Mind Numbing Programming

Oh the joys of television programs for preschoolers! This morning we've endured Barney talking about a Purple Party! and part of an episode of the beloved Bubbies (Teletubbies).

Barney, I believe, is good. Barney is positive, loving, and teaches about basic concepts like shapes and colors and feelings. It's his singing, dancing, and the kids that look like they could be in junior high that bug me...like kids who are obviously going through puberty are going to be hangin' with Barney of their own free will and choice. Whatever.

I can actually handle the Bubbies more than Barney. The Bubbies are cute. They are perfect for the one and two year old crowd. Yes, mind numbing, but in a more believable way. It's not sugar-coated in way Barney is. They have real clips of real kids doing real things...no pubescent kids hanging out in a toddlers playroom. Yes... I can deal with LaaLaa, Dipsy, Tinky Winky with his hat and purse, and Po; even NuNu and the baby in the sun.

The irony of the situation? My wonderful sister-in-law sent us some tapes for Daniel. There are approximately a dozen Barney tapes...and one Bubbies tape. I guess it's payback.

And In Other Random News...

We got a poker chip in the mail. Yup. A poker chip. No letter, no note. A single, solitary poker chip. We are one of who knows how many (tens, hundreds, thousands?) that received this lone poker chip... it's from a local politician. Inscribed on the poker chip is a sentiment for Happy Holidays and a joyful New Year. Wow. How special is that? Just what I've always wanted; a single poker chip contained in an envelope arriving two days after Christmas.

Male vs. Female Shopping

I never cease to be amazed at the differences between men and women over the simplest of things...shopping, for instance.

My way... go to the store(s) that are most appropriate for the person I am shopping for, with a specific idea in mind. Maybe not the exact gift, but a good idea. Look at what I'm thinking about, get more ideas. Then, get something that matches the person (at least I think/hope matches the person). Buy cute paper or a gift bag and take my time making the gift look pretty good (though I must say I'm a fan of bags and tissue. I stink at wrapping...).

My husband's way...Go to Wal-Mart. Call me from Wal-Mart and ask me what I want (even though I've dropped MASSIVE hints and even written a few ideas down). I give him a few ideas, and while he's on the phone with me he asks, "Is it the one in the blue bottle or the green bottle? Ok...got it." Now I know I'm getting perfume. I also know I'm getting a "smelly" candle and some pieces to add to my Willow Tree Creche. Whatever happened to the element of surprise???

Erwin, on the other hand, doesn't have a CLUE as to what he's getting this year. At least he's not admitting to it...

Christmas Projects

Just wanted to show off some Christmas projects I've done since Thanksgiving...



I made 2 of these.... and have 1 more to go








Made just one of these....

This is Orange Kuglehopf Cake...made 3.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Rods, Coconut Orange Creams, and Fudge

I also made orange creams, mint chocolate cups, peanut butter fudge, more regular fudge, Millionaire's shortbread, lemon jumbles, and Moose Munch.

Let the eating begin!!!

Random Games

Someone I know was talking about randomness today. I've got randomness to beat everyone. I've been known to come up with some random comments at times (though nothing can beat my sister's "indiginous people" remark one Thanksgiving). However, one of my favorite purpose driven randomness is this great game my friend Karen came up with (probably really late one night after not a whole lot of sleep).

What you do is you say something in a really high, sing-songy baby voice. The catch...you can't say anything you'd expect a baby to say. This gets really hysterical, albeit a bit demented.

For example:

"Dragons slaying gingerbread men."

"Wicked people will go to hell."

"The subway in Texas uses aluminum siding."

"Surgically removing bunions."

"Bus drivers always fart at ten o'clock."

Random enough for you???

Cranky Days

Cranky days...everyone has them. Yesterday was our cranky day. My day started out easy enough: Get up, bathe Daniel, breakfast, get ready, playtime. Then I made the day altering decision. Let's go out. Daniel's looking pretty shaggy lately, so I figured today would be a great day to get his haircut. Everything was beautiful about the haircut. It was the decision afterwards that started the fabric of my day to unravel.
"Let's go out to eat!" I enthusiatically carry Daniel across the parking lot to Panda Express (yum!). He just as enthusiatically begins to devour his kids meal. However, this is a child the is still mastering using utensils. I try to stem the tide of flowing rice by "assisting" him, and he tries to stop me from assisting him. Humph. Strong willed child...where'd that come from??? He decides he's finished before I can eat enough of my meal to call it good. I was hoping...praying...that he would just decide to sit for 3 or 4 minutes. Wrong. I wind up with him in my lap, crying and borderline screaming because he can't get down to terrorize the other patrons. Strike 1.
We leave the restaurant and trek back to the car. He's happy again because we're actually moving. We get to the car and all seems well as I strap him in. I get in and attempt to start the car. Yes, I said attempt. Strike 2. The car won't start. I happen to have the most finicky car around. I never know if it will start while I'm out (it's kind enough to always start at home... just not while I'm out). I get out and wiggle the battery cable and it's done the trick. Car starts and we go home. Now I'm cranky.
Once home it's time for naps. Daniel has a complete meltdown when I put him down for his nap. This has been the pattern for the past 3 days. If this keeps up I might just lose my mind. He finally settles down to a nap about 15 minutes later. I figure I'll have a good 2 hours of "me" time. Strike 3. He wakes up after 40 minutes. Now Daniel is REALLY cranky because he hasn't had enough of a nap. I'm cranky because I haven't had any time to get anything done (I had planned on doing a bunch of holiday baking while he was asleep... and cleaning the kitchen while I was at it).
You'd think I'm at my limit with three strikes, right? In a perfect world that would be correct. In my world, it's just a preview of what's to come. Erwin gets off of work at 3:30. I'm figuring he'll be home by 4 at the latest (since he only works 10 minutes from the house). At 4:15 I call to make sure he isn't lost. Nope. Not lost. Just detained. He offers to pick up some milk, which I'm ok with. He comes in at about 4:40. I warn him when he walks in that I need to go out.
"Why?"
"I just do. I need to get out of here for a little while."
Usually my dear husband would get a clue and realize I've had a bad day and send me off to clear my head. Strike 4. Not today. He needs to go back out to Home Depot. He doesn't leave for 30 minutes...he just sits instead. He finally leaves and then I get a call about him picking up gifts at church to deliver. No problem. He's already out, so I'll let him know. I call him and he tells me he wants to come home first. Grrr. OK. He gets home and fixes the door. I try to gently encourage him to go get the gifts so he can come home so I can go out. Hint #2, strike 5.
He decides to heat up some leftovers and eat. Daniel is still driving me batty, getting crankier by the minute and not listening to anyone (and winding up in timeout about 900 times). He finally leaves AFTER 8 PM. By this time I'm in tears. Now he feels bad, but still doesn't get it.
He comes back at 8:53, gifts delivered (strike 6. It could have been done by 5:30 or 6). I'm still crying. Daniel's still running around. He asks me again what's wrong. I reminded him it's been a really crappy day and I just really needed to get out of the house for a little while, but it's too late now. I'm really ticked at this point. Fortunately he sees the need to be the one to put Daniel to bed.
I finally give up and go to bed. Cranky days can't last forever, right? A good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain, or so I pray. Today I woke up with a much better perspective, and I've arranged for a sitter to come so I can get out for a couple hours today.

And The Stockings Were Hung By The TV With Care...

Well, I did it. The house is all bedecked for Christmas! Last Sunday we had family over and we retrieved the boxes from the attic and set to making the house beautiful. Daniel decided it would be better if he "helped" us decorate the tree, so as fast as ornaments went on the tree, they came off the tree. Now, a week later, there is a noticable difference between the top half of the tree and the bottom half... the top has all the lights, beautifully strung and is dripping with ornaments. The bottom half of our poor tree has the lights hanging off the bottom branches and only about a third of the ornaments still hung. We're trying to learn to look with our eyes, not our hands (however it's going VERY slowly).

One thing I miss about our old house is not having a fireplace. Instead we have a big screen TV. Luckily, the aforementioned TV is in a custom built entertainment center that has built in shelves, and one of those shelves is directly above the TV. So, our snowmen (in Angel Hair "snow") sit nestled on the shelf and our "Noel" stocking hangers sit just in front of the Snowmen scene. I always have a hard time picking out which stockings to hang. Before I met my husband I ran across a fabulous sale at Target after the holidays, and I fell in love with a set of stockings. I happen to be one of these anal people that can't stand if the stockings don't match (not exactly match...just be the same style, fabric, color scheme, etc.). The easiest way to remedy that potential problem? Buy 7.

My family thought I was nuts. "Seven? What are YOU going to do with seven stockings???" OK. Maybe I went a little overboard, but I blame it on thinking ahead. I've always wanted a large family, and I knew that in the next few years or so I'd probably get married and start a family. My rational was that by buying seven my family would all have matching stockings and I would go crazy trying to match stockings I had bought 10 years before. Since there are only 3 of us so far I get to change which stockings are hung each year. It also comes in handy when we have company for Christmas morning!

Now if I were only that ambitious in the other areas in my life...

Naked Trees

Ever had a naked Christmas tree? I seem to have one this year. We got around to putting the tree up on Sunday, and decorated it on Monday...and it's no longer fully decorated. I seem to have a 2 year old that thinks leaving the ornaments on the tree would be too boring. So, I put an ornament on the tree, he takes an ornament off the tree, and round and round we go. The top half of the tree is beautiful. The bottom half--naked. Ahh...the joys of Christmas with a toddler.

With Wondering Awe...

It dawned on me yesterday that it's DECEMBER! How can it be December already...the school year just started a few weeks ago, right? Somehow, between the turkey leftovers and the parent-teacher conferences I neglected to notice the Holiday Season approaching like a super sonic jet. Suddenly I'm surrounded by people asking if my tree is up, if everything is decorated, if I'm ready for Christmas. Ummm...yeah. I'll get back to you on that as soon as I manage to find the tree. I know it's around here somewhere...

All kidding aside, I absolutely love this time of year. I've always loved the holidays, but they've taken on new significance in the past few years. Two years and 27 days ago I got the best Christmas gift ever--a month early. Daniel made his grand entrance into this world and stole my heart. Contemplating the meaning of the Christmas season since becoming a mother has been almost more than I can bear. Holding my newborn son, listening to (and finally hearing) sacred Christmas music, I became overwhelmed with emotion. I finally had begun to understand a mother's love. How must Mary have felt, holding her newborn Babe? How must she have felt, knowing the special gift which was entrusted to her? How must she have felt, knowing at some point, her Son would endure unspeakable things, things prophesied about for centuries? Holding my new son, basking in the light and innocence of his spirit, knowing the place he left behind so he could be my son, filled my soul with wondering awe. How honored I felt that I was chosen to protect and raise this chosen spirit...innocent, helpless and dependent in the flesh, yet so strong and wise in his spirit. How I longed to hold him in my arms forever, to spare him any hurt, and bitterness, any pain. Becoming a mother was not only the best Christmas present I've ever received--it was also the most powerful lesson I've ever had in understanding Christmas.