Thursday, December 20, 2007

Memmed

I got tagged for a meme from Carrie. I'm supposed to tell you 6 things about myself that you don't know. Since I don't know who you are, it's hard to decide, but here goes...

1. I've been a vegetarian for 10 years as of this summer! To celebrate the hundreds of animals I've saved from a cruel death, we got an SUV with leather interior and a DVD player...I guess you have to balance things, or just become someone you don't want to. Actually, our honda pilot is a low emission vehicle and has an eco setting where it uses less gas. And, they are made in the US, so there ya go.

2. I've met a ton of famous people (or, well, I used to). Pat Benetar's husband, the drummer of the cars (wait, it gets better), Bonnie Rait, Julia Butterfly, Sting, Robin Williams, Sean Penn, the writer of Thelma and Louis. My husband met Mr. Rogers, I think that's even better than all of mine! Most of these celebrities I worked with at Rainforest Action Network, the rest are from #3 Interesting Fact. (Except P. Benetar and the Cars dude, that's another story!)

3. I worked with Koko, the gorilla that uses sign language. Most people find this interesting. It's how I met my husband and some of the best people in my life (Maria, Gillian, Marilyn, Micheal), it's also one of the worst days of my life-when Micheal the gorilla died.

4. I like to read the fine print on commercials. It's amazing what they'll try to get away with.

5. I like words you can type with one hand-water or treat are my favs. So is Carter! This is handy when breastfeeding but you have to be on the correct side.

6. I seriously need a pedicure.

PS. Holiday update as soon as I download pics.

Meeting the Old Bum

My grandpa used to call Santa an old bum and I'd get so upset! Here are the kids, meeting the man in red! We waited for an hour, Butters really wanted to talk to him. He told Santa he wanted a turtle. What am I supposed to do! Two cats and a dog are enough. I suggested he ask Santa for Jelly Beans..
Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Santa Flies With the Jet Stream






Santa came to our house a little early this year! We enjoyed some old traditions and made new ones. We decided to do Santa with the kids, it's fun to have a little magic in your life, even if you are devastated when you find out the truth! We thought the threat might come in handy also-Santa is watching you need to be good!



We opened presents in the morning, the guitar was a big hit! DH (dear husband) made a yummy breakfast-waffles w/berries and cream and eggs. Then we made yummy treats and let Butters lick the spoons!

We also had the memorial for Great Grandpa this weekend. Butters did well, but I guess I tried to prepare him too much. He kept telling people very loudy, "WE NEED TO BE QUIET IN CHURCH. GRANDMA, WE NEED TO BE QUIET." The baby was hungry the whole time and pooped in the middle of it, right next to the person videotaping, and it was loud. Clyde was everyone's favorite and always smiling, the church had to use the overflow room. The pastor asked how many people were his students and there were a ton of hands. Makes me think about being a teacher.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Saint Nick

Growing up, we had a tradition on Dec 5th to leave our shoes out for St. Nick to put presents in. He was a guy who would put money in the shoes of poor people or something? Sounds a lot like Santa Claus, I know. The story was a bit spotty, but what St. Nick means to me in a nutshell is a new ornament, fifty bucks* and a Russel Stover chocolate Santa! St. Nick still visits, via UPS, and this year we got to teach Butters and Slim about it! My mom always finds us the perfect ornaments.

I thought I'd be a cool mom and let him have the whole Santa and decide if he wanted to eat it all or save it for tomorrow. At first he shared it and then didn't show any signs of stopping, so I changed my mind, "let mama have it and we'll save it for tomorrow!"

"I can take bites, you can hold this wrapper."
He relented, but the damage was done, he spent the next two hours spinning in circles.
*Ha!! I tried to trick my sisters, St. Nick only brings twenty! I wanted them to think St. N likes me better!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Blog Time

Not much time to post these days, mainly because Butters is on the computer more than I am! He navigates, drags and clicks and inverts the screen image (half an hour for me to figure out how to fix that one). It's amazing to watch him-2 1/2 years old and he is on the road to eye strain and carpal tunnel. Or, maybe his generation will evolve away from computer related ergonomic injuries.

The Girl is 2 months Wednesday and smiling up a storm. She's got the cutest little Elvis smirk. That's one of the little things I don't want to forget. The way she squishes up her face when she stretches to look just like Butters as a baby. Her big eyes when you hold her upright, taking in the world. There are a million little details I need to commit to memory. Too bad I can't remember anything these days!

We were up late nursing last night and Snoop Dog's reality TV show came on after my trash TV (Girls Next Door-I know, I know, I'm an enigma-a feminist who watches BadForWomenTV). It was funny for the first 15 minutes. Snoop has a bumper sticker that says, "My Kids are the Schizznit." Anyway, I went to bed before the end and I don't know if yoga helped his stress levels or not, I can't imagine him being any more relaxed. He had a nickname for all his kids, "This is Cloe, we call her Choc." What's the point in naming your kids if you never call them by their name?

We lost a special person in T's family this weekend, his grandpa. I feel so bad for T, I don't really know what to say to comfort him. He was lucky to know his grandfather as an adult, all my grandparents passed away by the time I was able to drive. But it came as a surprise, we just saw Grandpa at Thanksgiving and he was teasing me like always and still very active. Grandpa was a wonderful person who volunteered, built strong houses for people, taught hundreds of students and had a BS in BS from BS. We'll miss you, Grandpa!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Snow!





Snow all afternoon on Saturday and rain all day today, washing it away. The boys enjoy the outside, while the womenfolk stay inside just like on Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer ("This is man's work."), Luna finds a heat register and I (try to) knit and online Cmas shop.
E is wearing an outfit bought by her Dad, he claims it was from the girl's section but I disagree, what do you think? I think it adds about 10 lbs but she could wear anything!