Pretty nails, better mom?

Last Christmas hubby surprised me with a spa gift certificate.  Last weekend I finally redeemed it and got a manicure, facial, and pedicure.  Hubby, nanna, and grandpa volunteered to babysit Chuck for 3 hours.  I was so nervous because it was the longest time I'd ever been away from him.  What if he didn't stop crying?  What if I didn't leave enough milk?  What if Rumpelstiltskin visited the apartment and tricked everyone into giving the baby away?  (Hey, you never know.)

As you can probably guess, none of these scenarios happened.  They did a great job taking care of Chuck and I ended up with pretty nails and less facial acne.  (Yes!) Even though I missed Chuck terribly (and ended up talking to the esthetician about him for most of the time), I'd like to think that little breathers like this will help me to relax and be a better mom.    

What are you doing New Years Eve?

I love Zooey Deschanel.  I also dig her tiara and ukulele.

First seen on here on Modern Kiddo

Tummy Times Comic -6

Happy New Year!

To see previous comics, click here

Long time, no see

Poor Charlie.  

With Baby Chuck's arrival, he hasn't been starred in many posts.  

Here's a photo of him in his Christmas best: 

Can you believe he's 13 years old? He still looks like a puppy to me.

Yes Virginia letter

I recently got the chance to read that famous Christmas letter and response.  I enjoyed reading it so much that I posted it down below (with my favorite bits highlighted in green.)  Virginia's letter is just so sweet and the editor's response is so eloquent and touching.  Does anyone write like this anymore?


Virginia's letter:
DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in THE SUN it's so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

Editor's response:

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.