Christmas this year was quieter than most. For one thing, we stayed at home so that Doodlebug could cook Christmas dinner for us. He was very excited about this, and he had planned his menu well in advance:
Roast Duck with Mushroom Gravy
Stuffing
Roasted Red Potatoes
Green Beans
Apple Danish
Everything (except the stuffing, which was good old-fashioned Stovetop) was homemade. I insisted that he get into the kitchen the day before Christmas to start the danish; really, if I'd been smart and read the recipe myself instead of relying on a 12-year-old to do it, I would have had him start on Tuesday, but I may have been a little TOO trusting of his abilities. Anyway, I had him start the danish on Christmas Eve day. Everything else he cooked on Christmas. I wish I had gotten some photos of him cooking, but I was supervising and stirring the gravy. He cooked everything himself. The only part I played, other than stirring gravy, was to help him figure out in what order things needed to be started and subsequently cooked. It was all delicious, and we still have a little bit of leftover food. I even took the duck bones (and a chicken carcass that I had previously frozen) and made a whole bunch of poultry stock yesterday evening. Waste not, want not, right?
Of course we opened gifts on Christmas morning before the boy got in the kitchen. I did take a few photos of that, but I used Oz's phone as my camera since I wasn't coherent enough to either grab my own phone or my camera before plopping on the couch. I think both kids were happy with their gifts, and I think Oz was happy with his, too. I got him a nice new watch since his old one had finally bitten the dust. Doodlebug got him a Himalayan salt block for grilling, and Boo gave him some jerky made with all kinds of meat - venison, ostrich, alligator, etc. I received a gray coat, some earrings (one nice pair of crystal and one pair that features Schroedinger's cat(s), a couple of computer games that Oz and I can play together, a candle from Boo, and new placemats, napkins and napkin rings from Doodlebug. I felt like I made out like a bandit.
We didn't get the kids huge gifts this year; Boo got a replacement iPod Touch, since the button on her old one had never worked well and the charger was fraying, but that was the most expensive purchase we made. We got them a bunch of little things instead, and I think they're just as happy. Boo has been happily making duct tape crafts, for instance, and Doodlebug asked me to teach him to play Risk today. Doodlebug is also starting to lobby hard for Xbox Live (mostly so he can play some games via that outlet with his friends), and I have told him that if he can continue to demonstrate positive behavior with regard to electronics, he'll have a good shot at getting that by his birthday. I may even consider buying him a new game console if he does particularly well.
We've been steadily working out times to visit family and see them for the holiday since Christmas. The kids are out of school for another week, and while I do have to work, my schedule is light and some days I should get out of the office around 3 or 3:30, so I'll have evenings free to do whatever.
I feel like I should be posting more… but that's another post. Look for changes over the next week or so. Thanks for reading.
Hope you all had a joyous holiday, no matter how you celebrated. :)
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
The Three-Ring Circus
Today, I would like to update you on my life. To best illustrate it all, I shall use the metaphor of a three-ring circus.
IN THE FIRST RING:
My kiddos.
The boy has been throwing fits and has been unable to focus again; we're finally down to the last Vyvanse at 20 mg, and so starting this week we're going to go up to 30 mg. We may go as high as 40 if necessary (given his height and weight, I know the doctor wouldn't object) to get us back to a solid baseline. The boy needs new coping skills, and he needs to be able to focus to get them right before we "de-medicate" again. We're also continuing the Intuniv as is. He's also considering whether or not he wants to remain in public school next year or return home. He's on the fence. I'm letting the choice be his this year. We'll see how it goes.
The girl has been mentally/emotionally okay, but she came down with pneumonia last Thursday. Well, OK, so really it was a very mild case of pneumonia and we caught it on Friday afternoon, but pneumonia it is (I suspect combined with a virus, but that's neither here nor there) and that means breathing treatments and Mucinex and Tylenol and 'roid rage and grumpy girl who wants to go to school and who DID go to school today because she didn't have a fever but then came home with a fever of exactly 100.0F and a headache. A breathing treatment and Mucinex helped; she's off to take a bath and put on pajamas now. Here's hoping she feels better again by morning.
IN THE SECOND RING:
My job.
I really do enjoy my job, but days like today make it difficult to remember why. I won't get into details on here for many reasons, but suffice it to say that my level of screw-it-all is extremely high right now, and if they fired me tomorrow (which I hope they won't and don't think they will), I don't even know that I would care. OK, I would care and would probably cry, but OMG STRESS. I'm supposed to go in and chat with the director of operations about something tomorrow, and I feel like I'm being sent to the principal's office. I can't imagine that I'm in trouble, but that feeling is still there… and really, it's just more OMG STRESS.
IN THE THIRD RING:
My personal life.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
OK, seriously, I am working on my cross-stitch project for Doodlebug's room and intend to read a couple of books I picked up at the store this weekend, but other than that, nope. Allllll the NOPE. Oz and I have his company holiday party this week; mine is next week. At some point I need to go visit my mother for a Christmas shopping trip, and I have a couple of people left on my list for whom I need to shop. The idea of me getting out for ME? With MY friends or with MY husband? Not happening.
---
My goals right now are to get everyone healthy/properly medicated, figure out the work stuff, and get through the next few weeks intact. Then maybe it'll settle down…
Hey, a girl can dream.
IN THE FIRST RING:
My kiddos.
The boy has been throwing fits and has been unable to focus again; we're finally down to the last Vyvanse at 20 mg, and so starting this week we're going to go up to 30 mg. We may go as high as 40 if necessary (given his height and weight, I know the doctor wouldn't object) to get us back to a solid baseline. The boy needs new coping skills, and he needs to be able to focus to get them right before we "de-medicate" again. We're also continuing the Intuniv as is. He's also considering whether or not he wants to remain in public school next year or return home. He's on the fence. I'm letting the choice be his this year. We'll see how it goes.
The girl has been mentally/emotionally okay, but she came down with pneumonia last Thursday. Well, OK, so really it was a very mild case of pneumonia and we caught it on Friday afternoon, but pneumonia it is (I suspect combined with a virus, but that's neither here nor there) and that means breathing treatments and Mucinex and Tylenol and 'roid rage and grumpy girl who wants to go to school and who DID go to school today because she didn't have a fever but then came home with a fever of exactly 100.0F and a headache. A breathing treatment and Mucinex helped; she's off to take a bath and put on pajamas now. Here's hoping she feels better again by morning.
IN THE SECOND RING:
My job.
I really do enjoy my job, but days like today make it difficult to remember why. I won't get into details on here for many reasons, but suffice it to say that my level of screw-it-all is extremely high right now, and if they fired me tomorrow (which I hope they won't and don't think they will), I don't even know that I would care. OK, I would care and would probably cry, but OMG STRESS. I'm supposed to go in and chat with the director of operations about something tomorrow, and I feel like I'm being sent to the principal's office. I can't imagine that I'm in trouble, but that feeling is still there… and really, it's just more OMG STRESS.
IN THE THIRD RING:
My personal life.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
OK, seriously, I am working on my cross-stitch project for Doodlebug's room and intend to read a couple of books I picked up at the store this weekend, but other than that, nope. Allllll the NOPE. Oz and I have his company holiday party this week; mine is next week. At some point I need to go visit my mother for a Christmas shopping trip, and I have a couple of people left on my list for whom I need to shop. The idea of me getting out for ME? With MY friends or with MY husband? Not happening.
---
My goals right now are to get everyone healthy/properly medicated, figure out the work stuff, and get through the next few weeks intact. Then maybe it'll settle down…
Hey, a girl can dream.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks
So yesterday was Thanksgiving. The kids were out of school all week, so I asked them to clean out their closets, which was, in a twisted sort of way, meant to make them grateful for what they have. And it worked, because they got rid of a few things, some of which had LONG overstayed their welcome, and told me that now all the stuff they have in their closets is stuff they love. This makes me happy, and it makes them happy, and now I feel like the things I'm getting them for Christmas will have places to live.
On Wednesday Oz brought them up to see Mama at work in the office, so I took them around a little bit and then they hung out in the waiting room until it was time to go home. (Work is good, still circus-ish, but next week we're training one more new person and then we should be actually fully staffed, and that is a wonderful feeling. I won't be in the main office on Monday because the girl at the satellite office had a family emergency and is dealing with that, so I'm covering for her, but it should be an easy day. I digress.) Then Oz and I changed clothes, took the kids over to my brothers-in-law's (how on EARTH does one make that plural possessive?? Because two of them live there, and they are my brothers-in-law, but should it be brothers-in-laws'??? My brain just exploded) apartment where the kids spent the night with both of the guys as well as my mother-in-law. It was a crowded place, but they had a great evening/night, and Oz and I went for dinner and then met up with a friend and her new hubby down at a bar where we drank beer and ate sweet potato fries and played darts until my contacts were about to either fall out or adhere themselves to my corneas from sheer fatigue.
We got home safely, took showers, and crashed, but then Oz and I both got up around 5:30 to start the meat for Thanksgiving. He took charge of the brisket on the grill - I had put on the dry rub on Tuesday evening, so it'd been soaking up the flavor for about 36 hours - and I handled the giant leg of pork that was going in the oven. I used this recipe, and OH MY WORD it was the bomb dot com. We threw the meat in their respective cooking places and went back to bed for another 45-50 minutes… and then we adjusted the heat and did it again. Around 7:30 or so we both actually decided it was time to get up for good, so Oz started the coffee and we began the process of cleaning the house for our guests while letting the parade play in the background. For the record, I never thought I'd prefer Matt Lauer and Al Roker as hosts, but they would've been preferable to the folks on CBS. That was painful.
By 10:30 the house was mostly ready, which was good because my mom showed up about that time and I know I wouldn't have been able to do much cleaning after that... besides anything else, my mom never arrives without looking like she's moving in, and this time was no exception. She had a box of fabric scraps for Boo, a box of needlework books and shirts for me to browse through, as well as a pie and the non-liquored-up version of something called Apple Pie Moonshine. We added the booze shortly after she got here, and it is just as delicious as the web site promises. Dangerous stuff.
My kids and in-laws arrived not too long after my mother, and from there on out, it was Party Time. There were people cooking, people talking and laughing, and just everything Thanksgiving should've been. One thing that was different for us this year was that I had sent out an open invitation via Facebook for anyone who needed/wanted a place to come and celebrate Thanksgiving with friends, and I had a couple of folks take me up on the offer. I was so glad they came, and I hope - I think - they had a good time. We all stuffed ourselves to the point of pure indigestion, I do know that!!
A few people left early, but most of the family and a few friends hung around into the early evening hours. My mom got to play with a baby, and my kids were good with the older ones, so there were no incidents that I'm aware of. My husband and his brothers wandered down to the fire pit for a while and had some bro time, and I just enjoyed talking with everyone and catching up. It doesn't happen often enough.
In addition to all that, I scored a beautiful ring. When my grandmother had moved into an assisted living facility a few years ago, she had handed me the ring that had belonged to her when she married my grandfather. The stone was amazingly beautiful, but the setting was dated and far too large for my finger. Oz and I had briefly discussed getting the stone re-set at some point in the future, but that date had never been determined. When he and I were struggling with our relationship issues earlier this year, I figured it would never happen. Then he and I had our come-to-Jesus, honest-to-goodness, heart-to-heart about everything, and we turned a corner. A month or so ago, I told him I would wear a ring again if he A) got the stone put into a ring that was MINE and mine alone and B) took me on a few successful dates and re-proposed to me.
Oz and I had discussed rings off and on since then - I'd sent him pictures I'd found on Pinterest or Etsy of custom rings that I liked, and he'd found a local jeweler who does custom work, and I'd even gone in and met the guy and had my ring size determined (5 1/4, in case you're curious, which is an odd size) - but I did NOT know that the ring design had been both finalized and finished, and I certainly did not know that Oz had picked it up.
So when he re-proposed to me in front of almost all his family and mine… well, what else could I do?
I said yes.
I'm thankful for my family (and friends!) each and every day. They make my world wonderful. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, if you're in the USA, and if you live elsewhere in the world, that you have a great weekend!
On Wednesday Oz brought them up to see Mama at work in the office, so I took them around a little bit and then they hung out in the waiting room until it was time to go home. (Work is good, still circus-ish, but next week we're training one more new person and then we should be actually fully staffed, and that is a wonderful feeling. I won't be in the main office on Monday because the girl at the satellite office had a family emergency and is dealing with that, so I'm covering for her, but it should be an easy day. I digress.) Then Oz and I changed clothes, took the kids over to my brothers-in-law's (how on EARTH does one make that plural possessive?? Because two of them live there, and they are my brothers-in-law, but should it be brothers-in-laws'??? My brain just exploded) apartment where the kids spent the night with both of the guys as well as my mother-in-law. It was a crowded place, but they had a great evening/night, and Oz and I went for dinner and then met up with a friend and her new hubby down at a bar where we drank beer and ate sweet potato fries and played darts until my contacts were about to either fall out or adhere themselves to my corneas from sheer fatigue.
We got home safely, took showers, and crashed, but then Oz and I both got up around 5:30 to start the meat for Thanksgiving. He took charge of the brisket on the grill - I had put on the dry rub on Tuesday evening, so it'd been soaking up the flavor for about 36 hours - and I handled the giant leg of pork that was going in the oven. I used this recipe, and OH MY WORD it was the bomb dot com. We threw the meat in their respective cooking places and went back to bed for another 45-50 minutes… and then we adjusted the heat and did it again. Around 7:30 or so we both actually decided it was time to get up for good, so Oz started the coffee and we began the process of cleaning the house for our guests while letting the parade play in the background. For the record, I never thought I'd prefer Matt Lauer and Al Roker as hosts, but they would've been preferable to the folks on CBS. That was painful.
By 10:30 the house was mostly ready, which was good because my mom showed up about that time and I know I wouldn't have been able to do much cleaning after that... besides anything else, my mom never arrives without looking like she's moving in, and this time was no exception. She had a box of fabric scraps for Boo, a box of needlework books and shirts for me to browse through, as well as a pie and the non-liquored-up version of something called Apple Pie Moonshine. We added the booze shortly after she got here, and it is just as delicious as the web site promises. Dangerous stuff.
My kids and in-laws arrived not too long after my mother, and from there on out, it was Party Time. There were people cooking, people talking and laughing, and just everything Thanksgiving should've been. One thing that was different for us this year was that I had sent out an open invitation via Facebook for anyone who needed/wanted a place to come and celebrate Thanksgiving with friends, and I had a couple of folks take me up on the offer. I was so glad they came, and I hope - I think - they had a good time. We all stuffed ourselves to the point of pure indigestion, I do know that!!
A few people left early, but most of the family and a few friends hung around into the early evening hours. My mom got to play with a baby, and my kids were good with the older ones, so there were no incidents that I'm aware of. My husband and his brothers wandered down to the fire pit for a while and had some bro time, and I just enjoyed talking with everyone and catching up. It doesn't happen often enough.
In addition to all that, I scored a beautiful ring. When my grandmother had moved into an assisted living facility a few years ago, she had handed me the ring that had belonged to her when she married my grandfather. The stone was amazingly beautiful, but the setting was dated and far too large for my finger. Oz and I had briefly discussed getting the stone re-set at some point in the future, but that date had never been determined. When he and I were struggling with our relationship issues earlier this year, I figured it would never happen. Then he and I had our come-to-Jesus, honest-to-goodness, heart-to-heart about everything, and we turned a corner. A month or so ago, I told him I would wear a ring again if he A) got the stone put into a ring that was MINE and mine alone and B) took me on a few successful dates and re-proposed to me.
Oz and I had discussed rings off and on since then - I'd sent him pictures I'd found on Pinterest or Etsy of custom rings that I liked, and he'd found a local jeweler who does custom work, and I'd even gone in and met the guy and had my ring size determined (5 1/4, in case you're curious, which is an odd size) - but I did NOT know that the ring design had been both finalized and finished, and I certainly did not know that Oz had picked it up.
So when he re-proposed to me in front of almost all his family and mine… well, what else could I do?
I said yes.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Christmas Plans
It's time for my annual Grinchy post about Christmas. I love Halloween. I can tolerate Thanksgiving. But I loathe Christmas.
OK, that's not quite correct. I love Christmas with my husband and kiddos. I love making it magical for the kids, even though they don't technically believe in Santa any more, and I enjoy getting them gifts and seeing their faces on Christmas Day.
What I loathe is the level of expectation. It starts in September. SEPTEMBER, for Pete's sake, before I've even begun to think about my son's birthday or Halloween or Thanksgiving or any of the stuff that has to happen before the blessed holiday is upon us. It varies from year to year as to who the person is, but someone inevitably mentions Christmas in September… and usually throws in an expectation along with it. "You'll be at my house this year, right?" "Are you doing X again this year?" "What are your plans for Christmas?"
I hate it.
And it only ramps up from there.
By the time December, let alone Christmas itself, rolls around, I'm exhausted. It's all I can do to keep up with the kids and their holiday stuff - which is the stuff I *want* to do - let alone manage all the stuff that I'm supposed to do.
And every year, I wind up loathing Christmas. It has taken on a year-round aspect at this point.
I know some people love the holiday. I wish I could be one of them. But I am not.
So.
Because this year has been a year of many revelations and changes for me and I am finally making me a priority, I am going to do things differently. The following changes are now in effect:
1. I will NOT be going anywhere on Christmas Day. My children have already requested to stay home; my son wants to plan a menu and cook Christmas dinner for us. I want to let him do this. So I will be staying home on Christmas Day.
2. I do not intend to purchase gifts for anyone over the age of 12. If you are old enough to have your own income, expect either A) nothing or B) a gift card. My sister and I have already cleared this with each other, and I am hoping to follow suit with both my parents at some point soon. It's quite freeing to not have to worry about so many bills and wonder whether or not you've purchased the perfect gift for somewhere between 12 and 20 people, not including anyone who lives in this house.
3. I do not want any gifts myself (again, unless you live in this house, and that's only because I can't really stop them). I have what I need. I do not want extra stuff. Just send me a card to know that I'm thought of. I enjoy those!
If I'm perfectly honest, I'd love to give up celebrating Christmas altogether and just celebrate Yule/the solstice. I'll conform to the societal norms for form's sake, mostly because my mom, dad, and some of my in-laws are strong Christians (and I live in a town that threw such a huge fit over having a 'holiday' parade that for several years they had two parades just so the people who wanted a 'Christmas' parade would be happy), but I'd be perfectly content to follow my own pagan path and celebrate my way.
Maybe next year.
Because I really don't want to hate Christmas.
OK, that's not quite correct. I love Christmas with my husband and kiddos. I love making it magical for the kids, even though they don't technically believe in Santa any more, and I enjoy getting them gifts and seeing their faces on Christmas Day.
What I loathe is the level of expectation. It starts in September. SEPTEMBER, for Pete's sake, before I've even begun to think about my son's birthday or Halloween or Thanksgiving or any of the stuff that has to happen before the blessed holiday is upon us. It varies from year to year as to who the person is, but someone inevitably mentions Christmas in September… and usually throws in an expectation along with it. "You'll be at my house this year, right?" "Are you doing X again this year?" "What are your plans for Christmas?"
I hate it.
And it only ramps up from there.
By the time December, let alone Christmas itself, rolls around, I'm exhausted. It's all I can do to keep up with the kids and their holiday stuff - which is the stuff I *want* to do - let alone manage all the stuff that I'm supposed to do.
And every year, I wind up loathing Christmas. It has taken on a year-round aspect at this point.
I know some people love the holiday. I wish I could be one of them. But I am not.
So.
Because this year has been a year of many revelations and changes for me and I am finally making me a priority, I am going to do things differently. The following changes are now in effect:
1. I will NOT be going anywhere on Christmas Day. My children have already requested to stay home; my son wants to plan a menu and cook Christmas dinner for us. I want to let him do this. So I will be staying home on Christmas Day.
2. I do not intend to purchase gifts for anyone over the age of 12. If you are old enough to have your own income, expect either A) nothing or B) a gift card. My sister and I have already cleared this with each other, and I am hoping to follow suit with both my parents at some point soon. It's quite freeing to not have to worry about so many bills and wonder whether or not you've purchased the perfect gift for somewhere between 12 and 20 people, not including anyone who lives in this house.
3. I do not want any gifts myself (again, unless you live in this house, and that's only because I can't really stop them). I have what I need. I do not want extra stuff. Just send me a card to know that I'm thought of. I enjoy those!
If I'm perfectly honest, I'd love to give up celebrating Christmas altogether and just celebrate Yule/the solstice. I'll conform to the societal norms for form's sake, mostly because my mom, dad, and some of my in-laws are strong Christians (and I live in a town that threw such a huge fit over having a 'holiday' parade that for several years they had two parades just so the people who wanted a 'Christmas' parade would be happy), but I'd be perfectly content to follow my own pagan path and celebrate my way.
Maybe next year.
Because I really don't want to hate Christmas.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Today
So today was Valentine's Day, yet another day in which I am reminded how completely inadequate I am when it comes to things like holidays and gifts. I am the one, after all, who has completely forgotten (both of) her anniversaries multiple times and tends to forget not only her own birthday but those of her loved ones as well. The kids are only exempt, I am sure, by virtue of their age. When they hit 21, I hope they can forgive me for my forgetfulness.
Anyway, Oz hit home runs today, as he always does. Usually we don't do big gifts for Valentine's - maybe a small box of chocolate or just cards or a bouquet of flowers. But for whatever reason, Oz decided to spoil me rotten this year. Yesterday he brought home a beautiful bouquet of red tulips and he and I shared half a dozen massive chocolate-covered strawberries. This morning he bounced me awake (it's a good thing it was Valentine's Day, or he'd probably have lost body parts doing that), made and poured me coffee, and presented me with a beautiful watch. I'm both really picky about and really hard on watches, so he'd asked me about it previously. I'd told him that I liked that one, but I assumed at the time that he was pre-shopping for my birthday and/or cruise gift ideas and/or Mother's Day, because I actually am that spoiled and he actually is that good at gifts and actually does plan that far ahead. Which makes my gift-giving incompetence all the more glaring. But we'll move on. He resized the watch this afternoon and, in addition, helped me with laundry, dusted the downstairs, and cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes after dinner.
What did I do?
I got him two cards.
Oh, and he also bought cards and small boxes of chocolate for each of the kids and graciously let me take half-credit for them.
This is why I keep him.
-----
The kids and I had a good day today, too.
School was understandably shoved to the back burner today - we did some grammar, and each kid did a page of math, and they copied down the final drafts of their history papers (she wrote a little piece about the Ancient Indus Valley civilization and he wrote a short essay on the history of medicine in ancient cultures), and after that, we left.
First we went to an area assisted living center, where the kids put on a talent show for some of the residents. The group has performed this for three years now, though we missed the first year, and all the kids have really progressed in their performances. Feel free to read about the talent show on my friend's blog. Doodlebug came up with the idea for using skits as part of the talent show. He wanted to participate but didn't feel like reciting a poem like he did last year. We found some other kids to participate after selecting the skits we wanted to perform, and I thought they all did a fabulous job, especially since they had never rehearsed together! They spoke loudly and clearly, and in the end, there were some laughs for each skit.
After the talent show, a couple of us headed over to a local tea house for lunch with another friend, and she snapped a picture of me sitting on a ledge outside the tea house after we got done eating.
Then the talent show friend left, and the photo friend and I headed over to the local skating rink for an afternoon of trying not to break bones while zipping around a slick wooden floor on four-wheeled shoes of doom. Boo actually learned to skate without hanging onto a wall, and Doodlebug brought his own rollerblades along so he wouldn't have to use rentals. The boy has brains, I'll give him that.
By the time we left there, we were ALL ready to get home. Thankfully the skating rink is only a couple of miles from our house, so it didn't take long at all before we were crashed in various places (Doodlebug promptly soaked himself in a hot bath, and Boo wasn't far behind) wearing pajama/comfy pants and I was wondering what on earth I had been thinking when I'd decided on dinner plans.
Tomorrow we're staying home (Boo is under the impression that she wants to go roller skating again, but I think she'll be ready to change those plans in the morning). My mom is dropping by to give the kids their Valentines, and I have warned her that we all may be lounging in our pajamas when she arrives. Because THIS girl has no intention of moving before noon.
Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day/Friday. And may your weekend be as warm as mine is supposed to be!
Anyway, Oz hit home runs today, as he always does. Usually we don't do big gifts for Valentine's - maybe a small box of chocolate or just cards or a bouquet of flowers. But for whatever reason, Oz decided to spoil me rotten this year. Yesterday he brought home a beautiful bouquet of red tulips and he and I shared half a dozen massive chocolate-covered strawberries. This morning he bounced me awake (it's a good thing it was Valentine's Day, or he'd probably have lost body parts doing that), made and poured me coffee, and presented me with a beautiful watch. I'm both really picky about and really hard on watches, so he'd asked me about it previously. I'd told him that I liked that one, but I assumed at the time that he was pre-shopping for my birthday and/or cruise gift ideas and/or Mother's Day, because I actually am that spoiled and he actually is that good at gifts and actually does plan that far ahead. Which makes my gift-giving incompetence all the more glaring. But we'll move on. He resized the watch this afternoon and, in addition, helped me with laundry, dusted the downstairs, and cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes after dinner.
What did I do?
I got him two cards.
Oh, and he also bought cards and small boxes of chocolate for each of the kids and graciously let me take half-credit for them.
This is why I keep him.
-----
The kids and I had a good day today, too.
School was understandably shoved to the back burner today - we did some grammar, and each kid did a page of math, and they copied down the final drafts of their history papers (she wrote a little piece about the Ancient Indus Valley civilization and he wrote a short essay on the history of medicine in ancient cultures), and after that, we left.
First we went to an area assisted living center, where the kids put on a talent show for some of the residents. The group has performed this for three years now, though we missed the first year, and all the kids have really progressed in their performances. Feel free to read about the talent show on my friend's blog. Doodlebug came up with the idea for using skits as part of the talent show. He wanted to participate but didn't feel like reciting a poem like he did last year. We found some other kids to participate after selecting the skits we wanted to perform, and I thought they all did a fabulous job, especially since they had never rehearsed together! They spoke loudly and clearly, and in the end, there were some laughs for each skit.
After the talent show, a couple of us headed over to a local tea house for lunch with another friend, and she snapped a picture of me sitting on a ledge outside the tea house after we got done eating.
 |
| This has been cropped to become my new profile picture, but look - a picture of me! |
By the time we left there, we were ALL ready to get home. Thankfully the skating rink is only a couple of miles from our house, so it didn't take long at all before we were crashed in various places (Doodlebug promptly soaked himself in a hot bath, and Boo wasn't far behind) wearing pajama/comfy pants and I was wondering what on earth I had been thinking when I'd decided on dinner plans.
Tomorrow we're staying home (Boo is under the impression that she wants to go roller skating again, but I think she'll be ready to change those plans in the morning). My mom is dropping by to give the kids their Valentines, and I have warned her that we all may be lounging in our pajamas when she arrives. Because THIS girl has no intention of moving before noon.
Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day/Friday. And may your weekend be as warm as mine is supposed to be!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Shopping With (My) Kids
As the kids get older, they get more gift cards for birthdays and holidays. I'm okay with that, they're okay with that, and really, it makes everyone's job a lot easier. I'm a fan of gift cards.
This year they garnered both gift cards and cash for the holidays. Doodlebug got a GameStop gift card and another one for Sonic; Boo got gift cards to both JoAnn Fabric and Hobby Lobby, and they scored $80 each in cash.
Last week we went out for the first round of purchases. We stopped at GameStop first. Boo wanted to purchase her own copy of Minecraft, but they didn't have it for the 360, which actually relieved me. I really didn't want to hop back on that merry-go-round. Doodlebug initially wanted a copy of something M-rated, but when I pointed out that he wasn't old enough to purchase it himself, he shrugged and found something having to do with Star Wars - and rated T - to buy instead. I remember grumping about ratings when they came out when I was a teen, but as a parent, they're an excellent excuse to keep my kid from buying stuff that will scare him half to death (but if I told him that, he'd never believe me).
After GameStop, we hit the mall. I will say this for my children - when it comes to clothes, they really, truly do not give one iota of a hoot about brand names. They like cheap. Boo found a dress on clearance for $9 (and it rang up for $5) and a shirt for $12 (and it rang up for $8… I swear the cashiers give her a discount at the register just for being cute). That was the sum total of her purchases, and really she only spent $2 since we returned an $11 denim jacket someone had given her that didn't fit. I want her shopping skills. The boy poked around looking for T-shirts but could only find one long-sleeved shirt that he liked, and it was also on clearance. (Mama was the one who went a little nuts when she saw that Express jeans were 40% off. I don't normally buy mall jeans, but once in a while I feel the need to have a couple of nice pairs, and these are gloriously soft and fit me beautifully [and no, I'm not being paid to say that - or any of this stuff - although if Express wanted me to test out their clothing and report back, I would happily oblige].)
So that was last week. We had to go back to the mall area today to pick up Boo's charm bracelet, which was having a new charm soldered on, so Boo grabbed her crafting gift cards and off we went. She spent her JoAnn gift card on material to make herself a new apron ($10 gift card and her total was $9.98 or something scarily close to the balance… seriously, I want her shopping skills) and part of her Hobby Lobby card on a sign for her bedroom door that says, "Girls Only. No Boys Allowed." She had been looking for a small stand mirror for her vanity, but she didn't find one she liked. She still has another $6 on that card, so I'm sure we'll be back, probably for fabric and sewing purposes.
The cash? Well, the girl hasn't spent hers yet. The boy, on the other hand, decided he wanted a pair of rollerblades. So he took his remaining money, and we went to Academy, where he found himself a pair in his size (men's 11, by the way… Sasquatch is alive and well and living at my house) and had enough cash left over to purchase a small Nerf gun. He spent a little extra on a brightly-colored metal lizard from Hobby Lobby that he's named Eddie. Eddie will grace Doodlebug's bedroom wall as soon as the boy can get up the stairs with a hammer and a nail. He's taking down his Minecraft poster for Eddie's sake, which shocked me but made me happy at the same time. I'm not a big fan of posters.
My kids continually surprise me with the things they choose to buy. I'm very proud that they prioritize their spending and are learning that extra cash can be saved or at least spent on things they really want rather than feeling the need to blow it all at once. It's a small step on the road to independence, but it's something I've been trying to teach them for their entire lives. I'm glad it's finally kicking in. More or less.
This year they garnered both gift cards and cash for the holidays. Doodlebug got a GameStop gift card and another one for Sonic; Boo got gift cards to both JoAnn Fabric and Hobby Lobby, and they scored $80 each in cash.
Last week we went out for the first round of purchases. We stopped at GameStop first. Boo wanted to purchase her own copy of Minecraft, but they didn't have it for the 360, which actually relieved me. I really didn't want to hop back on that merry-go-round. Doodlebug initially wanted a copy of something M-rated, but when I pointed out that he wasn't old enough to purchase it himself, he shrugged and found something having to do with Star Wars - and rated T - to buy instead. I remember grumping about ratings when they came out when I was a teen, but as a parent, they're an excellent excuse to keep my kid from buying stuff that will scare him half to death (but if I told him that, he'd never believe me).
After GameStop, we hit the mall. I will say this for my children - when it comes to clothes, they really, truly do not give one iota of a hoot about brand names. They like cheap. Boo found a dress on clearance for $9 (and it rang up for $5) and a shirt for $12 (and it rang up for $8… I swear the cashiers give her a discount at the register just for being cute). That was the sum total of her purchases, and really she only spent $2 since we returned an $11 denim jacket someone had given her that didn't fit. I want her shopping skills. The boy poked around looking for T-shirts but could only find one long-sleeved shirt that he liked, and it was also on clearance. (Mama was the one who went a little nuts when she saw that Express jeans were 40% off. I don't normally buy mall jeans, but once in a while I feel the need to have a couple of nice pairs, and these are gloriously soft and fit me beautifully [and no, I'm not being paid to say that - or any of this stuff - although if Express wanted me to test out their clothing and report back, I would happily oblige].)
So that was last week. We had to go back to the mall area today to pick up Boo's charm bracelet, which was having a new charm soldered on, so Boo grabbed her crafting gift cards and off we went. She spent her JoAnn gift card on material to make herself a new apron ($10 gift card and her total was $9.98 or something scarily close to the balance… seriously, I want her shopping skills) and part of her Hobby Lobby card on a sign for her bedroom door that says, "Girls Only. No Boys Allowed." She had been looking for a small stand mirror for her vanity, but she didn't find one she liked. She still has another $6 on that card, so I'm sure we'll be back, probably for fabric and sewing purposes.
The cash? Well, the girl hasn't spent hers yet. The boy, on the other hand, decided he wanted a pair of rollerblades. So he took his remaining money, and we went to Academy, where he found himself a pair in his size (men's 11, by the way… Sasquatch is alive and well and living at my house) and had enough cash left over to purchase a small Nerf gun. He spent a little extra on a brightly-colored metal lizard from Hobby Lobby that he's named Eddie. Eddie will grace Doodlebug's bedroom wall as soon as the boy can get up the stairs with a hammer and a nail. He's taking down his Minecraft poster for Eddie's sake, which shocked me but made me happy at the same time. I'm not a big fan of posters.
My kids continually surprise me with the things they choose to buy. I'm very proud that they prioritize their spending and are learning that extra cash can be saved or at least spent on things they really want rather than feeling the need to blow it all at once. It's a small step on the road to independence, but it's something I've been trying to teach them for their entire lives. I'm glad it's finally kicking in. More or less.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas 2013
Christmas at last! We've been slowly gearing up all month, working through our annual Christmas chain. The kids are big enough now, though, that sometimes they simply don't feel like doing what the chain says, and that's okay. I know it's a tradition that will slip as they get older, but as long as they have fond memories, that's what matters. One day, perhaps, they'll have a similar tradition with their own families.
Oz and I spent a little less than we usually do this year, but we actually got the kids more gifts. There were simply no large purchases - no electronics, mostly.
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| Santa landed… and the cats perform their traditional Stalking of the Gifts |
If you look at the boy closely (i.e. by clicking on the photo to enlarge it), you might think he was grouchy or displeased. I assure you he is not. This is one of his favorite gifts, a Minecraft Creeper hoodie that zips all the way up over his face. The face Doodlebug is giving us is what Oz and I call the SFG - shit-faced grin. You'll see it plenty of times during this post.
One of Boo's favorite gifts held these pillows. She had specifically asked for them so she can have a 'pretty bed.' She wants to create a 'garden room,' and the pillows were integral to her scheme.
The kids spent their own allowance money on each other (and on Oz and I) this year. Boo bought Doodlebug this telescoping campfire fork and a kit to make a catapult. Doodlebug bought Boo a lotion/body care kit with Boo's favorite scent.
The girl got a new Oklahoma charm for her bracelet, and she initially gave a skeptical look to the hair chalk, but she's now sporting green and gold hair for the holiday, so I think I was right that she would like the idea of using her hair as a platform for art.
Lots of happy...
and even MORE happy out of the boy when he realized that he got the Khet game that he'd circled in every catalog we'd received since October.
The man, of course, was not left out of the happy gift-giving process (neither was I, but Oz was dressed and camera-presentable and I was very much NOT). The kids bought their own gifts for him as well. The mug in the photo above was Boo's gift to him - it has Oz's name engraved on it - and Doodlebug got him some of his favorite wool socks.
The best gift, however, came at the very end of the whole process. The kids would kill me for posting this photo, but I don't care.
I'm just so glad they love each other.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
When Holidays Attack
This weekend - well, really, it started on Thursday - exploded. I'm supposed to be making lesson plans right now so I can get in the car in a few hours and head to my sister's 30th birthday party/holiday party at her house (it was originally a birthday party she was planning for herself, but her husband planned a surprise party a couple of weeks ago, so now the birthday party is a holiday party). And I'm going to feel like a horrible, awful person if I don't go.
BUT.
I am exhausted.
The kids are exhausted.
My husband has work to do, is technically supposed to attend a work event this afternoon, and is exhausted.
All hell broke loose on Wednesday. We were actually in the car headed to a rescheduled violin lesson when we got call #1. The therapist had a cancellation opening on Thursday morning and would we like the appointment? I'm not about to pass up the opportunity to get my son help sooner rather than later, so yes, we took it. Five minutes later I made call #2 to get the dog a long overdue vet appointment to get his vaccinations (rabies was current, but everything else was overdue). That got scheduled on Friday morning. Wednesday itself was already busy. After the violin lesson, we went to the store for milk, the dry cleaners to pick up linens I'd taken in, the library to pick up our weekly requested books as well as anything else the kids wanted to read, and then to yoga for Boo's final class.
When we got to the violin lesson, I sat down to add those two appointments to the calendar and realized I had made a grave error. I had forgotten that on Thursday afternoon Doodlebug was going to go to a social skills group for the first time; this in addition to his normal swim team practice. This meant three separate appointments that day. And I knew I had to clean the house on Friday because I was hosting a holiday party Friday night. I had originally hoped to attend our Friday homeschool meeting, but I suddenly realized that wasn't going to happen. Not at all.
I have a wonderful husband who helped me get through those two stressful days (Wednesday and Thursday), and the vet appointment got moved to the afternoon, which gave me time to knock out the house cleaning in the morning.
The party went smoothly. It was smaller than I'd expected, but I think (hope?) everyone who attended still had a good time. The kids, however, were thoroughly worn out by the time the last guests left. It was about 10:45 when they walked out the door. The kids took quick showers and collapsed into bed. I had to get Boo up at 8:45 the next morning, and I felt bad about doing it because her first reaction to waking up and realizing she had to get moving to go to a violin rehearsal was to make what I call Ultimate Sad Face - you know that involuntary sad face you make when you wake up and want to instantly cry? Ultimate Sad Face. We managed to get to rehearsal, though, and then came back home.
Boo and one of my good friends then went to a craft fair downtown, and Boo did have fun there. She came home with several small purchases, including a coffee cup koozie for me. Then I made the biggest mistake of all - I suggested we drive down to Muskogee and see their Garden of Lights and then go over to the Castle to see their drive-through inflatables display. We went down, got dinner, and then… then we got in the car line.
I had not taken two things into account. #1: Muskogee police do not believe in traffic control. They didn't direct traffic at all. There was nothing to keep the local douchebags from cutting in line. It was torture. #2 (and this was the kicker): Last weekend was icy, and I suspect the park was closed, since the roads are winding and hilly. So all the people who didn't go last weekend were trying to go this weekend.
It took more than two hours to get into and through the park. Oz and I had expected to be home and have the kids close to bed by the time we made it out, which meant that by the time we hit the door of the house, it was 10:30 again. My kids are normally in bed and asleep by 8:30, 9 at the latest. Two late nights in a row had taken their toll, and they were nearly in tears with fatigue. This morning we've dragged. My sister's party is from 4-10 today. Even if we did go, we would have to leave by 6 to get home by 8:30, because it's a 2-ish-hour drive to get there. I'm just not convinced it's worth it. We need a home day, where we all lounge around in sweatpants and don't really move much. We need to recuperate before we tackle another school/work week.
I'm already feeling plenty of guilt about various problems that have arisen around Christmas lists and not being able to get people the gifts they're wanting/expecting; now I'll just add sibling birthday guilt to the list. I know I shouldn't feel guilty about taking care of my family's needs. I'm just good at guilt like that.
Hope the holidays haven't attacked anyone else!
BUT.
I am exhausted.
The kids are exhausted.
My husband has work to do, is technically supposed to attend a work event this afternoon, and is exhausted.
All hell broke loose on Wednesday. We were actually in the car headed to a rescheduled violin lesson when we got call #1. The therapist had a cancellation opening on Thursday morning and would we like the appointment? I'm not about to pass up the opportunity to get my son help sooner rather than later, so yes, we took it. Five minutes later I made call #2 to get the dog a long overdue vet appointment to get his vaccinations (rabies was current, but everything else was overdue). That got scheduled on Friday morning. Wednesday itself was already busy. After the violin lesson, we went to the store for milk, the dry cleaners to pick up linens I'd taken in, the library to pick up our weekly requested books as well as anything else the kids wanted to read, and then to yoga for Boo's final class.
When we got to the violin lesson, I sat down to add those two appointments to the calendar and realized I had made a grave error. I had forgotten that on Thursday afternoon Doodlebug was going to go to a social skills group for the first time; this in addition to his normal swim team practice. This meant three separate appointments that day. And I knew I had to clean the house on Friday because I was hosting a holiday party Friday night. I had originally hoped to attend our Friday homeschool meeting, but I suddenly realized that wasn't going to happen. Not at all.
I have a wonderful husband who helped me get through those two stressful days (Wednesday and Thursday), and the vet appointment got moved to the afternoon, which gave me time to knock out the house cleaning in the morning.
The party went smoothly. It was smaller than I'd expected, but I think (hope?) everyone who attended still had a good time. The kids, however, were thoroughly worn out by the time the last guests left. It was about 10:45 when they walked out the door. The kids took quick showers and collapsed into bed. I had to get Boo up at 8:45 the next morning, and I felt bad about doing it because her first reaction to waking up and realizing she had to get moving to go to a violin rehearsal was to make what I call Ultimate Sad Face - you know that involuntary sad face you make when you wake up and want to instantly cry? Ultimate Sad Face. We managed to get to rehearsal, though, and then came back home.
Boo and one of my good friends then went to a craft fair downtown, and Boo did have fun there. She came home with several small purchases, including a coffee cup koozie for me. Then I made the biggest mistake of all - I suggested we drive down to Muskogee and see their Garden of Lights and then go over to the Castle to see their drive-through inflatables display. We went down, got dinner, and then… then we got in the car line.
I had not taken two things into account. #1: Muskogee police do not believe in traffic control. They didn't direct traffic at all. There was nothing to keep the local douchebags from cutting in line. It was torture. #2 (and this was the kicker): Last weekend was icy, and I suspect the park was closed, since the roads are winding and hilly. So all the people who didn't go last weekend were trying to go this weekend.
It took more than two hours to get into and through the park. Oz and I had expected to be home and have the kids close to bed by the time we made it out, which meant that by the time we hit the door of the house, it was 10:30 again. My kids are normally in bed and asleep by 8:30, 9 at the latest. Two late nights in a row had taken their toll, and they were nearly in tears with fatigue. This morning we've dragged. My sister's party is from 4-10 today. Even if we did go, we would have to leave by 6 to get home by 8:30, because it's a 2-ish-hour drive to get there. I'm just not convinced it's worth it. We need a home day, where we all lounge around in sweatpants and don't really move much. We need to recuperate before we tackle another school/work week.
I'm already feeling plenty of guilt about various problems that have arisen around Christmas lists and not being able to get people the gifts they're wanting/expecting; now I'll just add sibling birthday guilt to the list. I know I shouldn't feel guilty about taking care of my family's needs. I'm just good at guilt like that.
Hope the holidays haven't attacked anyone else!
Friday, December 13, 2013
A Few Days' Perspective
I've had a few days to go over all the new information that I have received, and I'm reaching a place where I'm okay with most of it.
I heard from the sewing teacher, and she and I have worked out details for sewing classes. Boo will get to take them after all. I'm not at liberty to discuss them at length yet, for various reasons, but suffice it to say lessons are happening. Doodlebug will get signed up for tae kwon do, and he'll have regular therapy appointments as well as a new monthly social skills group that we attended for the first time this week. We'll also keep going to our weekly homeschool group meetings as often as we can - I'll admit, I've been horrible about attending lately, but the holiday season has a way of devouring any open time without advance notice. Today, for example, I had hoped to go, but the vet appointment I had booked for this morning had to be moved to the afternoon due to a funeral the vet had to attend, and there went that timeslot!
Oz booked our Australia trip the other day. We're waiting on passports, and then I have to start worrying about logistics - do we have enough suitcases, what sort of rental car do we get, who is going to house-sit for us while we're gone, all those sorts of things that I've never really had to consider because we've never taken a trip of this length EVER. Any been-there, done-that stories to share about long trips and/or long flights with kids? I'm going to need help with this one.
Boo is still set on public school. Sometime after the holidays I'll run up to the local elementary and get some of their third grade material and take a look at it to make sure she'll be able to keep up with her peers next year. I'm still on the fence about Doodlebug. I'm giving myself permission to have doubts until February. Then we'll see where things stand. Part of me thinks it would be good for him to go, and the other part still suspects it would be a nightmare. I'm unsure. I don't like being unsure.
The holiday has finally caught up with me as well. I'd been doing very well and had been Grinch-free until two days ago. Now I'm grumpy. I no longer feel like baking cookies for Boo's violin recital. I don't want to drive all over town for events I'm not feeling enthusiastic about. I definitely don't feel like helping a girl 'solve the unknown' in math when all she wants to do is argue with me that 27 feet is the same as 24 yards. And no, manipulatives don't help. She pulled those out and came up with 27 feet = 0 yards. I don't even know where to begin. I'm tired of the boy trying to do sign language to her to give her the answers while his own math languishes unfinished on his desk. Grr.
I need to keep moving, though. Time and Christmas wait for no woman. Off to the races!
I heard from the sewing teacher, and she and I have worked out details for sewing classes. Boo will get to take them after all. I'm not at liberty to discuss them at length yet, for various reasons, but suffice it to say lessons are happening. Doodlebug will get signed up for tae kwon do, and he'll have regular therapy appointments as well as a new monthly social skills group that we attended for the first time this week. We'll also keep going to our weekly homeschool group meetings as often as we can - I'll admit, I've been horrible about attending lately, but the holiday season has a way of devouring any open time without advance notice. Today, for example, I had hoped to go, but the vet appointment I had booked for this morning had to be moved to the afternoon due to a funeral the vet had to attend, and there went that timeslot!
Oz booked our Australia trip the other day. We're waiting on passports, and then I have to start worrying about logistics - do we have enough suitcases, what sort of rental car do we get, who is going to house-sit for us while we're gone, all those sorts of things that I've never really had to consider because we've never taken a trip of this length EVER. Any been-there, done-that stories to share about long trips and/or long flights with kids? I'm going to need help with this one.
Boo is still set on public school. Sometime after the holidays I'll run up to the local elementary and get some of their third grade material and take a look at it to make sure she'll be able to keep up with her peers next year. I'm still on the fence about Doodlebug. I'm giving myself permission to have doubts until February. Then we'll see where things stand. Part of me thinks it would be good for him to go, and the other part still suspects it would be a nightmare. I'm unsure. I don't like being unsure.
The holiday has finally caught up with me as well. I'd been doing very well and had been Grinch-free until two days ago. Now I'm grumpy. I no longer feel like baking cookies for Boo's violin recital. I don't want to drive all over town for events I'm not feeling enthusiastic about. I definitely don't feel like helping a girl 'solve the unknown' in math when all she wants to do is argue with me that 27 feet is the same as 24 yards. And no, manipulatives don't help. She pulled those out and came up with 27 feet = 0 yards. I don't even know where to begin. I'm tired of the boy trying to do sign language to her to give her the answers while his own math languishes unfinished on his desk. Grr.
I need to keep moving, though. Time and Christmas wait for no woman. Off to the races!
Monday, December 2, 2013
*poke* *poke* I Think It's Dead...
It is December. My motivation for doing school with the children is gone. I think if I could wake up tomorrow and put them on a school bus and wave as it drove away, I would be okay with that. The kids seemed perfectly content to get up and do school this morning, but I heard the couch singing an awfully loud siren song when I walked past it to get to the coffeepot.
It's not just school that has me thoroughly demotivated. I don't want to do anything else, either. I haven't read a book in almost a month. That giant stack of cards that I have addressed? I don't want to go to the post office and get stamps to mail them. I need to order photos to send out with the rest of the cards, but I don't want to go pick them up.
The kids asked me yesterday how come I didn't have the Christmas Countdown chain ready yet. I told them I'd do it this morning during school. And I did. It's hanging on the curtain rod of the window next to the fireplace. (Side note: Doodlebug can now reach that curtain rod by himself. Disturbing.) I put things on it like decorate cookies and read holiday books and make bird feeders, which are all traditions around here and sound fantastic if you're 8 or 11 or have motivation, but all I could think as I was filling out these slips of paper was OMG this stuff takes effort.
Even yesterday, after I pulled out all the Christmas decor, I found myself parked on the couch staring at Facebook while the kids ran around and did my decorative bidding.
I've reached a new low of lazy.
I'm not grinchy. Au contraire, I am actually planning a holiday party for later this month, so the friends who aren't already horrendously over-scheduled can add one more thing to their list. I'm excited about the gifts I've gotten for the kids… and probably should be done shopping but keep coming up with new ideas. I'm having a hard time restraining myself. I think I've found a good mental compromise, though. I really need to focus my gift-finding ideas on Oz, but what do you get the man who buys himself whatever he wants? So far I've had two ideas, and I've given them both to the kids. I suppose it's time to figure something out.
In the meantime, I'm going to sit here on my backside and wish I was cross-stitching. That, at least, has been happening. I suppose I should be glad something is!
It's not just school that has me thoroughly demotivated. I don't want to do anything else, either. I haven't read a book in almost a month. That giant stack of cards that I have addressed? I don't want to go to the post office and get stamps to mail them. I need to order photos to send out with the rest of the cards, but I don't want to go pick them up.
The kids asked me yesterday how come I didn't have the Christmas Countdown chain ready yet. I told them I'd do it this morning during school. And I did. It's hanging on the curtain rod of the window next to the fireplace. (Side note: Doodlebug can now reach that curtain rod by himself. Disturbing.) I put things on it like decorate cookies and read holiday books and make bird feeders, which are all traditions around here and sound fantastic if you're 8 or 11 or have motivation, but all I could think as I was filling out these slips of paper was OMG this stuff takes effort.
Even yesterday, after I pulled out all the Christmas decor, I found myself parked on the couch staring at Facebook while the kids ran around and did my decorative bidding.
I've reached a new low of lazy.
I'm not grinchy. Au contraire, I am actually planning a holiday party for later this month, so the friends who aren't already horrendously over-scheduled can add one more thing to their list. I'm excited about the gifts I've gotten for the kids… and probably should be done shopping but keep coming up with new ideas. I'm having a hard time restraining myself. I think I've found a good mental compromise, though. I really need to focus my gift-finding ideas on Oz, but what do you get the man who buys himself whatever he wants? So far I've had two ideas, and I've given them both to the kids. I suppose it's time to figure something out.
In the meantime, I'm going to sit here on my backside and wish I was cross-stitching. That, at least, has been happening. I suppose I should be glad something is!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
When Kids Grow Up: Some Days It's Not as Painful
It's Halloween 2013. The kids dressed up...
and we crashed a friend's neighborhood (like we always do) to go trick-or-treating. The kids hauled home a couple pounds of sugar candy each, so they're set till Christmas or Valentine's Day or Easter or whenever I decide to throw out all the stuff they haven't touched in forever.
It's kind of a bittersweet moment in parenting when you realize that your kids are no longer dashing ahead to get to the next house first... because they're lagging behind, one of them dangling his mask on his wrist between houses and the other not wanting to be crushed among the people who are shorter than her.
And then you get home and the kids don't even care if you steal their candy because Granny sent them a couple bucks each for Halloween and they fully intend to hit the clearance candy aisle in the next day or two. And at some point during the day, one of the children (and it's the younger one) actually says, "Mom, I don't know if I want to go trick-or-treating next year. It seems kinda... silly." And you say, "Well, let's wait till next year and decide," but inside your heart kind of thumps a little because you realize that if they don't go trick-or-treating it's kind of like Halloween is OVER. Sure there might be Halloween parties that they want to attend, but they won't be the cute little-kid, take-lots-of-photos kind; they'll be the big-kid, drop-me-off-and-pick-me-up-later kind.
And then you realize that you won't have to worry about where to go trick-or-treating and you can stay home and drink beer or wine or whatever as long as you're sober enough to pick up the kids later. And that you won't have to worry about what to do with all the candy because there won't be any unless you buy it for yourself like you did before you had kids.
Some days, having older kids isn't all that bad.
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| Japanese princess |
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| Ghostface |
It's kind of a bittersweet moment in parenting when you realize that your kids are no longer dashing ahead to get to the next house first... because they're lagging behind, one of them dangling his mask on his wrist between houses and the other not wanting to be crushed among the people who are shorter than her.
And then you get home and the kids don't even care if you steal their candy because Granny sent them a couple bucks each for Halloween and they fully intend to hit the clearance candy aisle in the next day or two. And at some point during the day, one of the children (and it's the younger one) actually says, "Mom, I don't know if I want to go trick-or-treating next year. It seems kinda... silly." And you say, "Well, let's wait till next year and decide," but inside your heart kind of thumps a little because you realize that if they don't go trick-or-treating it's kind of like Halloween is OVER. Sure there might be Halloween parties that they want to attend, but they won't be the cute little-kid, take-lots-of-photos kind; they'll be the big-kid, drop-me-off-and-pick-me-up-later kind.
And then you realize that you won't have to worry about where to go trick-or-treating and you can stay home and drink beer or wine or whatever as long as you're sober enough to pick up the kids later. And that you won't have to worry about what to do with all the candy because there won't be any unless you buy it for yourself like you did before you had kids.
Some days, having older kids isn't all that bad.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Those Happy Weekend Days
This is going to be one of those posts where I simply word vomit the contents of my weekend, so if those sorts of posts hold no interest for you, I suggest you move on. No hard feelings. *smile*
Memorial Day weekend is one of those glorious weekends where there are no family obligations, no gifts involved, no greeting cards to send - you do what you and your family want and hang the consequences.
Friday evening kicked this weekend off with a bang. One of my good friends and I piled in her car and waited in interminable traffic to get to Rocklahoma, which, I might add, didn't seem anywhere as crowded as the traffic and parking issues would originally have led us to believe. We had a blast, and there's just something genuinely fun about driving home at midnight and stopping at a convenience store on the way home to grab Bugles and a Milky Way (me) and an energy drink (her). We're already hoping that the lineup next year is equally good; we'll work our schedules so that hopefully the traffic issues aren't as pronounced.
Yesterday was a quiet day (OK, I'm just comparing it to today... it wasn't quiet at all). Oz had to run down to Moore to do some work in that tornado-ravaged town, so the kids and I had the house to ourselves during the morning hours. After lunch, we ran to a neighbor's house. Their daughters recently turned 4 and 1 within a few weeks of one another, and as they're even newer to the neighborhood than we are, they invited several families they've met as part of a birthday get-together. M2 was playing with one of the other neighbor girls, whom she had met before - the birthday family moved into the home where some girls M2's age had lived - and I got to meet the dad and exchange phone numbers. The other girl is also in Girl Scouts, so when I call and introduce myself to the mom, I intend to discuss that as well, see if I can find out information for M2. M2 was beside herself. Oz got back during the party and walked up, and our whole family enjoyed cake and good conversation for a couple of hours before three of us headed home. M2 stayed and entertained the older birthday girl and some of her out-of-state friends for another couple of hours before I retrieved her for dinner... and camping! No, I did not actually sleep in a tent. The kids had been begging for a month to camp in the yard like they do every spring, but it had been too wet to set up the tent. It's finally dried out enough that I agreed it was time. The ground is still moist, but we can finally walk through it (well, most of it) without water squishing between our toes, so M1 helped Oz set up the tent, and the kids spent an evening parked in sleeping bags and on air mattresses before sacking out about 10:30. If I'd been smart, I would have gone to bed then, too, but I'm nothing if not a night owl, so at 10:30, Oz and I were in the middle of Saving Private Ryan, which neither of us had seen, and I had Ben & Jerry's Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler ice cream, which is my favorite ice cream ever, and so I didn't find my pillow till about 1 a.m.
Again.
It was hard to get out of bed this morning, but at 8 a.m. I was jolted awake by a cat who decided it was time for me to get up, which means that she climbed on my arm (I sleep on my side, but that does not deter this cat), perched herself firmly, and purred in my ear till I was awake. She repeated this until I was too awake to go to sleep again. It's her modus operandi when she wants breakfast, because she knows if I get up, then the boy gets up, and the end result is that she gets fed. It's complicated feline logic. The boy was, in fact, awake in the tent, and he and his sister had been awake long enough to have packed up their sleeping bags and rolled up the air mattresses so they could haul everything inside and dump it next to the back door on the way to FOOD OMG FOOD I HAVEN'T EATEN SINCE LAST NIGHT FOOOOOOOOD.
After they consumed sustenance, I divided and conquered. M1 did a couple of chores in the house, and M2 came outside with me to mulch the herb garden. I hate doing things that early in the morning, but we had too much going on today to procrastinate... and anyway, I had coffee by that point and could (almost) function. It was still very nice to come in and crash on the couch and watch some Monaco Grand Prix for a bit before I had to move again.
For lunch, we piled in the car and met Oz's family at a park for lunch. We took the lazy route and picked up food on the way; everyone else brought coolers and meat to barbecue. It worked out well for us, though, because by the time we had to leave, they were just finishing their meals... and I'm pretty sure that my food-seeking children wouldn't have survived that long without a feeding. I'm not entirely convinced they'd have turned cannibalistic, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Anyway, we had to leave earlier than everyone else because M2 had her first sewing lesson with my stepmother today, and we had to be home in time for her to get picked up. Oz corralled M1 and made him go run errands - lots of them - while I stayed home and exercised and made new binder labels for the next school year and ran to retrieve the girl. She was delighted with what she learned, and she's assigned herself a couple of 'homework' projects that will mean I have to actually walk into a fabric store. I may not survive; my fabric-store PTSD may kick in. If I stop blogging and disappear from the web, you'll know why.
By the time everyone came home, we were drop-dead tired. I fixed dinner and read the kids a chapter from the fourth Harry Potter book that we just started, and they were off to bed. M1 was out like a light; M2 took a bit longer, but I think she's out now, too.
I'd say that tomorrow will be a piece of cake since we don't have to go anywhere and Oz will be home, but I fear it won't be the case. My stepsister's sons are spending Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning here, and it's been a long, long time since I've had a little boy... and I've never had two of them at once. It will be an interesting week.
Hope you all have a fun, safe Memorial Day (or Monday, depending on what country you live in), and I'll let you know how the child-minding goes. Send a few good thoughts my way.
Memorial Day weekend is one of those glorious weekends where there are no family obligations, no gifts involved, no greeting cards to send - you do what you and your family want and hang the consequences.
Friday evening kicked this weekend off with a bang. One of my good friends and I piled in her car and waited in interminable traffic to get to Rocklahoma, which, I might add, didn't seem anywhere as crowded as the traffic and parking issues would originally have led us to believe. We had a blast, and there's just something genuinely fun about driving home at midnight and stopping at a convenience store on the way home to grab Bugles and a Milky Way (me) and an energy drink (her). We're already hoping that the lineup next year is equally good; we'll work our schedules so that hopefully the traffic issues aren't as pronounced.
Yesterday was a quiet day (OK, I'm just comparing it to today... it wasn't quiet at all). Oz had to run down to Moore to do some work in that tornado-ravaged town, so the kids and I had the house to ourselves during the morning hours. After lunch, we ran to a neighbor's house. Their daughters recently turned 4 and 1 within a few weeks of one another, and as they're even newer to the neighborhood than we are, they invited several families they've met as part of a birthday get-together. M2 was playing with one of the other neighbor girls, whom she had met before - the birthday family moved into the home where some girls M2's age had lived - and I got to meet the dad and exchange phone numbers. The other girl is also in Girl Scouts, so when I call and introduce myself to the mom, I intend to discuss that as well, see if I can find out information for M2. M2 was beside herself. Oz got back during the party and walked up, and our whole family enjoyed cake and good conversation for a couple of hours before three of us headed home. M2 stayed and entertained the older birthday girl and some of her out-of-state friends for another couple of hours before I retrieved her for dinner... and camping! No, I did not actually sleep in a tent. The kids had been begging for a month to camp in the yard like they do every spring, but it had been too wet to set up the tent. It's finally dried out enough that I agreed it was time. The ground is still moist, but we can finally walk through it (well, most of it) without water squishing between our toes, so M1 helped Oz set up the tent, and the kids spent an evening parked in sleeping bags and on air mattresses before sacking out about 10:30. If I'd been smart, I would have gone to bed then, too, but I'm nothing if not a night owl, so at 10:30, Oz and I were in the middle of Saving Private Ryan, which neither of us had seen, and I had Ben & Jerry's Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler ice cream, which is my favorite ice cream ever, and so I didn't find my pillow till about 1 a.m.
Again.
It was hard to get out of bed this morning, but at 8 a.m. I was jolted awake by a cat who decided it was time for me to get up, which means that she climbed on my arm (I sleep on my side, but that does not deter this cat), perched herself firmly, and purred in my ear till I was awake. She repeated this until I was too awake to go to sleep again. It's her modus operandi when she wants breakfast, because she knows if I get up, then the boy gets up, and the end result is that she gets fed. It's complicated feline logic. The boy was, in fact, awake in the tent, and he and his sister had been awake long enough to have packed up their sleeping bags and rolled up the air mattresses so they could haul everything inside and dump it next to the back door on the way to FOOD OMG FOOD I HAVEN'T EATEN SINCE LAST NIGHT FOOOOOOOOD.
After they consumed sustenance, I divided and conquered. M1 did a couple of chores in the house, and M2 came outside with me to mulch the herb garden. I hate doing things that early in the morning, but we had too much going on today to procrastinate... and anyway, I had coffee by that point and could (almost) function. It was still very nice to come in and crash on the couch and watch some Monaco Grand Prix for a bit before I had to move again.
For lunch, we piled in the car and met Oz's family at a park for lunch. We took the lazy route and picked up food on the way; everyone else brought coolers and meat to barbecue. It worked out well for us, though, because by the time we had to leave, they were just finishing their meals... and I'm pretty sure that my food-seeking children wouldn't have survived that long without a feeding. I'm not entirely convinced they'd have turned cannibalistic, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Anyway, we had to leave earlier than everyone else because M2 had her first sewing lesson with my stepmother today, and we had to be home in time for her to get picked up. Oz corralled M1 and made him go run errands - lots of them - while I stayed home and exercised and made new binder labels for the next school year and ran to retrieve the girl. She was delighted with what she learned, and she's assigned herself a couple of 'homework' projects that will mean I have to actually walk into a fabric store. I may not survive; my fabric-store PTSD may kick in. If I stop blogging and disappear from the web, you'll know why.
By the time everyone came home, we were drop-dead tired. I fixed dinner and read the kids a chapter from the fourth Harry Potter book that we just started, and they were off to bed. M1 was out like a light; M2 took a bit longer, but I think she's out now, too.
I'd say that tomorrow will be a piece of cake since we don't have to go anywhere and Oz will be home, but I fear it won't be the case. My stepsister's sons are spending Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning here, and it's been a long, long time since I've had a little boy... and I've never had two of them at once. It will be an interesting week.
Hope you all have a fun, safe Memorial Day (or Monday, depending on what country you live in), and I'll let you know how the child-minding goes. Send a few good thoughts my way.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Birthdays and Easter and Classes - Oh, My!
We're still on Spring Break here in our little corner of the world. All the public schools are back in session this week, so we do have to get out of our comfort zone and go to swimming and violin lessons as usual, but we're still not up in the school room much unless you count M2, who can't go 24 hours without doing a project or craft of some sort.
Last week was largely spent preparing for and executing plans for M2's 8th birthday. She had a slumber party with a few of her friends, and it went beautifully. M1 had a difficult time understanding why he wasn't allowed to participate in (read: take over) the girls' plans, but Oz and I distracted him with a flight simulator and time on his Kindle Fire, so I don't think he missed too much. This week my grandmother turns 89, and we're going to go up and visit her. She wants to have a birthday party at her retirement home, complete with cookies and root beer floats. I sincerely hope that when I turn 89, I'm able to have cookies and root beer floats! How fun is that?
Easter is on Sunday. Usually I have candy bought and stashed by now. This year I've bought candy, but for reasons that have to remain secret because Oz is still in the dark (some of you know what we did with the candy and have seen photos, but SHHH!), the kids know the candy exists and they know that I'm probably going to use it to stuff eggs. It seems rather to defeat the purpose if they already know what will be IN the eggs, so I may have to have Oz pick each of them up a chocolate rabbit just so they have a little surprise. We'll see. Last year the Easter Bunny stopped by. I suspect a repeat performance may be in the cards this year.
I started the beginner digital photography class last night. It's the first class I've taken in years, and it's lovely. I'm very glad Oz pushed me into signing up. Apparently the classes are usually quite full - 18-20 people - but our class only had nine people enroll, of which only seven showed up last night. The instructor seems knowledgeable and kind, and he's been doing this long enough that he knows more or less what to expect. It's a four-week course, and we're covering the basics - metering, aperture control, shutter speed, ISO settings, and white balance. It's just what I had been hoping it would be, and I'm already starting to think about the 'final,' which is a photographic scavenger hunt.
Finally, I finished a 9-week exercise program yesterday. I used EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii, and it wasn't easy. The program asks you to work out four times a week for those nine weeks, and I can see a difference in my body shape. I have more of a waist now than I think I've had since before M1 was born. I weigh about the same as I did then as well. It's a massive accomplishment, something I've been wanting since M2 came along, and I'm finally there. I'm not done, though. I have Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones workout DVD, and I'm going to use that through April, then go back to the Sports Active 2 program and see what the 'hard' setting is like. It'll probably kill me. If it doesn't... well, you know the saying.
Hope things are starting to warm up where you are; I'm so very ready for spring!!
Last week was largely spent preparing for and executing plans for M2's 8th birthday. She had a slumber party with a few of her friends, and it went beautifully. M1 had a difficult time understanding why he wasn't allowed to participate in (read: take over) the girls' plans, but Oz and I distracted him with a flight simulator and time on his Kindle Fire, so I don't think he missed too much. This week my grandmother turns 89, and we're going to go up and visit her. She wants to have a birthday party at her retirement home, complete with cookies and root beer floats. I sincerely hope that when I turn 89, I'm able to have cookies and root beer floats! How fun is that?
Easter is on Sunday. Usually I have candy bought and stashed by now. This year I've bought candy, but for reasons that have to remain secret because Oz is still in the dark (some of you know what we did with the candy and have seen photos, but SHHH!), the kids know the candy exists and they know that I'm probably going to use it to stuff eggs. It seems rather to defeat the purpose if they already know what will be IN the eggs, so I may have to have Oz pick each of them up a chocolate rabbit just so they have a little surprise. We'll see. Last year the Easter Bunny stopped by. I suspect a repeat performance may be in the cards this year.
I started the beginner digital photography class last night. It's the first class I've taken in years, and it's lovely. I'm very glad Oz pushed me into signing up. Apparently the classes are usually quite full - 18-20 people - but our class only had nine people enroll, of which only seven showed up last night. The instructor seems knowledgeable and kind, and he's been doing this long enough that he knows more or less what to expect. It's a four-week course, and we're covering the basics - metering, aperture control, shutter speed, ISO settings, and white balance. It's just what I had been hoping it would be, and I'm already starting to think about the 'final,' which is a photographic scavenger hunt.
Finally, I finished a 9-week exercise program yesterday. I used EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii, and it wasn't easy. The program asks you to work out four times a week for those nine weeks, and I can see a difference in my body shape. I have more of a waist now than I think I've had since before M1 was born. I weigh about the same as I did then as well. It's a massive accomplishment, something I've been wanting since M2 came along, and I'm finally there. I'm not done, though. I have Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones workout DVD, and I'm going to use that through April, then go back to the Sports Active 2 program and see what the 'hard' setting is like. It'll probably kill me. If it doesn't... well, you know the saying.
Hope things are starting to warm up where you are; I'm so very ready for spring!!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Happy Christmas
We had such a happy Christmas this year, though it didn't come without its trials.
As any parent knows, Christmas really starts the night before, when all the presents are set out. If you look closely, you'll notice that the stockings on the right are set on the floor. They were so stuffed with goodies that they were causing the holders to tumble off the mantel, so we had to set the stockings down. Sometime around 1 a.m., I heard rustling among the packages. Given the vast quantity of cats that we own, I assumed that one of them was pulling tissue paper out of the sacks around the tree. When I went to check, however, Speed Bump was the culprit. The naughty dog had gotten into Oz's stocking and devoured an entire package of black licorice bullets.
For the record, black licorice doesn't harm dogs but does give them horrendous diarrhea. And when the dog goes outside the next morning, leaves a mess on the porch, and then manages to get some on his back paws that he tracks back into the house... well, THAT is a memorable odor. It was a heck of a way to wake up!
Still, we finally got the dog imprisoned in the garage and sat down to open gifts.
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| When I was a little girl, I had a Pogo Ball. Now my girl has one, too. |
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| Her favorite gift - a small radio and purple headphones |
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| A step-by-step baking book - the kids have already made apple streusel bars! |
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| Happy Christmas boy who just opened his metal detector |
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| Oz brought out a new, properly-sized bike while we were opening other gifts |
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| The Epic Perplexus had been on his list for months |
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| A 'butterfly' chair to replace the papasan chair she broke last year. This one's much sturdier and much more... well, FLASHY. |
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| Oz enjoyed his Christmas, too. The kids gave him a new lamp for his office. |
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| Oz and I never get to play Santa at our house. The kids insist on doing it all themselves! |
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| Carnage |
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| My girl instantly wanted to try out her Pogo Ball. This makes me proud. |
Tomorrow - the kids and their projects!
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Big Day Cometh
Ever notice how things sound so much more classy if you add 'eth' to the end of it? Except it reminds me of the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" where the nerdy male leads are at the prom and announce that things "hath hitteth the fan... eth." And then the ending loses all sense of classiness whatsoever.
I'm digressing and haven't even started the post yet!
Tomorrow is Christmas. We visited my mom over the weekend and dropped by my sister's cute new house on the way home so we could finally say we've seen it. We visited Oz's grandmother yesterday and exchanged gifts with two of his brothers, his mom/stepdad, and his grandmother/stepgrandfather. The only people we haven't seen yet are my dad and stepmom. We're supposed to see them tomorrow.
HOWEVER... and this is a really excited however... it's supposed to SNOW tomorrow. There's still some debate as to the quantity of snow, but the general consensus seems to be about 3" where we live. That's enough to keep us firmly at home, since we won't be able to get out of our driveway, let alone our neighborhood, because the entrance to our neighborhood is a fairly steep hill and our driveway is equally steep. So we'll see how the day pans out. My dad may be bringing dinner to us since they have a four-wheel drive truck, but even that's up in the air right now. I'm not worried. I'm just excited to see snow. Last year all we had was the most meager of dustings at one point, so I would love it if there was enough on the ground for the kids to go out front and make a snowman.
Today we're just relaxing at home. I'm doing a few mundane chores like laundry and making detergent, and later I'll put together some cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast, but mostly we're sitting on our backsides and just chilling. It's lovely.
I hope everyone gets to have a great, safe day tomorrow, no matter what your plans!
I'm digressing and haven't even started the post yet!
Tomorrow is Christmas. We visited my mom over the weekend and dropped by my sister's cute new house on the way home so we could finally say we've seen it. We visited Oz's grandmother yesterday and exchanged gifts with two of his brothers, his mom/stepdad, and his grandmother/stepgrandfather. The only people we haven't seen yet are my dad and stepmom. We're supposed to see them tomorrow.
HOWEVER... and this is a really excited however... it's supposed to SNOW tomorrow. There's still some debate as to the quantity of snow, but the general consensus seems to be about 3" where we live. That's enough to keep us firmly at home, since we won't be able to get out of our driveway, let alone our neighborhood, because the entrance to our neighborhood is a fairly steep hill and our driveway is equally steep. So we'll see how the day pans out. My dad may be bringing dinner to us since they have a four-wheel drive truck, but even that's up in the air right now. I'm not worried. I'm just excited to see snow. Last year all we had was the most meager of dustings at one point, so I would love it if there was enough on the ground for the kids to go out front and make a snowman.
Today we're just relaxing at home. I'm doing a few mundane chores like laundry and making detergent, and later I'll put together some cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast, but mostly we're sitting on our backsides and just chilling. It's lovely.
I hope everyone gets to have a great, safe day tomorrow, no matter what your plans!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Just Keep Swimming
I have to tell myself to just keep swimming a lot this week. Between M2's Christmas concert, M1's ongoing swim practices and class, various appointments (dentist, doctor, etc.), and Christmas itself, I'm about fried.
I'm not complaining too much. After all, I know it could be worse. But the thing that made me the happiest today was finding out that M2 doesn't have a violin lesson next week because that week is reserved for make-up lessons and we haven't missed any this semester. It felt so good to delete that from my calendar!
I will survive. I know this. But if you don't hear much out of me between now and, say, January, you'll have to forgive me. Time is of the essence, and the kids won't stay little and excited about Christmas forever!
I'm not complaining too much. After all, I know it could be worse. But the thing that made me the happiest today was finding out that M2 doesn't have a violin lesson next week because that week is reserved for make-up lessons and we haven't missed any this semester. It felt so good to delete that from my calendar!
I will survive. I know this. But if you don't hear much out of me between now and, say, January, you'll have to forgive me. Time is of the essence, and the kids won't stay little and excited about Christmas forever!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Ah, December!
I hope everyone (well, those of you who celebrate it) had a lovely Thanksgiving and aren't regretting the overeating too much. I'm sure I'll be trying to work off the extra calories for a week, but I'm already wearing my sweatshirt that proudly announces, "Christmas calories don't count!"
If only.
I'm hunkering down for the long haul now, that stretch of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It might not be the longest continuous stretch of school that we have, but it's definitely one of the most demanding, just because there's so much going on and so much to do that it's very easy to let school fall by the wayside.
Still, I plan to keep them busy. We'll do Christmas crafts, sure, but we're also going to write short reports (well, M2's will be short, M1's will be longer) on a scientist of their choosing, briefly study the Roaring '20s and the Great Depression, and continue work on some personal narratives that they've already begun. They're also working on the state abbreviations, and we should finish those right before Christmas break; when we come back, we'll start on the capitals. We're also doing a light unit in science, and both kids have been making great strides in math and spelling. I don't want to lose momentum just because the holidays are here!
I'm feeling slightly less Grinch-y right now, though that will come and go as the holiday gets nearer. We put up a few lights today, which made me smile, and I've decided what to get the last of my (and Oz's) family members in terms of gifts, which sets my mind at ease. I've also gotten most of the Christmas cards personalized, signed, and addressed, so all I have to do is send them out sometime this week. Still, Christmas is tough, and I know I'll have at least one full-on meltdown between now and the actual day. It's inevitable.
For now, though, I'm off to have pie for dinner (What? Pie isn't dinner? I beg to differ) - the kids felt jilted that we had to have Thanksgiving at a restaurant AND there was no cranberry sauce, so I made our own Thanksgiving meal last night, complete with pumpkin and apple pies. Ahh, pie. What heavenly bliss on earth...
If only.
I'm hunkering down for the long haul now, that stretch of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It might not be the longest continuous stretch of school that we have, but it's definitely one of the most demanding, just because there's so much going on and so much to do that it's very easy to let school fall by the wayside.
Still, I plan to keep them busy. We'll do Christmas crafts, sure, but we're also going to write short reports (well, M2's will be short, M1's will be longer) on a scientist of their choosing, briefly study the Roaring '20s and the Great Depression, and continue work on some personal narratives that they've already begun. They're also working on the state abbreviations, and we should finish those right before Christmas break; when we come back, we'll start on the capitals. We're also doing a light unit in science, and both kids have been making great strides in math and spelling. I don't want to lose momentum just because the holidays are here!
I'm feeling slightly less Grinch-y right now, though that will come and go as the holiday gets nearer. We put up a few lights today, which made me smile, and I've decided what to get the last of my (and Oz's) family members in terms of gifts, which sets my mind at ease. I've also gotten most of the Christmas cards personalized, signed, and addressed, so all I have to do is send them out sometime this week. Still, Christmas is tough, and I know I'll have at least one full-on meltdown between now and the actual day. It's inevitable.
For now, though, I'm off to have pie for dinner (What? Pie isn't dinner? I beg to differ) - the kids felt jilted that we had to have Thanksgiving at a restaurant AND there was no cranberry sauce, so I made our own Thanksgiving meal last night, complete with pumpkin and apple pies. Ahh, pie. What heavenly bliss on earth...
Monday, November 19, 2012
Whew!
I haven't posted in more than a week. I apologize for that. We've been a little busy.
M1: He lost his glasses, and we can't find them anywhere. I suspect he left them at the swim school and someone pitched them, because they aren't in the lost & found, and usually the staff are good at keeping tabs on those sorts of things. He's got a sassy mouth, which drives me nuts, and he's taken to huffing around the house indignantly almost 24/7. Tween attitude much? We've been having a lot of talks about respect and the Golden Rule. I've been attempting positive reinforcement, but it only goes so far. Still, he and his sister got up last weekend and made me homemade biscotti with a recipe out of one of his cookbooks, so I can't be too mad at him.
He's been busy with swim, too. Usually he swims three days a week - team practices twice a week and stroke development once - but his team has been participating in a meet, so we've had a fourth day of swim for the past two weeks. It was so nice not to have to drive to one this week! Still, M1 got a second-place ribbon at his meet two weeks ago, for breaststroke. He's been so proud, and he's finally putting in some real effort at practice in an effort to get that first-place blue. His swim coach's last day was last Thursday, so they've been in a transition for a while as well. There's a new coach who has been preparing and training with the team for a while, so it won't be a major thing, but it's still a change. I'm excited to see what direction the new coach will take.
M2: Manic, manic, manic. She's been constantly on the move lately, constantly talking or angry or making projects or whatever. She had a violin solo festival that she attended last Saturday, and she got all 1s, which is a top score. They were running a fairly relaxed festival, so she got to pick the color of ribbon that she could take home. Guess what color she picked? That's right - pink!
Oz: Oz has been working, trying to get a ton of work projects finished up before the end of the year. He's been magnificent and worked out how to hang lights on our house since he can't climb up on the roof like he's always done; we'll probably try to get some hung this coming weekend and finish it up on the 1st.
Me: I'm just trying to keep up with it all. Thanksgiving is Thursday, and I always try to have most of my Christmas shopping done before Black Friday. I haven't gotten *all* of it done this year, but I've gotten probably 3/4 of it completed. I need to run a couple of errands by myself at some point, but if I get desperate, I can do these things on the Internet - I'd just rather pick these things out in person. I also have to work out what to do for some extended family members; I have a couple of ideas but nothing firm, and it's getting closer. *sigh* I really wish gifts weren't 'mandatory.'
Oz and I aren't getting one another gifts this year because we decided to get new bedroom furniture instead. When we got married, we bought the cheapest bedroom suite we could find because it was all our budget could afford at the time. It worked - and still works - just fine, but it's not anything I care for. Now that we have a bigger bedroom, we're moving up to a king-size bed and furniture to go with it. I'm pretty excited. It's being delivered tomorrow. That means, of course, that I won't have anything to open or for Oz to open on Christmas Day, but we're okay with that. Sacrifices have to be made, and Oz does have a birthday in late January! ;)
School has been plugging along. M2 is an amazing writer, and M1 continues to astound me with his scientific knowledge and intuition. Next week will be our halfway point in the school year; hard to believe it's already that far along!
For those of you in the USA, I hope you have a lovely, happy, peaceful Thanksgiving, and I'll be back when I resurface again!
M1: He lost his glasses, and we can't find them anywhere. I suspect he left them at the swim school and someone pitched them, because they aren't in the lost & found, and usually the staff are good at keeping tabs on those sorts of things. He's got a sassy mouth, which drives me nuts, and he's taken to huffing around the house indignantly almost 24/7. Tween attitude much? We've been having a lot of talks about respect and the Golden Rule. I've been attempting positive reinforcement, but it only goes so far. Still, he and his sister got up last weekend and made me homemade biscotti with a recipe out of one of his cookbooks, so I can't be too mad at him.
He's been busy with swim, too. Usually he swims three days a week - team practices twice a week and stroke development once - but his team has been participating in a meet, so we've had a fourth day of swim for the past two weeks. It was so nice not to have to drive to one this week! Still, M1 got a second-place ribbon at his meet two weeks ago, for breaststroke. He's been so proud, and he's finally putting in some real effort at practice in an effort to get that first-place blue. His swim coach's last day was last Thursday, so they've been in a transition for a while as well. There's a new coach who has been preparing and training with the team for a while, so it won't be a major thing, but it's still a change. I'm excited to see what direction the new coach will take.
M2: Manic, manic, manic. She's been constantly on the move lately, constantly talking or angry or making projects or whatever. She had a violin solo festival that she attended last Saturday, and she got all 1s, which is a top score. They were running a fairly relaxed festival, so she got to pick the color of ribbon that she could take home. Guess what color she picked? That's right - pink!
Oz: Oz has been working, trying to get a ton of work projects finished up before the end of the year. He's been magnificent and worked out how to hang lights on our house since he can't climb up on the roof like he's always done; we'll probably try to get some hung this coming weekend and finish it up on the 1st.
Me: I'm just trying to keep up with it all. Thanksgiving is Thursday, and I always try to have most of my Christmas shopping done before Black Friday. I haven't gotten *all* of it done this year, but I've gotten probably 3/4 of it completed. I need to run a couple of errands by myself at some point, but if I get desperate, I can do these things on the Internet - I'd just rather pick these things out in person. I also have to work out what to do for some extended family members; I have a couple of ideas but nothing firm, and it's getting closer. *sigh* I really wish gifts weren't 'mandatory.'
Oz and I aren't getting one another gifts this year because we decided to get new bedroom furniture instead. When we got married, we bought the cheapest bedroom suite we could find because it was all our budget could afford at the time. It worked - and still works - just fine, but it's not anything I care for. Now that we have a bigger bedroom, we're moving up to a king-size bed and furniture to go with it. I'm pretty excited. It's being delivered tomorrow. That means, of course, that I won't have anything to open or for Oz to open on Christmas Day, but we're okay with that. Sacrifices have to be made, and Oz does have a birthday in late January! ;)
School has been plugging along. M2 is an amazing writer, and M1 continues to astound me with his scientific knowledge and intuition. Next week will be our halfway point in the school year; hard to believe it's already that far along!
For those of you in the USA, I hope you have a lovely, happy, peaceful Thanksgiving, and I'll be back when I resurface again!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Veteran's Day
It's Veteran's Day. Some people and places call it Remembrance Day; others call it Armistice Day. Whatever it is, it's traditionally used to commemorate World War I veterans. I remember reading the article last year when the last surviving American WWI veteran died and thinking that it was rather sad. However, I didn't have any relatives who served in the Great War, so it doesn't really hit home for me. I can teach the children about it, but there's no family connection.
Sometime in the next week, though, the kids and I will sit down and discuss family members who fought (one died) in World War II. Even though all those who fought in this war as part of our family have passed, I still find it relevant and therefore easier to teach. My husband's great-grandfather (yes, great-grandfather, I do have my generations correct) died in the Battle of Sunda Strait while serving on the HMAS Perth. He was only 34 - a year older than my husband is now - and had two young children at home. We have his medals, so I can share those with the children. Two of my grandmother's brothers served in WWII as well; one was in the Pacific theater and the other in the European. The one who was serving in Europe was meant to have taken part in the D-Day invasion. However, he wound up in the hospital for various reasons and had to miss the landing. Lucky for him, perhaps, but since he was heavily sedated, his parents, sisters and brother didn't hear from him. They had known he was going to be part of a big offensive, and they didn't know he'd wound up in the hospital, so when they didn't hear from him, they assumed he was dead. A week or two after D-Day was over and folks all around the country/world were getting bad news, they received a letter from him saying that he was alive and well! I can't even imagine the relief.
Anyway, all these things are part of the family heritage. My dad and his seven brothers still aren't sure how none of them got called up during Vietnam, and nobody in our immediate family served in Korea, either. I have a cousin who's been in the Navy for several years, but really, ours isn't a military family. Still, I want the kids to know how people served in years past and still serve today. I want them to recognize that military service is a tough row to hoe. We may not have any veterans in the family to thank personally, but we know a lot of military families. So here's to you, veterans and families. May you never be forgotten.
Sometime in the next week, though, the kids and I will sit down and discuss family members who fought (one died) in World War II. Even though all those who fought in this war as part of our family have passed, I still find it relevant and therefore easier to teach. My husband's great-grandfather (yes, great-grandfather, I do have my generations correct) died in the Battle of Sunda Strait while serving on the HMAS Perth. He was only 34 - a year older than my husband is now - and had two young children at home. We have his medals, so I can share those with the children. Two of my grandmother's brothers served in WWII as well; one was in the Pacific theater and the other in the European. The one who was serving in Europe was meant to have taken part in the D-Day invasion. However, he wound up in the hospital for various reasons and had to miss the landing. Lucky for him, perhaps, but since he was heavily sedated, his parents, sisters and brother didn't hear from him. They had known he was going to be part of a big offensive, and they didn't know he'd wound up in the hospital, so when they didn't hear from him, they assumed he was dead. A week or two after D-Day was over and folks all around the country/world were getting bad news, they received a letter from him saying that he was alive and well! I can't even imagine the relief.
Anyway, all these things are part of the family heritage. My dad and his seven brothers still aren't sure how none of them got called up during Vietnam, and nobody in our immediate family served in Korea, either. I have a cousin who's been in the Navy for several years, but really, ours isn't a military family. Still, I want the kids to know how people served in years past and still serve today. I want them to recognize that military service is a tough row to hoe. We may not have any veterans in the family to thank personally, but we know a lot of military families. So here's to you, veterans and families. May you never be forgotten.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Halloween! (Post 2 of 2)
Today was the Big Day. Halloween. One of the traditions that I started recently (as in, last year) was making an actual Halloween meal. Last year I did a cutesy thing where I made faces with food. This year, I went a little more disgusting.
I made these by making green beans the same way I always do. I started by pan-frying up some bacon, then throwing the green beans into the bacon grease, adding a little water, and simmering everything until the green beans are done. Then I crumble the bacon and add it back in. Not exactly health food, but it works.
The difference today is that I added black food dye when I added the water. For the record, bacon takes food dye really, really well... and really quickly, too! And in the end, the green beans were pretty gross-looking.
For the main dish I sliced hot dogs into really thin strips. Simmer the strips (again, I added some red dye to enhance the color) until they curl up. Drain, and add ketchup or barbecue sauce for 'blood.'
If you do it right, you can convince your kids that the hot dogs are actually worms or intestines. My kids were extremely skeptical about that dish, and usually M1 sees right through these sorts of food pranks.
After we ate, it was time for dressing up.
This year I had Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter.
M2 loved being Alice. She also learned that long skirts making climbing stairs hazardous. Don't worry, she's okay. Ignore the red all over her face. She's still recovering from having poison ivy all over her face, and she keeps rubbing her cheeks and licking her lips, so some spots are chapped. *sigh*
Together, the kids were irresistible.
They do love one another.
 |
| Moldy green beans with pond scum |
The difference today is that I added black food dye when I added the water. For the record, bacon takes food dye really, really well... and really quickly, too! And in the end, the green beans were pretty gross-looking.
For the main dish I sliced hot dogs into really thin strips. Simmer the strips (again, I added some red dye to enhance the color) until they curl up. Drain, and add ketchup or barbecue sauce for 'blood.'
If you do it right, you can convince your kids that the hot dogs are actually worms or intestines. My kids were extremely skeptical about that dish, and usually M1 sees right through these sorts of food pranks.
After we ate, it was time for dressing up.
This year I had Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter.
M2 loved being Alice. She also learned that long skirts making climbing stairs hazardous. Don't worry, she's okay. Ignore the red all over her face. She's still recovering from having poison ivy all over her face, and she keeps rubbing her cheeks and licking her lips, so some spots are chapped. *sigh*
Together, the kids were irresistible.
They do love one another.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
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