Sunday, November 28, 2010

turkey & dressing & pie...oh my!

ok so i think we just had a holiday or something...well there were people clogging up my living room anyway.

is it just me are holidays not the same anymore...oh wait they aren't  & i think i know why...I AM AN ADULT NOW...thats right i almost forgot about that. this year i had to cook & then clean up the mess not just go out & play football or something like that. i have been told that next year i am in charge of the turkey...yeah you read that right..me cooking a turkey...yup...everyone back away from the kitchen & grab the safety gear!!


our thanksgiving was kinda crazy people had to work & other people had places to be. the monster is picky & only wants food if it is on someone else's plate. i don't know what it is but she she will eat a bite or 2 off of her own plate say she is full & go mooch off the plate next to her....for example, we ate lunch at church today & she had her very own plate of wonderful looking food to have all to her lil ol self BUT she eats one thing off it & turns to her granny & eats her food...why do kids do this?

i can't wait for christmas. i love the look the monster gets on her face when she opens presents! she is always genuinely surprised & LOVES everything she gets.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

zombies in the stuffing

its cold outside again & its getting to be that special time of year... you know that time of year kids LOVE & parents LOATHE....the holidays silly! much like birthdays this coming couple of months is highly over rated & needs to be rethought. 

i remember as a kid getting those butterflies in my stomach counting down the school days that were left until thanksgiving & then the BIG holiday...CHRISTMAS....i just couldn't wait. we always made calendars to count down the days we had left until holiday break & posted then on the side of our desk. it seems like our goal for the year was to see how quickly we could get from one holiday to the next. we never counted the days until we went back to school after holiday break or wished the days would fly by so we could go back to class. the holidays were our main priority & we loved every minute of them. now it seems like as soon as school started we were counting down the days we had for thanksgiving....we proable did since haloween decorations are being put out in the stores while we are still going swimming & the fall decor is not to far behind that with christmas sprinkled in the mix. when you are a kid it can feel like there is only a 2 week delay in between the holidays.

when i think back  i remember gathering at my grandparents house to eat with all of my family on thanksgiving & how as i got older that large number of family slowly dwindled to just a few.   we had so much fun running & playing outside waiting on the food to be ready. there was nothing better than that time we spent together.
as an adult i miss the times shared with family members both good & bad...you never really know what you had until its gone.  when   was a kid it was less about the commercials of it all & more about that quality time. thanksgiving was about being thankful we had each other. now you spend so much time making sure you have the right brand turkey to go with your perfect brand stuffing that you are going to sit on your uptight brand table runner that you forget you already have all that you need to be thankful...your family & friends!!!
this year at my house people have to work & it is going to be hard for everyone to squeeze this holiday in but i hope we can still have tine to remember how thankful we are to have each other & what the day REALLY  means to us all. turkey & dressing & pie is not what it means....love & family & the fact that we all woke up that morning is what is all about.

one of my favorite holidays has always been christmas. i love putting up the tree...yes the actual act of having to put it together...yup you got it the labor intensive part is my favorite. i like going & looking at other people's christmas lights....driving slowly through strange neighborhoods can actually be relaxing. as a kid i my favorite part was waking up & seeing all of my presents under the tree....as an adult my favorite part is seeing my daughter's eyes when she sees her presents under the tree. 

we all have different ideas about christmas. if you are a christian (like me) you honor this holiday as the birth of christ ....most people however just like the idea of getting presents in an elaborate fashion. in my family we try to fit in jesus, presents & giving to others all in this time....it can get CRAZY sometimes. 

when i was a kid my mom always had the tree you didn't touch....& touch you did not for fear of her breaking you before you broke her ornaments. this is the first year we have had an actual christmas tree at our house since the monster has been born. the last few years we have had mini trees & had them up where she could not touch. now we have a big tree that was my mom's & it is going to be decorated in child friendly decorations. the monster is making her own ornaments this year! yup...our tree is flammable so keep 911 on speed dial...oh wait...i am not putting lights on it...so never mind its safe....i hope.
the craft time ornaments are part of my plan to keep her out of the commercial end of christmas. i want her to realize at an early age that christmas is not about getting but giving  & being thankful for what you already have. we might even start doing one of the shoe boxes for a needy kid or a christmas angel. we get her very few gifts & try to tell her the christmas story many times over the holidays. we really wan to avoid the problems so many parents have with kids expecting certian gifts on christmas morning & then being rude when they don't get them.

i really hope that we can raise a kind, generous & loving monster instead of a gift hoarding video game lover.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

how to mop: as taught by a 3yr old

i now know how my mother felt when she tried to get me to clean my room all those years. i can't believe a kid can live in a room as messy as the monster keeps her lair! its horrific they state that place stays in most days. i can clean it & with in a 30 minute period it looks the same way it did before  i cleaned it up. it is completely useless to try to clean a childs room.

i recently found myself complaining  about the amount of sand & random trash on the monster's bedroom floor. of course i had to clean her disaster area...wait i mean bedroom...just so i could find the floor in the first place. it looked like someone had missed a target in iraq & hit her room instead! this place was a MESS!! she has s lot of small toys...toys that are SUPPOSED to be in bins in an orderly fashion...my mother likes to get her happy meals & make sure the toys find their way to my house....& pillows...she has more pillows than bed, bath & beyond! my child's idea of organization is having everything spread out in the floor so she can see her mighty kingdom sprawled out before her.

so, i finally get her room clean & we are having dinner with our neighbors...the three smallest kiddos are in the monster's room playing & watching cartoons. we are all enjoying our dinner & watching a movie  then the hubby goes to check on the kiddos that have suddenly fell rather silent for a group of kids their age. the hubby comes back & urges me & our neighbor to go peek in on the little darlings....they had gotten the hand soap out of the bathroom & were spreading it all over the floor. "we want to slip & slide!!" "look at us!!" one even took off  socks & shoes & applied soap to feet & replaced shoes & socks to save it for when they got home. it was horrible, they had used over half of the bottle of soap on the floor. they were handed rags & made to clean up the mess that they had made. the rags they used had to be washed twice to get all the soap out. we still don't know which of the three came up with the scheme to slip & slide on the bedroom floor...all parties involved are presumed guilty until proven innocent :)

presto...instant mopped floor!

Monday, November 1, 2010

who are you...

i can remember wearing a store bought halloween costume twice in my entire life. the first one was none other than the amazing WONDER WOMAN...i was like five...it had the flimsy plastic mask that you could cut yourself on & the plastic jumpsuit. the second one was a super crappy witch thing, it was SUPPOSED to look like the wicked witch from sleeping beauty...it did no such thing however.  the rest of my trick-or-treat career i was dressed in homemade costumes. my go to outfit you may be asking yourself...why a witch of course! i have done the green face, fake nose & any other witchy thing you can think of. i play the part well.


fast forward more than a few years & now its my kids turn to dress up for halloween. her very first time she was like 4  or 5 months old & she was a fairy...made wings & a wand for her...she was super cute!!  her second halloween she was a princess..her gown cam from her very own collection of dress up clothes. this year she has been a chicken for a costume party (i got the chicken outfit from a thrift store) & she has been trick-or-treating twice as lola luftnagle. yes, lola from hanna montana....she picked it out...lola is nothing but a wig & some clothes out of the monster's closet....she was also a rockstar, which vaguely resmebled the lola get up. sha has not wanted to take off the purple wig except to sleep & to shower.
guess what i was....oh you are no fun....yes i was a witch...as usual.

for all you kiddies too young to know about the early haloween costumes, here are a couple of pictures of one like the wonder woman one i had. yes that says the suit is made from VINYL!! that is PLASTIC kids....talk about sweating for ya candy...you could sure do it in one of these puppies!  they were so great though.  costumes have come such a long way!