Not Nostalgic

I'm going to take advantage of the few moments of peace I'm experiencing while Damon is rocking, rocking, rocking in the big chair and get this down while it's fresh.

Next week is the last week of school. I believe today is day 8 of the countdown. Carrie's teacher retires this year. I think this is the third teacher she's knocked into retirement, hehe!

I was struck this morning by the sight of Carrie and Liam meandering off to the bus. These will be the last two weeks they'll walk to the bus stop together until her senior year, provided we're in the same place then. Next year Carrie starts middle school, and they'll be on different schedules orbits for years. I'm fairly sure her bus for junior high will come at the ridiculous time of minutes-after-7-AM... which I'm sure will be the cause of much hilarious blogging to come. I've been proclaiming that she'll have to sleep on the couch, in her school clothes, with her backpack hung on the front doorknob, and a PopTart in the mailbox on her way to the bus in order to make it on time. Maybe.

Anyway, it made me sad this morning to think about the comraderie ending. I have no idea what they talk about on the way to the bus, and I don't need to know. It's kind of fun to stay back and watch them be siblings, to have that bond that nobody else has, even as much as they complain about each other. I'm sure that's part of the whole sibling thing, too. Some days they stop to pet the dogs who are out. Some days they leave slightly ahead and behind of each other and tear along the sidewalk in fear of we-might-just-miss-it-this-time. Some days bring the sharing of an umbrella or the steadying of each other so nobody wipes out on the ice. Other days finds them searching for those rolypoly bugs, ladybugs, and praying mantis (mantises? manti?) characters peeking out of the lilies at the bus stop.  

I'm sure Carrie won't be thinking of much except how ungodly early it is on her trek next year. I wonder if Liam will notice his sister is not even with him. There will be new, smaller kids to take her seat on the bus. Our beloved Mr. Mike stopped driving the bus at the end of the fall semester, so we've been mourning his absence. It must be time.

And darn it if I'm not sitting here in tears.

Memorial Day 2014

Happy Memorial Day and many, many thanks to those who are or have served so that the rest of us can enjoy our picnics and ball games and cookouts and lives in freedom. We really do appreciate it, and we really do have no idea the amount of stress, blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice, time, and heart you've poured out for us. Thank you for everything. You're awesome, and we don't deserve you or your families' sacrifices.

We spent the day goofing off in Waterville, grilling out and playing on the playground. Triskal was hot, but enjoyed the fresh air, sunshine, and seeing everyone out and about. It seems winter is long forgotten...

I did another quote board on the Telling it Like it is blog, so head on over there for some grins and giggles.

Have a super week! Gotta get everything done before school ends, so you may not hear much from us... aaaaaaack!

Words Fail Me

We have 20 minutes before church and my computer is functioning at dinosaur speed, so this will be be brief.

What have we been up to? How about I tell you what's happening NOW.

Carrie is having hysterics over Lego videos on YouTube where the poor Lego man is trying to go shopping, but can find no parking place, gets the obnoxious shopping cart, causes a shopping cart traffic jam, gets out just in time to find that everything is sold out. Sad.

Liam and Damon are talking about farts, throwing pillows (aHA! So THAT's why they're called "throw pillows") at each other and have been admonished to not injure themselves or each other in the 20 minutes before we head out the door.

Triskal is pretending to be anywhere other than here. Preferably somewhere with snow. She hasn't had her summer haircut yet.

Dada is out playing with his friends. The chicken is bubbling merrily in the crock pot (I don't have to think about dinner, yay!) The kid laundry is in the washer, sudsing away. The lilacs are blooming and making my house smell much better as they waft in the front window. Dada's garden is started, the cilantro looks like it's excited to be taking over, and the garlic is incredibly happy-looking. The kitchen sink is full though the dishwasher is empty, it's been around 80 degrees for three days in a row, and the pollen count is ridiculous. I keep waiting to hang out laundry but the bar graphs for pollens have been either "high" or "very high" pretty much since it stopped snowing. Oh well.

These Lego videos are disturbing.

Anyway, the kids have only 9 (NINE!!!!!!) days left of the school year before they're home for their 10.5 weeks (TEN AND A HALF WEEKS! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS! Rhymes with "shrieks"!) They are in varying stages of denial and rejoicing. Carrie has been in tears already about not wanting to leave elementary school while Liam can't get out of there fast enough. They've both been blessed with excellent teachers and teams who have been patient, encouraging, and absolutely excellent all year. So blessed.

We painted a bedroom for Carrie. Damon's room had been taupe but it's now "happy camper" which is a dark green. The wall with the window remained taupe as an accent wall, and the trim isn't replaced yet because we're still deciding on flooring options.

The boys' room will be yellow (surprise!) and chocolate. That means dark brown to you non-native Damon speakers. There will be one wall of dark brown while the other three will be bright yellow, there are dark brown curtains on the window already, and we've ordered those colorful dot wall decals to break up some of the yellow. I'm excited to see the finished product and less excited about the mess we need to make before we get there. I think everyone will be out in a tent while we do all this... and then there's the whole switching of closets that needs to be done... *panic*...

Time to rally the troops. Have a wonderful weekend being thankful for our freedoms- thank a vet- enjoy your cheeseburgers and chips and brats and wear sunscreen and don't drink and boat and all that. =) 

Final post for April

I tripped over this link on Facebook and gave it a quick read. I agree with a lot of it and found it worth sharing. Since we're never too old to learn something, give it a minute and see what you think. Click here to get some advice worth implementing.

Karate belt tests are tomorrow, the Awana awards banquet is tonight, and everything in the world is happening on Saturday. Have a great rest of the week and remember to breathe! =)

Blog Stuff

Hello everybodeeeeee,

Yes, I am channeling my inner Grover today. Damon is rocking in the big chair with a book, so I'm anticipating about 245 seconds of peace. Figured I better make it count.

First off, you know who you are, but I'm gonna name names anyway: Wendy, Jessica, Emily, Jen, and Sarah- I know you're all incredibly busy with passels of kids, BUT as it is springtime and a time for new beginnings, get back on the blogwagon! I miss you! Throw us a bone! Don't get hung up on how far behind you are, just toss the blogosphere a few paragraphs about life and how old the kids are now and that you're still alive!

Second, I've added two new blogs to the post list that you should head over and check out. My friend Mike, from high school, has started a very thoughtful blog that hosts good questions and honest opinions. You can find him off to the right there under Mike Dean's Journeying. The other addition is Made for Freedom, which is a small idea with a big impact. I strongly encourage you to head over there, check out their mission statement, and then buy their pants! They. Are. AWESOME. My sister-in-law Becky has both the purple and the charcoal pairs, and I am debating which one I will be getting. Please, please, check it out. Mother's Day is coming up- helping out women AND a pretty gift? Can't beat that!

Third, we spent a very full weekend with our Indiana Kurths, in the beautiful sunshine and breezes of ... Indiana. Yes, well. You can't have everything. Seriously, the weather was perfect, the cousins had a blast running around together, the guys had some quality time together, and the food was excellent. And Dada won Settlers of Catan. ;) It was a wonderful weekend and we're so thankful for the chance to spend time together with our loved ones. Thanks for having us.

Fourth, if you're even remotely considering sending a child or three off to camp at Westminster Highlands or Camp Lambec, get that application in before April 30 for your early bird discount. You can find everything you need right here before time runs out. Yes, I'm reminding myself, too!

And that's all, folks, as the Damonater just announced that he's still hunnry. Make it a great week!

Fickle Spring and Fickle Kids

It's me again. Pictures still aren't working. That bums me out, because instead of snowy, icy pictures, there could now be beautiful blue skies, green grass, budding trees, spring flowers, and spring fevered kids in photos to share. Oh well.

What have we been up to? Adjusting to the ups and downs of the fickle Spring temperatures. Right now I'm sitting in my swim suit top, soaking up the sunshine that is pouring in through the sliding glass doors as I write this. The kids' tent is up in the backyard, though there have been two failed attempts to sleep through the night out there. Frizzering kids have come back in during the wee hours of the morning, declaring through chattering teeth that it's just too cold. No, they knew better than to try last night when it hit 33 degrees, supposedly. They tried over the weekend, but the lovely Ohio wind was knifing the wrong direction and slicing through the tent instead of hitting the house first. That's life!

Apparently there are less than 30 days of the school year remaining, though I don't know how that's possible as it feels like they've only been IN school for 30 days since the New Year. I suppose now is the appropriate time to begin panicking at how much work around the house I have to do before all 3 of them are home...

Karate continues to go well. They are comfortable and focused in class. It's great to see them doing so well and learning so much. I particularly love that they do jumping jacks, sit ups, and push ups, while cheerfully hollering, "one, sir, two, sir, three, sir" and, less cheerfully as they're tiring, "getting stronger, sir" as they get into push up position. I think Uncle Jeff would get a chuckle or three out of watching them.

Damon is only quiet when he's sleeping or playing on the iPad. This usually means I have to delete about 100 pictures when I get the iPad back, as he loves to hear the button clicking as he takes a picture of the ceiling and the top of his head over and over. And over. And over. And over.

The big kids rediscovered their roller blades in the garage we cleaned out this weekend and have been gleefully stomping all over the driveway with them. Damon, naturally, is crushed that he can't be out in the driveway with them, but as I can't make dinner, get ready for the Y, AND watch that he doesn't get run over, he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. It's hard being small. Hence the iPad.

Carrie aced her science test, getting a perfect 16/16 after her dear, sweet teacher physically brought over a packet of study materials when Carrie realized she didn't have hers and the test was the next day. Insert adage about it being a good thing one's head is attached to one's body for fear of forgetting it here. A certain fifth grader has been known on more than one occasion to plug in one half of her cord to her computer to charge overnight, never mind that the plug is not attached to the wall on the other end. I suppose that's why God invented mothers.

Work's been going well for Dada. He actually enjoys his job and his coworkers, which is such an incredibly huge blessing. I bet that's in the Bible somewhere: Blessed is he or she who has a job and a boss and people to work with and something to work on that is to one's liking. I can see how it can make or break you!

We're planning out our summer and who's going to be where, when. We will not be at camp all summer long this year because we have a million small things to do all over creation, including the redoing of the kids' bedrooms. Believe it or not, Care Bear starts middle school next year and is moving into her own room this summer while we bunk the boys together. She wants her room to be green with black accents and the boys want yellow (Liam, naturally) and choctit (chocolate, Damonese for brown). I really am going to think of yellow cake with fudgy icing every time I go in. I am sure I've said that before, but it remains true.

Carrie plans to attend horse camp through the Girl Scouts and Liam wants to do a week at Camp Lambec this year. Plus our usual OBX trip with Hin and Muggin and a weekend at camp for the 4th of July all makes for a busy summer. I want to paint some more of our white walls (we've been here for 8.5 years, it's about time, I suppose) and spend lots of time outside. The garden is started, seedlings are hogging the landing under the grow-lights, and a load of compost was delivered yesterday. I even went a little lot crazy buying flower seeds, but I got excited. I'm going to try poppies, lupine, and alyssum along the side of the house. I have some wildflower seeds and a morning glory mix, also. What can I say? It was a long winter.

My sweet Rita and her family have left for their India trip. They'll be gone far too long and I miss her already. Her dad passed away recently, and her mother will be coming back to the States with her. I can't wait to hug them both. Please pray that they have a safe trip and that the kids have no allergic reactions to any foods while they're away... And that I don't kill her plant while they're gone!

Okay, the Kitchen Fairy hasn't shown up, so I must go do her dirty work. Have a wonderful day. It's Worship Wednesday for those of us in camp mode, so count those blessings. We have millions. =)

Out with the old

Spring is finally here and that calls for something new. I decided to start another blog that will showcase our funny quotes. For years we've scribbled them on poster boards here at the house and then I've transcribed them to this blog once the poster board was full. Then we hang them in the basement for visitors to enjoy.

Well, the ceiling has sprung a few leaks over the years and some of the poster boards have gotten dripped on and the ink has run. They're looking a big pathetic, to be honest. My plan is to get them all retro-written onto this new blog and then print them off into a fun coffee table book. I'm not sure how long said plan will TAKE, but I'm going for it anyway.

The new blog is already linked to this one, and vice versa. You can find the link in the panel to the right of these words under the heading Telling It Like It Is. The official address is here and I hope you enjoy it.

What have we been up to, since I haven't been blogging? I believe we've only had two school cancellation days this month, right in the middle of last week as we got pelted with 8+ inches of snow on Wednesday and then endured a frigid Thursday. All of the snow is almost gone, except the once-huge piles by the driveway and mailbox. Everyone is relieved.

Last night was our elementary school's last movie night of the year, and it was Carrie's last for forever at that school. Next year she'll be off to the junior high and will be too old for such things. However, last night both big kids had a great time watching "Frozen" with their friends while huddling in their sleeping bags. They came home singing and full of popcorn.

We've been eagerly watching our returning feathered friends. A pair of cardinals have been visiting for the last month or so. The killdeer came back the day before those 8+ inches last week. Probably see Goldfinches any time now. Red winged blackbirds visited our feeders after the snow and were joined by a handful of starlings and some field birds that I don't know names for. Squirrels don't live in our neighborhood because our trees aren't mature enough, but I've seen them dashing all over downtown. And we finally caught the mouse (or A mouse, more likely) in the garage who'd been pilfering seeds and snacking in my car. Grrrr.

We are one week away from the last grading period, the spring concert was a success, and blizzard bags are due to come home to help everyone catch up on missed work from this horrid winter. It was nice to have Grandma Barb and Pap visit in time for the concert. Liam's class sang and Carrie's string class performed three songs. Their next concert will be in May and instead of plucking, they'll be using their bows. I think it was a nice birthday event for Grandma Barb, and we had a tried-and-true cake recipe that I substituted butterscotch pudding into, to rave results. She even had a visit from our friend Patti and those two chatted the afternoon away.

We've been partaking in Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's and the assorted treat from Mr. Freeze, which is open, yes. The kids were befuddled on St. Patrick's Day when they poured their own white milk into their cereal only to discover the milk in their bowls turning green. Good times.

Karate is going well. They have practice 2-3 times a week and I can't say enough good things about the establishment. I already posted on Facebook about how professional, friendly, courteous, and patient the staff is with the students. Truly a respectful atmosphere, and they explain directions and cause/effect in a clear manner that the kids can easily understand. We all love it. Definitely worth getting rid of cable for. I'm looking forward to Damon beginning his classes once he's 4 and a half. There are some tiny people in class!

It has also been a sad winter here as we've said goodbye to several friends who've passed on. Dada lost a coworker a few months ago and has had two coworkers lose their mothers this month. A friend from the Cathedral passed away and my camp director from Lambec joined his Father in Heaven. Rita's father in India had a stroke and quickly declined. She flies back from the funeral trip today. A mom from my moms' group's grandfather passed away. A college roommate's older sister was struck by a car and killed while she was jogging. What a miserable winter.

And yet, with the coming of spring, the new babies are arriving. Baby Addison next door is three months old already, but there is a new baby girl across the street, and our sweet friends in New York, the Columbias, have just had baby Calvin. There are plenty more on the way, and I'm looking forward to lots of snuggles!

Tonight we'll go to our usual church service and tomorrow it's my week in the nursery. Soon it'll be spring break so I fully expect more snow. It IS Ohio, after all.

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to check out the new quote board over at Telling It Like It Is !

New Email Message

New Email Message
To: Jesus
From: Mama

Dear Jesus,

If Care Bear is this much of a dork at age 10, what are the teenager years going to look like?



*BING*

You have one new email.
To: Mama
From: Jesus

Dear Mama,

Good luck with that.


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


The big kids have started karate. At least twice and up to three times a week they have class, in which they also need to wear their uniform (called a gi) and turn in their time cards so that they get credit for said classes. They've learned a few blocks and that when they yell, "eye-yah" that it's like putting a period at the end of a sentence. No matter how many moves you have in a series, the "eye-yah" comes at the very end. It's been a handy tool for proofreading language arts homework, as in, "Carrie, you forgot your "eye-yah" and you also need your capital letter." They seem to be very much enjoying themselves and we're hopeful that the discipline of karate will permeate the rest of our lives.

I say hopeful because today Carrie came home from school in this 23 degree weather with no hat. And with no viola, for the 3rd day in a row. And a weekend in which she didn't bring it home on Friday. And her concert is in two weeks.

We won't mention how much we're hoping for focus and discipline for Liam, as well. (His spring concert is also in two weeks. Same concert. He'll be singing, she'll be stringing. Hehe!)

On another topic, I got to have my very first art lesson yesterday. It ran from 6-9 pm at a local foundation which hosts all kinds of classes. I was one of eight ladies who'd signed up. In my case, I'd BEEN signed up by my sweet husband who thought it'd make an excellent birthday present. He was right. It was originally scheduled for last month, but we'd had predictably cruddy weather and they decided to reschedule rather than have nobody show up. 

At any rate, I enjoyed myself while learning about light and shadow, different hardnesses of pencils, practicing drawing what I REALLY saw instead of what I thought I saw, and using a knitting needle to measure proportions. I kept thinking how much I wish I could have taken the class with my Grammy, and how much she would have enjoyed it. The other ladies worked in various other art forms from quilting and knitting to photography and watercolors.

I am being summoned to play a quick game with Liam before dinner, so I must dash. Stay warm and safe and... Liam added "lovable", so lovable it is. Stay warm and safe and lovable! =)

Titan sized doldrums

Still haven't worked out how to post pictures, sorry.  Honestly, I've been too cold/frozen/bored/overwhelmed to look into it all that hard. The last time I checked, there was an 8-10 step process to do it instead of clicking one icon and having the site do it for me, and I'm too lazy to go through that many steps for every single photo... Truth hurts, I guess.

The big kids have started karate lessons. We are hoping that it will give them exercise, confidence, a knowledge of self- defense moves, and an improvement in FOCUS. Those of you who know our big kids know how big of a deal that would be. So far, they've had two private lessons and two large group lessons. They are loving it. It's fun to see them so excited about something.

My brother and his wife were supposed to spend the weekend with us, but good old Winter Storm Titan had to go and blow smoke so that now he has to work tomorrow. Stink, stank, stunk. We are all bumming that we don't get our time together. Would have been so fun to have them!

Must go collect our Girl Scout cookie order for the masses. Be well, everyone, and be careful shoveling!

Unhappy Camper

I didn't fall off Earth, I promise.

There's been a lot of chatter in the Google Help forums about how Picasa (the program I use to organize photos) and Blogger (the host of my blog) are not working together. I have plenty of snowy pictures that I can't show all y'all because the link from Picasa to Blogger isn't working. I get an Error 503 message which essentially translates into, "you're out of luck."

So we'll have to do word pictures instead, never mind that it's been most of the month of January that this technological problem has been going on. Get it together, Google!

Okay, setting my soapbox aside. Now I am going to get it right back out again and do some more blasting.

Mother Nature, enough is enough. While some of us mind snow more than others, not a single person I have talked to or read about or otherwise encountered has had one positive thing to say about these ridiculously cold temperatures. The school children have had longer weekends than school weeks. It is only January, and we're already used up our allotted 5 snow days. At this stage, we have permafrost and tundra going on. Snow dunes. And the wind is enough to probably power the entire Midwest. If I wanted to live in below zero temperatures, I'd move my behind to the north side of Canada. However, I do NOT want to see one more snowflake or experience one more second of temperatures below the freezing point. That Groundhog in Punxy is going to be KEBABS if he says spring is right around the corner and then we get Arctic Blasted again. I think 99.99% of the population is revolted. And we still have February and March to go. Hooray.

For those of you who are blessed to live in warmer climates, let me fill you in on what you're missing. Outside my window right now are sidewalks blown clear of snow in places and heaped in others. The bushes and naked trees appear to be shivering because of the wind that is snaking through them. There are bunny hops and bird prints in the crusty top of the snow. There are icebergs along the driveways and curbs where the plows and shovels have shoved acres of white shroud. It's dazzlingly bright against the clear blue sky. Yesterday and today we've actually had sunshine. The thermometer in my car read -2 when I pulled back into the garage after lunch.

Triskal, with her double-layered coat, dashes outside, sniffs the air, does only what is absolutely necessary, and is back on the step wanting inside before I can even doctor up my cup of coffee. I haven't seen a dog being walked for days.

The kids haven't had school since last Thursday, and I'm not sure if they'll have it tomorrow. There's a planned 2 hour delay already, so at least I know we can all sleep in.

Some of the trees still have their brown, crispy leaves, because it got so cold so fast they didn't have the leisure time to drop them. Talk about shivering out there. They look so brittle that I'm surprised they don't shatter. We've even done the toss-boiling-water-outside-and-watch-it-make-snow experiment. It works.

You know it's bad when your nurse, doctor, receptionist, and other office personnel ALL tell you to be safe driving as you leave their office. You'd have thought I was in a snowmobile. I can only imagine what my best friend's mother and grandmother think as they prepare to leave the house for any reason. It's probably not fit for print, though they are much to well-bred for any of it to leave their mouths. I know that I certainly was glad I didn't have my kids in my car as I cursed out the idiot who passed me as I was passing a car that had its flashers on. Clearly they hadn't watched the same video clip of the massive pile up in Wisconsin on Sunday.

The forlorn Christmas trees are piled at the curb, losing needles on top of the icy crust of sludge. Our cut branches and storm-downed tree litter have been sitting at the curb since October, so only the tops are poking out of a pile that is mid-thigh high. They're probably solidly frozen together.

My pink plastic flamingo had been buried up to its neck earlier, but now it's shuddering and swaying back and forth like it's freezing to death. My garden gnome has given up and is staying down for the count. Maybe he's frozen to the ground as well. I haven't wanted to stay outside long enough to check. I clump out to fill up the bird feeders so that I don't get admonishing looks from the mourning doves and the sparrows and then I clump back in as fast as possible.

Since Rick Warren has declared, "it's not all about you," I guess I can't claim full responsibility for the sheer ridiculousness of the weather. I think I might have had something to do with it, though. I confess. While decorating for Christmas, I used every snowman decoration we own. I hung up the snowman windsock. I displayed the snowmen candles. I propped up the snowman sled from Grandmama.

I never put snowmen out, as a rule. This time I did, and look what happened.

So unbelievably sorry. My bad.

Bracing myself

I'm crossing my fingers that this will actually post after two weeks of trying it, but I'm also bracing myself for the inevitable flak I'm about to get from my mother: it is so dangerous to let him sit like that with a lollipop in his mouth! Is he SLEEPING with a lollipop in his mouth!? I sit down to catch up on the blog after nothing from you for almost two weeks and the first thing I see is my youngest grandchild upside down with a lollipop in his mouth!?

*sigh*
 

We DID get him turned around and he woke up enough to finish said lollipop. Further proof that with the third child, one runs first for the camera...

Just teasing, Mommee. ;) Kind of.

Humbug!

I haven't forgotten to blog, I promise. I keep getting "Whoops! That's an error." messages from my photo processing site, and I am getting really angry. It's adding to my list of things I really hate, right behind Winter and snow days. I'm only half- joking. Please know that I'm working on it. Bear with me!

Lazy vacation days

 

It happens rarely, so I love it when they're all on the same page and playing nicely. I am not the slightest bit surprised that as I'm trying to blog this particular post, I have to stop to break up a fight involving tears, two angry big kids, and fixing a picture frame. No harm done. Just kids who need a much shorter Christmas break. They're sick of each other and I have a feeling it's to get worse. They're supposed to go back to school on Tuesday, but another storm is headed our way. Right now the forecast is for less than one inch tonight, 2-4 tomorrow, and 5-8 tomorrow night. Yikes. Then the high on Tuesday is supposed to be negative three. The HIGH. Double yikes. Anyone going to Hawaii, today? Can I fit in your carry on?
 

 

The blocks have made an appearance. Carrie took these of her tower. It's bit the dust since, but it was about as tall as Liam. Pretty impressive architecture!
 

Happy New Year!

Grandmama and PaPa came out for New Year's to stay a few days. We had saved up some jobs for PaPa, including making peppermint whoopie pies. Aunt Chris, this is the post for you. Here's Liam, trying to decide if the ingredients would yield the correct results:



Must have turned out right! Look at those faces.
 

And look at that icing. Hurk.
 

Grandmama kept the little guy clean and out of the kitchen.
 

 

Triskal looks very puppyish in this shot. Don't be fooled. Our fuzzy girl turned 8 in the weeks leading up to Christmas. She's officially a gray Newfie, not black, but you can really tell by her muzzle in that picture.

PaPa loves to play in the snow. Haha. Be careful, PaPa. Virgil Eugene, my garden gnome, is under all that snow. He'd given up and toppled over months ago, probably in disgust at the frigid wind!
 

 

Christmas come again

 

Somebody got a new hat from Grandmama and we made him do Y-M-C-A, naturally. It doesn't stay on well, but he likes wearing it all over the house anyway.
 

Carrie got the camera, so these were taken by her.
 

 

 

I love how Damon snuggles in with his thumb when you read to him. He and Grandmama read wotsa books. ;)
 

 

 

Zoo lights

 

I didn't think we would make it this year because it's been so bitterly cold, but we managed a trip to see the zoo lights in 2013 after all. Grandmama and PaPa protested that it needed to be a QUICK trip, so we did the briskest zoo walk I've ever been on. It was C.O.L.D, but we had a good time, especially at the singing trees. PaPa got the kids going in a circle dance, and Grandmama danced alongside. I'm not kidding. I have pictures to prove it!
 

 

 

 

Damon has perfected the same expressions Calvin displays for photo shoots in the Calvin and Hobbes comics. You can see for yourself if you click on the above picture.

Anyway, I don't think we saw a single live animal, but we did enjoy the lovely lights!
 

 

Christmas morning

Somebody got new lipstick from Santa, hehe.

And I'd been teasing Dada about asking for another dog for Christmas, so he got me a puppy. A paper puppy. Not quite what I had in mind...
 

 

The reactions are always fun at Christmas. This is Liam realizing he got the Skylanders he wanted this year, and Grandma Barb opening her abominable snow-feet (slippers!).
 

 

We figured Damon would have fun with the water painting tablets that Liam loved at three, and Carrie received the rainbow loom she'd been hoping for. We're now buried in rubber band bracelets.
 

 

Santa's note back to us said he'd run into the tooth fairy. The kids couldn't figure out why as none of them had lost teeth within the three days around Christmas. Then Liam spotted this gift under the tree:

And he also got Legos. I think we may rival Legoland in quantity...
 

 

Dada got to do quite a bit on online shopping for himself this year since he's kinda hard to shop for, so he got these... things. They're for ... holding other... things. Haha! You'll have to ask him about his presents.

And once again we had our tree "up high" to stay out of the Damonater's reach. I think next year the kids will do the tree themselves. But then there's the question of where we'll put Triskal..........
 

 

Nights before Christmas

It's been a little cold here. Someone warm and fuzzy doesn't even want to go outside.

We made sugar cookies for Santa, again. When we make sugar cookies, we make SUGAR cookies. They WERE better this year than they have been in the past, as in they were edible and not a diabetic's worst, worst nightmare. Carrie especially is a sugar fiend when it comes to decorating.
 

 

 

 

Yes, that's right. Santa got dinosaur cookies along with his traditional bells, trees, and gingerbread people. Carrie gave the above T-Rex a pink mani/pedi and earmuffs. When scrolling down, you'll see Liam's with fangs and claws.