In Anticipation...

Oh, there is lots to anticipate this time of year! The kids are awaiting the arrival of the big guy from up North. The countdown is on to the day we get to leave our little, old state and make the trip "up Papa's hill" for Christmas. We are all awaiting the birth of Baby Jesus. But...more immediately...we are awaiting the "Blizzard of 2009". The snow should be beginning within the next few hours and will be putting a bit of a crimp in our holiday plans...but should provide us with some nice, quality family time (which translates to us being trapped in the house for the 24+ hours...or insanity!)!!!!

So, just as you prepare for the holidays or a vacation or the birth of a new baby, we are preparing for the snow storm of the year.

Mommy's jobs:

• grocery shopping
• a stop at CVS for Tater's medicines
• taking Bruiser to his last day of school (before he starts preschool!!!!!)
• finding all the snow clothes
• making Christmas cookies
• making sure all the gifts are bought, made, wrapped, delivered, and packed
• seven loads of laundry
• sweeping the kitchen floor 10 times a day
• changing fifty thousand diapers (or so it seems!)
• playing mediator with the children

Daddy's jobs:

• taking Tater to church for the Christmas play rehearsal (for the show that will probably be snowed out!)
• draining the outside pipes (that have already frozen)
• soaking the voltage box for my dryer so I can't do my seven loads of laundry
• taking down the inflatable snowmen so they don't blow a fuse
• emptying the gas from the lawn mower (because that makes sense before a huge snow storm)
• turning on the dishwasher so the kitchen will be clean so I can bake...but then turning it off before it is finished to drain the frozen pipes

Tater's jobs:

• to pull out every blanket in the living five times
• to last through one run-through of the Sunday School Program practice before wreaking havoc on the church
• to play nicely with her brother (for once!)
• to beg to help with cookies after she has already opened and spilled the cinnamon

Bruiser's jobs:

• go to his last day of school
• hug his teachers and say "I miss you" without any prompting
• to refuse to eat any lunch because he stuffed his belly with Munchkins at school
• to gush blood from his mouth when he slipped from his little chair...including a trail of blood drops to the bathroom and a brush burned forehead in time for Christmas morning pictures!

Miss Wiggles:

• take out every toy that has just been put away
• create the hourly mess on the kitchen floor that I have to clean up
• wiggle
• be cute!

So that is our day of snow storm preparation...doesn't it sound oh, so relaxing?