Goodbye 2008. . . .

So I had a post formed in my head and sat down to read other blogs before I wrote my own. I quickly noticed that I am apparently required by law to write a year in review post. I don't know what the penalty for not complying is, but I don't want to be the first to find out!

2008 was a great year. It won't be a year that goes down in history as a particularly memorable one for our family (although the same can't be true for the country) but it has been a happy year. All three kids started a new activity, all three kids learned new things, and all three kids alternately made me want to hug them and beat them. (Not really. OK, maybe little.) I feel content as this year ends. Time seems to be going quickly, but I never imagined that I would enjoy watching the kids grow so much. In years past, I have felt a little panicked by the coming of a new year. Did accomplish what I wanted from the year? Would the new year bring happiness or trials? The answers are yes and no and probably both. This year, I feel calm. I don't know what 2009 will bring, but I do know that I did accomplish what I wanted from 2008. I enjoyed my life: I spent nights alone with my husband; I spent quality time with my kids; I spent not-so-quality time with my kids; I had dinner and drinks with friends every month; I went camping. Twice; I read great books; I loved my job; I wasted hours of my life on reality TV. And enjoyed every wasted minute of it; I had moments of hope for our country and our world; I kept track of my life through my blog; and most importantly, I watched my children grow up just a little bit more.

2009 will bring some excitement that I know is coming and some excitement that I probably can't even imagine. Some will be good, some will not. We'll take some trips: Disneyland, Medford, camping. We'll celebrate some birthdays: 37, 34, 10(!!!), 6 and 4th birthdays. We'll put our dog in obedience classes. Someone will get an ear infection, someone will get a mysterious rash and all of us will get the stomach flu. At least once. John will (hopefully) catch some fish and (even more hopefully) not shoot any animals. He'll play soccer with the kids and master the expert level on Rock Band. I will lose some weight (for real this time), read 30 books, and grow a garden. Josh will hit the double digits, battle it out in Battle of the Books, and score in every sport he plays. James will lose a tooth, have the magic moment when reading really starts to make sense, and maybe even learn to ride his bike without training wheels. Abby will start school, dance and dance and dance some more, and take swimming lessons for the first time. So, bring on 2009! I can't wait to see what it brings!

The annual Eitzen Christmas photo at my mom's. It won't surprise you to know that it is always taken in the same place at my mom's. Or that we have taken this exact picture for at least ten years. Or that I was more than a little upset when my mom exchanged the loveseat for two chairs. . . .

NO, I am not!

John, on coming home from work to freshly organized kitchen cabinets and a monster mess in the kids' rooms, where I had pulled every single thing out and was sorting and organizing toys: "Are you pregnant or something?"

And no, I'm not, but I did have a little mini-breakdown about the chaos of my house and decided that the only solution was to clean and organize from top to bottom. I even dusted the top of the fridge. Even though no one I know is tall enough to see it. Right now? I'm on the organizing low that comes after the initial rush. (It's the housework equivalent of eating too much sugar--the inital rush is great, but the crash that comes after? Watch out!) Stuff is still out, and the house is currently in that horrible phase of worse before it gets better. (CB can attest to this as she saw it at its worst this afternoon. I think she may have wanted to run away screaming!) Those of you who are actually organized people have no idea what I'm talking about, but people who are like me (and you know who you are) know exactly what phase I mean! It is the phase when you look around and actually say out loud, "What in the world was I thinking??"

I did, however, figure out a brilliant (although accidentally happened upon) way to get my kids to part with their older toys: I simply suggest that Henry (my sister's 18 month old, if you haven't been paying attention) might enjoy the toy, and they all but gift wrap it and pack it in the car. It worked so well for all those baby toys that they insist they still play with. Like the chunky wood puzzles with the little handles? Even Abby can complete the boxed puzzles now, but she and James are just sure that they still need the baby puzzles. And, of course, spent two hours playing with them tonight just to spite me, I think. But the new trick worked like a charm! Henry will soon be the proud owner of new-to-him puzzles and toys (and some are pretty obnoxious ones that I'll be glad to be rid of. I'm talking to you Leap Frog drum, who says the letters of the alphabet in a robot voice with each tap on your surface.)

The best part is going to be when I finally get it all organized, take a trip to Goodwill, transport toys to Henry and the garbage man comes. I've done this before. Last December, as a matter of fact. The kids are so happy. They can see all their things, old things have been weeded out, and no one says "There's nothing to do." And that makes me one happy momma. A happy momma of three kids. And ONLY three kids.

Merry December 28th!

At some point today, my cousin Barry muttered that under his breath, and it made me laugh. (I think that he was secretly a little bothered by the change in Christmas tradition too!) Today was our postponed Christmas Day. We awoke to almost NO SNOW! It was so exciting that I made Josh come and look outside. He even managed to muster up a little enthusiasm to humor me. On the drive in to my mom and dad's house, we drove the ACTUAL speed limit. Be still my heart.

Every year, Christmas Day is exactly the same. When I think back on my 34 Christmases, there is really not much to distinguish one year from another. And I love it that way. The people who attend have, of course, changed slightly over the years, but most of the cast is the same each year. My grandparents, my mom and dad, my two sets of aunts and uncles, my three cousins, and my sister. As the years have passed, spouses have been added (then a couple have been deleted and then two new ones added on,) children have been born and we have grown to our current size of 25 people. There are eight kids (although my cousin's oldest is inching ever closer and closer to being a teenager) in all.

Every year, everyone arrives at about 11:00. (This is to allow those of us with young children to have our Christmas morning at home. We kept the time the same this year.) Once everyone arrives (and for once, my family was not late this year--a December 28th miracle), we chat for a bit and then open gifts. I like the gifts that are given during this Christmas celebration. There are store bought gifts and gift cards, but lots of homemade gifts are exchanged too. This year, my kids each got a handmade fleece coat, and John and I got jars of my Grandma's famous salad dressing. Several people got two dozen cookies for each month of 2009 and others got handmade decorations. Abby got a handmade sparkly purple (OMG!!!) leotard and a handmade ballet skirt. My cousin collected things to give the kids "Medford kits," things to use on our annual trip to Medford this summer. I think what I really like is that every gift is really thought out. Even the gift cards are customized to be just exactly right for the recipient. I guess that is what comes from knowing each other so well!

Every year (are you seeing a trend here?) at around two (not much earlier, not much later) we eat. The food is basically the same each year. New foods are slowly introduced over the years ( Good news for me--I can handle changes when they come slowly!) Today, we had parmasean artichoke dip, mini-quiches, and several types of cookies while we waited for dinner. Some of us (ahem, Andrea C. And me.) had a lot of appetizers! Then we had turkey and ham, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, broccoli salad, cranberry jell-o salad, rolls, sweet potatoes, "fluff"(marshmallows, whipped cream and fruit salad) and pumpkin and berry pies for dessert. Almost exactly what we had last year. And you I'm sure that you can imagine how happy that makes me.

Before, during, and after gifts and eating, there is a lot (A LOT) of talking and and even more laughing. The kids play air hockey and foosball and darts. Or run around and fall in the mud like a couple did this year. The football is tossed around more than once. And at least one football game is watched on TV. Times with my family are some of the happiest times in my life. It is comfortable, and it just feels right. I think that is why I was so sad to miss it on Christmas day. It is also why I am so obsessive about family traditions--I want my kids to have that feeling of belonging and comfort and happiness. And today, as I watched them with their cousins and with 17 adults who adore them, I could see it in their faces: they had that feeling. Even though it wasn't the 25th of December, it was Christmas.

The "grown-ups" (aka not my generation--we are still the kids) bought my grandparents a new flat-screen, so everyone gathered to watch them open it. From left, is Lacey, Trevor, Natalie, Katie, James, Abby and Josh. Henry is the only little one missing in this picture. Also, the wood stove was going and as you can see, six of the eight were basically on my lap, so I was HOT!

You cannot even imagine how many versions of this picture have been taken. On every holiday, every occasion, every trip. This one isn't the best of anyone, but I like that we are all laughing. I love my cousins!

The boys, who have obviously been caught doing something? Perhaps eating a red sucker on the cream couches?

Four generations of women. My grandma doesn't EVER smile for pictures, so we have to sneak up on her to get a smiling picture. She knew this one was coming!

Thanks for the pictures, Mom! My blog would never have pictures if it wasn't for you!!

In a Different Light

Two truths about me: 1) I love, love, love Christmas. A lot. And 2) I love, love, love (to point of obsession) family traditions. My mom is not-so-secretly afraid to tell me when something has changed. It took me years to get over the location change of Christmas when my Grandma decided to stop hosting.

This year, for the first year in my entire life (all 33 and 1/2 years of it) my Christmas Day was not the tradition-filled day I am used to. Normally, we have Christmas morning at our house and then head in for Christmas with my big, awesome extended family. It's exactly the same every year, and I don't mind admitting that I get a little grumpy if even one thing about the tradition changes. But this year, because of the snow, we stayed home. We rescheduled Christmas for Sunday. (Who knew you could reschedule Christmas?) I was determined to enjoy the quiet day with my family, and at first I did. The kids were thrilled with their visit from Santa, we had plenty of time to try out new toys and be together, and there were even a few beautiful snow showers. But by about 2 pm, the grumpiness set in. I missed the traditional gathering, and, truth be told, it didn't even feel like Christmas.

As I have mentioned (and my husband will grumpily attest to if asked) I am an avid blog stalker (a lurker is what it's called in the blogging world--I read many, but never comment or make contact with the author of most blogs.) Blogs are fascinating to me because they are so very personal; it's a little like sneaking a peek at your sister's diary. Not that I ever did that. OK, maybe once. I think I like reading them so much because it's a chance to see how other people think. Anyway, several months ago, I came across a blog called "lemmondrops." The author had two little kids and had suffered a relapse of her cancer while pregnant with her now seven month old baby. Her entries are beautiful. She hadn't been doing well and had posted on the 19th saying that hospice had come in. She was worried that she wouldn't have time to get everything done before she died. I opened Google Reader in the afternoon on Christmas Day to find that she had died on the 23rd. She had a three year old and a baby, and I bet she didn't have time to get everything done. Because I bet one last Christmas was on her to-do list. And I was grumpy about a change in the date of my favorite tradition. It certainly put things in a different light.

So I hugged my kids and faked some enthusiasm: "Get on your warm clothes! Let's go for a walk!" As we trudged through the snow, ice and slush in the bright sunlight, my enthusiasm started to be not so forced. And after huge snowball fight, it was genuine. We got home and the kids did crafts and played games while the Christmas lights twinkled and the carols played. It was a perfect day. How lucky am I to have my happy, healthy kids and my husband (who didn't even shove snow down my back when he had a perfect opportunity) and an incredible extended family that I love spending time with?? Traditions are wonderful, but I guessI just needed to see things a little differently to really appreciate what I have.

My New Toy

I am typing this on my new Blackberry!! It is super fun, and who would have thought I could blog on the go?? It is pretty easy to type on, but it will be a while before I can post anything longer than a few sentences. We had a great Christmas, and a post about it will be coming shortly. In the meantime, I'm going to go play with my new toy!

A Martha Stewart Christmas?

Maybe not. But as I look around my house today, I love it just the way it is. It's Christmas Eve, and although Christmas Eve looks a bit different this year, I feel content. For my entire life, Christmas Eve has been a holiday. There has been a big dinner, gifts and family. Due to the weather, this year it's just us at home. I was a little worried when I woke up this morning. What if it didn't feel like Christmas? We spent the morning cleaning and organizing, putting away laundry and getting some last minute wrapping done.

Then we decided to head downtown and walk around. In the RAIN!!!! Hooray!!! No sarcasm today, folks. This native Oregonian has never been so happy to see rain! We went to our favorite little lunch spot, The Sage, to eat, but just as we got there, the owner was putting the chain across the entrance. He spotted our sad faces and waved us up. "Come on up. We can squeeze you in." It was delicious, and then we walked all over downtown in the slush, stopping at stores here and there. We stopped at the chocolate shop for a treat, only to discover they were out of chocolates. The girl working dug out some chocolate for the kids. "Did they all get a piece? My sister has kids, so I understand. Have a Merry Christmas!" Then it was off to the coffee shop where a family hurried to leave so we could have a place to sit down. The Christmas spirit is alive and well here!

Right this minute as I type, (and this is where Martha will want to stop reading. I'm sure that she is a big fan of my blog, after all) the house smells like gingerbread cookies and dinner cooking in the oven. I opted not to roll the cookies, so we have gingerbread blobs, no men. And dinner? It's a casserole that involves Stove Top Stuffing. (But we do all love it. A lot.) And there are no Christmas dishes, place cards or nice silver. But we do have super-cute Shrinky Dink creatures from earlier today and two naked kids happily washing the dishes from the tea party we just had (Diet Coke for the tea, of course, and SpongeBob Cheezits for the tea cakes.) We also have the dueling sounds of Rock Band (mixed with the laughter of father and son) and Feliz Navidad (blaring from a certain Hello Kitty radio with the sounds of two little voices joining in.) And best of all, we have a happy, healthy, content family, together for the holiday. Merry Christmas Eve!

Oh my Lady!

Last week, something happened (I can't remember what) and James said "Oh my lady!" in this really funny voice, in place of "Oh my gosh!" We laughed so hard, and it's our newest favorite family phrase, used whenever "Oh my gosh" would fit. And I certainly had lots of chances to use it this past weekend!

As I may have mentioned (once or twice), it's been snowing here. Last week, we had quite a bit of winter weather. But this weekend. . . Oh my lady!!! Inches and inches of snow have steadily fallen. Over a half an inch of freezing rain had covered the six inches of snow by Sunday morning, giving the snow a really cool "crunchy crust." Then, the snow continued to fall, covering the ice and old snow. Monday morning? More snow had fallen. Amazing. And definitely plan-changing!

We usually have a two-day Christmas bonanza on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But this year, we planned to do two of the six events (nope, totally not kidding) of those two days the Sunday before Christmas. It was all planned. And the weather just laughed in the face of our plans.

We thought about cancelling, we really did. My mom watched the weather forecasts and worried. But decided to go for it. We switched to Saturday to avoid the huge snowstorm that was supposed to hit on Sunday. By the time we left on Saturday morning, the forecast predicted the storm would hit on Saturday night, but no big deal, we could be done by late afternoon. Right? The problem was that it was snowing when we woke up at home, and it snowed all the way to my mom's, and then it snowed all day. It never stopped. It was a beautiful backdrop to a Christmas celebration, but by the time that John and my sister and her family left, it was dark and really, really SNOWING. John didn't have any problems (that he would admit to me), but my poor sister and her family. They made it nearly home, and their wipers completely stopped working. In a blizzard. And they weren't just frozen to the windshield. They were completely not working. They ended up using wire to manually pull them across the windshield the rest of the way home. But first, my sister got to take an exhausted one year old (at bedtime) and try to keep him occupied in Burger King. Lucky girl.

Happily, the kids and I had already planned to stay at my parents' house because Josh had a appointment at Emanuel on Monday. The weather was predicted to be a bit iffy still on Monday, so we decided if we stayed, we'd be closer to the hospital and if it was still slick, my dad could drive us.

We had a great time. The kids had gotten a bunch of presents on Saturday, so they played and did crafts and didn't even fight. Much. We made cookies, took a snowy night time walk to a neighbor's house a block over, and relaxed. I would have been happy to stay forever (I'm sure that my mom and dad are hypervenilating reading that!) but there was a big problem. How could the toys from Santa's workshop make it to my mom's through all that snow? And it seemed that the snow was never going to go away. At least not by Christmas.

When we got up Monday morning, we realized there was no way we were going to appointment on Monday through the 10 inches (!!) at my mom and dad's. We had been there for 50+ hours by then, and I was starting to get really nervous about the whole Christmas morning/ Santa thing. So, my dad, the hero, drove us home. The drive usually takes a little less than an hour each way. It took my dad over five hours to get us here and get back home!!! The drive was a little scary. We had one sliding sideways incident (with a four wheel drive and chains!!) Plus I've only ever seen conditions like that in the mountains--there were a few times when you couldn't see where the road really was and it was snowing so hard: an actual white-out. And when we got here, I was shocked. We have so much snow here. It's well over a foot deep!

Our Arctic Blast '08 casualty. The gazebo didn't make it. RIP Gazebo.

The playstructure-it's covering has survived. So far. And the place where Josh is standing isn't the deepest place in the yard. Not even close!

There is some talk of warming up soon, but there was supposed to be warming on Sunday and we all know how that turned out. For sure more precipitation is headed our way, and I REALLY hope that it comes as rain. But I won't hold my breath. I got really excited last night when I saw the icicles dripping--MELTING!! But then I thought, hey wait. Where would icicles come from when it has been below freezing for nine days? And how are they dripping when the temps are below freezing? That would be our poorly insulated house warming up the roof enough to melt the snow. Helllllooooo, heat bill! Oh my lady!

Here are some pictures from our Saturday night out in the snow:

Abby staying in the shallow end. *** Hey! Where's my eye??

Pizza delivery! That is one piece of ice!

The monkeys loving on each other.

Family Christmas Letter

I am lame. I'd like to blame the weather or basketball (I'll blame anything on basketball!) or even work, but the truth is that I just didn't get myself pulled together enough to do a Christmas card/letter this year. And now it's the twentieth of December, and we've been stuck in the house for days, and well, there just isn't going to be a card this year. But then I had a brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea. A lot 0f people I would send a card to read my blog. I can alleviate my guilt AND do something that I always seem to have the time for AND save on those pesky stamps! (Although I may have to print a copy for my grandparents. . .) So here goes. . . feel free to stop reading if you hate Christmas letters.

Dear Family and Friends,

2008 has been a busy but uneventful year for the Eitzen family. Just the way we like it! Everyone is healthy and happy. John and I are doing pretty much the same things we were doing last year. We are at the same jobs. We have each picked up new hobby this year, however. As you know if you are reading this, I have begun blogging, and have been surprised how much I enjoy it. John went on his first big hunting trip this year, to my horror. He had a great time, but thankfully didn't actually shoot anything. I think it will be a tradition for him now. Hopefully the not shooting anything part will stay part of the tradition!

Josh has had a wonderful year. He loves school and loves sports even more. He will play any sport, any time. He still hasn't quite forgiven us for not letting him play tackle football this year as NFL football is his true passion. We'll let him play someday, but not yet. He did, however, play two seasons of soccer, baseball and basketball in 2008! He turned 9 this year, and I am amazed that he will be in the double digits in less than a year. He is a great kid and has really developed a personality that seems more grown-up than kid-like.

2008 has been eventful for James. He turned five in July, so he started kindergarten. After a brief period of not liking "how quiet" it is there, he has flourished in school. He has learned so much in such a short period of time, and we have discovered that math is a really strong area for him. Even more exciting for him than school was finally being old enough to play soccer. He is an amazing soccer player--so quick and fearless. He truly loved soccer and can't wait for spring to come. James's personality continues to grow too--although he can be a bit of a grump sometimes, he is absolutely hilarious and loving.

Abby has really grown up this year. There is no remnant of baby left in that girl. She is a rough-and-tumble girly-girl. I didn't know such a child existed until I met her. She will tackle her brothers and take them down while wearing a pink ballerina outfit and high heeled Cinderella shoes. She makes me laugh every day and is the sweetest girl. The highlight of her year has been dance class. She was allowed to begin in the 4-6 year old ballet class despite having just turned three in September. She loves every part of it and can be found most often in her ballet clothes and twirling around the house. She just might pause in the middle to slug one of her brothers for getting in her way!

We added some new "family members" to our house this year too. Our cat Littlefoot has now been joined by Max the hamster and Mocha the dog. Max is Josh's responsibility, and I rarely even remember that he is here. Mocha, on the other hand, is a crazy dog. She loves people too much, so we have to keep her contained whenever someone is over. She is very sweet though, and with some obedience classes, I think she'll be a great pet for us.

We are looking forward to a 2009 full of sports and dance and a wild and crazy dog. Probably some wild and crazy kids too. I hope the new year brings happiness and health to you all!

Merry Christmas with love!

The Eitzens

The best of the Sit-By-the-Tree-So-I-Can-Take-Your-Picture Photo Shoot debacle of 2008. . .

Snow Day #4

Today, we had a snow day. We played in the house, went out in the snow for a bit, had friends over, blah, blah, blah, blah. The exciting news of the day was that I got out of the house, drove on the (mostly) bare pavement, and went shopping BY MYSELF. While the kids enjoyed playing with the Denney girls, I finished up Christmas shopping and enjoyed the few brief snow showers as I went. There was one really heavy one as I walked downtown. It was breath-taking. We probably could have had school yesterday, but I think the district was just playing it safe.

Looking for the funny pictures or stories from yesterday? I've got nothing. Stuff happened, but I am having a hard time distinguishing one day from the next. I'll just say that it was another nice relaxing day.

Last night, we took the kids out shopping to choose gifts for each other. It wasn't my plan to do this at Wal-Mart, but Josh had a very specific idea for James and they only had the item at Wal-Mart. In normal weather, each kid would have taken their own special shopping trip, and I would have steered the other two kids to somewhere a little less evil-empire and little more shop-local. But with snow pouring down, me not much of a snow driver, and questions as to how soon the ice would arrive on the street, we decided to make things easy (and evil empire-ish.) We all went together, with each kid having a time to shop alone with one parent. After shopping for their siblings, we purchased the items, headed out to the car in the beautiful falling snow to hide the gifts and found the rest of the fam. It worked well, and although the Salvation Army bell ringer was a bit confused by the time we left the store, the kids were thrilled with their purchases for each other. They really thought it out, and even Abby (after some brief confusion about who the gifts were for and a brief bout of stubborn insistence that James would TOO like a pink princess couch) chose great gifts for her brothers. She is having a terrible time not telling what she bought and she asks every five seconds how many days until she can give them their gifts. She's really excited for the giving. Either she really gets the idea of "bettter to give than receive" or she doesn't understand that she is getting presents too. Let's go with the nicer option.

Stay tuned for a post later today about Snow Day #5. Yep, it's true. Five solid days of snow and ice in Oregon. Snow Day #5 is bringing the excitement of perler beads, more Denney girls, a fairy tale written and acted by only the kids and an afternoon by myself to clean, cook, and wrap presents! Or I might just sit and watch the snow falling all afternoon. . . .

Snow Day #3

So I started to write this post yesterday, but when I went back to re-read it today, I found it full of complaints. And I wonder where James gets it. So I decided to adjust my attitude . Here is the original first paragraph of the post with some "revisions" to my attitude in parentheses. . . .

It's snowing. Again. And a lot. (Which is so cool because how often do I get to watch snow out my window in Oregon. It's beautiful.) The kids are more than a little stir crazy and tired of being in our house. And truth be told, so am I. (I am grateful for these days because #1, we have a house, a nice warm cozy house, to shelter us from the storm. Many people do not have this luxury and have spent the past 72 hours trying desparately to keep their children warm. And #2, I have just spent 72 uninterrupted, un-rushed, non-stressful hours with my three lovely children. We have not had to do one single thing. How often does that happen?) We attempted to bake Snickerdoodles, but something just didn't turn out quite right. They are more like little cinammon cakes than cookies. And why does the recipe always say it will yield a dozen more than it actually yields? (They are DELICIOUS little cinammon cakes, and we have totally scarfed them all down. And who cares how many dozen it makes? We can always make more if we really need more than two dozen cookies.) We also took a walk that lasted all of ten minutes because it is COLD. (I walked a bit behind and watched the three of them walk together, with Josh stopping every so often to help Abby and reaching automatically for James's hand as they crossed a street and James, just as automatically, reaching up for his. Several times, Abby looked at her brothers with such adoration that it just about made me cry. It may have been only ten minutes, but it was a precious ten minutes that I wouldn't have had without this snowstorm.) The house is a disaster, with STUFF everywhere. (Which just shows that we live here and that we have been having fun. No stuff=no fun!)

Check out that dark sky! The blizzard started about an hour later, dumping another three inches at our house.

There were several things that I laughed out loud at yesterday, and the kids (unwittingly) allowed me to photograph them. So now, I can laugh at them at my leisure. . . .

Me: James, your nose is so red--you look like Rudolph!

James: I do?? I love Rudolph. Will you take my picture?

Me: Will you smile nicely?

James: YES!!

Did I say "Will you smile like you are in pain?" Apparently. Better yet? He looked at the camera and said," That's a nice picture, huh? But doesn't Rudolph have horns?"

Next up. . .

Me: Hey guys, find some clothes to put on and we'll go for a walk in the snow.

James (of course): I don't want to. Do I have to go?

Me: Yep, just do it.

A few minutes later,

Josh: Why are you laughing, Mom?

Nice clothes guys. Abby had on two pairs of pants and her new brown suede boots. James is wearing his pajama top and a coat with no hood. And Josh's highwaters give us a nice few of his ancient MESH Nikes. Also, Abby has on one blue and one black newborn sized mitten.

On our walk. . .

Abby: Mommy, help, I can't see.

Me: Wait! Don't move a muscle, I want to take your picture!

It's cousin It!

And last, but certainly not least. . .

How do you know you've been cooped up in your house too long?

When your five-year-old decides to make an early (and hopefully only) stab at cross-dressing. "Hey look at my new boots, Mom! Aren't they nice??"

Recipe sharing!

Sarri had a great idea to share recipes through blogs! I am going to totally cheat, but you will totally thank me later. This is from John, who is actually quite a baker. I, however, am not, so this is the one "recipe" I have copied from him.

Candy Surprise Cookies


Ingredients:


1 tube of refrigerator chocolate chip cookie dough (I know, I know, the trans fats!!!!)
24-36 mini (not fun sized, MINI) Reeses Peanut Butter cups or Snickers (I have been dying to try these with mini Milky Way Darks, but I haven't had a chance yet.)


Directions:

• Grab a chunk of dough from the tube (the same size you would do for a normal to large- sized cookie.)
• Squish the mini candy bar into the center.
• Fiddle with the dough until it surrounds the candy bar and makes a ball.
• Place ball on the cookie sheet.
• Bake according to the directions on the tube.

These are soooooo good and super easy. Obviously. (It will also work with homemade chocolate chip cookie dough, but it won't be as easy. And if you are me, the cookies will turn out like cake instead of a cookie no matter how much you modify the thickness of the butter. But don't get me started on chocolate chip cookies!)



Happy eating!

Snow Day #2

So guess what? I am typing this on yet another snow day! The kids are playing Wii and/or watching Dora because I have given up on screen time restrictions as we enter into our third day of snowbound-ness. The dog is knocking at the door even though she has only been outside for the last three and half seconds. You know all those people who say that you shouldn't get a dog in the winter? Um, yea, they are totally right.

Yesterday (aka Snow Day #2) was fun. I had been planning on having friends Zac and Isaac over, but at the last minute, Teresa got called in to her "other job," so Diana, Mary and Laura joined the party too. Teresa and I have joked over the years that it gets easier with more kids, not harder, and today it was really true. There were no tears, no whining, no arguing, and almost no complaining from James. The kids happily hung out together, switching playmates at random and without hurt feelings. Sometimes they were outside, sometimes they were inside. We have out most of the toys in the house, but it was worth it for the day of peace and harmony we had. These kids have all been friends since birth, literally, and they play together so well and genuinely love each other. What a great day!

I love this picture--lots and lots of snow stuff! I couldn't even get the whole pile in the picture! When Teresa saw it on her way out, she said "That has to be a blog picture." I agree.

Building a REALLY hard scale model of a T-Rex. They were really patient and nice to each other. The two minutes I tried to help were an exercise in not yelling at grade schoolers.

Playdough again. I let them keep playing until it was all so gray and dryish that I "had" to throw it away. Also, I have heard that if a person leaves the cans slightly open overnight, that the drying process happens a bit faster. But I would never.

The girls, hanging out with Buttercup the Horse. The horse that is apparently named Butterscotch, which is much cuter and makes a lot more sense than Buttercup. I really should pay more attention to these things. And it is not an optical illusion The horse is actually nearly as tall as the play kitchen.

Lunch! Quesadillas, fresh veggies, apple slices and hot chocolate (of course!)

See how much they love each other? James looks a little like a kid from Children of the Corn, but I assure you he was having a great time! And could use smiling lessons from Isaac.

Abby and her buddies. These three are inseparable. They give Abby the sisters that I certainly will not be giving her!

I already apologized to Diana for the eating picture! At least it's a cute one--there isn't food hanging out of her mouth or something. . . And that is not vomit that Josh is spooning onto his plate as much as it looks like it. It is sour cream and salsa that he is attempting to mix up.

So now here we sit, again. Little snowflakes are falling, and it has warmed up to 26 degrees. I think a walk may be in order before the freezing rain (!!) that is predicted begins. I am also going to try to dig out enough ingredients to make cookies (thinking ahead is totally overrated), and today I think we may get out the glitter glue and make some Christmas presents. Because who doesn't love a blob of dried glitter glue??

Snow Day #1

Every NW blogger I know has a post titled that, or they will soon! And let me tell you, mine will be positively scintillating.

The thing about me is that I don't enjoy being cold. AT ALL. So, me playing in the snow just isn't going to happen. I did go through a skiing phase in high school, and while I loved it, I just never have gotten into just being out in the snow for the sake of being in the snow. Everyone else has all these fun pictures of sleds, snowmen, and happy smiling children. All I can think is BRRRRR. And unfortunately, I have passed my dislike of all things cold to Eeyore. Oops! I mean James. He starts complaining before he can even get out the door. I have no idea where he got that from. . . When I suggested a snowy walk, he moaned a little and said "Oh, great. Now I'll never get warm again." (Really, we may legally change his name to Eeyore. Eeyore Eitzen has a nice ring to it.)

They went out for a few minutes as I mentioned yesterday, but for the most part we hung out inside. Josh constructed a large Lego fire station, a police helicopter and started on the police station. Then he played Rock Band for a while and everyone will be pleased to know that he finally got into the 90% note completion range on the guitar. He sure was pleased about it. James complained a lot, played Webkinz, alternately fought with and loved on Abby and then constructed a cage, arranged food, and made a bed for a PRETEND dog. The real dog? He complained every time I let her out of her kennel. And Abby? She spilled an entire glass of chocolate milk that she was "spooning" despite the fact that I had already mixed it. Then she played pretend dog with James for a long while. Then she spilled an entire of glass of cranberry grape juice. Then she knocked the large fire station off the table. Into the juice. Where it shattered into tons of pieces. So we were having a great time (and I was giving the mop a workout.)

I decided that we needed something to do (and it certainly wasn't going to be sledding!) So I broke out a bag of trick-or-treat playdough (purchased on clearance after Halloween) that I had been saving for an emergency. We spent two hours making playdough creations. Even Josh. It was really fun!

Josh and I made this tree. I made John tell me it was cute about a hundred times. But it really is, isn't it?

James's Gingerbread man. In Day-Glo.

Abby's um, road? Abstract painting? According to Abby it's a worm that lives on Doh-Doh Island. I should have known.

Then we made a big bed on the floor and watched every Christmas show we have on DVR. Garfield, Shrek, Frosty, Rudolph, the Peanuts gang, Winnie the Pooh (and Eeyore too!) We have nearly three hours worth, even skipping all the commercials. And we watched every one. I may or may not have snoozed through most of them. Pretty ingenious way to "spend time" with my kids if I do say so myself.

Abby was in this picture too, but when I went to post it, I realized that a picture of my daughter spread eagle, wearing only panties was not Internet appropriate. I'm not sure that it's anything appropriate. The thing that I'm curious about is how I looked through the viewfinder and actually took the pictures.

When John got home, he suggested that we get out of the house. Remember, he'll drive in anything. So we headed to the Chinese restaurant, where the heat was broken. Seriously. We stayed though and had delicious food wearing our coats and hats! Then we did a little Christmas shopping pretty much by ourselves since no one else was crazy enough to go out. Then the kids asked if we could get ice cream. Ice cream when the temps are in the 20s? Why not?? So we did that too. We came home and took hot baths/showers, and the kids headed to bed.

Despite a rocky start, it was a great day. I'm going to remember that in June. (Our district website has a little blurb on it today explaining that we'll be making up these days after the school calendar officially ends.) And today? We're home again, along with most of Oregon. And I'll just say that Snow Day #2's post will include the adventures of eight (!!) kids hanging out at the Eitzen house. . . .

SNOW!!

Oregon weather forecaster are known for predicting epic storms that turn into a little flurry of snow and some slush on the roads. Yesterday started out as one of these misguided predictions. It was supposed to be "Arctic Blast!" And when we woke up, it was more like Arctic Trickle. We had rearranged weekend plans so that we could just stay home and hide out from the storm. But since there was apparently no storm, we drove to the Woodburn outlet malls and got new shoes for the kids (and some of the Scotty Dog Gymboree line for Abby at 60% off!)

It wasn't until later that we learned that freeways just fifteen miles to the north were requiring chains and that people in those areas already had inches and inches of snow. We got home and John headed to the grocery store (because unlike the rest of the population of 30,000 in our town, we didn't rush to the store as soon as the forecast came out.)

While he was gone, a blizzard started. (The closest that Oregon ever gets to a blizzard, that is--it was windy and snow was pouring down.) Then the accumulation started. Pretty soon, the chances of a day home from school started to look like a for sure thing. And sure enough, by 7pm last night, school had been called off. I have worked in this district for 13 years, and I'm pretty sure that this is the one of the first times that they have not insisted on the 5am "Go back to sleep, school's cancelled for today, sorry we didn't decide this last night so that you didn't get an adrenaline rush from a early phone call and willl now never be able to go back to sleep" wake-up calls for the teachers. (Oh, and John made it home easily from the store. Being from the midwest, he thinks it's funny how paralyzed everyone gets here by snow and ice. He can drive in any weather. Snow, sleet, ice. And chains? Chains are for sissy native Oregonians. Just ask him. And to be fair, he has never even had a minor fender-bender in an Oregon storm. Not even the year of the ice storm, when he insisted on going to work and was one of only a handful of people in the entire town to drive during those three days.)

It's 21 degrees here right now, and my kids have no snow clothes. At all. We do live in Oregon, where they are needed approximately twice a year, but it was pathetic. They begged to go out this morning. I told them to go find whatever they could that looked warm. After spending ten minutes digging up gloves, hats, and coats and five minutes convincing Josh that a hoodie is not a coat and James that his water shoes are not appropriate footwear, this is the rag-tag crew I saw before me. They lasted five minutes.

James was still mad about the shoes. If you look through the window, you can see the inches of snow piled up on the car!

So, sorry weather people. I misjudged you. This time. We are home enjoying a snow day (that we will unfortunately have to pay back at the end of the school year. Kind of takes the joy out of it a little!) The little kids are alternately loving each other and screaming at each other, while Josh works on assembling the 1500 piece lego city he won at the party. I will spend the day ignoring the screaming, forgetting to feed the kids breakfast (oops) and cleaning the house. Again.

A moment of loving each other. Right now, as I type? I hear screams of "Not Fair!" and "Stop hitting me, James!" and "I'm not hitting you, I'm patting you kind of hard." Fun times.

Abby's Check Up

Oh, yes, it's true. I'm going to take a second to be one of those moms and discuss a well child check. In great detail. Abby had her three year check-up on Monday. Wait, didn't she turn three in September? The September that was three months ago? Funny story. You are thinking that I forgot to call and get an appointment and when I finally remembered had to wait three months aren't you? Wrong. I called in July (how is that for thinking ahead?) and got her an appointment. A perfectly timed, after drop off but before kinder pick up. But then the great lost key incident happened, which resulted in me crying on the phone with the pediatrician's office when I realized we could not make the perfect appointment due to the fact that the keys were in the toothbrush drawer, not to be discovered until 9pm that night. And also the receptionist was REALLY mean to me, and I was overwrought from the relentless key searching that had consumed my entire morning. Anyway, the "next available appointment" was last Monday. And I'm still a little bitter.

Abby was really good at the appointment. Until we were walking through the door, she had insisted that she "was not going to the doctor, you can't make, so neiner, neiner" or something like that. But she marched right in and got weighed and measured (42" and nearly 38 pounds--tall enough for Grizzly River Run in Disney but not heavy enough for a booster seat to put things in Abby's terms,) got checked over, demonstrated her many speech impediments for the doctor, and was pronounced extremely healthy. She is big for her age (couldn't have figured that out on my own,) her weight percentage is finally catching up to her Amazonian height percentage, and Dr. H estimates that she'll be 5'9" when she is fully grown. I'm not supposed to worry about the speech because her receptive language is great and people with kids can understand her, which is apparently some extremely "scientific" way of measuring speech proficiency. By the time she is four, childless people should be able to understand her all of the time. So we'll see about that. She got her flu shot--didn't cry, but was highly offended--and a couple of stickers, and we went on our merry way.

The three-year well-child check was a milestone with James and again with Abby. Josh was not a well child at three, so getting a firm diagnosis of "healthy as can be" at age three feels pretty great! (And sounds a bit like Dr. Suess. . .)

The Christmas Program

Nice clothes for James. Check. (And, James, you were totally not the only one wearing nice clothes. And I apologize for the elastic waisted pants. Someday you will totally hate me for that.)

Such a cutie. I took eight pictures, and not a single one looks completely normal. This gritting his teeth with kind of possessed eyes was the best of the bunch. ..

Nice clothes for Abby. Check. Wait, uncheck. (You, my darling daughter, are a gigantic pain. Would it really have killed you to take off the brown pants with the hole in them and put on the sweet Christmas corduroy jumper? You sure acted like it would. In the end, it wasn't worth the effort. Plus, I was already wrestling your brother into his "nice clothes, ugh.")

Video camera charged. Check. (And thanks to my foresight, we now have a thirty minute video of pure listening pleasure. If you want to see it, let me know. Really? No takers?)

Big brother dropped off at Paige's so that he could get to his basketball game. (Really Parks and Rec? You scheduled games on the night of both the whole school program and the kinder program?)

Snacks purchased and ready for our snack night at basketball. Check. (Conveniently scheduled for the night of the kinder program.)

Early arrival so that we can get good seats. Check. (Inconveniently, the doors were not unlocked until the entire horde of kindergarteners and their parents were swarming the door. So all those disorganized late parents (ahem, totally not EVER me. Because it is totally not true that when Josh was in kinder, we got there thirty seconds before his class walked on stage) got in at the same time as us!

Sit down in our well-deserved good seats. Uh, uncheck. By the time we rearranged James's now messy-from-racing-around-with-his-friends-in-the-dark-cold-night-clothes, we had no chance of getting decent seats. We picked the top row so that Abby could only bug one row instead of two.)

Re-tucked, re-straightened, re-buttoned and ready to take the stage. And sooooo NOT late!

Sweet little faces, cute off-key singing, wrestling in the front row, and Santa taking out a baby during his big arrival. Check. (All the makings of quite the kindergarten Christmas program. And yes, the sweet little face with the big green eyes who did not crack a smile the ENTIRE time? That would be James. Although at least he did the movements. That puts him one leg up on his brother!)

Hey, curb your enthusiasm there kiddo!

And now you were supposed to have your choice of two program excerpts. Number 1, in which James nearly falls asleep on stage and starts to pick his nose at the end (but oh, the sweet little song they are singing. . . I could totally cry) will NOT upload. I'm about to throw my computer through the window. So you are stuck with Number 2, in which the hair of the lady in front of blocks a quarter of the screen for the whole time. It is fine, but will not make you laugh out loud like Number 1 would have. If I ever figure out what the malfunction is (remember when people used to say "What is your malfunction?") I'll edit this post and add it.

Joking aside, I loved the program. I loved seeing the kids sing: the little guys from soccer, the younger siblings of Josh's friends, and the three little boys that I have watched grow up for the last five years. I loved the misbehaved kids, who reminded me that my own little guy stood in his spot, quietly and doing what he was supposed to do. Most of all, I just loved James in his yawning, frowning, nose-picking, doing-it-in-his-own-way glory.

And now introducing. . . the best gift ever. For real.

Sunday morning, John's sister and brother-in-law, Lori and Nevin came to do a little Christmas with just our families. (Lori of the "AUNT LORI! WE LOVE AUNT LORI! fame.) She told me several weeks ago that she'd be giving the kids a little something at the big family Christmas, but that the real gift would be coming on Sunday. She seemed really excited about it, and truth be told, that made me a little nervous. Lori is the best, but when it comes to gifts. . . let's just say that the children's happiness (or hysterical glee) is all that matters to Lori. Past years have brought a drum set, the Whac-a-Mole carnival hammer game, a gigantic bounce house, and various other loud, obnoxious toys. She really is the coolest, but. . . .

What we got was loud, obnoxious, and totally awesome. Rock Band for the Wii. This time the hysterical glee was not limited to the children. You could hear people begging for their turn, and those people would not necessarily have been under the age of 30. It is so fun, and the kids loved it! We spent the rest of the day at home. We had a pizza party, and Aunt Lori gave each kid the undivided attention that she is so famous for. And, of course, the house was full of the sounds of drumming and strumming and really loud rock music and Abby yelling "Rock On!" into the microphone. And can I just tell you that I kind of rock on the guitar. The Easy level, and I never beat John, but still. Thanks, Aunt Lori!!!

Abby has the rocker stance and everything!

Sorry kids, no guitar for you. Daddy needs to complete the tour. Of all 63 songs. Notice that there is no incriminating evidence of me hogging the game. There are benefits to holding the camera.

Taking a break to color with Aunt Lori.

Next up. . Eitzen Family Christmas

As I've mentioned several times, John's parents moved here early this summer. John and I have been together for nearly 18 years (yikes!) and we have never celebrated a holiday with his parents. It is certainly time for some new traditions. John's mom decided to hold an early Christmas in an attempt to get everyone's busy schedules to allow for the whole family to be there. And guess what? It worked.

John's beloved sister and brother-in-law, his brother and his family of five, our family of five and of course, Fred and Karen were there. We played games, exchanged gifts, ate snacks (lots of them) and then a HUGE dinner, and watched some football. The kids really enjoyed spending time with their "big cousins," Jacob (17), Emily (15) and Zach (13). The boys played football and set up James's new race track, while Emily kept Abby captivated just by being a big girl. You know the kind who can wear MAKEUP and everything. It was fun to see them all play together, and I think that I am still full from all the food. Plus, we could totally cancel Christmas now and the kids would hardly notice. But don't worry. I won't.

OK, Let's back up here. . .

In the midst of James's antics, a lot of things happened this past weekend. The next few posts will hopefully get me all caught up. First up, the Emanuel Christmas Party. . . .

Bright and early Saturday morning (of course, not as bright and early as I had hoped--why can't we EVER be on time for ANYTHING??) we headed up to Portland for the Emanuel Christmas Party. The party is always one of my favorite parts of the year, and this year was no exception. No one could help but find their Christmas spirit in the atrium of the hospital on party day.

Six years ago, a nurse at the clinic handed us a flier. "Come see Santa, eat treats, and make crafts." Although we were wading through the quicksand of the first months of treatment, we decided to go. Christmas spirit was definitely a little hard to come by that year, what with the non-stop steroids that had turned our sweet little boy into the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man of Rage and the chemo that had caused the buckets and buckets of barf to spew from Mr. Rage himself. But the party is magical. And by the time we left Josh's little hands were chapped from all the washing (the germs, oh THE GERMS!), and we were all smiling (through some tears) and felt like Christmas had really arrived.

The party is put on by the Miles from Molly Foundation. Molly Thompson died at the age of 4 from a rare form of cancer, having touched the lives of many, many people in the two years she fought her cancer. Her last wish was that her family would "take care of her Emanuel friends," and so the foundation was born. Among many other things, the foundation puts on a holiday bash for any child who has been at the hospital that year, all of "Molly's friends."

When you arrive, the atrium of the hospital is transformed. Tables with decorations (and a table tent with Molly's smiling face on every one, of course), Christmas trees, toys, treats, Christmas music and volunteers with reindeer antlers make you forget that it could even be a hospital.

Then, the DJ announces that the big moment is here. Suddenly, you can hear sirens blaring as Santa arrives in his "train," accompanied by policeman on their motorcyles. Every child's eyes widen and smiles break through. The motorcycles drive right into the hospital and Santa makes his way through the crowd, stopping here and there to touch the cheek of a child or shake a hand. (I can be found blubbering in a corner because I find the arrival so moving.)

And then the party starts. The kids do crafts, enter the raffle, sit on Santa's lap and receive a toy, visit the treat table, get their picture taken on a real police motorcycle with real policeman, play games or get a tattoo from a pretty high school dance team member. The music is cheerful and loud, and as you glance around, you see a sea of happy faces. Some kids are in wheelchairs or red hospital wagons, some kids are in-patient and have IV poles, some kids are bald and pale, some kids have scars that span their entire chests, some are the siblings who are getting a well-deserved day of fun after having to be too grown-up too fast, and some are healthy and celebrating a day of fun at the place that helped them recover. Many parents with the dark circles that tell of sleepless nights get to sit back and relax, watching their children, all of their children, revel in the joy of Christmas.

We attended the party as guests for four years. The next year, we knew that Josh should no longer be considered a patient. Although he still went to Emanuel, it was only for the occasional check-up. Sadly, we knew that our time at the party was up. But it wasn't too long before Christmas that year that we got an e-mail: Calling all volunteers! What better way to give back to a foundation that had given us happiness during some pretty miserable days? And so a new tradition was born. The Thompson family has been so kind to us, even now, allowing the kids to participate in the party as we volunteer. ("Make sure the kids get to see Santa and partipate in the day. You'll always be one of our special families," was what Wendy, Molly's mom, wrote before this year's party.)

We are in charge of the food table. It may not be the most important job, but John, my dad, Josh and I make sure that everyone gets the all-important treats. We chat with families and offer the kids just one more cookie or Krispy Kreme (or even some fruits and vegetables.) As they get older, James and Abby, like Josh, will join in the volunteering efforts so that we can help bring happiness to people who might need it, just like we did years ago.

Moms are not supposed to be in the picture, but EVERY year, someone is too scared to sit with Santa, so every year, there I am. Nice reindeer antlers, huh? And Paige, before you point it out, John is back serving food--someone has to make sure the do-nut tray is stocked!!

The one in which I use A LOT of parentheses and capitals (aka James is the best)

We had a busy, busy day today--more on the Emanuel Christmas that later. This is just a quick (ha! you know that is a lie) post about my funny, funny James.

First, yesterday, he got to a have A PLAYDATE! WITH ISAAC! in the afternoon. It was unexpected, and he had such a great time. But, at the end of the playdate, in one of the epic child-swapping manuevers that my mom friends and I are so skilled at, he was at the school at pick-up time waiting for Teresa to come and get him. As CB and the boys waited, the boys, as they are sure to do at all times and for any reason, started running around like wild monkeys. James, as we have learned over the years, has no common sense when it comes to running games. Despite having run into several parked cars, more than several people and even more curbs, he still insists on looking over his shoulders as he runs. And yesterday, he was doing just that when !!!KABOOM!!! into the flag pole went his eye socket. And this is what he ended up with:

The worst part? I watched him outside today playing with his cousins. And he was totally looking over his shoulder while he was running!

Second, at the Emanuel Christmas party today, Santa arrives on this cool locomotive (which is really an RV or bus or something with a train shell on it. We went to look inside, and Abby said "I think Santa sits here," pointing to the drivers seat. James, without missing a beat, "What about these seats back here? Are they for the dwarves or something??" I love that kid.

Third, also at the party, within two minutes, James had found a teenage girl (one of the volunteers) to attach himself to. She was at the bag making station, and she quickly fell in love with him. Most teenage girls do. He loved her too, and he came home with a bag that says inside a huge heart, "Merry Christmas, James! Love Hayley." I kept asking my mom where he was--"Oh, he's with Hayley." He is such a player.

Fourth, and I did save the best for last, there is a raffle at the party. We already come home with bags full of crafts, toys, and treats, but to add onto all of that, there is a raffle. All the kids get two tickets, and this year, they got to choose the prize they wanted to enter for. There were two drawings, so each kid put in a ticket for one prize in the first round and one in the second. The drawings for the first were held, and. . . Josh won (a huge 1500 piece lego set). James? Burst into tears. We had a long talk about how you can just feel happy inside when something good happens to someone else, and then he cried some more and then he cheered right up (and went to find Hayley and a policeman with a bag full of candy.) Then the second raffle came along and. . . Abby won. The Fur Real Friends Pony. The one you can sit on because it is so big that it has a hundred pound weight limit. He didn't cry. He even said, "That's cool Abby." Half heartedly, but still. After seeing Santa, we were standing at the battery table getting batteries for his new remote control car, when someone came up to congratulate Abby on her new pony.

Me: Abby, I don't know where we are going to put your new pony, but it is soooo cool.
James (under his breath, with a completely innocent look on his face): Yeah, I don't know where we are going to put the nothing that I won either.
Me: (laughing so hard, I was crying.) James, you're awesome.

Who knew that five-year-olds were so accomplished at sarcasm? I guess he has been raised by me, after all. So, life lesson, right? I know he is only five, and it is a hard lesson learned, but I was really proud of him after Abby won. With the exception of one little snarky (but fantastically funny) comment, he was happy for her and didn't complain or even say another word. But when we got home from the Eitzen Family Christmas tonight, there was a message on our answering machine:


"Hi, this is Sally Struthers (nice touch) and I am calling from Emanuel Children's Hospital. I'm calling because after you left (we were on the clean up crew), your name was called for a raffle prize. We called an alternate number (we left no alternate number) for Jim and Mary (my parents) and they agreed to come pick it up (in N. Portland, 30 minutes from their house.) If you have any further questions, please contact Jim and Mary." John and I were trying not to laugh (Sally Struthers??), but James . . . "I knew they said JAMES, not JANE" and his smile took over his face. He bought it hook, line and sinker. Even when I told him that the prize was a pirate Playmobil set (which was definitely NOT a raffle prize option) he didn't even bat an eye. Neither did Josh for that matter. I went into the other room to ask my mom the alter-ego of Sally Struthers (her friend Lisa) and give her a hard time for undoing the life lesson. She told me in no uncertain terms that five is TOO young for this particular life lesson. (The life lesson that life isn't fair. AT ALL.) Plus, Abby won a PONY for goodness sake. I think she has a point.

What's a boy to do?

A few weeks ago, I asked Josh how his Christmas program rehearsals were coming. (Other people I know had been getting daily updates and status reports, but from my tight-lipped boy? No way.) His response? "Terrible," said in an Eeyore voice. What's the theme this year? "Christmas at the OK Corral. It's embarrassing. I reaaaalllly don't like it. AND we have to wear WESTERN CLOTHES." (Oh, the horror. . . ) So I gave him some sort of cheery-mom pep talk. You know the kind. . It will be fun once you're doing it, I'll really enjoy watching you, just do your best, blah, blah, blah. He sighed in that you-don't-understand-way and wandered away.

Two things you should know: 1) The music teacher at Josh's school is WAY into the program. They rehearse for HOURS and in a twist of fate even worse than the western wear, they miss PE for several weeks to rehearse for HOURS more. 2) Josh, as most people know, is not exactly a performer. He doesn't enjoy it and occasionally looks like he is in pain while on stage. Maybe even more than occasionally. He is very reserved and very conscious of what people might think of him. (A little like his mom, I guess)

Basketball also started a few weeks ago. And when we got the schedule, lo and behold, there was a game on the same night as the Christmas program. At the exact same time, so there was no chance of doing some of both. So we had to choose. He had a committment to both things, and I wasn't sure which should be honored. On one hand, his team counts on him; there are only eight players on a team and five are on the floor at a time. One player missing means one less sub. On the other hand, Christmas only comes once a year and he had missed hours of class to rehearse for the program. (Did I mention that they miss hours of class? Oh, I have? Huh.) What to do?

In the end, we decided to let him pick. He just about bit his own tongue off in his effort to say "Basketball!" as fast as humanly possible. I went to the dress rehearsal to see the Christmas program. After twenty minutes of watching him (in the back row, nearly hidden) stand stiffly and barely sing, I realized it was the right choice.

Before watching the clip below, you can turn off the Christmas music (which, by the way, Andrea, does not include any Karen Carpenter--I am soo offended. It's cheesy, but not that cheesy.) by going to the bottom of the page and pushing the pause button. Then you'll be able to hear the all new cheesy music from the show!

I had so many little clips to choose from, but I picked this one because it shows the whole show (which I have to admit is a little embarrassing) and it shows Josh in the height of his enjoyment. For those of you who don't know, the girl next to Josh is Diana and the two first graders (who are also in the height of enjoyement) I pan over to are the three girls I have taken care of for the past eight years! And hey! Check out Abby SITTING STILL. Amazing.

Now, here is the Josh I know and love--the enthusiastic and happy one (well, as enthusiastic as he gets, at least.) And this was before the game even started!

The antidote to oversharing? Grumpy complaining.

In an effort to make you all forget my last post (see below if you want WAY too much over-sharing) here is a Public Notice:

Notice to the General Public (aka People who apparently have too much time on their hands):

I am aware that my child is not wearing socks. And yes, I am aware that it is November. And cold. I am also aware that through a Houdini-like magic, she never has socks on. No matter what I do. She starts the day in socks. She picks them out herself, which you would know because they never match her outfit. However, by the time we get in the car, they are gone. Never to be seen again. If she particularly likes a pair (say, they have rainbow hearts that match literally nothing in her closet) then she'll unearth them at some point and sneak them in the laundry. Because socks that have been worn for two minutes are clearly filthy dirty. So, general public, thank you for your concern, but seriously, get a hobby that doesn't involve noticing the socks (or lack thereof) of other people. And also, people who shop at Wal-Mart shouldn't really cast stones. Or something like that.

In the book

You know the book that I want to publish of things moms say that they never thought they'd say? I have a new one:

Abby had her hands in pants. Again. This time down the back of the pants. I don't want to scar her for life and give her an unhealthy idea about body parts, but seriously, enough is enough. I sent her to wash her hands and on her way there, guess where her hand went? Into her nose.

My line for the book? "Abby!! Wash your hands before you pick your nose!"

Good parenting skills. . . .

Am I being manipulated? You be the judge.

Carter and Abby are quite a pair. Together, they may run the country someday. (I hope that Sarri doesn't mind that I hope for Abby to be the president. Vice president is an impressive position, after all.) They are so darn cute that they manage to convince me to let them do things I would normally say no to. It's like they have mysterious mind-melding powers. Can we paint? Pleeeeease? Can we have a snack (a mere 30 minutes after breakfast?) We're sooooo hungry. Can we watch a show? Or eighteen? Can we have more juice? And then some more? Will you hover over us at the computer so that we can play Nick Jr, which was clearly designed by a cruel non-parent to be impossible for the three year olds the shows are geared for to be able to navigate alone? (They said something like that, I swear.) Yes, yes, yes, of course, sweet little children, with the cute faces and the squishable cheeks, anything you want.

Today, by 8:30 (30 minutes after we got home), I had allowed them to paint (one of those paint with water things, but still), eat two Satsuma Mandarins each, and to get out ALL the crayons (because, you know, you might need eight green crayons at once.) Then a few minutes later, they asked to watch a show. I think that they had strategically planned this one because they already had agreed on a show. Usually the choosing of the show requires negotiation that would clearly train me to negotiate hostage situations, but not today. Today was a unanimous "Dora!" Now, I'm not like SuperNanny or anything, but we do have a general schedule and it doesn't involve beginning the TV watching at 8:30. So I attempted the tried-and-true mom strategy of delayed gratification. "In a while." Abby, on to this game: "How many minutes?" Me: "Oh, a few."

They walked away to play. I should have known that it couldn't be that easy to deflect them. Pretty soon, they began to build a boat/bed (at our house, anything involving blankets on the floor is a boat) in the TV room. They both climbed under the covers and smiled at me. "What are you guys doing?" "Watching Dora!" And they proceeded to pretend to watch Dora. They laid there really quietly looking at the dark TV and every once in a while, one would shout "Swiper, no swiping!" or "Map!" When they asked again to watch Dora, of course, I turned it on. How could I resist? Pretending to watch TV is a little pathetic and besides, Dora is educational, right? Right?

Even better, this happened next. Luckily, I was filming them for this post. . . .

(Abby's line was "Mommy, after this, can we watch a Diego?") Did you see how sweetly she said it? Like, oh by the way, I just had a thought that we could cutely lie here and off-handedly suggest another show. Mind melding powers. For real.