Merry Xmas!

Merry Xmas from our house to yours! 

Nerf Gun Wars

"Mom - did you get any more double A batteries" (It's 7:45 am on a school day and Ian is supposed to be eating breakfast)
"Not yet. What do you need batteries for anyway?"
"Max's Barricade. It's the only [Nerf] gun that Lucy (Age 4) can load and shoot."

Not sure if I should be over the moon because the boys are including their (very independent) four year old sister in their Nerf gun wars, or terrified that my four year old is going around shooting things with a Nerf gun. What a weird place to be.

Go Cowboys!

Got to sit still for a while today and actually watch a football game, as it was on, commercials and all. Well, about half of it at least. It's so rare these days that we watch football live - and I'm a football junkie so getting the score reports on my phone AS we are watching the game is a treat. Usually I'm out somewhere (soccer), doing something (watching soccer), and I see the game later (after soccer), so live football is a rarity. It was well worth the time to sit and relax and watch the boys beat [scrape by] the Steelers. 

Go Cowboys! 

(You had the better uniforms - we knew you were going to win from the start just because of that!)

Coach Tom

Coach Tom

Meteor Shower!

Saw a meteor shower tonight, and all Tom had to say was "I'm cold." Yeah, cold. Here I was, all excited about seeing the meteors, which I have a TERRIBLE track record of catching, and my stinky husband was complaining that he was cold. I not only saw one, but three separate meteors. It was simply fantastic. Thank you Geminid for flying over my house, but not too close. And yeah, it was kinda cold out - only 32 degrees, but still - METEOR SHOWER.

Meetings

Had to go to two different meetings tonight - both at the same time. This month and last seem to be filled with overlapping meetings, which cuts down on the number that you need to attend, but also keeps you out of the loop and makes you play catch up. Fortunately I'm in touch with folks who have attended those meetings, but still, it's a lot of meetings. The next few weeks look lighter - much lighter, so that's a nice break from the crazy schedule.

And now it's time to get back to the music!

Middle School band concert = simply awesome. 

Outside Trees?

Saw an article about decorating your front porch for the holidays a few weeks ago and felt a little inadequate, and also felt very under-inspired to do anything out there. The porches in the article were GORGEOUS and well manicured, and it all seemed so overwhelming. Then I wandered into Target, and saw an artificial tree for $20. My brain went to town with that one (Who knew they had $20 trees?) and we are now the proud owners of said $20 tree, a slew of tiny ornaments, some twist tie hanger things that keep the ornaments attached to the branches  and some fake snow. The yellow cord, albeit visible all the time from every angle, is essential so I'm not going to complain. The lights are cool, the fake snow is cool, the ornaments are cool, and the $20 tree was a total score. 

Soccer for the bigs and little!

First weekend of winter soccer for the whole family. It was Max's first game of the season,  Ian and Sam's third indoor game, and Lucy's first pick-up ever. 

Indoors for the bigs:

 Max at the Dulles Sportsplex (in white)

 Sam in goal at the Fairfax Sportsplex

 

Ian (#10) at striker at the Fairfax Sportsplex

And outdoors for the little one: 

Lucy's first pick-up soccer game (she's in the pink coat and blue pinnie)

Happy Hanukkah!

6am Lice? No. Not really.

Ugh. At 6am this morning, about 50 minutes before my alarm went off, I woke up. And it wasn't a wake up then fall back asleep wake up, it was a wake up, have that startling thought that you might have this terrible thing called lice, then sit there and wait for the next 50 minutes until your alarm goes off wake up. It was one of those times that you curse your brain for running amok. Normally I'm a HUGE proponent of my brain running amok, but when it messes with my sleep, well, it is not a good thing.  And the lice? Well, we've had lice before in this house - early last year they made a stop here. But this isn't me with lice, this is me with an itchy scalp likely due to low iron and some minor hair loss (I have loads of hair so no worries there), a friend with a kid that has nits (no live lice that she can see but the kiddo does have nits) and this brain crazy of mine running amok. So there I sat at 6:03am, then 6:32am, then 6:45am, cursing my brain. Ugh. But at least I don't have lice. Hopefully tonight will be better, and I'll sleep a little longer tomorrow morning.

Nasty Crabs

Lucy: Mom - Can we go to the beach to see some nasty crabs?

Long pause. Do I even ask her what she means by that or just say yes and let it pass? 

Me: What do you mean nasty crabs?
Lucy: You know, the ones that crab you.

Having a four year old with significantly older brothers immediately raises my suspicions in conversations like this. What exactly did they tell her - that's always the question. And you should hear some of the other things that they tell her, and of course, that she repeats. It's usually at the top of her lungs in the school office, the grocery store, or another public place where I can't run and hide.

Middle of the night mouse hunt? Really?

Klaus, a former resident of our old house - found and
evicted by our two cats and my lovely husband

I have a vague recollection from last night of my husband telling me not to get out of bed - "He has a mouse." Really? Huh? My half asleep brain said "O.K., back to sleep." and that was it. Apparently our cat found the one random mouse that wanders into our house twice a year. He finds them all, so not sure why they bother coming in. Fortunately it's only once or twice a year in this house, and it generally doesn't end well for the mice. But the middle of the night mice hunts are always a big deal - running around, meowing, huffs and puffs - all from the cat. He really stirs it up when he hunts his middle of the night mice. Then come the words of consolation from Tom when he takes the mostly dead mouse from Bunsen. He generally plays with them to death and wants them to keep playing with him, so he's sad when Tom takes them. It's mouse control at it's finest, and for whatever reason it's always in the middle of the night.

So what do YOU want for Christmas?

Oh how some things change, and some stay exactly the same. I could have written this post just now. My boys are older, and the seven year old mentioned here is now 12, and he is asking for the latest and greatest Nintendo DS thingy. He is all about the DS XL I guess, but they all look the same to me, and just like five years ago, he ain't gettin' one this year. But the difference between the 2007 request for the DS is not only that he owns a run of the mill DS, but also a kindle Fire, and now an iPod Touch. Talk about loaded, they really are set until they are 80. Sigh..the well planned kid campaign is likely to strike again, but this time the kids has his own source of income. Life HAS changed, oh yes, it has. 

December 12, 2007

So what do YOU want for Christmas?

It's a question that we all ask our kids as the holidays approach. "What would you like for Christmas and Hanukkah this year (we celebrate both)?" I figure that the boys are all old enough now that they canactually give me answers. Boy, was I wrong. I asked the first one I could grab and all I got was "I already told the teacher at school what I wanted." Huh? So I peeked on the list the next day at pre-school and all it said was Pokemon cards. Easy enough - especially if that's all he wants. He's 4.5 and doesn't have a lot of needs, and apparently not a lot of wants either. So, I hunted down the next kiddo. He's also 4.5 and I thought he was going to be a bit tougher. "Well, I want Pokemon cards." Man, this is going to be an easy year for me - all I need to buy is Pokemon cards. I was hoping my luck would hold out and sure enough it did..sort of.

I asked the oldest what he wanted, if he had thought about it at all. "Yeah, Mom. I want a pack of 60 Pokemon cards - but make sure they are the Diamond and Pearl kind." Woo Hoo! Pokemon cards all around - done! "And a DS." Thud. That was my trophy for my perfect record of getting my kids exactly what they want for the holidays hitting the ground and smashing to pieces.

Up until now they haven't asked for much, and we were able to supplement their wants with things that we thought were cool. We avoided the whole "We want a puppy!" thing this go round - they went through that phase a few months ago (we're cat people) and thankfully it passed quickly. But this whole Nintendo DS thing has been in the works for a several months now. "But J has a DS and he has all the cool games" and "But all my friends have DS's and I don't." and "But this one game only runs on the DS and I really want it." Yeah, but you guys have three Game Boys, a Game Cube and a computer, and that's plenty. I'm sure I did the same thing when I was a kid, and I'm sure this is my payback. So, I told him very clearly, "I'm not getting you a DS." Crickets. You could hear them all the way from Richmond. And the look on his face when he finally realized (after me telling him this exact thing five other times prior to this particular conversation) that he wasn't getting a DS was decidedly...normal. Huh. He's seven so I was expecting more complaining. But then again he's seven, so it may be just the beginning of a huge campaign to get himself a DS.

And to make it worse, my hubby questioned the fact that we weren't getting them any electronics for Christmas - not even a single game for their current systems. I'm sure that these three kids have plenty of games and plenty of electronic things to keep them occupied well into their 80's. (For the record they are getting some cool presents, just no electronics.) And I'm sure that he'll have his Nintendo DS on or before his next birthday - after all, we're suckers for the well planned kiddo campaign. Sigh...

Didgeridoo

The end result of showing a kid a video of a a guy playing a Didgeridoo is that he grabs the nearest roll of wrapping paper, and starts playing. Seriously, sounds more like farts, which made him REALLY happy. He is nine after all.

BIRDS!

On the way to soccer we saw a HUGE flock of birds that were hanging out on the corner. They'd start up as if they were going to fly away, then come back down and settle. They did this several times. almost as if they were at a college football game doing the wave. But suddenly, they all took off - clearly afraid of the crazy jogger approaching. And when I say crazy, it wasn't clinical diagnosis crazy. No, it was the crazy that overcomes you and turns you into a three year old when you run up on a flock of birds. And this was one BIG flock of birds, so he was doing the crazy jogger dance all the way around the corner, happy as a clam. 

Total band uniform fail, fabulous concert, enjoyable evening.

Procrastination does not pay off when you can't find your tuxedo shirt, your mom hasn't hemmed your new tux pants, and you take tap shoes instead of dress shoes to your band concert. It makes for a very hectic afternoon. But somehow, in spite of our lazy start to the band season and multiple hiccups, Max's Fall band concert was fantastic.

My Coleman's

Lost in the shuffle for a bit, it's time to get back and settle down here. For December, I'll be doing dailies. One little post or snapshop of what going on in our lives. Some days will be more exciting, and some days you'll get pictures of my toes/shoes/socks/whatever.

Today is one of those days when I show you my shoes. It's cold outside now, but not really cold. My summer toes have disappeared and it's all about the fuzzy slippers and heavy hiking boots. I've had these boots for several years now and have found myself wearing them almost every day since I gave up my flip flops.  I used to own a pair of Timberlands, and loved them to death, but they never saw truly cold weather. Back in Texas I didn't know what cold was. Here in Virginia, it's been hovering around freezing in the mornings and late evenings, and when you breathe in, the cold catches your breath. It's not terribly cold yet - that will come later in the season - but it's not flip-flop weather. And these Coleman boots (yes, the camping stove folks make boots and I'm sure a bunch of other things too) have not only kept me in comfort, but they've kept me warm. I'm hoping they will last forever, but I know they won't - they are already starting to show signs of their age. But for now they will keep me in good stead - toes warm and comfy, even when it gets really cold out.