things fall apart...

...and are glued back together with really strong sticky frosting.


the plan was to go to green bay this morning so sam and i could attend the green bay packer's football game this afternoon.

yeah, that didn't happen...not like we had previously imagined it.

it's too bad, because i was really looking forward to seeing my man, aaron rogers. i had even made sure to wash isaiah's aaron rogers jersey so i could sport that at the game.

oh well, things fall apart, no game for me. unfortunately, we missed church for nothing.

on the upside, the kids and i do have a gingerbread house to make. and that did a pretty terrific job of making up for the missed up-close-and-personal view of aaron rogers. :) realistically, i'd be seeing just the spotty blur of aaron rogers, sitting in the below freezing temperatures, perhaps picking up a nice case of frost bite in the process. ok, that makes me feel much better.

makayah's advent candle. i had to take a picture of it - there was a close call earlier today and samiyah almost ate the whole thing.

ready, set, go!

mims was our gingerbread construction advisor. but really, she just ate gingerbread cookie crumbs.

placing the roof was tricky...

and they pulled it off quite nicely. they had pre-made gingerbread houses at whole foods, but that's no fun. and although i did plan to bake my own gingerbread house - like we did last year - i was also reminded that as extremely tasty as it turned out, the dimensions were thrown off by whatever happens in the oven as it puffs up in all directions. oh yes, and it cracked way too easily. so, i'm glad we found this cute gingerbread house kit.

we added our own flare and embellishments.

notice the lacey windows and cinnamon logs...cute, right? and i really love that snowman.

 the kids were begging for a taste as soon as we completed construction. they settled for a powdered pfefferneuse cookie. at least, i think that's what they were called - the powdery white ones we used for the snowmen. this is isaiah's face immediately after his first bite. it was all ginger and no cookie. a little too strong for them, but perfect for chubby snowmen. they didn't waste any time in spitting it out.

besides gingerbread house construction, we also had an eagerly awaiting pile of clean laundry to fold. i suppose my life can't be glamorous all the time. we watched "the muppets christmas carol" - one of my all time favorite christmas movies - to make the laundry folding and putting away go faster.

as much fun as this day sounds - minus the part about missing my man in action on the football field today - it was a huge effort to maintain order and happiness for the following reasons:

*mimzy is sprouting all four molars all at once. she is sniffly and coughy. she followed me from one end of the room to the other end, all day, crying and whining. when i'd pick her up, she throw herself this way and that, and cry some more, saying, "ow, ow, ow."

*isaiah and makayah were so off and on. they really wanted to play games together, but when they did, the whining and arguing and the, "you're cheating!" would start. i was NOT up to dealing with whining today. there were lots of time outs.

*it was an accident-prone afternoon. i don't know about you, but after the 100th head bump, 73rd slip and trip, and the 4th black eye - okay, it was actually only the 2nd - all i want to do is collapse on the couch, throw my hands in the air, shout out, "watch where you're going/be careful/and that's why i tell you not to do that!" and give up. i'm usually very generous with my kisses - but c'mon, this was just nuts.

end of the day wrestling. and this, kids, is how we get hurt. luckily, no one was. the evening was filled with giggles - which by the end of the day - i couldn't be more grateful for.

i had absolutely no qualms about putting the kids to bed a half hour early. 7pm, thank you for coming.

today i am grateful for:

*fun distractions to make things more cheery.

*christmas movies, they always put me in a better mood.

*a clean house and folded laundry. it's nice i won't have to worry about it tomorrow. :)