Mama On The Move

Because, he's not allowed on the sofa, and he knows it.

I took all three kids to the mall not too long ago.  Sometimes we just have to get out of the house and go someplace where it's warm and we can walk around. We stopped at the food court for lunch and wound up sitting at a table right next to the kiddie rides. When my kids were little, they adored the kiddie rides.  They only cost a quarter and I would let them ride several times if they wanted to.  It was always just a little car or rocket ship that would bounce up and down or sometimes backwards and forwards but they took great joy in those rides.  And they thought I was the best mom in the world. We sat next to a ride on this occasion which simulated a roller coaster.  There was a video the kids would watch and the ride would simulate the motions of the roller coaster to give the kids the feeling that they were really there .  On a roller coaster .  Not in a mall . We were watching two cute little girls ride the roller coaster because we wer...

This week, looking to do something indoors and away from the snow and cold weather, we checked out the Missouri History Museum. Yes, I know we live in Illinois.  Yes, I know we are always doing fun stuff in St Louis, Missouri , and I hardly ever write about fun stuff in Illinois.   When I find something interesting here, I'll let you know.  The Missouri History Museum is free which makes it totally awesome and worth the cost of admission. There are actually a couple of exhibits which you can pay for if you want to see them, but as it was our first visit, we opted to just see the free exhibits and we'll go back another time to see the pay-per-view rooms. When I use the word "we", I really mean that Kerry and I will go back and see the other exhibits.  While I was able to get the girls to go on this excursion, Ben declined to join us entirely. Apparently it's more fun to stay home alone all day than go to a history museum with your family...

Emily mentioned about a week before Christmas that the stuffed rhino she had put on her wish list was probably the one thing she wanted more than any other item.  Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten it for her.  I did some last minute scrambling and managed to get it here in time! Not sure what was going on here, but I love this picture.  Ben got a set of throwing knives.  The girls were not pleased.  The aftermath.  New hat, new slippers.  A Hufflepuff scarf which was a favorite gift this year, as well as a completely unexpected phone. And a completely unexpected tablet!

And Christmas Eve is finally here.  I've actually been so far ahead of the game this year that I feel really off-kilter like I've forgotten something.  All the gifts were bought well ahead of time.  I've been wrapping as I go, so there is very little wrapping to do this evening.  Normally, I'm running around buying things at the last minute and wrapping until the wee hours. We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church, came home and made dairy-free egg nog, then made a dairy-free casserole for tomorrow morning. And then I gave the kids their Christmas pajamas. Every year I get them a nice, new set of pj's so they will look good in our Christmas morning photos. This year, Emily got a set that features the early bird, Ben got some with bacon on it, and Katie got a cute pair with a reindeer.  Although, actually once she got them on and started dancing around in them, Emily looked closely and said, "That's not a reindeer!  That...

We went to an amazing light display here in Belleville, Illinois.  It's located at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows which is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus. The light display has over a million white lights and it takes them six weeks  just to get them all up. If you just want to view the lights, you can simply drive right through.  There is no charge, although they do accept donations at the end. But if you want to get out of your car and experience some of the extras, you'll be quite pleased! Check the weather first!  We didn't realize we'd be getting out of the car and nearly froze .  Luckily, they were selling hot chocolate there for only $2 a cup!  Emily wasn't happy as she's allergic to milk, but we bought her some kettle corn to make up for it. Then Katie wasn't happy because she wanted Emily's kettle corn. Peace on earth, my aunt fanny. At the first stop we discovered a horse-drawn carriage which you...