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"The Big Chill"

We went to Ben's Christmas program at Owl Creek School recently. The program was called, "The Big Chill", and it was pretty cute!! My pictures, however, not so much....

The picture at the top is really the only cute one I got.


I don't think that the school cafeteria lights helped the photo quality, but I'm pretty sure they had nothing to do with my bad timing. I have so many pictures of Ben with his eyes closed!

We had our Luxe Christmas party this past week, too. It was very nice! We had dinner at the Springdale Country club...Wade and I both had a yummy steak....and exchanged our Secret Santa gifts. I was Ryan's S.S. and got him a wool scarf....that kid walks in to work half frozen some days after walking from class.

Betina was my S.S. and got me the BEST scarf and an awesome NARS makeup brush that I REALLY wanted! So sweet!!!

It was a lot of fun! Such a nice thank you from Juliette and Dr. Miller and so much better than the Christmas party I attended last year!!! The photos are on my Facebook page, but I will post them on here eventually....sorry I'm not prepared for that today.

Danny Spungen, whose grandfather in 1941 launched Peer Bearing Co., a ball bearing manufacturer in suburban Chicago that was sold earlier this year, said his family unanimously decided to thank the company's 230 employees with year-end bonuses of $10,000 and more, with the amount based on years of service.

How cool is that?

Look, it should never be about the amount. That's not the point. The point is that the gift has to mean something. Ten thousand dollars to every employee when times are tough is AMAZING, but what's more amazing is that the family decided unanimously....did you catch that part?

Or, really putting thought into how you can creatively stretch $10 into a meaningful gift for someone is, well, thoughtful.

Enjoy your family this season, enjoy Christmas for what it celebrates.

Bummer

Mom's Log 12052008

I'm constantly looking for signs that Ben hasn't grown up too much.  

I love this one!

Last night Ben called me in to his room after he went to bed.  When I got in there he said, kind of pitifully, "I think I pulled a muscle".  

Please keep in mind that he is in bed not moving around much but trying to go to sleep.

When I asked what (could have possibly) happened, he said that his stuffed fish fell out of bed and when he reached for it, he pulled a muscle in his arm.

Trying to ease the situation, I said that he probably didn't pull a muscle but just stretched a little too far.

He was a little annoyed that I wasn't taking this injury a little more seriously and shot his arm straight out and snapped, "I KNOW.  Look how  long it is now!"

Sweet Baby.

It's a Recession Christmas, Charlie Brown!!!

Well, it's official, It's a Recession Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Here are the rules of Recession Christmas (with me and mine) :

1.  There is a $10 maximum per individual on gifts.

2.  If you exceed $10, even by a penny, you are disqualified from Christmas.  An unthinkable punishment!!!!  There are no exceptions to this rule, so shop with your calculators!!

3.  Those under the age of 15 and over 90 are exempt.  In other words, kiddos and the 90+ crowd deserve to still get what they want (within reason).

4.  If you have never given me a Christmas gift before, this is not the year to start.  First time gift giving in 2008 is not allowed and will result in automatic disqualification from Christmas.  There is so much that I would rather you do with your money than get me a gift.  Here's one example:

Go to www.soldiersangels.org and see a list of the top items that the troops overseas request the most.  Top on the list is a letter from people like us.  

That's FREE!

5.  Sales tax, stockings and gift wrap do not count against you.

6.  Price tags must be left on when possible and you must be able to provide proof of price if requested.

And now, what you really want:

Ben mailing his letter to Santa...

Ollie looking at his first Christmas tree and wishing he could put it in his mouth...

Happy Holidays!!

We're back!!

Here's what's been going on in Estyland?  Here ya go (and I'll sprinkle in some photos, too):

We decided we were going to have a garage sale.  It's really nice to clean out and remove the cluttler, but how much do you HATE to prepare for a garage sale? Gross!

When we got up on that morning, it was brrrrrrrrrr chilllllyyyyy. We decided to start the garage sale at 7:30 b/c both kiddos are up and fed by then.

We all worked really hard and we each had our own job and responsibility to make sure that the sale was a success!

Wade was stock and merchandising, I was in charge of visuals and then we had.....

Marketing

and Security

Ben, when he actually came outside, was pretty helpful. One man gave him a dollar for being so polite. He wanted to spend it immediately buying back some of his toys.  

Oliver is sitting up all by himself.  You've already seen him crawling and now he's sitting and trying to pull up.  Here's where my previous Mommy experience is doing me no good b/c Ben never crawled...I feel it's a sign of genius.  Ben sat up and stayed there and when he was ready to walk he did.  In fact, he walked on his first birthday and was running by that afternoon.

ANYWAY, Oliver is trying to pull up so does this mean that he is [a genius, too] going to walk in 10 minutes or is he on schedule?

Sorry, crummy pic.

These kids are kinda throwing me b/c....get this....tonight Ben was in the shower and I heard him call me.  I went in there thinking that maybe I had forgotten to leave the baby shampoo where he could reach, but when I got there he said, "I think I'm going to start calling you guys 'Mom' and 'Dad', okay?".  

Are you kidding me?!!!  They STOP calling you "Mommy" and "Daddy"?!  What's next, they get cars, girlfriends and move out?!!!!  Ugh, my heart!

Let's see, what else?  Wade is really good about letting me sleep in on Saturdays.  I soooooo love sleeping in on Saturdays!  I don't know if it's b/c for a million years, Saturdays were just another work day or what, but one Saturday morning I came out of the bedroom to three dudes on the couch.  It was pretty cute. 

Just dudes chillin. 

Ben and Oliver together are pretty fun to watch. 

 

You may have noticed that I have used the fancy brackets in this posting.  You know, the [ &] keys.  That's because my smarty pants son asked what the difference is between brackets and parentheses and should he use them in the book he is writing.  His second book.  This one is called Energy and Gasses.  In case you would like to know the proper way to use these doo dads:  brackets are supposed to include text to your reader only.  Anything that you put in parentheses is supposed to read like it's part of the sentence or like the parentheses are not there.

I know Oliver, it's very confusing!!  But, I'm trying it [just for you].

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

i'm sorry

I am so sorry, people!  I have been no good and good for nothing when it comes to this blog.  I have been busy, not lazy, I promise.  I have been working a few more hours lately and the blog has fallen to the side.

BUT NO MORE!  

Within 48 hours you will have BLOG GOLD!!!!

j

Boo!

Spoooooooooky!

Friday was a big day for little ghosts and goblins (and dentists) everywhere.

I don't guess I even have to tell you how exited Ben was.

For those of you that don't know, Ben was a bunch of grapes.  There was a lot of relief with that decision b/c Wade and I have been scratching our heads for months trying to figure out how we were going to make a wearable lightbulb!  

Ben has always been VERY creative in his Halloween costume ideas......

When he originally told us that he wanted to be a lightbulb, we were not at all surprised.  I don't know what changed his mind...don't care either!  All I know is a trip or two to Hobby Lobby for safety pins, purple balloons and some fake vines and leaves and we had all the ingredients to craft our own couture fruit.  No "off the rack" costumes for this family!!  One or two fainting spells later, the balloons were all blown up and he and his daddy were ready to pound the pavement!!  

I stayed home to catch my breath and hand out the candy (and when I say "hand out" I mean eat as many Twix from the candy bowl as I possibly could before falling into a sugar coma).

Where is baby Oliver during all of this?  

I got Ollie some glow-in-the-dark skeleton jammies that I thought were so cute!

BTW, very freaky to walk in your baby's room at night and find a glowing skeleton in the crib.  Very Freaky.  

ANYWAY, I thought, "Perfect, PJ's AND a costume!  Way to be economical!"  It was going to be a nice night, not too chilly, so we thought we might bundle Mr. Bones up and let him haunt the neighborhood w/ B. Bro.  

Unfortunately, 7:30 is just too late for this little guy.  He just couldn't make it.

Wade and Ben made the rounds, collected their treats w/o any serious tricks and came home.  Nothing left to do but load up on sugar and go to bed.

Ben had a GREAT time!

I'll let him tell all about his adventures this weekend on his blog.  Those things are so much better from a kid's point of view!!  

 

But wait, there's so much more to talk about!!!!

I would like to direct your eyes to line 7 below!!!

Hit 'em Wreck 'em Texas Tech!!!!  I think it was THE BEST game that I have ever seen.  

AND, Check this out!!!!  

There's not much to hear, but you can pause the music player on the bottom if you want.

Finally, since Oliver is so big and crawling now, we thought it was about time that we discuss his future.  He has decided he would like to be a plumber.  

Have a good week!

Mommy's log, 10192008

Ben didn't need me to put on his Spongebob bandaid today....sigh.

The Wiz

Hi.  

You all know my big brother/FAVORITE person, Ben.  

Well, I'd like to introduce his blog, The Wiz Kid!  

The link is at the right of my blog under "other blogs".  He came up with the idea, the title and content.  Cool, huh?

He wants me to tell you that he will be updating it weekly on Saturdays and that maybe he can get my Mommy to do the same!

Enjoy it!

If you'll excuse me, I have to take my bath.

Baby sounds

We're officially making our You Tube debut today.  

Here a a few clips of some Ollie noises.  Just so you get the first one, Oliver is teething and has been chewing on everything, including our fingers.   Wade stuck his finger in his mouth and started "scratchin" like a dj.  You'll see.  Oliver LOVED it.  The other thing you need to know is that Oliver talks when he eats....you'll see what I mean.  The other two are just fun.  

Enjoy!!

We pause for a brief, non-partisan, political message...

Some of my friends and I have had differences in our political views. I embrace that...even though you are all wrong.

JUST KIDDING!!!
Seriously, what I want to say is that I will always respect that difference b/c you actually care enough to form an opinion. You listen, you research, you do your homework and you VOTE!! What I have a harder time with is those who can vote, but don't...espeacially if you think that you are making a point by not voting!!!! Pahleeeze!!!

Please pass this along to those that you think should see it. The deadline to register to vote has come and gone, but I am still shocked at how many people are registered to vote....and DON'T!!!

Tell 'em Leo's in it if they're leary. I'll watch anything with Leonardo de Caprio!!!!

*******WARNING*******

There is language in this video, so no viewing with little ears around or if you are offended by that type of thing. Be brave. I think that the "state of the union" is a little more offensive than a couple of "F" bombs, yes?

Bookworms

Ben wanted to read Oliver some books, so we went into Ollie's room and got out the cute little books that "Mermif" gave Oliver.

Oliver is doing this thing where he rests his little head on his hand. It's funny to see such a little guy do that...sign of genius, I'm sure.

These two are pretty crazy about each other!!

He'll learn....

cheese whiskers