Learning to Leap

*if you are among the great friends who have allowed your child to attend one of these birthday parties, please note that slight exaggerations have been made and I'm not talking about any of your kids....purely for entertainment purposes :)* I have six months before it all starts again. The long hours, the planning, the logistics, the stress. Every year at the closing ceremonies, I tell myself I'm NEVER doing that again. It was just too much work, too much everything, and then, as time goes by, my memory gets fuzzy. It seems like it was just fun and games and a beautiful memory I made for my daughters. I'm considering calling in the professionals this time around. I just can't take the stress. CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES. When you're new parents, you can just hardly wait for that one-year birthday party. You know the one. It's that birthday party you were invited to for your friend's baby and had to drag your less than eager husband to go to with y...

There is a new policy in this house. If we ever want to go anyplace on God's green earth which takes more than 12 hours to get to by plane, train, or automobile... it ain't happening'. You can just delete that little idea right out of your mind and move onto plan B. At least that is the policy for the next 10 to 15 years. Over the holidays, we drove to Dallas to have Christmas with my family. My baby sis and her husband were gracious enough to open their home to my parents, my older sister and her family, and, of course, the "Webber Wonders" as we like to call ourselves. We had a fabulous time. Really, we did. Laughter and fun time with cousins at my sister's house and here at a local park, and good food (which Timothy Ferriss would certainly NOT approve of on a non-cheat day). The problem was the drive. Twelve hours just about any way you cut it or any route you take. TWELVE, folks. That's a pretty 'fer' piece on the road when the back o...

Kids. They just really, really want to help, don't they? This is a picture of my youngest two helping make Christmas cookies and treats with my Mom. All the help is sweet, it really is, and someday I will miss it, the little hands trying to push the heavy vacuum cleaner and little feet splashing in the mud puddles they created while "helping" wash the car. But the truth is, most of the time kids hardly ever actually help. Most of the time they are creating more messes and stirring up more trouble and it's your job as a Mama to encourage them along in this endeavor. We're not to squish their spirit, you see, or over-correct their attempts to be helpful. We must be very careful so that we don't break down all their confidence and fast forward 15 years to see them rocking back and forth on the psychiatrist's couch. I have compiled a list of the top three times my girls have 'helped' around the house. 1.) This was what was going on in our home in ...

I hate pull-ups. I really do. They did absolutely NOTHING for my three girls when I was trying to potty train them. Wow! Fancy diapers!! Now I can wet my diaper like a BIG girl! You can imagine that this attitude tended to be slightly irritating to me. More expensive, less to a box, and my girls all treated them as a diaper upgrade instead of training pants. Forget that. And so, when it came time (b/c I really do put it off until my kids are practically begging) to potty train, we went straight to the real thing. You cannot even begin to imagine how many little girl panties we have around here. (And by the way, I really hate using that word on my blog, but it just loses impact if I use 'underwear', doesn't it?) Panties themed by days of the week, Hello Kitty, Strawberry Shortcake, Dora, Princesses, the Wiggles (which a friend pointed out to me is totally weird and creepy...a picture of five men on little girl panties? That's just wrong.), panties with flowers...

Sometimes our kids throw us for a loop. Just when you think you've got them figured out, their likes, their dislikes, their interests, etc., they change everything on you. They're a bit like volcanos which have the same volcanic activity for years and then, all of the sudden and for no apparent reason, erupt and everyone is taken by complete surprise. This is what happened in our family yesterday. You see, we are visiting my sister and her family in Texas this week. And, as we all know, there is a certain place here which nearly all little girls are drawn. What is it? The American Girl Store. Once our girls got wind of the fact that such a store existed, there was no getting out of it. They had to see it. It was a must. So when we took them to the Galleria to ice skate and it was way too crowded to have any fun at all, they started begging to be taken to the doll store instead. What could we do? They had seen the darn place when we drove in. Fine. We walked them ove...

A couple years ago, a book came out which has revolutionized my home. It has, without a doubt, been the single most impacting book my husband has read during our marriage. My dear husband and a couple of his close buddies have spent hours discussing the plethora of knowledge contained in the (many) pages of this, their newly discovered pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For lack of a better term, they have become groupies. Followers. I won't go so far as to say worshipers, but sometimes their behavior and adoration is pretty darn close. It could possibly qualify as a man crush. And who is this fantastic, larger than life author who has won the heart of my husband? None other than the man, the legend, a one Mr. Timothy Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Body . And I have to give him some props here...he inspired my husband to lose 30 pounds. I lost 30 as well using Ferriss' input as well as South Beach. It's been fun to work on it together and it is easier to chase...

This year I may have gone a little overboard on the Christmas decorating thing. I had a smallish party and wanted to make it special, so I did a few extra things like this: a little fresh greenery and some ribbon. A nice touch, I thought. I put some garland and big red ornament balls and lights on top of my china cabinet. It was lovely. I added a wreath to the mirror in the dining room and set the table with silver charger plates and my fine china. After all my effort and work (and even my sweet mother coming in to save the day just hours before the party and help me with the things I just couldn't get to), the big moment arrived. No, not the party guests. My husband. You need to understand something before I tell you what he said. My sweet husband is what is known as a minimalist. If left to his own devices and free will, he would live in a house with stark white walls, one futon couch, some paper cups and plates, and a bathroom. Done. He'd be in heaven. I find this ...