Whirlwind Weekend

As I said in my previous post, we spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with Paul's family. We got home Friday evening and took down all the Thanksgiving decorations and started to put up some Christmas ones. Saturday morning we were up and out on the search for the perfect Christmas tree. We found a great place out in Goble that has u-cut trees, and we can get any sized noble fir for $20. That's good because we like them big! We walked around in the mist till we all settled on one, and since it was so big we had to have the guy working there cut it down with his chain saw. Then we borrowed the muscles of a couple other guys to get the tree on top of the car. Once home, Paul had the bright idea of hosing the tree off to get rid of the mud and dead needles. Worked great. We have a nice clean tree! My ornaments are just a mix with no real theme. I have a few Scarlett O'Hara keepsake ornaments but I think the rest have been given to us over the years. I put tinsel on my tree because it reminds me of our trees while I was growing up. I don't know that I have ever seen anyone else put it on their's. Is it a dying art form? Oh well, I like it.

Once we had our tree up and the lights on it, the OSU-U of O Civil War football game started. I am sorry to report that this tree trimming experience will probably be one of those that scar my children for life. They will always have memories of what a terrible time we had while mom and dad were screaming and yelling at their losing football team, instead of enjoying the spirit of Christmas and decorating the tree as a family. The tree was eventually finished, as were the Beavers' hopes of making it to the Rose Bowl, and apologies were tossed around. I know its just a game, but it wasn't just a game. I have sat through soooo many sopping wet Oregon State football games where we got our heads handed to us, and finally this year it looked like you could actually admit to being a fan. Guess not. They decided to throw away an awesome season to the Ducks, of all teams, and ruin their chance at the Rose Bowl. I am still disgusted and feel like wallowing a bit longer before I let it go!

Today seemed to be just as busy, getting things back in order before another hectic week starts. December's calendar is filling up fast and I don't foresee a lot of down time. January can't get here soon enough!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was spent with Paul's side of the family. Every year we trade off on Thanksgiving and Christmas between our two families. Its been a great system so far and hopefully no one gets their feelings hurt because its already decided where we spend the holidays. We had Paul's brother Roland and his family (up from Nevada) spend the night with us on Wednesday before we all went to his sister Carmen's for dinner and a slumber party on Thursday. Carmen is the ultimate hostess so we had a great time. Good food, good company, and I barely saw the older two kids since they were so busy playing with cousins. I had some Black Friday shopping I wanted Paul to do at 5am Friday morning but he and his brothers-in-law like to stay up late playing shoot-em-up computer games. Carmen's rule was they couldn't start their games till 11pm, she wanted them to socailize with the rest of us. So I was sure there was no way Paul would be up in time to be at a store at 5. Well, being the efficient guy he is, he just never went to bed! The guys were still gaming at 4:45 when Paul had to get moving or else live with the wrath of Tiff. He did a great job and got what we were looking for for a good deal. I used to love the whole early morning Black Friday shopping but now I would rather just sleep.

Darcy reminds me of the kid in "The Christmas Story" when he gets that outfit from his aunt or grandma or whatever and his mom makes him put it on!

Drew's "feast" consisted of apples and dinner rolls. She is the pickiest eater!

Mason was all about potatoes and gravy!

Uncle Dan, Carmen's husband, carved the turkey. They were such great hosts. I'm not sure I would open my house to 21 people to eat and spend the night!

Its always fun to have a couple of days being immersed in family, but I think it is just as fun to come home with my little family and get back to normal. I am a homebody and its always in the back of mind that my own bed is waiting for me!

Vampires, Ghosts, and Things That go "Bump" in the Night

Vampires - I FINALLY saw Twilight last night, four long days after its release. Some of my thoughts during the first 1:23 minutes: Yikes, Ugh, Jasper looks constipated, I could be home sleeping, do I dare get up and walk out? These were not exactly the reactions I had anticipated, even though I had read many reviews which should have warned me. I think in the beginning of the movie I was as uncomfortable in my seat as some of the actors were on screen. I was never thrilled with the casting of "Cedric Diggory" as Edward and now I know why. He just wasn't Edward for me. And I'm not sure if I will be able to make it through "New Moon" if we get an even darker, more brooding Bella. She drove me crazy. Once the baseball game started I was a little more entertained, but not much. The movies are never as good as the books (except for Last of the Mohicans) so I am not surprised Twilight the movie just didn't do much for me. I'm sure I will rent it and watch it with Paul so he can get a taste of what all the hoopla is about, but you won't catch me in a theater watching it again. I still love the books!

Ghosts - My real "live" ghost story has been requested and I figure I better write it down before I forget it. I grew up in a haunted house. It wasn't ever "certified" (do they certify haunted houses?) but those of us living there knew it was. It was an old house that used to be a boarding house, and then a nursery until we finally took it over in pretty miserable conditions. My dad renovated the entire place over the 30 or so years of living there. Every room but the dark, dank, scary basement with rickety old wooden stairs. I don't know if the ghost always lived there or was just stuck in the basement because that was the one place untouched. We had food storage down there and an extra fridge so we were going down there all the time and nothing ever happened, but at night, you could hear someone walking up and down the basement stairs. My parents' room was right next to the door to the basement and dad will confess that he heard it all the time. Open the door and there was no one there. In order to get to the bathroom you have to pass by the door to the basement on the right, and the kitchen opened up on the left. One night a few years ago when I was home for a family gathering, I got up to use the bathroom. I was walking past the basement when I had something catch my eye in the kitchen. There, in all his glory, on the other side of the kitchen I swear was the ghost! He was a big guy, probably in his 50's, and I had the impression that he was a sailor. Maybe because of his white shirt, I don't really know. I kept on walking to the bathroom and he didn't seem to make a move. Once there, I literally had the pee scared out of me! With all my being I did not want to walk past that kitchen on the way back to my bed. I don't really even remember the walk back, whether I looked or not, but I took the stairs back to my room two at a time and jumped in bed! My parents have since moved and I don't think there was ever another sighting by my family, but I am sure I saw our ghost. He was a friendly guy I guess. I'm not sure why he chose to come out of the basement at last and I wonder if anyone ever hears from him anymore since he made the move.


Things That Go Bump in the Night - Seeing as how I am trying to be more positive and nicer to my kids, I would like to express my gratitude to them for devising this clever burglar trap in our front hall. I don't think there is a burglar alive who could navigate this gauntlet in the dead of night without ending up with a broken ankle. Thanks Drew and Mason for your thoughtfulness for our safety!

I Am Thankful For. . .

Since we are nearing Thanksgiving, I thought I should come up with a few things I am thankful for, right at this very minute. I am trying to be more positive in my thinking and actions and this seems like a good way to start.

1) I am thankful for my relatively good health. My feet seem to be miraculously feeling better and my thyroid feels like it is under control. My re-root canal went as well as could be hoped for and it looks like it will work without me having to have surgery instead. I am so grateful I live in an age where there are trained doctors to diagnose and help me with my problems.










2) I am thankful for the health of my children. I have been following the blog of an acquaintance whose daughter was born 2 months ago with a kidney tumor. It breaks my heart to follow the process of the newborn receiving chemotherapy, and the effect this has had on her entire family. I admire my friend's strength and faith. I cannot express how thankful I am that I have never had major health issues with my children. Though they are spoiled rotten monsters at times, at least they are healthy spoiled rotten monsters!





3) I am thankful for Paul's new job. It has been a week and we seem to be doing alright with the change. I am grateful for the change it has brought us, even though it has been tough at times, change is good. It keeps me from becoming complacent and stuck in a rut. It keeps me on my toes and my mind active as I try to figure out the new best way to do things. I am also thankful that I am not the only adult home at night anymore. I'm not a big scaredy cat, I swear I've seen a real "live" ghost and lived to tell the tale, but I never enjoyed the idea that I was solely resposible for my children's safety all night. Of course nothing ever happened, but it seems like most weird stuff happens at night, or maybe I've just seen too many movies! Anyway, I am thankful Paul is home to keep us safe.

4) I am thankful for modern technology and the opportunity it has allowed me to keep in touch with, and reconnect with old friends. Whether through blogging, Facebook, text messages, e-mails, you name it. I would never have kept up with old friends if the only means of communication we had was writing letters or the telephone. Too time consuming.

5) I am thankful for friends. I have some great friends. Friends who thankfully understand that I am a better long distance friend than a next door friend. I feel like I know them and care about them just as much from a distance as I would if I saw them every day. I am also thankful for new friends who open my eyes and give me new things to think about. I appreciate being challenged in my thinking and invited to see other sides to things. It keeps me from getting too comfortable with myself and believing that I am right about everything.

That's what is on my mind at the moment. Ask me tomorrow and I would probably come up with an entirely different list. Happy Thanksgiving.

"Normal" Family?

Today Paul started his new day shift job at Intel! We have been looking forward to this since he got the job in July I think, but due to circumstances beyond our control it has taken till mid-November for the job to really start. We are sooooooo excited. I kept telling everyone we will finally be a "normal" family with Paul home on the weekends and evenings and I will no longer feel like a single mom. Maybe I spoke a little too soon! As much as we didn't like the weekend night shift, we were in a groove with it. Now its all uncharted territory for me. I used to be able to schedule appointments on Monday or Tuesday and Paul would be home to watch the kids. Now I have to either find a babysitter or take all three kids with me everytime I step out the door. That will take some getting used to. This morning I had to pack up the whole crew to take Drew to preschool and I will do it again in an hour to pick her up. It could get annoying but I think we will get used to it. I am really looking forward to the structure it will give us. I will get Darcy on a set nap schedule so she won't be sleeping when its time to get Drew, and we should develop a pretty good routine now, I hope! I know most Moms are doing this already so I know I can do it too. It will take getting used to but I am excited to try. So far so good, but then its only 10am on Monday morning!

Pardon My Pride

Drew gave her first talk in Primary today! The Prayer and Scripture didn't go so well a few months ago so I wasn't sure what to expect this time, but she got up there and delivered her talk on prayer. I was so proud of her. It makes me nervous to speak in front of a big asssembly so I was thrilled she pulled it off. Preschool and Primary have done wonders for her shyness. I am so thankful for that.

Mason survived his second straight Nursery class today without Paul or I being in there with him. This is big news as he has been in Nursery for almost a year now. Last week we finally decided to just drop him off and leave. It helped that there is another teacher in there now. We figured if it got too bad they could always come get us but so far Mason has made it through, with some crying, yes, but overall I think he is doing OK. If there are parents out there who have observed differently then let me know! I am so proud of Mason too. I love to get through these stages with my kids and move on to bigger and better ones.

Odds and Ends

Darcy, Darcy, Darcy. . .My littlest sweetheart turned 4 months old today. Time flies! My thriving 3 month old has turned into a finicky 4 month old. Darcy has always been a good nurser till just a few days ago. It seems like she just can't get enough to eat and its wearing me out. So I busted out the formula and she absolutely refused to eat the Similac. Luckily I had some Enfamil samples on hand and she grudgingly downed a couple ounces of that. I guess its my fault, I spoiled her by nursing exclusively. Nursing didn't work with Drew, and Mason got tired of me before he turned 4 months, so I was excited that it was working so well with Darcy. Maybe I should have introduced formula sooner so she wouldn't be so set in her ways. Surprisingly she was eating the rice cereal we gave to her for the first time this morning. That should hopefully help fill up her tummy a bit and take some pressure off of me. Other than eating challenges, Darcy is growing and growing. She seems to be too long for all her clothes, but chunky-wise she is still OK. Totally different from her siblings. They were fat babies and you could tell just by looking at them. Darcy hides her rolls well on her upper thighs and the back of her neck! She is working on her tummy muscles and would LOVE to sit up and play with Drew and Mason. She is always smiling and she makes the rest of us very happy to have her around!


She's a pro at funny faces



MMMMM, rice cereal!




Drew loves to play in the leaves. She loves Halloweeen. SHE LOVES FALL. It was wet and cold outside but she insited we get out there and make a pile of leaves to jump in. I wish I had her enthusiasm for the simple things. I love to watch how excited she gets over all the little things. But then, at this point in her life, most things are little things. I can't wait for Christmas with her this year.





Little brother doing whatever big sister is doing, whether he really likes it or not. Its enough that Drew likes it!