Blue Santa and a Parade

Things are wild around here as usual, but I am pretty stoked that we only have six school days until Christmas break. I have been overwhelmed with the daily routines lately that when I get all the kids in bed I am down for the count by 9:30 each night, that is usually after sleeping on the couch for at least 30 minutes. I have neglected the blog, put off many Christmas gifts with half filled carts all over cyberspace because I start and lose the urge halfway through and go to bed. I have missed two holiday parties because I have lost track of days in the week for no good reason other than total exhaustion. We missed a Santa party this Sunday and we were home! I think a few weeks off will be much needed to give my poor brain a break. I know being home with all three kiddos all day will not be a "break", but my mind will  only be in mommy/wife mode, not mommy/wife/teacher/parole officer/problem solver/ mode. My brain needs a rest. I love my class, but there are thirty of them. Many of them are very needy and my own kids are very needy of course so as great as it is to be needed, I NEED a break.

We have been in full Christmas mode around here. I have been on tree patrol as Sara Kate loves to carry ornaments around the house and put them in places they do not belong. She also lost Mary Ann. "Mary Ann" is the Mary from a nativity scene that was my grandmothers. I use to call her Mary Ann- you know Mary Ann and Joseph when I was little. I carted her off one day and she was missing for years. Well...like mother like daughter. Mary Ann is missing and SK is the only one who knows what happened to her. Hoping we find her someday soon. Other than that they have not been overly interested in the decor.

We did get to see Santa once a few weeks ago. Not just any Santa, but Wildcat blue UK Santa! The little Snyders were not phased by the big guy, but Clark was super shy. He did not sit on his lap, and could not think of anything he wanted. It was very unlike him so I was hoping he would get a second chance to see the big guy, but at this rate it is not looking that promising. Momma can't keep the days straight. We will see if it happens. Check us out decked out in our blue and white.

We also had the fun evening of walking in the Christmas parade with Clark's school. Yours truly walked in front of the float with the school banner. As I was walking and waving to EVERY.SINGLE kid from my school I did wonder for a minute if it was a conflict of interest for me a public school teacher to be proudly carrying the banner for Clark's Montessori school, but nah. I did not worry too much about it. His teacher out did herself AGAIN with another adorable float. They won the float contest of our town's Festival of the Horse Parade in October and this time it was super cute again. The made the float look like a Christmas tree lot and the kids dressed up like snow people. It was beyond adorable. They sang Christmas songs and were a big hit with the crowd. My little snowman was a big hit with me.

I mean look at these:

Tonight I'm watching The Voice, should be wrapping up some gifts on Shutterfly and finishing all the addresses on our Christmas cards. Stuart is working upstairs and the Snyder children are in bed and I am trying very hard to stay up past 9:00! :) I mean we are a wild bunch.

Thanks for sticking around and reading this blog even though I can't keep up with it as much as I would like. I have a few things to blog about like our little walkers, saying goodbye to the infant seats, and my first trip to IKEA. But for now, I will get back to the Christmas cards.

Happy Monday!!

SANTA!! I know him.

Yes, we are still here! Life around here has been moving at lightning speed. Lots of things have been going on and I have not had time to even look at this computer let alone sit down and blog. I went back to work two weeks ago and I will say that it has gone better than expected. The babies have adjusted well, and I have been enjoying my evenings with all my babies, they just go so fast. By the time I rush home to feed them, Clark and Stuart come home, time to make/eat dinner, feed babies again, baths all around, clean up mess from dinner, feed babies again, Clark to bed, then I CRASH. I am hoping I get better at it and that I can keep my eyes open past 9:30 in the near future. They are all napping now (for a few minutes anyway) so I thought I could share some pictures from our recent encounters with the big man himself...SANTA!!

Last weekend, we had the luxury of seeing Santa twice! Saturday our local MOPS group sponsored a cookies with Santa event that we have been to the past 4 years. This year it was a little hectic with three I must say and I did not do very well at the picture taking part. Clark talked about Santa ALL DAY and once we got there he would not smile and he did not speak. I was a little bummed only because he was so excited and then he acted so shy. (Shy is not usually something he knows much about) So we snapped a few pics and got to see some lovely friends that we had not seen in a while and followed it up with lunch of Clark's choosing...McDonald's.

Shepard & Sara Kate's 1st time to meet the BIG guy!
(Look how excited SK is! )

   

Clark = Not loving it.

 Of course Clark is all smiles AFTER he visits with Santa.
Pretty sure he is just excited to head to McD's for nuggets.

 My boys AFTER seeing Santa.

Our attempt at at least one good photo once we got home.

 All my sweeties.
  If I EVER get them all to smile in one photo I might have a party.

Good thing on Sunday we had invites to two Santa parties where we would be seeing the same Santa and Mrs. We were unsure which party we would be able to hit up due to naps and feeding times, but the later one worked and we headed out to try the whole Santa thing again. This time was MUCH BETTER!! Clark loved it and had plenty of time to warm up to Santa before it was his tum to talk to him. Santa and the Mrs. were at the home of some church friends of ours and it was a more intimate setting and he could actually hear the story being read and was not as overwhelmed. He told Santa he wanted a "Blast-off Sports Car". I do hope Santa knows what that is because we have NO IDEA. He has described it as "a sports car that can go to the moon"- oh jeez!

SANTA HAS ARRIVED!!

The read the kids a story first.

Shepard and Sara Kate visiting with Santa.
Again, SK is sound asleep! ha.



The Snyder party of five and The Mr. & Mrs.

 I cannot believe that that guy will be visiting our house in ONE WEEK!!! I am so excited to see Clark's reaction next Sunday morning. ( I do hope Santa figures out what that "Blast-off Sports Car" is before then though!) This year has been so much fun and he makes it so magical. I honestly do not need one thing this Christmas. I mean just look at the picture above. I think I have everything I could ever ask for!!