Where I Am

Nickelback, Ferris Bueller, and a great bit fish

2012-01-27T09:30:00.000-05:00

Love people with a good sense of humor:

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It's amazing how having a different soundtrack makes this almost watchable for me. Almost.

Have y'all seen this? Anyone know what it's about?

I feel so un-American saying this, but I really didn't like Ferris Bueller's Day Off. A little too, "Wise in their own eyes," for me. Of course, Sean can't handle the scene with the car flying out the window:

Happy weekend, all!

Random Thoughts

2012-01-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

I was driving down Saginaw Highway today and an amazing blog idea popped into my head. I thought, “I should write that down!” I did not stop to write it down. And I cannot, for the life of me, remember what I was thinking.

Pretty sure there are 1,541 blog ideas residing in the part of my brain I can no longer access.

When am I going to put a notepad and pen in my purse?

I have an iPhone – isn’t there some kind of voice recorder on there? I’ll ask Rebecca. She knows all about my phone.

My Mom occasionally calls me for computer advice. And now I’m looking to my 11 year old to help me. Something is very wrong here.

Rebecca is amazingly fast on the touchpad on my computer. I have to use a mouse but she can drag her finger around that thing and open a zillion pages, copy and paste and print in no time. This from the child who often cannot find her shoes…

Of course, I often cannot find my shoes. That generally happens if I leave them out in the family room and Sean moves them. Poor guy; he’s such a, “A place for everything and everything in its place,” person. I am so, so not. I figure wherever it currently is is its place.

Is there such a thing as Pile-er’s Anonymous?

I thought I’d check – bad choice! Did you know hemorrhoids are also called piles? Wow. That was an unpleasant web search.

I need some pretty after that:

Ah. Much better.

She is that good

2012-01-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

Mom and Dad have been back home for almost two weeks. She continues to recover from her fall at my house on Christmas Day, and is still taking some heavy-duty drugs when the pain kicks in. Recovering from a back injury has not been the speedy process they both hoped it would be. I think they thought if they could just get home, everything would be better. They do have their own doctors and friends and church. They’re sleeping in their own bedroom, although in separate beds, since the twin hospital bed would be a tight fit for two. And they do have the comforts of home, which I know is a comfort to them both. But the healing process is taking its own sweet time.

Last week I was checking in on Mom, seeing how she was feeling. It wasn’t an exceptionally good day – she learned she needed another surgery on her foot. Even though it will be out-patient, she’s not all that excited to go back under the knife. She’d had a bad night’s sleep the night before. Her tummy was upset. I learned none of this from her, of course. My aunt filled me in on all that. Mom just wanted to know how I was doing. I said a few words when she interrupted with, “Are you sick? Your throat doesn’t sound good.”

My own family hadn’t noticed the tickle in my throat but my Mom, under the influence of who knows what drugs, heard the scratch in my voice that I’d only felt a few hours before.

Y’all, she is that good.

I told her I was fine, that I just had a little bit of a sore throat, but not to worry. Three days later, my throat is still sore. And each time I cough, I remember my mom, on the phone, 800 miles away, diagnosed me with a cold and told me to get some rest.

She may have a broken back. She may have a broken foot. She may be loopy on drugs. But she is still a mom. And she knows when her baby is sick.

Man, I hope I turn out like her.

What is it about "singing" dogs...

2012-01-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

that is so stinkin' funny?

Yeah, I don't think so:

see more WIN - Epic Win Photos and Videos

Some days just call for Brian Regan:

Sean, I think I may have found a perfect gift for you!

see more WIN - Epic Win Photos and Videos

Happy weekend!

50's closer than we think

2012-01-18T09:30:00.000-05:00

Today is Sean’s birthday. From now until April 29 I get to be five years younger than my sweet husband. I enjoy these months very, very much.

As we were chatting with Michael last night, he reminded us that, if he takes the path I did, we could be grandparents in six years. Now that was sobering. Not because I’m not excited for my kids to move on and have their own lives, but because I am not old enough to be a grandma. Not. Stinkin’. Old. Enough.

Grandmas have to be at least 50.

Anyway, in honor of my guy, here are some pictures of our trip to the Detroit Auto Show from this past Sunday:

Our first stop is always the Ford display. And only because it's the closest to the entrance.

Rebecca enjoyed this funky chair.

Several times I saw Sean down on the ground looking up under the cars. Of course, Rebecca and Michael had to get into the act, too.

We ran into friends Noah and Joe at the Chevy display.

The new Cadillac ATS - Sean's a fan.

The Matchbox Camaro.

The Chevy concept Miray.

Some other new Chevy - we'd been there about three hours at this point and all the cars were starting to run together in my mind.

Michael couldn't resist sitting in a real stock car, but he felt the need to let Mr. Busch know exactly what he thought of him.

Rebecca in the new Bug!

The kids in a Chrysler minivan. I miss my minivan.

Amy doing a split on one of the rotating displays. Ouch.

It was a great day - after all the craziness in our lives the last four weeks, it was good to just be together. And I can't imagine a better way to celebrate Sean's birthday.

Happy birthday, Sean!

She didn't learn it from us!

2012-01-16T10:22:00.000-05:00

I loved all of Anne of Green Gables, but my favorite part was the drunk scene. If you've read the book, you know Anne puts on a tea part for her friend, Diana. Instead of serving raspberry cordial as planned, she mistakenly serves Diana currant wine. Diana proceeds to down the entire bottle and winds up quite tipsy.

Becca Holderread as Anne, Amy as Diana Barry

Mrs. Barry enters the picture and the budding bosom friendship is put on hold.

I suppose I shouldn't take such joy in seeing my precious little girl play this part, but she was so stinkin' funny! I'm thankful to the directors who helped her make this such a great scene.

Many thanks to Kelle Snavely and Ashlee Granger for the wonderful pictures!

Friday Fun

2012-01-13T09:30:00.000-05:00

I cannot even imagine how long this took, or how organized you'd have to be to accomplish this:

HT: The Chef

Just funny:

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Ouch:

Happy weekend, all!

Back to normal?

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

Anyone who’s known my family for more than two seconds knows my guys love cars. And if you’ve known us for two minutes you know Sean and Michael live for the second week of January. That’s when the North American International Auto Show opens. They talk about it all year long and, because they know the show is coming, they don’t suffer the after-Christmas blues. So when I tell you we have no plans in the works to attend this year’s show, you should get a glimpse into how crazy the weeks after Christmas have been for us.

Yvonne as Marilla and Amy as Diana

Mom fell on Christmas day, was in the hospital for four days, was then moved to the rehab center and has been there for 12 days. In addition, the HPA production of Anne of Green Gables, which I’m fairly involved in, was last week. My dad and aunt did the majority of the care-taking during show week so I could focus on the play, but the knowledge of my mom lying in a rehab center weighed heavily. As soon as the final curtain fell (on what was an amazingly fabulous show with a crazy-good Diana Barry) I reverted to caretaker again and spent a good part of Sunday with her and all day Monday.

We found out at Monday’s neurosurgeon appointment that Mom has been cleared to fly home. She and Dad will head out tomorrow evening, assuming the rehab center can get the paperwork taken care of in a timely manner. We have had great nurses there, but it is a big ol’ bureaucracy in the front office. My sister will be waiting for them in Atlanta, ready to help get Mom home.

I have mixed emotions as I see them plan to leave. I’m happy Mom will be home where no fewer than 112 people have already contacted me, wondering how they can help Mom and Dad. I know my Dad will be happy to back in familiar surroundings. I know they’ll both be thrilled to have a ready supply of clothes – they only packed for four days and the clothes they did bring have been washed within an inch of their lives.

But it will be hard to see them leave, knowing Mom will go through such a difficult recovery so far from me. I can’t help on a daily basis, and will have to rely on my sister, aunt and Dad to care for her. That’s a pretty stellar team of caregivers, so I don’t have to worry. But I still wish I could be with them.

Of course, with Mom and Dad back home, things will settle down here a bit. I imagine I’ll actually start cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping again, chores all shouldered by dear friends and family members since Mom’s accident. And we’ll plan our yearly trek to the Detroit Auto Show. I have never been so ready to see shiny sheet metal in all my life.

Sorry, ladies - he’s taken

2012-01-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, my Mom fell at my house Christmas morning. She broke a vertebrae and all five toes on her left foot. She spent five days in the hospital, and has been in a rehab facility nearby since Thursday afternoon. To say I was preoccupied with helping my mom and dad last week is a bit of an understatement. Cooking, cleaning, laundry and childcare were not on my radar.

They were, however, on Sean’s. He cooked, cleaned, washed and cared for Michael, Amy and Rebecca while I spent days and nights at the hospital. When friends graciously provided meals, he served them up and put away the leftovers in such an organized way – when I finally was able to work in the kitchen Sunday afternoon it was obvious an engineer had been there. My fridge is never that orderly.

Sean washed and dried (and dried flat when required) my parents laundry. (He was not pleased that some clothes have laundry info on the tag at the neck, but others have that information on the tag on the side.) He also took care of our family laundry, including all the towels and sheets. My laundry closet is stocked the brim with clean towels and every sheet we own, save the ones on our beds.

He has done all of this without complaint, save that he missed me. And that’s a complaint I took as a compliment.

Mom will be in the rehab center here for at least a week, possibly longer. We’ll know more on Wednesday when we meet with her case manager. And even when Sean heard her stay could be up to three weeks, he said, “No problem.” And he meant it.

I’ve always known I had a good guy on my hands. But last week proved I married an amazing man.

And he's pretty cute, too!

Most Read Friday Fun

2011-12-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

This Friday post was one of the most popular Friday Fun posts. Hope you enjoy it again!

Can't go wrong with Brian Regan:

Silly me; I just use a notecard for my recipes:

Michael assured me this was really, really funny:

I do not want to live on Cotton Lane:

And today is the first rehearsal for HPA's The Wizard of Oz! Thought we'd take a peek at this clip from the London show, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber:

Happy weekend, y'all!

Who is Cristina Carlino?

2011-12-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

(Another entry in the most-read blog posts of 2011. Almost every day, the words Cristina Carlino lead people to my blog. At least it makes more sense now that I've actually written those words!)

When I first started my blog, I checked my stats all the time. I was constantly – seriously, hourly – checking to see if anyone was stopping by my little corner of the internet. Not smart. While the reason I write my blog is mainly for myself, no writer wants to go unread. So after a while I stopped the masochistic exercise and didn’t look at my numbers for a while.

Over the years, I’ve gained a few readers (thank you, thank you, thank you!) and tracking my page views has become less depressing. On a recent peek at my stats, I checked to see what search words were landing people at my site. Some were obvious – Where I Am, Christy, Amy Grant, 2 Friends Tour. One surprise was Kyrie O'Connor, from Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me. But there are three words that put people on my page even more than those. I suppose this shows my lack of search word know-how, but for the life of me I cannot understand how people searching for these words are ending up here:

Cristina Carlino divorce

Straight to Google went I. Who the heck is Cristina Carlino? Was she ever married? Is she divorced now or did they patch things up? Here’s what I found: “Cristina Carlino is best known as a visionary entrepreneur who created philosophy,” which is a line of cosmetics. I rarely write about cosmetics, so I still didn’t see the connection with her name and my blog.

I moved on to the divorce portion of our program. I must be a really bad Google-r, because I couldn’t find anything official to indicate whether or not she’s married, much less divorced. I did find a chat group where one person said she’s divorced and another said she's not. Certainly nothing in the way of a credible source said anything at all about her married status.

Then I decided to search just, “Cristina Carlino.” And what do you know, my little blog popped up. What in the world? Well, it seems back on April 30, 2009, I posted a press release about AG and her (then) newest song, She Colors My Day. Guess who wrote the song? Yep: Cristina Carlino. I didn't even remember it. Sheesh.

So the mystery of why Cristina Carlino keeps coming up on my stats page has been solved. I didn’t need Google; all I needed was to search my own blog.

I think I’ll go back to not checking the stats again for a while…

Heels or no heels? That is the question.

2011-12-28T09:30:00.000-05:00

(Another popular post from 2011 - unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson. On our second visit I wore the same shoes. Thankfully we didn't walk as far.)

Monday’s college tours proved interesting. The one school I had no interest in Michael attending turned out to be the most appealing, and the school I was sure he’d pick proved a tad problematic. We have tons of information to sift through and a bunch of financial questions to answer (like who in the world has $40,000/year to pay for college?). But as a service to my friends who have children slightly younger than Michael, I’d like to provide the one piece of advice I wish I’d had before I went on those two campus tours Monday.

Do. Not. Wear. Heels.

I guess I thought we’d sit in a conference room, go over his transcript, talk class schedules and financial stuff. Somewhere along the line my brain didn’t process the word, “tour,” because if it had, I most certainly would have worn flats.

College #1 is, thankfully, not a sprawling campus. It’s comprised of three main buildings which are fairly close to each other. I was fine through this whole tour. It wasn’t until I sat down in the car to head to College #2 that I realized my choice of footwear was not the wisest. “Oh, well,” I thought, “If the next place is like this, I’ll be fine.”

Not so much.

College #2 is set on a beautiful, wooded piece of land. A very large, wooded piece of land. And there are many, many buildings separated by lots and lots of walkways. And we walked on all of them. I’m pretty sure we were on some of them twice.

By the time we were finished, my big toes were bleeding and I wasn’t sure my feet would ever go back in a pair of shoes again. And I was okay with that. Perhaps going barefoot would be a new trend. I was willing to be the trailblazer for the barefoot look.

We stopped for a potty break before heading home but I couldn’t get out of the car. Turns out I can’t do the barefoot look because I cannot walk barefoot in a gas station. Sean and Michael found some Band-Aids for me and I began doctoring my toes that by this point were screaming at me. Pretty sure they were saying, “Why didn’t you wear the cute black flats?!”

Oh, little piggies, I was thinking the same thing.

So for all you Moms heading out for college tours, remember, write down your questions about class size and job placement after graduation and financial aid. And please, I am begging you, remember to wear flats. Your toes will thank me.

It's Camper Time

2011-12-27T09:30:00.000-05:00

(Over the next several days, I'll be posting a few of the more popular posts from 2011. This one certainly generated a few comments and a call or two from the grandparents.)

This is Michael’s senior year, but it seems we can’t go a day without discussing some aspect of what he’ll be doing next year. Yes, folks, we are looking at colleges. I know we aren’t the first parents to do this; folks all over the globe have sent their kids to college. But this is the first time we’ve ever done it, and the prospect does seem to be taking up an inordinate amount of conversational space. But after hearing Michael’s grand scheme for how he’ll live after college I’m thinking he may just want to skip the dorm and buy a camper.

Michael making his budget

At dinner last night, Michael told us he intends to buy a camper to live in after school, thus saving money so he can eventually buy a house. Now, that sounds pretty good. Only problem: he intends to park it in various super-mart parking lots, thus avoiding any rental fees.

Aside from the obvious trespassing problem, I brought up the concept of running water. He’d already thought of that: he’ll buy bottled water for drinking, and use whatever supercenter he is parked in for brushing his teeth and potty breaks. (I blame a friend at church for putting the, “Use a public restroom to save on water and toilet paper,” idea in his head. You know you who are, Dr. M.)

“What about showers?” I asked.

“I’ll join the Y. If I have a membership, I can shower whenever I want.”

“What will you eat?” I asked.

“Hot pockets, soup and Coke,” answered Michael.

“Do you have a Pepto Bismal budget?” asked Dad.

Michael countered, “I’ll have a sweet car, a camper, food, a place to shower and a job. What more could I want?”

“Friends,” said Rebecca.

He continued sharing his monthly budget with us: $50 for Hot Pockets, $12 for easy cheese, $40 for car washes. The boy doesn’t want to spend any money on electricity but he’s all for spending money on car washes?

I admire his desire to save money. That is a good thing, and I know I had a hand in drilling “Save, baby save,” into his head. I didn’t, however, think he’d want to save by living in a camper in various parking lots around the city.

After we’d enjoyed hearing Michael’s plan, Sean pulled out his Bible and we settled in for the next chapter in I Kings, the book we’ve been reading together. It was I Kings 17, which introduces the story of Elijah. And how did God take care of Elijah? “’You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.’ … The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”

“Man, I need some ravens!” said Michael.

Or maybe you could just have an apartment with a stove, honey.

Well, I wasn't expecting this

2011-12-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

Last week I worked on factoring with Rebecca, something I never planned to do on Christmas break. Apparently, that was just getting me ready for what I’m doing today, because I REALLY didn’t plan to be doing this: sitting in a hospital room with my mom while she waits for surgery on her foot, which she broke falling down my steps Christmas morning.

The foot is the least of her concerns, though. She also fractured her T7 vertebrae. She is in so much pain that they’ve moved her from morphine to dilaudid and the first dose barely touched her. Thankfully, Nurse Kelly just gave her another push and that seems to be doing the trick.

All the nurses have been fabulous, even the ones working on Christmas day. A husband-wife team of nurses took care of her in the ER last night, and since we moved to her room we’ve been beyond pleased with the nursing teams.

My plan for my little corner of the blogosphere this week and next was to do a few best-ofs; that is still my plan, starting tomorrow. But it just didn’t seem right to start off like that when so many friends and family members may be checking here for an update.

Thanks to everyone who’s prayed, sent emails and Facebook messages. Hanging around the ER was not how we planned to spend Christmas. But it made me think that Mary certainly had to revise her birthing plan when ol’ Joseph said to saddle up and head to Bethlehem. That change of plans worked out pretty well. Just another reminder that his ways are not my ways. But they are the best ways.

Merry Christmas Fun

2011-12-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

I have heard there are people who don't think the movie Elf is all that funny. I do not understand those people. We love it and enjoy watching it each Christmas. Will Ferrell, if you're listening, please make more family-friendly comedies!

Oh, y'all, how do you not laugh out loud at this? Too great!

Merry Christmas!
Christy

Factoring Update

2011-12-21T15:57:00.001-05:00

So Rebecca and I continued our factoring. The two non-math girls doing math when we both wanted to be doing, oh, ANYTHING, but math.

When we finished, I looked at the board and cracked up:

Sean would go crazy! There's no rhyme or reason to how I wrote anything! Big and little numbers all jumbled together. Although I must say I think my handwriting on the board is showing great improvement.

Then Rebecca said, "I want to take a picture of it, too, Mom." Here's her shot:

People, if you weren't convinced by now that Rebecca and I favor other subjects, this should prove it to you.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do something with words. Like make a list. That I'll pin to my shirt.

This was not on my list

2011-12-21T11:48:00.000-05:00

It is December 21. I am doing factors with Rebecca. I am CERTAIN this was not on my list of things to do four days before Christmas.

If Rebecca asks me one more time why factors are important, I am throwing the, "It will help you with division and multiplication and fractions in the future," line out the window and will scream, "I DON'T KNOW! I never use factors and wish I were doing anything other than figuring out the factors of 60."

I know this was not on my list. Not that I can find the list, but I know if I had it, "Do Factors" would NOT be on it.

Ugh.

Here are a few of the factors we've been working on. We're about to work on Greatest Common Factors (GCF). Rebecca says, "Blech." A girl after my own heart.

Six days to go

2011-12-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

A week before Thanksgiving I felt like I had the holiday season well in hand. I had two weeks’ worth of menus written, the groceries purchased for the Thanksgiving dinner and the aforementioned menus, had ordered a few Christmas presents, and was confident I would not, the week before Christmas, be thinking, “Holy cow, where did December go?!”

I was wrong.

Holy cow, where did December go?

Even Rebecca, my 11 year old, said yesterday, “Usually it takes forever for Christmas to get here but this year Christmas came really fast!” Out of the mouths of babes.

You may remember I wrote about my intent to be calm and focused this holiday season. I said,

This December I am actually going to make to-do lists (I’m sure my husband is thrilled and amazed and skeptical). And to avoid letting Madison Avenue steal the joy of the birthday celebration from me, I’m going to read a bit of Luke every day this December. The story of the baby born in a manger, who grows up to lay down his life – pretty sure focusing on that will keep the reason for the season front and center.

I’m happy to say I have been reading Luke every day, but those to-do lists… Let’s just say Sean was correct to be skeptical. I really did make a few but I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if I have any idea where they are.

So today, I intend to make a list of things I have to do this week before my sister’s family and our parents fly up to spend the weekend with us. I may have to pin it on my coat like a kindergartener so I can keep up with it.

Friday Fun

2011-12-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

I would LOVE to see one of these things happen!

(RT: Melissa D)

Holy cow, I looked high and low for a sweater just like this. And the hair - love the 80's hair!

This looks so cool:

Good advice:

Happy weekend!

Oh happy day!

2011-12-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

I have one happy boy on my hands. Michael got the Fiero back last night.

Totally Terrific Tuesday Family Fun Night was spent driving to meet Mr. Fiero at his shop. And by shop, I mean a barn behind his house. And this barn is full of parts. Fiero parts and other GM parts were stacked floor to roof, but it was obvious Mr. Fiero knew what was in each pile and given the challenge to find a bolt for a 1984 Fiero, he could do it. And we knew he could because he did. He pieced together Michael’s car from a part here and a part there – he had three “parts cars” that he stripped in order to find pieces. A little bit of this, a little bit of that…

These pictures are for Sean's dad - he would have loved Mr. Fiero's shop!

As we were admiring his handiwork, Mr. Fiero said, “I wish my late wife were here. She loved it when families would come over. She’d have you girls in the house doing something crafty while we talked shop out here…” His voice trailed off and it took everything in me not to cry right there in that garage.

We thanked Mr. Fiero for all his incredible work, Michael slid into the driver’s seat, and something magical happened: the car started.

It was a very, very good night for the boy. And for the Dad. And the Mom, too.

The boys gassing up - Michael's car ran out of gas as he pulled into the gas station. We had to push him to the pump. I hope that's the last time we push that car for a while!

Girls against the boys

2011-12-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

Talk about mixed emotions. I’ve got two children who can’t wait for tomorrow, a husband and son who don’t want it come, and I could go either way.

See, tomorrow, Sean gives the Camaro back. He’s had this company car for six months and I’ve never known him to love a company car more. His Pontiac GTO was fun, but, in his words, “not as cool as the Camaro.” Michael, of course, has loved it every minute of it. The boys have been happy, happy, happy these six months.

The girls, however, have not. If Sean was driving them somewhere, one of them would end up in the backseat which, according to a friend, is like sitting in a coffin. There truly is no leg room, and if you’re over 4’5’’, no headroom. They are ready for a more spacious ride.

During these six months, if we all had to go somewhere, we’d have to take my Malibu. While it technically seats five, when one of the backseat passengers is 6’1” and the other two don’t want to be touched, the ride is not always pleasant. There have been times I’ve gotten on my high horse and ranted, “We are fortunate to have two cars! Be quiet and be happy!” Easy to say from the front seat.

Sean knows the car he’ll get tomorrow is an Enclave, an SUV that seats seven or eight. When he pulls in the driveway there will be much rejoicing from the, “Don’t touch me crowd,” and Michael will be excited to put another vehicle on his, “Cars I’ve Driven,” list. But Sean, though happy with any car, will be sad to see his hot rod go away.

We’re going on a date this evening to mark the last night of the Camaro. I’m sure we’ll drive around a bit, feeling young and hip in that little sporty car one more evening. Until, of course, I have to get out of the thing. Hoisting myself out of the seat that practically sits on the pavement one last time will make me grateful for the SUV that’s coming tomorrow.

I've loved the car because Sean's loved the car, but I must admit, I'm really, really happy about that Enclave. Sorry, dear, but I think I have to side with the girls on this one.

Family Fun Night Advent Calendars

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

By some stroke of magical scheduling, my entire family was home the past two Tuesdays. We haven’t had a good Totally Terrific Tuesday Family Fun Night (TTTFFN) in so long! And we made the most of it.

Last night we made our annual advent calendars. I remember making these calendars with my twin sister when we were very young; it’s a fun tradition my mom started that I’m passing on to my children.

You start out by making a calendar grid on a piece of paper. Have lots of paper handy because making this grid is not as easy as you think it will be. Seriously. Lots of paper and several rulers.

I meant it when I said lots of paper. This is mine with several mistakes. I thought I could make it work when all I messed up were the numbers; when I forgot Sunday I started over.

Here's the engineer's perfectly spaced calendar. Notice the drawings; my favorite is the snowman.

Amy's finished calendar is on the left; Michael's is on the right. They both have some nice patterns going with their Hershey kisses.

And here's Rebecca's. Notice she eschewed the traditional calendar format for stars. Love the way she thinks outside the box. She thinks so far outside the box I don't even think she knows there is a box.

I'm not terribly crafty, so I'm always happy when we can do something simple but still considered craft-like. And anytime I can incorporate chocolate into crafts and TTTFFN, well, let's just call that a major win-win!

VeggieTales' The Little Drummer Boy

2011-12-05T10:59:00.000-05:00

Not long after Michael was born, a round little tomato and his funny cucumber friend entered our lives. Michael, being 1, wasn’t terribly impressed, but Sean and I loved Bob and Larry instantly. We can still sing all the songs from that first release, Where is God When I’m Scared?, and the story of Daniel, with Larry playing the lead, is my all-time favorite VeggieTales story. “Oh no, whatcha gonna do? The king likes Daniel more than me and you…”

The vegetables were staples of our video diet for years. When I heard Bob and Larry were going to make an appearance at a local book store, I drove little Michael and Amy to meet them. Michael high-fived Bob and Larry; Amy hid, scared out of her mind. She much preferred her veggies confined to the crisper drawer and the TV.

Even though our kids aged out of the VeggieTales target market, we all still enjoy the cornucopia that is the veggies. So when I was given the opportunity to preview their latest offering, The Little Drummer Boy, I jumped at the chance. And last weekend, just like we did years ago, we gathered ‘round the television to check on Bob, Larry, Junior, and the rest of the Veggies.

The press release sums the plot up nicely: In this Veggie-version of a holiday classic, Junior Asparagus stars as The Little Drummer Boy, a lonely child who finds the true meaning of Christmas when he stumbles upon the birth of the baby Jesus. A story of generosity, hope and love, this timeless tale will warm the hearts of children everywhere!

I wasn’t sure what to expect, considering the original VeggieTales company had gone bankrupt and a new media outlet had purchased the rights to all the characters, stories and songs. Would a VeggieTales movie created under their leadership still bring a clear Christian message? In a word: yep.

There is still plenty for all to laugh at, and lots of references that only parents will catch (the camel in the Luke Skywalker land speeder is genius). And thankfully, there is a clear message that the baby Junior plays for is, as Magi Bob says, our, “Savior, priest and king.” Phil Vischer’s presence is still present.

And the Silly Song – The Eight Polish Foods of Christmas – is fabulous. It is an older song that we had on cassette (I know, cassette!) years ago and it was so fun to see it animated. Polish food is basically meat, wrapped in dough. The prune reference is priceless and informative at the same time.

VeggieTales’ The Little Drummer Boy is a fun movie and an even better conversation starter – what would you give? What can you give now?

Even non-VeggieTales fans will be won over by Junior’s little drummer boy and the message in the movie. The press release actually is true: The Little Drummer Boy is a story about generosity, hope and love. And, of course, a silly song about kielbasa, fried chruscikis and pierogis.

Christmas lights and Straight No Chaser

2011-12-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

This Tuesday we were hoping to begin our annual tradition of looking at Christmas lights for Totally Terrific Tuesday Family Fun Night. Instead, we stayed home and watched snow fall. And fall. And fall. We got a lot of snow. Yay snow! (I'm trying really hard to have a good attitude about it this year...)

Anyway, this will have to tide us over until next week:

Sometimes you should wait to hit post:

see more Failbook

Seriously?

see more Epic Fail

Love these guys!

Happy weekend!

First Things First

2011-11-30T11:07:00.001-05:00

I wrote this post in response to BlogHer's Life Well Lived Getting Happy question, "What are some of your best tips for surviving the season of parties, celebrations and family get-togethers." I encourage you to click on over - and enter to win a $250 Visa Gift Card. A little extra cash right now won't hurt anyone!

The Christmas season is upon us, the time of year we envision evenings by the fireplace, sipping hot chocolate and singing Christmas carols with family and friends gathered ‘round. But reality is often light years away from the serene scene. Even though I start December with every intention of focusing on the reason for the season, by the middle of the month I’m flying through stores, desperately trying to remember everyone on my list. Heck, I’m desperately trying to find my list.

So what happens between December 1 and December 20 that takes me from a carol-singing festive mom to a caffeinated, stressed out holiday shopper? Poor planning. Sometimes it really is as simple as that. Remember that list I mentioned? It doesn’t exist. I’ve always thought list people were uptight types who couldn’t go with the flow. It’s taken 19 years living with a calm, focused yet fun list person to show me the error of my non-list ways. This December I really am making a list and checking it twice. (I just hope I can keep up with it.)

When I do feel a bit crazed by the commercialization of it all, it does me good to remember what we’re actually celebrating. This is not some generic, American holiday. This is the celebration of the babe born to save. A quick recollection of Luke 2 helps put things in perspective.

This December I am actually going to make to-do lists (I’m sure my husband is thrilled and amazed and skeptical). And to avoid letting Madison Avenue steal the joy of the birthday celebration from me, I’m going to read a bit of Luke every day this December. The story of the baby born in a manger, who grows up to lay down his life – pretty sure focusing on that will keep the reason for the season front and center.

I find I’m especially drawn to this song this Christmas season. Yes, it’s by Amy Grant, but more than that, the words are exactly how I feel. (It might send you to YouTube - just know it's worth a listen.)