Sunday, November 30, 2008

Week in Review, 11/21--11/27

Last night I looked at my calendar and thought, Where did November go? It was just Halloween and poof! Here we are starting the last month of the year.

I had Internet access this week (we left on Tuesday and came back Saturday night), but I didn't post because I couldn't think of anything interesting to say. But in retrospect, there were plenty of highlights for the week.

1. Justin's sister and her husband have 13 acres of land and three horses. Miss Pink is currently horse-crazy, so she was ecstatic at getting to visit the REAL horses. I'll post the pictures as soon as my SIL emails them to me. Miss Pink's slightly older cousin gave her some outgrown cowboy boots, and that was all the incentive she needed to dress like a cowgirl for the next two days. I've lived in Texas all my life and have never owned a pair of boots or ridden a horse, so all this is new to me, but more power to her.

2. The other thing that kept my kids occupied (besides their cousins)? Eight-month-old miniature schnauzers! I'm convinced that when we do get a dog, this is the kind we want. They were so sweet and loving. Mr. Blue never got warmed up enough to actually pet the dogs, but he'd talk to them and let them sniff his hands. At one point he said, "Don't bite me, okay, Jacques?" totally expecting the dog to understand. Miss Pink loved the puppies so much that sometimes they growled at her, which we explained meant, "Back off--I've had enough!" I think she would have carried one around like a baby all day, if they'd let her.

3. We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal at Justin's aunt's house. I didn't know both his brother and sister's families were going to be there this year until we were traveling. (This is because my husband forgets to tell me things.) So it was a nice surprise to spend time with all the nephews and nieces we don't get to see very often.

4. I breathed a sigh of relief when we opened the door of our house, though. I'm a homebody and any time I'm away for a week, I start itching to get back to my familiar routine. It was painful to wake up at 6:30 this morning, but I'm glad to be back in the saddle again.

Although don't plan on seeing me in cowboy boots any time soon.

Photobucket

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Week in Review, 11/16--11/27

What happened last week? I seriously can't remember! Here's my best attempt at capturing the week.

Yay
1. I'm loving the "Week in Review" scrapbook I've been working on. It's so simple because I've already done all the work of writing these posts for it. However, I've learned that I don't take nearly enough pictures. That will be a New Year's resolution for 2009.

2. Mr. Blue is turning into quite a drummer. Justin gave him some real drumsticks (Justin used to play) and now he drums on the floor, his stepstool, or plastic chairs--anything except real furniture, and he's obeying that rule really well. It actually doesn't bother me much, although his sister complains. He wants us to sing and no matter what we sing, commands us to "Sing faster!" Rock on, dude!

Nay
1. We had our flu shots. The whole experience wasn't that painful--it hurt most in the wallet.

2. Miss Pink gets scared every night at bedtime. Every single night we go through the bedtime routine of tucking her in, bedtime prayers, a drink of water from a bedside cup--and she starts whimpering about being scared about the end of the world. I can't be totally sure it's not going to happen, but I do my best to reassure her and give suggestions ("Think about happy things, like horses and your birthday!") Between you and me, she's not exactly faking it, but she's convincing herself to be scared. Therefore, I'm not letting her stay up with us since that just means she'll be tired the next morning. It always ends in us having to send her back to bed with her crying. Every single time I feel like an uncaring mother, but she falls asleep within five minutes, so I guess it could be worse. I need to remember one of my parenting mottoes: "It's only a phase--it won't last forever."

Photobucket

Monday, November 24, 2008

We're leaving for Louisiana tomorrow morning, and guess what I'm doing? If you guessed "packing," you're wrong! Instead, I'm reading blogs while simultaneously uploading pictures onto Shutterfly. But I have a reason for that part--while I'm in La. I can start making the photo books the grandparents are getting for Christmas. (Don't worry, they don't read this blog. I think!)

Also, I need to charge my iPod and the batteries for the camera.

Clothes, schmoes. I need to make sure my technological gadgets are ready to go!

Due to the unforeseen combination of "stuff to do" and hormones from hell this weekend, I haven't yet finished the short story. It's so so close to being done, and you should get it in your email inbox this week.

I also need to work on last week's week in review before I forget what happened last week.

Here's a funny story about Mr. Blue that HAD to be blogged. Last night we were in the living room--I was reading, Mr. Blue was playing drums on a plastic chair, and Miss Pink and Justin were watching TV.

Suddenly Mr. Blue had a request to make. "I wanna watch dat belly show," he said.

Puzzled, I asked him to repeat the phrase, because I sure didn't understand what it referred to. He repeated it clearly, with a funny little grin on his face.

Justin said, "Oh! A while ago, I turned on the TV and that show about the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders was on and they were doing their routine."

Showing their bellies, you see.

"Do you like to watch the pretty girls?" Justin asked him, and Mr Blue got an even goofier look on his face and growled, "MMMMMMMM."

That is the same sound his father made while we were standing at our wedding altar. I am not even kidding.

The ladies' man



Photobucket

Friday, November 21, 2008

Holiday Stress

Recently I read an anonymous blog post in which the writer said it bugs her that people get stressed about the holidays. She felt that a lot of the cause of the stress is that people don't acknowledge that the holidays are coming until they are right on top of them. She said that she had mentioned to someone the other day that it was 34 days until Christmas. The other woman looked like she was about to smack the blogger. The blogger seemed to feel that this was an unreasonable response to her (unasked-for) countdown to The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Well, it may be unreasonable, but I shared the feelings of her acquaintance. I wanted to reach into the computer and smack her, myself. Especially since she announced she had already planned her menus and decorated her house. I think that if you are blessed enough to be an excellent planner who gets all her shopping and decorating done early, good manners dictate that you keep it to yourself. Just like if you are lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night at one month, for heaven's sake, don't rub it in to the rest of us suffering souls. Or at least don't be surprised if people talk about you behind your back.

Part of my stress comes from Miss Pink's birthday being in mid-December. I can't give all my attention to Christmas until her birthday has been celebrated. And I refuse to put up any decorations or listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I want to enjoy it, not skip ahead to Christmas. It's fine with me if you are ready for Christmas in July, but I'm not. I really don't get in the spirit until December 15 or so.

At least I don't host the family here (our house isn't big enough, and our families like to have us come to them) or cook the whole dinner by myself, or have a Christmas party, or--what the heck do I even DO for Christmas? All of a sudden it sounds like I have an easy time, and I'm just a big whiner.

I've actually gone ahead and bought a few things, which is more than I usually have done by this time. I have a list of what everyone is (probably) getting. Except for the teachers and that one niece...you see how my brain works. I want to have it all figured out in advance, including how to pay for everything--aaaarrrgggghhhh, it's driving me crazy.

Deep breath. All I have to do in the next few days is: a) go buy that tool set for Mr. Blue unless it's already been sold (there was only one and he was with me when I saw it); b) order the birthday party decorations for Miss Pink's party; and c) eat lots of lovely Thanksgiving food and refuse to think about how many days there are until Christmas.

That is, if any anonymous bloggers out there don't insist on reminding me.

Photobucket

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Whew! I'm glad that's settled.

I talked to Miss Pink's teacher today and she confirmed my feelings that she totally knows what she's doing and thoroughly understands kindergartners (I agree with those who pointed out that curiosity and talking about body parts is usually normal; I just didn't know if that was the case here without being there).

The teacher told Miss Pink that she did the right thing in telling her, and then she let me know that she had talked to the little boy, who was ashamed of himself as soon as he showed Miss P the picture (which wasn't explicit; she said it was basically a "squiggle" of some sort). The teacher talked with him that that was something we don't talk about in school. They were learning the names of body parts and apparently it reminded him of other body parts. So the thing that I was concerned with isn't an issue--I didn't want her to be be the target of that kind of talk all the time.

Anyway, I wasn't all THAT worried even though it probably sounded like it, but I'm glad I touched base with the teacher and that Miss Pink knows she can tell me and her dad anything and we will take appropriate action (or inaction as the case may require). The only other thing I have to say is, God help the boy who ever harms one hair on her head, because her daddy is FIERCELY protective of his girl. And I don't think that's a bad thing for a girl to know.

Photobucket

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

WT--Fill in the blank

I knew I'd have to deal with something like this, but I didn't know it would be so soon.

Today after school Miss Pink told me that a boy in her class drew a picture of her with parts showing that shouldn't be showing, if you get my meaning. Justin was nearby and I called his attention to what she was saying. We asked her if she had told the teacher and she said yes. She started to cry a little (probably because our faces were so serious) and we comforted her, telling her she hadn't done anything wrong, in fact she had done exactly right by telling the teacher and us. She didn't know how the teacher had dealt with the boy. After we loved on her and told her we would talk to the teacher, she was fine and went back to playing in the back yard.

They are in kindergarten. MAN. I want to go back to the days when figuring out how to soothe a crying baby was my biggest problem!

I emailed the teacher, choosing my words carefully because I have been on her side of the desk and I didn't want to come across as accusing her of not doing her job. In fact, I said, "I'm sure you already handled this" but that we would feel better if we checked with her that the situation was being handled appropriately. That was after school was over so she won't see that email till tomorrow. I have every reason to expect, from the kind of teacher she seems to be, that she will answer me and it will all be sorted out.

I have no idea what the school will do or what I should expect them to do, except that I don't want the boy to do it again. I wish I could protect my children's innocence forever, but sadly that cannot happen.

Photobucket

Birthday strike-out meme

Here's how to play: Go here. Copy the text that goes with your birth month and strike out the parts that don't apply to you. It explains how to do the strikeout at the top of the page on the meme site, in case anyone is like I was (until fairly recently) and doesn't know how to use those html tags. It's okay, there are other people like us out here in blogland. You're safe with me. ;-)

Let me know if you do this so I can come see your results. I think this was written by someone who doesn't know English that well, but I had fun analyzing my personality.

My month is: July.

Fun to be with. Well, I like to think so.

Secretive. Not at ALL. I can keep a secret when it's absolutely necessary, but not my own secrets. I'm an open book.

Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Nope. See last sentence above. And if you don't understand me, I will go to great lengths to make myself understood.

Quiet unless excited or tensed. Probably true; however, I'm excited or tense a lot of the time. ;-)

Takes pride in oneself. No--not that I'm especially humble, just that I don't go around thinking about how great I am.

Has reputation. Uh...doesn't everyone have some sort of reputation?

Easily consoled. Yes. Hug me, tell me everything's going to be all right, and give me some chocolate, and I'm good.

Honest. In the sense of "I don't lie," yes. However, I find it hard to be honest if it will hurt someone's feelings or potentially make them angry. I'm working on growing a spine.

Concerned about people's feelings. Yes. Almost to a fault; it's the way I was raised.

Tactful. Yes, I'm pretty good at not lying but sparing someone's feelings.

Friendly. Yes, but I sometimes find it hard to strike up conversations if I'm out of my comfort zone.

Approachable. While I don't think I put off a "leave me alone" vibe, I'm not a people magnet, either.

Emotional, temperamental and unpredictable. Emotional, yes. Temperamental? Depends on the time of the month. Unpredictable? No way. No matter what I'm feeling, there will probably be tears involved. ;-)

Moody and easily hurt. I was pretty moody when I was younger. I still get my feelings hurt more easily than I should. It goes with caring too much about others' feelings.

Witty and sparkly. I don't know what "sparkly" means, exactly. I've been told I'm witty. It feels weird to agree, though.

Not revengeful. I don't seek revenge at all.

Forgiving but never forgets. This is true; I don't forget, but I try really hard not to hold it over your head.

Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Yep. Although everyone's definition of "nonsensical and unnecessary things" is different.

Guides others physically and mentally. I don't know what this means, especially the "physically" part. I certainly do a lot of guiding my children. I try with my husband, but sometimes it doesn't work.

Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Yes.

Caring and loving. I hope so. I feel like I do.

Treats others equally. As much as possible. I know it's not always possible with my children--they need different things at different times.

Strong sense of sympathy. If I have gotten to know you at all, yes.

Wary and sharp.

Judges people through observations. I do form impressions of people from watching their behavior and listening to them. I do try not to be judgmental.

Hardworking. I used to be, but I can be appallingly lazy these days.

No difficulties in studying. Did the person who designed this quiz know me in college?

Loves to be alone. I wouldn't say I love to be alone a LOT, but I do need a certain amount of alone time and I am much nicer to be around when I get it.

Always broods about the past and old friends. Not that often, but I do get to thinking about my past. This is helpful when you write fiction; you can rewrite things that happened.

Likes to be quiet. Yes. Unless there's a really interesting conversation to join.

Homely person. I take it this means "homebody" and not "ugly."

Waits for friends. If they're running late? I wait about 30 minutes, but I can't stand waiting longer than that.

Never looks for friends. I can always use more friends.

Not aggressive unless provoked. Very true.

Prone to having stomach and dieting problems.

Loves to be loved. Doesn't everyone?

Easily hurt but takes long to recover. If you apologize and treat me nicely, I'm fine.

Photobucket

Monday, November 17, 2008

Week in Review, 119--11/15

You sweet readers--how kind you are to agree to read my short story. And here's how I show my gratitude: I didn't work on the story at all this weekend. I am such an ingrate. But I pinky promise I will finish it in the next few days. I am on the last scene so I should be able to overcome my perfectionism and wrap it up. And no, there is no deadline for your comments. That would be hypocritical of me in the extreme, since it took me three months to write, from sheer procrastination. (Really it was six years of procrastination; that's a heck of a long maternity leave.)

Anyway, look for it in your email inbox and feel free to pester me if you don't get it this week.

Here is this week's week in review. It felt like a long week for some reason.

Yay
1. Mr. Blue likes to put his pajamas on at any opportunity. We go to the store and return home; the pajamas go back on. I don't know why I find this endearing, but I do (he's my baby!) He is also getting pretty good at dressing himself with some help. Quite a contrast from his sister, who would let me dress her while she lays there like an infant, if I would do it.

2. However, Miss Pink has learned to tie her shoes by herself. The process involved months of intermittently showing her how--her trying, failing, and getting frustrated--me saying, "Oh well, it'll just take some more practice--and then her teacher tells the class they all need to learn to tie their shoes--and boom, just like that, she figures it out. Maybe her teacher could tell her to stop putting junk under her bed?

3. The playroom cabinets are in! A floor-to-ceiling bookcase for adult books, an entertainment center with bookcases on both sides for the kids' books, games, and decorative items; and underneath, TWELVE cubbies with removable bins for toy storage. Also a desk with cabinets above it and a file drawer--I'm getting giddy just thinking about it. I may actually end up with more storage space than stuff to put in it--which is just fine with me.

4. Miss Pink's school had an awards assembly for the first nine weeks, and she received a ribbon for never being tardy (which I am secretly claiming because you know who gets them out the door on time) and a bracelet inscribed with one of the school character traits which she has been an example of: Respect. She was thrilled, of course. She said, "I didn't know I was so respectful, but I guess I am!"

Nay
1. Mr. Blue has been pretty challenging this week. He whines, throws tantrums, snatches things from his sister just to upset her--and he's discovered the fun of "bad" words, which in his mind all have to do with bodily functions. Today he was calling me a "poopy turkey." Hey bud, I'm not the one who wears diapers.

At least Justin and I don't use actual bad words around the house. That would be difficult for this preacher's kid to explain to his Sunday School teacher!

2. There are weeks when I have a lot of energy, but this was not one of them. Sometimes you just have to get by with the essentials, you know?

Photobucket

Friday, November 14, 2008

Me, new and improved

Blogging tonight because I spent Mr. Blue's nap time doing the budget instead of writing or reading blogs. Also because my husband keeps watching parts of horrible movies (Center Stage 2: Turn It Up--wth, dude?) and Miss Pink is treating it as her personal mission in life to keep tickling me.

Now the kids are arguing. Which is about 90% of the time, these days.

Can you tell it's been a long week?

At least I have chocolate chip cookies in my stomach. That covers a multitude of wrongs. Back to what I was going to blog about...

I am terrible at doing any kind of series. I keep forgetting that I'm supposed to post on that day. But here is an effort to revive the questions from a book called If.

If you could permanently alter one thing about your physical appearance, what would you change?

That's easy--I'd get rid of my cellulite. I'm not overweight, but I still have cellulite and I hate it. It's the one time dimples aren't cute. Even liposuction doesn't get rid of it, either. So I can only get rid of it in a fantasy world.

What about y'all--what would you change?

(Justin is now watching Sabrina--a step up as far as movies go, and I wouldn't have thought it would keep Mr. Blue's attention, but there are no kids screaming--so far, so good.)

Photobucket

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I have a favor to ask

If you've noticed that I haven't been commenting as much on blogs, you might be right--I'm not sure. I'm not sure because I am still reading but I haven't been spending as much time commenting this week. I set myself a deadline for a story and I have to finish it by Sunday night. I'm pretending I'm back in college and it's due Monday morning. It's the first fiction I've written since Miss Pink was born. I have to force myself to work on it every day, but gradually the pieces have started to come together and every day I find out what happens next, and I find myself happy to be writing again.

I wasn't going to ask this until the story was done, but what the heck. Email me if you would like to read it and I'll email you a copy next week. I don't want to post it here for the whole world to see, but I could use some readers to give me constructive criticism. By which I mean, you can criticize anything in the story as long as you don't tell me it stinks like warm cat puke. By which I mean, as long as you are reasonably nice, I can take criticism.

On the other hand, if you read it, you have to PROMISE to give me more detailed feedback than "I liked it." Please tell me what worked and didn't work for you, anything that distracted you or made you lose interest, ways to make the main character more likable, potential changes in the plot. Those kinds of things.

To give you a taste of what it's about: it's about a stay-at-home mom who finds herself attracted to her best friend's husband. (I always feel I should add a disclaimer that it is FICTION and in no way based on my life. Especially if you are my best friend.)

I'll leave you with a Mr. Blue anecdote which totally sums up a two-year-old boy's relationship with his mother.
Me: You're so sweet.
Him: No. (smiling)
Me: Well, I think you are. (kissing him on his neck)
Him: No, I don't want to be sweet.

Photobucket

Monday, November 10, 2008

I'm Back!

The scrapbooking weekend WAS wonderful. We stayed in a big farmhouse that holds 25 or so guests, with four scrapbooking rooms, plus the dining room, kitchen, fitness and spa rooms, and a TV area with a couch that connected all the bedrooms. Oh, and the family who owns it has a private wing.

On Friday night, we got there around 6:40 and dinner was at 7. The owner is a fabulous cook--she used to be a chef for Marriot, but this was no bland banquet food. She hires an in-house baker for at least some of the desserts--the Cafe Mocha chocolate cake was my favorite, but the carrot cake was excellent too. They offer a continental breakfast to tide you over until the hot brunch at 11:30, then snack at 2:30 (chips and cheese dip and homemade cookies), then dinner. I am surprised my non-stretchy pants still fit. My other favorite dish was the sausage, egg, and tater-tot casserole, which I got the recipe for and I will share with you as soon as I try it.

Not all of our group of 6 knew each other. I already knew Lisa, who invited me, and another woman who was Miss Pink's preschool teacher two years ago. Each of them had invited a friend whom I knew to speak to, and there was another lady none of us had met. But we all bonded like crazy. I didn't get much scrapping done that first night because we talked so much (shocker, I know!) Lisa's friend Button (her name is a long story) said she thought I was quiet until this trip--and now she knows better! We laughed a lot and also there were some "therapy moments" in which people shared difficult things they've gone through--amazing how close you can get so quickly in such an intimate setting. Lisa and I stayed up till 2 or so both nights talking. It has been SO LONG since I've done that. Fortunately I was able to sleep in the next mornings. OH! And I got a pedicure, for the first time in a year and a half. That makes me feel so pampered.

I did get a lot of work done on my "Week in Review" album which includes all my weekly blog posts with some random pictures from the year. I'm pleased with it so far. When I finish it, I'll show you some sample pages.

And I am totally going back next year. They can have Vegas; I'll take the farm!

Photobucket

Friday, November 7, 2008

Leavin' on a Jet Plane--Scratch That--in a Tahoe

In about an hour I am leaving on my First Ever Weekend Away with Girlfriends. I do mean ever, not just since the kids were born, but I have needed it since the kids were born. While you are in the stage of having small children, it is usually difficult to leave them for travel unless you have to, and there were a lot of different reasons why I couldn't, mainly: breastfeeding; no money; Justin not able to take off work so I could go; girlfriends also having said difficulties so they couldn't go anywhere either.

But now the planets have finally aligned and I am out of here for a weekend. SQUEE! I am SO excited!

So where are we going, you ask? NYC? Las Vegas? Mexico?

How about--a small town in lovely East Texas? [said in a cheesy game-show-announcer voice]

Yes, I have been invited on a trip to a bed and breakfast two hours from here. I have never heard of the town, but since we are not going to paint it red, the town doesn't matter. We are going to be there to scrapbook.

I TOLD you I lead a very glamorous life.

I kid, but it actually sounds lovely. The house is set up to accommodate groups of scrapbookers, and the rooms have multiple beds. All the meals are included, and there is a hot tub, TV room, porch swing overlooking the pond, etc. A masseuse and nail tech will be on site on Saturday (I'll skip the massage, but I AM getting a pedicure, Lord willing.) Apparently there is a lot of yummy food and candy and homemade hot chocolate, so I am bringing my stretchy pants. My friend said it is a lot like a slumber party, which sounds fun since I haven't slept over with friends for so long (at least without my kids.) If it turns out to be cliqueish like some of the slumber parties of my girlhood, at least I have some good friends who'll stick with me so I won't be the outcast. I hope to watch at least one chick flick too.

And of course I am going to scrapbook. I'll be putting the Week in Review posts into an album which I will take pictures of for y'all to see--since without you reading this blog, I never would have written this record of the little moments of our life.

My only regret? I wish all of you could come with me.

And that we could go to New York together, too. I want a designer knockoff bag. It'll look great with my stretchy pants.

Photobucket

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Playroom Addition Update #3

Now that the election's over, we can turn to other topics here at Hairline Fracture.

Yes, I know that sentence made no sense, because I have never turned to the election on this blog, and I'd like to keep it that way, if you don't mind. There was an election, and it made history. There. Now I have proved that I notice current events, and that I know the world doesn't revolve around MEEEEEE.

It doesn't?

Anyway, here's what's been going on at our house. Last time I updated, the siding was up but unpainted. Well, guess what?

Here's a closeup so you can see the color better.


Inside, the plan was to insulate and hang sheetrock. Of all the things Justin knows how to do, sheetrock is one of the things he dreads, right up there with wallpaper. He can do both but he'd really prefer not to. We're not going to have wallpaper in the room, but sheetrock is not an option, so he hung the sheetrock. And then we got a little extra money, and he decided to hire a sheetrock guy to tape, bed, and (help him) texture. It turned out to be a good decision, because it took three days to finish, and obviously it would have been longer if Justin had been working alone, and it would have SEEMED way longer if I'd had to listen to him complain about it.

So the sheetrock got done instead of Justin getting bogged down doing it, and we helped the guy with some work, which he needed. A win-win situation.

The only bad part was when they scraped the existing texture off the walls in the hall. The walls were going to have to be repainted to match the new color going up in the living room, kitchen, and playroom, and they needed a new texture because...because...well, I don't actually know why except that the living room was going to have a lightly troweled texture on it and I guess Justin thinks the texture has to match since the hall adjoins the living room. Whereas I wouldn't care, if the color was the same. (My motto is, "Whatever's easier. Unless what's easier is significantly more expensive, in which case, do whatever's cheaper.")

In this case, scraping off the texture was easy AND cheap, but it created a lot of dust. More dust than I would have believed possible from that tiny hall. They put plastic on the floor but the dust literally filled the house and rested on every possible flat surface. It even went under the closed doors into the bedrooms. I spent the next two days dusting everything and I suspect I will still keep finding dust for weeks. All of our allergies got worse (aaaa-choo! Excuse me!) but since Justin suffered the worst I won't blame him. After all, I got some nice-looking texture just waiting for paint.
Not that--that is the playroom, which still needs to be textured (tomorrow. And no scraping will be involved.)

Here's a closeup. The texture is very subtle.

It's going to look gorgeous painted with a beautiful glaze on it. Because in addition to all the OTHER home-improvement stuff my husband can do, he also knows how to faux-finish things. Can you believe it? I seriously do not know how I got so lucky.

Photobucket

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Week in review, 10/26--11/1

Yay

1. The Impressionist art exhibit. (Next time I won't wait until the last week to go.) I can't wait until the kids are old enough to go with me. There is a fabulous art teacher at Miss Pink's school. Right now they are learning about abstract art--specifically Kandinsky. (!) She has also done a picture in the style of Matisse, which I can't wait to see.

2. Speaking of art, Miss Pink is a prolific artist. You should have seen the pile of paper that came out of the drawer where I let her keep her drawings. The pile covered half of her bed. If it were up to her, she would keep every scrap of paper she has ever drawn on or found anywhere EVER, but since it's not up to her, we go through the papers when the drawer won't close properly. I let her keep 50 papers (there had to have been 250 pieces of paper to start with). It was so hard for her to decide but she did it. And the pieces she saved are really good (I got the best of the best for the scrapbook.)

3. Today Miss Pink said she wanted her "usual diet." And what would that be, I asked. "Candy!" she yelled. "Um, just because you ate a lot of candy on Halloween doesn't make it your usual diet. That would be your UNUSUAL diet," I said. And amazingly, she knew what I was talking about and agreed. [A five-year-old who talks about her "usual diet" is pretty darn unusual, in my mind.]

4. While getting ready for church, Miss Pink and I sang "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog" together. THIS kind of thing is why I had children.


Nay
1. I was going to make an apple crisp on Saturday night (with ice cream, even) but my parents wanted to take us out to eat so I didn't and now I wish I had some. It is on the to-do list this week for sure.

2. The time change did us no good at all. All of us woke up at 6 at the new time and couldn't go back to sleep, since it felt like 7.


I have a busy week. Dentist on Monday, hair appointment on Tuesday (I voted early), Study Buddy volunteering at the school on Wednesday. And on Friday I leave for a girls' only scrapbooking weekend at a bed and breakfast. Woo-hoo!

Photobucket

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Halloween Fun

I think this may be the quickest I've ever put photos up after a holiday! I am becoming a real blogger, slowly but surely. I've heard that to make your blog appeal to more people, you need a lot of pictures. I guess I need to work on that. I'm not a gifted photographer like the Pioneer Woman or Dooce.

We had a fun time. On Thursday we (and by "we" I mean "Justin") carved a pumpkin. It was the first time we've done this as a family. How lazy AM I? I mean, Miss Pink is almost six! But they really enjoyed it more now that they're old enough to participate. Well, actually Mr. Blue didn't want to touch the pumpkin goop. But he liked looking at the pumpkin. And Miss Pink got in there and scraped all the gunk out.

Miss Pink chose the design, opting for a classic jack'o'lantern face, which I'm sure her father was grateful for. The candle inside was vanilla scented, so when I went out last night to blow it out after two hours of being lit, the pumpkin kind of smelled like pumpkin pie.


As I predicted, Mr. Blue refused to wear his puppy costume. Fortunately, I had bought the suit for $6 at the thrift store, so I wasn't too upset that he didn't wear it. Being a mean mom, I did wrangle him into it for some pictures. He didn't scream, but since he wasn't happy, this picture is as good as it got.


He ended up wearing a football jersey and some camo pants. Justin said he was going as a redneck. If I'd had something to black his tooth out, I would have. But we don't own a John Deere hat or a miniature can of Skoal, so it wouldn't have been authentic.

After the kids and Justin came home with their haul (I stayed home to hand out candy and watch What Not to Wear, in order to look at pretty clothes I won't be able to squeeze into if I keep eating the candy) I let them eat their fill--or at least I was going to. Miss Pink wisely stopped when her stomach started feeling a little weird. It turns out two year olds won't stop on their own, so because I didn't want to clean up vomit at 2 a.m., I took his candy away and then they actually went to sleep in spite of all the sugar in their systems.

It was a happy Halloween for all!


*Also, thanks to Blog Antagonist for setting me straight about the Pixie stick poisonings that I mentioned in yesterday's post. Here's a link to the sad but true story of the man who poisoned his son. I really shouldn't just spout off the top of my head like that without checking my facts--although as the article said, there have been cases of foreign objects in Halloween treats, the incidents are few and far between in comparison with the fear of them. Still, I can see why only a few years later my mom wanted to err on the side of caution. However, Miss Pink loves Pixie sticks and I let her eat some last night. The only ill effects were the expected hyperactivity from downing pure sugar!

Photobucket