Heartburn Free Tree

Hat tip to Rhonda for the idea to share this post. She talked about their family's necessary Christmas tree modifications due to their 4 year old and 1 year old. So, I thought I'd share our modifications this year also!

We went to Hobby Lobby, bought about $30 worth of flowers (everything was 50% off), cut the stems off, and put them everywhere. Red poinsettias, yellow roses, and pink'ish roses (because Poodle was there with me when we bought them). Poodle helped put them on - I just did the tippy top ones. After that, all the decorations have been of her own making! Pictures of princesses, cotton ball snowmen, colored shapes, etc. Yesterday, she decorated with pencils and pens! I figure we'll continue to have decorations added until the tree comes down. And that is just fine with me. I have absolutely no cares where the decorations are hung, nor where they end up. I have no worries about where Toot's little hands are. It has been so easy this year!

The only hiccup was when I looked into the "regular" ornament drawers trying to find the hangers, and laid eyes on the ones of years past. I had a momentary twang, but it was quieted quickly when I came in and saw Poodle's rendition of Snow White. It's a beautiful tree. It will never make it into a Southern Living magazine, but it's a beautiful tree!

I have neither disappeared...

...nor gone on vacation. I promise I will post again one of these days. Right after the to-do list isn't tapping its gnarly little fingers on the table beside me every time I sit down to do something fun. Like writing a post.

Every year I say I'm going to slow down during the Christmas season, because everything else forces me to speed up. And yet, every year, I agree to go to one more event, and take on one more job. And amongst all this, my little ones just want me to play outside and go for a walk and build another lego castle. And too often I have to say "not right now, Mommy's busy". They get frantic, I don't feel like I'm doing anything to my best ability, and my stress level is through the roof.

It's ridiculous. I chose to be a SAHM for very specific reasons, and I can't seem to keep my eyes focused on those reasons. They are so fuzzy, so much of the time.

I need some Peace on Earth in the home right now. Can I get an amen?

She without arm, he without leg - ballet - Hand in Hand

I do hope you will take the time to go see this - it is moving in so many ways. I will not elaborate because the effect is going to be different for each person. It is strikingly beautiful, and you may need a tissue. I did.

And, fwiw, the technique is spot on.

Nutcracker Time!

I haven't even gotten pictures of Thanksgiving up yet, and here I am posting Nutcracker pictures. KD, you've got my back on this one, right? ::wink::

MooMoo, Poodle and I went last weekend to a Saturday matinee performance with the Ms. Metro school. It was fantastic! I was really impressed with the dancers, the way they were able to make a tiny stage work for a full cast, the bang-up organization of the moms who had several fund-raisers running seamlessly at the same time. Some of the staging wasn't on my favorite list, BUT, I'm partial to Miss Jozia's adaptation of the choreography. Especially now. Anyway - it was still good despite my sentimental preferences. They had Dr. Drosselmeir behave as a bit of a fop and a dandy with a strong preference for adult beverages... which is fine, and can be humorous. But, I'm used to seeing him as a magical sort of fellow - sometimes with a strong preference for the ladies. If you know what I mean!!! Hmm? Hmm? I just don't like the dandy portrayal. It's too..... Oh, I don't know. Not mystical and magical enough. For me. I'm not the end-all-be-all of dance critique.

Overall - I really enjoyed it. The college students they brought home to dance Snow and Sugar Plum were beautiful!!! And it's obvious that this dance school is giving good instruction and proper technique. They're also getting excellent performance experience.

As much as I appreciated last year's "Nutcracker", I was more comfortable with this year's performance. And we had a wonderful time!!! Plus, Jmk got to be in the woods and GaGa watched Toot at the house, so everyone was having a good time. :-)

And, for those who didn't know, according to Poodle, Snow Queen is apparently Snow White's mommy. ::wink::





This is a picture of Poodle as the curtain was coming up. It doesn't do justice to the wonder that was actually in her eyes.














This lovely girl was one of the Flowers from Act 2. Poodle was quite pleased to get to talk to her.

















They had these life-sized Nutcrackers outside the door to the auditorium where the performance was being held. Poodle got a little lovin' in before we left!

Living Near Family

The past couple of days has been a wonderful reminder to me of how precious it is (and what a gift it is) to be able to live near family. Wednesday, SueSue was able to come surprise the kids at Poodle's swimming lesson - and that is always such a treat to be able to see her "for no reason" in the middle of the week. Then last night, my folks came and watched the kids while Jmk and I went to his office Christmas party. I'm always able to have such a great, stress-free time when I know the kids are happy with their "baby-sitter".

It's a blessing. We're lucky.

Anyway - here's a picture that my mom got of us last night before we headed out. The kids were already in their pj's and ready for seepy-time. And Mommy and Daddy were looking forward to an evening out with each other!

Thank you so much to the bunchkins' wonderful grandparents who go the extra mile for them - we love you and we truly appreciate you so much!

Elfin' Around!

Like I didn't have enough to do this morning. :-) Queen of time wastin' - that's me.

Hat tip to a Wren, and to Angela for reminding me about it.

A little fun on a random Tuesday morning, brought to you by OfficeMax and the Zoo!

Continuing the lesson.

Years and years ago (no, I'm not 'fessing up to how many), each Sunday morning, my dad would give each of us a dollar bill right before the handshake at church, so we could put something on the offering table as we shook the preacher's hand. We were little when we started doing it, and somehow he managed to have four $1 bills almost every Sunday morning. Maybe it was a concerted effort between him and Mom... I never knew, and I'm not sure why I never asked. I think I shall make the query.

Anyway, in some way, the repetition of doing that every Sunday morning made it a habit for me - giving to the church. I know that we are instructed to do that by the Scriptures, and I know I've heard about being a responsible church member from the pulpit also. But the habit of it was set in me a long time ago, over a large number of Sundays.

Well, this morning, Jmk handed little Poodle her first dollar bill. And as I watched her put that little piece of paper on the table, my heart was full with a lot of memories and a lot of hope. Thank you, my dear Daddy, for handing out four dollars every Sunday.

Thank you, my precious Jmk, for wanting to do it too.

Got Drama?

I started putting up our Christmas tree this morning, and while it has been a good soldier for the past 8'ish years, it finally met its demise this morning. After getting all the branches situated and fluffed out, the plastic base gave way to a little crack, and the whole thing came tumbling down. (On top of my head - too bad there wasn't a camera watching!)

Poodle, who was a big helper in putting the branches on, was as surprised and upset as only a 4 year old can be. Her over-the-top response?

"Oh no! Now we can't have Christmas!"

lol...... After I quit laughing, it gave me an opportunity to remind her about what the Christmas celebration is about. But, ohhhh, the drama. Oscar material!

Ever have those days?

Where you have a ton of things on the running to-do list, you are busy doing something all day long, but then you get to the end of the day, and you really aren't sure if you actually did ANYthing at all?

I mean, you've done stuff ALL day long, but you can't explain any of it. And you know for sure that you haven't given the kids a fraction of the attention that they wanted from you.

ugh. Had one of those days today. Weird thing is that Jmk had the same kind of day at the office. Here's hoping that tomorrow "feels" better than today did!

Funny Bone

Hat tip to Amy J, a college friend, for this one:

OK, 2 guys walk into a bar..... You'd have thought that after the first guy did it, the second would have ducked.

Ta-da! *smashing cymbals*

Ahem.

The Eyes Have It!

Background info for the post:
As you know, Tooter just turned two. He's a grand two year old, of course, and is a regular little two year old boy in most every sense. His physical abilities have always been right on target. He's a regular kid.

Except for the fact that he's not talking yet.

Now, I've heard all the thoughts on this situation - that he's a boy (they can develop later), he doesn't have to talk because his sister does it all for him (this is true), Einstein didn't talk until he was three (this is actually true - in fact he wasn't fluent in his own language until he was nine), and etc. Thankfully, Toot's grandparents all tell me to quit worrying, and Jmk isn't even a little bit concerned. (Jmk has a stronger faith than me a lot of the time. AND, he's just not a worrier. I respect that about him more than he knows).

And, even though Tooter's pediatrician has called in a referral to an early intervention program for speech therapy, (which we haven't started yet), she only did so because it was necessary to get in before he turns three, in order to access the free services. She feels like he's fine as well - that he's just a "late talker".

But, as you can imagine, when your two year old doesn't even say "ma ma", it can make for not only a long day, but also moments of worry even though you know you're not supposed to be worrying. Toot babbles all the time, and does use my dad's moniker of GaGa without fail. He communicates with us, albeit by pointing, grunting, whining, and using some hand signs. He will say "dah-de" with about 70% accuracy.

But, at a time when the milestone for beginning to speak is 18 months, and at two, a child is putting together crude 2-word sentences.... well, you can imagine that it's difficult for me to always remember that Toot will be fine. That I just need to be patient and wait for the explosion of words to happen.

That is why, when we have little steps forward, it is even more thrilling for me than the normal excitement that a mom feels watching her little one develop new skills.

So - what about the eyes, you ask? Well!!! Tooter has begun pointing to pictures of eyes - on Elmo, on pictures of animals, on pictures of people, etc - and saying..... drum roll please..... "eyes"!!! It is a very slow and deliberate "eyeths", but it is music to my ears. And, I think this is God's gentle way of reminding worry-wort me that I'm not the one-who-runs-things, and that I need to be more patient with the way our Father intends for Toot to develop. Toot isn't saying "mommy", but he says "eyes". Sort of like saying "SEE, Mom? I am going to talk. Eventually. Not right now, but eventually. Wait for me. Don't rush me - it won't help, and we'll all get frustrated in the process".

It's hard to be patient. But I'll sure take my "eyes" right now.

A new cookie recipe

Disclaimer:
I'm not promoting the overuse of adult beverages in any way. This is just so blasted funny, that if you don't laugh while reading it, then you probably need some serious laugh therapy with old Bill Cosby tapes!


Tequila Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup of nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle of Tequila

Sample the Tequila in a large glass to check quality

Take a large bowl, and check the Tequila again, to be sure it is of
the Highest quality. Pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer, Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy
bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.

At this point, it's best to make sure the tequila is still ok, so try
another cup.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit and *&%$ cup off the floor.

Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers,
just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Check the Tequila.

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.
Don't forget to beat off the turn er.
Put the bowl through the window, finish off the booze and make sure to
put the dirty stove in the dishwasher.

CHERRY MISTMAS TO ALL!

A Couple Of Pictures...

...that won't be making the Christmas Card this year.













You'd think she was telling him that his dog ran away instead of merely encouraging him to smile and be happy so that Mommy will quit with the camera already.

Those Kids. A little after Thanksgiving chuckle for everyone.

You know - "Those Kids". The ones that enter conversations like this. "Did you see those kids at the party?" "No, which kids?" "Oh, YOU know, - those kids." "Oooohhhh - yeah. Can you believe those kids?"

Last Friday, my children were "those kids". Grandparent warning: I'm about to talk bad about "Those Who Do No Wrong", so look away! ::wink::

We had a Fall Festival party with the CHEC group on Friday. Let me tell you what, the mom who put this shindig on really goes above and beyond. Umpteen stations/games - crafts, balloon darts, bingo, candy walk, go fish, bobbing for apples, and on and on. Pizza, fruit, munchies, cookies, cupcakes, drinks - it was all fantastic. The other moms all pitched in a little bit, but this was primarily organized and executed by the mom whose house we went to. KUDOS Amy!!!
(Rabbit chasing moment - it reminded me of a birthday party my mom did for me MANY years ago, where she organized a treasure hunt all over the yard and woods behind the house. The preparation involved in the Fall Festival reminded me of that party).

So, anyway, we get there Friday morning. Go into the back yard where everyone was playing. Tooter makes a beeline for the slide, and Poodle is quickly behind him. He slides, she slides, they repeat several times, every one is having a blast. I put my stuff down inside the house, and come back outside. Say hello to a few moms and then Tooter walks in front of a swing-in-use. WHAM! He gets clocked on his head and nose. SPLAT. Down he goes.

I go get him, and a couple of minutes later, blood starts coming from his nose. He's hurting, and I keep trying to wipe the blood, because he's starting to get it everywhere, including his eyelashes. Of course, the wiping doesn't make him feel fabulous, and forGET about putting ice on his nose. Not having that. He then proceeds to cry loudly and with authority for the next 20 minutes. (yeah..... I know he has a bloody nose. But the last 10 minutes of the crying was pretty forced on his part. Drama. Both kids).

Then, Poodle gets a bit confused during the group pictures (not sure what was going on, and Mommy was dealing with Toot), and gets a little pouty. Then, gets pouty again just before lunch. Because I didn't know she wanted me to help her get out of the tire swing. (ugh). We get through the rest of the party (which, may I say again was very well planned), and at this point the kids are both tired, Tooter is way past his nap, and Poodle is wired for sound from all the playing.

Folks are starting to leave, so I grab the 3 coats (it was cold when we left the house, warm when we left the party), my huge "mommy bag" (i.e. a large bag that does double duty as a purse and diaper bag), two of the gift bags and Toot's goody bag. Poodle is carrying her goody bag. Tooter, who has decided he is WAY too old to be carried around is wriggling to get out of my arms that are otherwise overloaded with stuff.

But first! Poodle must go say "bye" to two of the girls still there. Twice. Then she gets distracted by toys in one of the bedrooms, because I got distracted saying goodbye to one mommy. Tooter then proceeds to head into the bathroom to "play".

I get Poodle extracted from the bedroom, and open the door to the bathroom to get Toot, and he's stuffing toilet paper into the toilet. Horrors.
So, I throw down the things that I'm carrying at the moment, drop my keys on the bathroom counter, and rescue the poor toilet from the clogged fate that Tooter intends it to suffer. (Amy, if you read this blog - I apologize for the softball sized soggy mess that I left in your wastebasket!)

I grab Tooter, tell Poodle to follow me NOW, and we start trudging towards the car with my arms full of wiggly Toot and the aformentioned stuff, and an unhappy Poodle whining behind me because I'm making her leave. Mm-hmm. Their behavior was just SO exemplary that day.

We struggle all the way to the van, and I put Toot down to get my keys. Off he runs. A friend is putting her two boys into her car at the same, and I notice the striking difference in the sets of kids. It's hard not to. They are quietly and politely saying good bye to my children and quietly and politely getting into their car without their mother having to even raise an eyebrow. My little ones closely resemble the lemurs from Madascagar. Caffeinated lemurs. (Oy Vey everybody!)

Meanwhile, I'm tearing thru my mommy bag and sweating buckets from the stress with the frantic look of a crazy woman in my eyes. Oh - yeah - back to my escapees. They're all over the yards adjacent to the cars and I can NOT find my keys. My internal language has now reached new lows, and I dump everything on the ground next to the van, kneel down and tell Poodle that if she doesn't follow me quietly and without arguing that..... well - I'm sure I promised some terrible and ominous punishment. Then I go racing to rescue Tooter from his exploring, and we go BACK into the house while I try to find my keys.

Ahhhh. Right. Bathroom. Okay. Wait for little one currently in said bathroom to finish. Go in, get keys, trudge back to the car with a squirmy, whining Tooter still in my arms, and an unhappy (actually just very tired - but she LOOKED unhappy) Poodle following me obediently for the first time that day.

We get into the van, and Tooter is asleep literally 3 1/2 minutes after we leave the house. We only have 8 minutes of a drive home. I think I intermittently fussed at them and fumed the whole way home.

Yep - my kids were THOSE KIDS that day.

But, then, we had an absolutely lovely visit with a couple on Sunday afternoon who brought their brood of four (ages 6,5,3,1.... I think) - and even though mine were sans nap, they played so nicely and were well behaved with children that they had never met before that afternoon.
So, the monkeys redeemed themselves, but I still had to get Friday on record. Commiseration is a good thing. Sort of like chocolate at the end of a long day!

Quick......

Define the word "area" so that a four year old can understand you - without using the word "area".

MAN, was I tongue-tied on that one. My brain needs some exercise!

Why We Love Thanksgiving

Excerpted from a page in Good Housekeeping, November 2007:

"Unlike other holidays, Thanksgiving has no costumes or fireworks, no cards or presents. There's nothing to distract from simple gratitude. We pause to thank God for things we don't often consider: food on the table, a roof over our heads, family. I look at each person seated around our table and feel more grateful than ever."

Mm-hmm. Well said.

I hope you all have a Thanksgiving full of gratitude, full of love, and abounding in God's peace.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOTER!!!

I can not believe you're a two year old wee man today. But here we are..... two years since that precious day you were born.

My heart overflows to be able to look at you and say Happy Birthday to you. Your daddy and I are more blessed then we ever deserved!

Life, Blogs, and Birthdays

I have been trying since Friday to finish a post about the Fall Festival that the kids went to, and I can NOT find time to finish it.

Part of the reason is my wonderful, fabulous dad came and picked up both kids on Saturday, and they played with my wonderful, fabulous parents at their house for most of the day on Saturday.

I honestly can not remember the last time I was away from both kids for that long. (6 hours) Well - probably for the last Junior Miss program. Funny, because I spent most of the time Saturday that the kids were gone working on the choreography for the Fitness routine for the upcoming Junior Miss program, and got it FINISHED. Huge weight off my shoulders. I still need to really learn it, fine-tune it, video it, and get it ready to distribute to the contestants...... BUT, the major choreography is done. I had to tell two friends from Birmingham who were in town that they couldn't come by to visit, but I got it finished! (I still feel bad R&M!)

Sweet Tooter was really quite distressed when GaGa dropped them off and tried to actually leave Toot at home ::gasp:: with his mother. He ran back to the door and grabbed hold of GaGa's neck and held on for dear life. Saying "eeeeee", his non-speaking way of saying "don't go GaGa! You're way more fun than Mommy!" I've never seen either of the kids react that way to someone trying to leave.

Mom, Dad - THANK YOU for that much needed and MUCH appreciated break. I know the kids loved being with you as much as I loved the time to get some things accomplished. It was a sacrifice of time for you, and I appreciate it so much.

Mr. Tooter has a birthday tomorrow - poor thing still hasn't had a proper birthday party because his birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, and he still isn't going to get one this year. But, he's turning two, so he doesn't really know what's going on. Next year, though, we'll have some big fun for him!

Almost there!

Gun season opens this weekend. My DH, although he's doing a good job to hide it, has some serious ants in his pants to get out in the woods early-early on Saturday morning. I thought I'd share some "4-EE Wheel" pictures (as Poodle says) just to keep the excitement brewing.
:-)








For those who are wondering - yes, there is a slightly noticeable "smooshed grass" track in the backyard. But, hey, the kids love the riding.

Small price to pay for excited eyes and giggles.

Deer Season has arrived!

I don't get it.

Facebook, that is.

Okay - I have a facebook page. I got one months ago, when I was fiddling with different ways to share pictures. It turned out to be not-so-convenient because it required sign-in's and all that.

But, in the process, I ended up with a Facebook page.

Then, people found me. Just a few, mind you - and they are all sweet, dear people! So, now I have "friends" on my Facebook page, network, whatever you call it. Each time someone adds me as a friend, I have to okay it or agree to it or whatever it is. In the process, I end up going to see my own page.

And let me tell you - Facebook is a busy place! People are starting to substitute Facebook for email and webpages, etc. It is probably even taking over some blogging time.

I had a local college recruiter tell me that she hardly ever emails her prospective students any more - they almost always communicate by "face'ing" each other.

sigh......

I don't know - maybe it takes less time than email? I know I spent a solid hour last night trying to catch up on old emails and current ones that needed immediate attention. An hour. Think about it - we only get 24 of them in a day, and I spent an entire one last night just on email. Not to mention the time I spent during the day.

Are we any closer than we were before all this techno-communication? I'm sure we are to those who are far away, but with family and close friends?

I don't know..... maybe. I realize I'm being a bit of a silicon valley scrooge - I'm stubborn as can be about cell phone texting! But I still love to see updates of my friends and their kids on their blogs. It's a conundrum for me. My dad has no desire to get a personal email (he gets enough email at work), and I don't blame him a BIT. He has no need to spend an extra hour (or four) of his day answering mail or coming home at night and spending another hour in front of the computer merely talking to people.


Oh, pickles. I'm sure I'll be a lot more laid back about all things virtual when being in front of the computer doesn't drive my kids to distraction. As it is doing at this very moment, I might add. I think it's time to go "Face" with some really short, blond people who haven't been kissed and snuggled NEARLY enough this morning.

And, oh yeah - I'm still on Facebook. But my page gets very dusty in between visits!