baby in the house

I'm babysitting my nephew today.

very cute. very talkative. very loved. very into eating his hands.

moose and curling irons, but not together

Our kids got little plush animals in their goody bags at their cousin's birthday party... D got a penguin and named it Flappy. He also named Rose's polar bear, Beary. (I think... It could be Berry or Barry, but I didn't ask how I should spell it.) Ry got a moose. I thought D had come up with some cute names for the penguin and bear, he stuck with "characteristic" names instead of going for wild and "out there" names. I asked Ry if he had named his moose and expected to hear something like, No, just Moose. They haven't really been into naming anything, so I was surprised when he said, "Oh, this is Bean." Bean? 

So... meet Bean.

Cute, no? I love the name. I think it is so awesome that he named him Bean. I just asked why he named him that and I got, "Because he's a moose." Am I missing something here? I don't understand why it's so obvious that his name should be Bean. Feel free to enlighten me.

An acquaintance at the party asked me if I curled Rose's hair. (Remember she will be two at the end of the month.) I tried my best not to act completely shocked (this question has been posed before and I nearly laughed in the curious persons face) and just answered that, no, it's naturally curly. (I noticed their daughter's hair had a bit of a curl to it, but couldn't bring myself to question if it was natural or hot burning metal curled.) Do people actually curl the hair of toddlers? (By the way... I have heard of Toddlers and Tiaras but have never watched it- we have a whopping seven channels and three are PBS. I assume those crazies do that. Ooh, was that too harsh?) Anyhow, why would I take extra effort to curl my kids hair and not my own? Because I'm a selfless mother? No. Because my curling iron hasn't seen the light of day in over two years. The only thing that gets used is my straightener. (And only twice a month at the most.) I have resorted to pony tails and side braids (even though my hair isn't quite long enough for a nice one) or going all natural and letting it frizz and stick out all of the place. (I've never been particular about my hair... pony tails are my style.) I think Rose's hair is amazing. I wish I had her hair. (I had ringlets when I was her age which morphed into waves as I got older, now it's just a mess.)

I can see why they would ask me if I curl her hair. I've got the "three kids and no time to brush my hair" look and T's hair is relatively straight (and short). I can barely get her clothes on her so there is no way on Earth that I'd attempt to put a pizza-oven-hot piece of metal anywhere near her. I don't mind being asked if I curled her hair, but do I really look insane? Dang, she has some beautiful locks, though.

I am incredibly tempted to do something drastic with my hair now. Oh, don't fear, I won't do anything.
I never do.

our (sweet) weekend

 Let's start out with the weekend recap, shall we? Okay, Saturday we hung around the house and then went to the lighted Christmas parade in town. We were late to it, but managed to see the last half of it (and Santa). The kids loved it and Rose was waving to everyone telling them "bye bye". 

Sunday I hurried out to do some last minute grocery and birthday present shopping (for our niece). I took the Rose with me and we had a blast making circles around itty bitty small town Walmart. Our options were dolls (already has), Toy Story toys ($$$), Barbies (too young), plush animals (mm, nah). So I grabbed a penguin sippy cup (her theme was penguins and polar bears), a pair of (cute) pajamas and a skirt. While everyone was gathered we drew names for Christmas (the people we got were specific about what they wanted so it makes it tons easier!). 

Later we went to a dessert thing that T's dad had invited us to at his church. I think we were in sugar overdose when we left, but we had a good time. The kids were good for the most part... they were a little tired and 

kids+ sugar+ 60 minutes of be still & quiet!

  two of them had to be taken out. Actually, it was just the very loud, happy toddler, but after it was over Ry had a meltdown of epic proportions (according to T) because Thomas the Train was gone. (Apparently he saw him in one of the play areas and was gone when we went to look? Yeah, I don't know.) D was well behaved, as usual, always setting the standards way too high for his siblings to ever reach. (He takes after his mommy.)

We finally made it back home and sent the children to night-night land while T and I watched the Sunday night game. Okay, I watched until halftime and then tucked myself into bed. I don't know if T watched all of it or not. 

Well, I've been trying to be productive today and I must get back to all the little things that require my very divided attention. I am determined to get the laundry put away... there's nothing wrong with starting the week out with all of our clothes in their proper places. Such a dream. 

Happy Monday to you.

Dear UPS man,

Today is the second day (in a row) that you have stopped in front of my driveway. At first I racked my brain trying to remember ordering something. Was it a book? No, I already got those. Oh! I ordered that toy... wait, no I didn't. I haven't ordered a single Christmas gift yet, so I am intrigued and spy out the window watching you. You stop and then back up. Hmm... I assume you are trying to make room for people to go around you on our one lane county road. That's very courteous of you. I watch as you get up and then sit back down. (Yesterday you actually got out of the truck.) You must be getting your delivery list down to mark us off.

You seem to be moving around in the truck, although, to be honest, I can't see through the truck wall... Are you looking for a package for me? Has someone ordered something for us and shipped it directly to our house? That would be so surprising! An unexpected gift. I imagine what it could be... a play kitchen for Rose? No, probably too big. Maybe those fingerless gloves I've been eying? No, I don't think anyone knows I want those. Ooh, maybe it's a Southern Pacific model train for D. Those are hard to find. No, I doubt it could be that. Perhaps it's a new crock pot, I've been wanting to replace mine for awhile now. How thoughtful that mystery person is that shipped it directly to me. I bet there's a note in there requesting my new crock pot's first meal to be wings. Eh... it's probably not for me. Maybe it's something for Ry. Jessie from Toy Story? A new dinosaur toy?

See! You are standing up to get that package that is CLEARLY mine.

I am lost in thought wondering what kind of surprise we are getting and then I am shocked. You drive away, not even leaving a sticky note saying the package needed a signature. How dare you play with my emotions like that! I almost had Christmas presents! A crock pot! Fingerless gloves! New books! Treasures unknown! A briefcase full of money!

Wait!! I'll meet you at the gate... You never honked for me!

You are gone. I'll just pretend that you couldn't see the numbers on the post... or that you were confused with the name of the road... Perhaps you thought no one was home, I know, it looks like that a lot. It's our one vehicle situation, I'm sure it confuses a lot of people.

Perhaps next week, or even the week after that, you'll bring us something? I know that would be cutting it really close to Christmas, but I wouldn't mind a box being dropped over the gate. I guess I'll have to do my part and order something, though. I'll try not to let you down. You obviously are looking for that package with our address on it.

Sincerely,
The creepy lady that took a picture of you with her awesome super zooming camera. (Just be happy I didn't whip out the binoculars...)

mainly because I was bored (the tree is up)

 Fifteen days until it's that day.

I am not exactly in Christmas mode, but because I have little kids about I dug out our decorations and artificial tree (like I'm actually going to pay for a real tree that will probably make me sneeze) and set it up. Last year I couldn't find our star and instead of buying a new one (they were ugly) my mom gave me a thirty year old foil star I could use. I don't know what happened but I took it out of its box and it doesn't look so good. So... we are starless until I find some spare change for a new one. (I don't like buying decorations... I use the same ornaments I bought on Black Friday in 2004 and the tree is 4 years old... still looking good, too.) Plus, for some reason people give us ornaments every year for the kids so our tree does get new stuff.

I have one Christmas item from my childhood. It's a wooden Santa sleigh that plays "Santa Claus is coming to town". Neat story on my acquirement of the little treasure. I don't know how old I was maybe five or six. My dad and I were driving back from town (around Christmas time) when he spotted a box in the road, he stopped and picked it up and we took it home. (It was not uncommon for my dad to see something in the ditch or side of the road and turn around to see if it was anything interesting.) There was a phone number somewhere in or on the box (I know we opened it) and we informed the people we had found their box of Santa sleighs and when they came to pick it up they let me choose one to keep since we had been so kind. I have cherished it ever since and I love having that memory.

I put it on the piano that is in our dining room. The kids love having me wind it up so they can listen to it play. (Santa's arm, the toys in the back and the reindeer's head and leg move up and down... very cute.)

The boys helped me set up and decorate the tree. When Rose woke up she said, What's that? (hey, she can say Christmas now!) Here's how her reaction went

If you look closely you'll see she's crossing her fingers... making a wish?

She was just a tiny bit excited. (that picture makes me so flippin' happy!)

Yesterday was such a nice day. It was cold, but the sun was shining so it didn't feel too bad. We walked to the stock tanks behind the house and there's water! Not a lot, but we have had some rain over the past month so they aren't bone dry anymore.

We had a lot of fun and for about 30 minutes I wasn't saying:

Don't touch the tree.
STOP touching the tree!
Do NOT crawl under the tree!!
Get that ornament OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!
I'M GOING TO TAKE IT DOWN IF YOU TOUCH IT ONE MORE TIME!

Because I did say all of those things (on shuffle/repeat) for thirty minutes before bedtime.

(I don't regret putting the tree up early at. all.)

Fifteen days, right? And then it's coming down immediately. 

(guess what? I've noticed they aren't as tempted to touch if I keep the lights off... Perhaps the tree has a chance to stay up after all.)