So it's Christmas Eve and guess what? IT SNOWED! It actually snowed for like, 3 seconds. Well, about 1/2 an hour. Of course we didn't have a winter wonderland transformation, but it was so completely unexpected to be watching "Franklin" (an animated show about a turtle) one minute (wherein it was snowing) and to look out our window and see that it ACTUALLY WAS SNOWING! My joy is complete. I think this is even more unexpected because yesterday the high was 76 degrees (24.5 celsius) and then we look outside today & it's snowing! Weird and wonderful. I went outside and basked in the Christmassy-ness of it all, and thanked God for this special gift. It really felt like a gift from Mr. Claus Himself.
On to bigger and better things: magic. We will entitle this portion of the post "Magic and Lies". "Magic" because Jeff has convinced Noah that he has the power to turn on the Christmas tree by himself via his own personal & powerful magic, by casting a spell, and "Lies" because he does so by turning it on via the remote control tree-turner-on-er-thingie. Noah is convinced beyond all doubt that Jeff is possessed of deep arcane powers because he recites the following:
"Magical, magical, hobble dee dee
Turn on the Christmas tree so we can SEE"
And then, with a wave of his mighty arm, the tree lights up. So Noah tries it, and Jeff obligingly makes the magic happen for him too. Big mistake. It's snowballed into amateur Harry Potter night, 24-7. Noah champs at the bit to make up his own funny rhymes, spells, to turn on the Christmas tree. Finally, in an attempt to stop the madness (madness because we have to physically be there for hours at a time, surreptitiously clicking the little clicker so the thing can turn off and on), Jeff showed Noah the remote control. Made no difference. He still firmly believes in the magic. When he tries to "cast his spell" and no one is around to click the remote, he asks quite seriously if Daddy (who is possessed of superior magic, apparently) has put a strong spell on the tree so that no one else can turn it on or off. On the plus side, it's been some pretty good entertainment for the kids. Dillon gets in on the act too. It's so cute.
News flash: a couple hours later, it's still snowing and there's some visible snow on the ground!! This is HUGE. I'm so excited!
2 minutes later: Hmmm. It seems to be turning into freezing slush. I still retain hope, however. Nikki is driving here now. Hopefully she'll arrive without incident.
Jeff is working all night tonight, like Santa. This is so that he can have time off when his Mom comes here on the 26th. So he's sleeping right now, napping. He napped with Dillon and the baby slept too, so Noah and I decorated about 2oo Christmas butter cookies that I made. It was fun.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
A belated Birthday post:
This is a belated Nikki-Becca post, for her birthday. You notice I feel the need to hyphenate your name, Nik. This is because the consequences of changing your name so long ago continue to haunt you, my dear...as the old pastor said, "You can blow out a match, but you can't blow out the forest fire that one name-change can start." Or something.
Anyway, it WAS your birthday...and I'm sorry I didn't post. But I wanted to ensure you know how much I love you and value you as a sister and friend. I think that you're doing GREAT and I'm so proud of how you're evolving and building a new life for yourself. I think you're making some really good decisions in the work you're doing, and just the life you're choosing for yourself in general. If this all sounds patronizing I apologize, but this is all true. Good for you! You're well on your way and I'm so proud to have you as a sister.
And apropos of nothing, I would like to share a favorite Nikki story from our childhood:
We siblings used to get presents from our Grandparents who lived across the seas in the form of care packages, or boxes, that were filled with clothes and toys. It was like Christmas whenever they came, and I still to this day carry a torch for Sears because my Grandma used to order stuff for us from them. Mom would get their catalogue and go through it, ordering things for us, and we also would get ahold of it and drool for endless hours over the things hoped for, but never seen. It's ok, the wanting was better than the getting in this case.
Anyway, one year we three oldest girls got these BEAUTIFUL teal blue dresses. They were true flyout dresses (yes, those are italics, you must say it in italics), and to complete our happiness, they possessed a matching satin ribbon, sort of ruched, all around the bottom of them. I may own many dresses, but I think few are going to compare to the beauty I felt these dresses possessed. So we have a picture of us four girls posing together in these dresses, a sort of glamour shot. To go back to something I mentioned earlier, we three oldest girls got these dresses. What was Nikki wearing then, you ask? She was wearing OVERALLS! TEAL OVERALLS! You must understand, Nikki was the child that would rather have died the death than wear pants. She used to throw screaming fits, per Mom, if she couldn't wear a dress at the age of 2. So in this picture we three oldest are smiling, secure in the possession of our teal-dress fabulousness, and Nikki is wearing this grin that indicates that, although she is smiling, she is inwardly as a ravening wolf. We are told by Mom that she threw a huge fit over wearing those overalls that day. And that is a favorite Nikki moment. Why? Because I rejoice in her overall wearing, as a true sadistic older sister should. And also because it shows her innate fashion sense at a tender age. And her inward self-knowledge...she is opinonated, and always was, and always will be. It's a good trait, to know your own mind.
So Happy Birthday, haney! Buy yourself a dress. Maybe I will if I can find a teal one with a flyout skirt and a ribbon around the bottom.
Anyway, it WAS your birthday...and I'm sorry I didn't post. But I wanted to ensure you know how much I love you and value you as a sister and friend. I think that you're doing GREAT and I'm so proud of how you're evolving and building a new life for yourself. I think you're making some really good decisions in the work you're doing, and just the life you're choosing for yourself in general. If this all sounds patronizing I apologize, but this is all true. Good for you! You're well on your way and I'm so proud to have you as a sister.
And apropos of nothing, I would like to share a favorite Nikki story from our childhood:
We siblings used to get presents from our Grandparents who lived across the seas in the form of care packages, or boxes, that were filled with clothes and toys. It was like Christmas whenever they came, and I still to this day carry a torch for Sears because my Grandma used to order stuff for us from them. Mom would get their catalogue and go through it, ordering things for us, and we also would get ahold of it and drool for endless hours over the things hoped for, but never seen. It's ok, the wanting was better than the getting in this case.
Anyway, one year we three oldest girls got these BEAUTIFUL teal blue dresses. They were true flyout dresses (yes, those are italics, you must say it in italics), and to complete our happiness, they possessed a matching satin ribbon, sort of ruched, all around the bottom of them. I may own many dresses, but I think few are going to compare to the beauty I felt these dresses possessed. So we have a picture of us four girls posing together in these dresses, a sort of glamour shot. To go back to something I mentioned earlier, we three oldest girls got these dresses. What was Nikki wearing then, you ask? She was wearing OVERALLS! TEAL OVERALLS! You must understand, Nikki was the child that would rather have died the death than wear pants. She used to throw screaming fits, per Mom, if she couldn't wear a dress at the age of 2. So in this picture we three oldest are smiling, secure in the possession of our teal-dress fabulousness, and Nikki is wearing this grin that indicates that, although she is smiling, she is inwardly as a ravening wolf. We are told by Mom that she threw a huge fit over wearing those overalls that day. And that is a favorite Nikki moment. Why? Because I rejoice in her overall wearing, as a true sadistic older sister should. And also because it shows her innate fashion sense at a tender age. And her inward self-knowledge...she is opinonated, and always was, and always will be. It's a good trait, to know your own mind.
So Happy Birthday, haney! Buy yourself a dress. Maybe I will if I can find a teal one with a flyout skirt and a ribbon around the bottom.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Mi Casa es Suzy Casa
So Jeff finally downloaded these pics I took of our new place, and I'm posting them now. I actually took these a couple weeks ago, and they've been sitting on our camera, and I've been bugging Jeff to download them for ages, because God forbid I should learn how to work our digital camera and just do it myself. Ha ha ha, I slay me.
Anyway, enjoy. As per usual, this blog picture upload works in mysterious ways, and the last shall be first. So the pics of the house are at the end.
First, I must brag on my husband for a minute. This is a picture of a bath he prepared for me after he came home from work. I had had a spectacularly bad day & was completely worn out mentally and physically. He just came swooping in & made a terrific dinner and prepared this bath for me...I hadn't asked him to do it or hinted or anything. How do you like them apples? I'll tell you, when you have 3 kids under the age of 4, moments like this are few and far between, and when one partner can work up the energy to take care of the other, you DOCUMENT it, baby.
A 'poser'
Aaand....moments' done.
The finished product, which was consumed minutes after. (This is a gingerbread house, for those uninitiated.)
Noah and Daddy actually made it together when Dillon was sleeping. Good call.
Open wide!
Under construction.
Dillon, displaying his candy-tongue.
A rare moment...I actually didn't plan this, I put Zoe on the couch alone & the other 2 came & sat there also. Dilly obligingly smiled.
Missus Turtle
The long toes. Ain't they cute?
Please note that the book is upside down. He reads almost all his books this way, seems to prefer it.
And at last, here is the living room of our place. We bought that area rug cuz' the floors are all cement...a little hard and cold in the winter, especially.
Living room from another angle.
Kitchen
Kitchen as seen from the bar...how artsy fartsy of me.
Dining room
This is the hallway that leads to 2 bedrooms, one on either side. The open door you see is the 2nd bathroom, and the white door there is a closet.
The entry way. Nice crown moulding, huh?Wednesday, December 2, 2009
A side order of donkey with your cheese?
So I have a few "funnies" that I have been hoarding up in my mind against just such a time as this, when the kids are occupied ALL AT THE SAME TIME for more than 3o seconds and I can write. We'll see how long it lasts.
First, Dilly. He's talking a lot now & can pretty much say anything he wants to, but it often comes out pretty garbled. The funny thing (and different than Noah) is that he will copy verbatim almost anything Noah says, or anything that Jeff or I say. He's like a little parrot. Anyway, this thing he does....I just think it's the cutest thing. Instead of saying "my this" or "my that", it's "mine". For example, "Doan touch the stove goan born mine handies". Or, being interpreted: "Don't touch the stove, it's going to burn my hands". Everything is "mine". And when he says it, I have this urge to snap my heels together and say, "Ya, mein fuhror" in the best German tradition.
And then just today he says something else that got me: we're having a snack and Noah got turkey and cheese. Dillon didn't want that, but after he's done with what he has, he decides he wants more, and is asking me for what sounds like, "donkey and cheese". I was completely nonplussed for a minute, and just sort of stared at him trying to figure it out, when DUH!! it hit me: donkey=turkey. He just got the animal wrong. It even sounds a lot a like, when you think about it. Donkey and cheese, please.
And then there's Noah, who is lately developing quite a mature sense of humor. He laughs at all the right places on the kiddie movies he sees, and can get almost any kind of low-brow joke. I can take responsibility for the advanced way his mind works, but the preference for toilet humor he has goes strictly to Jeff. I often find myself laughing along with him, just delighted in my big son's belly laugh to something that an adult would laugh at...when just 4 short years ago he was a baby. Tempus fugit.
So anyway, here's something that the Kiddy Viddie watchers of old will love: we're watching a Kiddy Viddie, the one with "He's got the Whole World in His Hands" on it. That song comes on & we're watching & kinda singing along, especially Noah. He's really getting into it, and then the 2nd verse comes on: "He's got the big, big fish...in his hands" etc. And if you know your Kiddy Viddie, a series of pictures come on to illustrate this, one of them being Eskimos posing near their igloo with a polar bear nearby. Noah is watching and suddenly bursts out, with not a little exasperation in his voice: "He's got the big big POLAR BEAR, you freaks!"
And lastly: he sometimes makes up words. The most recent one is "crooming". What does it mean? I asked him, and he said, "like when you take care of things, or put them in rows". Hmmm. Perhaps a mix of "groom" and "caring"? Who the heck knows? I thought it was funny.
First, Dilly. He's talking a lot now & can pretty much say anything he wants to, but it often comes out pretty garbled. The funny thing (and different than Noah) is that he will copy verbatim almost anything Noah says, or anything that Jeff or I say. He's like a little parrot. Anyway, this thing he does....I just think it's the cutest thing. Instead of saying "my this" or "my that", it's "mine". For example, "Doan touch the stove goan born mine handies". Or, being interpreted: "Don't touch the stove, it's going to burn my hands". Everything is "mine". And when he says it, I have this urge to snap my heels together and say, "Ya, mein fuhror" in the best German tradition.
And then just today he says something else that got me: we're having a snack and Noah got turkey and cheese. Dillon didn't want that, but after he's done with what he has, he decides he wants more, and is asking me for what sounds like, "donkey and cheese". I was completely nonplussed for a minute, and just sort of stared at him trying to figure it out, when DUH!! it hit me: donkey=turkey. He just got the animal wrong. It even sounds a lot a like, when you think about it. Donkey and cheese, please.
And then there's Noah, who is lately developing quite a mature sense of humor. He laughs at all the right places on the kiddie movies he sees, and can get almost any kind of low-brow joke. I can take responsibility for the advanced way his mind works, but the preference for toilet humor he has goes strictly to Jeff. I often find myself laughing along with him, just delighted in my big son's belly laugh to something that an adult would laugh at...when just 4 short years ago he was a baby. Tempus fugit.
So anyway, here's something that the Kiddy Viddie watchers of old will love: we're watching a Kiddy Viddie, the one with "He's got the Whole World in His Hands" on it. That song comes on & we're watching & kinda singing along, especially Noah. He's really getting into it, and then the 2nd verse comes on: "He's got the big, big fish...in his hands" etc. And if you know your Kiddy Viddie, a series of pictures come on to illustrate this, one of them being Eskimos posing near their igloo with a polar bear nearby. Noah is watching and suddenly bursts out, with not a little exasperation in his voice: "He's got the big big POLAR BEAR, you freaks!"
And lastly: he sometimes makes up words. The most recent one is "crooming". What does it mean? I asked him, and he said, "like when you take care of things, or put them in rows". Hmmm. Perhaps a mix of "groom" and "caring"? Who the heck knows? I thought it was funny.
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