I Did It!!!

Phew! What a month! I can't believe I completed NaBloPoMo. Not to say there weren't any hiccups, but I had 30 posts in 30 days. Now I can return to my regularly scheduled mediocrity.

Besides noting my paltry accomplishment, I have a birthday wrap-up as well... I truly feel like I have been run over by a train. It was an action-packed day yesterday which ended with a meltdown last night from Tom, and Allie's slight sniffles morphing into a full blown cold. The big guys are tired but doing ok. The day went pretty much as planned, except for dinner.

We had to get our dinner tacos to go because Allie was under the weather. When I came home I discovered that Matt's taco had sour cream on it (big problem). There was huge pressure on this day to have it executed perfectly and sour cream was not part of the plan. I realized as Matt's eyes were welling up that I would have to return to get new tacos. Despite the dinner hitch, everything else went swimmingly.

I love that Matt loves to plan his day, but to be perfectly honest, I wish his birthday was at the end of the birthday marathon. He sets such a high standard, and gets all the other kids in a birthday frenzy. Tommy is now planning his day (bigger and better, of course). It's almost all he talked about yesterday. Oh well.... one down, four to go.

I forgot my camera for the bounce house facility and for the Pokemon league (surprise, surprise) but I remembered to take a picture of the birthday boy blowing out the candles of his rice krispy treat cake. Here's my big-shot-nine-year-old blowing out his candles...

I also posted a picture of the rice krispy treat cake for those who inquired. I usually don't frost it, but he wanted it frosted (it's better without). It's really amazing what you can shape rice krispy treats into; quite a "miracle food" really....

The Big Day

I didn't really get a chance to write my Thanksgiving wrap-up because of my need to comment on the Christmas music but to make a boring day brief, it was really nice. The kids did great, the food was great, it was nice to relax afterward, and the driveway got shoveled (twice!).

I have to gloss over that a bit though because today is the day Matt has been preparing and planning for. This day has been thought through, refined, tweaked and retweaked for months. I have to write this the night before because I know when I wake up, there is a schedule that must be kept.

It's hard to believe my baby will be nine. He is such a sweet little guy, but as I look at him, he's not so little anymore. He's a big guy, with a wonderfully developed personality, wit, and sense of empathy. I wish I had my baby pictures scanned into my computer so I could post a baby picture, but I'll just have to settle for a more recent picture of him doing what he loves; winning pokemon tournaments....

Happy Birthday Matty-man. We love you and hope you have a great day!

Worst Christmas Song Ever....

I'll have to do a Thanksgiving wrap-up tomorrow, this post cannot wait.... In a previous life, when I worked at a radio station, I used to be inundated with Christmas music during the holidays. The first week was fine, but by the end of the holiday season it felt like I was listening to fingernails on a chalkboard. Time has helped to heal this wound but it's taken me nearly a decade to look forward to Christmas music again, especially the new releases by contemporary artists.

This song must have been released while I was on hiatus; I think it's been out for seven years now. Have you heard this one? It's called "The Christmas Shoes". I just heard it for the first time the other day. It's about a little, grubby boy who is trying to buy some shoes for his mom because she is dying and he wants her to look good as she meets her maker. She's been sick for a while, she always made Christmas really nice in her home, and the shoes are just her size, so he wants them. Problem is that he is short money and cannot afford the shoes. He looks to the man behind him who is narrating the song and asks what he should do. The man forks out the money for the shoes and feels grateful that the boy has reminded him of what Christmas is all about.

Ok, the first issue I have is the sappy style of the song. You know it was written with one purpose in mind: to make us cry. I think it was authored by the same people who wrote those Hallmark commercials in the 1980's. It bothers me when people purposely try to tap into the cry emotion to make a buck. I have a hunch that this is probably the only hit this artist will ever have. They were probably aware of that too, so they had to make it count.

Next, the song was definitely written by a man. If I'm on my deathbed, I don't want a red pair of sling back pumps. I want my family around me, I want chocolate, I want a massage. Every woman knows that.

Lastly, I'm offended that the only reason the narrator would help the boy is because the woman is on her deathbed. If she was only kind-of sick, or not sick at all, would he tell the boy to "scram"? How about if he was just hungry? Would that merit his help? Why does the situation have to be so extreme in order to get this man to act? Yea guy, you're a real hero. That's what Christmas is all about... helping little kids buy inappropriate, uncomfortable, shoes so they can jam them on their mom's swollen feet before she dies. Kudos to the songwriter.

I know I sound like a real Scrooge about the song and some people are going to comment that they like the song. Do as you may, but I feel the songwriter took it too far, and sent me over the edge.

Bah Humbug.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

It's a medium busy day over here. There's great benefit to living with a mother-in-law. One, she's a great cook. Two, she likes to make Thanksgiving dinner (all I need to do is make mashed potatoes- woo hoo). Three, now that our homes are connected, I get to smell all the good cooking without any of the worry that I could mess it up. I love the community dinners where everyone brings something. I can not imagine trying to make a full dinner by myself (my mom used to do that).

I do need to clean up my house though because we'll be eating in this part of the house. It's a small price to pay. Jeanne (Bob's sister), her husband, and three kids will be coming too so there will be fourteen this year.... a modest number for us. The kids are excited about seeing their cousins but probably most looking forward to Aunt Jeanne's lemon pie.

The other item I need to address before dinner is our driveway. It's a mess and it needs to be cleared by noon when company is expected to arrive. We received our first significant amount of accumulation and I need to shovel it.

The driveway is my "winter challenge". Bob wanted to get a plow contract as we have in years past, but I didn't want to because it seemed silly to pay someone now that the kids are older and it's my slow season. Plus, it's good exercise for me, and it's money that we could use elsewhere. Bob just laughed and told me to "have a good time with that". So it's my challenge. It seems like it should be more fun if it's a "challenge", I'll let you know how it goes. I'll post some picts of the snow tomorrow.

Well, I'm off to shovel. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful for my family, friends, healthy children, and warm winter boots.

We Should Have Named Her Hoover

I haven't thought about it much, but since Kiko's arrival a couple months ago, I don't have to sweep anymore (more disinfecting, but no sweeping). She'll eat any crumb that falls to the floor, she'll eat dust bunnies, she'll eat discarded wrappers. She'll eat anything. It's so great, I brought her out to the van and let her have at it. I did draw the line when she found a fossilized chicken mc nugget in there though. Heaven knows how long that was there and I don't want her to get sick. That's the point after all, to eliminate mess... not make more by having her throw up. Here's a photo I snapped yesterday while she was eating a dust bunny, you can see part of it hanging off the right side of her mouth.....


ps- I was joking about bringing her to the van just to eat the food off the floor. She does do that when she rides in the van, but I don't take her out there for that specific purpose (the chicken mc nugget part was completely true). I'm sure PETA organizations all over the world are preparing their legal attack.

Unpacking and Reflecting

It's nice to be home. Don't get me wrong, I really liked my alone time with Bob, but it is nice to be home with the kids. It won't be long before we won't have to make such grand preparations for a three day weekend and will be able to hop into a car and go. It's a little bittersweet. I sometimes wonder what I did with my time before kids.

If my writing sounds subdued, I'm just a little tired. We really had a great time and, for the first time we have left for a weekend alone (this is our third time), I felt like everyone was ok at home. That was comforting and allowed me to relax a bit.

Jerry Seinfeld was really good. He wasn't great, but really good. His opening act (Tom Papa) was excellent. If you hear of him coming to town, you should see him... he's hilarious. In Seinfeld's defense, it's a lot harder to keep up an act for an hour than it is for fifteen minutes. The evening was really fun though, which is what matters.

I think the best choice we made was to rent a car. It was very liberating to hop in our car and not wait for a cab, plus it was extremely cost effective. We drove around (with the windows down!) to Lake Las Vegas, down the strip to gawk, and even to the mall. I don't remember the last time I went to the mall, let alone with just my husband. It was nice (being with Bob, the mall part was so-so).

We played two low buy-in poker tournaments (~$45). Bobby won the first tournament and I came in third. I came in sixth on the second one. It was fun, but I'm a little sick of poker. That's Bob's game anyway, I'm just along for the ride.

I did have a few trip related and post-trip thoughts....

1- Vegas is a weird place. It was fun, but I've never been a partier and can't understand the party lure. I fought with myself from saying something to the women I saw primping (and pimping) themselves (i.e. "c'mon ladies... have some respect for yourselves and put your 'girls' away! They don't need that much air.").

2- The cool thing about Vegas is there is so much to do that there is something for everyone, except children. I don't think people should take their kids to Vegas for vacation and stay anywhere near the strip. Whenever I saw someone pushing a stroller it made my stomach turn, especially in a casino or on the strip. It's just not a place for them...

3- I forgot I had a dog. I feel kind of guilty about that. When I was gone, I thought about my kids often. I called the house twice a day and Lola once a day. The night before we left Vegas, I noticed a billboard addressing abandoned dogs and was struck with the fact that I owned a dog. It's not that I don't like her (she's actually growing on me), but it's still too new and my brain was too preoccupied thinking about the kids.

4- I hate snowy, cloudy weather. It was great to come home and see the kids but so depressing to descend through the clouds, into Buffalo, and see it gray and blah. Perhaps that has me a bit morose. We are here because family is here and we live in a great community, but there has to be some other great community in a warmer climate that Bob's family would move to. Perhaps this merits more investigation.

5- Not all buffets are the same. We had a coupon for our hotel's buffet (buy one, get one) and it was OK, but the Bellagio buffet was the best by far. Luckily, we were able to eat the Bellagio dinner buffet for a discounted price and everything was divine. The sushi, pasta, crab legs...everything was excellent; don't even get me started on the desserts. (As an aside, why do I crave the stuff that is bad for me? Why can't I lust for steamed veggies after a tiring day?) If you get to go to Vegas, you have to eat at the Bellagio buffet.

6- My dog really smells bad, worse than I remembered. She stayed at a great place that has three dogs and came home happy but more fragrant than ever. I'm too lazy to give her a bath right now so I sprayed some Febreze for Pets on her. It sort of worked but now she's a weird hybrid of smelly dog and fresh flowers. It's a Jekyll and Hyde sort of thing where sometimes she smells good and sometimes smells repulsive. I'll have to give her a bath before Thursday.

7- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was perhaps one of the worst movies I have seen in years. It didn't even make any sense. Hello, aliens? What the heck is that? The writing was terrible and even the action scenes lacked any spark. I can't believe I paid money to watch it ($11.99 in room movie). It was so bad I started packing while watching to feel like my time wasn't completely wasted. We watched a bunch of movies (that weren't animated!). Get Smart was great and laugh out loud funny. Mama Mia was just weird. Anytime you string ABBA songs together and try to work a story in between, it's going to be odd (and I even like ABBA). Also, Pierce Brosnan cannot sing. I just felt embarrassed for him.

8- It will take me a week to recover from this trip but it's worth it. I'm glad Bobby thinks it's important to take time out to be together. Spending more time with him reminds me of all the things I like about him and why I married him. He's such a great guy. I can't wait for our next weekend trip together. Next time, I want to go on a three day cruise to the Bahamas and hope for an absence of hurricanes and food poisoning.

Home at Last

We're home. Phew. We had a great time and everyone did really well while we were gone; even the dog. It's late though, and I'm really tired and still playing a bit of catch up with work so a longer post will have to wait until tomorrow. It sure is nice to be home though.

It's a start....

I signed the handmade pledge a few weeks ago and things have been moving slowly. I have made a little progress though. Here are some barrettes that I made with the help of my friend Kristina. They definitely have a homespun feel. Hopefully the recipient won't find them repulsive....

I'm going to try this one more time....

Greetings from Las Vegas!!!! If I'm being completely honest, I'm still in Buffalo but working a little ahead so I can truly enjoy my vacation. I stumbled across this about a month ago and have wanted to post it.

However, since I really don't know how to load videos, it's proven to be a problem. I've read all the tutorials and I'm going to try again. I hope this works. It's titled "worst best man" and worth a giggle...





Ah ha!!! Success!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We're off today. Off to sunny Vegas for a few days of hanging out in warm weather, sleeping in, and seeing Jerry Seinfeld. We're staying off-strip so we might meander around town and see if we can find some interesting restaurants, shops, and slightly less touristy places. If anyone has any suggestions, let us know. As fun and exciting as it is to go have some time alone, form complete thoughts, and have conversations without being interrupted, I'm really going to miss the little guys while I'm gone. I'm sure when it's time to go home, I'll be chomping at the bit to see my gang. I miss them already... *sniff*.

Again?

I guess if you tag someone, you get tagged again...or so I am finding. Ok. I suppose I had it coming. This is a fun one though so here I go.....

1. Go to your pictures file.
2. Go to the 4th file.
3. Go to the 4th picture.
4. Post it and tell the story.
5. Tag 4 more people:

http://moreyfamily.blogspot.com/
http://workman.blogspot.com/
http://cosmo13.blogspot.com/
http://warners-world.blogspot.com/

Last winter in January of 2008, when we were living in the rental house, we had one day of unusually warm weather. I think the high was 58 degrees and sunny, which is unheard of around here. It was such a glorious day that we stopped everything we were doing and went outside to enjoy the weather. Because of the warmth, the snow had melted and the driveway was dry. The kids were thrilled at the prospect of skateboarding outside on the ramp and riding their bikes, especially Tom (he's almost 4 in this picture). It's rare to ever have a day in January where the kids don't have to load up with hats, gloves, boots, and especially jackets. It was a wonderful respite even if only for a day.

Two days later there was a foot and a half of snow on the ground.... =(

Jerry, Baby!!!

After the death of George Carlin, Bobby and I were lamenting the fact that we never saw him perform. He had come to Buffalo not too long before his death, but we opted not to see him.

We were talking about all the comedic greats of our time and we decided Jerry Seinfeld has to be one of the best. We had downloaded some of his performances from iTunes and, after listening to them, made a pact that if we had the chance to see him, we should. A couple months ago, Bob found that Seinfeld had just announced some performance dates in Vegas. So we booked a trip! We're in the nosebleeds (front row nosebleeds though) to see him, and are doing the trip on the cheap, but are really excited for a long weekend together in a warm location. We are staying off-strip in a really nice hotel with a bowling alley and a movie theater and renting a car ($10 a day!).

It's amazing how many days of preparation it takes for a four day trip. Between food preparation, shuffling the dog off to a babysitter, making arrangements with the human babysitter, and just packing, it's going to be a busy few days. I hope it's worth it!

New Game

Tommy made up a new game and got Allie to play along. The game consists of Tom taking all his clothes out of his closet and dresser and stuffing it into a laundry basket. Then he helped Allie do the same! Yeah! My favorite part of the game is when I get to hang it all back up!

On a less sarcastic note, it would have been more irritating if Tom wasn't so adorable, it's hard to be annoyed at this little guy.

Milk, Butter, Eggs..........

So it's come to this. The publishing of the grocery list in order to fulfill my NaBloPoMo requirement. I'm really not sure how I'm going to do this, I'm barely halfway through the month. My life is just too darned boring. I just spent my morning trying to find a lower price to get my dog spayed (my vet wants $400!). I also need to make cookies as "thank you" gifts for a few clients. It's truly riveting, I know. There's nothing blog worthy here.

Yesterday was fun though. My friend from middle school, Heather, came by to visit for a few hours. She was in the area and brought her three boys as well. It's hard to believe that it's been almost four years since I last saw her.... how time flies. I forgot to take pictures until just as they were getting their shoes on to go. Figures......

Of course she's as cute and as funny as ever. If she wasn't so nice, I'd hate her. ;)

Recovering

I brought the kids in for their holiday picture yesterday. I only have their picture taken every other year because it's such a hassle. I don't know how people can do it more often than that. We only started taking their picture that often because we wanted a kid photo with the new baby which happens every other year. This year the new addition is the dog.

The bummer is the pictures didn't turn out so great. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but it's knocked the wind out of my sails a bit. There is ying for the yang though (or is it yang for the ying?). About half an hour after unloading from our long photo morning, my neighborhood Girl Scouts dropped off my cookie order that I had long forgotten about. Hallelujah! Thank goodness for thin mints.....

It's pathetic when chocolate can completely change your mood.

Tooth Fairy Blunder

Sam lost his tooth unexpectedly yesterday. He mentioned it was loose and asked me to tug it. I tugged it and it popped right out! He was thrilled at the promise of another payout. Teeth are big bucks for six-year-olds thanks to the Lola supplemental tooth fund ($5 per tooth).

Sam put his tooth under the pillow that night and happily fell asleep. However, much to Sam's dismay, when he awoke the next morning, the tooth was still there. What happened to the Tooth Fairy? Why was Sam's tooth still there? Where the heck was Sam's money? There were lots of questions to be answered. While I can't speak for the Tooth Fairy, I'm sure it probably had to do with the fact that the Tooth Fairy can be flighty and forgetful sometimes (as most fairies are) and Mr. Tooth Fairy probably did not remind her that she had to collect a tooth that night, but that is just my guess.

I did help Sam inspect his bed and we did find the $1 that somehow made its way into Sam's pillowcase. He hadn't thought to look there I guess. But there was still the issue of the tooth left behind. I offered to mail the tooth to her P.O. Box in White Plains, New York. We once had to mail one of Matt's teeth to her White Plains P.O. Box when she accidentally left it behind. Sam declined, however, wanting to opt for the possiblity of collecting twice by leaving his tooth under his pillow for a second night.

Well, the Tooth Fairy cannot be fooled (flighty, yes. sucker, no). She collected her tooth and left Sam a note explaining her tooth bag had a hole in it and the tooth fell out. His tooth is now safely at her palace (in White Plains) and Sam has a good story to tell.

Tagged

Wheee! I'm a day ahead on my blogging. That's cool. I can't believe I'm still doing the blogging. I purposely decided to opt out so I could avoid the mid-month drivel. Oh well.

I was tagged the other day from my friend Heather so I figured I'd post it on my blog (I guess it's one better than publishing my grocery list). It's not too long either. Original questions are in red, my response is in black...

4 Random Things I Like About Quentin (that's Heather's husband)

ummmm. He seems nice, but I don't really know him that well. I'll try my Bob...

4 Random Things I like About Bob

1- He makes me laugh hard at least once a day.
2- I can tell him anything.
3- He's a great dad.
4- Even if I cooked a bomb of a meal, he always pretends to like it.
5- (I had one more come to mind) He always makes me feel beautiful even if I look like a butt.

4 Jobs I've Had

(I'll choose my worst ones for fun)

1 - Collection Agent (that was just stinky- I would hit my goals though)
2 - Maid in a hotel (that was fun actually)
3 - Radio Researcher (I'd interview radio listeners to determine market trends- it was an in to the business)
4 - Waitress (I liked that job too)

4 Movies I've Watched More Than Once

I'm not a huge movie person but I'll see what I can do...

1 - Ocean's 11 (one of Bob's favorite)
2 - Some Pokemon movie that I sit and watch with the kids.
3 - The Christmas Story
4 - The Sound of Music (I don't currently have a copy and Bob hates musicals, but it could possibly be the movie I watched most as it was the first movie we owned when we got a VCR).

4 TV Shows I Watch

1 - 30 Rock
2 - The Office
3 - How I met Your Mother
4 - Heroes

4 Favorite Foods

1 - Chocolate
2 - Any Mexican
3 - Appetizers
4 - Good thin crust pizza with lots of good toppings

4 Places I'd Like to Visit

1 - Honduras
2 - China
3 - New Zealand
4 - Hungary

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to in the Coming Year

1 - Finishing the little details on the house.
2 - Selling my million dollar listing (I hope it happens this upcoming year!).
3 - Having a dog that is housebroken.
4 - Completely cleaning and organizing my attic and basement, it's driving me crazy.

4 People I Tag

I'll do this alphabetically since there is no preference.

1 - Beth
2 - Kim
3 - Kristina
4 - Tammy

and....

5 - Jen I. (She's newer to the blogging realm, and I figured I'd share the fun)

Birthday Bonanza

We're starting to gear up for the birthday season. It's a marathon of sorts where we celebrate five family birthdays within about fifty days, not to mention Christmas stuck in the middle. I'm usually beat by the end. Poor Bobby. His birthday is the last of the marathon and he's lucky if he gets a supermarket sheet cake and trip through the McDonald's drive-through. He's a good sport but I always feel bad about it.

Matt's birthday starts the season and he definitely sets the bar quite high. He's been planning his day (within his allotted budget) for over a month and just unveiled his plans last night....

Sleep in (I'm guessing to around 8).

Eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Hang out after breakfast for a bit maybe Pokeduel with his brothers.

Then go to an indoor bounce house facility and bounce for a while, then eat pizza there for lunch.

Go play at the pokemon league from 2-5 (free event- woo hoo!).

Eat dinner at Mighty Taco.

Come home and eat a rice krispy treat birthday cake (an Effie Morgan original) and open presents.

Have a camp out overnight on our living room floor.


Phew! It looks like I have a busy day ahead of me. Wish me luck!

You Have To Try This... Seriously.

I'm in love, I'm absolutely in love. Yes, also with my husband, but this particular love is for an amazing rice salad. My friend, Kristina, shared some with me and it was so good I had to make some for myself. Now it haunts me. I'm sitting at my desk finishing up some work, dealing with a constipated four-year-old, and dreaming about this wonderful salad. It's so good I have to share it....

Sir Wasaono's Infamous Indonesian Rice Salad

2 C cooked, cooled brown rice* (I used three cups of leftover rice from dinner the night before and adjusted the veggies accordingly)

1/2 C raisins (I used dried mangos- mmmmmm!)

2 chopped scallions

1/4 C toasted sesame seeds

1/2 C thinly-sliced water chestnuts (didn't have any, didn't use them)

1 C fresh mung bean sprouts (didn't have any, didn't use them)

1/4 C toasted cashews

1 large, chopped green pepper (I didn't have one so I used a seedless cucumber instead)

1 stalk chopped celery

fresh parsley

dressing:

3/4 C orange juice

1/2 C safflower oil (I used canola)

1 T sesame oil

3-4 T tamari sauce (I didn't have any so I used high quality soy sauce and a tsp. of sugar)

2 T dry sherry (didn't have any, didn't use it)

juice of 1 lemon

1-2 cloves minced garlic

1/2-1 t freshly grated ginger root (didn't have any, didn't use it)

salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients and serve chilled on greens (we just ate the rice mixture although served on greens sounds good too). Also we used only half of the dressing for the rice (using all of it would be too much). I'm looking forward to using the rest soon though!

It made about 6 cups of salad and was not nearly enough. It was scarfed down quickly (mostly by me!). Here's a photo of it before dinner. It had already been sampled by me, my mother-in-law, Pete, and Bobby...


If anyone makes it, let me know what you think and if you're in the area, share some with me!!!

Diet Tips

Ok... so I'm still playing catch up a little. Yesterday (today in the blog world) was (is) a busy day which included, a lunch meeting in the city, showing a house in the city, baking browines for my favorite veteran (no, it's not John Kerry), and taking the kids to visit a friend's house on their day off. I have had this image lingering on my desktop that I have wanted to share for a while. This comes courtesy of fail blog. My brother turned me on to this blog a few weeks ago and now it's part of my daily ritual. This image just struck me as particularly funny...


P.S.- Happy Veteran's Day!

First Snow

And so it begins.... It's pretty to wake up to but a little depressing. It marks the beginning of the downward spiral. This will melt, sure, but eventually it sticks and then we have to start shoveling our driveways, scraping our cars, and bundling our kids like Randy in "The Christmas Story". At least we're almost halfway through November, just five more months to go. =(

Puppy Pros and Cons

It's been over three weeks since Kiko arrived on the scene, and I've been compiling my little pro and con list the whole time. I even had a blog draft floating around for a week or so stating how much I hated fleas, tapeworms, and dog poop (who doesn't?). It's hard for me to accurately describe this experience without sounding like a mean animal owner who is not fit to care for a sea monkey. So after more contemplation, and a blog rewrite, I hope I can convey my thoughts correctly...

#1- I have recently realized I will never be a dog owner that puts my dog on the same level as humans. She is a second class citizen (or perhaps more like a red-headed stepchild). I need to not feel so guilty about that. I actually think it's better for the dog that it's more of an employer/ employee relationship. The only problem is that as an employee, she is still a bit insubordinate.

#2- I am annoyed when she destroys my home. When she chews on my baseboards, when she pees or poops on the floor (especially after I had just taken her out and she refused to go) it bothers me.

#3- I like her better at night than in the morning. When we let her out of her crate in the morning she is crazy with excitement and that is when her house training accidents seem to happen most. I'm not blaming her but it can make for a hectic morning. She also likes to chew on anything she can get at during that crazy time. I know I'm going to be barraged with training tips so save your keystrokes. We follow all the recommendations of our vet, books, and dog savvy friends, but she still has issues sometimes. She also gets ample attention all day, every day. Bobby contends I give the dog more attention than some of my kids. That might be true because my kids are not about to poop on my floor at any given moment.

In the evening though, after the kids are in bed, we are able to snuggle with her every night. She is really a sweet lap dog in that respect.

#4- She has a "chug" face you cannot stay mad at. No matter what she has done, you can't stay mad at her for long. It is quite cute...

#5- The kids love her. Pete and Matt also share some responsibility in taking her out in the morning as well. They are developing empathy and learning to care for a creature that is dependent on them. I love that, and it is wonderful to see.

#6- She's a great animal bargaining chip. If my kids ask for any animals, I just have to point at Kiko and state "We got you a dog... we're done.".

So after some analysis, I think we'll be fine. We do love her, but she's a lot of work. It's getting better though and hopefully, one day, she'll be housebroken and not so "chewy".



ps- I know I'm still playing catch up with the NaBloPoMo, but I'll get there!!!

Semi-Annual Drudgery

Every spring and fall I have to exchange my kids wardrobe for the appropriate season. I always seem postpone it for as long as I can because it is such a chore. The result is my kids are opting to wear shorts (because I have not packed them away) in 30 degree weather. It's ludicrous. My kids must have the warmest blood known to man which is ironic because I'm always freezing.

Anyway, yesterday was the day. I packed away the soccer jerseys my kids always seem to gravitate towards and swapped them for more respectable polos and sweaters. They have not yet discovered the discrepancy in their closet. It will be interesting to see how they react. I will no doubt have to hear their complaints about how hot they are going to be and how everyone wears umbros in December.

I think that's what I hate most about the chore. Besides it taking 4-5 hours to rotate, sort, and label the clothing, it's extremely thankless. Here's a snippet of the carnage it creates in my room. Not shown in the photo is all the clothing in the hallway slated for donation.


It's nice to have it behind me until spring. If you see my kids wearing sweaters in June though, you'll now know why.

Friday Night Folly

It was a quiet Friday evening, I was enjoying my sudoku puzzle after putting the first batch of kids to bed. Pete meandered in my room and was hanging out. Hanging quickly changed to hovering. I asked if he wanted to help me with the puzzle, "No, I'm fine" was his response. "Would you like me to draw on your face?" I then queried. I, of course, expected Pete to say no but was surprised when he said "Sure!". So I drew on his forehead. As I was drawing, I asked Pete why he allowed me to do such a thing to him. "You're my Mom! I trust you"...

Well, perhaps I blew that trust. It was just too irresistible. Maybe he'll learn not to let people draw on his face anymore. After inspecting himself in the mirror, he wanted retribution. Fair is fair, after all.

Yes, it says "I am naggy housewife". Nice, huh? I guess I had that coming. I suppose I'm not doing my job if I'm not being "naggy". =)

Catch Up

Is it cheating if pre-date a blog posting? I'm still considering keeping up with NaBloPoMo, but am unsure if I would be disqualified at this point. Well anyway... this post comes courtesy of my daughter. I was sorting winter clothes yesterday and suddenly realized it was very quiet downstairs. Allie came bursting in minutes later. "What happened?" I asked my daughter. "I got marker on my face" was her scratchy-voiced reply. "Yes, I understand that, but why is it on your face?", "I drew it on there". I guess there's really nothing else to ask, her reasoning was so logical....

Hopeful

This has been a tough, passionate election for all involved. I know I don't have too many elections under my belt with an adult perspective, but this one definitely felt different. I felt like I was witnessing history, it was quite inspiring.

I was really impressed with McCain's concession speech. He went above and beyond what would be considered an acceptable acknowledgment. It speaks volumes about him and heightens my respect for him.

I think back to the speech that was offered four years ago by George W. Bush after he won his second term. He spoke of the "political capital" he had earned and expressed his intent to "spend it". He sure spent it, and then some. I am glad that was not the tone of this election from either side. I'm grateful that Obama expressed his desire to be the president for all of America and not just those that voted for him. Hopefully his policies and words will be equally inclusive moving forward.

I am hopeful that we can start to mend the great political divide that has deepened in this country these past several years. Who knows, perhaps Obama might turn out to be another Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, or even Jimmy Carter but for today I am hopeful at what could be possible. It's nice to feel good about politics and politicians even if for just one day.

Rock the Vote

It might sound corny, but I was really excited to vote today. I'm not sure excited was the correct word but definitely committed and determined to get out and vote. It feels bigger this time; more significant. I've voted the other elections but haven't felt as emotionally invested. All I want to do is watch CNN and wait....

So, I'm resigned to an election day where I camp out, eat grilled cheese and soup for dinner, watch the election process unfold, and keep my fingers crossed.

I'm Out

I had a romanticized idea of blogging every day. It would be a fun challenge, I could write about all the ideas bopping around in my head, I could post more pictures of the kids....

In reality, I just don't have enough interesting thoughts in my head. I don't remember my camera to enough locations to document the kid's events, and if I did post every day, it would be mundane things like my grocery list. Not necessarily something too interesting. Props to my brother who is did this last year; I'm not sure how he did it. I have a new blogging respect for him.

I figure if I cut loose now, I can save myself the headache of struggling for the next few weeks. Phew... I feel better already.

Overcommitted

Well, I went and did it. I signed up for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and I'm worried. It seemed like a great idea at the time. My brother did it last year (this year too- you should check out his blog) and it was such a treat to check in and see how his life was. So I decided, in a moment of inspiration, to take the plunge and sign up for the challenge.

I'm not sure why I always think it's such a great idea at the time, and then partially regret it (see my handmade pledge post) but I'm two days in and panicking. Between Matt's birthday, Thanksgiving, leaving town for a weekend, not to mention I have some work to do if I'm going to fulfill the handmade pledge, I think I'm a bit over my head! Well, either way, it should be interesting. Or not.....

In fact, this blog could get a wee bit dull in the next few weeks.....

The Day After: Sugar Crash....

Phew. What a night. I had kids waking up at all hours last night. I guess eating a boatload of candy late at night wasn't such a great idea. It's tough because we live in a village, the homes are close together, and you can load up on candy really quickly.

No one got sick, but Matt woke up with leg cramps, Sam woke up with a bad taste in his mouth, and Allie woke up a few times for various reasons. I'm beat. Nothing like a piece of candy to keep me going.....

So rather than dwell on today, I'll post the photos from last night.

Here's the gang. Two friends joined us in our new neighborhood this year for trick-or-treating. Allie was a pumpkin, Tom was "Ord the Dragon" again, Sam was Spiderman again, Matt was the "Evil Pumpkin of Doom", and Pete titled his costume "Freak" which consisted of a woman's Amish cap, a vampire cape and an Osama Bin Laden style beard.....

The dog came with us as well. She wouldn't keep her hat on but she kept her collar on.

Here are my two pumpkins.....

The weather was beautiful, one of the rare nights you can sit outside, pass out candy and the kids didn't have to hide their costumes with a jacket....

Allie was always the last to get her candy but she didn't seem to mind....

It's always fun to watch the kids trade their candy....


It was a fun evening, but a long night. What do you take for a sugar hangover?