Boxful of Fun

I asked the appliance delivery peeps if we could keep the box(es) because B's teacher had earlier requested a big box for the class to make a gingerbread house.  Turns out that project has been put by the wayside but the kiddos sure did have big adventures the day the boxes were sitting in the living room!

B is such a funny muffin.  As he looked through the transparent taped part, he said, "I'm looking down at the atrium!  It is SO sad that we don't have a balcony!"

HA HA HA!!

Happy Friday!

Are We Even Related?

She came in the door, grabbed her milk and a phone, and got to "work."  Whose daughter is this??!   ;-)

Left/Right or Right/Left: A Poll

Around these parts, people tend to leave appliances in houses they are selling rather than move them to their next abode.  We lucked out in so many ways with this new house; the washer and dryer situation was not one of them, however.   Since we'd checked the box on the real estate listing form to leave the W&D at the other house (both of which had been purchased while we lived there), we couldn't do a switcheroo once we saw that the ones here were much older.

I soon discovered that the washer often didn't spin out the water, even with an extra spin added on the end. I manually wrung out clothes more times than I can count.  The dryer appeared to be newer but only the Timed Drying setting worked properly.  We talked about replacing them right away but, let's face it, we'd just spent all our money on the house!   ;-)

Sooooo.......we made it 6 months but then the apparent damage to some of our clothes was too much to take.  Enter a really good sale on a very non-glamorous set from Home Depot and, as of yesterday, we now have a new W&D.   The installation guy was fabulous and not only didn't make me feel weird for making a request, but also went ahead and took care of it with ease.

The request?   Switching the washer and dryer's positions.   It has bothered me to no end that the dryer was on the left and the washer on the right.  That makes NO sense to me-- seems like you should move from left to right just as you would read.  RIGHT?

Tell me what you think in the poll!!!

Time To Bundle Up!

It's getting chilly around here!

Today is supposed to be a yucky day full of precipitation that will likely stay on the rain side rather than our beloved get-school-canceled snow.  Good thing we're homebound anyway:  I was actually able to schedule THREE "can't leave the house" tasks for the same day (delivery, electrical job, and a water meter transfer from what used to be the carport but is now an enclosed garage that makes meter reading a bit tricky!).   Yes!  An excuse to be lazy!!   Maybe I should take down the fall harvest decorations at some point....????

Wah-WAH

That's pretty much the sound we kept making as our Annual Day-After-Thanksgiving-Family-Overnight-Adventure-at-the-Gaylord unfolded.

After (no joke) a year of anticipation for Mr. B, we arrived to find a long check-in line even though it was only 2:15 and check-in was to start at 3.   I waited while the other three explored.  I had learned when making reservations that the Gaylord hotels are now part of the Marriott empire and was pleased to see that the line moved relatively briskly and I was able to check into our atrium-view room (for which there is a higher price) with ease.

We rode up to the 10th floor in excitement, found our room, walked over to the double doors, and realized something was very strange:

There was no balcony!  We were in the column of rooms in the very corner that had those bars right outside the door rather than at the far side of a spacious overlook hang-out space

Wah-WAH.

I'm generally anti-confrontation but I was bummed enough about this that I picked up the phone and called hotel services.   I was informed that "atrium-view" only guarantees a view of the atrium and not a balcony room, and that there were no balcony rooms available.  "So you're saying that none of those people still standing in line to check in [since, you know, it still wasn't even official check-in time] are going to get a balcony?"  I asked.   And the response was a resounding yes.

Harrumph.

I kept telling myself that the kids didn't care about the lack of balcony and this was really about them, so we headed off to the nearby "beach" area where kids run and play since B was dying to do so.  Here's what we found:

High tide.  Beach play area closed.  Wah-WAH.

Perhaps due to his disappointment, or just being a 4.5 year old,  B then decided it would be a fun game to run away and whine if I tried to take a picture of him.   As one of those e-cards people pin/post might read:   "I love it so much when my kids refuse to stand in one place and smile at me for a photograph" said NO MOTHER EVER.

Joke's on him because I finally managed to get him:

And his sister:

 

And, oh look!  The gang's all here!

 

Then we decided to head to the Children's Museum site in the shopping area.  Turns out it's closed til Mid-December when it opens up in its new space.

Wah-WAH.

Then I had some more fun with afore-mentioned lack-of-photographic cooperation.  Pretty sure we may not have a Christmas card picture this year.

We picked up some food and headed back to the hotel, where the BG remembered to tell me that they'd seen this sign when exploring earlier:

The big fountain?  The one that is the centerpiece of the entire atrium and is featured in the evening light and music shows?  Yeah-- it was broken.

Wah-WAH.

After we watched the lighting of the big suspended Christmas tree indoors (set to music and lights that seemed kinda bizarrely energetic given the lack of dancing fountain), the boys headed out for the shopping area's tree-lighting and fireworks show.  I got Miss C into her jammies and pack-and play, which I moved to the far side of the room so we weren't all walking past her the entire rest of the evening.    Then I sat in the bathroom and played an abysmal run of Solitaire games.  When I peeked out later, here's what I saw:

She fell asleep around 7 but then popped back up like a happy little jack-in-the-box when the guys came home around 9.  The fireworks show was a huge success and there was one excited little boy.   We knew he probably wasn't going to be convinced to go to sleep right away so we tucked him in a bed with Nick Jr playing on the TV and proceeded to have our date night feast that we had planned for the balcony overlooking the beautiful sights and sounds....

...but was instead held on the bathroom floor:

Everyone was asleep around 10, up at 7 for warm bevvies and pastries I ran over to get from a local coffee shop, in the pool by 8:30 for some fun family swimming time, and checked out by 10.

And, yes, all in all, it was a perfectly exciting adventure-- even with all the wah-WAHs.  Making it even better was the $50 credit Christy got us by calling the front desk (pretending to be me) and inquiring about the situation with the rooms.  Apparently there were LOTS of unhappy customers and, because Christy was so nice and polite, the woman gave her (um, me) the credit.  THANK YOU, FAC!!   What would we do without you????

Will we go back in 2013?  Maybe if we figure out a way to guarantee a balcony so there's not this sad sight again:

:-)

PS:  You know what's not a sad sight??  A certain grandfatherly type celebrating a (gulp!) pretty big birthday today!!  Happy Birthday, Opa!!  We love you!!

The Non-Turkey Report

We went bold this year-- sans turkey!!

I was happy to host now that we have more room but I wasn't really feeling the whole cooking-a-turkey thing.  So I proposed to our fellow non-traveling friends that we do an informal dinner of soups/chilis, breads, and pies.   I didn't take any food pics because I figured you all ate lots of grub yesterday so who cares, but on our menu was:  white bean dip with lemon and rosemary, hot buffalo chicken dip, escarole and bean soup with sausage, chicken chili, butternut squash soup with apples and cheddar, herby cheese bread, cornbread, crusty sourdough, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, chocolate pie, non-homemade-but-free-from-a-local-diner-through-our-realtor's-holiday-generosity french apple pie, and white russian pudding shots.

As for the company?  They're pretty cute!

Kathy and 37.5 weeks preggers (!!!) Christy:

Joel and the BG, who mostly watched kids and football:

Soon-to-be-Papa Eric:

This pirate eyepatch got a LOT of play:

See?

The littlest guy managed to have plenty o' fun, too!

I would like to veer from the frivolity of the Cheese List into, well, cheesiness to give a HUGE shout-out to the BG.  He spent hours yesterday morning deep-cleaning the bathrooms while also doing all the dishwashing and kitchen-cleaning.   Could not live (happily, at least) without that guy.

And also?   Love these turkeys:

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

1st Annual Cheese List

Many moons ago during a children's sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Corning, NY, the beloved minister asked the gathered kids to list the things for which they were thankful.  All the usual suspects were named:  parents, siblings, friends, pets, God.   But I will never forget the adult giggles when one kid busted out with "CHEESE"!   To his credit, during the closing prayer with the wee ones, the minister gave thanks for cheese along with the much more highbrow concepts that had been named.

There have been lots of "Thankful Lists" on Facebook this month, and also at least one (within my friends list) conversation about whether such overt naming of gratitudes has been transformed into a bragging rights competition about who has the most and best things for which to be thankful.   'Tis an interesting point to ponder-- and one that once again cements my desire to NOT do things the way that is common.   Therefore, I present you now with........

The 2012 EMK CHEESE LIST 

(or a celebration of the little things that fill my heart with gratitude)

*in no particular order*

fuzzy robe and slippers

free shipping

wegmans
local news radio with traffic and weather on the 8s
reading a magazine in a bubble bath
dvr

bread with dipping oil

google reader

couch naps
colorful mugs of tea or chai

online library reserve system 

 fudgy brownies

old photos...in chronological order

the time in late afternoon where everything looks golden

emoji icons on iphone

animal crackers/mini marshmallows/chocolate chips

back scratches

and, of course, CHEESE itself

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!

Undocumented Experimentation

I took the kiddies to "college" yesterday morning to do "science" and would love to have had today's blog post feature pictures of our campus adventure....except that I unintentionally left my camera, aka my phone, at home.  (Side note:  it is not a nice feeling to realize you're oot and aboot without your other appendage  phone.  You feel me?)

Anyway, it turned out that the Language Development Lab within the Speech and Hearing Department had one study for C's age and another one for B, although I'm realizing as I'm typing this that I didn't bring home the paperwork so I can't even tell you what they were each called.  So there you go.  Science.

I sat in with C's, although I had to be blindfolded so as not to bias her reactions to the video she was watching.  I could hear it in all its glory, however, and was once again reminded that I do not have the appropriate vocal range/tendencies to communicate appropriately with little children!   Heh.

The BG has a half-day today although he said something about opening the weight room after the early release.  Seriously?  Who wants to stay around school on the cusp of a fun holiday?   Interested to see if he has any takers!!    I guess some kids might want to create a calorie deficit to be filled with turkey and fixin's on Thursday?   Or something?

And... scene.

Early Turkey Day Gobbles

B's preschool class had a "performance" and feast yesterday morning.  I put "performance" in quotes because it turns out my son might not have a future in the theater after all:  I mean, it's awesome to be able to memorize huge chunks of info like he does, but if you can't open your mouth in front of a group of people, then what's the point??!   Alas, he did not sing even one note of any of the 5 songs the class presented.  It's a good thing I took this video last week so I would know that he did indeed know the songs!!



Back to yesterday. Here's our mute little pilgrim/Indian hybrid:

And his very serious sister.  Her lips were pursed the entire time-- maybe she's got the stage fright, too?!

 Two of the mothers organized quite the spread.  One of the kids from B's table was absent so C just made herself at home:

In addition to the turkey, cheese, and carrots, the class had made applesauce and pumpkin bread and parents brought in some other "traditional sides."  Since we're not having a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thursday (oooh!  a tease!), I slopped some corn pudding, stuffing, and applesauce in a cup and went to town!

 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Not Abstract

CONCRETE!

Last Wednesday, I returned from B's field trip to Panera to find our mailbox looking askew.  Turns out the wooden post was pretty much snapped in two and everything was hanging very loosely.  As soon as I saw it, I remembered hearing in passing at our house closing the sellers saying something about, "And you have a brand new mailbox post!"   So I'm pretty sure this means that twice in 6 months, something has backed into our mailbox.  Since it's located directly across from the opposite house's driveway and there are always lots of garbage and delivery trucks going to and fro, we decided maybe we should just put the new box and post on the other side of our driveway.

(Don't worry-- I totally called the local post office to make sure it was okay!)

We bought a new metal mailbox and cedar mailbox post at Home Depot and the BG installed in on Saturday....but the metal stake that comes out of the bottom of the post didn't go in the ground far enough to make it very sturdy.  Ugh.   Plan B:  pour concrete around the bottom of the post.

Unfortunately, it still isn't quite as firmly planted as it should be so Plan C will be developing soon.  Ah, home (yard?  mailbox?) ownership!!   You just never know when you'll have to get your hands dirty.

Local Goings-On Of Late

I'm always eager for new experiences in our not-very-far-from-previous-homestead-but-still-far-enough location!   I continue to be so pleased with B's "new" preschool (and the other parents I've met) and our fun class field trip Wednesday morning was right in line.  We're certainly not new to Panera, but a trip to explore behind the scenes?  Sign us up!!

Little sister sauntered right into the action of learning about bread....or maybe she was just trying to get closer to all the trays of sliced bagel samples!

The kids got a tutorial on baguette-making:

Then they went in groups to the kitchen where they got to play with some dough and also make their own mini loaves....which were brought out at the end of our time there:

Seems like savvy marketing to me:  not only did many of the moms purchase drinks and yummies while we were there, but I imagine it also engendered lots of goodwill toward future visits!

Then yesterday, we ventured to a community center about 10 minutes away because one of the preschool moms had told us about an "open gym" time on Thursday mornings.   I was able to determine that it wasn't a gymnastics gym kind of thing but didn't know much else.  Still figured it'd be a fun departure from our normal time at home, in any case!

I pulled in right at 10 and found no cars.  The guy at the desk took no information from me but gave me a key.   Uh, what?  Turns out that the first person gets the key to unlock the closet where all the toys are stored that can be taken out onto the gym floor for play time.  They're not kidding about it being an OPEN gym.   I coulda been a criminal!   ;-)    Turned out that only 3 other sets of people came during the first hour or so we were there (one of them being the mom who had invited me) and I had all kinds of fun chatting it up with all of them.   The friendship-forger in me loves that we've lived in the area for 10 years now so I generally can find a connection with anyone I meet these days!!!

See?  OPEN GYM:

Turns out it's this community center where some temporary library stuff is located while the nearest branch is under construction.  I knew they had "hold lockers" so nearby people could pick up reserved books locally, but I had no idea there would be a book vending machine as well as a DVD machine kinda like Redbox.  I didn't take any pics, but you better believe we had fun checking out an item from each of those!!

We also were able to get our official county resident access card before we left so next time, we can scan ourselves in and not be quite as rogue!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Answers

It was a Wegmans Truck a la PEZ!!

(In other news, Wenlock and Mandeville were the mascots for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, respectively! The fam brought the plush toys back from London when they were there at Christmastime.)

Any Guesses?

Every Wednesday, B can take an item to school for Show and Tell, complete with 3 clues.  It's always entertaining to hear his clues since sometimes they are so not helpful.  This was his bag from last week and he came up with these himself. (Obvs, I added the last one!)

As a second challenge:  today he's taking Wenlock and Mandeville.  Without googling (and without being part of my immediate family), does anyone know who those are?? 

Ah, The Memories

In the "more than you want to know but when has that ever stopped me?" category, we have had to change pediatricians for the kids.  Our wonderful practice where we've been for almost 5 years stopped taking our insurance  last month, but that was just as well since we probably needed a doctor closer than 21 miles away.

I hope that some of you with kids in the 4-5 age range have experienced the joy of shots these days....because I certainly don't want to be the only one listening to incessant wailing and screaming.  Oh my goodness-- from a kid who barely ever even cried when getting any of his infant/toddler shots, it is unbelievable the volume of freak-out now.  (Unfortunately, this reaction also applies to the removal of splinters and there have been 2 of those in the last 2 weeks.  Ugh.)

ANYWAY.   I took Miss C to a walk-in flu clinic last Friday for us to each get our shots while B was in school.  I was absolutely dreading getting him in so I figured at least I'd get 2/3 of us done.  While I was at that location, the office staff--upon hearing about our new pediatric practice assignment--suggested that I make a "meet and greet" appointment at the new location so that we could meet the new doctor before the kids' next round of checkups in January.  So I came home, called the appointment line, and set it up for yesterday afternoon knowing that that site was giving out flu shots the same day and we could kill the two proverbial birds with one stone.

You'd think I really did kill birds.   Wooooowwwwwwwwww.

ANYWAY, CONTD.   The lead-up to the actual shot was enough to make me perspire like a mad woman, but, of course, once it was over, it was forgotten.   We then made our way to our appointment with the new pediatrician where we discovered that there had been some confusion with the scheduler and they'd entered the appointment as a complete work-up for Camille and it was a super busy day with the Veteran's Day holiday and....and....and.   We sat in a very small exam room for 45 minutes before everybody figured out we really were just there to meet the doctor.  (The doctor who admitted she had no idea what a Meet and Greet even was-- HA!)   In the grand scheme of things, though, it was a productive afternoon even if it took forrrrrreeeeeevvvvvver.  I also learned that my older kid still doesn't weigh 40 lbs and my younger one has put on several since her 18-month appt in late July.  (Amazing what eating all kinds of food will do for you, right??!)

AND.......

I also got a fun jolt back to my youth.  The waiting room had some books free for the taking in a pile on one table.   These were the first 4 I saw:  could they BE (Chandler Bing) any more representative of my literary past??  All that's missing is a Judy Blume and the Babysitter's Club!!

No Way This Is November

60+ degrees in November?  CRAZY TALK!!

Since this was the first Saturday in months that the BG didn't have morning practice, I concocted a plan to get us outside in the nice weather.  We returned to the gardens where B recently went on a field trip but where none of the rest of us had ever ventured  For you Dallas peeps, it's like a small Arboretum--and admittedly not a great time of year since everything is pretty much dead and/or covered in brown leaves.  The grounds are beautiful, though, and completely free to explore.  There was a LOT of this:

And this:

And even this:

After a fun-filled adventure, we stopped for lunch where it was imperative to lick the salt off the peanut shells:

Amazingly enough for a lazy couch-dweller like myself, the weekend outdoor time didn't end then!  The BG had told me he wanted to go show support for the middle school team playing in a feeder league playoff game yesterday afternoon.  (There is no football in middle schools proper but the communities do run private leagues.)  Since the game was at noon at a nearby private school and I knew it was to be another gorgeous day, we decided to accompany him:

Brooks was asking to go home after just a few minutes but changed his tune when his favorite senior cheerleader arrived! 

I also enjoyed a fun gathering with some ladies on Friday night and then we had dinner with friends on Saturday night, so basically:  family togetherness + beautiful weather + social time = a very happy weekend!   

Running In Circles

Really.  That's all it is.


Hope your weekend is a little more productive...but at least as much fun!   ;-)

Past Pic Parade

I tried to get a pic of the kids playing at the library yesterday (which of course didn't even come close to being captured successfully)....and honestly did not realize until I looked at this shot that C's shirt had butterflies.  I thought it was all autumn leaves.  Joke's on me since butterflies are pretty firmly situated in my "designs I avoid" category!!  ;-)

And....since that's not very exciting, let's just throw some past pics out here for funsies.  Continuing from most recent to further back, here's a shot from B's class Halloween party:

And one of team unity before the next-to-last game:

And one to drive home the point that the Phil&Ted was a very worthy investment and is still going strong:

And one that I wish had smell-o-vision because OH MY GOODNESS did it reek in that locker room on Saturday afternoon:

 And one to remind you to get your teeth cleaned every 6 months!   This was Brooks's 3rd checkup and little sister managed to worm her way into the chair for a snap with the hygenist!

And, finally, one to make you giggle because I took this pic as this....thing...came towards me saying, "Look!  I'm a walking Scentsy box!"

Unexpected

It's no secret that I adore communicating with friends and family.  My house is often messy because I choose instead to email/text/message/call/Skype with many of you on a daily basis.  It's just what makes me happy and fulfilled!

Sometime yesterday morning, I heard the familiar text message sound and wondered which one of you was about to energize my day with some fun information.   I wasn't expecting what I found:

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

The BG had the day off yesterday for Election Day (lots of schools are used as polling places) and he sent me this text picture while I was in a different room. The hysterical thing is that she whined and cried for a good hour or so after this every time she was near the fridge because she wanted to get back up there and sit.   What a funny munchkin.

It's always wonderful to have a parenting partner at home.  Of course, he's the go-getter in this relationship (um, chore-wise, not so much with the social side.  HA) so there was a span of about 30 minutes when I got more cleaned up--by joining in his efforts--than I would've normally done in the entire day.  So that's something!!    We took the kiddies with us to vote around 11:15.  The HS where we voted was having a bake sale to raise money for its post-prom party so we somehow ended up with a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts.   Sigh.  Weight Watchers is such a distant memory at this point! ;-)

While The Ladies Are Away...

...the boys (and Miss C) play!!

Kathy sent her guys over to our house Saturday evening so the party could reach whatever noise escalation necessary for lots of fun celebrating without waking up any kids.  Once we decided there would be a sleepover Casa Kentobean, I decided I'd just stay over there and we could both enjoy a child-less evening and overnight!

I woke up around 7 AM (that was "new" 7 since the time changed) and headed home to see how everyone had fared.  Turns out there was lots of fun had by all.  Love this shot of the youngest soaking in all the entertainment:

While they played around a little bit more before heading back to their house, the B-man requested the "blinking light" photos-- ie, self-timer pics that snap 3 consecutive shots.   I've discovered the blinking light is actually a great way to get kids actually to look at the camera.  First up?   Mr. Brady in a familiar shirt!

Then it was Kellen's turn:

Then, Brady requested that there also be "3 shots of his daddy" so I called Joel down for some family photographic action.   And this is what happened....is it even called photo bombing when the interloper is smack dab in the forefront???!!

HA!