Today was scary. A ton of snow had dumped on us last night and even at 10:20, most of the streets hadn't been plowed and some of them still hadn't even been touch by a car at all. I decided to take the boys with me to Church. Carey holed up with a good movie and two girls snuggled on his chest while he nursed his bad knee.
I had a hell of a time getting up the hill to the Church and I dreaded every stop sign. Each time I stopped, I had to fight to get it going across the intersection and through the next block. There was only one service today because of a congregational meeting so there were few people there when I arrived. I can't say that the service was enjoyable because I missed it. I decided to stay and help out with James' RE class when I discovered how many children were there. Normally, with the two different services, most of the children come to first one and so there are usually no more than four or five children in RE for the second service. However, today there were close to twenty!
The teacher read two different perspectives of the story of the wise men (today, after all, is Three Kings Day): The Stone and the original bible version. The kids then got to make little spice boxes out of egg cartons decorated with sparkles, sequins, markers, etc. James' did a great job of his. I wandered around helping the kids when needed. One child went all out with his and wasn't doing just one egg cup like all the others, he was doing a complete carton! It was really fancy. The top was covered in glitter and then he put glue lines down it with the plan of putting sequins on them but he kept getting glue on his fingers right along with the sequins he was trying to set down so I showed him how to use a pair of small scissors to drop the sequins on with. Then it was snack time. And let me tell you: powdered sugar, glue and sequins makes for a very big mess. An Epiphany Cake was made and had been dusted with powdered sugar. It was really good though.
Afterwards, I helped clean up. Most of the children had left when it was discovered that one had locked himself in the bathroom. When asked who it was, the child replied "Me". Any guesses as to whom that child was? Yep, it was James. Bleh.... It took us twenty minutes to get the knob off and the damn door open. Although there was a little trip switch for the lock, we couldn't get it to go so it's thought that it's worn out. While he and Charles played outside with a couple of other boys, I helped finish the cleaning inside while I talked to one of the other women from my homeschool group who also happens to be a Unitarian. We talked quite abit about the different philosophies and she's gotten me interested in Thomas Jefferson Education. Depending on how you look at it, it's a very unschooling approach but it's also very classical. It was time to go and we wandered outside to collect our boys which is when I discovered that James' coat was still inside the Church as well as my stuff. I hadn't brought any of it with us when we went over for RE class. I was glad that I barely caught the Reverand Kayle, who was just leaving.
So, everyone said goodbye, we loaded up and we were off. Not. We were stuck! One gentleman tried to help me push it out, but she was just in too deep. I finally went int to call Carey and let him now. He recommended just walking home but I really didn't want to leave the van there. So started a twenty minute struggle with Nature. I dug out as much snow as I could from around the tires, and then I rocked it. The van finally got loose, but there wasn't enough traction to actually get me out of the ruts. So I got to back partially down the hill to the end of the block where I backed into a parking lot and was finally able to turn around and finish going down the hill. Where I got the shit scared out of me. At the bottom of the hill is a stop sign where the street intersects with one of two main one way streets. I slid right through the stop and halfway into the first lane of the one way with oncoming traffic. I would have slammed into a vehicle if it had been unable to get over into another lane. That was really scary and I just sat there while the rest of the traffic finished passing from that wave of lights. I then continued on my way and stopped at Carey's parents. I had to drop off some stuff that had been borrowed and I also wanted to call Carey that I had gotten out and was on the way home.
Carey had made soup for lunch, but due to a miscalculation (and the fact that I don't like chicken noodle) I dug out something else. It was just a light lunch: garlic cheese, some herbed crackers and sardines in a garlic sauce. Of course I had neglected to read the ingredients of the sardines and discovered that they had been packed in oil, which I didn't care for. However, the kids loved them and they kept asking for more. I had bought the small tin as an experiment and it had such good results I think I'll buy more. In the end, the kids ate most of the tin between themselves. At first they kept asking for more "tuna" and I finally got it through their heads that it wasn't tune and then they called it "deens". LOL
After lunch, since it had warmed up considerably, and most of the streets had been plowed, we decided on a trip to the mall. We were wanting some storage chests for Deedee's room and I'd seen a couple of cute ones at Ross yesterday. Alas, those were gone but we did get a couple of cute things that fit under bed perfectly. She has already filled one with her dress up clothes, and the other one she started placing some toys in. She really likes them. One is white whicker with a lid and a blue gingham lining. The other one is open but it has a mod design of circles in green, turqoise and fuschia on a light turqoise background. She loves it.
Carey made some great spaghetti tonight. He had meant to make meatballs but he didn't get the meat out soon e nough so we wound up with just a meat sauce instead but it steall tasted good. We even had real parmesan from some stuffed shells I mad a couple of weeks ago. That always tastes much better than the powdered parmesan usually bought for pasta.
Carey made me sit down and watch The Big Sleep after the kids had gone to bed. It was a lot better than I expected it to be from the description and I enjoyed it.
Today was busy. Carey kicked me out early for my usual me time this morning. So, first I wandered over to a local used furniture and antique store with the idea in mind of finding some shelves for the diningroom. We still have books and stuff coming out of our ears that need to be organized better. I didn't find the shelf I was looking for. The only one that I tagged as a possibility proved two inches too big for the space. :( However, I was excited over some other treasures that I found.
I bought a vintage 1958 Parker Brothers game called Finance and wonder of wonders, it's actually complete! I also got my hands on two record sets: The Wonderful World of Music for Children and Musical Adventures for Young People. I'm quite pleased with both of these. Each set has four double sided records. The Wonderful World has general songs such as Skip to My Lou and Frere Jacques on record 1, record two are songs from great shows including 76 Trombones from The Music Man, record 3 are more general songs such as How much Is That Doggie in the Window and The Teddy Bears' Picnic. Record 4 has muscial tales including Peter and the Wolf (sadly, not the complete version) and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Muscial Adventures also has some great stuff. Record 1 is full of stories such as In The Hall of the Mountain King and Billy the Kid, selections. Record 2 Marching songs such as The Stars and Stripes Forever or some from movies such as March of the Toys. It haslo has selections from H.M.S. Pinafore which got Carey really excited and he put that right on. Record 3 has traveling and adventures such as Spanish Rhapsody and Victory at Sea. Record is full of classics such as The Thieving Magpie overture and Dream Pantomime.
Of course, the hardest thing with records is getting the kids to understand that they can't bounce around while we listen to one because it will skip and mess up. They do like listening to them though. James insisted on listening to a small ABC on that I have twice and he enjoyed singing along with it.
I also got my hands on a Jody Bergsma print, The Land of Nod. It was a limited run, only 1000 were made. It's a wonderful picture with one of her little people and a great poem accomanying it. Mister Charles claimed it when I brought it in so it now hangs in the boys room.
I then went to Ross where I picked up a few items before heading to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get the humidifier for Carey. I was a little disheartened at the prices. The one that I really wanted was well out of reach, at $200. And I didn't want another small one such as the one that crapped out on us so quickly, after only one season. So I got one from HoMedics called Brethe. It's really a humidifier per se in that it doesn't send out a ton of mist or steam. Some little botanical scents came with it to add to the water which does scent the house very well. What I like is that moisture is being sent out into the air with the scent. It's gentle, although a bit noisy. I also like that I can set it down near the children and not worry about them getting burned, which did happen once with our previous humidifier. :( So, we'll see in the long run how good this choice was.
I ate lunch at the Co Op and sat reading a book while I ate it. I ordered a wonderful bread bowl full of herbed beef stew as well as a large mug of spiced apple cider. The cider was wonderfull as well, especially after I added a dash of cardamom and nutmeg to it. I enjoyed that repast and then wandered up to the library. I brought home another huge stack of books that the kids have attacked.
As soon as I got home Carey got James ready to go and they took off for some one on one time. They went to see Water Horse and James really enjoyed it. He didn't really say much about it when he got home, and he didn't answer questions very well but he says that he wants it. They also stopped off and bought a new frog and a couple of fish. James, of course, has already names it Charlie. I tried to get him to pick a different name but he insisted.
Carey took off for his game after helping put the children to bed. He was busy tickling Deedee and nibbling on her belly when she squealed that "I not food. Don't eat me". It was so cute. So of course Carey grabbed one of her arms and nibbled even more while she squirmed and giggled.
It was starting to snow when he left and I'm glad that he decided to come home early because of it. He fell and hurt his knee when he slipped on some ice hidden by the snow. It was his "good knee" that he landed on. It's now swollen and purple.
Last night during the group meeting, one of the women discussed the fun she had that morning at a local park and everyone said it would be a lot of fun to go there today. In the end, we didn't make it although I certainly planned on doing so. I even got up an hour early so I could get some stuff done before I had to get the kidlets ready to go. I had them fed, clothed in several layers and stuffed into their snowsuits by 8:30 for the twenty minute drive to the park. The plan was to stay there for perhaps two hours. I hauled them all outside to get loaded up only to discover that my husband apparently forgot about this little excursion and took the van to work today! >:(
So here were the kids, all ready to go and pumped up with excitement with the thought of maybe seeing beavers and stuff so they weren't very happy about it. They all set up a very loud ruckus when I tried to herd them back inside. So I loaded the girls into our bike trailer and we went to the little Burman Creek Park. It's only about a 10 minute walk for us. They spent the better part of an hour running around there, making snow angels, "fishing", etc. I wish I haven't managed to lose my camera. There were several shots I would have dearly loved to capture:
- Deedee and Charles were actually holding hands for a bit as they walked.
- James sitting on the bank by the creek "fishing". He found the perfect stick to his pole. It was long and tapered to point on the end. It was very pliable and looked exactly like a pole.
- Kitty making a snow angel.
They had a ton of fun and I only headed home when I noticed the nasty black clouds moving in.
We also had an impromptu funeral for James' little frog, Charlie while we were there. James discovered that he had died this morning and he was pretty upset about it. He insisted on putting the little thing into a baggy with some water and hauled him with us on the walk. He then chose a spot along the creek to say goodbye and poured him out. He was upset for a few minutes, he even cried and said that Charlie was his best friend.
In the end it was OK that we didn't make it to the planned excursion. One woman wimped out because of the cold, one had a tooth break on her, I was stranded with no mode of transportation, and the woman that had originally proposed it got there an hour late. So even if I had made it, and actually found my way there I would have thought no one else was coming. I may have stayed for a while, but would probably have left before the other woman arrived.
We put the kids to bed early tonight. They were all exhausted from all of the walking they did to and from the park, as well as the hour that they ran around there. I was surprised that they went so quietly. They must have been more tired that I thought.
Carey got some boxes cleaned out and then we relaxed with Oh! Heavenly Dog. I don't recall seeing this movie before but it was cute. I enjoyed it and I think the kids will too. Kitty amused herself with a set of keys. She alternately banged them on a new metal dump truck the kids just got or tried them in the lock on the entertainment center. We bought the center used when our previous one proved too small for our TV (Carey didn't measure properly). It has a small door with a lock on it although, the key was long lost when we bought it and we've never replaced even though it's been discussed. So the lock is well within her reach. She would hold up a key and try to line it up and insert said key. She even got it in a few times and then got frustrated when the key wouldn't turn. I didn't realized that she even knew what a key was for! We let her be with it though. It kept her quiet and worked on hand eye coordination at the same time.
She's getting another molar and the top left eye tooth has popped through. Her newest word is "Stinky". She certainly knows what it means too. She came up to us, pulling at her diaper and saying it just as the miasma drifted over to us. She certainly was stinky all right.
Carey also had a bloody nose tonight! We were just watching the movie when his left nostril just started gushing. He told me that it's the third time in two weeks that it's happened. So, I dug out our humidifier only to discover it had sprung several leaks from the bottom while in storage. Grrr... so I'll have to get a new one soon.
Her is a picture of Charlie last year (wow, is really last year already?), just after James'birthday and at this time we've had him for a year. He's the little green blob right in front of the pirate barrel.
Today was relatively uninteresting. Lots of cleaning, a well deserved break playing my new game Voyage, and the usual antics of the children.
James saw only Kathy this morning and he did well. Kathy and I discussed him going to the meeting by himself next week since he did that with Carey the last couple of weeks and he did great. So, we'll see how he does next week.
Carey did kick me out this evening when he found out some of the women from my homeschool group were getting together and he kicked me out. I enjoyed sitting back with some good women of like minds without the interruption of little ones. The meeting was at a popular local coffee house. I've only been in their twice, including this time, but I really like the ambiance. It's full of comfy arm chairs, couches, small tables in secluded nooks, etc. I ordered a large chai and settled back with the five other women who had come. We talked about all kinds of stuff ranging from different homeschool philosophies, curriculum, field trips coming up, knitting, sheep, and other general day to day stuff. I found out that one of the women was older than I though. She has an 8 year old son and she's 49.
There was also a reporter there! I enjoyed talking with her. She has a son she's talking about homeschooling herself. So I think she gleaned more from us than just fodder for an article. The article will be in the January 19-20 issue of the Moscow Pullman Daily news and she's hoping to attend an upcoming field trip at an art studio for a photo op. I may or may not be featured in it, although it would be interesting if I was. I did make sure the kids names were spelled properly just in case.
The most amusing story belonged to one of the women, Gabrielle, about her youngest son Sammy. He has taken to making up really silly and nonsensical super heroes. He will take a word or even a sentence and add the word "man" to the end of it. One of his creations was called Penis Man (I kid you not, his mother was in tears she was laughing so hard over this). He came up with lots of adventures that would only actually have a sexual overtone for someone old enough to understand. To him, they were completely innocent. The story involves a trip to the grocery store, him, and a group of perhaps Mennonite? children. (I can already hear the groans and snickers). He got along quite well with one of the girls and they were having an animated conversation. Sammy wanted to play so he jumped into the middle of the aisle with his arms and legs splayed out and cried "Hey, everyone, lets go for a ride on the Penis Mobile!". Oh, Goddess, I'm laughing just thinking about it. Gabrielle says the whole group went deathly silent and bug eyed. She had to explain to him that not everyone is comfortable with the term "penis" and it's associated connotations so it would be better if Penis Man only came out to play at home.
I was glad to get a ride home with one of the women. I had walked down, only a 10 minute walk but in the ensuing two hours the temperature had dropped drastically and I didn't relish the walk. Wonder of wonders, even Kitty was asleep when I arrived so Carey and I settle down to spend some time together. We watched the first two episodes of CSI season 1 that had arrived that day from Net Flix. That is one of the few shows that I actually miss with no TV. I was happy to discover that Net Flix has the complete set of every season so they've all been added to my que. I will gradually get to watch them over the next several months. There are only two or three episoded per disc and I get one disc at a time. I have also interspersed those discs with movies and stuff that the kidlets would like to watch or even documentaries and other general educational stuff I'd like them to watch. In fact, next up in our que before I recieve my next CSI installment is The Music Man 2003 remake and Wallace & Gromit. Everyone liked the original The Music Man so much that I thought I'd see how well this one was made. However, based upon a video I saw of one of the kids' favorite songs, Shipoopi, it already seems that it just doesn't have the same sparkle and the sheer amount of energy that is displayed in the original elaborate musicals that I so enjoy but I'll reserve complete judgement until I see it.
Alas, we also discovered that James little African Dwarf Frog Charlie breathed his last and passed on sometime within the last day or two. Carey and I talked about just going and getting a new one, and not telling James, but in the end we felt it better to just tell him the truth. He has to deal with this kind of stuff some time and we won't help him any if we shelter him to that extent. So, sometime within the next few days we'll hold a little funeral and James will get to go down and pick a new pet. This really didn't come as that great of a surprise. When I bought a new tank in December, the guy I was talking to was amazed that we still had Charlie since their lifespans really aren't that long.
Today was nice. The kids actually slept in a bit for once (and so allowed us to do so as well :D)and they cooperated with their morning chores. Deedee even made her bed unasked although I'm not sure if piling her blankets in the middle of the bed really counts. LOL
This afternoon our homeschool group met for a day of snow fun and sledding several miles out of town. Now, I was told it was a big hill, but wow. I really wasn't expected it to be as big as it was. It took forever to get to the top. The snow wasn't packing well today, it was just powder. So every step I took I had to fight the saucer in one hand, a Kitty under an arm, and a Charles in the other hand. I never did go down myself. I was just thinking of trying it, but Kitty started shivering. It was pretty darn cold today, and with the wind chill, it was downright frigid. Deedee didn't stay out much longer than I did but Carey and the boys were out there almost an hour. They had a blast. There was hot chili, sourdough bread, hot orange juice, chips & dip, and tea waiting for them when they came in. It was a nice enjoyable hour spent talking to people I haven't seen very often lately, as well as a nice opportunity for the kids. While not as many showed up as was hoped, the kids still did great and liked playing with the others. A possible play date has been tentatively set with one of the parents. When it came time to leave, Carey had to concentrate to get out. He had to back the van down a hill that hadn't been plowed and he wasn't very happy about it.
We were supposed to go to Pullman to look a shelf we saw listed on Craigslist, but he was too tired and wet to want to drive that far so instead we drove back to town listening to the pleas of our offspring to go sledding some more.
We dropped in at the store real quick for milk and stuff. Carey found some chocolate covered cherries, mint flavored. That might be an interesting combo but for me, I certainly can't eat more than one. I was stupid and over indulged last night in the damn things and considering they're always too rich for me, I don't know why I insist on eating them.
After dinner the kids were excited because we played a new game they got for Christmas, Zingo. It's like bingo. The cards have pictures with the name of the item. There are corresponding chips, two are drawn at a time. You have to say the name of the item to get it. So even if you grab it first, if someone beats you to calling it out, they still get it. It was so funny because James started calling things and grabbing them when he didn't even need them. Kitty didn't play but she did help me put it away. She crawled right up on the table and started putting the little chips back in their case. I told her she was doing a good job and she actually said thank you!
We got the kids ready for bed and read some great books to the little buggers. I'm so thankful that I can hold books at the library with just a few pushes of a button on a keyboard at home, so I don't have to spend an hour wandering around, chasing after kids and hoping I actually find some good books. However, that does take all the fun out of it, so sometimes I still just wander around and randomly choose books. You never know what you're going to find that way.
Carey hit the for sale bin at our local movie rental place. I wasn't happy to see so many vhs coming in when the whole point was to be getting rid of them but I do admit he got a few good ones. Tonight we watch The Cannonball (not a good one). There were a few funny moments and stuff but it was a pretty pointless movie unless you into the thought of a car being sexy and like watching them push to the limits.
Today was just a long lazy day. Carey and the boys spent a lot of time sledding again. Kitty really wanted to go too. So bad in fact that she went running out after them wearing nothing but her sisters snow boots and was very dissapointed that she got pulled back in the house. LOL
We have so much snow out there that they built a small snow fort. Carey built up the walls and then used the kids saucers to form the roof before piling the snow on top of them. It wasn't very big. There was enough room for one to be comfortable or two to squeeze in tight. I got some good pictures of it. Poor little Charles got mashed underneath it when the roof collapsed (helped along by their wonderful father) and wasn't very happy about it since he got quite a bit of snow down his suit. After Carey cleared away the saucers he helped the boys build back up the walls although he wouldn't put a roof back on it. Since so many children play outside unsupervised here, Carey thought it would be irresponsible of him to leave something up that could collapse on someone and possible hurt them.
The kids decided that they wanted to be Indian Chiefs today and so they painted their faces with some of their markers. They looked hilarious and they were quite proud of themselves.
We have introduced the kids to musicals and they've fallen in love. This week they've watched The Music Man and Guys & Dolls. They really didn't pay that much attention to Guys & Dolls but I think that's probably because they were too busy running around singing music from The Music Man. Two of their favorite songs were Shipoopi as sung by Buddy Hackett and Gary Indiana.
Luck of all luck, a spider has chosen to make his abode with us this winter, specifically a P. phalangioides (otherwide known as daddy longlegs). It's been spotten several times in the bathroom over the last few days and today the kidlets noticed it for the first time and have "adopted" it as a pet. They've always been taught that spiders are lucky and are good to have around. Especially since they take care of the icky bugs that we definitely don't want around so they were happy to welcome it. It was funny watching them boil down the stairs with excitement screeching about the spider taking a bath. :D
I can't believe this year has gone by so fast. So much has happened that it's hard to put it all in context. Kitty is walking & talking, Deedee can count to two and draw circles, Charles learned how to pedal his bike, and James is talking much better. We moved, Carey is now oficially a Junior and me.... well I just walked me ass off everywhere all summer and don't even have the smaller pant size to proove it. :( LOL I didn't lose one darn pound this summer. I know, I know, I traded fat for muscle but it would have been nice to change at least a little bit. :D
We don't have tv so there was no way to watch the ball drop in New York. However, Carey got the bright idea of seeing if there was a live feed on the computer and he actually found one. So, at 9 on the dot we all watched it drop. The kids really liked it and wanted to watch it again. They were dissapointed when we explained that they would have to wait until next year. Or, I guess I should say at the end of this one. :D
Kitty told Carey to "Bite Me" tonight. She doesn't talk much, besides "no" and "oh oh" so it was a bit of a shock. She has also learned the "Talking Butt" from her siblings. This is something that Charles started and we have no idea where he got it although it does put one in mind of Ace Ventura. They grab their butt with both hands, and make silly noises with a certain tone and inflection. I find it very annoying. Usually it's done when the child is annoyed with you (how easily they know which buttons to push) but occassionally it's just because. I about died seeing me sweet innocent little Kitty slowly meander away from me and the bath she'd just left and then just casually reach back, grab her buttocks and start squeaking with the same tone and inflection that Charles does. Sigh... I also got a really sweet baby kiss from her tonight, just before I received a baby headbutt on the nose. :(
We've been working so hard lately that we felt we had the time to sit down and watch a couple of movies today: Marie Antoinette and Scrooged.
I'd never seen Bill Murray's Scrooged that I can recall but I enjoyed it. Carey was shocked when he learned that I had never seen it or A Christmas Story and he says that means to remedy that very shortly.
Although I wasn't sure about Marie Antoinette, especially when I heard that there was modern rock music in it, I watched it anyway, even if just to see the costumes. I was pleasantly surprised that in most cases, the choice of music was well done and was actually pulled off. It was sad to see that although her life was decadent and full of every luxury, she was very lonely. In reading reviews, several people complained that there was no real story and the most that every happened was food being eaten, pans across scenery, etc. that added unnecessary time but that it was illustrated just how frivolous and decadent her lifestyle really was.
Carey bought the children a human body model for Christmas and today we attempted to put it together. Bleh... I'm really having to remember a lot of anatomy. It's skeletal structure, and all major organs. They organs themself were well constructed and they look lifelike in many instances. However, I'm a little dissapointed in some of the workmanship. The different plastic organs fit together with little pegs and slots and for the most part fit well. However, some of the holes were ill formed and in some cases flimsy enough that the barest knock upon them disconnects the pieces. Also, the instructions really suck. While the booklet has wonderful info in it about the body and I really enjoyed reading it, when it came to assembling the damn thing, it was a mess. It tells you in what order to assemble the different items, however it didn't really tell you how. For instance, it said place the stomach in the cavity. That's it. It doesn't say which other item to connect it to (some stuff connect to other things funny that they might not actually normaly attach too for stabilizing) or even how it sits in their properly. There were diagrams, but they were super tiny pictures. It showed sort of how the different items fit in (for the most part) but not how they all connected together. I was also dissapointed with the plastic shell. It's in the shape of a person and clear so one can clearly see the bones and stuff. However, it doesn't stay together very well. Also, we got two left skelly hands! LOL
As I have gone through the laundry we seperated it all into piles for ease of washing. I did one load today of nothing but underwear and socks. I was totally amazed at how much undies the kidlets really have! Deedee herself has over 30 pair although that is largely due to both her and Kitty getting a couple of packs for Christmas. I lost count on the boys so I think it's high time to weed through it and pull out anthing size 3 or smaller. I can't go too crazy ditching though since most of James' new underwear is still way too big on poor Charles' skinny little nothing butt and they just hang on him.
The wind is really whipping tonight as I sit here writing this. I can hear the sleet hammering against the windows and the wind chimes are singing as they dance. Kitty is curled on my lap, and the others are upstairs curled snug in their beds.
Once again, a good part of the day was spent by Carey and the kids sledding down the back hill. Technically, sledding is prohibited on University property, and Carey was hesitant at first. But so far no authorities has told anyone to stop or sent out notices. Last year, where we were it was quickly stopped so I'm not sure if it was just because of where we were (it was a heavily landscaped hill) or if that rule has changed. We also went through a ton of clothes and got rid of two huge 30 gallon bags that were stuffed as full as they would go. There's still more to go but it's such a huge relief to see so much go. That makes 9 bags that we've gotten rid of in the last month. It was a catharsis to be unburdened by so much and yet at the same time extremely embarrassing that there was so much to be gotten rid of in the first place.
Tonight we also went to the annual birthday party for a close family friend, Glen Lanier. Carey's parents have been good friends with the Laniers for many years and it's been a tradition for at least 13. Carey is also good friends with their son Mike although, at this time he was unable to attend since he's currently out to sea. He's in the Navy and is stationed on a nuclear sub somewhere. Carey says he hopes to see him in March sometime when he's home on leave. Part of the tradition is to have homemade pozole made by Mr. Lanier and it's always wonderful although the heat varies year by year. This year it was actually pretty mild. Carey and I were very proud of the kids. They were extremely well behaved. They used their manners, they played quietly with the bag of toys we had brought, no fights were started, etc. Even Kitty was well behaved and she was excited when she saw the dog, but she got nervous when a lot of people started showing up. I was disappointed when it was time to leave, but it was a good idea to do so before the kidlets reached critical mass and there was a major melt down.
The only bad thing to happen was the cutting of hair. It seems that we may have a budding stylist in the family, said person being Charles. Sigh... Carey had a received a beard trimmer for Christmas that also came with some scissors. Carey neglected to put the scissors safely away out of reach. Charles found them and proceeded to go to work on both Deedee and James! Grrr.... Deedee actually doesn't look too bad. Hers was thinned a lot (Goodbye rats nest on the back of her head) and it closely follows the shape of her head. Cute! But James... Well, James' was already a disaster anyway but now it looked even worse. I tried to fix it, but there are still a lot of problems with his. I think in the end he'll have to go to a professional although, if he'd just keep it combed it actually doesn't look to bad.
Bleh. Now I know why one should never go shopping the day after Christmas. Sigh... it was a mad house. I was pleased with some pretty ornaments that I got at Jo Ann's marked down super low and I enjoyed my meandering in there. I also finally remembered where I'd stashed the Jo Ann's gift card that I bought for my friend Patty. However, once I entered the mall proper, that's another story. I dropped in at Old Navy to get Kitty a sweater with the last little bit of her Christmas money, chose one from a display clearly marked sale and then was told by the checker that it wasn't on sale. When I asked about the display, she said that it only meant some pants. Then why did the sign mention all items? She just looked at me.
And Macy's... Ooo, don't even mention that store to me. I had already stopped in at Ross to get some flannel sheets for the kids. We've dropped the temperature back down at night now that they're no longer sick but I still wanted to be sure that they stayed as warm as possible. It took me a bit to find what I wanted but in the end I was satisfied. When one wants to take advantage of Ross' low prices, you have to take what they have, which changes on a constant basis. James got Sponge Bob, Deedee a delicate pink & purple floral on cream, Charles' is lots of dogs and I got a new set for us as well with strawberries. Kitty already has a set on her bed, if she'd ever deign to use it. I also picked up an extra cream colored set with the thought that I might tie dye it. So by the time I got to Macy's I was pretty burdened with a couple of heavy bags. I haul them into the kids section, perused the rack that had the cutest stuff at the lowest sale price. According to the sign, it said 60% off. I chose a couple of cute outfits (like she really needs more cloths, I know) did the quick math, liked what I came up with and got in line. Big mistake. A woman had just come in with a huge pile of returns that didn't fit her daughter properly. There had to have been at least 20 items. Sigh... Goddess protect me from women with too much money and not enough brains. Not only had this woman not gone through and matched the items to receipts, she wasn't even sure she had the proper receipts! The checker started to just scan the tags but no, that wouldn't do the woman. Every item must be matched to a receipt. Grrr.... So I stand there for almost twenty minutes and finally another associate offers to help me at a register in a different department. And the stuff rings up at a price other than expected but I assumed that I must have added wrong, paid for the stuff and was on my way.
Of course it took me the whole way back across the mall, to the van to drop everything off and then to the grocery to pick up garbage bags to realize that I had paid more than I was supposed, at least $10. So back I go, and the cashier agreed with. Did I get my money back? Nope. She said that yes, the items should have been included in the sale, wasn't sure why they weren't but there was nothing she could do. Huh? Fine, she could keep the money but that's the last time I go in there.
After I got home, we loaded the little buggers up along with every single item of their bedding and made our way to the laundromat. We spent the next two hours there but smart momma I am, I was smart enough to bring a large tote full of games and toys just received for Christmas so they were well occupied for the most part. Every single blanket, comforter and sheet made their way through the ringer and the dryer. Even our sleeping bags. The kids have been so sick lately that their bedding had taken on a decidedly ripe air and there was no way I'd ever get that much done with just my lone washer. Still, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In the end, it was less than $30 and we had budgeted $50. And it's nice to have sweet smelling bedding on their beds again. Deedee especially was pleased to have her large wool blanket back and snuggled right up with it tonight at bed time. Charles the little rat immediately made a nest for himself so I don't know why I even bothered making the damn bed. I should have just piled everything on and let him have at it.
James was so well behaved and helpful, that we gave in and let him play Runebound with us. We drastically simplified the rules, and did only the super easy battles and adventures. The harder stuff wasn't even on the board at all so he didn't miss it. There are actually several stages to a battle, but we kept it at just one for his sake. But, it was a good opportunity to push counting, as well as money sense since he bought a few items for his hero. He had a lot of fun. Still, even as simplified as it was, it took the better part of an hour before he reached the 10 experience points he needed to win the game (our house rule for his game, certainly not the actual way to beat the damn thing or there'd be nothing to it) and that was even with Carey and I avoided the little areas on the map where one might encounter an adventure (and so, experience points). He was quite pleased with himself, and went quietly to bed.
Carey and I went sledding again but it wasn't as fun as it was last night. I'm not sure why but we came in after only 2 1/2 runs (the 1/2 was me, I came to an early stop). Still, I did enjoy it. We came in and played more of Runebound. We saw no reason to completely restart the game, so the different town markets were left with their interesting items and henchmen for sale, and we kept the experience points we had gained (they're used to pay for better abilities for our hero's). Carey also switched characters. The one he had was fine for James little game, but when it came to the bigger stuff that we were going after, it really sucked. Still, we enjoyed ourselves and I look forward to playing it again soon.
We were all slugabed's although the kids finally got insistent about coming downstairs just before 10. They were all really excited to come and see what they'd been left. They all got their stockings first. At the last minute while they weren't looking, I also stuff little ornaments that their Great Aunt Elaine was kind enough to make and send. Apparently she must have forgotten to send ours last year because we got two years worth in our box this year. LOL The kids were all excited over their goodies in their stockings and all immediately started eating their fruit which I was happy to see. A pear, a handful of nuts and a tangerine would fill their little bellies and hold them a few hours until it was time to eat lunch, a simple fare of crackers, cheese, and meat. It was also much healthier fare than the candy making it's way down their gullets as well. We decided to show patience by only one gift getting opened at a time. I didn't want a huge mad dash for presents and then not even know what anyone had gotten. (Or even what they themselves had gotten.)
They only got a few items each, most of which all fit into a large gift bag that I'd made, one for each of them. The all got poetry books, as well as a book with jigsaw puzzles. James Where the Sidewalk Ends, Charles The Dragons Are Singing Tonight and Deedee a beautiful fairy poetry book with gorgeous artwork and little sliding pictures. And Carey was pleased to note the he got two shirts he'd been wanting: I Demand Justice black T from DespairWear and I Am A Sexy Shoeless God of War! featuring Belkar from Order of the Stick.
After the presents were opened and everything had been put away, the morning was spent quietly playing. James insisted that we get out his new marble run he got from Grandma Sue. It's a bit flimsy but he loves it anyway and he had a blast putting the darn thing together.
We had a good lunch, (I had a nap) and then Carey was off to return some stuff to his mother while I got the kids ready to go. The road was beautiful and clear so we decided we'd drive thirty miles to see the locomotive park in Lewiston. At this time every year, it's always lit with a ton of lights and it's really an awesome sight. The kids had a blast there and Carey's talking about doing it again next year.
We got out on a bit of a late start, so it was later than planned when we got back but we still did our big meal that Carey asked for: hamburgers! LOL He said he wanted something simple and he decided that hamburgers would definitely be simple and fun. After everyone scarfed all of that down with sparkling cider or eggnog, we shared a small plum pudding that I had gotten. I thought it was very good although most everyone else just picked at theirs and ate only the cream from the top. Sigh... they don't know what's good!
The kids got shooed to bed. While Carey took care of the younger ones, I stayed downstairs with James and read one of his new books to him, a really cool pirate book that also came with four jigsaw puzzles. We read the whole book (not very big) and did one of the puzzles. He should have gone to bed with the rest, but he'd been so good just jumping in and clearing the table without my even asking that I just had to reward him. So he's finally off to bed, and even Kitty is asleep! Finally, and Carey and I could sit down to play a game that we'd gotten a couple of weeks ago. It looked like a lot of fun and we'd been looking forward to playing it.
However, Carey threw a wrench into the works and insisted that we go sledding first! So here it is 10 at night, and we're out there with our children's pilfered saucers giggling like naughty children. It was a blast. We only went down a few times and we had the monitor with us in case the kids woke up, but we didn't want to be away for too long. Carey was growling that I went faster and further than he was. I only wiped out once and I'm still not sure what happened. Still, I haven't had that much fun in a long time. It was exhilerating.
We finally went back in and changed out of our wet stuff into nice comfy new pj's to play the game. We thought we had figured it out at least although, Carey was complaining because we were rotating through the adventure decks rather quickly. He had already bought some expansion cards but he'd been assured that he wouldn't actually need them for some time. We finally realized that Carey had forgotten to open of the decks! After that we had a ton, more then enough to last us for quite a while. James is also super interested in it, so I need to figure out how to dumb down a game meant for 12 and up so a 5 year old can understand it and still have a lot of fun. The game is called Runebound, and while it cost an arm and a leg, we're having fun with it. It's nice for once to be able to play a game with Carey that doesn't have to have more than two players to be a lot of fun.
