Monday, December 22, 2008

We Made It!!!

We're here! We left on Friday at 4:30 pm est in the middle of a snowstorm and arrived Sunday morning at 2:30 am est (34 hours.... not bad). I'm glad we didn't wait to leave later because the snow just kept coming. School was canceled on Friday and again today. It's sunny and 60 degrees here.... ahhhh.

I'm taking pictures and will post everything when we get back. Our computer is acting a little schizophrenic and it's difficult to type anything. Have a Merry Christmas (happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) everyone!!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Mommy Grinch

I have too much to do. I have to wrap up Christmas by this Friday at 3pm so we can load into a car and drive to Arizona for Christmas. I also still have to pack for the trip...ugh.

Either way, it will be nice to be done. Christmas is a bit scaled back on all counts this year...that's not so bad. However, it would be nice if my home looked a bit more festive.
I've been lax in the home decorating department, much to my kid's dismay. It's hard to decorate when you know you are not going to be in town for Christmas. I'm planning on traveling and just enjoying my mom's decorating, plus she said we could trim the tree. I'm feeling a bit guilty though so I decided to highlight the decorations we have up. We have an advent calendar, an easy decorating addition....

These cute, little wire trees were in a chinese auction basket that we won at Tom's montessori school's Christmas party. They look quite nice on the mantle...

and we are hanging up the cards we receive on the doorways of our home. That adds a festive feel....


Ok, that didn't make me feel better at all. I can only pledge to myself to do better next year.....

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Tommy's Christmas Party... and a Gary Update

Tommy had his Christmas party on Thursday. It was a cute event with a chinese auction (we won a basket!), potluck dinner, and a performance by the 3, 4,and 5 year-olds in the school. Very sweet. Tommy insisted on wearing his santa hat and the other siblings thought that would also be fun. They were the only ones wearing santa hats so it made it easy to locate them in the crowds...

Here they are before they hit the potluck line....


Here's Tom waiting for his opportunity to perform....


Here's Tom singing his songs (he's a little obstructed by the kid with the antlers). Check out the kid who is picking his nose... hilarious! ....


Also, Gary is not dead. He laid around for a while and then started ambling around the tank again... crazy. I guess that means we can expect more snails.... ugh.


Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I Think it's For Real This Time....

I admit it, I have no life. It's no secret. Zero. Zip. Nada. My form of entertainment is watching the snails in our tank for a few minutes every day. We have a whole new crop of them since I bought some new plants for Bob the crayfish (they were stowaways on the plants). I've learned a bit about them too. For example, I have ramhorn snails. I even have a red ramhorn snail which is considered more rare.

The excitement with the snails, however, never were amongst themselves but rather between Bob and the rest of the group. Bob can pick off the little guys quite easily, but there are now three big ones that are proving to be pesky. Today, I noticed something quite strange. Two of the big snails were all tangled up (the red one "Scarlet" and Gary). I figured they were just looking for some "afternoon delight". Here they are below...

I have to say though, it's shaping up to be a real soap opera! When I came back later Gary was all shriveled, still attached to Scarlet, at the bottom of the tank, and looked to be dead (not a great photo, but trust me... he's looks very dead)!...

Is it possible that Scarlet the temptress has only lured Gary to gain control of the tank? How can it be that Gary, who has weathered so many attacks from Bob, can succumb to the siren call of Scarlet? Is Gary just recovering from a exhausting afternoon? Considering my exciting life, I'll be sure to post an update....

ps- I just walked by the tank and Gary is still lifeless and the other big snail is latched on too. Either there is some gang mentality forming in the tank or a three-way (much better than a soap opera!)


Monday, December 8, 2008

Tidbits and a Blackmail Photo

Nice quiet weekend. Everyone was a little sick or on the edge of getting a cold which made it a bit more subdued. Lots of little things to document though (five to be exact).

-#1 Probably the most important item is that school was closed this morning for Pete and Matt. There was a water main break (a pleasant surprise). Here they are showing their excitement....

-#2 We gave the dog a bath this weekend. Oh Man, she was stinky! In addition to the skunky dog and Febreeze smell she was sporting, she peed in her bed and reeked of dog urine. That was the tipping point for me, and she got her long deserved bath. I think wet dog is a pathetic/cute look, so I took a picture...

Allie and Tommy were enjoying the entertainment, I was just trying to stay out of the picture....

Here she is warming by the fireplace...

-#3 I'm keeping up with my winter "challenge" so far. The driveway is current on it's shoveling. My bigger challenge, however, is trying to get outside before my father-in-law shovels it first. He can get a head start on me in the morning because he doesn't have five kids to feed. My intention with not getting a plow contract was not to try to get my 74 year-old father-in-law to shovel (!), it was for me to get exercise and save money. This adds an additional element of excitement and urgency to my "challenge". Here's a picture of our home with a nice and clear driveway. Ah.......

-#4 Every night, when I put Tom to bed, we talk about the best part of our day. Last night, the dialogue went roughly as follows...

Me: "So what was the best part of the day?"

Tom: "Spending time with you." (awwwww!)

Me: "What was your second best part of the day?"

Tom: "Discovering I liked canned fruit." (!)

I love our little chats.

-#5 Speaking of Tom, I have come to the blackmail part of the blog. Yesterday Tom and Allie were playing in her room before dinner. They both came running down in bathing suits. I had to snap a picture...

To make it funnier, Tom told me he likes Allie's suits better because they are softer and he likes the pictures on them. He would like me to buy him one for the upcoming swim season. =)


Friday, December 5, 2008

Sammy's Christmas Concert

Sammy had his Christmas concert yesterday. I know it's probably more politically correct to say "holiday concert" but it really was a Christmas concert. Sure, they started off with the token Hanukkah and Kwanzaa song, but then they went full blast into the Santa story and left everything else in the dust. I honestly don't have much passion about it, just an observation.

It was a really cute play (better than most), and it was nice to give a nod to diversity in our whitey christian town. I think in our town, Pete, with his darker complexion, is considered "ethnic" for heaven's sake... but I digress.....

Allie and I went to see the concert together. She was really excited to see Sam on stage....

Here's a picture of Sam. I tried to zoom and take the picture, but it didn't really work... at all. It's all blurry, I really need a better quality camera. Honestly, the only reason I'm posting it is because I always forget to bring my camera to events like this and I'm just pleased with myself for remembering. If you can decipher kids in the photo, Sam is in the second row from the top, right in the middle, and looks like he's peeking out from behind a girl in the row in front of him...

Sammy did great. He didn't have any speaking parts or solos, but he knew all the words, and did all the hand gestures and signs (some songs had sign language signs as well) perfectly. Yea Sam!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Eh...

I've been lamenting my holiday photo. It's not really what I want. My kids are all just lined up with goofy looks on their faces. I think there's too much space between them. I usually like to give a nice photo to the Grandparents every few years, but this one will not cut it. Oh well, it's going out with the cards anyway. Here's a sneak peek....

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Silly Diddy...

Ok, I'll admit it. I look at failblog every day. I can't help it. Bobby thinks the site is juvenile and most of the images have been photo-shopped. He's probably right, but every few days I still find a photo, video, or drawing that cracks me up. Check out this one.....