So Far This Year

If I had to name the girls' favorite Christmas gifts, I'd have to say the princess dresses that they got from "Santa".  They spend as much time as possible playing dress up, and if at all possible, in those dresses.  

Dress up can be combined with pretty much anything--which is why they spend so much time in the laundry. Santa was a smart fellow.  Rather than the flimsy costume dresses, he chose nightgown dresses and they are much more durable.  This is a very, very good thing.  Now, if only he'd had the fore sight to get duplicates...

We've also spent some time playing with Aunt Bekah and little James, who isn't so little anymore.  He's almost as big as Kaylie--they now wear the same diaper size, and the same shoe size.  We haven't spent as much time with as we usually do, though, because I am now working part time at JoAnn's.  

It was a decision prompted mainly by two things.  The first was a desire to contribute to our family's finances, to give us a bit more wiggle room.  The second was for my mental stability.

Really, that's overstating it, but I was definitely stagnating.  Going back to work has helped to revitalize me, to get me moving.  It's a simple thing, really, but it has been so good for me to get out and interact with other adults, and to do something that I know I'm good at.  And moreover, I have to keep doing it, for as long as I want to keep the job.  If I'm feeling all "meh", I can't just not go, and that's a good thing. 

We're all still adjusting to the change.  I'm working evenings and weekends, when Brandon is home, so the girls aren't going to a babysitter.  They gave me way too many hours at first--my first weekend I had back-to-back shifts, closing Saturday and then opening (7am!) Sunday.  I didn't even realize that I'd need to work the following morning until I was gettting my stuff together to go home Saturday night, and I kind of freaked out a bit when I realized that after not seeing my girls all night, I wasn't going to get to see them the next morning, either.  Now the schedule has been straightened out, and I'm working right around 20 hours a week, with no back-to-back shifts, and it's a lot better.  

I was supposed to work last Friday evening, but they called that afternoon to tell me that I didn't need to come in, because it had been so slow.  It worked out really well, because we ended up getting 3 inches of snow that evening and I was only too happy that I didn't need to go out in it.  And, since I was home, I got to go out and play in the snow with Brandon and the kids.

Now, dealing with snow is not exactly my favorite thing.  I'd normally rate it somewhere in the vicinity of getting a cavity filled, on the scale of things I'd like to do.  But, it was the only real snow we've gotten all winter, it didn't last long, and it was the perfect opportunity to play and the girls loved it.  

There's more (apparently, January has been an eventful month) but I think this is enough for now.  For one thing, I don't have pictures for any of the other stuff, and for another, well, it's 10:30 and I still haven't packed Bran's lunch for tomorrow.  :)  Goodnight!