Cheese + Penguins = Bad Mom?

On Saturday, Cory got tickets to the final K-State football game of the regular season in Manhattan. For some reason, he really enjoys going to these games, so he left us Lafferty Ladies to fend for ourselves. Yep, it was a Lively Lafferty Lady solo evening adventure.

The last couple days in KC have been absolutely beautiful, weather-wise. And, because as you all know, I very rarely cook, I decided to take the girls out of the house and to their favorite place to eat: Noodles. We are just sitting, minding our own business and enjoying dinner when a cute little old lady comes up to tell me how cute the girls are. I thank her, smile and continue eating.

Then, another woman comes up. "Your girls are so cute."
"Thanks," I said.
"Are you girls eating mac and cheese?" she asked, looking at Molly and Charlotte.
"Yes," I answered (the girls usually don't talk to people we don't know), "we love mac and cheese in our house."
"I'm a daycare provider, and my kids just don't like mac and cheese."
"Really?" I ask politely.
"Well, I think the problem is that I cook everything really healthy for them. I always make everything with really healthy whole grains and no additives, plus lots of vegetables and proteins. So, I just think they don't like the taste of something unhealthy like mac and cheese."

Um. Ok. As my children are gobbling down the cheese and butter ooey gooey goodness of Noodles mac and cheese. Talk about making this non-cooking mom feel like crap.

At that point, I kind of mumbled something like, "wow, huh, interesting," or something to that extent. And, then she finally walked away. I'm not sure if she was trying to say something about what my girls were eating, or if she was just making conversation, but either way, I was done. Thanks, lady.

Once we finished our delicious, but apparently completely unhealthy mac and cheese, I decided we needed to do something fun to make up for feeling like a bad mom. Plus, I wanted to take advantage of the 60 degree weather on December 1st. I had several ideas about what to do.

I have been really wanting to take the girls ice skating and thought it would be a great night to try it. But, I'd of course want to take pictures of the experience (I have a really cute scrapbook kit for skating!). And, I couldn't figure out a good way to help both Molly and Charlotte on their first times on skates and be able to take adorable pictures, too. I could just picture all three of us falling on our butts, and me dropping my really expensive, really nice new camera. I didn't see it ending well.

I also thought about driving around to look at Christmas lights, but that wasn't exactly taking advantage of the weather. We can ride in the car just as easily when it's 60 degrees as when it is 20 degrees.

Then, I came up with a plan: the Penguin House! For those of you not in the know, the Penguin House is actually "Paulie's Penguin House." It is a house completely decorated in inflatable penguins, polar bears, Santas and other polar animals. I mean, completely decorated. On the house, on the fence, in the yard, on the roof. Everywhere. You park your car and can actually walk through the yard to look at all the different inflatables. Plus, it's just a family that decorates their house. It's completely free, but they take donations for the Leukemia Society. It's just a really cute thing to do. Especially on a 60-degree night in December.

So, we headed over, and the girls were so excited. Cory had taken them last year on a day when I was sick, so I didn't go, but I know it wasn't as nice of weather as we were getting. I didn't even have coats on the girls, plus I was sweating in my sweater and vest. Crazy. Anyway, we got over and started exploring.

Charlotte is in LOVE with polar bears.

Posing with another polar bear.

Then, they found the snow. Ok, so it wasn't real snow. They have this bubble-soap-snow-machine that makes this snow-like bubble substance and sends it flying down through the air every couple minutes. It took everything I had to get Molly out of that after she discovered it.

Luckily, we were on our own for the evening, and it was beautiful out - I let them play pretty much as long as they wanted. I mean, I had already been called out for being a bad mom that night, I might as well just let my kids play to their hearts' content in weird bubble stuff at a strange house covered in inflatables, right?

I just can't stop laughing at Charlotte's face in this picture.

Posing with the snow in front of an igloo - with no coat!

Her shirt kind of says it all: "Snow much fun"

In front of just one of the many displays of penguins.

The kid was having a  ball.

"Mom, can I bring it home?"

In the snow storm!

It ended up being a great evening for us Lafferty Ladies, despite being abandoned for a football game and being called out for my kids' food choices. We ran into an old friend while we were playing in the snow at the penguin house, and then after it all, we came home and watched "Madagascar Christmas." Yep, nothing like rotting their brains with TV right after rotting their stomachs with mac and cheese.

Go ahead. You can nominate me now for Mother of the Year.

Lafferty Ladies

Santa Overload

The other day, while driving in the car (where all the best conversations happen), I got a stumper of a question from Molly.

"Mommy, how many Santas are there?"

I panicked for a second, then calmed down enough to ask her why she was asking. She explained, "well, we saw Santa today, but the one that Penelope is sitting on in her Christmas card has glasses like Papa, and the other Santa had glasses, but Santa today had a different kind of glasses."

Well, first off, I was impressed that Molly had those keen powers of observation. I'm not sure as a 4-year-old, I would've noticed that some Santas wear certain glasses while others wear a different kind. And, second, I really hope we're not overexposing Molly to Santa. I don't want to give her too many opportunities to second-guess the very existence of the jolly old elf. I'm sure it's easier to not catch the inconsistencies in Santa when you don't actually see the man all the time.

As it is, Molly's already seen Santa from far away once, sat on his lap twice, and talked to him once on the phone. She's told him what she wants three times, and explained that she's been a good girl three times. She probably thinks that Santa is having lots of "senior" moments, forgetting that he's already been told the same thing over and over and over.

The first time we saw Santa was back right before Thanksgiving when we went up to the Legends Christmas Tree Lighting. Santa flew in on a helicopter. We already had to do some quick thinking to explain the helicopter vs. sleigh phenomenon. But, luckily, he was far enough away that you couldn't see if he had glasses, or what type of those glasses they were.

The next time we saw Santa this season was at Molly's Christmas dance show. She actually danced really well and loved being on stage. Then, the surprise guest at the end of the show ... Santa!

Molly explaining that she wants a desk and a Barbie car.

Yup, Charlotte was terrified. Molly took over and told Santa that Charlotte wanted a baby doll.

Then, we had Molly's preschool Christmas performance. All the precious little preschoolers sat on the chancel and sang adorable Christmas songs, complete with hand movements and bells. Made me cry just thinking that she was going to be too big for it next year. Or, it could've been the fact that 50 preschoolers were ringing bells, trying to stay on rhythm. Anyway, she did a great job singing, and the surprise guest at the end of the show ... Santa!

After explaining (again) that she wanted a desk and a Barbie car.

This Santa got bonus points because he gave her a gift right there.  A new book!!!

So, for now, Molly accepted my explanation that Santa just has different glasses and outfits, just like Mommy wears glasses sometimes and not other times. She seemed to take that at face value. We have one more time to see Santa at Papa's Rotary breakfast on Friday. Who knows what kind of glasses that Santa will be wearing?!?

 Let's hope the sweet, innocence of believing in Santa lasts for a while longer. And, hey, at least she doesn't have an older brother to ruin it for her like I did. That's gotta give her one or two more years, don't you think?


PS. I have a video of her talking to Santa on the phone that is pretty darn funny, but I cannot figure out how to get the video from the camera onto the computer. We're keeping our fingers crossed Santa drops a new flip cam down the chimney along with the desk and baby doll.

Non-Grimm Gingerbread Houses

I've never been a fan of the Grimm fairy tales. Molly received a giant book of them when she was little. While reading them to her, my mind is constantly spinning, trying to figure out an easy way to change the endings so everyone doesn't die. I know, I know, I'm sure I'm being an overprotective, sheltering mom, but I just can't get on board with reading my 4-year-old daughter stories about her favorite princesses complemented with gore, blood and death. I just can't stomach explaining why Cinderella's step-sisters would cut parts of their feet off in order to fit in the golden slipper. I already have a hard enough time answering the "Where's Nemo's mommy?" question.

One of my least favorite stories is Hansel and Gretel. I mean, really. Two starving children are abandoned in the woods and lured to almost certain death by the appeal of a giant gingerbread house covered in candy. They do manage to escape the evil witch's plans, and instead push her into an oven, but still. The entire premise is just disturbing. First the children are abandoned by their parents. Then, a house made of candy is turned into a torture chamber while the witch prepares to EAT the children. I mean, sure there's a lesson about not touching what doesn't belong to you, or not taking candy from strangers, but really, must the story be so graphic?

Maybe I'm particularly bothered by this story because, throughout my whole childhood, my family has made gingerbread houses during Christmastime. My mom would make the houses, then each child would decorate their own house with candy galore. We invited our friends and had every type of candy, marshmallows, cookies, crackers, and frosting to choose from. Each house ended up looking completely different, despite pulling from the same pile of decorating goodies. I always loved to decorate the yard, best. The teddy graham fence was a favorite of mine. Personally, I never chose to eat the candy off my finished house (I spent way too much time creating a masterpiece), but I don't believe that children who do eat their candy should be punished by being pushed into an oven by an old witch. My own, humble opinion.

Christmas Buzz

Santa Claus is coming to town, Santa Claus is coming to town ...

Ok, I know that it is still November, and that it hasn't passed Thanksgiving yet, but I am in the Christmas spirit. Sue me. Judge me. Ridicule me. Do whatever you want, but I'm not giving up that Christmas buzz. You know the one. The buzz that makes you tap your toes and hum along with Christmas music. The buzz that makes your eyes shine as you stare at lights strung on trees and houses. The buzz that makes you snuggle close with your loved ones while the wind whips outside your home and you watch Christmas movies. It's here. And, I've got it.

Now, I used to be one of those people who insisted that you shouldn't even start seeing anything Christmas-related until after Thanksgiving. My birthday is always right around Thanksgiving (sometimes on the actual day), and I think my distaste for pre-Thanksgiving holiday cheer stemmed from my birthday getting lost in the shuffle. However, as I've grown older, I've changed my tune.

Remember when you were a little kid counting down the days until Santa came? I used to open one tiny door on my advent calendar each morning and couldn't possibly imagine that the 25th would ever arrive. Now, being older and having children of my own, I feel like the entire month of December flies by in a blink of an eye. In fact, you can toss November in there, too, because it's over pretty much right after Halloween. Entire holiday seasons would be over before I really had enjoyed them. In light of this apparent fast-forwarding of time, I've decided that I'm going to get over my previously stringent rule on pre-Thanksgiving Christmas cheer. I will welcome that Christmas buzz when it floats my way, even if we are a week before Turkey day.

Tonight, a full five days before the 4th Thursday in November, we fully embraced the Christmas cheer. We bundled up the girls and went to see the Legends Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Now, different cities have different lighting ceremonies. You've got Rockefeller Tree Ceremony in New York with Al Roker hosting and Justin Bieber singing. Here in Kansas City, the big lighting ceremony is the Plaza Lighting Ceremony on Thanksgiving night, hosted this year by meteorologist Gary Lezak and the awesome Eric Stonestreet (a KC native aka Cam on Modern Family). The one time I remember going to the Plaza Lighting Ceremony was on my 16th birthday. It was cold, ridiculously crowded, and we didn't get anywhere close enough to see anything happening on stage. It's not worth braving the crowds to see that again, as amazing as I think Eric Stonestreet is. So, we went with the low-key, closer-to-home Legends, hosted by meteorologist Brett Anthony and Santa Claus.


On a side note: Seriously, what is with weather guys hosting lighting ceremonies? Is there some kind of correlation between TV weathermen and Christmas? An unwritten rule of which I was not aware? It's just baffling to me.