Christmas Highlights

Pardon this post. It's a little overdue. It's a lot unorganized. I've been having trouble getting some of the photos I wanted to include uploaded, because as Joe says, we have a "shit ton" of photos and videos on a very old computer. So the post does a pretty poor job telling any sort of story; at least not one that you can follow chronologically.

It was Wren's 1st Christmas. Otto's 2nd. Max's 4th. Mine and Joe's 33rd and 36th. It was a great one. My Mom and Dad both came to Minneapolis. We enjoyed Christmas Eve at Joe's parent's house and Christmas day at our house. If the sheer volume of gifts from relatives are any indication of their love for us, we are all incredibly loved - especially Max, Otto & Wren. Some might just say spoiled. And I'm OK with that because I have the fondest memories of being spoiled with gifts and love, particularly at Christmas when I was a kid.

As expected, this is the best photo we have of all of us in one frame. I think we're all in our PJs - Max in his from the night before (plus stick-on tie). So if anything, it's telling that we were lucky enough to not have to leave our house on Christmas Day (family came to us!).

Grams, Auntie Jamie & Wren

Me & Wren

Wren's 1st Christmas

Babyccinos and ginger boy cookies

Loads of presents for the kids from all their aunts and grandparents.

Papa Mark and Wren

Making (& taking a bite out of) a gingerbread house

Grams and Wren

Papa Mark arriving for the Christmas weekend

Given that their plastic tool box and tools no longer cut it, Max & Otto are lucky to have a pretty crafty Dad. They both lucked out with a handmade tool box from Joe.

What's that you ask? Are those real tools? You bet. You see a saw? Me too. Hmmm.... Yes, someone thought it a perfectly normal idea to give the (1 & 3 year old) boys real tools, including a saw that cuts, pliers that pinch and drivers that screw holes. Oh, I know exactly what you're thinking. I'm thinking it too...We bring this on ourselves!!! What is "this"?? The crazy curiosity that the boys have. The non-stop tinkering and taking things apart. Sure, the boys will often sit still and play with one thing for awhile, but it usually results in some type of casualty. Take for instance...

Santa brought Otto a real (old, cheap), but working laptop because our (old, barely working) laptop is off limits to him. And somehow, within an hour and a half of waking up, Otto had plucked half a dozen of the keys off the laptop. Literally pulled them off with his bare hands. It utterly baffles me what he can disassemble.

In an attempt to wear all her Holiday finest, Wren wore several dresses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She was also a Sugar Plum Fairy once she tried on her tutu!

If I get just a couple wishes

If I get just a couple wishes in life, one of them will be that my boys continue to become and remain best friends forever.

Since they've started sharing a room it is so cute to see how they are each other's side-kick. Particularly how Otto wants, or at least has come to expect, Max to be by his side for most things.

If Otto goes to bed before Max, he is always asking for him when we read stories and while I hold him before putting him in his bed for the night.

When picking just Otto up from school (he has pink eye), he immediately asked for Max when we got to the car and Max wasn't there.

And at Costco, when Joe and I had just Wren and Otto with us, as soon as I put Otto in the (2 seater) shopping cart, he was pointing to the empty seat next to him and asking for his big brother.

There's something about the two brothers that just warms my heart when I see them hugging, snuggling and showing care and concern for each other.

Productive Time Suck

I bet a few of you can guess what this post is about. Yep,

PINTEREST!!!

It is perhaps the most productive time suck I've experienced in awhile. The most relevant way to keep track of so many things in your life. It's a virtual pinboard (or binder, magnet board, bedroom wall, refrigerator door, paper file, etc) that lives on your computer/phone/ipad (OMG, thank you Joe for winning one of those at work and giving it to me for Christmas!!!!!!!!!). A tidy virtual place where you can store (using very little computer memory) crafty ideas, remodeling inspiration, recipes, wish lists, etc.

In addition to being a virtual pinboard for my organically found items, it also allows me to tap into the work of everyone else. Basically, there are hundreds of thousands of people searching the internet for ideas and inspiration, and I can then find people who's ideas/style I like and follow them. I get to tap into the work so many internet surfers and creatives are doing and create a curated collection for myself (with less of my time spent surfing). This little invention has already saved me a bunch of times when I've needed new ideas to keep the boys busy in the house. And I've got so many additional ideas saved for upcoming holidays and more.

The one little problem with Pinterest for folks like myself is that I want to DO ALL OF THE IDEAS I SEE. TODAY. My "to-do" list is never ending and the trouble is that it's all fun stuff. I've been trying to steer my efforts towards collecting remodeling ideas for when this Schuster family decides it's time to build up or out. That way they aren't things I want to do, but rather ideas I want to have implemented in our new house.

Anyway, I heard an amazing stat about Pinterest from my friend Greta. Although I don't know the source, nor do I remember exactly what the stat was, it's something to this effect. Last week Pinterest had more "consumer transactions" (think posts, searches, etc) than Facebook had. While this blows my mind (because Facebook is just so pervasive), it thrills me. People, including myself, are now using their once "mindless" time to search out creative ideas, share them, do them, and THEN Facebook about them.

Give it a try if you haven't. I swear you'll be addicted within a week.

Princess Frostine

When Max suggested we create our own Candy Land game the other day, I wasn't sure who should be our Princess Frostine.

Now I've got my answer...

If a Lawyer can get fired for misplacing a comma...

Over the past few years I've toyed with the idea of eliminating sending Christmas cards, and yet each year I end up deciding to still send them. I like receiving USPS mail and figure many of our friends and family do as well. I also like to have the annual holiday card to remember what our family was like "this year."

Well in advance of the holiday season I had our card concept figured out. I just needed to find someone who had a smidge of graphic design know-how to draw the christmas bulbs and put the text and images into a printable file. I decided to give the General Mills concierge service a try (where they hook you up with an on-site designer), and boy oh boy, can I just say I will NEVER use their "recommended" designers again. EVER.

Quick vent... Prior to December 1st I shared a sketch of the below card layout and asked the designer for an estimate on how long it would take to complete. Her response, "A half hour, maybe 40 mins, including one revision." Fast forward to December 16th, which was the date I received the 1st proof, and December 22nd when I received the final proof and printed cards.

Even though December unexpectedly became a whole lot of busy, anyone who knows me knows that I am pretty good at follow-up. This was no different. I followed up to see when I could expect a 1st draft. And again, and again (because the designer apparently kept forgetting that she just had to "find a few minutes to complete it, then I'll have it for you in the morning.")

On December 16th, (when, at the beginning of this process, designer had agreed to have a completed file on the 15th), and I wasn't getting a response, I decided to go back to the Concierge who had hooked me up with the designer and try to figure out why the non-response. Turns out the designer had left the building. She was on vacation until January 3rd. Happily, a new designer swooped in and, literally, had taken my original email dated back in November and sent me a proof in about 30 minutes.

Oh, how does this tie back to the title of "If a lawyer can get canned for a misplaced comma..."? Simple, although the 2nd designer punched out the design, she forgot to remove the comma from "May your new year to come be merry and bright" and had the cards printed without this change. Although I hate misused commas, I hated working with these designers even more. So, the grammatically incorrect cards went out. After, of course, hundreds of tiny little thumb prints were stamped. There is a very good reason hospitals give you your new baby's foot print and NOT their hand print or thumb print.

Merry Christmas Everyone! And may the New Year to come be merry and bright!

She's Been There (& written about it beautifully)

I love children's books. All different ones. For a variety of reasons. From beautiful illustrations to double entendres to childhood favorites to classics.

I just ran across the book You Are My Miracle and immediately fell in love. The writing is the most succinct, precise description of the tug of war that comes with being a mom to a toddler. It is eloquent, artistic, short and kid-friendly. The couple dozen "one-liners" the author pens beautifully remind me to appreciate how my boys are the "yin" to my "yang." Our personalities work in tandem with each other pushing and pulling to express our love, need and independence. It also reminds me to indulge in my kid qualities more often - kind of fitting for this time of year!

Although there were a dozen Christmas books I would have loved to purchase while at the book store, as soon as I read You Are My Miracle I knew this was the perfect book for us right now. Take a look at a few of the excerpts and see if it resonates for you!

From You Are My Miracle by Maryann Cusimano Love

"I am your bundle up;

you are my dash outside.

I am your uphill pull;

you are my fast sleigh ride."

"I am your helper;

you are my do-it-myself."

"I am your quiet place;

you are my wild."

Real Life Photo Negative

Imagine if you will (because I still try to keep my running time sacred and usually do not bring my phone along, so there's no picture to share), a photo negative. Where everything black shows up white and everything white shows up black.

I had the pleasure of viewing a larger than life photo negative in real life. Saturday morning I woke to a dusting of snow (yay! finally!!) and while running Calhoun at mid-day I noticed one of the coolest things I've seen in awhile in nature.

I was approaching a long flat stretch of path, the lake on my left and the sun shining from the same direction. Between the lake and the path is a row of trees. Trees that should have been casting a dark shadow on the path given the sun that was out. However, for a few split seconds, what I'm seeing appears to be an optical illusion.

The tree's shadows were a light white and all of the "empty" space around the tree's shadows, that should have been light, was actually dark. After a moment I realized all of the tree's "shadows" were made of snow that had not yet melted because the sun was being blocked by the trees. And all the space that should have been light was actually dark because it wasn't blocked by trees and therefor the sun had melted the snow...producing this photo negative effect.

I might just start carrying my phone in case this phenomenon happens to reappear! Sadly, on the next day's run the real life photo negative was no longer there.

An Unpopular Party Guest in Minneapolis

His dad might be happy about today, but I'm pretty sure Max will still choose to be a

CHEESEHEAD!

At least that's what he asked the balloon lady to make him at his friend's Birthday party yesterday.

Happy 2 Months Wren

Because I love parties and treats. And I fear that our 1st year with 3 kids is going to fly by too quickly, we've decided we're having cake and capturing Wren's birthday each month. I also joke (well, half joking, half serious) that I am NEVER going to be able to decide what theme to have for her 1st Birthday so I need to test out different things each month.

Here she is, our 2 month old!

And here are her big brothers, ready and willing to make her some little pink and red cupcakes for her 2nd month birthday.

And here are her big brothers enjoying her cake batter.

And here they are again, trying to steal the show by being really loud, really dramatic and full of hot air to blow out her candles.

And here she is, looking less than interested in that mini red velvet cupcake. 'Where's the chocolate?', that's what she's thinking.

Perhaps her 3rd month birthday will be the charm for video capture. I missed the lit candles on month 1. And apparently I didn't have my video recording anything during my month 2 attempt:

It's beginning to look a lot like a different kind of Christmas

It's December 15th. Fo Realz!! T-minus 10 days til Mommy kisses Santa Claus. Not sure how that happened. Blame it on living in Minneapolis, actually loving winter, yet having NO SNOW! Blame it on the kids attending a Jewish school. Whatever it is, it's high time I attempt to overcome my mental roadblock and get in the spirit for one of my favorite holidays! Powering off the Hip-Hop now and loading the Ho-Ho-Holiday tunes.

Over the past couple years I've gradually adjusted what Christmas looks like at our house. Before kids I would deck our halls with all of my decorations. Now that we've got a few "free range children" (Marie, thank you for introducing me to that term - best descriptor ever), I have greatly edited what gets unpacked and placed around our house every December.

The thing I have missed most the past couple Christmases is the one and only collection I've ever had in my life - beautiful vintage glass tree ornaments that my mom got me interested in while I was still in High School. I miss unwrapping them and being reminded of the memories and meaning tied to each of them. They are too special to me that I fear they will break if I were to place them on our tree. I really need to get a small tree I can put up in mine and Joe's room so I can enjoy them and not have to worry about the kids thinking they are toys.

But what we're lacking in blown glass, we've easily made up for with felt, yarn, plastic, glue and glitter and grainy pictures of the kids in hand-made frames.

Plus, I've got a new treasure started. Notice the treeskirt? It has 9 handprints on it. One of mine and Joe's, as well as one print for every Christmas that each kid has celebrated. Each year we add a handprint of each kid. Admittedly it was a challenge to get Wren's print for this year. I took a little liberty after initially tracing her hand to get it cut out of felt. It's darn cute, though. Max has wondered why there isn't a super tiny handprint from him (he was 11 months for his 1st christmas).

I've also found it entertaining to watch the unbreakable ornaments be placed on the tree. Max had fun finding just the right branch for many. For instance, he was sure to put the giraffe ornament in the zoo (lower right side), the bear stomping through a mound of snow (bottom of tree), and said i had placed the little bird feeder ornament in the wrong spot. "It needs to be close to the window so the birds can see it from outside and fly through the window to get to the bird food." Of course.

Our advent calendar. It isn't pretty, but the beauty of kids is that pretty doesn't matter as long as when they open the calendar for the day they learn that they get to open a special surprise, read a new book or have a treat. But for the days when the calendar says to donate a few of their toys to charity, it might help to have it be a bit more aesthetically pleasing.

We've been known to get a few days behind (not sure how; it's just pulling out a slip of paper, reading it and doing that act), resulting in an advent calendar mash-up and loads of Christmas fun (read: sugar) every couple days.

Elf on the Shelf. I'm finding that this tradition requires a nightly appointment reminder for me in order to remember to move him before the kids awake.

Elf in the Shelf is just waiting for Papa Mark to arrive and the Jack & 7 to start flowing. Love Papa Mark & Jack.

Elf on the Couch. Love my Elf on the Couch.

Visitors from (mid)West

Our favorite visitors from Seattle and Madison!

Katie and Mom came to visit. Katie for a full week (she's actually here til Thursday) and my Mom for a few days!!! The first night when we were all in town we had a "2nd" Thanksgiving! Joe prepped the bird the night before, I started the roasting and Jamie and Mom successfully completed the meal for us while I picked Katie up from the airport. We had turkey, homemade gravy, potatoes, corn, stuffing and cranberries. The only thing missing was pie.

The table settings and ambiance (or lack of) may not look fit for Thanksgiving, but everyone around the table sure made it feel like Thanksgiving.

The boys played everyone's favorite game...filling their piggy banks with coins their Aunties happily doled out!

They saved a penny or two for Wren's bank.

One morning we all got a little messy with paints. I love seeing Otto having so much fun painting (art is one of his favorite subjects at school).

...and pig tails, oh my! If you're thinking, "Hmm, Otto's hair is longer than Max's these days" you are right on. Looks like Otto's the next one in line for a hair cut. Wren's right behind him!

Reinventing Himself

I guess "reinventing" might be going a bit too far, but after nearly 4 years Max has had his first "real" haircut. Just before Thanksgiving he joined me for my hair appointment and my stylist cropped his hair quite a bit.

Here he is before heading into the salon for his cut. Leading up to this he was very excited to get it cut. In fact, he started asking to get it really, really short...short and spikey like Dad's. However, I wanted to start with something a little less drastic and ease into his new look.

Once we were actually outside the salon he started to get uneasy. He didn't like that the people getting their hair cut inside had "blankets" on (the capes you wear so the hair doesn't get all over you). He said "Let's go home, I don't want to go in." After a little coaxing, we made it inside and got settled into a chair for the cut (we couldn't convince him to have his hair washed).

Max was the most speechless I've ever heard him while the stylist cut his hair. He definitely seemed a little nervous.

I don't have any good "after" shots (these are all from my phone and the other's are still on our good camera), but they'll give you the idea...

Deer in Headlights :)

Just posted the new family photo to the top of the blog. I think this will forever be one of my all time favorite family pictures. It was hours after Wren was born and the very 1st picture taken of our family of five.

It's got "what in the world have we done??" written all over each of our faces. A great big reality check that, now more than ever, we'll be rolling with the punches for a bit. We've got some more adjusting to do as we settle into a new family structure and find what works best for us.

Happily, I can say we all feel a little less "deer in headlights" than when this photo was taken 7 weeks ago. The boys (although even more explosive together recently) are adoring Wren, quickly taking her into their arms and being the best big brothers in the world. Wren is welcoming of it all!

Wishing I had the Proof

That I showered, shaved, applied moisturizer, dried my hair, flat-ironed my hair, put on a touch of make-up, wore a normal bra vs. a sports bra, heels vs tenners, freshly laundered jeans and a new sweater.

That Joe and I went out for dinner, enjoyed a "happy hour" of Jack & 7 in front of a fireplace at the restaurant before sitting down (YES, sitting down) for a full meal, including dessert AND a second Jack & 7.

But I forgot to get a picture of all this goodness that occurred Sunday night. Trust me, it happened. Or ask the amazing team of babysitters, Jamie & Diane, who made it all possible.

Or check my Facebook status from 2am CST that night where you'll see that the slight drunk spins that kept me awake after Wren woke me up were actually a good thing, because

otherwise I would have forgotten to find a place for our Elf on the Shelf before the boys awoke (and given it was the Elf on the Shelf kick-off night, that would have been bad).

Holly Trolley

Heading out from our house, it had just started to flurry. By the time we made it to Lake Harriet, the snow was so thick we could barely see the water. It turned out to be an idyllic setting for our family outing to the Holly Trolley this year.

Waiting for the streetcar...

Although this photo doesn't quite capture it, this was my favorite moment of Otto enjoying the Holidays so far. He was watching as the trolley was coming towards the station. As it pulled closer he followed it and as he turned to me, I saw his eyes just light up, he had a little "hop" in his step and he smiled and kept saying "choo, choo." He was so excited about the trolley arriving!

Family outing to Linden Hills Station

Max was so excited to see Santa. Immediately he wanted to tell Santa,"Santa, Santa! I was catching snowflakes on my tongue." as if he and Santa were old friends and he couldn't wait to tell him this!

Super cute old-fashioned trolley that's a historic landmark in our neighborhood. We're lucky to have this "adventure" out our front door for the PJ Trolley, Trick or Trolley, Holly Trolley, etc.

The Boys

As you might notice from this photo, neither Max nor Otto were that interested in Santa once he got closer... No sitting on his lap, sharing a wish list, etc. Maybe Joe and I need to start "talking him up" so they show a bit more enthusiasm.

Tis the Season