embrace the hilarious

let's all be honest...motherhood can get a little crazy. in fact, if someone tells you that parenthood is only marvelous and glorious, you can pretty much question everything else that ever comes out of their mouth as being disingenuous. parenting is hard. we'll find ourselves getting caught up in mommy wars. we have days when we sarcastically feel like the "mother of the year." we'll have days that are wonderful and days where we find that our kids have learned how to finger paint with their own poop. it is wonderful as a whole and filled with some of the most difficult moments we will ever face. 

so, i've decided it's time to bring the funny back. it is already clear that i have a pretty simple and juvenile sense of humor. i find a lot of things funny. it's time we share some of those funny moments. we love to post pictures of our kids when they are amazing...winning a race, accomplishing something wonderful, looking especially lovely. what if we were really honest and took pictures of the things that made us laugh...even if they were less than glowing examples of our children or our parenting? wouldn't it take a little pressure off of all of us...to have the perfect children, to only post the perfect days, to have perfect days at all? here are my favorite stories and photos, used by permission from some fabulous moms...who have learned how to laugh in the middle of this adventure called mommyhood.

so, we've all seen pictures of kids who have cut their own hair. here's one of my favorites. i don't love it because of the original child's version of the cut.

i love it because of what his parents did to him as a result of the hair cut. i'm pretty sure he won't cut his own hair again.

then there are the stories of kids and their mispronunciations of words. i have to say that chach holds the award for the best story in this category. both of her boys have had some difficulty pronouncing the word, "truck." this can be extremely detrimental to a parent's pride because little boys love trucks. they love to play with trucks. they love to shout out "truck" whenever they see one. they generally yell their version of "truck" so everyone can hear. you can imagine my lack of bladder control when i would call chach and in the background i would hear her first born yelling "cock! cock! cock!" this phase seemed to last forever and it brought me to tears laughing each and every time i heard it.

then came her second born....and his pronunciation just about slays me. i have listened to this so many times and it makes me laugh over and over again. listen to the way he pronounces "truck" in this audio clip. 

second born "truck" pronunciation

seriously, is there anything more funny than that? it gets me every time.

then there is my friend who posted a picture of her son with the candle he had just made her as a gift. i don't know what i would do if my son brought this home. how can you keep a straight face? the most impressive thing about this photo is that she posted it on facebook...for the enjoyment of all of the rest of us.

last but certainly not least are the pictures my good friend sent this last year...as a part of her christmas card. now that is a mom with an amazing sense of humor. i am just glad that i'm fortunate enough to call her my friend. it was, by far, my favorite christmas card of the season. along with her news of the family, she sent two pictures drawn by her daughter. 

the first picture is a drawing of a "happy bat", drawn for her older brother who loves baseball. that is some bat.

the second picture was one that she drew for their family dog, "titus." let's see how long it takes you to laugh at this one. 

see...so much funny all around us. sometimes we just need to learn to laugh at ourselves...and at our kids. it sure makes things a ton more enjoyable. let's bring the funny back.

what about you? what hilarity have you been waiting to share?

Christmas traditions continued...

last week we posted some of our favorite Christmas traditions. this truly is our favorite time of the year and we are thrilled to share a few more activities that get us into the holiday spirit. if you have any other amazing ideas, please share them with us. we'd love to spread great ideas on with others. here are a few more of our favorites.

advent calendars - there are so many cute advent calendars out there. i love the ones you can fill with your own special treats each year. i love the idea of not just filling the little boxes up with candy but also adding personal and meaningful touches for each day. one friend of mine shared the idea of putting little coupons in some of the days. she does a coupon for a hot chocolate night, a Christmas movie night, a cookie baking day and other fun activities for your children to enjoy. as you are doing these in advance, you could also include fun day or night trips that you typically do at Christmas time to coincide with the perfect day for the planned activity. another friend put little nativity ornaments in certain days with the baby Jesus arriving on Christmas eve. as the ornaments are pulled from the calendar, they can be placed on the Christmas tree and then reused the following year. regardless of what you put in the calendar, this activity can build excitement for the holiday the whole month through.

advent calendars

Christmas train - wherever you live, chances are that somewhere, somewhat nearby there is a santa train. for our family, this has been a great opportunity to spend some time together as a family and enjoy a moment with santa as well. we are big "polar express" fans so this brings out the excitement in the youngest and oldest kids alike. search for a santa train in your area and made a new tradition out of it. most tickets can be purchased in advance and you'll love adding another magical outing with your kids at Christmastime.

Christmas cards - this is one activity that i alone take part in but where we all reap the benefits of. taking pictures for a family Christmas card can be exhausting and enough to pull anyone out of the Christmas spirit. still, every year we force ourselves to get some pictures together and make a card. the printing of the cards can be an added Christmas expense and the stamps can about push you over the edge but we have made giving Christmas cards a priority and we haven't been sorry. having lived in many different locations since we've been married, we have friends literally sprinkled across the globe. this is our one chance each year to let all of our friends know that, regardless of where they might be, they are not forgotten. that is worth every penny. when we receive cards in return, the kids love to see all the faces of people they once knew and to hear the stories about how we know our friends, near and far. it's a way to bring everyone a little bit closer during the holiday season and we will forever be thankful for that.

Christmas cards

Christmas movies - i grew up watching Christmas movies from november on. i love to sit and watch them still and some of the classics are my all time favorites. my all time favorite movie that tells the Biblical Christmas story is "the very first noel." this sweet little movie with the entire nativity story set to rhyme is perfect for kids from toddlers on. it never ceases to make me tear up. there are so many other great holiday films from "elf" to "miracle on 34th street" that you can literally watch an new movie every night and not run out of options. make december a month of family movie nights and let the festivities begin!

the very first noel

Christmas lights - we are fortunate to live in an area where there is a small (and i do mean very tiny) town nearby that is completely dedicated to decorating with Christmas lights. this place is magical and is definitely worth sitting in traffic for a half of an hour or more to get through. if you have any place nearby that goes "all out" with the Christmas lights, make the trip. there is nothing like seeing the wonder in the eyes of kids as they are exposed to the sparkle of millions of little lights. you can't help but get wrapped up in the beauty of it all.

Christmas lights/Christmas tree lanes

now it's your turn to share. what do you do to celebrate with your family during this festive time of year?