holiday cheer & holiday jeer. Sorta.

After I set up some watercolors for Liv to tinker around with the other day, I decided to get crafty my own self.  I've had these clear bulbs stored away in the basement for the last three years with high hopes of decorating them as Christmas gifts... {insert hearty laugh here}. No go, at least not yet. So I figured, why not put them to use now instead of having them just sit there?

I used some glitter tempera paint from Liv's stash, as well as some glitter I bought for 99 cents last week for another project {an easier and therefore realistic project: glittered clothespins. Yessss.}.

Anyway, I simply poured the paint inside some of the bulbs and swirled it around... in others, I dumped glitter, and the rest I left plain. I tied them up with thin silver ribbon around our dining room chandelier. It's glitzy without being overwhelming--at first glance, some of them almost look like old-school lightbulbs. Sweet.

***

Today has been One of Those Days so far. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just feel... off. Which is a shame, because there's much on my To Do list, Christmas is around the corner {which is cause for excitement}, and Liv is sick. I can't be bummin' when there's much to do! There's no good reason to be down today--we all actually got a fair amount of sleep last night despite Liv's cold, which usually doesn't happen...things could be much worse right now. Maybe it's just the last of the pregnancy hormones working themselves out? Who knows. I just feel... blah.

I drove to the grocery store this morning, and the whole way there Liv was rubbing her eyes and whining, finally falling asleep right as I pulled in to park. Great. So I made an executive decision: I pulled out, went through the Starbucks drivethru for a gingerbread latte, and decided the girls could nap at home and we'd go to the grocery this afternoon.

As soon as I'm handed my latte, I hear "Mommy tea?" from the backseat. Liv was awake and pointing repeatedly at my red cup {which is her way of asking for something}. You know when you have your heart set and are determined to see it through? That's how I felt about the latte. I craaave little pockets of alone time these days! I was picturing myself sitting down at home during naptime with my latte and Pinterest, or a book, or whatever, anything, for some me-time. No laundry, no cleaning, just sitting. Instead, we came home, and Liv decided she was as awake as ever--in fact, she's jumping in her bed upstairs as I write. Thump thump thump... I don't even know how she makes most of the noises she does up there in her crib. No nap has been had, except by Natalie, who is still in her carseat. And that will be ending soon too. Undoubtedly, now I will have a cranky girl on my hands at the grocery. I should've just woken her up earlier and gone in; it was a gamble, but I chose poorly this time. Drat. Such is mommyhood--trial and error.

So it's just one of those days. I inhaled my latte and some leftover pizza for lunch. Not what I was envisioning for this afternoon, but I'll take it. It's all a reminder that in my own strength, I can do nothing joyfully, but in Christ alone, it is possible... do I really believe this? I do. So I need to trust Him, and go on with my day. Reminding myself of that is helping already... Or maybe that's just the caffeine finally kicking in. ;)

Ahh me. All of this is to say: I never realized how incredibly selfish I was until I had kids. It is sobering and fantastic, all at once. I've felt the sobering this morning; now I'm ready for the fantastic. :)