Look what happened! Sydney somehow turned SIX today. Boo. She's got not one but TWO loose teeth right now. Sigh.

I'm actually thrilled that she's growing up. I'm just bummed that this 10 pounds of baby weight I'm still carrying apparently isn't actually baby weight? It's just...weight? Maybe I can call it "kindergarten weight"? Hmmm...

On Wednesday night, Daddy took Sydney out on a DATE. She thought it was hysterical that one of MY first dates was ALSO with Daddy back in the day!



Today we had some fun girl time together, then a little party here at home.




On Sunday afternoon we will head to Boston to the AMERICAN GIRL PLACE (that's an all-caps kinda place, ya know) with our friends Bridget & Mrs. Shaughnessy. Pictures to come on that one.

So, here's a neat little fact you may not know about my "mom-ness". I ABHOR theme clothes on my kids. I detest and am a very non-fan of theme clothes. You'll never see Colin in a Spiderman shirt, or Sydney rocking Tinkerbell shirts. The only exception to this preference I have is their underwear. They can go crazy on those...and they do. Cars & Bob the Builder on him; Hello Kitty & Disney princesses on her. But I need you to know that even THEN, it is difficult for me to breathe knowing that under those cute Gap clothes are....*gasp*....theme clothes.

Well--all of that changed when we went to Disney in November. OH MY GOSH...the Mouse got to me. The marketing is GENIUS, man, GENIUS. We came home with Disney mugs, Disney pens, Disney picture frames, Disney salt & pepper shakers (yup--you read that correctly!), and Disney SHIRTS. Many Disney shirts.

Which leads me to today. Sigh. Colin chose his own clothes this morning, and here's what he picked...of COURSE.



A Disney shirt. And not just any Disney shirt...my absolute least favorite one. The GOOFY one. Fine, good, great....his choice, right?

And it was all okay until this exchange:

Colin: MOM! Guess what?? I'm Student of the Week this week at school!

Me: Really, buddy?! That's awesome...nicely done!

Colin: Thanks...and guess what?!

Me: What's that?

Colin: I got to go down to the office this morning, and they took my picture, and it's gonna be up in the hallway, and in the newsletter on Friday, and EVERYONE at school gets to see it...for a whole week!!

Me: ...silence...pause...collecting thoughts. Ummm, honey...was the camera reaaallly close up when they took the picture, or did your WHOLE BODY, like you SHIRT specifically, get in the picture?

Colin: Oh--my whole body! And I'm wearing my GOOFY shirt!!

And that just served as a reminder that one does not have children to boost one's ego.

And there's a better than even chance that the Goofy shirt may meet a tragic end in a laundry incident in the near future.

We had a huge storm here last Thursday night. We lost power for 4 days.

The power came back on Sunday night.

Both of the kids' fish...did not.

I think if you aren't a dog around here...I just can't make any guarantees.

Went to a few of our favorite places in Boston today...

They had to check my backpack as we exited the aquarium...just to make sure this guy wasn't in there. I swear--one of these days I'm gonna figure out how to get one home.



That Codzilla thing almost ate Colin,



and then YIKES!



Phew...glad we made it home safely.

Love school vacation week--makes me anxious for summer to get here! It's just so much fun to hang with those kids...

Dear Winter Olympics,

How DO your NBC correspondents manage to find the most heart-wrenching stories of athletes who've overcome & endured to excel in their sports? Nooo...it's not just a Double McTwist 1260...nooooo. It's a Double McTwist 1260 done by someone who was BORN WITH A HEART CONDITION. Riiiight, of course.

I am writing to see if you could please give me my life back. My way-too-late nights are spent rewinding & re-watching the best crashes, wins, and ceremonies...all while drowning in a sea of snotty tissues. Our mornings? The kids watch the highlight reel while eating their cereal...and they're NOT ALLOWED TO EAT IN THE LIVING ROOM!!!

I need sleep. We need to be on time to catch the school bus. We need our couch cleaned.

Hey, guys...maybe just a week instead of two next time?

Sincerely,
The Farris Family
P.S.-- You have to be CRAZY to do that skeleton thing. And ice dancing is boring.

Every night while I stand in front of the stove making dinner, Pooch stands about a quarter of an inch away from my left foot--in hopes that something may hit the floor. Sydney just passed me this note...

A SENTENCE!! SYDNEY WROTE A SENTENCE! With punctuation and everything!

This is such good news---because it proves that there really IS something other than a family of squirrels dancing to a continuous loop of the High School Musical soundtracks up there in her brain!!

WOOHOO!!!

Nothing says "I love you" like a Snuggie and some public humiliation via the internets...

And is it humiliating to be photographed wearing a Snuggie, or is the mere fact that you now OWN a Snuggie the real humiliation???

Hmmm....you're welcome, honey! Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Birthday to MEEEE!!!

My favorite gift of the day was from my kids. It was a book, and on the cover was written,

The Things We Love About Mommy
Written and Illustrated by Colin & Sydney Farris

The majority of the book was incredibly kind ("Mommy ROCKS"), but before you get all "awwwwww, how sweet"...let me share my two favorite lines:

1. We love our Mommy because of how nice she is to us most of the time.
2. We love Mom since she is the 1st nicest person after Dad.

What? Huh?

We'll see if they save themselves when they write Daddy HIS birthday book in April!

Didn't EVERYONE tell me that it's impossible to kill a beta fish?

Well, we did it in a little over a month. And he didn't just die. He got like all mushy & stinky...like overnight. Ewwww.....

Colin's turn! Honestly, I was a little apprehensive on the whole skating thing for him, but it turns out he LOVED it! He only fell once (a nice hard one right on the behind, too!), and by the time we left he was really getting the idea.


Here's a little clip. I took this video on his FIRST time around the rink. That makes the video noteworthy not only for how well he's staying on his feet on his VERY first try, but also because he's already asking how long we plan to do this skating thing. HA! After a couple more times around, he did stop watching the clock!

Colin skating! from Jennifer Farris on Vimeo.

Every night, the very last thing we do before we go to bed is go up and kiss the kids. I adjust their blankets & stuffed animals, sit and stare at them for a minute, tuck in all their parts until they are warm & snuggly---then give them a final kiss.

This is what that looks like with Colin each night.



And this is what all of that looks like across the hall in Sydney's room each night.

Took Sydney for her FIRST ice skating experience today! She did really well. In fact, the ONLY time she really fell was not when she was actually skating--it was when she realized she could use the blade to shave off "snow piles", and managed to fall over from a dead standstill. Sporty, that one.


The start of great things:



There was a man who offered to take a picture of both of us together. How nice--so I took him up on it. When he offered, though, he was still ON THE GROUND after just having wiped out again. Should've known we'd have some focus issues. Too bad--it would've been a cute one if he'd been able to snap it BEFORE he started falling backward again!



And this is Sydney in the penalty box. Where she will also most likely spend much of the years 2017-2021, I'm guessing.



They had these great walker deals to help the new skaters with their footing. In true Sydney style, she put a spin on it and decided to shoot the thing 15 feet ahead of her and then skate to it. Well, that's one way to do it. I'm gonna assume that I am, however, the only mother out there who used the actual words "you don't wanna kill any other kids"?

Sydney Skating! from Jennifer Farris on Vimeo.

Good afternoon. Good times. Colin goes next Sunday.

Congratulations, Massachusetts. I didn't think you had it in ya.

WOOHOO and phew...

It's so hard to post again after that last one of Colin busting it out in the shower, but I guess it's time to move on.

....................sigh................

Let me introduce you to our chore chart! It's in the kitchen, and it is my favorite thing in this house. Well, right behind the package of Oreos---also in the kitchen.

Those kids went NUTS today to get these 100 points. I am so proud of how hard they worked, how well they worked together, the lack of complaining, and even the initiative they showed with their willingness to find & complete tasks that weren't even on the list!

All of this work was performed to earn a trip to go see Alvin & the Chipmunks tomorrow...really? All that work? You'd truly have thought there were a couple of his & hers BMW's on the other side today, but nope. The vote is in, and it's the movies. Simple pleasures. Dig it.

And for those of you who can't help but wonder---no, the "extra credit" points are NOT for bringing me food & rubbing my feet as I watch The Bachelor. But I've considered it.

Taylor Swift shower! from Jennifer Farris on Vimeo.

Caught my friend Colin in the middle of a "shower concert" last night. I don't know what my favorite part of this little video is.

The fact that it's a Taylor Swift song?
His expression when he realizes he's been caught?
The botched lyrics?
The key change halfway through?
Him asking if I'd like a nice butt shot?

Nope--I think the best part comes right at the end...when he thanks his fans. In a southern accent, no less.

Colin & I have a little Sunday morning tradition where he laughs hysterically while reading the comics, and I cut coupons out of the Sunday paper. We were sitting together doing that yesterday when he started asking what the coupons were all about. I get STOKED about a bargain, so was more than happy to entertain any and all questions. He got to the one for some new fantastic Olay face cream ($5 off--woohoo!!)...

Colin: "What do you need that for?"

Mommy: "Because I am VERY old, and putting this cream on my face will make me look NOT as very old."

Colin: "Because you want to look like Cindy Crawford??"

Mommy: Laughing out loud--- "ummm, yeah, I guess...but don't you think that I'm already prettier than Cindy Crawford?"

LOOOOOONG PAUSE...

Colin: "ummmmm...I'm not sure."

So--until further notice (like when he tells me I'm prettier than Cindy Crawford!), Colin will not be allowed to watch that stupid infomercial for her stupid face cream which is sold solely on the merits of her stupidly beautiful face.

Geesh.

This turkey waited ALL YEAR to be our Christmas dinner...see how happy she is about it?!

She can't even stop smiling, eh?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The playdough worked well last year--as in, we got an extra hour of sleep while they played. So stupid me FORGOT the playdough this year, and then Colin's note to Santa specifically mentioned the playdough...so then I had to go under the tree & open the UP movie and VOILA! Problem solved---and if all goes well...that'll be TWO extra hours of sleep tomorrow morning. HA!



...and the stockings were hung on the railing with care, in hopes that the Whoopee cushions would soon appear.

Really? You don't need to hope, my dear children. Your mommy may have forgotten the playdough, but she will NEVER forget the Whoopee cushions.

So bummed I didn't think of this first!
Hysterical.