Our Christmas....

We celebrated "our Christmas" before we departed for our trip to Florida.  We started this tradition when we lived in the Lone Star state.  It works the best for our family.  We tried all the other ways....dragging all the gifts to Florida, leaving them home and returning to see what Santa had left and having Christmas under someone else's tree....none felt right.  We pick a day and pretend it is Christmas.  It works out quite well.

See all that wrapping paper?  That drives Tim nuts.  For some reason as orderly as I am, I like the wrapping paper mess.  Feels festive to me.

You may have noticed the soda under the tree in the last photo.  Yeah, I give my boys soda for Christmas.  If you regularly deny them something it can become quite an exciting gift.  I'm just sayin'.  Time is almost up though because Older Cherub will have a driver's license (gulp) in the not too distant future and I am sure he will spend a good part of his life in drive thru lanes ordering soda.

Awww.....for cute.

That is what we always eat on "our Christmas."  Our kids came up with that idea while living in Texas.  They wanted lobster.  And soda.  It was delicious. 

Hope your Christmas was Merry.

Road Trippin'

We made it to Florida.  Before we set off on the journey Peej made sure to inform me that we are drive-thru people.  I was instructed that I was not to pack a cooler with sandwiches and healthy snacks.  We got exactly 7 miles into our journey when he then announced he was hungry.  Were you aware that it takes $23 dollars to feed drive thru people?  That is highway robbery!  Burgers, fries and sodas were consumed.  What followed was a cacophony of  bodily noises.  Those noises were immediately followed up with complaints of abdominal distress.  Ah, the pleasures of traveling with the Frat Pack.

And now a list of other fun moments on the drive...

• PJ calling ashes smoke crumbs
• Kellen drawing pictures of Nurse Sesame, Bride Sesame, Firefighter Sesame, Gangster Sesame, Astronaut Sesame, Chef Sesame and Muskateer Sesame.
• PJ calling 80's music "Hair Cuttery" Music
• Kellen complaining that his Brain Age was 53 thanks to PJ interrupting him as he took the test.

You might've had to have been there!

You know what this means....

We've been shopping again!

In other news PJ seems to be much improved.  I took him to the doctor at the end of the week and they decided to run a few tests to see if it was strep or mono.  That meant blood had to be drawn.  He has never had more than a finger prick, so he was, and I quote, "as nervous as a Nellie."  It took three sticks and he almost fainted between stick 2 and 3.  The doctor called the next day to say he does have strep so I am now thinking it is not mono.  Unless he has both and that would be some really bad luck, no?  We will get the final results on Tuesday.

What you think about when you have a kid home from school for a week and the TV is on way too much....

Commercials that make me cry....

• the folgers one where the son comes home from Africa and the sister puts the bow on him and says, "You're the gift"
• the Rice Krispy treat one where the kids are making Christmas-y treats
• the Hallmark one in which the grown daughter keeps trying to get her Mom's attention to give her a card and say, "we couldn't have made it through this last year without you, Mom"

Commercials that makes me want to scream if I hear it one more time....

• He went to Jared
• Charlize Theron in that Jadore commercial

Commercial that makes me laugh out loud....

• the Progresso Soup (I think) where the wife calls in to say her husband is back at his high school weight and he is wearing his high school track outfit...then the guy says, "Tell my wife to enjoy the view"

Got any to add?

2009 Revisited

Here are some pictures from 2009 that never made it onto the blog.  The above shot was taken in February.  Kellen is always willing to pose.

I don't love posting photos of myself, but my children may look back at my blog books and want to see me.  I would want to see my Mom.

I am thinking they will be so proud of this photo.  Remember how I said I could never resist dessert?  Especially if it is warm, chocolatey + gooey. 

This one is from May when this Cherub graduated from middle school.  I love this photo so much and it makes me realize how much Peej has grown since May.

So cute and ready to kiss 8th grade goodbye!

I love love love this one!  All because of PJ's face...soaking in the Mama love.  He will be furious that I put this one on here, but it WAS Mother's Day!  Peej....when you read this, it was your gift to me!

Love the curls, love the freckles, love this boy!

And how could you not love this Ray of Sunshine?

Look how tall PJ has gotten!  Kellen doesn't look thrilled.  Uh oh....is he entering the dreaded anti-photo phase?

This one I put on here because it was the last day his foot was working properly.  Has he sought medical advice? No!  Just yesterday morning I was nagging encouraging him to go to the doctor to which he replied, "Eli Manning has the same injury."  I just about laughed myself silly that he put himself in the same category.  But, okay, I love this man with all of my heart.

Can't wait to see what photographic opportunities await in 2010!

Eviction Notice

Today is day 4 of Peejie being sick.  Today I am feeling a glimmer of hope that he has seen the worst of it.  I hope so, for his sake of course, and for the sake of my sanity because I am so over ESPN and their non-stop coverage of Tiger Woods.  There truly must not be anything else going on in the sports world because that is all they are droning on and on about.  So I decided to bake.....because crunching on cookies muffles the sound of the TV....

Those Hershey Kiss cookies went to work with Tim today because how was I supposed to know I was the only one living in this house that likes those cookies?  Hence, I consumed a gob of them yesterday.  I would enjoy fitting into something other than sweats, so I packed them off with Tim.  I told him to put them in the break room and let the vultures co-workers at 'em.  I don't even know for sure there is a break room.  Who cares, just get them out of my house.  The chocolate peppermint cookies hold no appeal so they can stay.

To distract myself from further cookie consumption I decided to try this....

That was fun.  Can you tell I am bored enjoying this time at home when I have a million things I really should be doing?  It is time to evict sickness (and cookies) from our home!

Forgive the incomplete sentences and improper punctuation

I saw this on one of my favorite blogs today.  She challenged her readers to complete their own list....so here's mine.....  I Have Never....

•  owned a cat as an adult.  Not planning to. Ever.
• stopped saying ma'am or sir to my parents.  It's a Southern respect thing.
• been in a sorority
• taken an illegal drug
• eaten lamb.  Can't get past the cute factor.
• been to Seattle.  It's on the bucket list for me.
• been cross-country skiing
• eaten a poached egg.  Or sunny-side up.  Or over-easy.  Can't get past the runny factor.
• had a speeding ticket.  Hope I am not jinxing myself.
• been in a helicopter.  No plans to.  Ever.
• been on a sports team....unless tennis counts
• had a daughter.  Holding out for the "grand" sort.
• given blood.  I've got guilt about this.
• held a gun.  Nope.  Don't want to.
• wanted to be a nurse.  I fainted in 7th grade taking my pulse.
• driven a school bus.  Like my Mom.

• 
  
  been able to resist dessert.
  
• 
  
  been able to survive without a calendar
  
• 
  
  been to the Grand Canyon.  I will one day.
  
• 
  
  lived alone
  
• 
  
  had patience for people who are chronically late
  
• 
  
  not enjoyed reading
  
• 
  
  been good at hiding my feelings
  
• 
  
  enjoyed being pregant.  Thoroughly enjoyed the end result.
  
  
  
• 
  
  broken a bone
  
  
  

Monday....a short list

1.  Poor Peejie is sick.  High fever, sore throat and lethargy.  ESPN is continually droning in the background.  He is snoring right now, but when I try to turn off the TV he stirs and wakes.  So, in true Mama fashion I am sucking it up and getting ready to put on my ipod.

2.  My windshield is repaired.  Yay!  The guy came this morning and it was done in 15 minutes, thanks to Safelite. 

3.  I have chicken soup in the crockpot.

4.  Today I am going to get gifts wrapped, sheets changed and do the typical Monday clean up.

5.  Oh, and drink copious amounts of warm beverages.

Glad that is over....

Today I had to drive to Raleigh to take a test to complete what I need to do to re-certify.  I took the Health K-12 test and I passed.  Do not ask me how because it was very difficult and not one thing I studied was on the test.  It took almost 3 hours to get there.  It took 1.5 hours to take the test.  It was supposed to take 2.5 hours but you can really get done so much quicker when you are totally guessing.  Then 3 hours of driving home...white knuckled!  The traffic was awful, a crack appeared in my windshield and a light kept coming on that said, "service tire indicators."  Oh my.  I am so glad that is over.  Meanwhile Tim and the boys  "pegged" each other with a squishy ball from the upstairs catwalk. Kellen told me he played Scrabble alone.  PJ had a basketball game.  He is tired and his throat hurts.  Good times when the Mama is away.  I am glad today is almost done.  I am off to take a bubble bath.  Oh, and no, I am not planning to teach anytime soon.  Just not gonna let that certificate expire!

Guess what we did today....

I love the wreath above the front door.

I have been denied permission to tell you who made our gingerbread house this year.

Boys confound me.

Oh, and how I love this.

I may regret this....

Look!  I set up a hot cocoa station!  We have been consuming vats of it lately.  With temps in the 30's & 40's it always sounds delicious.  In the morning it will be 27 degrees.  Hot cocoa will be the cat's meow.  Aren't those holiday marshmallows so festive?  We used the candy canes to stir the cocoa and it gets a yummy peppermint flavor.  I wonder how long those marshmallows will last as I have heard the clink of the lid several times today and witnessed a boy popping one several  into his mouth.....I'll keep you posted.

Imperfect Perfection

For years I have tried to orchestrate the perfect memory for putting up our Christmas Tree.  Yesterday it happened.  This is despite all the circumstances that surrounded it.  Timmy has been unable to get our tree from the upstairs attic space due to an injured foot. (remember the Turkey Trot he didn't prepare for?)  So yesterday I was chatting with my sister on the phone and complaining that our tree was still not up.  She suggested getting the boys to help get it down.  I had already asked the Older Cherub and he was all, no thanks. I got to thinking....isn't this one of the benefits of having boys?  Anyhoo, I got off the phone just as Baby Cherub was getting home and I announced we'd be getting the tree down.  It is a 9 foot tree, so it was heavy.  I helped with getting the largest portion down and the boys finished the rest.  They even managed to get the lights on!  I helped a little, but when I would say certain things they kept saying, "That's what she said" so I got aggravated and went to make dinner.  When I walked back into the office (where we put our tree) the boys asked me to make hot chocolate and put on Christmas music.  And they were playing chess!  It was the moment I had always dreamed of even IF it was sprinkled with inappropriate Michael Scott jokes, or forcing them to put up the fake tree, or getting crappy photos of the moment.  I am grateful for the moment and so happy I have an easy way to record it.  Thank you Doree, thank you boys and thank you, blog.

Weekend Update-gobs of Photos

Saturday: I signed the boys up for a babysitting course at the YMCA.  You can imagine the excitement about that!  Really, it's not that either of them were very interested in babysitting, I just thought it would be a good idea now that Hunk of Burning Love and I leave them home for little bits of time.  When we picked them up the older cherub was still complaining because he was in class with his brother, one other boy and several giddy 11 year old girls.  I don't think I will be getting a very nice Christmas gift from him after putting him through that torture.  Baby cherub was quiet and didn't complain except to ask why British girls are always into him.  Weird.  However, Sunday morning bright and early he was up and printing a batch of business cards for Babysitting Service.  There was an impressive logo declaring that he is now "CPR & First Aid Certified."  He then tooled around the neighborhood dropping off the cards where he saw toys on driveways.  That kid is motivated!

Sunday:  Here is a clue of what we did on Sunday....

We had really great seats and I decided to entertain myself by taking photos.  Just in case Sports Illustrated is interested.

Tampa Bay....they lost.

We had really great seats and this guy put on quite a show on the sidelines.

Ooh....lens envy.....

Look who sang the National Anthem!  Taylor Hicks!  That is for my  friend Lisa who loves American Idol!  When he came out to sing, I asked the lady I was sitting next to if Taylor Swift always sings the Anthem.  She screamed, Taylor Swift is here?  I thought, Wow...quite a fan.  Then I realized I said the wrong last name.  She was sorely disappointed.

                                                             Serious lens envy.

Hmmm.....I kinda want a job.....nah.

Oh yeah.....now that would be fun!

That's for my Mom!

Look, an NFL Snuggie....practically.  I would've given my left arm for that during the game.  I was freezing!

And there is the mascot.  Sir Purr.  I am sorry Panther Fans, but that mascot name blows.  Really, Sir Purr?  May as well be Hello Kitty.  Jackson DeVille looks so much tougher, even though I always craved cheetos when I looked at him.

It was a fun day!

Sunday morning photos

This is what it looks like here this Sunday morning....

(above photo by Kellen)

Here is the pooch wishing she could go frolic on the icy lawn...

(again, photo by Kellen)

And this is who I got to go Christmas shopping with yesterday....Ladies, I know you are jealous....

Yeah, I got to go shopping with Bronko Nagurski.  I have no idea who that is.

Time to go make breakfast.

Tonight I asked the boys to come empty the dishwasher....whoever gets there first gets his choice as to top or bottom rack.  So as Kellen is emptying he says, "Mom, you shoulda had 8 kids and then you'd never have to do any work around the house."

Then he helpfully added, "Oh wait, that would probably work out better for me, because then you'd be like, 'Kellen, come empty an eighth of the dishwasher."

Um, yeah...I am sure that is exactly what I'd say.

The secret is out,  all of you parents of 8 kids.  Free child labor.

It's the Little Things

I have these cool cutting mats as pictured above.  Each one has something on them to denote what you are supposed to cut on them, you know, to avoid cross contamination.  Anyhoo, as I was cleaning one this past weekend look what my little eye spied:

One of the Cherubs has etched a little face onto the cow!  Maybe it's just me, but I loved that!  I love these boys living in my house so they can cheer me up with their cleverness.  Baby Cherub fessed up and thought I might be mad.  Never!  Who can possibly get mad over a smiling cow?  I heart my kids!

Christmas Trivia

I read another blog that answered these questions, so it got me thinking of what my answers would be....

Best Childhood Gift:  My Big Wheel.  I am not really sure if it was mine or my sister's, I just know I loved that thing.  We would play "Charlie's Angels" while zipping around on our Big Wheel.  Not really sure why a Big Wheel screamed, Charlie's Angels, but it did.  We would fight over who got to be Farrah.  I remember getting stuck being Kate Jackson a lot.  I haven't done the math, but I am hoping this memory doesn't indicate that I was like 15 still cruising around on a Big Wheel playing Charlie's Angels.  If it does, remember...I was a really late bloomer.

Christmas Cookie: peanut butter with a hershey kiss stuck in it.  I remember being a newlywed and attending a cookie exchange and deciding I was going to bring those cookies.  I totally cheated and bought premade peanut-butter cookie dough.  When I pulled them out of the oven to stick on the Hershey Kiss they had really spread out.  I plunked down 2 Hershey Kisses side by side.  Are you getting a visual?  Hence, we called them boob cookies.

Icky Christmas Memory:  My Dad having to work "shut-downs" at the paper mill on Christmas Day.  Then he would come home and be really, really, really stinky.

Church:  The Children's Mass on Christmas Eve.  I can be counted on to cry when Santa brings a gift and puts it in front of the Nativity.

Pet Peeve:  When people write X-mas.

Christmas CD:  Oooh, can't pick a favorite.  Kellen and I loaded 6 of them into the car CD player this morning.  He and I have grand plans of listening to them for hours on end, but that will probably drive Tim & Peej batty.

Now, it's YOUR turn!  I would love to see some of your favorite memories on your blog or in the comments section!