Smellyann Strikes Again

It Just Occurred To Me...

... that so what if I never design an original item? You know how I've been dogging on myself lately about my crafting and stuff, and how I always use other peoples' designs instead of making up my own?

Well, so what! It's still all to the good.

I'm making things by hand, for goodness sake. I'm making fabric! I can make anything with a piece of string and two sticks! I can make a pair of socks, or jammies, or a sweater or hat or blanket or gloves or, well, anything I set my mind to, and I can do it my way! In my colors, with my choice of fiber, at my own speed and whim.

And by doing so, and passing it on (however that may be), I'm carrying on an age-old tradition of making things by hand instead of just going out and buying something shiny and new and premade.

And that is a good thing.

Fin.

Not Gonna Do It

I may be the only person in Bloggyville who is NOT posting some sort of year-end countdown, best of 2008, or resolutions post.

Why?

Because it's overdone. Literally, almost everyone is doing it.

So, I won't.

And you can't make me!

So there!

Fin.

LMAO Gross!

 

Sophia came up to me, doing this and saying, "Mama, this is where eye juice comes from!"

 

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday: My Little Fishy

 

Link up  here.

Fin.

Been Reading Webster Again

So it's pellucid that I've been feeling rather saturnine lately. Even my vespertine nature has been unusually subdued; rather than being crepuscular, I just want to doze off...

Okay, that's enough of that.

Monday highlights:

• I was in a pouty funk all day. I feel worthless and useless and gross  because of being so fat. I sobbed a little. I need help. I need this surgery. I need it now.

• Bunco lady I can't stand showed up unannounced at my door with more food from her job. I didn't answer the door, but she waited outside for, like, 10 minutes! Who does that? Finally I sent Chloë to answer it (knowing it was her because C peeked out the window) and get the food from her. She promised to call first next time. I assured her that would be mightily helpful.

• Jack told me he had to go potty. I said, "Go potty then, son!" He shouted back, "I AM NOT A SON! SUNS ARE YELLOW!" Hehe.

I started working on Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater. Aack. It's actually providing quite a challenge for my puny brain. I've done her Baby Surprise Jacket multiple times now, so I thought I was up for it, but I'm having serious issues. I don't know who will benefit from the results at this point, but I've said a lot of four-letter-words over it and ripped it out once. I'd show you the current progress, but it looks like a whole lot of nothing right now. I am using the same purple Rowan Tapestry yarn as the last baby sweater; it will, at least, be nice because of that.

Yesterday, Rob rented the movie Elephant Tales for the children to watch today, from the free code. We watched it today. It made Chloë sob and sob, poor sensitive creature. It also made the children act like wild animals and tear up the house. It was quite the scene when Rob came home... but we have since picked up. Sort of.

The SmartCycle remains the popular toy of the day. It's really quite a cool thing. I'm so glad we bought it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Rob returned that movie and rented Hancock for us with today's free code. I've put our Netflix account on hold; we'll just have to deal with that for awhile until things get back on track! I also called Barbara and cut her down to once a month, and if that's still not enough, I'll just suck it up and eliminate that expense entirely. "Suck" being the operative word, here. Anyway, Hancock: it's funny. I recommend it.

Our new, matching (finally!) personalized stockings arrived already from an online order I just placed Friday! What awesome service. They look great; I can not wait to hang them next year! The only downside was that Sophia was disappointed hers had a bear and not an angel like Chloë's and Mama's. She'll have to live with it, though!

Well, back to trudge through my knitting and finish watching the movie. Here's hoping tomorrow is a more cheerful day.

Fin.

Another FREE Redbox Rental!

 

Today only you can get a free DVD rental at your local Redbox. Simply use code: 545DZ9. This can be used once per debit/credit card, so you can rent more than one for free by using different cards!

This is awesome! We rented one yesterday for the kids from Wal-mart, and now we can rent another one for us - for free! I'm about to put our Netflix membership on hold and save some money for the new year (sorry, honey)!

Thanks again to DealSeekingMom for this information!

Fin.

Domingo

 

Well, Chloë had a busy day, anyway. The rest of us, not so much. We mostly sat around doing nothing. Rob played with his computer, I chatted online a bunch and did a little knitting, the kids played on Sophie's SmartCycle and did their own things... but ChloBo was a busy little dickens.

First, she got Daddy to play her "Guess Who?" game from Grandpa. It took a looong time to set up, and then they played many games. It sounded like fun. They did that for at least two hours!

Then she worked on her script for the movie. She studied it up in her room for a while, and then she worked downstairs on it with both me and Rob. He's not entirely happy with it being her first acting role, because there's no back-and-forth dialog, it's mostly a monologue, but it is what it is, and I know in time she'll do great.

After a while, she was busting out of her skin to do some fingerpainting, so I set her up and let her go to town on that. Cute video of that here. Jack even pulled himself away from the 'Cycle for a little while to join in. He colored three pages in about three seconds flat and then went back to the bike!

She also colored in the coloring books, did a little with her magic water pad thingy from her stocking, ate some of those horrible Christmas cookies, rode the 'Cycle a bunch, and just generally bipped and bopped around the house, a happy girl.

Loved it!

Fin.

If You Like Piña Colada...

 

...but just a little, you'll live these mini pineapples Sophia discovered in the grocery store the other day!

Fin.

Love The Enthusiasm!

Said Chloë, who is crazily going around the house with her new camera, taking pictures of everything under the sun, "LOOK, mom! I just took a picture of NOTHING on the TV!"

And then she laughs diabolically.

Fin.

Free RedBox Rental - Today Only!

  Today only you can get a free DVD rental at your local Walmart Redbox kiosk. Simply use code: 11moms4uT.

This can be used once per debit/credit card, so you can rent more than one for free by using different cards!

Thanks to DealSeekingMom for this info!

Fin.

A Fish Out Of Water

 

And what, pray tell, is this thing?

 

Well, it's a large-mouthed... hat. It's what I've been knitting for the past few days. I was looking on Knitty at the Winter 2008 patterns, and this one, of course, caught my eye.

 

I'm not yet sure who the Dead Fish Hat is for... Rob doesn't want it, and I'm not sure I do, either. I wish I'd stuck to my original color scheme, but I threw in the Karoake purple/brown/orange at the last minute to use it up. I wish I hadn't, it distorts the view for me. But, it's still pretty cool.

 

I've knick-named it the Half-Dozen Hat. Why? Because it's (1) a fish. It's made with (2) llama, (3) yak, (4) sheep, (5) alpaca and (6) goat. Or something, I can't remember all the animals, but of course, the yak and llama are the stars. Llama is white and blue; yak is plum and gray. Or think of this way: Yak is the caudal fin and caudal peduncle, while llama makes up the dorsal and pec fins.

 

Isn't it crazy weird? Just something I had to make, on a whim. I love it.

Comments? I'd love to hear!

Fin.

Our Christmas, Part III

Actually, this is starting to get kind of old for me, so I'm going to rush through it as fast as I can and then get on to other stuff! Hee!

So, Friday was the day after Christmas, and Rob was again home from work. Rock on!  The kids were up early again, playing with all their new toys and having a grand old time. None of the magic had (has) worn off yet, and they are still visiting all their new goodies, visiting each of them in their own time.

At some point during the day, I went grocery shopping to pick up a few essentials, since I had a $5-off-$50 coupon to Farm Fresh to use up before the end of the year. Unfortunately, fifty bucks spends way too easily at the grocery store, so I didn't have much trouble coming up with a short list.

What I did have trouble with was the actual shopping. Moving. Walking. I had barely gotten to the produce department when my back completely seized up, and I was in absolute, terrible agony. It was awful; I wanted to fall down sobbing. But I soldiered on, creeping in a most undignified manner around the store, collecting my milk, cat litter, what-have-you. By the time I reached the register, I wanted to die.

Regardless of whether I get my surgery approved, I must, must do something about this situation. Honestly, I can't think why I haven't made more calls, seen more doctors about it already. It's pretty ridiculous that I've let things get this bad.

So, I made my way gingerly out to the van, unloaded the goods in a world of pain, and sank with relief into my driver's seat. Sigh. You'd think I was 95 years old.

Rob carried everything in and put it all away, while I sat and scanned things. Nothing unusual about that, though; that's the way we always do it. But I'm already thinking ahead to the next big trip. He'll have to come with me. I'll have to ride the cart. I just can't do it anymore. I don't know... this sucks.

But onto merrier subjects.

I'd forgotten a couple boxes with items from MIL for the kids, and a gigantic box arrived with presents, so we had another little Christmas when the little ones emerged from their naps.

 

Sophia got a baby doll from my dad, which she quickly named, "Coocoo, because she's a baby." Figure that one out, if you will. My dad kind of went a little overboard this year, which made both Rob and me sad, since he can ill afford to do so. I haven't spoken to him yet about it, but... I don't know, it's like he feels he has to compete, and he doesn't. More than anything else, Chloë kept asking for all her grandparents to come visit for Christmas, because that's what they want. It really hit home this year for me, how it affects them not to live near extended family like "normal"  (ie, non-military) folks do. But this was supposed to be about Coocoo...! Sophie's absolutely enamored of her new baby, carrying her everywhere and constantly feeding her. Coocoo giggles and, well, coos (aha!) when her chest is pressed, which explains the above picture. No, it's not CPR.

 

The look on this child's face amuses me greatly. Have you watched Home Improvement, with Tim Allen? Then you know the "har har har" power tools face and voice? That, to me, explains this expression on Jack, as his father opened the new tow truck from Grandpa Bob.

 

Chloë was given Heidi, and a puzzle book. She has dived right into Heidi and is reading away. I'm glad; it's a classic!

 

Sophie being silly, wearing the doll box on her head. She can turn anything into dress-up! It reminds me of a video Rob and I made of her about two years ago, when she wore a bag on her head for about an hour. It was hilarious; I'll have to find it sometime and post it.

The kids were each given some crayons and a coloring book by my dad, who also gave Jack a remote-control car, Sophia a dress-up outfit, and Chloë some special markers and a game. 

Next, I pulled out the goods from Grandma, one by one, and made the kids close their eyes or turn around so I could surprise them.

 

First, each received a tie-dyed t-shirt. They quickly tried them on and gathered together for a group shot. Looking cute! The girls squabbled over the pink one but were hushed when I told them they could both wear them and trade clothes; they're now about the same size clothes-wise and do this at times, anyway.

 

Next was the box of fingerpaints. Oh, boy. They asked me repeatedly today to let them fingerpaint, but I wasn't up for it just yet. I think tomorrow will be the day!

 

Finally came the hats! Grandma sent a fire hat, a police hat and a cowboy hat. How much fun is that?! I can't believe I forgot about the hats; I just knew how much they would enjoy them, too. And it's true, they traded hats all night and the next day, too.

  

Even Daddy and I wore the hats for a spell!

   

Sophie being a ham

So that's our Christmas 2008!  I hope you enjoyed yours with your loved ones, too. Ours was brilliant!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Fin.

Our Christmas, Part II

Rob and I slept downstairs on the couch, as usual, but especially - this time - to intercept the children on Christmas Morning.

When they woke up around 0800, we got right into the presents.

 

(My camera is being funky, hence the dark pictures in the middle of broad daylight. Sorry. I have to fiddle around with it when I get a chance.) The first present went to Jack, from Grandpa Al  & Grandma Denise (Rob's dad and stepmom). As I said previously, everyone else watched as he opened, discovered, enjoyed. You can see the girls sitting here with rapt attention, and it was no different throughout the morning. I loved it! And Jack loved the trucks contained within!

 

Sophie was the next happy recipient, of a Little People bingo game from Aunt Stacey. It looks like fun!

 

Chloë was given a Barbie doll, and change of clothes, from Aunt Stacey. She squealed with delight, but then, she always squeals with delight! It's always funny, though. She must have changed Barbie's clothes 100 times that day!

 

Al & Denise gave Rob a pair of Dearfoam slippers. Quite cozy and cushy, they are! He likes them.

 

They gave me a beautiful pair of gray, fleece-lined Isotoner gloves. I lurve them. They are so nice. But I must admit I am torn about them, as there is leather on the palms. Crisis of conscience! Still... they're sooo nice... Aghh!

 

Tinkerbell settled in under the Christmas tree as 'round and 'round we went, opening presents one after the other.

I really made out! Rob gave me a Ped Egg (which I don't love yet), a book I wanted (which is kind of a disappointment after all, but that's okay, I wanted it!), and another annual tradition: a box of Ferrero Rochers. I may have eaten the entire box before the day was up. From Rob's dad and Denise, I received the gloves, a nice body lotion/mist/soap combo, and a digital photo keychain that has gone MIA...! Rob's mom sent me a hair towel which is awesome, ornaments for our tree, and lots of handmade items for the charity (not for a Christmas present, of course, but I'm trying to mentally go through the boxes she sent and pick out what was for me!) It was very nice. I'm a lucky girl!

A few more gifty highlights for the kids:

 

Al & Denise gave Chloë this guitar, and she was beside herself. As were we. It was kind of amazing, because that's exactly what she asked for from Santa, after I finished all my shopping. It was like a little bit of a Christmas miracle, as cheesy as that sounds, and I had tears in my eyes. She was so happy. Now Rob wants to get her guitar lessons. I don't know about all that, she does enough right now!

 

(Click pictures for larger view)

I just love this one, because of the lips on that girl as she screams out "Dora!!!" without having any clue what was contained in the boxes. Lots of funny things were yelled out by that kid as she opened her gifts. I should have kept a list as we opened presents. If I had a nickel for every amusing thing she blurted out, I'd be a rich, rich girl.

 

Chloë was beyond ecstatic about her new camera, and I was overjoyed at her reaction! It's like a smaller, more basic version of mine, which is great because that means I already know how to work it for her. I wish I could afford a micro-SD card for it right now, because the internal memory only holds SIX pictures! Fortunately, it can fit right on the dock for my camera, so we keep switching them out to upload her pictures. Once she gets a bunch of decent ones, I'll put together a photo show for y'all.

     

Now there's a happy kid on Christmas!

I Santa gave everyone, including Rob, a Webkinz Cares Li'l Kinz. Chloë received a puppy; Sophia, a kitty; Jack, a tiger; and Rob, an elephant. I wish I could show you Jack holding his tiger, but he tossed it right away from himself and shouted, "No! I don't want that!" So we had to go into a little thing about showing gratitude even when you don't get what you want, etc. Never a bad time for a lesson like that, I guess!

 

Jack, who rarely deigns to pose for the camera, was given the Wall-e DVD. I originally meant it as a present for all of them, but he had so little to open from us that I thought he better get it. Good thing, because he loves it and has watched it at least four times since then!

   

I gave each of the girls a tutu, which was probably unnecessary, but I have three bags full and need to do something with them!! They wore them around a little, so at least there was that...

 

Definitely the big winner - for all three of them! - was Sophia's Fisher Price SmartCycle, and the four extra cartridges I got for it. They have been playing it, taking turns fairly decently, incessantly ever since. It was totally worth it, and I heartily recommend it. If nothing else, it's teaching them how to pedal a bike the correct way! She'll definitely get some more cartridges for her birthday in April.

 

Oh, wait, there's the boy! Grinning from ear to ear about the K'nex Truck from Grandpa Al, that Daddy "helped" put together. He loves it! Mama doesn't love all those small parts, ay ay ay...

By the time we were done, I needed nap. So I did that, for about... oh, four hours! The kids played and played while I slept, and I heard them but didn't really wake up. They were given lots of wonderful presents. I just can't say enough about how happy this Christmas made me. It was just perfect.

I didn't really plan a Christmas dinner, because we usually just do appetizers and finger foods, but... I kind of neglected to buy any! All I had for "special" was caviar and some crackers. We've both had it before, on our various cruises, but this... ew. It was not the kind we like, apparently! Very salty. The girls both had it, and I think Chloë even had seconds but decided she didn't care for it, either. Jack wouldn't even enter the room it was in, hehe. So I thought about going to the neighbors and seeing if they wanted it, but Rob vetoed that idea. He thought we should just feed it to the dog, but hello? For $10 a can and there's a ton left, I'd rather give it to some humans. So we'll let Stim try it when they get back into town, and go from there!

I'll be back later with Part III!

Fin.

 

Our Christmas, Part I

Oh, gosh. Where to begin?

First, I will say this: We have a budget for Christmas each year, because of our Christmas Club account. I rarely exceed it and if I do, it's on rewards cards that we've received, not credit. That being said, in the past, I've tried to get as MUCH (good stuff, though, of course) as I could within that budget. This year, instead, we really wanted to cut back and do things smaller, giving only really meaningful gifts. Extended family members already send so much for the kids that we could skip buying anything altogether, and they would hardly notice!

Another difference we wanted to make this year was, instead of the feeding frenzy that is opening a massive amount of presents, to take time and watch each person open their gift before going on to the next gift. That would give everyone time to really see and enjoy what they were being given, rather than just toss it behind them and scream "NEXT?!" without appreciating a thing.

I have to say, I enjoyed this Christmas so much more because of these two things. Every single thing they were given, by both us and the rest of the family, was a great gift and well appreciated. They are going around very nicely to all of their presents, playing with each and getting much enjoyment out of them. I'm very happy with everything they were given - as much as they are! It has made a world of difference, and I hope we continue it in the coming years.

Now, then. Onto the show, I suppose.

Christmas Eve

On this day, Rob had to go to work. Barbara was coming, and I had really nowhere to take us out of her way, so I decided to pretend I didn't feel well and stay home, out of her way.  It worked out well, because a movie (The Veggie Tales' The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything) had just arrived for the kids from Netflix, so I popped that into the DVD player for them, sat on the couch with my knitting, and kept us well contained.

The woman from Bunco who I can't stand was nice enough to bring me a bunch of brown bananas, some frozen pears, and a bag of cheesy pasta marinara, from her work. She'd seen on Facebook that I was baking banana bread and decided to bring me some food. I really appreciated that; it was very nice of her.  I plan to bake up a bunch of bread this weekend and give it to the neighbors in lieu of the cookies I usually bake but haven't this year for various reasons.

Barbara arrived shortly after she left, and then, happily, so did Rob! He was home so early that it was like he'd just been granted a five-day weekend instead of four. Yay! I love nothing more than just having him home and being around him. Seriously. It's like a gift for both of us!

Can't remember the rest of the day, other than to say that after Barbara left, Rob went out shopping, and I tried to feed the kids that pasta we'd been given. Hell, I liked it; it was pretty good! Sophia and Jack wouldn't touch it, though, and Chloë ate it but begrudgingly.

Oh, I know, Rob went out to use the Panera gift card Stim had given us, to buy us a nice lunch! Good stuff as always; I never get tired of their food.

After lunch, we all took naps and slept sooo long that we woke up too late to attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. I was very disappointed, but neither of us had showered yet and wouldn't have had time to get ready. I love that service; it's my favorite for the whole year, and I was bummed. I'd even told the children's pastor that we would see her then, so I felt lousy about that. But, what to do?

We quickly decided to just go ahead and open our stockings then, instead of after church like we usually do on the Eve of Christmas. It was only about 1800 by then, but of course the kids were into it!

 

The kids were handed their stockings, told to wait until everyone had theirs, and then allowed to dig in!

 

It's funny - and also cute, and sweet, and endearing - because Jack had gone to that little girl's party the previous Saturday and came home with a goody bag full of small candy and toys. He immediately had Daddy help him distribute all of the goodies into his and his sisters' stockings, telling him Chloë had to get all the gumballs, because he and Sophie aren't allowed to have gum, and so forth. This little noiseblower was one of the toys he allowed himself; Sophie has one, too. I'm thankful that, today when I have yet another migraine, they have gone missing...!

 

(My Red Eye Corrector doesn't seem to want to work right now, sorry! I'll fix it when I print pictures...) All of the kids were given a Pez dispenser, and some extra Pez. Chloë had spotted them one time at AC Moore, so I'd thought back then that they would make a good stocking stuffer. I always liked having a Pez dispenser. Well, I left that AC Moore bag on the kitchen table, and Some Little Boy got into it and opened his dispenser and candy up in his room. I was livid, but more at myself for leaving it right out! Ah, well. So we were short for the stockings, but the girls shared theirs with him, and all was right with the world again. Things just have a way of working out sometimes, don't they?

 

Re the Spider-Man toy next to Jack: I'd also picked up these "Water Wow"s at AC Moore, for really cheap for their stockings. Maybe $2.49 each? They are awesome! They come with a little brush that you fill with water and then "paint" the pictures in vivid color. I'm sure you've seen that BUT, the awesome part is, they dry back to plain white again and you can re-color them, over and over! Nifty!!

 

Sigh. I always put a bunch of sweets in their stockings; it's just a tradition I might have to break. The older two children are good at self-regulating their candy intake, but every two minutes, this is what Sophia looked like. When she finished her own, she kept pillaging her siblings' stockings for theirs, or mine from Rob, or the little bowl I put out in the kitchen...  She turned into quite the Candy Girl this Christmas, and we've had a dickens of a time getting her to stop eating it and put healthy things into her body. So, I am definitely not doing that again! Next year, maybe it'll be an orange! ;)

 

A look at some of the kids' stocking loot. Also for cheap at AC Moore, I picked up a Crayola product for each kid. Sophie got a box of 64 crayons (they're all SO excited about the crayon sharpener in back!), Jack got a pack of washable markers, and Chloë, some glitter glue. She has been making glitter glue pictures, adding beads and other things, ever since. She is definitely my partner-in-crime, crafty-wise. I just know we're going to be crafting together for years to come!

That's it for Christmas Eve. I don't recall what we did with the rest of our evening, but we completely forgot one of our most important traditions (we have a lot of Christmas ones, I guess; do you?): Daddy reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by candlelight, to the little ones before bed! ! ! Gah, I can't believe we totally screwed up the Eve. Darn naps. Oh well, the good thing about Christmas is that it keeps coming back, and you can improve it every year!

I'm going to grab a quick shower and then come back and tell you more about our holiday. That is, if I don't get sucked in by the laundry...

Fin.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Thanks for reading the blahg!

Fin.

Martes

This day was busy, but in a different, less crafty way than yesterday. Well, for the kids, that is. Barbara is coming to clean tomorrow for the first time in a month, so a lot of their time was spent preparing for that.

They woke up much earlier than I thought necessary - 0800 - but it didn't matter, as I hadn't slept well and was ready to go. They never even changed out of their jammies until after naptime; until then, we were busy snacking here and there, watching TV while I knitted, and playing.

Then, stealing a tip, of sorts, from my mommy message board, I told them that Santa wouldn't be able to come if we didn't get the living room cleaned up. Well! That set them in motion. Before I knew it, the room was clean, and their reward was going upstairs to take a nap. Lucky them. That's one good thing about early wake-up: early nap!

I don't think any of them really napped, but it's good to all get a break from each other during the day, anyway.

And I watched that stupid movie, Stepbrothers, and knitted away some more.

 

This UFO (I'm not going to identify it right now, but for the knitterly among us, that's the abbreviation for "unfinished object") is a bit outside my comfort zone, but it's coming along okay. The main problem is that there are an awful lot of worsted and chunky weight stitches squeezed onto size 7 DPNs (double-pointed needles), and they keep falling off. It's driving me nuts to keep scooping them back on and, often, having to redo them. I keep telling myself I'm going to switch to circs, but as the pattern calls for DPNs, and I'm a stickler, I haven't. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

Also, this is my first time doing short rows with wrap. AKA just Short Rows, I do think. Other than the slip-slidey DPNs, it's not too difficult, and I rather like how they turned out.

More details: The red is 100% wool, just purchased from Michael's. Patons brand, maybe? I forget. The white and blue are llama, and the gray (and upcoming purple) are yak!!!! How cool is that? They are the Karabella-brand yarns I also purchased from The Yarn Co. in NYC with Stephanie. I've been wanting to use them for ages now and finally found just the right project. I don't believe my LYSs (local yarn stores; see, you're learning all the knitterly lingo tonight!) carry llama or yak, so I was excited to buy it when I found i thtere. Steph helped me pick out the colors.

They are very warm, and the llama, especially, is extremely thick and cozy. I really like the texture of the gray yak, though. Not sure yet about the purple, and we fiber artists all know that not all colors of the same yarn have the same "hand"!

Anyway, anyhow.

After the movie ended, I called everyone to come downstairs and get ready to go. There's no dance class tomorrow, but I called owner Darlene last night, and she told me Sophie could come today and join the pre-ballet class at 1600. Chloë's regular ballet class would be at 1630, and there just won't be a make-up jazz class. All of the classes this week have several different levels and classes all mixed in, anyway, because of all the holiday absentees. Sophie didn't seem nervous at all about dancing in a non-regular class; I was a bit concerned, but she went right in.

She bounced out afterward, delighted with her class and with the candy cane Miss Jessica had given her.  I asked her what she did in class, and her standard answer "Um, I boogied," was changed to, "Um, I danced." Rats, I love it when she tells me she boogied, because how stinking cute is that? She quickly gobbled down her candy cane and then sat on my lap in the van, bouncing away and being sweet and adorable, while Jack napped and snored in the back.

When Chloë finished, we headed home, and I sent them upstairs to clean their rooms for Barbara. Only, I borrowed another "tip," telling them that Santa wouldn't bring new toys if he thought they couldn't take care of the ones they already had!

That time, the plan backfired. They were up there for, like, three hours and did nothing. NOTHING. Rob finally went upstairs and kicked them into high gear. Meanwhile, I sat downstairs for a loooong time and folded five baskets of laundry. It was piled up high all around me on the couch. And I'm still not even caught up yet. It. Never. Freaking. Ends.

I was going to go and watch a movie and do some more knitting, but I suddenly feel like crashing. Pretty sure Rob is out, too.

Until tomorrow, my friends. Christmas Eve! Woot!

Fin.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Pharoah Sophia

 

This picture cracks me up! Are you playing along? Link up here.

Fin.

Even Returning a DVD is Bloggable

So. Yesterday, I rented those two DVDs for free from the Redbox, right? The 'Box is right around the corner, at the grocery store, so maybe two minutes from here.

The time due is 2100 (9 PM) for every DVD, or else you get charged for another night. It's only a buck, but the point of the matter is, this was a freebie, and I wanted to keep it that way. The principle of the thing, and all. You know?

We never managed to watch either movie last night, having both had an exhausting day at our respective "jobs" and conked out early. So during nap time today, I watched the first sucky, glad-it-was-free movie, Stepbrothers, with Will Ferrell and What's His Face Who's in Every Other Movie? It'll come to me by the end of the post. John something?

There's an hour and a half I'll never get back. At least I spent the time knitting. I don't remember the last time I just sat and watched the TV and did nothing else. I don't know if I'm still capable of that. But I digress.

I didn't have time to watch the next God-awful movie, because it was time for dance, so it had to wait until we were all home and the kids were cleaning their rooms.

As soon as Rob queued up Tropic Thunder, I knew I was not going to be into it. As far as Ben Stiller goes, I am really not a fan, but this has to be the worst! I did a few rounds of knitting, but soon I couldn't stand to be extant in the same room as the flick and started hibernating immediately.

But not before I asked Rob, who was sitting right next to me, if he was up to returning the movie by nine o'clock, the due date time, before which we'd be charged, no matter what, are you absolutely sure? He was.  We were cutting it close, having started it at seven, but he was all-systems-go.

I was jolted awake by a small child at five minutes to nine. The VCR read "8:55" and here was my husband, sound asleep next to me, with the TV showing the menu of Tropic Thunder.

Dammit.

"Robert!" I screeched. "You said you would return the movie on time!!"

"Oh!" he jumped up and replied. "I will, don't yell at me!"

With that, he - wearing only shorts - disappeared upstairs.

"Oh, hell," I muttered to myself, before getting up, haphazardly throwing the DVD into the Redbox case, and running to the door. As I was slipping on my shoes, I heard from upstairs, "Honey, I'm going to go!"

I looked up, squealed, "But you're naked!!" and slammed out the door. I had two minutes 'til nine.

I got there in time. I'm sure I did. But the machine rejected my DVD, over and over. I'd seen how to do it the night before. I knew what to do. But it just wasn't happening. Minute after minute was passing as I read the FAQs about 'what if it doesn't accept my DVD?' I imagined going onto my bank account website and seeing that dollar sucked away from me. So much for free.

Finally, I looked at the DVD, opened it, saw I had the damn thing in backward, turned it around, and stuck it successfully back in the fucking machine. Four minutes late.

I marched back to my vehicle, turned on the engine, and looked at the radio screen, which tells me what song is playing. What was it? The player read "Bad Case"!

Bwahahahahaha.

"Bad Case of Loving You" by Robert Palmer is now my theme song for tonight.

Gotta love it.

Fin.

Lunes

Dear Sanity,

I hope you enjoyed your little holiday hiatus yesterday, but I need you back today. It's not a good idea to take a leave of absence on my kids' very first day of a month-long vacation from school. Especially when they decide to spend the day antagonizing each other and working themselves up into a tizzy every other five minutes. In the future, some advance warning would be appreciated.

Signed,

The Crazy Lady

 

(Click pictures for larger view)

Our first activity for the day was a craft. Chloë decided she wanted to use her rock-painting kit from (I think) my dad last Christmas, and Jack and Sophia of course wanted to join. So I sent them outside to find some decent rocks, and set them up with the kit. Actually, I supervised while Chloë retrieved the water, paper towels, and brushes they needed. Above are some of their creations, but I think there were a few more. Now, tell me, what we should do with eight painted rocks?

 

Next, I decided we should make some cookies after all. I had originally not planned to, because of the cost, but I figure we have the ingredients on hand for several kinds, so why not just do it at our leisure and have some Christmas fun? Plus, my SIL did give me that awesome Martha Stewart Cookie cookbook that I've been dying to use, so off we went. Yesterday, the designee was the mighty Sugar Cookie. Here's Chloë, trying to unwrap a stick of butter. As usual, I made the kids do as much of the work as I possibly could, explaining in detail what I was doing when they couldn't.

 

This one makes me laugh. Jack had just finished unwrapping his stick of butter, and rather than place it nicely into the bowl, he threw it across the table. Thankfully, he made it!

 

I'd made the mistake of getting out the wonderful cookie cutter set that MIL gave us while we lived in Guam, before we actually needed it. It was all I could do to keep the kids' attention away from the box of shapes and onto the dough at hand. And the cutters kept taking over the table where we were trying to work. And they kids kept fighting over the shapes they wanted to hold and admire and use first. And I purposely kept my voice low so they would have to stop shouting to hear me, while I made my threats about being sent to their rooms for various infractions.

 

When we finished mixing the dough, Chloë licked the bowl,

 

...and the Littles each licked a beater. Yes, the dough has raw eggs. No, I don't freak out and not let them eat cookie dough. It's tradition. Salmonella, schmalmonella.

 

The truck, of course, was Jack's favorite cookie cutter!

 

While the cookie dough chilled and  I decided on our next project, Jack ran off to play with his new cars from Stim, and the girls sorted through all the cutters. I had to kick Sophie off the table approximately 23,342,654,432,234 times yesterday.

Next, we made some more chocolate chip banana bread with the five brown bananas in the  hanging basket. Since we've made that recently enough, I didn't take any pictures of that. But it was a perfect choice: It had to bake for the exact same hour that the cookie dough had to chill in the fridge. And it was delicious; we savored it for lunch.

 

The bread came out perfectly; while it cooled, we started rolling out the dough for the sugar cookies. I took a laissez-faire attitude and let the kids do pretty much whatever shapes they wanted, eat whatever dough they wanted, and place the cutters wherever on the dough looked good. Even though they were highly inefficient at placement, and I had to re-roll the dough about four thousand times.  Whatever. I just rolled (heh) with the flow. Hakuna matata, baby.

At some point during the cutting and baking, we kept breaking out into Christmas songs. I was getting in a silly mood and decided to record us singing and dancing. Except, I sang in a more-or-less alto voice, when I am, in actuality, decidedly a soprano.  So the vid cracks me up; watch it here.

Once all the cookies were baked, and to the kids' disappointment, it was time for me to go shower and Chlo to dress for tap class. I wish dance class was closed for this week, but alas, it's not, and we need to get our money's worth.

I had an appointment with my prescribing shrink at about the same time Chloë needed to be at dance, so I dropped her off a little early and then drove down the road to my doc's office. The Littles were so squirmy during the appointment!  They had never been to that office before, and he had lots of cool knickknacks for them to explore. But surprisingly, he was in a good mood about it and actually chuckled. Normally he's an ass when I have the kids with me, but he said, "Oh, well, kids will be kids."

And even though he told me to bring all my meds and dosages and everything, I forgot, and the appointment was pretty much useless. Go, me. So I had to call him with all that information after we got home from dance class. Oops.

 

After we came home from dance class (and got a trillioin more Christmas cards, yay!), it was time to frost our sugar cookies.

 

First, I did a terrible job of mixing up the icing. I put waaaay too much water in the confectioner's sugar, and then didn't realize we had another whole bag in the back of the pantry, so I left it that way. Instead of frosting the cookies, I just dipped them in the goop and then let the kids go to town on the decorations, as you can see. Don't they look atrocious? They taste about the same. Thankfully, neither Rob nor I really care for sugar cookies, and the kids think they're wonderful.

What cracks me up most is that our "Christmas" cookies consist of, amongst the gingerbread men and trees and stockings, a dinosaur, cowboy boots, various modes of transportation, and lots and lots of flowers! Too funny.

 

What she sees in these cookies, I don't know...

 

When the cookies were finished and Rob had cleaned up the kitchen for me ('cause I got it like that), I decided to try out a new recipe for dinner.

 

Instead of regular lasagna, I made these roll-up cheese and spinach noodles that were sooo good. At least, to me and Rob. Chloë ate them, begrudgingly, but the Littles wouldn't touch them. Maybe next time I'll add more cheese and omit the spinach, I don't know.

I ran out while they were baking, to get two free movies at the Redbox. I found the code for the freebies at another blog (DealSeeking Mom) and decided to try it out. It worked, and I gave it to the man behind me in line, too! He was excited for the freebie and wished me a very merry Christmas. Made me feel good.

Of course, we crashed and never watched the movies, so I'll have to watch them while the kids are napping today. And speaking of the kids, they are up and about and being crazy. Time to run!

Fin.

...

Today was pretty busy, crazy for the first day of vacation. I have a lot of pictures, lots to share, but I'm completely wiped. I'll probably be up at the buttcrack of dawn, though, so I'll share in the morning.

In the meantime, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Fin.