January 2017- Life is HARD!!

Guilty as charged.  So, remember at the end of the last post when I showed a picture of the supplement/candy cabinet?  Yeah, well even though I did not BUY that candy, I did EAT the candy.  And all of the baked goods that were delivered by the neighbors.  And all of the leftover food from Christmas.  And because I was starving, I also ate breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.

Because we don’t spend New Year’s Eve partying like it’s the end of the world as we know it, most of us were bright eyed and bushy tailed on January 1 (looking at you JPH).  So, we loaded the car with all of our winter gear and drove to Beaver Meadows for some tubing/sledding.  I have never been there before, which is weird because it’s in my backyard….if my backyard spans 30 miles and takes an hour to drive to.  My point is that you usually have to brave I-70 traffic up to the mountains to experience Colorado’s winter wonderland, so this was a nice surprise.  The pictures are no indication, but there was plenty of snow for the death traps sledding hills.  I have no pictures of the actual sledding, because I was too busy screaming like a little girl and holding on for dear life.   I am not kidding when I tell you that it was “extreme” sledding.  Big Bad John was even scared and chose not to go down the more treacherous runs.  Naturally, Malory loved it and didn’t seem to mind that she was flying around in midair, perilously close to coming face to face with a pine tree.

Once my blood pressure and heart rate returned to normal, I manage to locate all 3 of my children, all with legs, arms and heads still attached.   I needed some serenity in the form of an Irish Coffee (double shot of Jameson), and enjoyed watching them in non-life threatening activities.

Bear Hug!!!

Another thing that’s hard about January is finding things to entertain the little people during that last stretch of holiday break.  They’ve just come off the motherlode of holidays, and yet the newness of all the toys has dissapated already.  “Mom, I’m bored” is a phrase you’re sure to hear.  And, what you really want to say in reply is that there’s 10 loads of laundry to fold, groceries to buy, and dinner to cook.  Not to mention the fact that you’re counting down the days until school starts again.  

But, of course you don’t.  If you’re a smart mama (only took me 10 years) you have already signed them up for a few activities that week to get them out of your hair keep them happy and entertained.  

So, the part that I failed to consider is that I have THREE children.  I was so proud of myself for signing Jackson up for a 2-day cake decorating class, but didn’t consider that left the girls at home with nothing to do…cue the fighting.  Thank goodness for neighborhood friends and play dates!!

Anyway, I think I’ve documented a time or two that Jackson loves decorating cakes.  You can see his creations here  or here.  We thought it time for him to get some instruction other than watching Cake Boss.  I think it was a good decision…he won the award for “Best Use of Color”, which considering he was one of the youngest students, is quite an accomplishment.

Another way we kept ourselves entertained was following the shenanigans of Jackson’s lobster, Ocho.  He may look cute and harmless, but he’s a real a-hole to be completely honest.  See what he has trapped underneath himself?  Yup, that’s Cinco….an innocent goldfish.  At first we didn’t notice what the serial killer was up to, and thought he was just having fun swimming with his “friends.”  Then, we noticed the body parts.  And then we caught the little bastard red handed…or clawed if you will.

Here he is again, scoping out the joint, planning his next attack.  The other fish swim around, minding their own business, planning what they’re going to have for dinner, unaware of the danger lurking in their midst.  I am pretty sure the guy at Petco who sold us this lobster of death is negligent.

Even though January is a month to slow down and catch our breath after the hustle and bustle, there is one event that is a Harris Family must each year….The National Western Stock Show.  We break out our cowboy boots and hats, buy our rodeo tickets and pretend that we know what constitutes a good bull ride.  Oh, and Amber and I drink lemonade….and vodka…just like they do on the wide open range after cattle round-up.

Anyone want to guess why I volunteered to take this picture rather than be in it?

I know what you’re thinking?  All of those vodka lemonades + cowboy boots =  broken ankle.  Not exactly….I’ve been dealing with a particularly nasty case of plantar fasciaitis since October.  The fact that I keep running and jumping on it, yet wondering why it doesn’t get better led me to finally see the podiatrist.  I have a partially torn plantar fascia.  Six weeks in this bad boy.  Should really go a long way toward rectifying the situation from the beginning of this post.

Now, before you look at these next pictures and think I rewarded her tantrum with ice cream, I’ll have you know that this was the fix-it after a terribly frightening flu shot.  In previous years, she’s had the flu mist (which sounds awful to me), but because they didn’t have any and she’s around a bunch of snot-nosed sweethearts at preschool, this was our option.

Once again because the holidays were H-A-R-D on our waistlines and our checkbooks, we decided it was time for Jackson to pull his weight and get a job.    Here he is dressed up for his first interview.

Just kidding.  My sharp-dressed young man is headed to his first day of cotillion.  He was ready to learn some social graces and do a little dancing with some of his neighborhood friends.  John was in charge of getting him ready to go,  because I was attending the first ever meeting of the “Democrats Against Everything.”  We have 3 members, and we meet at The Rio.

So, let’s see….so far for the month we’ve established that I ate too much, drank too much and got literally no exercise.  Stellar start to 2017.  But, I did manage to begin one new habit….kombucha.  I’ve known for a while that it is loaded with gut-happy probiotics and could maybe help me ward off the steady stream of colds, flu, stomach ailments, and general malaise that we seem to pass around between November and March.  But, what kept me from drinking it is that it tastes like sh*t.  Like bad.  I considered mixing it with vodka to kill the taste.  Instead, I mixed it with a little LaCroix and plugged my nose with my fingers.

I am happy to report that over the course of the month, I managed to find 3 flavors that didn’t make me want to gag.  It really is an acquired taste.  I’ve also had a cold every week this month, so my experiment may be short lived.  Stay tuned.