What We've Been Up To

This is how my Christmas Break started. I realized that the bag in my vacuum cleaner needed to be changed - badly. Then I vaguely remembered that I may have sucked up an earring several weeks ago. This followed. It was not pretty. Or healthy for my lungs. Or anything I would ever recommend doing.

The verdict: No earring.



This is my favorite part about my husband being (almost) done with his EMT class. He gets some much needed down time with the boys, and I get a chance to breathe.



They can't just control the entire household, they have to have the crowns to prove it. Even the build-a-bear gets a crown. My position in this family has been knocked down even farther than I thought.

Christmas Break would not be complete without trashing the entire dining room and turning it into a tent.

I was shocked and amazed that he was taking the time to do a paint by number. My amazement faded quickly. His picture still looks exactly like that today.

Present time. Apparently he was excited to get this CD.

Here is our future doctor. He loves anything that has to do with bones, muscles, and blood. I would be OK with a doctor in the family, so we'll support this little venture as far as he takes it! Right now he's a madman with the blood pressure cuff.

Christmas Story....with a little twist

The Christmas Story according to the 3 yo:

"Do not be afraid!

The angels will be with you.

Mary had a little lamb.

The end."

It's Official

I am officially on Christmas break. Except for a ten hour meeting at school on Monday...other than that, I'm officially on break.


My husband's EMT class is officially over. Except for 10 hours of state board practicals tomorrow and the written portion at some unknown date....but the CLASS portion is officially over.


I am officially done Christmas shopping. Except for the moments when I realize, "Oh no, I forgot such-and-such teacher".....or bus driver....or mailman....or the Kirby salesman who appeared at my door last night.....other than that, I'm done shopping.

I have officially forgotten how to diet. I rejoined WW online 6 months ago and have lost a total of -3 pounds. (Don't forget...algebraically speaking, minus a negative is plus a positive....i.e. 7 - (-3) = 10. ) Grrrr.

I am officially turning my 3 yo into a TV junkie. It really wasn't very difficult; I believe he came hardwired that way. I, on the other hand, am getting quite a bit accomplished for Monday's meeting.

I am officially out of time. Lunch calls, the bus will be here soon, and I really must TURN OFF PBS.

Baking Day

I have these four friends. I know I have mentioned them before, but just to refresh your memory, these are the we-all-used-to-live-in-the-same-town-and-work-in-the same-school-and-they-all-moved-away-from-me friends. Two of them live within a reasonable driving distance, the other is 9 hours away.

In an effort to see each other now and then, and to get some Christmas baking done, we have established a December baking day. Two of them came, this one did not think the 9 hour drive was worth it. We were thoroughly offended.


This is the before shot. A few things had been unloaded, but the day had not yet gotten underway.



Here we are at some point during the morning. Nothing says HOT like domestic (sometimes I pretend) women in sweats and an apron.



This friend is the candy maker. She is in charge of peanut brittle and toffee. None of the rest of us attempt that madness. And while we are all relatively capable of dipping pretzels, hers are picture perfect while ours are.....well.....not.



This is the job that the not-so-skilled Christmas goody bakers get assigned. I'm wondering why I am still wearing that apron. I guess to protect my very important t-shirt and sweats.



And just when you thought we couldn't add anymore craziness to the day, our kids were there too. Well, not the 20 year old son, he decided this wasn't his idea of a good time.

The kids "helped" for awhile and then resorted to hot wheels under the cookie table. We were thinking hot wheels would have been a good idea from the very beginning.



And finally, the after picture. Eight hours later we had peanut brittle, toffee, pretzels, gingerbread men, sugar cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and gingersnaps. It ended up being a crazy, out-of-control amount of food.

At least now I'll know who to blame when my jeans don't fit.

So this is how our morning started....

My 3 yo came to me and said his tummy was hungry. The way he said it was so cute, so I replied, "May I make you some oatmeal?"

"Sure!" he replied.

And then he said, "Mom, I let you do lots of things."

Bwwaaahhhaahaaaa!!!

Then my 7 yo appears at the table.

He says, "What kind of oatmeal is this? It looks pink."

To which I replied, "It's Strawberry."

"This is not the kind I ordered!"

"WHAT?"

"This is not the kind I ordered. I ordered Maple Brown Sugar." Thankfully, he did not say any of this in a hateful way, but still.....we're gonna have a little conversation.

And on a completely unrelated note, as soon as breakfast was finished, my 3 yo looked at me with the most serious face and said, "I'm officially assuming I cannot watch a mean movie."

Right on, buddy. That's the first logical thing anyone has said this morning.

The Glass Half....

FULL: Girls' weekend with lots of shopping, fine dining, and present wrapping. Ahhh...

EMPTY: Monday morning arrived. Back to the real world.

FULL: Monday evening ushered in a snow storm which brought us not one, but TWO days with no school.

EMPTY: Monday evening ushered in a snow storm which brought my husband not one...or two...but several fire/EMS calls, very little sleep, and a massive final to study for (well, that wasn't the snowstorm's fault).

FULL: The boys were thrilled with the snow.

It appears to make a tasty snack. I hope the dog didn't pee there. Or the 68 other places in the yard where he ate the snow.

EMPTY: Where is my other son, you ask? Inside on the couch with a fever. And a headache, a stomachache, a sore throat, and pink-eye. What?? I'm thinking someone was milking it for all it was worth; however, I have proof of the fever, the pink eye, and the contents of the stomach.

FULL: The sickness was incredibly short-lived, he didn't have school anyway, and the only thing that really required treatment was the pink-eye.

EMPTY: My three year old is in rare form - hitting, flinging ornaments off the tree, and dumping an entire brand new bottle of shampoo into the bathtub.

FULL: I am getting really creative in the consequence department.

EMPTY: And really grumpy, fed up, and just plain not very nice.

FULL: In spite of that, it seems I should end on full.....it is -2 outside and I am blessed with a cozy, warm house. It's all about perspective. I wish I could remember that the other 23 hours and 56 minutes of the day.

This is what happens....

when you neglect to actually hang up the Christmas stockings.

I believe the correct title of the game is "Santa Feet Wars."

Materials needed: 4 Christmas stockings

Object of the game: Obliterate your brother

How to win the game: Be the one who isn't crying.