were beautiful, the dancing was great, it was just a good time!

Eighth step: Dancing.

At intermission an organist played Christmas songs, which gave the girls the perfect opportunity to show off their skills in their dresses.

Ninth step: Close encounters!

Lamb had SO MUCH FUN getting autographs from the cast! She wouldn't pose for pictures with any of them, though. I think she was a little intimidated. J

And finally, to make it a truly perfect day, food must be involved, right? J After the show, we took Lamb to her favorite restaurant, Spaghetti Warehouse. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that part, but it was the perfect way to end the day.

This is definitely a Christmas memory that Lamb won't forget anytime soon. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from her that day:

• "This is so beautiful I could cry!"
• "I can't believe Daddy is missing this!"
• "Are those their dresses (the costumes in the show) or does the movie theatre give them to them?"
• "Can we stay for 'The Wizard of Oz'?" (their next production… which isn't until the end of April…)

But I think the best quote came at dinner, when Lamb was reviewing her fun day, from having a sleepover—and spending the whole day—with my niece, to church that morning, to having lunch with some friends after church, to the ballet, to dinner with Mommy, Gram, and Nana. I said, "Is this the best day ever or what?" And she immediately shook her head no. "No?" I asked. "What was the best day ever?"

"Pancake day!" she exclaimed. That was Thanksgiving morning, when Mr. Fantastic made the kids pancakes in all different shapes.

"That was better than this, huh?"

"Yeah," she explained, "days with Daddy are just more funner than days with Mommy."

Oh well. Thanks, Nana, for treating us to the best possible Mommy day we could have, anyway…