Christmas List

1.  Wish for a White Christmas.  Get wish, over and over and over again.  Watch husband shovel copious amounts of snow.  Shovel some snow yourself.  Send kids with cabin fever outside.  CHECK.

2.  Decorate tree.  Decorate it some more.  Decorate while drinking.  CHECK.

3.  Knit matching Christmas sweaters for the kids.  Listen to husband talk about how dorky matching Christmas sweaters are.  Keep mouth shut so as to avoid having to shovel again.  CHECK.

4.  Watch kids watch non-stop Christmas shows.  CHECK.

5.  Enlist baking elves, some of them pantless elves, to assist with Christmas Eve meal preparations.  CHECK.  

6.  Become totally desperate to end all fighting.  Have elf, Terra, send Maguire and Gannon threatening note about not fighting anymore.  CHECK.

We are officially ready for the Christmas festivities.  Bring it on.  

Merry Christmas!! To those of you who are far away, we miss you.  You are not far from our thoughts and hearts.

Love,

Momma T. and the Mighty Murphys

Sacramental Advice

My baby girl did her first reconciliation this week.  She is officially sin-free.  She took the whole thing very seriously, which made us proud.  She learned her Act of Contrition; she read and re-read her reconciliation pamphlet; she asked lots of questions about sin; she made a beeline to the head Jesuit priest who had come to help hear the dozens of kids' confessions so she could be sure her confession would be heard by the "boss priest;" and, of course, she planned her outfit.  

The morning after the reconciliation service, she was up at about 5:30 am.  She had gotten out her art supplies and was making a card of some sort.  I snooped and saw that the card was titled, "Dear Gannon."  She worked on this card for a while.  Finally, a lightbulb went on for me, and I asked her if this was part of her penance. 

She paused and said, "Yes.  I thought I should finish my penance before Santa comes."

That's good advice, people.  Good advice.  Go forth and finish your penance so you don't get coal.

Love,

Momma T.

Wild Wild West

This post has been a long time coming.  It's about a month late.  Oh well.  It's taken us that long to recover from our wild, wild west adventure with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandma and Grandpa are wild - what can you do?

The seven of us boarded planes headed for the wild west to get in touch with our inner cow-persons.  We headed to Phoenix for five days of adventure mixed with posh.

We rode a train and hijacked a stage coach.

We landed ourselves in jail for the hijacking stunt, but Grandma bailed us out.

After she bailed us out, Grandma took the kids for a stroll along train tracks...in front of a train.

We thought about climbing a tower of water, but at the last minute, decided that wasn't such a good idea.

Gramps and the big kids ran into some rapscallions who tortured them by making them lie on a bed of nails.

We also ventured into the desert to find our fortune in gold.  But the only gold we found was in Gramps' wallet.

The kids also rode a frog.

And every night, we headed back to our domicile, to rough it like cowboys of old, in a palatial house set into the Fountain Hills, complete with hot tub, heated pool, and outdoor grilling area.  

Thanks for the great trip, Grandma and Gramps.  We had a blast.  

Love,

Momma T. and her cow-persons

We Did It Up Right This Year

We have very, very dear family friends, the Kestners.  Pete and Melissa went to law school with Ryan and me.  We've known them for what feels like ages, in the best sense of that saying.  They have five kids - - they're a traveling party.  A few years back, we started a holiday tradition - Fourth of July at our house and Halloween at theirs.  This year, we did Halloween up right.

The celebrations started with some good old-fashioned pumpkin carving.  Awesome.

Then, we spent Halloween Saturday at this giant corn maze/amusement park/petting zoo/corn pool.  Yes, CORN POOL; it was probably the highlight of the day. Fun was had by all, even the daddies.  

The kids even rode a camel - - in Minnesota -- in October.  PETA must not have seen the ad.  Oh well.  Twenty bucks and two camel rides later, there was joy.

And finally, we trick-or-treated.  It was over 40 degrees this year and there was no snow, so I'm pretty sure the world is coming to an end.  In light of the fair weather, the mommies decided to accompany the superheros and the lady bug on their quest for candy.  

Melissa donned her full-length down coat (she gets cold in mid-September) and took the youngest of her five out for some treats.  She doesn't have too many years of this left.  There is sadness and joy in that.

Because of the abundance of superhero muscles and powers, we felt brave enough to trick-or-treat at the haunted (tent) house this year.  That place has scared us off in the past.

Then we headed back to count our loot and keep Superman from stealing all the good chocolate.

A hallowed eve was had by all.  Happy Halloween.

Love,

Momma T.

A Word To The Wise

My Mighty Murphys bake a lot of cookies.  I mean, like, on a weekly basis.  We're homemade cookie freaks.  This week, we made our Halloween sugar cookies.  Maguire reads the recipes; I do the heavy mixing; Gan asks the questions; and then we all decorate, even Roj.  

This year, my Mighty Murphys did not disappoint.  Seriously, look at the artistry in these cookies.  There're the Picasso-esque cookies, the traditional-Halloween-themed cookies, the Jackson Pollock cookie - - a little something for every art lover.  If you squint, there's one that even looks a little like an Impressionist Era meadow field or something.  Talent, I tell you, they've got talent.  

Here they are, hard at work.

The true work of art was my kitchen floor.  It did not have thousands of tiny little sprinkles on it post-cookie.  We've never achieved this level of cleanliness post-cookie. Sigh...they're growing up.  

We're sharers too.  We like to share the cookie love.  But before you indulge in a Mighty Murphy cookie, we'd be remiss if we didn't give you a little warning.  DO NOT EAT THE ROJO COOKIES.  He's a spoon-licker and a double-dipper.  Lord only knows what kind of little germs he's got on him at any given moment.  He eats dirt, what can I say?

The big kids were happy to show off their creations when all was said and done.

And Roj ended up where he always ends up post-cookie - - in a full body wash.

So, this Halloween, stay clean, stay healthy, and stay away from cookies with fingerprints and lick marks.  Words to live by.

Love,

Momma T.

When they think I'm not looking...

A lot of stuff happens around here, stuff that doesn't happen when the kids and Ryan know I'm paying attention.  I've started to tune into the "secret" stuff over the last few weeks, and it's been horrifying and uplifting at the same time.

The horrifying part is that, when I was not looking the other day, Ronan dumped a basket of clean, WHITE, laundry and proceeded to throw it all into the ashy fireplace.  Lovely.  I also found a piece of burnt wood and some ashy clothes down the laundry chute. I have no idea how he found the time.  He laughed at me as I was picking the clothes out of the fireplace.  I have no pictures of any of this because I was too distraught and I don't want to have a visual reminder.  

But then, there were the sweet moments.  When I wasn't looking the other day, Maguire and Gan got Ronan all buckled up in the wagon and took him for a walk.  Roj loves the wagon.  When he escapes out the back door, we always find him sitting in the wagon ready for a ride.  The wagon ride was too sweet for words.  At one point, Gan even reached down and held Roj's hand while they were walking.  I almost teared up.   Okay, so I did tear up.  I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

Then, yesterday, the boys were outside "playing" while I was getting dinner ready.  They didn't know I was watching, which was why they decided to wrestle and engage in some weird ninja-sword-wielding exercises.

When I wasn't looking last night, Roj took the opportunity to snuggle Ryan and tell him, in his baby ways, that he loves him best in the world, always has, always will.

I plan to start paying better attention around here.

Love,

Momma T.