Thursday, December 18, 2008

As heard from the living room:

In the meadow we can build a snowman
and pretend that he is raisin bran

We're happy tonight
We're happy tonight
walkin in the winter, run away

Friday, December 12, 2008

SLACKER!!!!

^^
That's me!! I admit it!! I'm a blogging slacker!! Get out your wet noodles and your sharpest edged tounges and give me the lashings I deserve!!

I WILL be updating tonight (or tomorrow...... )



WATCH



THIS



SPACE!!










(you can get up and go to the potty, but then you must immediately return!)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Even More Recent Conversation

Mommy... hugging you makes my arms happy!

Very Recent Conversation

Mom: What do you want to drink for dinner, buddy??
James: Milk
Mom: Ok... let me go get you some.
James: In a cup??

















No... I think I'll put it in a saucer on the floor. ~insert eye roll here~

Sunday, December 7, 2008

I must be losing my mind.

I just realized my holiday baking list is insane!

I am making:
Dry cocoa mix
2 batches of cake balls - 1)Devil's Food Cake mix with buttercream icing and flaked coconut mixed in dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with peppermint. 2)Spice cake with cream cheese frosting chopped raisins and nuts and in white chocolate
6-8 loaves of pumpkin bread
Peppermint Pinwheel cookies
Grandma Paul's Sand Tarts cookies
Lemon Snowflakes Cookies
Lacy Oatmeal Crisp Cookies
coconut bonbons
Easy Butterscotch Chip Chocolate Cookies
Sugar & Spice Cookies
Mocha-KahlĂșa Thumbprints
and quite possibly 4-8 mini loaves of lemon poppyseed bread.

All before Dec 19th.

And I haven't even started yet. Hell... I don't even have all the INGREDIENTS yet!!

*sigh*



p.s. Add put together and wrap 29 presents for James's preschool friends to the list, please. Kaithanxbai!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Day 6: Family Advent Calendar Activity

Today had to be one of the most perfect days I have ever spent with my child. Honestly.



We started the day off by driving down to Kansas City to a free showing of "The Polar Express". Now... we have the dvd and watched it AD NAUSEUM last year. It never enthralled me. I usually surfed the net, read a book or did chores while it was playing. I could not have cared less if it was off or on.

And then we saw it in the theater.



It.



Was.



Awesome.



Seriously.



If you EVER get a chance to see it in a movie theater DO IT. The fact that it was free made it even better! (well... "free" discounting the purchase of the vat of Diet Coke and potato sack of popcorn, lol) And if you do... try to grab a 4 yr old to see it with you. If you don't have one at home, borrow one from a friend or family member. Trust me. A 4 yr old MAKES the viewing experience! Even the Grinchiest Grinch, Crankiest Scrooge, or Grumpiest Grumplegus would find their heart expanding 8 sizes and the joy and magic of the season being infused into every cell in their body. I spent 1/2 the time watching the screen and the other 1/2 watching James. I purposely haven't put the dvd in this year, so the movie would be fresh for him. His eyes were as big as saucers! He gasped, shrieked, covered his eyes, and made several exclamations through out the movie that had those around us chortling into their popcorn. I found myself experiencing the movie through my child's eyes... all the laughs, thrills and spills... I even teared up a few times!! James, of course, was oblivious to everything except the movie and consuming his weight in popcorn! lol I cannot recall the last time I experienced that pure level of joy at a movie.

From there we walked the shopping center, enjoying the dancing fountain, beautiful Christmas tree and decorations in spite of the blustery wind (and Mommy forgot to grab hats and mittens in the rush out the door this morning, oops!! In my defense, we didn't plan on shopping after the movie). We wandered around, visiting all the shops and sales. James was as well behaved as a child being dragged in and out of stores to look at clothes could be expected to be.

He even made a purchase on his own! In T. J. Maxx, He found a toy that he reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy wanted.... and while I usually wouldn't get him a toy this close to Christmas, I decided that since he had been such a good boy, he could buy it with his own money if he wanted (his wonderful Godmother had sent him some money for his birthday). So we sat down with the toy and his money and I helped him figure out how much the toy would cost and how much money he would have left over. We went through check out and he handled the transaction all by himself, handing the toy and money to the clerk at the appropriate times and gathering his bag, receipt and change. We counted his change that he got back and put it in his pocket. He left the store with the bag clutched in his hand and the biggest grin on his little face.

From there, we sauntered to Books-a-Million.... stopping at EVERY map on the way to double check our route and find the "You are here" sticker! lol Once there, we snagged a book for Mommy and then made a beeline for the train table. During the hour we were there, there were some minor disputes over the engines and tenders with other kids, but nothing that couldn't be solved with a gentle reminder on manners.

The trip home was uneventful. We listened to the PE soundtrack and sang along. I was glad we got home before Big G had to go to work. James had fun showing Daddy his toy and recounting our day for him.

I thought about taking James to see the Christmas Parade and tree lighting in town.... but we had such a perfect day that I didn't want to push my luck by taking him to stand still on a sidewalk out in the cold!! lol

It was a good choice.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Day 5: Family Advent Calendar Activity

Community Lighting Ceremony In Haiku:

Tucked in carseat
Spend Batteries Recharging
For the fun that waits

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James sharing Wishes
Peppermint Conspiracy
St. Nicholas beams

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Friends come together
many lights twinkle warmly
in the cold night air

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Thursday, December 4, 2008

Day 3: Pics are up!!

Enjoy!

Day 4: Family Advent Calendar Activity

It was the best one of all!!

Going to get our Christmas Tree!!! WOOT!!

James and I were thrilled that Big G decided to stay up and go with us to get our tree! I was *not* so thrilled to find out that, after tomorrow, he is going to have 8 days in a row working 12 hour shifts and then only one day off. *sigh* Looks like he'll have to miss most of the best of the Holiday fun. We're used to it... but being used to something and being happy about it are 2 totally different things, Kwim?

That being said, we were in high spirits today, after a rousing pillow fight had us all in stitches. James and Mommy ganged up on Big G and had him down, until he staged a brilliant comeback and turned the troops against ME!! Seeing an opening in my defense, he then scurried like a mouse up the stairs to hide put his socks on! Wuss.

Once we had located all the various and sundry outer gear from the four corners of the house, we all loaded up in the truck. We so rarely get to do things as a family that we try to cherish what little time we do have together. So with carols on the mp3 and goofy smiles on our faces (and in our hearts!), we set out for the Christmas tree farm.

Imagine our delight at being greeted by Rudolph when we drove up to Fulk's Tree Farm in Platte City, Mo!!

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On the hunt for the perfect tree...

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Over Hill....

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Over Dale....

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What about this one?

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Look Mom and Dad!! A Charlie Brown tree!!

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What did you say that sign said??

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Hey!! WAIT!! Where *are* you GOING?!?!

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Shhhhhhhhh..... don't scare him away!! It is a rare sighting of the elusive "Big G"!! He's a skittish one and wary of cameras!

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Rasslin' round the Christmas tree...
let the Christmas spirit ring.
Latter we'll have some chicken nuggets
and we'll do some more rass-a-ling!

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This is our tree!! It's HUGE! It's One Hundred tall!!

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Of all the gifts and treats we will get this year, I can't think of anything better to put under the tree, can you??

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Day 3: Family Advent Calendar Activity

(due to the unfortunate and pretty brainless misplacement by Mommy of the usb cord, pictures will be added at a later date. Probably in the morning. Mommy is too cranky and tired to look for the stupid thing. "Mom! That's a BAD word!!)

Cookies and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!!

NOW we're talkin'! THAT is some good, bonding Christmas family activities there!!

*whew* I was beginning to think this whole "advent" thing was a TOTALLY L-A-M-E idea!! lol.

Tonight, we made No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.

It *did* start out a bit rocky.... as James is a very "hands in on" kind of cook... yeah... he had his hands IN the sugar, IN the cocoa, IN the oats (is my kid the only one in the world who will eat RAW oats??), IN the Peanut Butter and *almost* IN the milk! lol

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I was very close to calling the whole thing off! I'm sooooooooo glad I didn't. If nothing else, James and I connect really well over food. There is something comforting and special about working together, nourishing our love and souls by creating the food that will be nourishing our bodies (or not... when you consider we were making cookies!! lol). My only regret is that, yet again, Big G was sleeping as he didn't get home from work until after noon today!

I was really impressed with his manual dexterity!! It's NOT easy to use 2 spoons to drop cookies on to waxed paper!! (I *did* do a few cookies, so he could see how it all worked.... shhhhh) lol... the FACE sez it all!!

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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... Yummy!!

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We had so much fun that James wanted to help cook dinner too!! Nothing exciting, tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.... but he was thrilled to help.

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(Oh, Ick!!! Pay attention to the cute kid with chocolate on his face and not the nasty stove! lol... I promise it doesn't look like that on a regular basis!! I should have cleaned that BEFORE I snapped the pic! lol)


And the other item on tonight's list?? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!



James has never seen it before. And he was TOTALLY MESMERIZED. I mean, completely FIXATED on the tv..... that is, after CBS finally put the PICTURE up!! The first 10 or so minutes, you could hear Burl Ives talking... but the screen was blank! I was ready to go postal all over Time Warner Cable when the picture finally snapped on. Afterwards, the refrain of "I want to watch that AGAIN!! AGAIN Mom!!" was echoing through the house for a good 15 mins or so. We watch mostly "on demand" shows or dvd's and he doesn't quite get that I can't rewind all the shows on the tv! Oh well.


*********************************

Out of the mouths of babes 12/03:

In the discussion of what various animals/people say:

Hey buddy... what do cows say?? MoooooooooooOOOOOOooooooooooo!
That's great!! What do dogs say?? Bark, Woof!!
Very good, What do cats say?? Meeeeeow..... Meeeeeooooow!!
Perfect!! What does Grandma say??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Whining!!
Lol!! Yup! What does the radio say?? STUPID!! And that's a BAD word! Dave (Ramsey) and the other man shoudn't say that!!
You are so right, Buddy!! What does Mommy say?? What the HECK?!?!
Uh... yeah... um... let's try that again... What does Mommy say?? DAMMIT!!

Hmmmmmm, ok... Game's over!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Day 2: Family Advent Calendar Activity

The activity?? ReArranging and cleaning the living room in anticipation of going to get the Christmas tree!! Yay!!



















Yeah.... it went over THAT well here too.




I'm now sitting in a totally rearranged and yet, completly trashed living room. Somehow, this isn't how I pictured it! The fam, Big G, little G, and I were supposed to be joyfully rearranging furniture to the wonderful strains of Christmas music wafting out of the cd player.

What actually happenned?? Big G was in bed asleep because he's getting sick and had to be at work tonight. Little G was doing all he could to get on Mommy's LAST nerve. It's not so much that I minded that James did not help me AT ALL.... it was the active HINDERING that made me just a *touch* cranky! lol It is slightly irritating to attempt to move a couch while a child is laying in front of it screaming "Don't run over me, Mommy!! Don't push the couch on me!!" You'd think I'd kidnapped his dog and was attempting to drive off on the getaway couch! ~insert eyeroll here~


Somehow, I'm thinking that these "family activities" need to get a LOT better a LOT faster... or I'm going to lose the crew's enthusiasm.


*******************

Mini rant:

All I want for Christmas is 3 more feet of width on my living room. Or a husband that is willing to have a fake tree that will fit in the areas that I already have open, so I don't have to rearrange my heavy assed furniture twice a year and get all pissed off at the fact that it is all really too big for my stupid living room. The only way to arrange it for Christmas cuts off 1/2 the room, ruins the flow, and creates huge blank, blocked off areas. *sigh* I love my furniture, but make no mistake...we didn't buy it at "Lilliputian's Furniture and Crap".


/rant

A little Christmas "Getting to Know you"

Feel free to bogart this and post it on YOUR blog or myspace.... or do one of those annoying mass emails to everyone you have ever met.



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real tree or artificial? Real when hubby is home... fake when he is deployed

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime After Thanksgiving and before Christmas! lol

5. Do you like eggnog? "leaded" AND "unleaded"!!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? books

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? A very small one... I want a larger one

8. Hardest person to buy for? Hubby... he already HAS everything!

9. Easiest person to buy for? James... he wants EVERYTHING

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't recall the "worst" one.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail.... but I believe in "Holiday" cards... they may get to you on time for christmas OR Valentine's day! lol

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Ref.... It's not really a "Christmas" movie... but Dennis Leary cracks me up! Followed by "Scrooged" as a close second.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Dec 26... lol for the next year!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes.... shhhhhhhhhhhhh don't tell!!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Candy canes!!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Both (I prefer white... hubby likes colored... so we compromise)

17. Favorite Christmas song? All of them

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Yep... MUCH easier than the 7 dwarves

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? LOL... BOTH!! Again Hubby *has* to have a star and I have to have the stuffed angel that we got for the top of Daddy's last Christmas tree. (I do know a person who has topped their tree with a plastic duck!)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas "Eve" and the rest on Christmas "morn". I use quotes because my husband always has to work on the actual "day" of Christmas. We usually wait Christmas until my MIL comes to visit the week after.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The fact that Christmas seems to start Mid-October anymore.... oh and the RUDNESS and GREEDINESS of people!

23. Favorite Christmas tradition? Reading Christmas stories on Christmas eve by the light of the tree. Growing up, My Dad would read [url=http://www.allthingschristmas.com/stories/BirdsChristmas.html]"The Bird's Christmas Carol"[/url] on the nights leading up to Christmas. It was the best. I miss that the most at Christmas time

24. Up early or sleeping in? Sleep in.... as much as a 4 yr old will let you!

25. Who hands out the gifts? A designated adult hands them to James to give out

26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? Unless they are really big.... then he has the elfs add a beautiful, decorative bow.

27. Do you tell the Christmas story? Of course... kinda the whole "reason for the season"

28. Do you leave cookies for Santa? Heck Yeah, I want the good stuff!! And raisins and carrots for the reindeer

Monday, December 1, 2008

Day One: Family Advent Calendar Activity

I WAS going to post about our new family tradition. It is an advent calendar where each day has a wonderful memory making activity, that I would then blog about at the end of the day.

But seeing as how the world is conspiring to piss me the hell off.... the family fun crap is being postponed until tomorrow.

It is seriously a wonder I don't just start clearing the Jerks at the commissary and the PX out with a shotgun in a "end of my rope holiday frickin rampage". It's December FIRST for cripe's sake!! The RUDENESS I have encountered today has topped the all time charts! I usually just laugh off people's idiocy during the holidays or chalk it up to them having a bad day.... but when EVERY PERSON that I see/speak to/have cross my path feels the need to not give a flying crap about the people around them/mow children down/says something rude/gives general attitude/almost hits you or your car in the parking lot because THEY are in too freaking big of a hurry to get that stuffed rhinocerous horn that Grandma just *has* to have to obey basic traffic laws, then *I* get a little perturbed and cranky myself.

GET THE HELL OVER YOURSELVES PEOPLE!!!

/rant





*sigh*

P.S. Today's activity(s) was "Pick an angel off the angel tree on the way home from school" and "Make advent Calendar". We DID pick an angel. James and I picked a little 2 yr old boy who loves trains. "Go with what you know" I always say! lol