Last Ornament Post, I Promise

...at least until next year.

I received two each of these. They are also Shiny Brites but they are made of plastic. These are the ones I remember the most from childhood. Probably because it had shiny stuff and a hole that I could poke my fingers in and play around...and err, um, anyhoo, here they are.

~R

Bah Hum Bug and the Year Legos Took Over.

I took down all my Christmas stuff today and I actually started feeling better. I think I am going to break our tradition of putting up the tree right after Thanksgiving and wait until after my birthday on the 11th. Maybe having it up so long detracts from the excitement.
Maybe it was because it was 70 degrees outside or because we told Pete about Santa.
Don't get me wrong. I'm glad we had that talk. We also didn't play it up with RePete like we did all those years with Pete. We just made a quick reference to the fact that he needed to go night-night so Santa could bring him a present (notice I said "a") and we could all open presents when we woke up.
Maybe it was the fact that nobody wanted to watch Miracle on 34th Street with me or that we didn't set out cookies for Santa. They wanted to watch Star Wars (again!) and when I mentioned the cookies to BN after the boys were tucked in, he said he still wanted me to set some out for him. :-) So I got up and made peanut butter cookies for him before wrapping all the boys presents. Tasty. And so were the cookies.
Pete woke up and asked BN, " oh my goodness, Dad, did you see all the presents?" like BN wasn't up with me wrapping them all night. Almost as if he still believed in Santa after all. And RePete really got into it this year. After opening each present and seeing the contents, he would raise one hand like a cowboy riding a bull (in the yeehaw kind of fashion). He was really excited.
Have I mentioned the Legos? Oh Lordy the Legos...
~R

Robinella's Craft Corner

I saw these on Dallas' blog and fell instantly in love. I had to make them.

Problem: I don't know how to do embroidery!

Solution: The internet. Don't cha just love that you can click click click and whammo, you know how to embroider. So here's my little birdie. I made these for family and friends and they loved them...at least that is what they said to my face.

And I commented on somebody's blog about making reindeer ornaments as a kid and they asked about it, so here it is. I took this photo over at my sister, Doodah's, this weekend. It is from our Mom's tree, I think she stole it! just kidding, and we made these when we were kids. I can't believe one survived all the moving we did. We also made toy soldiers using the same clothespins but unfortunately, they all died in the moving battle. We enjoyed looking at this and reminiscing so much that we've decided next year, we'll get together and have our boys help us make more.

~R

Nostalgia

Remember when I mentioned Shiny Brite ornaments? The same ornaments my Mom had on our trees growing up? I loved those little baubles. Did you check out D.U.M...err, ummm, maybe acronyms are not appropriate here?

Anyhoo, I went on ebay and started bidding, well actually started watching because the ones I really wanted didn't end for five days. One ended in 3 days and I patiently waited and waited and waited and woohoo, won the auction. It only costs me a total of just over $7 and here's what I received.

and this...

and this...

and...oops, Pete stuck his thumb through the fourth one. Thankfully, no boo-boos to mend.

The ones I really really wanted ended two days later and I forgot about them. I was out shopping and Pogo calls me and says, "hey, there's only 20 minutes left on these ornaments, and someone else has placed a bid. Do you want me to bid for you?" I said, "thank goodness for friends like you and YES, bid, bid, bid." (I have a problem - that whole bidding and winning process is intoxicating) So she did and we won! And at just a few cents over $3, I was ecstatic. I won't get my hands on those ornaments until later this coming week and will post them then.

This really is my last transmission. Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!!!

~R

Christmas Tradition

(circa 1976)

Okay, there's a couple a things wrong with this picture. First, my Mother cut my hair and she was not trained to do such things. Secondly, even though I was never a "sleep til noon" kinda kid, I at least wanted to sleep until the sun came up. In this photo, my baby sister was an early riser and so on Christmas morning, we were all dragged out of bed. My Mom thought it funny to snap photos of me. She did this every Christmas that I can remember.

So now, I do it to my sons. This was Pete on his third Christmas. Whoo boy, bustin' a gut here!

~R

Geminid Meteor Shower

Pogo and I should not be allowed to operate heavy machinery.

One of us gets an idea and that's all she wrote, as my late stepdad used to say. Actually this story has nothing to do with heavy machinery, but we are spontaneous women and there's no telling what would happen if we were behind the wheel. Beware any who makes women driver jokes!

This year, Pogo, whose sign is Gemini, tells me about the meteor showers. She only pauses for 2 seconds when I blurt out, "we should get together and see it" or maybe she blurted it, whichever. She then tells me the story of a few years ago that she and her family and her sister and her husband drove out to BFE to watch another meteor shower event. It's about 45 minutes from my house and it is in the middle of nowhere. She talked about how it was pitch black and so many stars twinkled. She also mentioned the twinkling eyes of critters just beyond the clearing.

It's obvious to us at this point that we need to drag our kids out into the middle of nowhere, in the pitch black, during hunting season, with critters eyeballing us in the distance. That's right, folks...another k1d k1ll1ng spree Adventure of Pogo and Robinella.

Actually, we were saved from certain doom and hunting misfires by a few things.

• lack of sleep
• clouds
• lack of enthusiam
• big hunkin' husband

The day of the big event, we were to call each other and finalize our plans. When we finally got a hold of one another, Pogo informed me that her astronomer source said it wouldn't be as great a show as was predicted. We'd still see "falling stars" but at only the rate of 1 per minute. Both of us being stay-at-home Moms, we were pooped on a Friday evening and the sky was clouding over. So, after much hemming and hawing, we got our second wind and decided to go for it, but on a smaller scale.

Instead of driving 45 minutes to risk seeing a cloudy sky, we decide to drive 20 minutes to a local park (it's in the country so darker than most areas). Pogo's hunkin' husband decides to come with and act as our protector - he's six feet something and he's a man - and that's what our men do - protect us from ourselves. The sky is only partly cloudy and they are moving.

We found a pretty dark spot to park near a radio tower and we all hunkered down in the back of the pick-up with blankets and Cheetos. I've got my new camera and unbeknownst to me, the fiddling my sister did with the buttons, probably wasn't good. I couldn't get a steady shot. I had my tripod but some of the shots I wanted were straight up. I've had this tripod for 5 years but have never taken a straight up shot, so wasn't able to adjust it properly in the dark. The standard preset for pictures in the dark and the steady shot button should have helped, but I think the button fiddling was too much to compensate for.

And no, I didn't get any meteor shots because they happened so swiftly that you recognized out of the corner of your eyes that it was flying past, but they were too fast to focus on them.

Here's my lame attempt at taking photos of the night sky.

The brightest star of Canis Major (I think):

The belt of Orion:

~R

ps "BFE" = Surry County (Just an FYI - it's close to where a certain dog fighter home is currently being auctioned and someone set up an SPCA donation bucket during the auction *snicker* Nobody would bid high enough, so they closed the auction with no sale. Now he's going to list the house and maybe remove some of the dog houses *jerk*)

The Adventures of Pogo and Robinella

At least once a year, Pogo and I try to mame or otherwise k1ll our k1ds. Not on purpose, mind you.

Last year, I discovered Letterboxing and shared my enthusiasm with Pogo. Luckily, she is as romantic as I am and we decided this is something we'd like to do and drag our kids along on the pretense that is all for them. The adventure. The discovery. Yeah, right, more like the whining!! So we picked the hottest day that summer and picked the longest hike - 5 miles - to search for these stamping treasures. Her children drank their water supply rapidly. Pete watered the thirsty flora with ours. About 2.5 miles into our trek, the whining began and the water well was dry. We made the decision to keep on moving as it was 2.5 miles back to our cars backwards or forwards.

The whining increased, RePete starts to look drowsy. Now RePete still took naps at this point and it was high noon (actually it was 3pm but high noon sounds more dramatic) and his little sippy cup was empty. I started to panic at this point because I am not sure if he is just sleepy or dehydrated and ready to pass out. So, I grab his street stroller and run. Poor baby was on the ride of his life - tree stumps, tree roots, man-made steps, you name it made our path out. I reached the buildings at the entrance of the park - pretty sure I ran 5 minute miles - and the first one I came to was an office building and it was almost empty. I searched until I found a kitchen and an employee and explained that I just wanted to use the sink to fill our water bottles. Instead she raided the employee fridge and handed me several water bottles and a Diet Coke - the choice of dying people everywhere - and RePete and I were on our way back to meet up with the rest of our crew.

They were coming out of the clearing, red-faced, sweat-stained, dragging their feet.

We passed the bottles around and Pogo and I decided to wait until the Fall to restart our adventures in k1d k1ll1ng Letterboxing.

~R

Poetry Monday

Why, writing poetry couldn't be any easier than this--it's a simple formula. The only problem is, after a little investigation, I realized there are multiple formulas for writing cinquain."

(1-2-3-4-1)

Meteors
dark, moonless
shooting, flying, falling
warmly wrapped in darkness
Mesmerizing

(2-4-6-8-2)

Pictures
blurry, zigzags
shaky tripod teeters
frigid fingers need some warming
Abstract

~R

Cooking with boys is a joy...

especially when then boys are mine and we are making cookies. I read on another blog (forget where now) about these cookies. Pure genius. Who woulda thunk to paint the cookies first. I don't know who first decided this was a good thing to do, but if you do, please pass on my thanks.

To think of all the time and energy spent making all the different colored icings and having them get all botched up in transport, you know stuck to the cellophane or each other. Not anymore. This egg paint dries in the oven.

First you roll and cut the cookies. Then paint and in our case add lots and lots of little sprinkles. Lots and Lots.

Then you watch them carefully whilst they cook. "Look mom, they're getting poofy."

Find your special plate. We made this plate using Pete's hands (he was 4) and RePete's foot (just a few months old).

Now enjoy!

~R

He was a Jolly Old Soul

When BN and I had Pete, we talked at great length about Santa Claus. We debated whether to even bother with the ruse, because we didn't want to lie and we worried about Pete, being very intense from day one, having a meltdown when he found out the truth. We went back and forth, and forth and back until Pete's first Christmas. He was 10 months and the Commercialized Christmas Spirit that we both knew and loved overcame us.
We took him to sit on Santa's lap. He was not happy.

Per BN's wishes, all the presents were from "Santa" and not us. Everything had to be wrapped in special Santa paper, etc. etc. From that day forward, Pete has been asking all the right questions. How does he get down the chimney? How does he carry toys for everyone in his sack? Are the elves paid for their work? Are the reindeer girls or boys? Can I go to the North Pole for a visit? And each year we've dodged and hemmed and hawed and the fibs kept mounting.
This year, Pete made his list (the boys sit down with scissors, glue, one sheet of paper and the store ads and cut and paste the pictures on the paper for their list) and I swear if you added everything up, it would have been close to $4000.00. He loves Legos and wants them all. So I said he needed to pick a few he really, really wanted and circle them. He did this but then added that he wasn't worried about the rest because Santa would be sure and get them all since it doesn't cost him anything.
That was when it hit me that we made the wrong decision or at least we went about it the wrong way somehow. We should have put limits on what Santa could bring, or maybe only given 3 presents from Santa and the rest from us (I was overruled on this in the beginning). So I told BN this story and asked him to let Pete down gently. I am very matter of fact about things, but BN has a softness about him when it comes to his boys and he just always says things the right way. I knew Pete would feel less hurt by the lies if BN handled it. And he was.
I think he already had an inkling about the truth anyway, but like the Tooth Fairy, wanted the magic to stay with him a bit longer. It's funny now because he doesn't seem to mind at all and it's even better for us because he knows WE will hold the old "You Better Watch Out" bit over him even if Santa let it slide. We'll be doing things differently with RePete now that he's curious about Santa. He still doesn't have a clue who Santa really is in this charade we call Christmas Spirit, but he's catching on.
~R

Could it get any better?

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea today would be THE day. I always wake up thinking it'll be a good day, but today...Whoa!

EVERYTING was going along as normal until I tried to print my family photos for our Christmas cards (I dragged my family down to the boat slip and pier yesterday). For whatever reason, our printer wasn't cooperating so I went online and uploaded the digital prints to Ritz, our local camera shop and also the store where I purchased my new camera. They have one hour photo developing and I figured I'd just run in on my way to taking the boys to the park.

When the boys and I arrived and I gave the girl my name for pickup, she became all apologetic because..

She said, "I tried to call you at the home number."

Me, "Oh, why? Is something wrong?"

Her, "Well, we have this release form you have to sign due to copyright laws."

Me (all confused), "Copyright laws? For my own pictures?"

Her, "You took these? Not a studio?"

Me (getting all giddy cause I'm loving my new camera), "Yep. I took them with the new camera we just bought from you guys."

Her, "Well, these are great! Let me get them printed up real quick for you."

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

THEN this evening after I drop Pete off at gymnastics, I ran to the store to pick up picture hangers (since I had 11X13s printed of the boys) and then I stopped by Taco Bell to grab a drink. When I drove up to the window to pay, she said, "no charge", me, "no charge?", her, "Nope." me, "well, have a great evening and thank you."

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

THEN as I was catching up on the Fun Monday posts, I read Nikki's who stated that Dirty Uncle Mark stole her ornaments. So I clicked on his blog to see these stolen ornaments and my breath caught in my chest. He had some of the same vintage ornaments that I remembered hanging on my Mom's tree, but were now all broken, except the two I have packed away. He even had a box with the name of the manufacturer. So I looked these up and am bidding on a few that were particularly amazing to me as a kid. I want my kids to see what I saw each year on the tree.

I couldn't be any happier. Oh, and it's my birthday in a few hours.

~R

It's been a good day.

Things that made it that way:

• I finally finished reading all the FM posts. Phew, I'm tired. THANKS to everyone who stopped by and who played.
• I finally mailed the package I tried to mail yesterday - and there are no fist fights to report.
• I finally cleaned my bathrooms after I think a month of not cleaning them. Because of course, nobody else in this house would even think about it.
• I finally swept under my washer and dryer AND swept and mopped the kitchen floor. Again, the month thing is feeling familiar.
• I got to talk to Pogo without too much commotion in the background. She's my crack.
• My boys have gotten along really well today. Minimal fighting.
• Pete and I completed the math and reading assignments I meant to do yesterday and he didn't complain. He also got the math concepts right away AND read faster than previously. Because of this stress free school session, the fact that he seems to have over active saliva glands and most of the words started with "sp" or "st" or "spl" and he "sp"otted up the table and book, didn't bother me at all.

The pessimist in me is saying, "yeah, but it's only 4pm and they don't go to bed until 9pm".

The optimist in me is saying, "ahhh, but I feel so relaxed and it's been quite awhile since I've had this euphoric feeling".

I'm going to ignore the pessimist and go vacuum or something since they are playing outside so nicely.

~R

Fun at the Inlaws

I always enjoy visiting family and Sunday was no exception. My in-laws have a beautiful house on the lake and they just added a two story sunroom to the back of the house where the deck used to be. Because their lot is wooded, it's the most wonderful feeling to be in that sunroom all snuggly and cozy chatting with family and having the woods and critters and views of the lake all around you. That and the fact that MIL and BIL are wonderful chefs and always feed us like we are on vacation. Just dreamy.

The foliage...

The promise of summer to come and of summers past...

Boys having fun...

~R

Robinella's Craft Corner

Here it is...the Christmas "gift" gift. The ingredients are: glass block, diamond drill bit, drill, BIG fancy bow, 35-count light set. Optional: glass etching materials. I left mine clear and with a big enough bow, it works just fine. They also sell glass blocks with many pre-etched designs. (Shop for the glass blocks in the spring and save 75%.)

Instructions: Determine the front and back of gift. Drill hole in bottom right or left of the "back". Thread the lights into the block, stopping after the last light. You'll need all of the remaining cord left out. Tie a big fancy-schmancy bow (I used ribbon with wire in the edges - helps with shaping) or you can buy pre-made bows and afix to the top after wrapping the block with flat ribbon. Voila! Fini. I think your family and friends will love this "gift".

And here it is...

~R

What am I thankful for?

Family and friends. Here are a few reasons why...

We went to visit Pogo and kids on Wednesday. It's always a wonderful time and Pogo really puts things in perspective for me. I'll never find a truer friend.

When we were getting into the car, Pete asked when I was little, what did I want to be when I grew up. I told him an artist. He got this really big grin on his face and said that is what he wants to be too. Then he looked at RePete and asked, "What do you want to be, RePete? An artist, a vegetarian or a doctor?" I got a really big kick out of that.

And other than stretch jeans and black Friday, I am thankful that even after 22 years of being with BN, he still types my name in the "high score" log when he plays video games.

Happy Tofurkey Day!

~R

Bowling

I started a home school bowling league last spring and we are in the middle of our second season. We've been having a lot of fun, meeting new people - it's been a positive experience.

Unfortunately, RePete has gone from my compliant, beautiful little angel baby to a shoe throwing, beautiful demon baby. He is three after all. Pete didn't go through the terrible terrific twos and threes. He's giving us a run for our money now, but not then. I don't have anything to compare with for RePete. Hopefully, he'll get it of out his system now and we can breathe later.

Case in point:

We have two little friends that are brothers. They are petite little fellas. One is turning 3 this month and is about half RePete's size and the other is 6 and the same size as RePete. (My boys are big and hers are small) It started with RePete trying to play Tag with them. The older one took RePete's hard tag as hitting and hit back, and then RePete then the friend until the friend ended up in tears. Another time, RePete tried this game with the younger little guy and got the same reaction. He only does this to these two boys.

He was like a shark after it's tasted blood. He wants more. The last 3 times we've gotten together, it happened just like the first time. It's no longer a game, at least not for the other boys. RePete seems thrilled with himself. I'm not. The other mom poopahs it saying, it's his age and stage. It doesn't make it any easier to get him through it. I feel like staying home and not playing with them anymore - to prevent the bullying to them. I remove him from the situation, make him apologize, have him sit out with me. Anyone gone through this? How did you handle it?

~R

Boys and Barbies

I had a lot of errands to run today and I decided to check out our local thrift store. I've read so many blogs lately and thrift store shopping seems to be a big deal. BN says I shouldn't shop there because it's meant for folks less fortunate than me. Man that makes him sound like a stuck up snob, but in reality he meant it in a more benign way. There isn't an ounce of pomp in my man and his heart is much bigger than mine.
At the risk of stealing from the poor (insert sarcasm), I decided to see what all the hype was about. So after my trip to the local nursery, and after the BJs run, and after the school supply store, and after the boys had a fist fight in the post office, we ended up in the local Goodwill. It's the only thrift in my little town.
I led the boys to the little section with toys and I perused the kitchen stuff. I'm really funny about used stuff. My mom will buy things at yard sales, take them home, clean them up and use them. I'm a little more hesitant. Actually, yard sale stuff would be better because I can see the folks that had them before me. At the thrift, you never know who had them last. But I looked anyway. I saw a great rice steamer, and I need a new one, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Rack after rack I searched looking for something in particular - dipping dishes for sushi. We bring sushi home from time to time but I haven't a proper dish to mix up the wasabi and soy sauce so we need them. And I found a set of four. They are perfect because they match our Pfaltzgraff dishes perfectly. I also found 3 pots from IKEA. I could tell that these things were either never used or rarely used. So I took a chance.
In the toys section, I found a great book, "How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?" (we have the how they clean their rooms one) and Pete found Bionicles ($1 each - all parts present and accounted for) and RePete....well, RePete picked out barbies. Still new in the box ($1 each - knockoffs, not the real Barbie).
Now some of you may be cringing at the thought that I bought a boy, not one barbie knockoff (BKO), but two of them. Obviously, I don't have a problem with this, so we brought them home. The boxes hadn't been opened 10 minutes and those poor girls...

So I got out the Gorilla glue and some tape and performed minor surgery. After a few hours, when the glue should have set-up, I gently removed the bandages tape, and Blondie's leg operation was a success. Unfortunately for the brunette cheerleader, she's now an amputee.
Then Pete grabs Blondie and takes her upstairs. So I say,
Me - "Pete, what are you doing?"
Pete - "Nothing."
Me - "Then bring her back down here, RePete is going to get upset."
Pete - "I'm fixing her. Going to make her look pretty."
Me - Ummm. okay, but don't do anything crazy."
I start cooking dinner and forget about Blondie and Pete eventually comes back downstairs. I ask where Blondie is and he replies that she is on the bureau by the front door.
After dinner, I go check on Blondie and find this...

Okay so maybe I should put away the BKOs. I'm not ready for this.
~R

Thanksgiving Limerick

I never liked poetry but it is on my list of things to conquer.

So without further ado

I present this to you

my first ever poem

don't use a fine tooth comb

I'm not real sure what to do.

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

I don't eat a lot of meat.

I made fake turkey to eat.

It's made of tofu

But I can't fool you

This year won't be a repeat.

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

~R

Lestat or Bubba

I just love this picture. It looks like RePete had fangs or bubba teeth, but it's really two little spills of vomit.

Robinella's Craft Corner

Well, it's that time of year again to start making little gifts. For family members, friends, postal workers, teachers, the gardner - doesn't matter. Everyone likes gifts, especially when they are made with your own wittle hands.

The first craft we'll visit is the snowman. I made these two Christmases (did I just make up a word?) ago and received a few requests from folks I purposely left off missed on my list.

You start with a stone from your local homestore.

They come in a brick or concrete color. Doesn't matter which one you buy because the next step will be painting. You can buy a good outdoor paint or do what I did and stir up that old can of Kilz in your shed. Two coats should work - stones are porous and will show through the first coat.

Next you can glue buttons on for his eyes, nose, mouth and buttons - just don't use hot glue. I did this and after a few freeze-thaws, those little boogers popped right off. Instead, pull out that tiny paintbrush and be artistic.

My BFF's daughter hand-crocheted the scarves for me. You can also use fabric scraps. Plaids are nice.

I used RePete's old size 12 month socks. I sewed decorative buttons and flowers on the fronts and then glued those babies down on the heads. The freezing-thawing thing didn't seem to bother the hats.

And there you have it.

I used a silver cording to tie on a gift tag. It read something like this:

"From our family to yours."

"BN bought the bricks."

"Robinella painted."

"Pete helped with the glue."

"And RePete donated his socks."

These were a big hit and I hope you too can make someone smile with a homemade gift this year.

~R

If I can get up into the Christmas stuff before next Friday, I'll post another "gift". Gift is the operative word for our next crafty session. Attics really creep me out, so if I can't bribe BN to go up this weekend, then it'll be the Friday after Thanksgiving post.

Great Dismal Swamp

Our 4-h group's project for the year is Wetlands. We have a lot of those around here, considering we are on the coast, have many rivers, and reside in the swamp.

Monday, we visited the Great Dismal Swamp and more specifically the Washington Ditch. This ditch was an attempt to drain the swamp and was commissioned by George Washington. They failed. They used slaves as laborers in this arduous task. Here's a shot of the ditch.

Yeah, I know, don't wet your pants or anything. The boardwalk and the trails leading to the lake were great but the ditch, eh, not so much. Knowing that you are standing on the ground where prominent historical figures stood and worked could be exciting if you are into all that. I am.

What the boys found most interesting on our adventure was this: A grasshopper, I am assuming.

What I found most interesting about our excursion today was learning the history. Apparently, runaway slaves used the swamp for hiding and were known as maroon colonies. Research shows these to be one of the largest maroon colonies, or hidden communities of escaped slaves in the US. Some used the swamp as a gateway to the VA/NC ports for finding safe passage north. Amazingly, these people lived isolated in the swamps upwards of thirty years and lived only on what they found on the land. No outside food, pots and pans, or building materials were ever found as they never ventured out for fear of being captured and returned to slavery.

I've heard of the underground railroad, but never of these people. I love homeschooling my son. I am learning so much more than I ever did the first time around.

~R

Boys and Anatomy 201

Prerequisite: Boys and Anatomy 101
There comes a time in all boys lives when they discover that little hangydown between their legs and from that point on, no decisions are made without a direct consult with their penis. Usually, the penis is not all that responsible and when the boy asks it if he should climb on top of the minivan, the penis will 9 times out of 10 say, "YES!". Or if the boy asked the penis if the marble will fit in his nose, once again, a resounding "YES!".
So it comes as no surprise that boys will compose songs about their penis. A tribute, if you will. Here's a few heard around our home. Feel free to sing along.
"Row, row, row your penis"
"Old MacPenis had a penis, P-E-N-I-S" (they get points for spelling)

~R

Traditions

The day after Thanksgiving we shop and pull out the decorations. We use a 7' fake tree because I like the height and I put it up that day and leave it up through New Year's Day. A fresh tree, while appealing, just won't last that long.
We used to open a present on Christmas Eve. We haven't done that as much in our little family because BN's family didn't do it and he wants to wait until the morning. I think this year, I'll start buying matching pajamas for everyone and let us open those. I've always loved that idea and think it'll make for prettier pictures. Now that we kids have kids of our own, we started visiting the weekend before Christmas or the one after with our parent's and siblings. It's different than what I grew up with but it's fun for our kids because they don't have to open all their gifts and then have to leave them to go to Grandma's house. We also aren't as rushed for time because we visit our parent's on different days.
My Mom passed down her angel that topped our trees since the year before I was born. She'll be 39 this year and even though she is just made of cheap plastic and isn't fancy, I ADORE this angel. I think my sister is jealous, although she's never said so directly. Unfortunately all the ornaments from when we were younger are long gone and broken. We moved a lot growing up. My mom had some really fantastic stuff and I loved, loved, loved decorating the tree. In fact, with my boys being so young, I'm devastated that I have only been able to decorate the top part of the tree or no decorations at all. Last year, RePete thought jumping into the Christmas tree was a sport. I sure hope he's outgrown that this year. And when he does, I have some very beautiful glass ornaments to display for the boys to sit and ponder like I did as a kid. The wonderment is wonderful.

Her lopsidedness is courtesy of Repete.

~R

Holey Soap and Inflatables.

Today was full of play. No school done but plenty of things learned...by me.
First, there was the soap thing. Pete uses the half bath for his "lair". There was a time when Pete would only use one square of toilet paper at a time and I kept a nail brush on the side of the sink just for him. The warning given to all first-timers in our home was, Don't Touch The Nail Brush. I thought about having a placard made for it just to save the poor soul we forget to tell. You know how snoopy people are in bathrooms.
Anyhoo, today while Pete was on the pot, he played around with things in the bathroom. Before he entered the bathroom, I saw him looking a bit suspicious, but figured, nah! Twenty minutes later he walks out of the bathroom saying, "Mom, the soap has a hole in it!" I say, "How'd it get there?" His standard answer is, "I don't know."
Initial inspection showed this. (actually, it's cleaner now, but all the evidence was replaced exactly as I found it, minus the soap and water all over the counter - I can't show a dirty house to you (the www) now can I?)

Wait a minute, hold the phone. What's this?

That's right. It's a stick pin that is suspiciously bent all to hell. Pete swears he didn't stick the bottle. Pete has been telling a lot of fibs lately.
Later that same day we went with some friends to Kangaroo Jacs. It's an indoor inflatable playground. What's great about it is that you can let your kids go and you, the exhausted parent, have a few minutes to breathe deeply. I ran into a lady once who asked if I had seen a little boy about this high with a dark blue sweatshirt. She hadn't seen him for 30 minutes . Here's how that place looks.

THEN, we had another playdate and dinner with friends immediately following Kangaroo Jacs. Has anyone else noticed the very high winds we are having? It kept knocking my kids over in our friend's backyard. Oh well, what doesn't kill them makes them stronger.
~R

Happy Halloween

Not Harvest, not Fall Celebrations, just plain old Happy Halloween. Candy is good. I've got a few pictures of my boys at Halloween that I'd like to share. Since they were wee ones when the photos were taken, that should appease my Loverboy.

These are of Pete:

Pete started wearing Buzz at 2 1/2 years and continued wearing it for the next 2.5 years. Not sure where that mask came from.

We went to Disney World when Pete was 3 1/2 years and participated in the Not So Scary Halloween shindig. Yes, for and additional $38.00 per person, Pete got to dress up and trick or treat at Disney. Don't think BN and I didn't take our bags too. Halloween at Disney: $over a hundred; Pete's smile behind that mask: priceless. (this is a page from my scrapbook and I am almost 7 mos pregnant with RePete)

These are of RePete: RePete was just the cutiest baby.

Take a look at that mop on his head. he has curls that are out of control. We try to tame them but they are wild!

And here they are wearing the same Clown suit. (Pete then RePete)

And I would be remiss if I didn't show my other child as Batman (poor Kubi):

Trick or Treat,

~R

Oh I almost forgot Hootin' Anni and Debs gave me treats before Halloween. Since I don't have time to pass them out, as Hootin' said, just grab 'em. Thanks, Girls.

For the crafty voyeurs

Thanks for the interest in yesterdays mindless wanderings. Ami, I'm still laughing with you, not at you! I'll save you from further blabbering with these:

Here's the yarn Pete picked out for me. I love the jewel tones and it'll look great with my black leather jacket. And it feels like suede. Mmmm.

Here's the 2nd Santa I cross-stitched, can't find the first one right now.

Here's a little close-up of that Santa. Can you see the little pearl beads I used for snow. This doesn't look totally finished. I don't see all the outlining that makes it pop. I guess I have a little left on this one too.

And the one I started a few years ago and am trying to pick back up on now.

And a little close-up of the children.

And here's what I discovered. I didn't have the 2nd one around when I bought the new materials but I could have sworn they were the same size. BUMMER! Now I don't know whether to scrap this one and start all over with a new fabric. The larger one looks so much nicer in person and I want them to all be the same for the future quilt. What to do? What to do? Maybe I can make the small one a pillow...Oh and FYI , Frost measures 9.5"w x 7.25"h and Kringle measures 12"w x 9"h.

Anyways, that's it so far. I'll show you a craft I made for everyone last Christmas (after Thanksgiving rolls around and I pull out the Christmas decorations). I made one for myself and might make more this year.

~R