We interrupt this program...

I had to pause and write down the things I've heard in the Laundry Pile today.

Dateline: Morning - I hadn't been mobile very long. We had recorded "Shrek the Halls" from ABC last night. Because I was gone and wanted to see it. So this morning we had breakfast a bit too late and watched Shrek's Christmas. (It wasn't too bad. I laughed the most at Puss in Boots distracting himself with a fuzzy Christmas ornament. Because I NEVER distract myself. *snort* *Cackle*)

What was I saying??

Oh yeah... Out of the clear blue sky, G-man says, "They said on the news that spanking is against the law."

Oh, Massachussetts, How I hate thee right now... My reply was "Not in this house."
Now I won't get into my opinion because it would be lengthy - especially considering I think this new law is a serious infringement and undermining of the parental authority.
As was seen in my house this morning.

I still had to laugh, it was a valiant effort at testing the waters.

Dateline: Lunch.
The usual question "what's for lunch?" was followed by the usual "I'm hungry." Knowing that whatever I chose would be met with disdain, I replied: "Oh, I don't know, it's sure to be awful, though. Would you guys like to learn about fasting?"

To which I guffawed at my own joke. I crack myself up.

Then I had to explain fasting and they politely declined this learning opportunity.

Mini-Me asked: "What's really for lunch?"




in case you want to know: We then had a debate about chicken nuggets vs. Fish sticks.
Fish sticks won .... but just barely.

And Now -- Christmas...

A bad poem...

Thanksgiving is over
It sure was fun
now all eyes look to
Christmas that's about to come.

No clip art....

Or fancy HTML stuff...just a heart felt wish:



Happy Thanksgiving!!
From all the Denims in the Laundry Pile.
May Your blessings abound!!

A recipe of me...

I saw this at Coffee Mom's blog and I had to try it out. I was highly amused by the results. I have to admit, though, that I almost had to call my brother to decipher one of the questions. :-)

Comfy - a scoop of wealth - 2 teaspoons of crazy - 1 1/2 cups of beauty Blend together quickly and serve.

'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com

If the shoe fits....

This could possibly be a tale of woe. Depends on how I look at it. Right now, it's just a tale of toe.

I knew Mini-E could possibly, maybe, might need some new shoes. Several times I've put her shoes on her and she said, very quietly, "ow, ow, ow." Never loudly fussing, never crying, never throwing a fit. Several times I've put her shoes on her to have her undo the velcro on them. Never once did she try to take them off. She'd just undo the velcro.

We went to the park today for a friend's birthday and I decided we'd swing by the shoe store before heading home. I'd saved up money to buy her a pair of shoes. Matter of fact, I was proud of the fact that I had saved some grocery money to add to the clothing money. I was ready. Here we go.

On the way to the shoe store, G tells me that his toes are pressing against the tips of his shoes. It hurts when he bends his toes. Of course, I wanted to tell him NOT to bend his toes. Wouldn't that have been the anti-mommy thing to say? So we decide to have his foot measured while at the shoe store.

Mini-E was in a 1.5 size shoe. She measured at 2.5. No wonder she was saying 'ow'.
G's turn. He's wearing the big-kid version of a 1.5 sized shoe - he measured at 2.5 and he walked out of the shoe store wearing a size 3.

I barely contain my garrumphing. I know J-man's shoes are fine. I can hear them flapping. But what about Mini-Me??

I get Mini-Me over and have her foot measured. She kept telling me that her shoes were fine. I had her measured anyway. The shoes she wore into the store were size 1.5. She measured at a 2.5 size.

The sales clerk gestured to Mini-Me and G, "Are they twins?"
I shook my head and grinned, "nope."

G did ask an interesting question. He said, "I'm a 2.5?? Does that mean I've shrunk?"
I almost laughed, but he had asked last night if he'd shrunk instead of grown, and he was serious about it. So I told him, sweetly, that it meant he GREW.
He was beyond thrilled.

Mini-Me had a hard time picking out a shoe. She wanted one that was all pink (And totally cute) but they didn't have it in her size. They had a similar style but it had neon green in it. Mini-Me didn't like it. She told me that she liked her old shoes because they had "gems" in them (see: rhinestone) and they were all pink. (They were also all worn out)

She walked out of there wearing a size 2.5 shoe. It's not all pink. It's a cute silvery thing with some pretty colors in it - and it was on sale!!

It's always an adventure shoe-shopping with the kids.
I think, too, I've maintained my record for not buying shoes until the kids feet are threatening to burst through. The lesson I learned today: If the shoe fits....you'd better measure ALL their feet.

Good Hair - Warm Heart

You guys are the best!!! I got so many chuckles out of your comments and they each one just warmed my little denim heart.

Toby, my computer skills are not good enough to put good hair on a fork...though...I might be able to put a fork in my hair as a hair pin...hmmmmmm...

Because I'm running short of time lately (I've been painting the kitchen) I wanted you guys to know that you've absolutely made my day with the comments about my good hair day.

Oh - other than the good hair day, that's typically what I look like, too.

I had a picture from the other day that Mini-Me took of me, in the morning.

Same smile.

At least I'm consistent in something. *LOL*

Good Hair Day...

I had a good hair day...and let the kids take a picture...I'm only showing one because they thought it was fun to take pictures and we have 5.

So here you go --- a good hair day.

At least for me. :-)

Moment of Maudlin

I was sitting with J-man in my lap. I had to sit down because he wanted me to be with him. And he turned and said "Love you, mommy".

I cried and squished him in a hug saying "I love you, too, Bubby."

That moment, that time, they were the sweetest words I had ever heard. He'd been saying it before - typically at night while trying to stay awake and not sleep. For some reason, at that moment, completely unsolicited, those three words were the sweetest words ever.

In a comment on a previous post, Sprittibee had said "Don't you wish they could stay young forever?" I was thinking of that just now as I typed. But as I typed my post, thinking of those very sweet words, came the whisper that overrode my thoughts. ...

"Just imagine how your God feels when you tell Him, "I love you, Daddy," in the moment and completely unsolicited."

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Declaration...

Did you know that Christmas is coming? Yeah, I know, me too. Even though Christmas is the same time every year, for some reason, I'm just not ready for it when it comes.

I used to be the Christmas freak when I was younger. Then I had kids.
I still loved Christmas - but that whole budget thing really put a damper on it. I was decorating for me, because nobody else seemed to care about it. I think somewhere along the Christmas path, I sort of fell out of love with it all. Even to the point of NOT playing Christmas music. I was close to proclaiming that the Grinch was just misunderstood.

I'm growing back in love with Christmas. Last year was good. We bought a small Christmas tree and decorated it with blue and silver ornaments. I never thought I'd like having color coordinated things - but I can really get into it. I think I even want blue stockings to hang over the mantle -- after the kids learn NOT to pull them on top of their heads. By the way, the weighted stocking hangers make great hangers for Christmas lights. I use them to hang lights on my upright grand. And then store my Christmas presents on top of the piano, too.

This year's shopping is going to be different. I declare it to be the year of the gift card!! It will probably go down in history as the Great Denim Gift card Giveaway and hopefully not the Great Gift card Debacle.

We have to buy for my in-laws, 2 brothers-in-law, The professor's niece & nephew, 2 members of my family (we draw names), for our kids and for each other. I may, indeed, buy gift cards for everyone but my kids. For my kids, I'm very very tempted.

That's my plan -- with Christmas coming so fast and time not being my own, it sounds perfect for 2007. Let the gift card purchasing begin!!

The opinions of a 9 year old...

Mini-Me deemed this birthday the "Best Birthday ever!" She had had a depressing week (for her) and was so excited to be celebrating her birthday. She received some new "Groovy Girls" and a new Game boy game -- but more important: we celebrated her.

Which was perfect timing, because she ran a fever over the weekend and we thought she might have had strep throat. But her brother and sister had been tested and the tests were negative. So we waited it out. That was when the tummy bug hit.

I had told her that we would have a "Date" where we would talk about grown up stuff. She was sick on Saturday - but when she started feeling better on Sunday she was insistent that we have our date.

I had determined that it was time to have "the talk" and also to talk about the fact that she was going to start growing up physically. But in reverse order. I'll spare the details because she might read this and be embarrassed - and I wouldn't want to do that.

I will say that I was a bit scared when she started to cry. She did not want to grow up.

I almost didn't talk about anything else -- but decided to keep with my game plan.

I had read the tale of a Mom who had gone before months ago and sought out the book "Before I was Born" from this series. It's a story book format that allowed me to read a story - and then talk and answer questions.

Despite her chagrin about growing up, I was committed. We were painting fingernails and having chocolate. What better time to talk??

I talked and read and she listened and her jaw hit the floor.

"That's G.R.O.S.S.!!!!!"

Got to love the opinions of a 9 year old.

Where'd she go?

It sunk in that I didn't know where Mini-E had gotten off to. The front door wasn't open so she hadn't gone out in the cold. I sent Mini-Me to look for her - and she couldn't. That meant that the little sneak was doing something she shouldn't have been doing.

I was right. Found her sitting on her bed ... with a Gameboy.

Always wonder where she is and what she's doing.

A brother moment...

I have been taking pictures lately - trying to figure out if this camera can do nifty things - and so far, it can. I'll be posting more pictures I'm sure.

Here's a rare moment in the Laundry Pile. The boys were playing on the couch - cushion wrestling, don'tcha know. And they hopped up on the arm of the couch and I said "Hold it! Let me take a picture!"

And then the moment was gone - in a flash.

literally.

They fell backward on the couch and erupted in laughter and elbows and wrestling...Brotherly love.

DefCon Conditions Lowered

We're at Code Blue right now -- but not the same Code Blue the hospitals would use...

Everyone seems to be feeling much better. No buckets required since Sunday.

The only possible damper to them feeling better is that I am having a tough time talking today - so School work will be interesting if attempted.

I thought, since I couldn't talk with as much volume as I normal do, I would choose a condition level of "Guarded".

You never know when a mom who can't talk like she normally talks will sneak up behind you.

Especially if you're a Denim...be on your guard.

Edited to add: It's rather difficult to sneak up on someone when you're barking like a seal. I took myself to the doctor to discover bronchitis. We remain on Guarded condition until 7pm tonight - at which I will no longer be contagious.

Bunk beds are evil....

The Laundry PIle has gone to Orange Level.

While the birthday was a huge success, the week was crazy. And last night, just when I thought I would be able to blog about it all, Mini-Me comes in and says that she threw up in her sleep.

She sleeps on the top bunk. I managed to get the menagerie of animals off the bed and the bedding changed and got her tucked back in. I went to bed myself as it was now too late to blog.

Somewhere about 2 am. G got sick. He sleeps on the top bunk and managed to toss his cookies over the side, getting the bottom bunk in the process. I've determined that in times of sickness, bunk beds are evil.

I asked the professor if he thought it might be food poisoning. He said, with conviction, "No. Because I don't feel wel either."

THe laundry pile is now on Code Orange. Anytime the Professor stays home from work, it's a serious matter. Besides, we have to stay on alert for those bunk beds.