Fat and happy... or, not so happy

That's me. I am such a glutton. For those of you who don't know, I have absolutely no self-control when it comes to sweets. I literally stuffed myself to sickness two nights in a row- on cookies, glazed pecans, pie, and an assortment of chocolates. The first night on the couch, knees drawn in to chest, just wasn't lesson enough for me. I had to do it again the next night as well. But I'm alive and well today, jeans just feel a little tighter, and I swear I won't eat like that again- atleast not after I finish up the BAGS of cookies and such that family so kindly gave us this holiday season :) Haha, I did contribute to my unhealthy addiction, I can't blame all the goodies on family. In addition to sugar cookies I made for Santa, my sister-in-law and I attempted a new treat- cake balls. I just learned of their existence a few months ago. It's all the new rage! And they turned out wonderfully.I couldn't help posing for this picture after Anease pointed out what the cake balls looked like with our colored "dollops" on top... sorry.

Quick review of our Christmas. Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house. We combined my Mom and Dad's sides together this year for Christmas Eve, which was great. It freed up Christmas day for us newly married kids to spend with our in-laws, rather than running around seeing all sides of family members. Carter, of course, raked in the goods. It was ridiculous as usual. Sean got a grill for the new house, and he was so excited! The backyard isn't quite ready for grilling parties, but I can guarantee you he will be on the driveway with that bad boy grillin' up some mean meals!

We had our first Christmas morning as a family in our home this year. It was so perfect. Even though we didn't get home till midnight the night before, the last couple hours before we went to bed were spent preparing for Santa. We decorated a few sugar cookies especially for him, wrote him a note, and then fell fast asleep. (This is a new tradition we just started and plan to carry on with Carter and all future children, for as long as they'll let us!) So Christmas morning, Carter woke up to cookie crumbs, a note to him from Santa, and presents under the tree. My parents came over very early (early as in they woke us up, with donuts, haha, and then waited for Carter to wake up!) to see all of the Christmas morning action, and to make sure Carter liked the big swingset/playground that "Santa" aka Papa left in the backyard. Yes, in the week prior to Christmas, my dad managed to sneak into the backyard on 3 separate occasions and build a swingset, start to finish- without Carter ever knowing! I have wonderful parents.

Personalized Chef hat that reads "Junior Chef Carter." He's always helping me in the kitchen and we refer to ourselves as chefs, so how perfect?! PersonalizationMall.com... amazing gifts.

My dad informed me that this picture with all of us bundled up looks like we can't afford heating our house. We actually can, but we had just come inside from checking out the gift in the backyard where it was 32 degrees. Super-freezin' temp for Texas!

Later Christmas Day we went to Sean's Mom's house. Tons of food, and sweets, and even games! Kathy, my mother-in-law, planned some fun Christmas-themed games and even gave away prizes. I won one! It was the memory game that I dominated in- go figure.

Last weekend we had Sean's dad and family over to celebrate Christmas. They live out of town, so it was fun to have them here and get all the Stevenson kids under one roof.

So there it is. Our Christmas in a nutshell. Hope yours was just as wonderful, even more!

We wish you a merry Christmas!

I pulled the carafe out of the coffee-maker this morning to pour that first, hot, ever-so-good cup, and I noticed the carafe was significantly heavier than usual. Dangit. I forgot to empty the leftover from yesterday morning! Sean usually has atleast a couple cups of java, but he didn't yesterday for whatever reason. I need my coffee to jumpstart my morning, I can't want to wait to brew a new pot again. So I poured a cup of the 1 day old+fresh-brew mix and just hoped it wouldn't make me sick. It can't, can it? Well, I'm on serving #2 and so far so good.

I shook my head at my forgetfulness. It's been a wild week- purchasing and wrapping gifts for those forgotten family members (you know, like the new inlaws that I've never had to buy for before!?), grocery shopping, BAKING baking baking, checking my univeristy's website obsessively for my semester grades (which turned out to be all A's, fyi :)... Ahh, it's the week before Christmas! Then it got me thinking. I'm going crazy now? What about last Christmas?? I was finishing up last-minute details for my wedding (buying, stuffing, and decorating favor boxes, bridal party gifts, program details, convincing Sean he still wanted to marry me, etc..), I had JUST taken my bridal portraits since my dress had JUST come in and was scared to death that the editing and printing might not be completed by go-time, I was finishing up another straight-A semester (oops, is this bragging? Sorry, school is the only thing I claim to be really good at, haha :), and I was still doing the normal Christmas stuff of buying, wrapping, and giving gifts. Now that was a wild week. I pulled out my bridal portrait cd and started looking through the pictures. It was a pretty chilly December day when I took all of the pictures, but you can't tell. I was so excited- just a big ball of nerves, and somehow that kept me warm! Here are a few of my favorites...

((sigh)) I loved my dress. I kind of want to go put it on again and twirl around for fun... and to just see if it still fits a whole year later... But I can't- I just sold it. I had thought I may do it from the very beginning, but never gave any serious thought after the wedding- just threw the dress in the spare closet. Then my dear friend Carolyn showed me wedding pictures that were sent to her by the girl that bought her dress. The girl was so appreciative and looked beautiful- it was awesome. So it was the little push I needed- why hold on to something I'm never going to use again? To show my potential future daughter in hopes that she might want to wear it on her big day? Well, I saw my mom's dress, even tried it on, but I didn't wear it. It just seemed like a sentimental, emotional woman kind of thing to keep it tucked away in the back of the closet when someone else could benefit from it. I made my decision and casually mentioned my intentions of listing my dress online at school one day. Low and behold, one of the girls in my class is planning her wedding, loved the pictures she had seen of my dress, and asked if she could try it on. I let her take it home the next day for a private fitting with her family, and it "fit like a glove" and had her mom and sister crying she said. It was a done deal. I'm really happy to help someone I know get a great dress at a lower price- I'm all about the bargains. But what makes it even more special is that this young woman is the younger sister of a friend from highschool that just recently passed away. It's a good feeling- way better than the one I'd get by glancing at it occasionally in the back of my closet.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

And THIS is why parenting is so hard

About a year and a half ago Carter became the proud owner of a Betta fish. Our cat had recently run away, because he was a wild lion at heart and needed the freedom only the woods had to offer, we explained, but Carter was missing the companionship of having a pet to talk to, so a fish was the quickest, cheapest fix. We went and picked out a Betta fish ($2) and put him in a little glass bowl with some decorative rocks on the bottom that I had leftover from some crafty things I had done. Anyways, the fish lived happily for about a year until one day I found him floating on top of the water. Luckily, Carter was at school, so I removed everything without him having to see, and then gently broke the news to him when he got home. I really thought he would handle it well. He had done alright with the cat moving on and, after all, he was almost five years old! Not the case. He was distraught, completely. He loved his fish. So, the husband and I thought about it and decided we would give it another go, and this time we would go all out and make sure Carter's Betta fish had the greatest life- a set-up any Betta fish would die for... well, not die die, but you know.

So my sweet, nerdy, never-can-get-enough-knowledge-about-all-random-things husband researched Betta fish and their prime environments. Apparently, we purchase them in small, plastic cups and then at home transfer them to yet another small cup, this one hopefully a bit more permanent, because this is the type of environment they're found in. Bettas have a unique organ called the labyrinth which allows them to breathe our air, enabling them to live in low-oxygen settings such as rice patties, drainage tanks, or large puddles, and they just come up for a breath as needed. But just because they can live like that, do you think they absolutely should? Well we voted no. Our Carter's fish deserves a mansion, and a mansion he would get. I got permission to go out and purchase whatever would be necessary to create our idea of a Betta's prime environment. A trip to Petco and $85 dollars well spent later, Carter had a brand new King Crown-tailed Betta living it up in an aquatic mansion any Betta would envy. And Carter named him Glider.

Fast forward six months. Last Friday, December 11 to be exact. We have just recently moved into our new home and are settled enough for the rest of Sean's family to come over for dinner. I'm busy in the kitchen as a woman should be (haha, right?), so Carter greets the family at the door when they arrive and proceeds to give Gradnpa Ted "the tour" while I finish cooking. As Carter took Grandpa Ted into his room, he turned on his fishtank lamp for the sole purpose of introducing Grandpa Ted to Glider. They had never met. And there Glider was, floating sideways mid-tank. I heard the shrill cry from the bedroom and ran towards it. "Mommy, something's wrong with Glider! I think he's sick!" Grandpa Ted began, "Uh, I don't think he's sick, I think he's-" I quickly cut him off- he has no idea what we went through before. Oh no, come up with something, Kristin! "Ooh yah, you're right... I think he is sick. Seany will check him out when he gets home from work. Let's just close the door and leave him alone- no one likes to be bothered when they don't feel good." So we did. Later in the evening, while he was distracted by family fun, I snuck into Carter's room and removed the tank, hiding it in the garage. Before bedtime, we explained to Carter that we had Glider in our room so we could monitor him over night, and that the next morning we would take him to the doctor. After Carter went to sleep, Sean and I determined that Glider was in fact dead, then we had a proper burial... or, flush, and devised a plan.

Glider had to stay at the doctor for a couple days before he could come home. In the meantime, Carter had to go back to school, and so I got to work. Serious cleaning of the tank, new rocks, fresh plant life- now I just have to get the "replacement" Glider and put him in.

At the pet store I about had a nervous breakdown. No King Crowntail Bettas. They have regular Crowntail Bettas, but not King, which, believe it or not, makes a huge difference. My child is quite intelligent and has keen eyesight- he was going to notice. And even if he held neither of those attributes, he would still notice. It was just that bad. But I had to get one- Glider was coming home from the doctor TODAY! I called Sean and cried to him about it, and he thought maybe we should just tell Carter the truth. The truth? After all this, no way! I got home and, after acclimating him to his new environment for 15 minutes as suggested by the fish professional, I put Replacement Glider in his new home. He took off swimming bravely and swiftly around the plants and crossbones and sunken treasure chest. A sigh of relief.

On our way home from school, I told Carter I had some good news- Glider was home! After squeals of excitement and a celebration song, I told Carter that I had to warn him- Glider looks a little different. I explained that sometimes when fish get really sick, they don't eat, which causes them to lose weight, which can make them look much smaller. But that doesn't matter, because Glider's HEALTHY! We got home and Carter ran straight to his room to reunite with his dear pet. He said his tank looked clean, Glider looked happy, and "he sure did get smaller!"

I smiled and wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time. God, I love that precious little child. And I hate fish.

Oops...

Why did I start this thing? Oh yes, to keep you updated. Haven't been doing a very good job lately, but let me explain... Since my last sweet post full of Thanksgiving gratitude I have written and submitted a 32 page paper called a "Teacher Work Sample" for school, created a webpage and filled it with lesson plans and activities I've developed over the course of my college career (this is called an "E-folio" which my professors use to critique my work), completed research on and created a wonderful presentation of my heritage (Vive la France!), taken two finals, kept Carter hom from school due to some 24-hour illness, turned 25 and listened to everyone comment on how I've reached the "quarter-century mark" (uh, ouch?), slowly added finishing touches to our house, bought all Christmas decorations and went at it- including assembling the pre-lit wire deer that stand beautifully in the front yard (hubby wasn't home, or he would have definitely taken on that one), I started and finished my Christmas shopping, and last, but most certainly not least, I used my crockpot TWICE! The thing is seriously amazing. It produces the most tender, juicy, tasty meals and Sean thinks I am this incredible chef. I don't tell him what the crockpot really does- that I just throw ingredients in at 8am and then the timer goes off at 5pm and I never actually cooked anything. I just let him think it's all me. Hey, sometimes I don't get the credit I deserve for the laundry or cleaning that I do, so it's ok- it all evens out, haha.

Here's my little man helping me bake a delicious pie for our first dinner party. Haha, I'm making it sound fancy, but we just had Sean's family over for dinner. Still, it was a first!

And here my intellect is reading to a baby at the library. He volunteers his time weekly :)