Been a bit spotty on the posts lately and I apoligize. I remember all to well that last torturous week of work before Christmas. You were either insanely busy or mind-numbingly bored. If the later, you are probably trolling the Internet looking for something, anything, to whittle away the hours until you are free. I simpathize. I should have been better about posting this week but I have a few very well rehearsed excuses to offer you.

First, I may not have mentioned this yet, but I’m trying to do a hand made Chrismas this year. To clarify, that would be hand made by me. Kevin has spend the last few days wandering around in a daze as no fresh underwear has appeared in his drawer, we’ve been eating bagged salads which he has to open himself, and he has been left in charge of the children for hours on end. Poor man is a little dazed to say the least. Fortunately, he falls into the bored to tears category at work so his stress level is very low. While mine remains frightenly high. I either have too many friends and family or I didn’t quite budget enough time to complete my projects. Sigh. Spilled milk really.

Second, we are all suffering from a mild stomach bug. No vomiting, thank goodnes. Instead we are all listing about muttering that we have a stomach ache are running to the pot every hour or so. Thank goodness Kulia is still in diapers because we only have 3 toilets and sometimes that are all full. Of course, when I’m changing her horrid diaper I’m not quite as thankful. There have been times during the last few days when poor Leina has had to run from room to room looking for a free toilet. But perhaps this topic is a bit indelicate. Needless to say, we are suffering.

But do not worry, the spirit of Christmas is alive and well. Our tree is up. The Christmas music has been located and is in constant play. My children are watching the required Christmas movies. In fact, last night Leina decided she wanted to go caroling. She would not take no for an answer. Kulia dug out some bells from the music instrument box, Kevin bundled them up, and out they went. They hit all the neighbors and sang them a very special McLaughlin version of Jingle Bells. After serenading the cul-du-sac, Leina wanted to head out and accost, er, I mean, entertain total strangers. It took the promise of hot cocoa and a christmas video to get them to head home. Kevin said it was the most fun he has had in a long time.

The clock is ticking and my stomach is churning so I must dash. I think the downstairs toilet just opened up. It has the best reading material you know. Ok, enough, get back to work. But maybe pictures tomorrow? If there is a demand for them, perhaps? Hum?

I have one more gift to craft and then it’s off to the post office. Yippee! This means if you live outside the Portland/Vancouver area, you are getting a Xmas present this year. For those of you who live closer to me. Well. Yeah. Still working on those. But hitting the post office on the 9th of Dec? Definitely a world record.

Had lunch with Liza and she managed to rekindle my Christmas spirit a bit. She bit her tongue and didn’t even mention all the Halloween decorations although she did seem a bit horrified that we didn’t have a tree yet. To keep that tiny ember burning, I informed Kevin that he needed to be in bed with a bowl of popcorn at 10pm because we were going to watch a Christmas movie. Did you know that before Kevin started hanging out with me he had never seen Miracle on 34th Street? Or White Christmas? I know! Good thing he found me, eh?

I will try and take some good shots of the floors and cabinets. It’s pretty grey and miserable today so I cannot guarantee how the pictures will turn out but I will try.

This weekend is crazy Christmas busy. Chop down a tree, decorate the house, hang lights, round up the reindeer herd for the front lawm, visit Santa, birthday party for Jerry, Hanukkah dinner with Liza. Yup. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Now, if I could just figure out which storage box holds all the Christmas CD’s I’d be set.

OK, the rains have stopped and I’m no longer frantically treading water. I seemed to have dragged my bedraggled self to the shore and am now lying on the shoreline in the surf gasping for breath.

The Halloween decorations are packed away. (Except for the stuff on our porch. It is too wet/cold to go out there. Gasp. Gasp.)

All the suitcases are unpacked. (Except for the smallest one. Full of Kulia’s clothes that need to be hung, folded, and tucked away. Gasp. Gasp.)

The new kitchen cabinets/desk are installed. At least temporarily. Now I have to fill them up and rearrange everything to my liking. (You guessed it, more gasping.)

The fridge is stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables. When questioned, Kevin admitted that he only fruit and/or veggie he bought while I was gone was a bag of pre-made salad. And some tomatoes. So for the last few days my girls have been begging me for an apple or banana or grapes or carrots and I’ve shoved crackers and cookies into their hands and told them to go away. – mommy is busy trying to tread water. The result, of course, is that now when I offer them an apple or banana the insist that all they want are Cheetos. Or cookies. (Gasp. Gasp.)

And the Christmas presents? Well, those are actually moving right along. If I can convince my girls to entertain themselves for four more days I should be able to get everything into the mail and sent. Yippee!

Except for our Christmas cards. I totally forgot about our Christmas cards. Drat. Maybe I have a few more yards to haul myself before I’m truly on the beach and out of the water.

Gasp.

Gasp.

We are back home but I’m barely afloat. No, I’m not referring to the torrential rains that are lashing out little house right now. I actually heard earlier that the only way to travel from Portland to Seattle was via plane because every major freeway was shut down due to flooding or car crashes. How crazy is that? The rain is hard and angry right now. Sometimes I think there is someone on our roof actively chucking buckets of water over our gutters. Every now and then it changes over to snow but so far we have stayed a little too warm for the white stuff. Just lots and lots of rain.

I am, however, underwater and overwhelmed when it comes to my home right now. I still haven’t unpacked all of our suitcases or started on the laundry. My Christmas craft table isn’t even visible right now and Kevin has had to prop it up with additional pieces of lumber due to it’s enormous weight load. We still have our Halloween decorations up people!

Why the sad state of my house? Well, Kevin decided to surprise me on Friday. When I got home, not only did I have a new floor, I also had a new kitchen! Or at least new cabinets. In boxes. All over the house. Yes, Kevin visited IKEA and brought home Phase 1 of the great kitchen re-do. For the last three days we have been constructing, hanging, leveling, re-hanging, returning and exchanging cabinets. On Sunday, I actually spent over 4 hours driving back and forth and back and forth to IKEA due to various returns and snafus. As much as I love the new look, trying to do this right in the middle of the Christmas rush is pretty tough.

All is not lost, however. Tonight we broke out the footie pj’s for Kulia. Is there anything cuter than a little girl running around in pink footie pj’s? I think not.

Tonight I pass the mantle of cabinet installation to Kevin. I will be braving the rain for a grocery run as we have absolutely no food in the fridge. I have no idea what Kevin has been eating the last week but there isn’t a fresh fruit or veggie to be found in this house.

No time for pictures. Maybe once the rain stops pounding. Right now, it’s nose to the grindstone time people! Christmas is peeking around the corner and will be there before you know it.

Kulia survived her first trip to Disneyland and she did great.

It was crowded and overcast, rides were broken and lines long but Kulia was the best little trooper. She skipped from ride to ride. She hung on the bars in line and screamed with joy on the Toon Town roller coaster. We didn’t get to see any characters. They were pretty mobbed and everytime we found one, they were on their way for a water break. But the girls didn’t mind. Disneyland is just overwhelming as is. I’m hoping we can go back after Thanksgiving when everyone is back in school. Maybe then we could see the Princesses and hug Mickey.

Of all the rides, It’s A Small World stood out. They had decorated it for Christmas and changed the song to Christmas carols. It was beautiful. The girls were wiped by the end but made it back to the car without a melt down. I don’t know how much Kulia will remember, but I hope something of the day stays with her. What a great little trooper she is.

Wow, that was the easiest plane ride ever. The girls did great watching the little DVD and snoozing. After our 6 hour trip to Hawaii, a mere 2 hour jaunt down to LA is nothing. This was also the first time I didn’t lug a giant car seat onto the plane and that made a world of difference.

Leina was on fire the day of our trip. She was Ms. Chatty Kathy Social Butterfly and had everyone around her cracking up. She informed every person who made eye contact with her that she was going to visit her grandparents and going to Disney land. This cause quite a few chuckles and smiles but my favorite was the poor business man she cornered on the plane while we were waiting for everyone to board. After informing him about her trip to Disney Land, she asked if he was going too. If so, she told him to look for her so she could show him where her favorite Peter Pan ride was. Poor guy, he tried his best to bury his head into his iPhone but she was persistant. Eventually, he moved to another seat. Guess he didn’t want to chat with a 4 year old about Disneyland for two hours.

The girls are running around her like wild things. They love discovering all the strange stuff my parents have like harmonicas and old plastic easter eggs. Sleeping isn’t so hot. Last night Leina woke me at 1am, 2:30am, and the sister got up at 6:30am. Ugh. I have forgotten how horrible it is to deal with fragmented sleep. I’m optimistic that they will settle into their new beds nicely in the next few days and I can get some sleep!

Oh yes, Kevin found the charger. It was on my craft table mixed in with my bead box. Now, this discovery gives rise to two questions.

1. How did the camera charger get upstairs in my bead box?
2. What was Kevin doing looking in my beads in the first place?

Kevin appears to be surviving nicely. He has hung out with our buds Kat & Josh eating ribs, slept in, played on the computer, and has lined up several other dinners over the next few days. Even worse, he has the whole week off from work. So he gets to loll about doing whatever he wants without a poopy diaper in sight for the next 5 days. He can barely control the giddy.

We are heading to Disneyland tomorrow. It will be Kulia’s first trip and I’m so excited. DisneyLand with a child is truely magical. I’ll try and post a few picks when I get a chance. Hopefully, my sleep deprived kids will make it all day long!