Feeling the Christmas... Spirit

Every time the radio plays the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Carol of the Bells" Sean-Peter turns into some kind of marionette puppet with strings and he has no choice but to jump around and do a form of "dance" that basically consists of kicking, twisting, and punching the air. He'll tell you he's fighting the bad guys. John calls it Kabuki theater.



Who knew Christmas music could be so... inspiring.

I wish it would inspire me. I am sooo unprepared for Christmas. I think it has to do with my serious intentions of making this Christmas as non-materialistic as possible: e.g. I'm not going to pile a mountain of presents under the tree. Which is sad, really. If not buying presents is why I'm not inspired, that is. Presents should not a Christmas make.

And they don't, but when you're inundated with commercialism every where you turn around and you're determined not to succumb I wonder if I've tilted the pendulum too far in the other direction.

Either that, or I'm just getting old.

The kids are getting a good, old-fashioned Christmas, by the way, with presents and stocking stuffers and everything, don't you worry. I'm not even claiming to be spending a whole lot less this year -- I'm just determined not to get so much stuff.

Wish me luck. I think I understand why my mom needed so much coffee on Christmas morning.

• Carol Of The Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

More Trans-Siberian Orchestra music on iLike

Snow and a Show and Some Sugar

Brrrrr! Anyone else with me? We got our first snowfall here...Have I ever mentioned that it's still dark when Olivia gets on the bus? And hers isn't even the first one that comes through the neighborhood...

Speaking of Olivia, she's got her first "acting gig" under her belt (heh-heh), a little Christmas show production her dance instructor put on in her studio with a couple-handfuls of her students. Olivia has begged to take an "acting class" ever since I put her in Storybook Dramas at the local town hall theater... over a year ago.

Go ahead, take a look. It's barely a hiccup.




And seriously, how. cute. are they.

And yes, Olivia loved every minute of it. I daresay she enjoyed performing even more than what she enjoyed after the show.She looks nice and calm here, but don't be fooled: she rode the sugar loop all the way home.

He's Still My Baby...

But he did turn five!

(Grandma's got so many grandsons, it's hard to keep track of them all...)

He was so excited to get mail from his Me-ma...

And Lassie from his other grandma... (Aww, remember Lassie? "Lassie, please come home!"?)

Of course there was cake.

And presents...

He was a tad-bit excited about the transformers. At least I convinced him he only needed to sleep with the smallest one...

This is How We Get Rid of Leaves and Drag Around Kids in O-hi-yo.

Birthdays and Barking

John celebrated his birthday yesterday... Although mourned seemed to be the more appropriate description for much of the day, and not just because he's approaching the end of another decade... (Ahem)

It all started out innocuous enough. A guy from the phone company came out, a day earlier than expected. So that sounds good, right? He confirmed that our nerves wires are frayed and did what he could on the spot short of pulling them all out and starting over. Apparently, 40+ year-old wires aren't good. Especially with the jimmy-rigging that went on with the previous owners.

Right after he left we did a little jig, because our internet connection was faster than it had been since... Well, since forever.

Unfortunately, that was short-lived.

Routing Woes
John thought he'd piggy-back on our good fortune and work on getting the router to, um, route properly. Alas, in vain, since this was the umpteenth time he has worked on this problem, and always before we could go back to how the phone line was probably contributing to the problem. Now that the phone line has been fixed (as much as it can be for now) he is faced with the router being absolutely, undoubtedly, the worst router. Ever. He alternated between working on it, debating whether to call the Dell Indians at a mere $7 a minute... or stomping on the ground and smashing it to smithereens.

He opted for giving up instead, with plans to return the router to the depths of Hades from whence it came. Or to the BX, whichever you prefer.

Besides, he had a game to watch, with his favorite peeps.Alabama won!
No matter that they shouldn't have, based on how they played. John and some Tennessee fans at work placed a friendly bet on this game -- John should have some beer coming his way very soon... Happy Birthday!

And the kids showered him with homemade gifts, each in their own unique way.

Olivia went on a card-making frenzy...


If you look closely, you might wonder if she even wore herself out. ("Mom and Mommy"?)

The Times, They are a Changing

In what truly says more about this next generation than I could ever begin to articulate, Conner presented his dad with his own homemade "card", DSi style...



I mean, have you ever?

I think John was quite taken aback.



Imagine if the original Disney creators could see what everyday teenagers are able to do now...

Sean-Peter didn't really make anything for John, per se. But he presented his own creation, in his own, unique way.So much for the cake.It's a good thing he's so darn cute.

He's not into much mischief today, though...

Meet the latest cold victim. He's got it worse than Olivia did; he woke up this morning -- not early -- panicking with that tell-tale barking seal cough. He was my only kid who ever got croupy, but at the ripe old age of almost five four it's definitely more bark than bite. It took a while to convince him of that, though. It didn't help that he'd also lost his voice.

Here's a tiny sample of a barking seal cough. I didn't want to belabor the point by forcing it out of him, but you get the idea.

At least Olivia's doing much better...

In Which I Post a Bunch of Photos and Videos and Update You With Our Wild and Crazy Antics.

Sickness
Talk about a major chill day today. Olivia was home sick -- again -- with symptoms that are decidedly cold-like, and I've decided to try to keep them that way.

These are times I am sooo glad I am a stay-at-home mom.

It also rained all night, and most of the day. Talk about an incentive to do nothing but lay lie around on the couch...

(Especially when you have a reading buddy.)

Sleep
I passed out on the couch for awhile myself. I'm not sick, but apparently I'm not well, either. I basically went to bed with the kids last night, slept all night, fell asleep on the couch about mid-morning, then again after lunch...

I have no idea what my problem is. What if I didn't have the "leisure" to just fall asleep like that? (Never mind about the kids... Hey, the house didn't burn down, okay?) I can only imagine that perhaps all that sleep helps my body keep the germs at bay. John emailed from work himself saying he wasn't feeling too well...

Imagine what this world would be like if everyone just got enough sleep.

Parties
I missed a party yesterday at Sean-Peter's preschool. A "Mexico Party" -- something to do with butterflies? No matter: I thought since I didn't send Olivia to school it probably wouldn't be prudent for us to show up at a festival. But look at this photo my friend Erin took while she was there.

Isn't it the best? Down below is more typical of photos that we've gotten lately...
Games
Sitting at Conner's soccer games has been a familiar pastime as of late. The tournament is scheduled to finish up this weekend, wet fields permitting. I think it's none too soon for his little brother... Not to mention the weather. I think the damp chill at his last game was what did it for Olivia's cold and level of coughing. Ohio's weather is typical Midwest-fare: sweaters one day, shorts the next -- raincoats in between.(This was a shorts' day. With a mix of long-sleeves.)

Pumpkins
We also went to a pumpkin patch recently...

Yet another event with Peter's preschool, where he apparently has a girlfriend.
Just kidding! (I hope.)

But it was the most absolutely gorgeous beautiful fall day in Ohio... Maybe Love Was in the Air?Reading...
Sean-Peter's IEP meeting with his teachers, etc., was today... Again, I missed it, because Olivia was home sick. But John was able to go, so it's all good. We haven't yet talked about what they discussed, but I can't imagine any surprises. Overall, he's simply doing quite well, especially from an academic perspective. Get a load of him here reading...

Reading Preschooler:

Okay, so he's not exactly reading. But it's the first step, eh?

And it was all Olivia could do not to step in right away and show him how it's done. Of course, she got her turn...

Reading 1st Grader:


It is entirely apropos that they're reading a book about guinea pigs, seeing as how we have this little guy now. Meet our latest pet, "Nosy Pepperoni" (don't ask).Otherwise known as "Pepper", "Little Piggy" -- or better yet, "Bacon Bit".

I know, we're terrible. But The Huckster is rather taken by him.Internet-Schminternet
It has taken me all evening to sporadically write this post and download the photos and videos all while dealing with the erratic behavior of our internet connection, which has been sketchy at best. It's all tied to our phone line, which apparently has problems "in-house", so far as we have been able to nail it down.

We are slowly dealing with it and have thus far pinpointed the problem as occurring mainly when it rains, and thus when the box is wet. Here John thought it would be fun to take a picture of me calling the phone company with a phone hooked up to the box outside. Because it's all just so funny.

We have since taped a plastic bag around the box on the side of our house. Because we're classy like that. Apparently a hard rain such as the one we had last night still gets through.

Oh, and we're also having issues with our router, WHICH WE JUST GOT, and our modem, which don't seem to like each other very well. We've thought about putting them in time out, but that's all they seem to want to do anyway, so it doesn't seem much of a punishment.

John's getting right on that. Because he doesn't have anything better to do with his time. We're just all wild and crazy around here.

Little Eggy (and Mushroom Head)

Sean-Peter started back with his Occupational Therapy (OT) sessions after taking a break for the summer. He was doing so well last Spring, and the private company where he does his OT was going to be short-staffed in the summer, what with several therapists out on maternity leave and several others cutting back their hours while their kids were out of school.

It was really nice to have the break, if nothing else for the sake of a change -- not to mention the 20-minute drive each way for the one-hour weekly session. I really didn't know what to expect during the break after a full year of Sean-Peter going to OT. Would there be a change? Would we even notice a difference?

It was about mid-July that it occurred to me that it wasn't a coincidence that Sean-Peter's tolerance level was lower and his frustration level was higher. He was quicker to erupt and more quickly moved to tears for slights that otherwise might have been taken in stride. His speech sometimes stuttered and he articulated with much more effort. We were definitely missing OT.

The progress he has made in this year-plus since he has started therapy has not been lost on me; I am still amazed to think that I once thought I would be learning sign language, and instead the little guy "graduated" from speech therapy. Why, just one year ago Sean-Peter couldn't even sing. He cried in frustration when challenged to sing along to "Old McDonald's" ee-i-ee-i-oh...

And now, not only is he singing, he's making up his own lyrics...

"Little Eggy" by Sean-Peter (44 seconds long)

Little Eggy, Little Eggy....
If you want to hatch
Use your tail or teeth to break it open

"And, don't forget! Another one..."

Little Eggy, Little Eggy....
If you want to hatch
Use your tail or teeth to break it open

Little Eggy, Little Eggy, Little Eggy...

Yes, the little guy continues to amaze me.

Along with starting back to OT, we have also started up his Listening Therapy again at home. This requires a special set of (quite large) headphones that enable noise to filter in while he's wearing them for the 30 minutes of therapy each day that I remember to have him do it.

They're also what earned him the moniker, "Mushroom Head". (The hat helps to keep them on while he goes about his business.)

To Commemorate 9/11, May We Never Forget

My kids have no memories from that fateful day eight years ago. Conner was in kindergarten, about to turn six, but he insists he has no specific memory of what was happening. I do recall that I tried to keep the news on TV, those vivid images, to a minimum. We were staying with my sister in Kansas for a while, while John was TDY. Her boys were as young as Conner and even younger. Their needs couldn't wait while the adults dropped everything to watch replays of the same horrible scenes.

To Conner it is just history, not something he experienced or witnessed personally as it played out. His knowledge of that day, and what it meant for this country, will have to come from us. I remember exactly where I was, and what I was doing, when I learned what was happening in New York. I remember the feeling in the country that we were all united, we were all galvanized and determined to find those responsible, we were all afraid, and we were all mad.

Olivia and Peter weren't even born yet. "Patriot Day" to Olivia means wear red, white and blue to school. As you might imagine, Olivia's always up for a theme.


Someday, I hope, she will understand the gravity of what this day commemorates. For now, singing a song she learned at school about loving her country is enough.

(Video's 41 seconds long. The cymbals were her idea;)


May you all have a blessed day.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful 4th of July! The kids and I have celebrated (so far) at the Americana Festival in our little old downtown suburbia. John stayed home to work on his Master's class (he did not catch up during his recovery from surgery like he thought he would) (go figure) (I mean, would you?) so he stayed home. Boo.

So Peter cried the whole time.Okay, so it wasn't the whole time. And he was actually crying about his hat balloon with the dog on top. "I wanted a blue one!"

Waa-waa. Here's a quarter, go call someone who cares.

Just kidding. I really, truly didn't say that. And he really, truly got over it. Eventually. I mean, if his sister likes to wear the hat, it can't be all bad, eh?












And he discovered a wonderful new use for it as well. (Video's 26 seconds long.)

Really, could he be any more boy?

Conner was with us, too. Just not nearly so ready to pose for the camera. Gee, how strange for a 13yo to not want to pose for the camera.

He cheered up when he saw how large the sno cones were. And found out that he didn't have to pay for his.And now we're off to a BBQ with some friends. And we're late because I'm blogging. Aren't you so blessed. (Sorry, Tina!)

In Which I Post a Thousand Photos and Video Clips

Mmm .... was that a break? I'm not sure. At least, I certainly don't feel like I've been on vacation, even if this blog has. Anyone miss me? Anyone? Anyone? (tap-tap) This thing on?

End-of-School

The kids' schools officially wrapped up this week last week, finally. Yes, in Ohio we go into June. The last week was full of all kinds of cuteness; just see if you don't just want to reach through the screen and gobble them up. This first video's about 2 minutes long: my favorite part is about a half a minute through when Sean-Peter finally spots me and waves like only a preschooler can. "He likes me! He really likes me!" (Name that movie.)

The second video is about 30 seconds long, and too "wonderful" for words. Sean-Peter's in red on the left.




The whole end-of-the-school thing kind of took away what whits I still had left about me, which isn't saying much. This was the first year I had three kids in three different schools, with three different schedules, and it proved almost more than I could keep together. It was like my allergies filled up my head and pushed out my with-it brain cells. And yes, I have been suffering: I love me some Ohio trees, but they definitely do not love me back.

Conner's last day of middle school was Thursday, so for some reason I just sort of had it in my head that the last day for Olivia and Peter was Thursday, too. If another mom had not mentioned that she'd gotten her kindergartner's schedule mixed up with her middle schooler's schedule (yay! I wasn't the only one) I honestly think my kids would have been standing outside waiting for their bus, me on the phone calling transportation like a dork wondering why they're not picking up the phone.

Actually, probably not. Olivia would almost certainly have straightened me out in time. "Um, mom? School is over?" (Thank you God for daughters.)

Anniversary

John and I celebrated our anniversary about a week before school let out. The night before (or was it the morning of?) John says to me, "So... what were you thinking we should do?" Kind of like, You haven't brought it up so I know you think I forgot, but I didn't. And I'm all like, I really wasn't trying to test you, honest! I'm just trying to keep my head above water, you know?

But we did take some time to go out, to Chili's for some Happy Hour margaritas. Because we're classy like that. Thank you God for sons old enough to babysit!And Happy 15 years to us (insert smiley face).

Meet Mr. Fluffy

I really can't neglect to mention some other excitement we've been having around here. Re: the newest additions to our family! Meet, "Mr. Fluffy".And his brother Darryl...
...and his other brother Darryl.

Yes, three chipmunks. (Although these could be three different photos of the same one. Who would know?) And those are just the ones we've kept. We've shooed out a fair number of the little guys that keep coming into our house, through the garage door the kids leave open as close as we can figure. Chipmunks are breeding like rabbits in our yard, I tell you what.

And the overflow finds its way into our home -- a couple by way of Huckster's mouth: he catches them and brings them by the back door. When we make him release them they scamper off, seemingly unharmed. Although one did succumb to internal injuries, apparently, a couple of days later.

I say apparently because it's not like we're taking them into the vet for checkups or anything. Having chipmunks for pets wasn't exactly something we set out to do, but it seems a better alternative to letting Huckster schlep them around in his mouth? We reckon we'll keep them until they're old enough to have some sense -- or big enough to get away. Because Huckster is just waiting ...Ornery little cuss.

Did you know chipmunks are omnivores? And they love craisins. They'll scamper out real quick-like for those.


Dancers

Olivia's dance recital coincided with the last week of school. Truly, if you had a daughter who loathed getting all dressed up and frilly (as I reportedly did as a child) you should just skip the whole dance experience altogether. Because the recital is all about dressing up and getting all frilly, makeup and all. It's the culmination of a year of hard work (for both the girls and the parents). And if I had a daughter who resisted the whole point, well... That would just be pointless.

And Olivia does love to dress up -- you might recall I once caught her sneaking makeup to school? Dressing up and wearing makeup? Well, it must feel like a slice of heaven to her. I swear, sometimes I just don't know how I got a daughter like her, this mother who doesn't own makeup less than three years old and habitually goes around in jeans and t-shirts and roots that need to be done. (Don't look too closely at the anniversary picture above, please.)

But got her I did, and oh is it fun.














Dramatic at times, yes, but oh so much fun. (The video's about 17 seconds long.)



















(After Olivia saw the above photo on the left, she wanted to take a "serious" one. The attempt on the right was the best she could muster.)

"So Long"

And now to finally bid you adieu (especially if you watched all the videos) (and if you did, thank you; you made my effort worthwhile), I will "Say So Long" and leave you with some more preschool cuteness. Just see if you don't wish you had one of your own. Be patient for a few seconds for it to start. (Sean-Peter's still in red on the left. Video's about a minute long.)

Spring Dancing

The sun came out!
Finally giving Olivia the chance she'd been waiting for to wear her new "mint julep" summer dress. That I got from Goodwill for a whopping $2.19. I love me some Goodwill.

And now for your viewing pleasure, and a little-girl fix for those of you who only have boys (ahem)...

The first video is of her ballet class and is a minute long. Olivia is on the far left. I love her mom and pop dance studio: it's such a hole in the wall and the instructor still uses her old albums. As in good old-fashioned records. On a record player. And they sometimes skip. It's like a dance lesson and a flashback into the seventies all rolled into one.




The second video shows the girls practicing their tap dance recital number. It's about two minutes long and Olivia is second from the left...

I just have to point out that this is a beginners' tap class and they still have five more rehearsals until the recital! Luckily, you might say. But just see if you don't think they look so cute you wish you could reach through the screen and gobble them all up.

A Week with Grandma & Grandpa -- and the Night We Had Some Tea.

It rained like, the first half of their stay. Lots of board games were played...
Olivia showed off her whistling. (She's already loads better than the rest of us combined!)
... they watched cartoons with Grandpa on his computer.
Of course, Grandma read lots of books... (Some were even to her grandchildren!)

And Grandpa was finally able to finish reading "Black Beauty" out loud to Conner -- two years after they first started it! (I missed that photo op.)

Mmmm, Graeter's Ice Cream!
Toward the end of their stay mom and I finally got some antiquing in, starting with some stores in Lebanon. (Well, one antique store, but it was a good one. We kind of got a late start.)

We also made it to the open-air flea market off of I-75. HUGE! It's a bit rough around the edges, but you can certainly find some good deals. We didn't even go through half of it. We had to leave before I spent any more money...

Then we went to our Happy Place: A bookstore with a coffee shop. You know you're with me on that one.

When the rain let up a bit, Grandma helped Olivia and Peter develop their batting technique.
Conner wasn't about to be left out of the fun.

The day they left, Grandma and Grandpa stayed long enough to watch Olivia's first T-ball practice before starting the long (14-hour) drive back to their home in Kansas. Aren't they champs? That's devotion for you.

Yes, it was raining again. But it didn't dampen Olivia's spirits at all. She was sooo excited to start her newest sport.

The Dayton Tea Party

These photos are mainly for my sister, who I know was quite interested in the Tea Parties being held around the nation on Tax Day. We attended the one in Dayton! Along with 6,000 8,000 other people, according to the local news.


I took pictures of as many signs as I could, as best as I could with two little munchkins wondering, "Where is the party?" and not at all impressed with where we ended up.

A good number of the signs were denigrating Obama specifically and his policies. But I ignored those: that was not at all the point of these demonstrations, despite what the mainstream media's headlines may have told you.

Besides, the more I listen to the news and fail try to keep up with the political issues, the more I realize that no one in Washington seems to be speaking for me. I do believe I may have to start registering as an Independent.

Speaking of feeling disenfranchised, the guy in the photo below kind of looks like Sayeed from Lost, don't you think?


"Get your filthy hands off my money!!" Too funny.

And my personal favorite...

"The Stimulus bites." The only thing funnier would be if the sign had been put on a yapper.

We were all excited to be there, really. Especially Conner. "Why do I have to go?" He had no desire to understand what all the fuss was about. He changed his colors a little bit when everyone was talking about it in school the next day and they thought it was cool that he'd been there.
Considering the number of people who showed up, the whole scenario was rather calm. The speakers were very difficult, if not downright impossible, to understand from the back of the main crowd. Plus, we couldn't see them. Not that it would have done any good to sit at the front of the crowd with kids in tow. We really went just to experience it all first-hand, and I am glad we did.

Now, there was the occasional brouhaha going on, but of course the second I decided to record some video it all died down. The lady in the video with the sign, "Honk if I pay ur mortgage" was cracking us up, along with the guy going around selling "Obamacards". That's capitalism at work, baby.



The crowd had just been chanting before I started the video. We weren't going out of our way to brainwash Sean-Peter, honest.

We didn't even try to stay for the whole thing. "We came, we saw, now let's go get coffee."
Besides, everyone knows...
Maybe we should send some more to the people in charge of our tax dollars.