...one is silver, but the others gold

We had some dear, old friends over last night for a sort of small, spontaneous holiday get together.  I've known most of these people since middle school, and some of us even went to college together after that.  Most of them live in Maryland a couple of hours away so we just don't get together as often as I'd like. But when we do......

Wii "Just Dance 3" - a RIOT!

We stayed up way too late, ate way too much, and imbibed more than our fair share of holiday adult refreshments.  We laughed until our stomachs hurt and enjoyed the kind of hugs you can only share with friends who have known you for more close to three-fourths of your life.  Each one of them walking through our front door was like getting a Christmas present.  And what could be better this time of year...spending time with old friends is what its all about.

two wheelin'

Logan woke up this morning with one thing on his mind - no more training wheels. After breakfast, he asked Grandpa Joe to take the training wheels off his bike.  We had tried this once before, months ago, and it wasn't pretty.  Training wheels went back on and we figured he'd figure out when he wanted to try again someday.  He's like that...he tends to decide if and when he's going to do something and as long as its his idea, its all good.   If you try to ask him, tell him, or convince him of anything, forget it.

The second Grandpa took the training wheels off, Logan hopped on and off he went, like he had been doing it for years.   Proud and grinning from ear to ear.  Of course we're heading into the dead of winter and there may not be a lot of chances for leisurely bike riding for a few months.  But knowing my child, he'll be out there in his snowsuit riding that thing when its twelve degrees.

That little bike kills me, have you ever seen a bike that small?  We've had to buy three back tires for it in less than a year because he skids out so much.

Enjoy your new freedom, buddy!

Poker? I didn't even know her.

Sorry, a little elf humor.

what they won't be getting

I'd like to know who is buying their child this for Christmas this year.   Of course, the commercial comes on TV during cartoons about six times an hour.  Logan, of course, thinks he wants it.  Its fun!  You feed the dog until his stomach gets extremely and then!  The dogs poops!  What Logan doesn't know is that I'm just going to hand him a shovel with a bow on it.  We have a whole pile of doggie doo right in our own backyard he is welcome to.

Seriously, who thinks of some of these toys?    I saw this at Target the other day and laughed out loud.  Actually, I bet its a pretty fun party toy.

While the toy makers are at it, maybe someone can invent some toys based around some other disgusting things, like "Who Clogged the Toilet", complete with tiny plungers.  Or how about, "Road Kill" stuffed animals?  "Autopsy Lab Kit", that would be fun.

How about Operation.  I HATED that stupid game when I was a kid.  I would literally hide it in the house somewhere far, far away so none of my friends would come over and see it, and suggest we play it.  If by some chance it was found and we had to play, I'd grasp those horrible tweezers while clenching up, waiting for the inevitable 'AUHHHNNNN' at 500 decibels.  I still hate that game.

There are disgusting toys, and then there are toys that are just super annoying and clearly were invented by people who don't have kids. This includes Moon Sand (have you ever tried cleaning that shit up?), Pixo's (those horrible tiny balls that will be from one end of your house to the other), and I'm sure some people won't agree but Zhu Zhu pets. Seriously. You throw it in the toy box and that thing goes thru its entire reel of sounds, squeals and giggles. There is no way to turn it off. Sometimes out of the blue when no one has been near the toy box for hours, it will just go off by itself.


I remember once when Dylan was a toddler, someone gave him a stuffed animal that came with a magic marker, so you could draw all over it.  What a stupid toy. Seriously?  I have been teaching him for three years NOT to draw on anything but paper and now this toy came along and undid that?  It got Freecycled immediately.

As I imagine many, many Doggie Doo games will be come January 4th, once the kids are back in school.

he needed a little Christmas

T did a little decorating of his own last night....

fa-la-la-la-la

We always start decorating for Christmas the weekend of Thanksgiving.  My thought has always been why wait until mid-December when its only going to be up for two or three weeks?  Its so pretty, and its so much work, lets enjoy it for a nice, long time. 

Andrew tackles the exterior illumation (this year having a few Clark Griswald moments) while I focus on decking the halls inside.  And every year, we get a few more things to make every holiday even shinier than the one before.  

Once Christmas comes and goes, I'm ready for it to come down and we often take it all down New Years Day.  By then, the needles are falling off the half dead tree and have been tracked from one end of the house to the other.    And its just nice to get things back to normal before we go back to the routine of school/work/life. 

Christmas is only 11 days away.  The presents are all wrapped, cookie baking is planned, and holiday cards have been sent.  Now is the time to really savor the magic and the spirit of the holiday.

And some of my favorite ornaments.  I really need to have the boys make more ornaments this year.  Handmade and/or with photos and years really are the best kind.  I am also realizing I need to create a few ornaments using the boys newborn baby photos, I don't have any of those.

When it all began...

And along came Bella, our training baby.

And two years later, Dylan arrived.

Merry Christmas 2011.

a busy night

Big T had a busy night last night, and quite the belly ache to show for it. 

The boys left him quite a smorgasbord of candy and milk.  He did his best to finish it off but we found him clutching his stomach laying on his side this morning with chocolate all over his face.

And this was after taking him for a drive around the neighborhood after dinner to check out all the Christmas lights.  Logan passed out, but Tyler was taking it all in.   I think tonight he will do some extra holiday decorating of his own in the family room!

treats for Tyler

The boys got home from school this afternoon and decided that Tyler looked hungry.  They set some treats next to him for him to enjoy tonight (note to self:  Buy some Reeses Peanut Butter cups soon!).  And then composed this note.

******

Dear Tyler,

All the treats I put next to you or in your lap are for you.

Dylan, Logan, Michelle and Andrew

******

I just love this Elf.   He brings another layer of fun to the holidays!  I think tonight he's going to have to write a letter back. 

How Dinosaurs Became Extinct, by Dylan

Dinosaurs have bombs in their pockets.  Dinosaura will box at a boxing rinc.  Then man came along.  Then they found axes and chopped the dinosaurs.  There was blood from the dinosaurs.  The men made a fire and ate the meat. Then the men got the bombs and chucked them at the trees.  Then the men became dumb. 

And that's why dinosaurs became igstinked.

snow angel

Last night, Tyler got into the flour and decided to make himself a snow angel.   The boys found this hilarious this morning and right away checked to see if he had flour all over his back.  Luckily he did!

watch out

Tyler likes the four wheel drive action.

he's baaaaack....

Tyler Snowy is back in The House for his second year.   He arrived Friday morning, ready to watch over our boys and report any and all activities to Santa nightly.  He reports back to the North Pole every night to give Santa the 9-1-1 on any meltdowns, fighting or sassy behavior.  But apparently his very first night, he got a case of the lazies and forgot to make the journey.  Oops!

I can feel he's going to get into a lot of mischief this holiday season.   I wish he came with a reminder alarm every night so we don't forget to move him.  Its hard to come up with enough viable excuses Dylan will believe.  "Oh, Santa was sick and couldn't have company last night."  "Hmmmm, Tyler's reindeer he rides back must have been at the vet."  "Gosh, I bet he must have fallen asleep. I  bet he's in trouble with Santa!".

Andrew goes out of town today for the next few days and he's much better about remembering to move him than I am.   Its a lot of pressure.  I actually sat up in bed very early this morning, "SHIT WE FORGOT TO MOVE THE ELF AGAIN ... HURRY, DOWNSTAIRS!"

Fun tradition..And really, how much longer will Dylan believe in this stuff?  His teacher has ALL the kids in third grade totally believing in this Elf thing, bless her heart.  I really hope we can keep the secret for a few more years. He figured out the Easter Bunny last spring, but we agreed he won't tell Logan.  Somehow he still totally believes in the Tooth Fairy and Santa, and this Elf.  I bought my wrapping paper for gifts this year and hid it, because I know Christmas morning when he finds gifts wrapped from Santa, he'll remember if he's seen that I have the same wrap upstairs.  And starting last year, all gift tags on gifts from Santa were typed labels from my computer so there'd be no handwriting comparisons.   I know one of these days he'll be onto me.  And then it will have to be our secret from Logan as long as we can.

Merry Christmas to Us

We've had a nice year, without having to tap into our 2010 tax refund to cover any unforeseen disasters.   We had a nice enough microsuede couch and loveseat before, buts it was coming up on about 9 years old and we've been wanting leather for the longest time.  We also had a recliner in our family that was getting really worn and needed to be retired to the Man Cave in the basement.  So, we decided to buy ourselves the family room furniture we've always wanted and finish the revamp of our family room that started last winter.

So we started shopping a few weeks ago until we found what we wanted.  It was delivered this week, starting on Wednesday.  Of course, as these things go, it turned into a fiasco when one half of the sectional was torn and had to go back to the warehouse.  Cursing. Two days later the replacement half arrived, but it was the exact half we already had.  Back again.  More cursing.  Now today, the correct half arrived, undamaged and ready to complete the room.

Our family room is topsy turvy right now with the Christmas tree where we normally have another chair and a half, and ottoman (which is temporarily in my office until after the tree comes down).  But these photos at least give a feel for what the new stuff looks like and how it all jives with the entertainment center we got ourselves for Christmas last year. 

Its taken almost 9 years since we moved into this house, but we finally have the family room we've always wanted.  Comfy, everyone can put their feet up, we can seat a lot of people and be cozy. 

Merry Christmas to us!