Christmas morning.

Santa brought everything they asked for... an iPod for Maddie; Clone Trooper helmet and blaster for Henry; and a new kitchen set for Meg. Big smiles and squeals of joy all around.

Henry and the Sugar Plum Fairies

...a sampling from Henry's Christmas production today.

mmm... cookies.

Christmas cookie time! And to quote Henry, "Mom, we make the BEST cookies!"

I agree.

piano lessons.

I'm trying to get our oldest to take piano lessons willingly, but only the youngest is interested.

crack!

Sometimes, Meg just sits cutely at her little table and yells, "crack!".

Which means: "Mother, I'd like some goldfish crackers and a cup of milk."

We speak the same language.

seeing Santa.

Well, last week we went Greg's firm's x-mas party and got to have a little visit with Santa. Maddie had the honor of being one of his elves and helped pass-out presents to the kids on Santa's "nice list". Henry jumped-up on his lap and had an in-depth conversation with him about Star Wars. Meg thought he was pretty scary, screamed at him and wanted a quick get-away. She was not pleased.

didn't happen.

I tried getting a photo for our Christmas card out in the newly, fallen snow... it just didn't happen.

our tree.

the tree is up!  and we're getting in the Christmas spirit.

obsession.

here's a good use of the internet... my friend Kathy is obsessed with Pespi Light circa mid-80's. If you remember this product or have any info to share, please post it here. Oh, and she still has an unopened can from 1987... just waiting for an offer to come through from a foreign soft-drink collector someday. 

disco elves.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

my own drummer.

snow day activity... taking the "Classic Dames Test"

Apparently, I'm a Katherine Hepburn... "You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. "

oh, so true.

take it, it's fun: The Classic Dames Test

snow day uno

Today is our first snow day for this school year... we're trying to be productive, but it's so easy not to be.

Meg's words.

Our littlest one has been pretty talkative, here's what she's been saying:
baby, baby, babeee
bow (as the one in her hair)
crack! = cracker/cookie
mama
dada
milk
poon = spoon/fork
bee = blanket
kitty
RAWR! = dog/tiger/lion
no no
ball
ba ba = bottle
oh-oh!
mo? = more
mmmm... = this tastes yummy
tank too = thank you
taco taco = tickle tickle

cheers

...and in the photo, she's talking on the sodoku game like its her cell phone.

a good idea?

I brought up our kids' table from the basement... for Henry and Meg to color at... or play restaurant with.

Meg had other ideas for it.

Honoring Our Vets

Have you thanked a Vet lately?

To honor our Vets, Maddie's 4th grade class invited the veterans in their lives to participate in a celebration at their school on Veteran's Day. They were asked if they would like to share their experiences with the class, in small groups... and the kids had made apple pies to share with their guests. Maddie invited her Grandpa Ken, who was in the Navy... so Grandpa and Mya came up for the celebration.

The pie was great, and everybody had a good time. Especially Maddie, who was thrilled to have her Grandpa there just for her to share with her friends.

That night, we all went down to the Veteran's Memorial Park in Belmont, where Maddie's class sang the National Anthem, with bells and all. The memorial service was very nice... and very cold! But well worth it.
The 4th grade class.


The Vets.


Grandpa Ken sharing his photos and memorabilia from his Navy days.

4-year-old logic.

So Henry and I were reading "Peter Pan" for bedtime and our conversation goes like this:

Henry: "Mom, why does Captain Hook have a hook and not a hand?"

Me: "I think a crocodile bit-off his hand, so now he has a hook instead."

after a long pause....
Henry says, "Did he used to be called 'Captain Hand'?"

I started laughing: "Uh, I don't know Henry... but that makes sense."

And then Henry realized he made a funny... now we both crack-up just walking around the house saying "Captain Hand".

The Force was with us.

Maddie, Henry and Meg are all becoming experts at begging for candy from the neighbors. Our temps were in the high 50s, so the weather was perfect for haunting around the block. Maddie created her own Hippie costume, complete with a homemade, fringy vest. Henry was the fiercest, 4-foot Darth Vadar around with his red "light saver". Meg also channeled the force as Princess Leia. I was (according to Henry) "just a girl Jedi"... so he had someone to sword-fight with. We were accompanied by my neighbor Amy and her dog Tommy, who was a barking pumpkin. Dad handed-out candy and drank beer. We definitely went the distance and everyone was thoroughly exhausted that night. They slept soundly and dreamt of all their candy, I'm sure.

political sidebar.

WTF. Please if you're sick of all the political sludge oozing around, just raise your hand right now at your computer.

Thank you... I feel your pain.


This was the headline posted today on Yahoo! News:

"Bono: World has a stake in upcoming US election"

I find this disturbing on many levels.
1. Rockstars who speak at humanitarian award dinners hosted by Starbucks have all the answers.
2. Bono is a proven philanthroper, but not a US citizen. He's from Ireland. So, he should just shut-up and keep giving his money to Africa, because they really need it.
3. Sadly, I read the news from a source that's named after a cowboy expletive, and care enough to comment.
4. And apparently, the US controls the world... ergo, as a US citizen, my vote can send mankind into a downward spiral. Or not.

No pressure.

fall walk

here we are out on a little walk enjoying the fall colors.

apple pickin'

Just picking some good Michigan apples. The kids loved it and I think they ate more apples that day than ever before.
Maybe we'll do it again this weekend...