You know how you just love it when you find yourself with a weekend full of quiet and nothing planned?
Yeah, we don’t either.
Y’all, we seriously packed like a month’s worth of activities into the last 48 hours, or in the case of one of our very favorite blogger Tidbits From the Queen of Chaos, we had what she would consider a Tuesday. AnnMarie, are you listening? Because, we both said all weekend long that we realized what we were doing would barely have you breaking a sweat, and we pretty much found ourselves bowing down in your honor (as well as collapsing in a heap).
Starting at the crack of dawn Saturday morning until the baths were finally drawn Sunday night, we went full force with FUN.FAMILY.ACTIVITIES. Are you listening kids, because this would be the sounds of your parents’ wallets being emptied and their tired, aching bodies falling into bed. Nobody had better whine anytime soon about how “we never get to do ANYTHING fun”.
Our weekend was kicked off Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. No, that wasn’t a typo. When we said we started at the crack of dawn we weren’t kidding. Lucy was entered in her first 5K with Girls On the Run! It was completely exciting. Her dad and big brother Bobby were her running buddies (It was their first 5K, too!). Even though there were thousands of participants, sadly there just wasn’t any room for Lisa to run with them. (Hey, SOMEONE has to take pictures and hold the jackets you know!).
Good friends will wish you luck before you run. BEST friends will set their alarm clocks and drive for an hour in the cold, dark morning just to cheer you on. Well, Ashley, Emma, and Abby made that long trek to support Lucy as only true BFFs would! All of us cheered loudly and issued celebratory hand slaps when Robert, Bobby, and Lucy crossed the finish line. The sense of pride and accomplishment was electric, and Lucy’s smile at the end shined as brightly as her medal!
You’d think all that early morning air and exercise would be enough for one day…but no! When we jam pack a weekend with events, we go all the way.
Right after the 5K, everyone raced back home for a quick shower because Emma and Abby had a big event of their own: their Winter Dance Recital! This was no small affair. It was held at a swanky uptown theater! Lucy thought that Emma should audition immediately for So You Think You Can Dance because her jazz was just that fantastic. Lisa declared Abby the most graceful ballet dancer of the entire day. They both really burned up the floor!
Emma and Abby were thrilled to spot their BFFs in the audience, because if dancing for your mom and dad is fun, dancing for your favorite friends is even better!
As the afternoon wound to a close, we parted from our friends and spent the rest of the day carting kids around to various birthday parties (in Lisa’s case) and buying the family Christmas tree (in Ashley’s case). Sorry, no photo evidence of any of those activities, but just assume they were mostly exhausting totally fun!
Sunday, we were all up bright and early again (and dressed up this time, no less) for brunch with Santa. Now, we attempted something like this last year, but it was a not a huge success. Between the fact that the restaurant attempted to seat our party of eight at a table clearly meant for six and the “Santa” being a kid in his early twenties who wore a suit that practically hung off of his bony build, we were less than impressed. We had high hopes for this year, though, because we picked a totally different venue and booked months in advance.
Thankfully, our pre-planning did not disappoint, and we all had a fantastic time! Santa was totally jolly and lifelike except for the escaped convict placement of his beard directly under his eyes. Thankfully, only Bobby seemed to notice this. The kids not only got to talk to Santa, they were even greeted by Mrs. Claus.
But that wasn’t all. They had carol singers, a man who read The Night Before Christmas aloud, and even an elf who danced the most incredible hip hop solo witnessed by a brunch crowd. Oh…and the food was delicious. We each got a plate of breakfast food, wolfed it down, then hit the carving station line for some hearty lunch fare. (When The Dose of Reality crew hits a buffet, we take no prisoners.) We finished it all off with adorable desserts!
It is honestly going to take a few days to recover from this level of constant activity. We really need a weekend to recover from our weekend. Since that’s not happening, we’ll just be the right over here in the corner mainlining caffeine and wishing for a nap.
For the love of jazz hands, y’all have been BUSY! Wishing you lots of long naps this week. Now that I think about it, I’ll be sure to nap, too. In your honor, of course
For the love of jazz hands made me laugh out loud!! We really appreciate an honorary nap…hey, maybe we can get a nap award named after us!
Wow! That weekend sounded so busy I’m wanting a nap just after reading it. Hang in there…your recovery weekend will hopefully arrive soon
Just bring up how tired you are into all and any conversations…someone’s bound to get fed up and leave you alone for a day or two, even if to escape from you 
Genius advice..do you think it would work on our husbands and children, too? Like, oh sorry, y’all, Mommy is just way too tired from all our weekend to possibly feed you!
WOW – that was one busy weekend! Sounds like so much fun. And you totally deserve a nap or two after all that.
Thanks Kim! It was a busy and fun weekend…and yes, we do deserve a nap!
I’m tired just reading this post! But it does sound like it was a lovely weekend
Hope we didn’t wear you out too much Bev…we promise to tone down the activities this weekend!
NAILED IT!! Great post! I am proud of all four of these rugrats!!
Thanks!
We appreciate your support! 
You rock my world. My kids WISH they had a mom like you! Need a nap now.
Oh Angi, trust us, your kids don’t wish that! This was as good as it was getting for our crew and fun like this will not be had for quite some time!
I am exhausted just reading this!! Way to go, Lucy! I remember my 1st 5K, and I have a sneaking suspicion you probably beat my time!! Emma and Abby, I wish I could have seen you both dance, as I sure it was awesome! I loved all the pictures…clearly, these are all happy children and it shows their joy and friendship and support for each other! Loved reading this, and I know the adults are definitely tired today!!
Awww, you are so sweet!
Lucy is a total running rock star! Abby and Emma won’t be headed to Julliard or anything, but they did have lots of fun! 
And you are right, they are all super duper supportive of each other…it is fun to watch!
I got tired just reading this one. Sounds like a lot of fun stuff, though. Emma, I like your new hairstyle!
Oops! Forgot to tell you that she cut off all of her hair! She did it for Locks of Love!
A shout out?! I got a shout out!! I am over here doing the happy dance that all of my craziness and chaos has earned me a shout out over here. It almost makes it all worth it. Your weekend sounds fantastic and tiring and the stuff memories are made of. SUCCESS! Welcome to my world, Ladies and yes, naps are mandatory or you won’t survive.
You are totally worthy of a shout out, and we were thrilled to give you one!
After this weekend, we are seriously in awe of you!
WHEW! I need a nap after that! Lol! Looks like you all had fun. You definitely deserve the “Mom of the Weekend” award!
Have a great week!
Thanks Michell! I have a feeling if we win any award it will be this one, since our kids probably wouldn’t cough one up!
So we will happily accept..do we get to make a speech and wear a tiara, too? 
Okay….so yeah, the weekend was BRILIANTLY played out and good gravy SO busy!! BUT the santa’s beard? HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I am totally STILL laughing literally OUT LOUD about that picture!!! You two are such a great example of true friendship passing down in generations. GO girls!! Dance and run your little hearts out!!! Your MAMAS RULE!!!!
Awww, thank you Chris! I burst out laughing when I saw the picture, too! Lisa has herself some mad skillz!
You are so sweet!!
Holy crap, I am exhausted after that 5K. But seriously, how cool is Girls on the Run. I am making both my kids do it, even my son. Great post. Love ya’ll’s energy.
You should. Emma is doing it next semester, and Lucy being the best BFF ever is doing it again with her!
Wow, too much fun was had by all! You are definitely a ROCK STAR MOM. Great post!
No, you are a ROCK STAR Vikki! Thank you so much!
{Melinda} I got my Christmas tree up and decorated this weekend and was feeling rather smug and productive. Thanks for making me feel like a slacker, girls.
Getting the tree up and decorated is totally smug worthy! You carry yourself tall and proud Melinda!
What a busy weekend! The food sounds wonderful at the Santa event.
It was delicious! I definitely felt like they outdid themselves with the dessert table, so I outdid myself eating them!
Sounds like you had a fun weekend but also tiring. Those two girls are just adorable and they have a pretty fantastic mom. Enjoyed spending some time with you in Florida!
Thanks, Jean. Fun and tiring is the perfect description!
It was great to see you, too!
I keep things locked down–otherwise, it’d be super stressful!
We ought to try that!
OMG, I need a nap after reading about what you all did! My bones hurt! How? How were you able to do it? Amazing!
LOL Jennifer! I think we are still tired today!
I feel like such a slacker. We couldn’t even do this Christmas Parade this year because I had to go to a Holiday Party and I couldn’t swing both!
Girl, we feel your pain! I pretty much feel like this is it for the holiday season…I can’t take any more activity!
5K’s, dance recitals and brunch with the Big Guy…I was exhausted just reading about it! Looks like a great weekend though!
It was great….and exhausting! We’re hoping for a little down time next weekend, though!
Here’s hoping for loads of coffee and a few sneaky naps throughout this busy season in case the weekend pace doesn’t let up. It’s crazy, I know!
Exactly! By the end of the season we are running on Starbucks, catnaps, and the odd snacks we find nestled in the back seat of the minivan.
Elfs? Lisa loves elfs.
This is great Ashley, a funny column. And very good pictures, thank you.
AAAAAAKKKKK!! Not the “E” word!!!
Just wait until you see tomorrow’s column! It took all of my powers not to stroke out as I was proofreading it. It almost broke me. —Lisa
I felt like I was reading about my weekends. Samantha plays year round softball. (12 hour tournaments.) Tanner plays baseball, basketball, flag football, student council, fitness club while simultaneously running his mouth 24/7. And Olivia just finished cheerleading and I think we are going to do girl scouts.
What the hell goes through peoples minds when they have this many kids?! It never once crossed my mind that I would sleep when I was dead!!
Girl, this comment makes me need a nap!
Seriously, how come no one warned us about how hard this would be and how exhausted all of these activities would leave us??!!
I want to go to brunch with Santa! Those desserts were all stinkin’ adorable!
Right? They were SO adorable…and yummy! Wish I had asked for a doggie bag!
GOTR is so awesome! That Santa photo is all the more precious with the beard placement – you will laugh about it for years to come!
Thanks Stacie! GOTR is awesome…we totally agree! And the Santa picture was really funny!
Wow, you put my weekend activities to shame! But wow, you had a lot of fun! I hope you got a nap in!
Seriously, this was not a normal weekend for us, I assure you! Think much more lounging and much less running around and that would be our normal weekends…December just seems to be CRAZY!
Sounds like such a fun, BUSY weekend!
It was fun and busy!
Busy being the operative word! 
I’ve collapsed in a heap, just reading this.
That is because you are currently sporting stitches!
What a gloriously busy weekend.
I think I need a nap just reading about it.
Thank you so much Tracie!
I find myself in need of a nap, too! 
I am exhausted just reading about your weekend. Holy moley! The cute treats were well deserved though.
Thanks Christie! The treats were totally tasty and definitely helped with the exhaustion!
Such loveliness and worth every bit of exhaustion. My daughter was in Girls on the Run for a while. It is a great program. Blessings to all of you.
It was worth it!! Exhausting, but worth it!
Haha! Ann Marie’s posts make me sweat just reading them! how wonderful to have such supportive friends cheering your girls on!
It’s so sweet to see them so genuinely happy for each other and rooting each other on!
This post made me smile! What a jammed packed yet fun great times you guys had
Bravo!
Thanks so much, Maureen! It was busy, but totally fun. There’s nothing like spending time with your favorite friends!
Busy weekends are my favorites!
But, since we have two kids, our naptime is quite reduced – maybe I’m not keeping them busy enough