No more break! For the rest of those suckers anyway.

 We had our end-of-break feast, and I was charmed by how seriously the kiddos take their sparkling grape juice.  We are still eating turkey, BTW.  A 12-pound turkey and 4 extra drumsticks is a day of turkey and sides, a day of leftovers with turkey soup, a day of turkey soup and sandwiches, and now my very favorite thing that the Pioneer Woman says I should make:  turkey tetrazzini.  Not bad for like $50 worth of meat.

 Harrison also won our hotly contested house Mario Kart 8 championship.  We played like crazy all week, and he ended up with the best record.  Probably because he spent most of everyday racing and racing and racing.  ben and I could only play when we rid ourselves of the babies, and for a couple of days, my hands were permanently cramped in Wii remote position.  SO FUN.  A ton like Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64 that took up a large part of my undergrad time.

 And then, just like that, the temperature dropped like 30 degrees, and the kids went back to school.  I knew I would really miss them, and I did, but that first day when the boys walked to school and Ben took Cooper to preschool and stayed at a coffee shop prepping his classes, and it was just Dorothy and me between 8:30 and 11:30.  Man was it nice.  By 11:30, I had cookie dough chilling in the fridge so I could make cookies that would still be warm when the big boys got home, I had a workout and a shower.  Dorothy and I were both dressed, and I had 4 loads of laundry done and put away and Harry and Jack's bathroom wiped down.  That's more productive than I was the entire break.  Plus Dorothy was playing tea party and I was almost done with a Scarpetta book.  A really great morning.

 Today, we were a little lazier, and Ben worked from home.

 Dorothy got some new boots because her brown Uggs do not appeal to her anymore.  Everything must be pink.  I was happy to oblige.

 Dorothy loves to plop down in Beatrix's bed and say "Chee," and she's right--I usually do take  a picture.

Today, I volunteered in Jack's class, and his teacher was having me read a book about dolphins to groups of 3 kids at a time (which? holy shit-- just let me read it once to all the kids because I cannot engage about dolphins for 60 minutes-- fortunately, the 6-year-olds can.  They all watch Wild Kratts and know a shit ton about dolphins.  I did find it totally alarming that they didn't know mammals have milk.  The picture of a nursing dolphin blew their minds.  So I talked with them about other animals that have milk, and they were shocked that anyone besides cows made milk.  I asked if they knew that mommies had milk, and they all giggled like I told a potty joke.  What the hell, first graders?).  Before I took the first kids out in the hallway, (DID YOU KNOW DOLPHINS LIVE IN RIVERS??? I did not but the Wild Kratts already told that to all the kids apparently) she walked me through the book in case it was over my head and explained to me that it was non fiction.  I mean, I was happy for the refresher.  I have been on break and all, you know.

TLC Blog Tour 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do

I am doing another TLC Blog Tour review, this time for Amy Morin's new book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, a book-length expansion of her viral list of the same name that debuted on the Forbes website last fall.

You guys!  I should have read this book BEFORE I freaked out in the Southwest boarding line and didn't get on the plane for Disney.  It is full of helpful tips and suggestions and is written in a really straightforward and approachable way.

I took this really great How Mentally Strong Are You quiz and found that (NO SURPRISE) I have a hard time taking calculated risks.  I also need to work on controlling only what I can control-- and let me tell you, this has been a thing I have been working on for years.  YEARS.  You should take this quiz because the results are fascinating and really accurate-- at least they were for me.  Because the results are broken down by area-- giving away power, taking calculated risks, shying away from change, wallowing in self pity, etc-- the quiz provides a very thorough explanation at the end which helped bring to light the principles Morin discusses in the book.

According to Morin, mentally strong people do not

• Waste time feeling sorry for themselves
• Give away their power
• Shy away from change
• Focus on things they can't control
• Worry about pleasing everyone
• Fear taking calculated risks
• Dwell on the past
• Make the same mistakes over and over
• Resent other people's success
• Give up after the first failure
• Fear alone time
• Feel the world owes them anything
• Expect immediate results

Far from a simple checklist, these traits (or, rather, the negative description of positive traits the reader can think mentally strong people DO possess) serve as the organizing principle for Morin's book.  Each chapter opens with a case study from Morin's own therapy practice and a discussion of the trait in general, then provides a description of how readers can improve their mental strength in each area.

Morin opens the book with her own powerful story and discusses how she came to be a mental strength expert.  She does a good job of using examples from her own life and her own practice throughout the book to humanize her advice and break up the monotony of bullet points.  This was a quick and engaging read, but I wonder why Morin uses negative phrasing throughout.  As a rhetorician who is interested in Kenneth Burke, I think it is too simple to argue that if one thing is NOT true, its opposite must be true.  Perhaps this is Morin's point, that mentally strong people display their strength is a myriad of ways, but I couldn't help but hear Tolstoy in my head ("All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.")  I was put off by the negative phrasing throughout which sounded quote awkward at times.

This is a small complain, though, because the over all message of the book was excellent, and I am so happy I read it.

Check out an audio clip of the book here

And take the quiz!

Best winter break ever? I think it might be.

Ben and I are both too damn dumb to work our new camera,  and we had some random button pushed somewhere (?), and all of our pictures from the last 2 days have been blurry.

Except for this one of everyone's backs at the zoo.

Doesn't Dorothy totally look like a KID?  She ran around the zoo just like everyone else, frolicking very seriously and saying hello and good bye to all of the animals.  She also HATED hated hated going inside the giraffe enclosure because it stinks.  She said "No gaff.  Uh-huh, bye-bye" and made gagging noises as soon as we walked in.  Totally reminded me of me when I was a baby and needed a hankie soaked in Chanel No. 5 to get through a petting zoo.  (I mean does any baby NEED a Chanel soaked hankie?  Probably not).

Also, this picture is awesomely in focus-- LOOK AT THAT SEAL.

This morning, we woke up to a dusting of snow and also to Cooper standing on a stool so he could look out the front door.  We have no idea how long we was standing there, but we don;t care because we all slept until 8:30.  Except probably Cooper who heard us zombie-walking to jab the "on" buttons on our coffee makers and screamed from his stool  "Look!  Mama! Dada!  Look!  It snow!  I up high see this!  I wait and wait and wait!"

Naturally, we went outside to make puny snowballs and hurl them at each other.

Yesterday, I took these clowns to the grocery store because Jack wanted turkey tertrazzini and Harry wanted a "feast," so it seemed like a good idea to make a turkey and all of our favorite sides and then make Jack's casserole later in the week.  That's weird sentence construction because it sounds like I am going to contradict that thought, but really, it STILL seems like a good idea especially because I am making a turkey frame soup, too, RIGHT NOW, and it smells amazing.

My pictures are so random.  Clearly, this is our zoo trip again.

The kids were thrilled to find the playground nearly empty.  This playground is the biggest pain in my ass because the climbing structures are really high, and there are always a million kids running around, so I feel like I have to climb with the little kids, so we never go.  But in the winter, it is empty, and the very top spots are roped off.  PERFECT.

We ended up postponing the kids' feast until tonight because friends offered us tickets in a corporate suite to a hockey game last night, and we all went out for pizza before the game.  We are never spontaneous like that, but it was so fun.

Dorothy mainly cared about her blocks and her iPad.

Harry was a little bummed our team lost, but I loved all the beer in the sweet suite fridge

Jack adores being the family photog

And he also liked the game

Coop took this

Cooper cheered on the one and only goal

He worked hard this morning shoveling the deck.

We all laughed while sweet little mullet0headed Dorothy lapped her cocoa like she's a puppy.

This has been a truly wonderful winter break-- we are really sad to send everyone back to school on Monday.  But, I mean, not TOTALLY sad because we'll still have Dorothy, and we are both still on break.

My second Stitch Fix

 When we got home from Disney, our front porch was full of boxes.

 And one of them was this!  My second fix.

 To be honest with you, it was kind of a disappointment.

I really liked this dress a lot.  It would work for work or for dinner out, and it is a great style and flattering cut.  Winner for sure.

 This shirt looked dumpy and it's kind of a strange color, but I decided to try it on anyway because the whole point of this service, I think, is to experiment with clothes I wouldn't necessarily pick out for myself in the store.  TL;DR-- this shirt is SO DAMN CUTE.  I can wear it to mom stuff, to work, or even on a date-- versatile and flattering.  Another keeper.

 THE UGLIEST $100 jeans EVER.  Did not keep these-- they were so blah and terrible.

 WHAT THE HELL is wrong with this ugly shirt?  Gathered on the sides like a maternity shirt, horrid color.  TERRIBLE.

Really, really ugly statement necklace.  I almost kept it, though, because I need/want statement necklaces because that's what women like me wear with our asymmetrical blouses that skim our stretched out stomachs, but I can never seem to buy any that I like.  I am glad I sent this one back, though, because Ben got me an adorable Anthro necklace in my stocking.  He's the best.

This month, like last month, I only kept 2/5 pieces.  Next month, I hope to fall in love with the whole box.  I made a Pinterest board which is supposed to help.  I know you are glued to the screen for an update, and it's only 3 or so weeks away.

Seriously, though, you guys.  Stitch Fix is fun and a great idea if you don't have time to shop.

Happy New Year!!!

 Above is one of my resolutions: a gratitude jar.  Simple.  We write down things we are grateful for and toss them in the bowl and read them on NYE 2015.  Hopefully on a white sand beach, which is my goal in life for the next 365 days and is an odd thing for someone who just flaked on a flight IN THE BOARDING LINE traumatizing her children for like EVER to say, but you heard it here first.  I will get over this shit in 2015.

Other resolutions include:

• LOSE 20 POUNDS, DAMNIT.  For real.  Damnit.  I am tired of pictures of my face poking out from a mound of fat.  See below.

• Read 100 books (again)

• Print photos every month and put them in a damn album already

• Finish Dorothy's baby book (SHAMEFUL, I know)-- this might be kind of a sub resolution of the photo one, but whatevs.  I AM GOING TO DO IT.

• Write.  Something besides this blog.  Poetry?  Fiction?  A goddamn journal article?  I DON'T CARE.

We had a totally wonderful NYE.

We took these clown bowling

 Love Ben's crazy eyes as he set up our lanes.  Yes, lanes.  He and I had our own lane and played 2 games while the kids played one.  It was fun.

 I so thought this was a strike

 But no.  (Dorothy beat me, BTW.  Next time, I need bumpers and one of those ball roller stand things)

 HARY WEARS BIGGER SHOES THAN I DO

 She had a blue slushy like she's a kid and not a baby because she IS a kid and not a baby, but she still nurses 3 times a day, so that totally makes her a baby.  RIGHT?

 We played board games in the morning and again after the babies went to bed.

 Beatrix hung out upstairs while Ben, Harry, Jack, and I played WiiU and watched movies and had snacks in the basement.  During a high stakes game of Sorry, I spilled my champagne on Jack a little and he said, "That's OK, Mommy.  I won't use this hand to pick my boogers."  HAHAHAHAHA

 This morning, we popped some confetti

 And Harry cleaned up the leftovers.

 The we got dressed and went to a new outdoor skating rink on the lake, which was freezing cold and totally beautiful.  We might go back tomorrow even though everyone was a giant pain in the freaking ass.

 Especially this one, who didn't want to skate and then she did-- right as we were leaving OF COURSE.

  2015 is awesome so far-- sleeping kids, snoring dog, clean house, champagne cocktails, completely clear agenda, and lots of football.  I COULD GET USED TO THIS.