7 Quick Takes Friday: It's Almost Christmas! Edition

--- 1 ---

I have a "new" computer, which is a good thing, because the old one is grinding to a slow, frequently crashing death with the "fatal error" message more and more frequently appearing.  This one is a PC (I went with HP) and it's refurbished, which knocked about 50% off the price, and I'm incredibly thankful that it arrived before the other one completely failed because I had visions of needing to get orders out for Christmas and Paul being at the library with the only other computer I have access to.

After almost a decade of not using PCs I'm slowly learning how to run one again!

I'm still getting used to the feel because this computer, which was 1/4 of the price of my almost dead computer, is kind of gigantic in comparison to every other lap top I've had (I've always opted for the tiniest possible screen!). While I wasn't really excited about that when I was ordering it, it does make Skype really fun for the kids!  And I'm amazed at how much clearer the screen is (four years of technology definitely makes a difference).

--- 2 ---

Sadie just left for her last day of ballet for this session.  I signed her up last night for the next two sessions and I'm so thankful that I did.  She got the last spot for the next session and I cannot even imagine how sad she would have been if I'd missed signing up and the class had been full!

--- 3 ---

Yesterday I read an article about how modern kids have super long Christmas lists (the article compared it to letters to Santa from the past) and while there are times when I do miss having cable and being able to mindlessly change the channel while sewing late at night, I think the lack of cable contributes to the conversation Sadie and I had not that long ago.

Now I should start by saying that I do feel like our kids get pretty ridiculously spoiled at every birthday and holiday.  Our family and friends have been pretty amazing and so while we did the "three small presents" thing, a pretty steady stream of packages has been overwhelming our mail man on an almost daily basis.  It happened last year too and when I set up the tree on Christmas Eve I know that I will be amazed at the generosity that's been showered upon these kids.

So they do know that Christmas involves presents.

But I realized the other day that Sadie hadn't actually told me what she wanted for Christmas.  Once in a while a catalog would come and she'd definitely mention that she would love to have that doll, but other than that it's hasn't come up (and that was back in October or November).

After the babies went to bed one night I asked her, if she could have anything at all for Christmas, what would it be.  She paused and thought for a moment and said, "a pink dress" breathlessly.

Yesterday, following the arrival of a gift that will allow the kids each their own warm weather shopping spree, I was looking at pink dresses and jackets online with Sadie.  There were two pink jackets on sale.  One was fancy and one was more the sort you'd wear every day.  Since they were dramatically discounted I added the fancy one to the cart too because Sadie always gets upset when she has to put her jacket over her dress on our way to Mass.  "That one will be your play jacket and that one will be for Mass," I explained.

"I don't need them both!" She said quickly, looking a little teary eyed.  And after more discussion it was discovered that she was worried about me getting her two jackets when I hadn't picked out a jacket for Maggie (Maggie, as the second born, has the most ridiculous collection of barely worn clothing of anyone in this house!).

This kid.  I certainly can't take credit for her selflessness, because I totally have a completely unnecessary Christmas list in my head of things that I probably wouldn't even have time to use, but she amazes me every single day.

--- 4 ---

I'm pretty sure that #3 was long enough for it's very own post....  So maybe it can count for 3 and 4!  

--- 5 ---

Poor Patch.  Or Boomer.  Whichever we're using today.  Maggie switches back and forth since realizing that Patch sounds like "Pat" and she likes to say "High five!" and then as she hits my hand she says "Pat, pat, pat!" and glances over at her brother with a grin and giggles hysterically.  But yesterday she looked at him and said:  "Boomer Monkey!  Boomer Monkey!" over and over again, so I guess his list of nicknames is growing.

He was pretty unhappy yesterday when it was time for both him and Daddy to get haircuts.  About halfway through he decided that it was fun (as long as I didn't go anywhere near his ears) and finally after much clipping here and there his hair was trimmed and neat.  He now looks like he's ready for boot camp (I tried to get a good picture but he was not cooperating!  There is a picture where you can kind of see it after take #7)...

--- 6 ---

Maggie woke up at 1 am to let me know that she needed a fifth application of Crisco and Vaseline for the day.  I didn't realize that that was what she was asking until morning when she pointed to the bottle I keep our little moisturizing creation in and used the same words and gestures and then I realized why we had late night drama.

Winter dry skin has arrived and I've been using our allergist's Crisco Vaseline instructions for Patrick on all three of the kids... and it has made an amazing difference.  Mae's skin is so dry that she kept coming over and asking for more and I am constantly shocked because it actually does feel dry within half an hour of the last application.

For the other two putting it on twice a day is more than enough.  I think a humidifier may be in our future (we have one but it's making a funny electric smell each time I turn it on, so it's turned off permanently now).

--- 7 ---

Before Paul left for work last night he snapped one quick picture of our "pajama party!"  I even had one a sock monkey sleeper (and you can kind of see Patch's hair cut in it)!

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