Listing

It's that time of year. No, not Christmas (well, yes, kind of Christmas), but I'm talking about the time of year when my life forces express themselves by list making. Let's see, I have a lists for:

What foods need to be used up and how.
What groceries we can't survive without this week.
What needs to be thrown away or given away before we leave.
Who needs what stocking stuffers.
What birthday presents must be packed (and where).
Who needs to be seen one last time before we go.
What Christmas presents must be sent.
Who needs what cold weather gear for an impromptu trip to Yosemite.

And yet, in spite of this, I feel like I'm forgetting important things that matter. And I also don't have enough energy to keep up with the lists, which means the Man is running himself ragged trying to take care of everything while I diligently "rest" on the couch by frantically making more lists.

With all that said, I feel that I owe all of you a few other lists, such as:

All the books I've been reading while I haven't been blogging the last few months.
Weird things my kids do during times of transition.
The best ways to avoid your children pummeling a stomach incision.
Twenty gazillion things I'm going to miss about Monterey.
And it's cousin list: Why a year and a half is just not long enough.

Instead, I'm just going to give you two ways you know your kids are growing up too fast.

First, your oldest son leads the family in Advent:

Shut the front door.

Second, your only daughter pretend-dries your hair and doesn't bash you over the head with the hair dryer--not even once:

Small blessings...

You don't need three ways to know your kids are growing up too fast because then we'll all be crying hysterically, and I just don't have enough tissue boxes for that right now.

Instead, I will close with this bonus picture that includes Tiny--just because he's cute. And if anyone is wondering what Bruiser was up to, I'm pretty sure he was busy trying to plug a curling iron into the Man's nose. But that might've been a different day. I can't remember because I forgot to write it down on any of my lists.

Picture taking is serious business, Littles.