It's Mother's Day

Happy Day to you, if you are a Mother, or have a Mother, or if someone loves you like a Mother.

I got up early to enjoy a cup of coffee in peace and listen to the gentle rain and the chipper morning birds. It's 63* right now, and so pretty! Sometimes it's nice to wake up at my own pace, instead of by hitting the floor running. That I managed to extricate myself from the bed with a pile of children woven around my limbs (there must have been a storm last night - there aren't usually so many of them) without waking anybody up is my Mother's Day Surprise.

We beat back the foliage, tilled the garden (again), and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned on Friday. I was firing on about 3 cylinders yesterday (using a V-8 as a baseline), so I spent a lot of time trying to sleep. The rest of them helped Zorak finish the chicken tractor and headed out to a friend's birthday party. When they got home, they gave the house some sprucing up, since I was out of commission. o_O Now we have that lovely lived-in bachelor pad look going. Again. My Mother's Day wish for the coming year is that EmBaby has some latent tidiness gene, and that I'll have an ally one day when it kicks in. Until then, though, know that the kitchen is safe, the coffee is hot, the kids are friendly, and those aren't my socks under the dining room table.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

And A Happy New Year!

This weekend I've read some fantastic lists - reading lists completed and planned, goals met last year and set for the coming year, hopes and plans of hearts and minds. It's been encouraging to read through them. And in the process, I've muddled out some goals for us for 2012. (This house is up the road from us - it has no relation to this post, other than I think it's pretty amazing, and don't have another place to share it.)

2012 will be the year I learn to work around the things that normally pull me up short. Considering these are things I've been unable, or unwilling, to work around up to this point, it'll be interesting to see how that pans out. I suspect the keys will be (in no particular order - or rather, in whatever order I can pull them off first): getting over the stories in my head that make me feel paralyzed, letting go of what I think the delegation process should look like, and being willing to just leap right the heck out of the box so that we can move forward. I'm starting with bed risers.

See, under the bed is absolutely *crammed* with things. But I've held off on getting boxes for those things because we plan to build or buy a new bed (then I'll know how much room I have for boxes). And it's ugly, because there's no bed skirt (the old one, being 25+ years old, finally refused to stay stitched, stapled, glued, or tucked). But I've been holding off on buying a bed skirt until we bought or built the new bed (no bed wants highwater skirting, right?), but we're putting off the new bed because it's not on the top of the list (and it has to be patient and work its way up, like all the other good projects), and to be honest, we'd both rather have a new mattress - which we need, as it's even older and far less compliant than the defunct bed skirt - before a new actual bed frame - which is still functional. All of these things are fine, taken on their own. No biggie. But if you add it together, now I've got an antagonistic relationship going with the entire bedroom, and we keep stubbing our toes when we make the bed. It's not the bedroom's fault. It's nobody's fault, really. It just is what it is. For 8 bucks, I can clear the bottleneck and move forward. Why on earth not?

In other words, 2012 will be The Year of The Blindingly Obvious Solution. Well, yes.

I also hope to mail all the things that are sitting here, withering away and doing their intended recipients absolutely no good, whatsoever. They aren't getting dusted, either. The initial push is going to cost a fortune in postage, but after that - again, clearing out the bottleneck. And from there? Drop ship directly from Amazon and bypass myself, entirely. Put the good intentions into good practice, and bless all the people who have blessed us so very much. (I'm actually more excited about this one than I am about the bed risers! It'll be fun.)

Reading. Always. Good, good stuff. Didn't get nearly enough of that done last year. Facebook is quite the attention and time slayer. This year, I won't be my own worst enemy. This year, I will reconnect with the books. I've missed them, but it wasn't until I read the reading lists of others that I realized how very much I'd missed this last year. That's not good - not good for me, and not a good example for the children. So there is that. Again, blindingly obvious solution to a simple problem. What an exciting year this will be!

And time with friends. This year, we've been so glad to have some real community coming together for us, locally -- people we enjoy, people who challenge us, people who give and take in many ways. That's some powerful stuff, there. I want to tend those nooks and crannies and give them whatever they need to flourish this coming year.

And, we're punting on school for this week. Zorak's off a couple of days this week, and a cousin is coming into town mid-week. It seems silly to get spooled up for a day's worth of schooling. So we'll spend that day looking for all the things I'm sure we won't be able to find right off the bat, and then - theoretically - we'll start bright and early on the 9th. Granted, we aren't theoreticians, so I won't hold my breath, but it seems like a good plan at first glance. And if it doesn't work, I'm sure we'll be able to find a solution that will move us forward.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Got your Christmas On?

I think... maybe... we do. Maybe. Then I read blogs of interior designers, and I realize... my theme is sort of a rustic, 'manger' theme. I leap from the chair, high five the startled children, and whoop around the house, yelling, "We have a THEME, folks! We're good!"

Jacob's Den Christmas party was Friday, here at the house. We had several stations set up around the living area - garland making, paper crafts, leathercraft, cookie baking, and cookie decorating. 13 children, 3 adults, 500 square feet. Go! They made the cookies (and decorated and ate them in one fell swoop), made leather gifts for their families, and garlands and ornaments for their trees at home.

 

That was pretty awesome. But I have *great* parents who pitch in, and roll with it, and bring their fantastic suggestions to the table. They rock. And their kids? Their kids are so freakishly wonderful and amazing... :sigh: One Mom surveyed the activity, and all the children working, interacting, and playing. Smiling and wide-eyed, she turned to me and said, "You know, I wouldn't even attempt this with just any group!" Every adult youth leader should have this kind of a setup.

 

Zorak's company Christmas luncheon was Wednesday, and I got to slip off to join him for that. Then we did a little present searching before heading home. It was nice just to hold hands, stroll along in the crisp winter air, and talk about nothing in particular and everything in general. This year, with the master bath now being a functional bath, and the basement slowly becoming a functional game room, we had to come up with somewhere else to store unwrapped presents. So we got creative and borrowed the boys' foot lockers. One in each car, so no matter who picks up something, it goes straight into the foot locker. That has worked out quite nicely.

And so, that was last week. Lovely Christmastime.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The End of June, and Independence Day

We found a neat little spot to play in the river and enjoy the summer days with friends. It's not as POSH as some might like, and it's certainly no Destin, FL, but the kids had a blast, the picnic area is clean, and it's close enough to go regularly, so I'm going to call that a Win.

The rest of the week we've been trying to fix the back yard fence, which Buddy managed to find a way over (I think that's done), preparing for the Fourth of July Festivities (which went off without too many hitches), and gearing back up for Scout activity.

The Cubs made new neckerchief slides, and the siblings made patriotic necklaces, bracelets, and random dangly things. I love not having to worry about whether the balcony stays clean -- the kids had a wonderful time, and the other Moms are just fantastic! John really earned his stripes, too, helping with the littlest siblings as they painted with watercolors and made their crafts. He spearheaded the whole operation, stayed with them, handled the cutting and cleaning. Wow. I'm impressed, and proud of the work he did last week.

Today, the boys pulled a two-hour shift at the Spirit of America Festival. It was hot. It wasn't as hot as last year, and this year there was the faintest hint of a breeze, which was delicious. But it was still *hot*. The Suburban thermometer registered 108 there in the parking lot. ~ack~ Kids are tough, though, and we had to herd them back homeward long before they were ready. I have to admit, I'm kind of looking forward to the time Zorak and I can go do something else (read: indoors and air conditioned) while the kids go enjoy the sights and sounds and then meet us back home for a cookout in the afternoon! It's not that I wouldn't love to spend the day with the kids - it's that the kids are far more resilient than I am, these days.

Our next projects are a hike for the Boy Scouts, an outing for the Cub Scouts, and - God willing - another push on the house, to tidy up those little details that never quite got finished in the first place, so we can enjoy them before everything starts needing to be touched up again. I do wish we had these nice, long daylight-filled days in the fall or the spring, when it wasn't so hot outside (yes, I realize I'm wishing we could completely alter the laws of physics - short of being able to have a summer home in Nova Scotia, though, this is the closest pipe dream I can muster).

Happy Independence Day!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Easter.

Huh. I'd posted a couple days ago about the recovery process here in Northern Alabama. But it's... gone. Ah, I guess Blogger was doing something while I was posting, perhaps? Ah, okay. I'll have to write that one up again, later. Right now, I'm geared up to get these Easter pictures up.

Easter was lovely. We have such a fun mix of ages. James "hunted" eggs by walking with the littles and making casual remarks like, "Oh, that tree would be a lovely place to hide an egg!" and "I wonder if the Easter Bunny likes horseshoes?" Emily and Jase would squeal with delight as they discovered their treasure after acting upon these "subtle hints". We had so much fun watching him at work.

Emily helped Jase, too. And Jase just had a wonderful time. I think he still checks the yard when he goes outside to play.

Jacob is at that wonderful age where he's able to find, able to help, and still young enough to be really excited by his own discoveries. Every year, I think this is it - I couldn't possibly enjoy these kids more. And every year, they surprise me with their joy and their depth. This is a really cool gig.

Sharon generously took about a bazillion shots of all of us together. I need a super editor that can paste the heads from other shots onto the one that's the best of most of us. Until then, this was a relatively decent family photo. The last one of the year, most likely. Next time, Jase won't need to be restrained and James will probably be taller than I. Wow, where does it all go? I could have sworn I was right here for all of it!

We hope your Easter was just as blessed as ours. There is, truly, so much to celebrate.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Color us contented!

We are notoriously non-crafty people, Zorak and I. As such, we tend to forget (or blow off) the craftier aspects of holidays. Paper chains, doily hearts, and even, I'm sorry to say, Easter eggs. Every year we insist to one another that we'll do better. Every year, we experience some kind of neurological twitch that blows the whole thing, and the kids end up bringing us unearthed boxes of egg dye in September, asking if we can use them now. Well, not this year!

This year, we dyed those eggs. There were rainbows, and layers, and wax. (And plenty of supplies, from prior years' boxes...) The kids really got into it, and just did a fantastic job. As a matter of fact, we're so flush with the joy of pulling it off that I'm thinking next year we'll go Big Time and try Pysanky. (That gives me a year to remember to buy/build/borrow the pens... someone remind me of that in a couple of months?)

I think a few factors really came into play. One, the balcony. There's room, there's light, and there's absolutely no worry about messes. It's like having an actual studio right off the school room, but one I don't have to *clean*. Another is the round yard sale table Zorak picked up last year. It's a fantastic table for doing crafty things - sturdy enough to handle Jase clambering about on it, large enough to fit everybody comfortably working around it, and at $10, I don't feel compelled to worry if it gets stained. Actually, between the Christmas cookies, the gingerbread houses, the kite-making, and now the eggs, it's starting to look quite colorful and festive.

The kids and their attitudes make the whole process infinitely more enjoyable than we are prone to expect it to be. I love them for that. And finally, I think we're just wrapping our minds around how much these things can mean to the little guys when we can relax and let it be about what it ought to be about: spending time together, doing something delightful, learning something new, and enjoying the whole thing. So, that's what we're doing. Pretty crafty!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

We Do Love Our Food

If I could say one really terrific thing about 2010, it's that we made some great food. (Evidenced by the fact that not a one of the children will remain in the same size clothing for more than a week or two, and it's all up-up-up!) We've made some changes in the kitchen for 2011 that will make it infinitely easier to work together on our kitchen fun. I'm looking forward to it.

Tamales - this is Zorak's Christmastime tradition. He loves doing it, and the water bath canner works perfectly for larger batches (plus, this saves it from the shame of being a unitasker, per Alton Brown).

We left some for Santa. He was very good to us, in exchange. I erm, I mean "he" was especially tickled over the fresh pico de gallo.

We found a new pecan pie recipe! I know, I know, this comes very close to announcing, "We have reinvented the WHEEL!" But it's true. This recipe is very different from traditional pecan pie, but it's oh, so very good. OH so good. It's the recipe on the back of the 40 oz. ALAGA Original Corn Syrup. I can't explain it. You'll just have to come over and we'll make you one.


And, of course, there was the annual decorating of the cookies. There were an awful lot of zombies, skeletons, and ghosts. I suppose the Halloween folk like to get their Christmas colors on, too. Amy has assured me this is normal in a house full of boys. And none of her boys have been banned from the bakery, or singled out for profiling. So I just decided a few years ago not to worry about it. And EmBaby? Well, her brothers were so proud - all of her monsters had bows and pretty dresses.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Spirit of America

John and Jacob worked the Raingutter Regatta for their Cub Scout Pack at the Point Mallard Spirit of America celebration on July 4th. So we packed up the crew and headed out, together. Em wore her obligatory wings. And Jase did perk up considerably, once we let him out of the stroller so he could keep up with the rest of the crew.

It was hot-hot-hot, but it was a wonderful time. The Scouts of the Greater Alabama Council had so many different booths set up, from derby cars and pedal cars to water bottle rockets and a rope bridge. We weren't expecting such a great turnout -- it was a very pleasant surprise.

All of the boys who worked in that heat really did their Troops proud, and they made the festival a huge success.

Of course, there was funnel cake, and BBQ. Live music (a particularly spectacular treat, here in the South - we still, five years after arriving here, have not ever heard a poor performance), and hands-on booths.

There were flags and copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution available. And we truly did celebrate the Spirit of America. As always, a humbling and recalibrating day.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

This Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day. Do you have someone you'll remember this day? Someone you'll be missing this day, who is serving our country and cannot be with you? Thank you. And thank them. And for those who have passed on, there is no way we can thank them other than by living up to the legacy they've left us.

So today, we'll read this again.

We'll talk about those who have served before to ensure the freedoms we have today.

We'll honor them by doing our best, in every way.

And I'll probably get choked up and cry a little, but the kids expect that by now.

And I wanted to share this song. I love it. It's terribly underrated, and it's beautiful.



Kiss those babies,
~Dy

Morning Comes Early

Jase got up incredibly early this morning. He came in and climbed all over us. We chased him out. He came back with a cookie and climbed all over us. Zorak chased him out. He came back a third time, with a cup, and climbed all over us. From under a pillow, I heard Zorak mumble, "He's an aggravating little cuss, isn't he?"

We had a busy, wonderful, fantastic Easter weekend. There just wasn't enough Sleep. There are pictures, but they're on the upstairs computer. (Zorak and I take turns on the Siberian exile station, down here in the basement - this computer is terribly slow, but I suspect come August, we'll be elbowing one another down the stairs, vying for time in the coolest spot in the whole house!)

We're enjoying a somewhat freakish warm, dry spell this week. Of course, I use "enjoy" in its loosest manner. Mainly, we're willing to take any temperature, as long as the humidity stays fairly low. After that, all bets are off and I'll be counting down the days to November.

And now, I must either get to work on some Velcro footie pajamas for Jason, or get to bed so Morning doesn't feel like it comes quite so early tomorrow!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Happy New Year

We've had a quiet, recuperative few days. If I were going to get sick, this last week would have been the prime time to do it. Unfortunately, I waited until tonight, the last day of vacation, to get sick. Gotta work on my timing, but school this week may look an awful lot like the last week did...

(Note how James and EmBaby are kind of trying to smile for the camera. Jake has no clue I'm even talking.)

The kids and the dog are finding their groove. He's a delightfully patient puppy. It doesn't hurt that they spoil him rotten (see here, watching Saturday morning cartoons),

or that he has the choicest spots for leisure...

Zorak and I had romantic plans for New Year's Eve: in bed by nine and out cold by nine-fifteen, at the latest. However, at some point we've taught the children to tell time, and use calendars. No clue what we were thinking. So. There had to be New Year's Activity. We put the littles to bed, as normal, and stayed up with the bigs, playing games, drinking root beer floats, and finally -- completely blowing past the midnight hour in our focus on the game!

We wished everybody a Happy 12:05, at which point they hit the wall and were out by 12:20. Not bad. Not bad at all.

And that sentiment pretty well sums up our 2009. It wasn't what we planned, and some things went horribly awry. Some panned out well, and a few turned out better than we anticipated. In all, it was not bad. Not bad at all.

Happy New Year! And Kiss those Babies!
~Dy

Too Many Pictures!

I took too many pictures, and cannot seem to distill Christmas into just a few. That leaves me somewhat paralyzed, which is silly, but there you have it: I have pixel-induced paralysis. (Go figure.) So I'll probably drag this out over a few days, as my brain picks out memories here and there.

EmBaby, once she woke up (not a fast waker, that one...) thoroughly enjoyed every sparkly, pretty, girly thing about the entire day. Including the impromptu photo shoot. (I started out to get pictures of her playing with her Playmobil nursery in her favorite doll house, but we got sidetracked and forgot what we were doing.)

The Oball, from Rainbow Resource? HUGE hit. Go Santa! Everybody loves this thing.


Oh, it kills me how big they look, knowing that in five years I'll look back on this very picture and get weepy over how "little" they looked. But they are happy, and they are great friends, and that's what I hope and pray will not change.

Granny's gifts were huge hits across the board. As exemplified by Jake's reaction to Em's gift of Monkeyball 2.

And there was math. Because that is what happens when Engineers hang out...


It was, indeed, a Very Merry Christmas!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Or, more accurately, 'Twas Ridiculously Early Christmas Morning. Doesn't have the same ring to it, though, does it?

Aside from not having actually mailed anything we needed to mail, we had everything done before midnight tonight. Gifts are wrapped, stockings are stuffed, children are loved on and passed out. (James and John were amazing Santa's Helpers this year, and they set up the gifts so nicely around the tree. They also ate all the snacks, so I had to break into the Emergency Stash after they went to bed.)

So why are we up? We're up because Santa brought one of those live critters this year, and it will not go to sleep. It's noisy, too. I angled for a guinea pig or a chinchilla or a garden gnome - you know, some relatively mute creature, but it looks like the kids were better than I was this year. It's been nearly two years since we lost Baltoid, and the kids are ready to share their adventures again. (They've actually been ready for a while, but Zorak and I have been putting it off. We weren't quite ready until now.)

But regardless of the lack of sleep, we're so excited about morning we can hardly stand to let the kids sleep. Zorak Claus outdid himself this year, and EmBaby's new play kitchen turned out beautifully. I'll get better shots of it with her enjoying it, but I just couldn't resist getting a shot of it sitting in the living room. It's got open pantry shelving, a fridge with two glass shelves (plexiglass, of course), the oven has a self-closing hinge, and the broiler drawer rocks! We cannibalized the range top from her defunct set simply because, although it's ugly, it does make a cool bubbling noise. When it dies, we'll pop it out and replace it with something we've made (We... *snort* OK, Zorak.) It's stained to match our kitchen cabinets and counter, too! So cute!

However, I guess we really should see if the pup will get some shuteye and then follow suit, ourselves.

Merry Christmas!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

And then there was baking!

Today, we baked. Fancy Fingers, Bon Bon Slices, Pushbuttons, and some thing that Emily got a hold of before we finished with it, so we baked it like that and called it good. Oh, and James made a Devil's Food cake for Scouts, too.

I took no pictures, because when you are in a kitchen with five children, a hot oven, and myriad open containers of various tempting and/or messy substances (and gravity! there's always gravity!) the last thing you want to do is get out of arm's reach long enough to snap a photograph. However, I also did not drink, and I did not swear, so it's not all bad. I didn't even raise my voice!

And I only made Emily cry once, but that wasn't even on me. I just asked her to get down for a second and she burst into tears. When I asked her why she was crying, she paused, and said, "I'm not sure." *rolling eyes* Oooohhhhkay. Well, then you need to stop, because that's just... weird. She stopped, got down, we got into the drawer we needed to get into, and she was soon happily back in the loop and feeling the love.

Since Zorak and James were at Scouts, and I was still kind of tired from the not doing things today (that... sounded more reasonable in my head), we had a lazy man's evening: leftovers, cookies, and a movie. I started the movie with Jason in my lap, then laid him in his crib and moved Em over onto my lap. She was out in minutes, at which point Smidge climbed over with this Snuggie. I never did get around to starting a fire, and didn't even realize the house was chilly until I sent Smidge to bed! Kids are such fantastic insulators.

And the countdown continues!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Oops. Well, the Ten Days of Christmas, then.

I know I missed two full days of blogging, but was too busy and/or tired to fix that.

Saturday, we had company, and it was so nice. Me-Wa and Me-Tae came out to see the kiddos and visit. (We just don't get to see them often enough.) Zorak smoked pork chops and salmon for a delicious lunch. The guys hung out and Me-Tae and I got to visit a bit. The children were in and out, up and down, all over the place. They couldn't have been happier if we'd had Santa himself over for lunch. And then, they got to open their presents from Me-Wa and Me-Tae: Snuggies! Best pick, ever. The kids have lived in them since.

EmBaby even mentioned on the way to church Sunday that she should have brought her Snuggie with her. (Yeah, that'll help you stay awake, huh?)

We had another guest Saturday, as well -- a gentleman Zorak works with. Nice guy. He's been here since August, and his family is still back in Missouri. That's a tough gig, and I know he'll be thrilled when school is out and his family can join him. I'm guessing he was comfortable here, as he stayed until four o'clock. Sunday morning.

Seven-thirty and the Sunday Morning Routine came awfully early, after that. Zorak mumbled something about being tough when I fell out of bed and scrambled for some clothes and a toothbrush. (Or maybe he said, "That's tough." I'm not certain.) I tried to talk the kids out of going, but they were already dressed and ready to go. Not even the allure of baking cookies could talk them out of it. Sometimes, I wonder if maybe we're raising them a little too well. Seriously, what kid wouldn't rather stay home and bake cookies?? Goofballs.

Sunday afternoon, the boys had a friend from Scouts over. Great kid. Not even like having an extra body in the house. His Mom was really worried that he'd do Something Stoopid (I think we all worry about that, when our kids are somewhere without us), but really, even if he had (and they all do, at some point - that's why they can't live on their own yet), it wouldn't have been that bad. He's just a neat, neat boy, and the kids all enjoy one another so much. The big kids were great with the Littles, but sometimes it's nice to play Twister or Chess without random full-body tackles and mid-leg take-downs. So EmBaby, Jase and I made cookies that afternoon.

The little boy stayed for supper, and that night, the kids went to bed exhausted, filled with contentment and joy. So did Zorak and I.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Project Blogging: Christmas '09

The kids worked like Roman galley slaves all morning, took a break at lunch to watch a movie and hang out a bit, and then went back to the rowing-rowing-rowing. They laughed and worked, ate like fiends, and crashed like the dead come bedtime. I appreciated their work today, as we got the house ready for Christmas and company.

Sometimes, (like right now), when two-thirds of the house is clean all at one time, I feel like we've accomplished so much here. Other times, (like when someone comes to visit for the first time), I look around and see only *all that remains to be done*.

And then, there are times when we're discussing one project, which is dependent upon another project, and that's tied to a third (or fourth, or fifth) project... and I realize, we will never be done. I guess that's a good thing. It'll feel better in the morning, I'm sure.

Tonight we worked a bit more on the play kitchen. Then we worked a bit on the wall in the basement. Yep, brand new project, six days before Christmas, when there are still myriad other things to be done upstairs, in the climate-controlled portion of the house. On the surface, it seems silly, I know. But in the Grand Scheme of Things, that wall will make a number of other projects (some of which await upstairs, yes) so much easier. And so, we do it.

The plan is to build a wall separating the water heater & HVAC unit from the rest of the basement. This will alleviate some visual clutter. It will also give us a Christmas Closet. It will create an entire 20' wall with electrical outlets, and a guaranteed space for sewing and other projects. AND, it will give us (because we designed it that way) a little half-bath in the basement. But of course, in keeping with tradition, the half-bath will remain an unfinished room which we'll use for storage, for the foreseeable future.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

... in which we live to cook again.

We survived the delicious, untested turkey! And I picked up meat thermometers at Sam's. We are such a bunch of nerds, though. My first thought was not, "Oh, these are excellent thermometers!" My first thought was, "Ohhh, fun, you can self-calibrate them!" When I got home, the first thing James said was, "Oh, COOL, you can calibrate these, yourself!" Yep, he's ours.

I checked in with the dentist for my every-three-months cleaning. Everything's coming along nicely. Yay. It's hard to be too sure of yourself about cleanings going well, when you know you were just there not even one full oil change ago, you know? But the hygienist dotes on me and raves about what a great job I'm doing, and it seems to make her happy. That's good. (I'm thinking it's probably also good not to get on your hygienist's bad side.)

This evening, we did the Full Family Excursion into town, so the kids could shop for each other.

Mainly the boys. They love to give gifts. They really enjoy the excitement of finding something somebody will Truly Love. That is so much fun to be a part of!

Emily is good with going, but right now, she's all about buying things that she can have and use and love and share (but keep in her room, of course). That does make it easy to shop for her, since you know upfront, and for two more aisles, what she really falls in love with.

And Jase is pretty laid back, if you have him tethered to something. For the most part, he rides along, mumbling to himself (probably contemplating how to undo the buckle on the seat). The only trouble arises we bypass anything with SpongeBob on it. I contemplated letting him hold the SpongeBob Connect Four box so we could shop in peace, but thought the aneurysm that would follow when we put it back would have scarred him for life. If he survived it. Better frayed nerves for the parents than a frayed central nervous system for the rest of his life, right?

They found some gems. We grabbed supper at Five Guys. Then we waddled home and wrapped up the day. Santa worked in his shop. Santa's elves enjoyed some stories and made plans for tomorrow. Mrs. Claus hit the jackpot and got a fire before bed, as well as some extra snuggle time with Little Elves whose brains wouldn't shut off and let them sleep.

Zorak was right, so far, this has been the most enjoyable Holiday Season we've ever had.

Kiss those babies,
~Dy

Quick Day.

It's still today - either technically, or practically, I'm not sure which. But, I haven't gone to bed yet, so this totally counts.

We had a freakishly gorgeous day yesterday, so everybody hightailed it outside to enjoy the sun and the warmth. The kids built a "fort" in the back yard. They worked together, and nobody was left out. They hauled the limbs themselves. They made it big enough for everybody to fit. It was Very Cool, on levels that had nothing to do with the fort, itself.

I didn't have the heart to point out that they spent all summer hauling those very limbs *out* of the back yard. Maybe we can just burn them there, when the fort falls down?

Zorak Claus is working on building a play kitchen for the EmBaby. He made the oven door and the broiler drawer tonight, and they are so adorable they make my knees ache. The kids and I will stop by the restaurant supply place tomorrow to see if they have any small rectangular chafing trays that might work for a sink. Really, the kitchen itself will be wonderful, but we're most excited to enjoy *her* reaction to it. Those big beautiful eyes just disappear behind her cheeks when they bunch up in a great big smile. I hope I can capture it on film, but if not, I'm sure I can be excused for just wallowing in it.

The UPS lady came today. John dutifully put the boxes beside my bed without so much as glancing at the sender's address. No worries that the older two will try to peek. But that little stack of boxes is about to drive Smidge out of his happy little mind. Normally, we'd buy presents in person, hide them in the bathroom/storage room, and nobody had to think about them until Christmas Eve, when Zorak and I stayed up late wrapping them and watching bad movies. But now there's a room where the storage used to be, and we've done our shopping online, and so there they are... little Amazon boxes smiling, winking at him, every time he goes into our room (which does seem to be more frequent lately).

And then, because it took me ages and ages to get the pictures off my camera, and then another age and a half to edit them, here's a shot of the Alabama Snow Angels:

Yep, we got snow. And they played and played - snowboy hood ornaments (not quite fully grown snowmen) - teeny tiny snowballs - and then, the snow angels. It was gone by noon, but they were already inside, enjoying graham crackers and hot chocolate by the fire. These kids know how to enjoy a little of a good thing!

Kiss those babies!
Dy

Twelve Days of Christmas

I know. I'm late already. Or unreasonably early, depending on when you opt to observe them. But my goal is to blog daily for twelve days straight. Not exactly a habit-making goal, but... well, considering Smidge is standing here, talking to me while I type, and that they've been like this (all of them. I do mean ALL of them...) for the last month and a half, it looks like I'm going to have to suck it up and learn to write while people talk to me.

We're in the throes of Christmas preparations. Really, it's going well. I think. Won't really have any idea until Christmas Eve, when I'm wrapping presents and discover I've completely forgotten gifts for one child, or bought R-rated movies for the toddler, or something equally absurd. But for now, I'm feeling good.

I'd hoped to do cards this year. But we all fell ill immediately upon returning from our Thanksgiving trip, and it took us two full weeks to recover from that. So, no-go on the cards. Didn't even do my annual routine of sending the file to Target so they could mess it up for me. This year, it's all on me.

The tree, however, is up, the garland is hung (I have yet to find the extension cords to light up the garland, so it's dark, but still, it's up). We got that done and EmBaby looked around and announced, "OK! We're ready for Christmas now!" The boys pointed out that we have yet to make any of our regular edible goodies. I thought about the gifts I hadn't bought yet. Zorak refused to make eye contact because he knew what I was thinking. We all clapped and cheered, anyway, figuring we could make it up as we go.

And, that's what we've been doing all month! I got most of the gifts bought before inspiration truly struck. Then Zorak said Granny had called to let us know she was sending shopping money for gifts. Total bonus - Granny's going to do REALLY WELL this year, since all the truly inspired gifts are coming from her.

How about you guys? Are you ready for Christmas? (Or Solstice? Or, how was your Hanukkah?)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Happy Halloween, 2009!

We had a wild crew this year!

The kids took a huge role in creating their costumes this year. It was so much fun to see their own characters and strengths come through in their designs. We had...

The Butterfly Princess, who put together her entire ensemble, herself. Yes, even the boots.


The Headless Horseman, who came up with some fantastic ways to make it happen.

El Conquistador, who took over, well, not quite Florida, but most of Morgan County.

Our latest Harry Potter... oh, he's breaking my heart! When did he get so tall and slender?



And, the Running Man.

OK, also a turtle, but although the outfit was cute as can be, it took an act of God to get him into that thing, even for a little bit.


It was good. Costume bits are still part of the daily attire. Somehow, in spite of being given free rein with the candy, they've still got scads of it left. And, they had FUN. It was, indeed, a Happy Halloween.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy