On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

The Christmas tree is mocking me.

I have kept it alive for almost a full 30 days. A record in this house, where we are short on space and full of small hands just looking to touch things that hang from trees.

I will say it was our best tree ever. It fit perfectly and even though I had to improvise on the hanging of the lights, it turned out looking great.

But it is January, and today is a snow day and there is no excuse as to why it is still standing there fully decorated.

I think it knows what a pain in the ass it is this time of year.

I think it knows that just like the decorating, I will get strapped with the undecorating and the wrapping of fragile ornaments and the remembering of where I put said ornaments and elves and such.

I am not prepared for the mound of pine needles that will accumulate. I have put up with the random one stuck to the bottom of my bare foot or tucked between my sheets but I just brushed against the tree and the crunch of needles falling to the ground makes me believe this won't be that easy of a cleanup.

I have informed my husband that this tree should be dragged to the end of our driveway where the city will pick it up eventually. It is NOT to just be dragged to the garbage cans, where the city will not pick it up and it will lay there like a big ol' tumbleweed until I finally get so annoyed by it that I throw it, once again, over the fence.

I can kind of see how some people have their tree up until March.

Really though, it is about the Christmas season ending. The anticipation and the excitement of the kids, the preparing, the craziness of it all has come to and end and all I have left is 1,000 new Legos and this hulking tree. Even though the new year is open to endless possibilities, there is always something a little sad about hauling those red and green bins into the attic, pulling the lights off the tree and settling into the winter cold.

Is it January Yet?

Pheww. . . . .

What day is it?

I have been living in a crazy world where there were days at a time where our calendar was full of things to get done, people to see and places to go.

Those days were off set by random Tuesdays in the office and the inability to determine what day of the week it actually was.

I am pretty sure it is 2014, although I never saw the ball drop because in all honesty I would much rather start the year off not sleep deprived than listen to Ryan Seacrest prattle on and watch Miley Cyrus lick things (it is sooo 2013).

But here we are. And like the start of each new year, there are things that I want to do differently and goals that I hope to achieve, there is that feeling of having to reassess and decide what and who you want to let into your life.

I know I want more time with my kids, my husband, my family, my friends. I know that I want more time. I also know that I want to make sure I am as active and as present as I can be in all the upcoming moments (good or bad) this year has to offer.

Happy New Year from the Three Beans!

Here are a couple of cute pics of the kids 

The Little Lady posing and yes, she is wearing a summer dress

The Lady in her stocking cap. She totally slept in it.

QT made out with the amount of Jake and the Neverland Pirate crap, stuff he got!