The Boss

It's been over a week since we saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the United Center, but it was such an awesome experience, I feel like it's still worth documenting on the blog!

They played 33 songs over 3 plus hours and never took a break. It was pretty amazing. The fans yell, "Bruuuuce!" in between every song, they pump their fists, and sing every single word.

The Boss ... larger than life

They started with "Meet Me in the City," played the entire double album, "The River," and then played 12 more songs, including "Take it Easy" (Bruce solo acoustic) in honor of Glen Frey from the Eagles who had passed away the day before. I thought the crowd was going to explode when they played "Thunder Road." That was probably my favorite part too, though I also loved hearing "Hungry Heart," "Born to Run," and "Dancing in the Dark."

Even after 3 hours of music, I was left wanting more. Hopefully this will be the first of many times seeing The Boss play in Chicago!

Just hanging out with Scottie after the show :)

Everything's gonna be all right ...

We have had a BUSY couple of weeks since my last post. I scheduled a few play dates for Molly ... no easy task when working a full time job, but I can tell it makes her happy to have more time with friends.

The best decision we made was to get together with one of her old friends from daycare who is now at a different school. I didn't even really think about the adjustment Molly has had to go through. She had all these wonderful friends at daycare and then we just abruptly shifted to a new school in August! Molly and her pal Mahi had so much fun together that they called Jason and asked him to come later so they could keep playing.

I have also been making a serious effort to talk to more of the parents at school. The more parents I meet, the more I realize we're all in the same boat. I talked to one mom who feels overwhelmed by 4 kids and can't keep track of the schedule. I saw another working mom at ballet this weekend who was saying she feels guilty for never scheduling play dates and asked if Molly could come over.

Kindergarten is new for all of us, the kids and the parents. I'm sure some people feel like they've got it down, but I think most of us are still figuring everything out!

Left out

The other night, as I was tucking Molly in her bed, she told me she was feeling left out at school. It surprised me a little bit to hear her say that because whenever I pick her up, she's always surrounded by a big group of friends.

She said she had plans to play with a certain friend at recess who ended up ditching her for someone else. I asked why she didn't just play with them, or play with one of her other friends instead, and she started naming off who was best friends with who. It sounds like a lot of girls in the class have paired up. When Molly told me she was "still looking" for her best friend, it felt like my heart broke into a million pieces. And then it broke again when Jason told me two girls gave Molly the cold shoulder the other morning. 

Of course I started worrying that it was my fault for not setting up enough playdates or befriending more of the moms. I immediately ran to the computer to set up something for Friday when I knew I'd be working from home. When I told Molly she was going to have a friend come over to our house, her first question was, "Did she say she wanted to?" 

I can help Molly feel better by telling her stories about times when I felt left out. I can encourage her to take a risk and play with someone new. I can rearrange my schedule and try to have more kids over to our house after school. But I can't fix this for her. And I know it won't be the last time she feels left out either.

Luckily, in Kindergarten, the friend stuff changes by the day and I think things are already better. Molly was racing around the gym after school today with one of the girls who had given her the cold shoulder earlier in the week, and she was full of stories about building snowmen with some of her other friends during recess. It seems she has her confidence back. As much as it hurts to see her feeling left out, I know it's also good for her to learn how to handle it. Me too.

Disney daze

It's been a while now since we had our 2 days of nonstop fun at Disney World. I was planning to write a long post, but think at this point, I'll just leave it to a list of favorites and some pictures :)

Overall, we had a really good time. The first day was better than the second -- cooler weather, shorter lines -- and I think I preferred the "old" method for fast passes, but the Magic Kingdom still definitely brought the magic.

Molly had just as much fun this time as she did the first. She kept her hands in the air from start to finish on every ride, even "it's a small world" -- ha! And Jason and I had fun just watching her.

Favorites:

• Molly's favorite: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (see below ... we almost didn't get to ride it!)
• Jason's favorite: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (we rode this at least twice, maybe three times)
• My favorite: Splash Mountain (even though I ended up getting soaked!)

Dumbo ride -- ready for takeoff

Overpriced buffet at the Crystal Palace -- worth it because Molly loved meeting Piglet and Tigger :)

Watching the Christmas parade -- my favorite part

Cinderella castle selfie

Carousel selfie

Loving the festive decorations

Can I get a miracle? We were about to leave on the second day without riding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (lines were always ridiculously long and fast passes were never available!) when a Disney worker handed Molly a free fast pass ticket. We got to cut the line on our way out and it ended up being Molly's favorite ride! 

Looking forward to going back in 2017 ... and hopefully checking out some of the other parks!

Home again, home again

I'll get to the Disney post eventually, but we're still kind of readjusting to life post-holidays and -road trip. We made it back home Saturday night after 2 weeks away and approximately 3,000 new miles on the car. We went from 80-degree weather in Florida to 20-degree weather in Evanston and a door that had so much ice on it we couldn't even get inside at first. Still, it was good to be home after all that driving.

We had a magical time at Magic Kingdom, got some much needed rest and relaxation at my parents' house in Palm Coast, explored a new city (Savannah, GA), and spent time with family near and far. Here are a few highlights from the trip home:

Best family photo we could get. No Dad (he's the photog), half of us are in PJs, and both James and George are trying to make a run for it, but we're happy and together

Molly in Savannah. Although this was not the official Forrest Gump bench on Chippewa Square, you can catch a glimpse of what makes Savannah so charming

Celebrating New Year's Eve at the Pirate's House Restaurant 

Stopped for a nice visit with my Grandparents (Molly's Great Grandparents) in Tennessee. We also made a stop in Louisville to see Tom's new house and congratulate Erin on her graduation 

Now we're home and just trying to catch up on everything. The house is a disaster and we haven't really unpacked, but Downton Abbey is back, so I think everything else will have to wait!

One for 2016

I think I may have been overly ambitious with some of my past New Year's Resolution lists ... I completely forgot that in 2015 I was supposed to take Molly to a new park every month and pick her up early from school twice a month. Whoops. Sit ups 3 days a week did not happen either. Jason and I were pretty good about the one date a month rule, but I think we did miss a couple of months in there when things were hectic.

So here's what I'm going to try to do for 2016. ONE resolution that I think will have a nice ripple effect into other areas of my life:

Lose the snooze.

Yes, I am going to try to stop hitting that snooze button 2-3 times every morning. I'm going to try to take back that half an hour and do something with it .., work out, make Molly's lunch, get a head start on email or the news. Plus, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Jason will get back 30 min of sleep every day and hopefully feel more refreshed and rested. He'll need it if he succeeds in giving up coffee :) 

To help with this resolution, I think I'm going to have to make a little sign for my alarm clock or something that reminds me that I'm not allowed to keep delaying the day by 9 minutes. I'm hoping that eventually this resolution will just turn into a new habit. Wish me luck!