Fly on the Wall: Making Merry

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 5 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Menopausal Mother  

Spatulas on Parade  

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

• Me, Mama O.
• Daddy O.
• Big Sister, age 10
• Little Brother, age 8

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page.  Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

Around our House

Me (as I was cleaning for our kids’ joint birthday party): Maybe we should have people over more often. It really makes me clean our house.

Big Sister: I call 10 zero teen.

Little Brother (not wanting to do chores): What am I, your slave?!

During breakfast, Big Sister came up with this:

Get Happiness. It’s out there somewhere. It’s not in a store.

Profound, right?

As I was talking about plans and what I needed Daddy O. to do, he asked me to stop lecturing him. I replied, “I’m not lecturing. I’m talking in a loud voice….a stern, loud voice…oh wait…”

Where are my Kids?

It was a Saturday, and we were in the middle of a busy day.  I had just taken the kids grocery shopping and was now home unpacking groceries.  I started getting some things ready for lunch, but I noticed that I had no idea where the kids went.  Being the louder of the two adults in our house, I tend to call for my kids across the house.  I even stuck my head out the door and yelled their names. No answer.  Not. A. Peep.

I was getting kind of worried, so I decided to look for them, continuing to call their names.  I finally found them in the basement and made them come upstairs for lunch.

I explained to them, “When someone is yelling your name, you need to answer. I was getting worried that you ran off or something.  It’s not nice to make your mom worry.”

Very calmly, Little Brother chimed in, “Well, when I grow up and have kids, if I don’t like them, then I would just let them go.”

“What?!” I laughed…”You would just let your kids run away! That’s crazy.  I guess Daddy and I will be babysitting a lot, so you don’t lose your kids then.”

Making Merry

I had the chance to learn how to make my own wreath with my sister in law.  I loved getting crafty with her that morning.  We made really large wreaths with wire frames.  I was able to use boughs that we had cut down from our frasier fir tree that our kids named Timber. My sister in law used spruce that park rangers provided.

Here were the beautiful end results:

Christmas Quotes

During breakfast, Big Sister moved our countdown to Christmas calendar, and started singing, “There are 12 days till Christmas, and I don’t have a true love.”

I replied, “Well, your family can be your true love.”  Her answer, “Icky.”

I found some random handwritten notes from Little Brother in a box of scrap paper:

For the record, both kids have taken a bite out of old gingerbread ornaments.  I hope this note will serve as a reminder for them.

Another note said:

What is the saddest day for a child?

The day after Christmas.

The Spirit of Giving

This is the first year my kids had specific gift ideas for family members, so Daddy O. and I took separate shopping trips with each kid. I was so impressed with Little Brother as we bought gifts for a friend’s birthday, two kids in need from our schools, Daddy O. and Big Sister.

During our shopping, he said once, “Mom, this is on my Christmas list, ” but did not whine for it. He carefully helped me find gifts for each person on our list. We even took time to compare prices. He was so patient and well behaved. I was so proud!

After our trip, we rushed home and brought the gifts upstairs to wrap in his bedroom (just in case Daddy O. and Big Sister would be getting home before the gifts were wrapped).

Little Brother admitted, “I like wrapping gifts.”

Later Big Sister came home and had to sneak Little Brother’s gift upstairs for us to wrap.

“I can’t wait to see his face when he opens it,” she told me.

The spirit of giving was alive and well that day!

The next morning, Little Brother asked me if we could let Big Sister open her gift before Christmas. I told him that she can wait.

It’s so sweet to see these kids think of each other. They really love this time of year.  Little Brother even wore this one morning for breakfast.

Wishing you all much merriment and cheer this time of year!