Really....It's 2011??

So it's been a while...I seem to say that a lot. We survived the holidays...9 garbage bags brought home from my parent's house and my 2 year old figured out that Lolo (my dad) is Santa. Every year my dad sneaks out and gets dressed up in his suit in the garage and then goes around to ring the doorbell. Yes...Santa, in our family, arrives at the front door waiting to be let in...not some jolly crazy man that just falls through the chimney. And he doesn't wait for the kids to be asleep in bed...he shows up just right smack dab in the middle of the family party on Christmas Eve...there's no waiting until the actual day for my kids. (When they grow up and share their memories with their friends...it will be interesting, to say the least!)
My 2 year old figured it out...because small children are smart like that...and my two older kids may know, but they were just caught up in the excitement and craziness that they chose to believe that Santa really made a special delivery (or at least I think that's how everything played out).
Now we're into 2011...WHAT!??
Sophie celebrated her 6th birthday during the big 2011 Blizzard. It kills Niko that they're the same age for 17 days. He needs to remind everyone that he's "GOING TO BE TURNING 7!! ANY DAY!!" and he'll count until the 19th and tell everyone he's still older. Yup...in true, "I'm the oldest AND only the only boy" fashion...it's quite funny.
Oh and we got a puppy....again...WHAT!???
I know...I'm addicted to chaos. Truly...what else can the reason be to adopt a 6 month old puppy when my 1 year old is toddling around digging in the garbage and trying to tear her diaper off?! I want you all to be honest with me when I'm 50 and sitting in the looney bin and I ask, "How did I get here?". She really is a great dog, and I bet I'm handling things with a much more laid back attitude AFTER kids as opposed to BEFORE and DURING kids. (Matt may not agree so much...after all, I have harassed him at work with "What the hell were you thinking!!??" at least a time or two. BUT I would've harassed him much more if I was walking around 8 months pregnant with 4 kids). Molly is closer to 8 months, as the vet informed us at her visit...she's not a bit of lab and probably part terrier and something else. The kids love her and she likes to chew on things that don't belong to her...but has a high tolerance and easy going with my babies.
I hope you all have had such a nice transition into 2011 as we have! Yikes!
Here's a pic of Molly and the kids playing in the 20+ inches of snow we got during the blizzard!...