Traditions

My oldest son is becoming a stickler for traditions. I take this to mean that we're doing a good job of making traditions - rituals that we follow regularly. We have a tradition for New Year's Eve. It's not that we haven't tried other things - it's just that we come back to the same thing every year.

It's a simple tradition. We stay in as a family. We get take out Chinese food. We try to stay up until midnight. A couple of years, Adam was the only one to make it until midnight. This year, in an effort to really make it until midnight, we're wathing LOTR The Two Towers extended version DVD. That's 4 hours of LOTR. We'll start the movie around 8, after the littler ones are tucked in, and it should take us right up until the ball drops.

I don't have any wonderful New Year resolutions. I've never made any in the past and I don't see myself making any this year. There are some things I'd like to work on and maybe I'll think on them some and make a regular blog post in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, Happy New Year Everyone! It's been great getting to know all of you and having you get to know me.

Games, wonderful games

We have a houseful of games. Games live in the downstairs pantry, in the schoolroom, in Jared's closet, in Adam's closet, in the spare bedroom closet, in my bedroom and probably other places I can't even think of. Early on I learned that I hate cheap American games. Games like Candyland or Chutes and Ladders make me want to pull my hair out. I decided that if I was going to play games with the boys, they had to be games that I enjoyed (or at least tolerated).

While we have found a few American games that we enjoy as a family - Trouble, Lego Creator, Connect Four, and Mastermind - most of the games that we really have a good time with are Ravensburger games. Ravensburger games can put a serious gouge in the pocketbook but I've been lucky enough to buy ours off ebay or found them at Goodwill. In fact, the very first Ravensburger game I ever bought was Up The River which I found at Goodwill. I've since found many great games there.

I have a tendency to underestimate Jared. Because he acts so goofy all the time, I forget how smart he really is. Jared pulled Mastermind Jr. out of his closet yesterday. I was convinced that he couldn't play and told him just to play with the animal pieces. Jeff, however, sat down and played with him and Jared understood the game. He asked me to play with him tonight and I was surprised to see how his little brain really worked. He was able to pick out the code using great deductive skills. I highly recommend Mastermind Jr. for the younger kids in your family and Mastermind for the older ones.

Adam and I have been playing Othello recently. Although he lost badly the first few times, once I explained some basic things, he started doing much better and now he will win about half the time. We also enjoy playing Quarto! which I tend to win because Adam doesn't concentrate. If he's paying attention, he's as likely to win as I am.

I don't know how to play chess and neither did Jeff but Adam showed an interest in learning so Jeff taught himself and Adam. Jeff usually wins but Adam surprises him occasionally.

I don't use games in our regular educational routine. I've never used games to teach math facts or phonics. I am amazed, however, how much my kids can learn playing good games. That is, games that require thinking, planning, reasoning, memory and deduction skills. I love to see how their minds work.

Here are some of our favorite games:
Mastermind
Othello
Chess
Enchanted Forest
Quarto!
Lego Creator
Snail's Pace Race (for the little ones)
Cranium Cariboo
Rummikub

The second pile of books

Here's a list of the 2nd pile of books next to my bed. After I list them here, I'm going to put most of them back where they belong. Is it obvious everyone likes to read on my bed?

The Story of the World Volume 1 (yes, we are still on Vol. 1)
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin, Jr.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer a Little Golden Book
Mad Libs for President
Usborne Bible Tales: The Christmas Story
Get the Ball, Slim by Marcia Leonard
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett (one of our all time favorite books)
One Hour Christmas Crafts
The New Simply Phonics
Treasury of Fairy Tales by Geraldine McCaughrean
Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Your Body by Linda Schwartz
My Body Through Language by Patty Carratello
Gooseberry Patch - Autumn catalog (time to be recycled)

Book shopping

The one thing that I really wanted for Christmas was gift certificates to bookstores. I really wanted Borders gift certificates because we go there regularly but I was very, very happy to receive Barnes & Noble gift certificates from my mil and bil. The online store is having a great sale and I had quite the time yesterday picking out books just for ME. I almost never buy books for myself.

I bought the following books:
The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I'm very excited about all the books. I deliberated long and hard about whether or not I wanted to buy The Well Educated Mind and undertake a classical education for myself on my own and decided to go for it. I'm starting the booklist with Gulliver's Travels because I have no desire to read either of the first two books. I'm currently reading Jane Eyre which I have never read before and didn't know was on the list. Although I have a bad habit of looking ahead when I'm bored to see if a book will get interesting again, I am enjoying the book. I read the synopsis in The Well Educated Mind and wish I hadn't - I don't think I will read the synopsis for the other books I plan to read.

I was laughing last night as I cleared off my bed to go to sleep and thought about what a strange mix of books I was putting on the floor. I'd love to hear what other people have in piles next to their bed. Here's what I currently have in a pile next to my bed:
A Trip by Train by Richard Scarry
My Pal Al by Marcia Leonard
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer
Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman
The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

I have a second pile which I'll chronicle tomorrow. What's next to your bed?

Off to spend some time with Jane Eyre

The worst part of my job

I love being a SAHM and I can't imagine returning to the work force but ... you never really get a vacation as a SAHM. My husband left work on Tuesday and has not thought about it since.

I thought it would be nice not to do laundry on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Unfortunately, that meant that today I did 4 or 5 (I actually lost count) loads of laundry and I still have 2 loads to do tomorrow. I stripped the bunkbeds, washed the sheets and remade the beds (I love bunkbeds but making them is a big pain). I washed grown up clothes, children's clothes, whites, towels and sheets.

When my husband returns to work tomorrow, everything will be exactly as he left it. When I leave things for a few days, everything just piles up and waits for me.

I went out yesterday and got some post Christmas shopping done. I decided to go to Kohl's where I bought a wonderful blanket for our living room couch, some Klutz bracelet books (at 40% off), and all my wrapping paper for next year. I also received a $10 off coupon so I'll return next week to buy a Lego designer kit for Adam's birthday.

Ebay had a free listing day yesterday - this is something I've never seen since I've been selling on ebay. I got a few things listed but I just didn't have the time or motivation to get tons listed. When I woke up this morning to check my email someone had bought one of my FIAR books. I'd like to sell enough to make the money for Adam's flight to FL.

My inlaws arrived late yesterday. They came laden with gifts. The best gift was Snap Circuits for Adam. They're just as cool as I thought they'd be and much more cool than he thought they'd be when he opened the box. Jeff and I got new towels for the bath (something we'd never buy ourselves) and gift certificates - his to Home Depot and Mine to Barnes & Noble. I can't wait to go book shopping guilt free.

Jeff made a wonderful lasagna, salad and garlic bread for dinner and we all had a nice evening. I didn't realize they were staying two nights and I'll need to go to the grocery store to buy something for dinner tonight. My inlaws are nice people but they are very high maintenance and having them around tires me. They'll leave early Sunday morning and we won't see them again until April or July (sometimes we see them for Easter and sometimes we don't see them until the summer).

Please let it be nice enough for the boys to play outside for a little while today. Their pent up little boy energy is getting really loud.

Christmas is almost over

I love the Christmas season. I love thinking about and planning for the Christmas season. I am one of those people who start their Christmas shopping the day after Christmas. I'm not one to brave riotous crowds but I do go to my local Hallmark store (or sometimes two) and buy wrapping paper at 50% off. I love the feel of really nice wrapping paper. I'll be sure to buy enough for next season.

We don't buy Christmas gifts for many people. My family decided to stop exchanging gifts years ago. I only buy for my boys, my husband, my husband's family, and a girlfriend's children. I make a lot of gifts - things like cookies, fudge, cookies in a jar, sugared almonds. It's nice to be able to give a consumable gift to someone. In my old neighborhood many of the neighbors would walk around and leave cookies or some treat for each other - I always looked forward to it. This year, in the new neighborhood, I noticed that people really keep to themselves. Nonetheless, two days ago, I had my oldest son deliver fudge (wrapped ala Martha Stewart) to some neighbors we know. I'm not sure what they thought about it but it made me feel good.

I keep lists all year long. Lists of ideas. Lists of things I've bought or found. Lists of things the kids or Jeff have mentioned. I find and buy things in many places. Adam's favorite gifts this year were based on a magic theme that I decided on after finding a beautiful stuffed Hedwig in a very upscale neighborhood for 25 cents. I later found a cauldron for 25 cents and a beautiful three headed dragon puppet at Goodwill for $2.95 that still had the tags on. Finally, I found a great magic book that came with a supply kit that was on sale at B&N for about $7. My big expense was a beautiful hand made wooden wand that I bought on ebay. Adam played with these things all day long today and thanked me over and over and over again. I think it made his first Christmas not believing in Santa much easier.

This was a tight year financially. Our new mortgage is 60% more than our old one and our income hasn't changed. I worked hard all summer going to yard sales and scouring Goodwill to find things to sell on ebay. I used that money to provide a wonderful Christmas for my family. The boys loved everything they got. Some of the big hits were the Jack Stone legos I picked up at Walmart last year after Christmas when they were 50% off and the Cranium Cariboo game I picked up at B&N when it was 75% off.

Tomorrow I'll head out bright and early. I want to go to Kohl's to get that throw I really wanted for the living room couch (but was too cheap to buy). I'll go to the local Hallmark and buy some rolls of wrapping paper. I may even stop by B&N to check things out. Then I'll come home to my inlaws and we'll do the present thing all over again.

I"m always sad when New Year's Eve is over. The letdown from the holiday season hits me hard. The winter in New Hampshire is long, dark and cold. One of the things that cheers me up is shopping. I don't spend a lot of money or even spend money every time I go out but I love the hunt. I need to restock my shelves and get my ebay sales going again.

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas.

All the creatures were snuggled ...

Maybe it's pathetic to be blogging on Christmas Eve but it's a great way to unwind. The day started off with cranky, overwound kids kept inside by unseasonably warm temperatures and rain. Jeff and Eric decided to skip church tonight. Although I really wanted the whole family there, Eric is truly a pain in church and I always get so aggravated I can't enjoy the experience.

Adam and Jared need to be at church 45 minutes early to do a run through of the Nativity. Our DRE wrote a kind of "This is the house that Jack built" play for the early service. This is the star that shines in the sky, these are the shepherds, this is the sheep ... As you look at the picture, Adam is the shepherd to the left in the African fabric and Jared is the sheep (yes, that is a sheep) to the right. Jared had the only "speaking" part in the play. Each time the DRE said, "This is the sheep that ...", Jared said "BAAAAAAA" loud enough for our very big church to hear. Adam bowed each time she said, "These are the shepherds ..." and also made sure to keep the other shepherds and angel in line.

The boys were wonderful. Everyone in church laughed out loud the first time Jared said, "BAAAA" and I couldn't believe how loud he was. He was so cute and blushed each time he said it. We had worked out a little hand signal so he would remember when he needed to make his sheep noise and he looked right at me seated in the pews and did a great job. After their part, the boys sat with the other kids in the Nativity and were wonderfully behaved. Adam sang all the songs and shared his bulletin with the girl next to him. Even when they were holding lit candles, they were great.

We came home and had a quick snack. We put out cookies and milk for Santa and oats for the reindeer. Eric and Jared went to bed easily. This is Adam's first year not believing in Santa and he wanted to be a part of the secret. He ate one of the Santa cookies and helped to place some of the presents under the tree. He stayed up and had a special snack with Jeff and I - the three of us enjoyed shrimp cocktail and watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Adam had a hard time settling in. Finally, he came out of his room with some special things he had wrapped for each of us. Even though I had bought presents for his brothers from him, he said he would feel better if he gave them something special. He gave Jeff his lucky rock (which he picked up the day his team won the baseball championship, Jared a Pokemon comic book, Eric some Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and something mysterious to me. I was very touched by the thoughtfulness he showed in his choices.

The stockings are stuffed and all the presents are under the tree. I overbought gifts for the boys and have stuff put away that I'm not even giving them. I'll use some of these as birthday presents and others as treats or rewards. I didn't spend too much and only spent money that I earned from ebay. This is the first year that we haven't ended up using our charge cards at all. I have a Paypal credit/debit card that I used to purchase most of the presents and bought many at yard sales ($3 Nintendo and Gameboy Advance games), Goodwill and ebay.

I always have a tough time falling asleep on Christmas Eve and always wake up super early in the morning. Luckily, Jared never sleeps past 6:30 and he will wake us up before he comes downstairs.

Merry Christmas!

Awwww ...

You are glucose. People feed off of you. You are
sweet, caring, and a source of energy for
everyone around you. You can inspire others
with your creativity and depth, and you can
keep people alive when in times of famine.
People love you...or at least the way you
taste.


Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Of all the quizzes I've taken from Quizilla, this is definitely the funniest. I think I'm, ummm, proud (?) to be Glucose. I mean, what else would I want to be? Right?

I've got to get to bed. I still feel miserable and my body aches and tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

2 more days

Well, I don't feel as bad today as I thought I might. A good night's sleep seems to have really helped. I did, however, just get off the phone with Adam's friend's mother, who called to tell me that her son had been throwing up all night. Adam spent the entire day there yesterday *sigh* I can only hope he doesn't get it. If he misses his chance to be a shepherd in the living nativity he'll be so sad. I just want the boys healthy for Christmas.

I spent some time this morning putting the finishing touches on Jared's sheep costume. I don't make costumes and we were told not to stress out about it so this is a very crude costume. I took a while flannel pillow case and cut out holes for the head and arms. Then I used my trusty hot glue gun to attach cotton batting all over it. I glued a tail where the tail should be. I also attached some white cotton batting ears to a white headband. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how bunny ears and sheep ears differ and they look rather like bunny ears. In fact, the whole costume could easily be a bunny instead of a sheep. Could there have been a bunny in the manger? Anyway, Jared likes the costume and he'll make a great sheep.

I feel a little more at home here. I even got my Weather Pixie loaded. Somehow it didn't feel the same without her.

Bah Humbug!

I am in serious need of a transfusion of some Christmas spirit.

The Cookie Swap was terrible. I've been going to the same cookie swap for 3 or 4 years and have always had a wonderful time. Same woman - different house - new friends (her kids went back to school last year). Adam begged out before we even went. When we got there, S told the boys they couldn't play upstairs because her children don't like other children playing in their rooms. Her kids did play in their rooms but only with their friends. There were no appropriate toys to play with downstairs so the boys quickly got into tussles with a couple of other boys over the few toys available. Finally, I sent them outside to play with some other kids only to find they were being picked on by the bigger kids. I said a very hasty goodbye, took some cookies (though none from the woman holding the snotty nosed child who kept coughing and who never covered her mouth), got my boys and we left. I won't return next year. Maybe I'll even hold my own.

I'm feeling under the weather. Not terrible - just enough to make me grumpy. I have a little fever, get chilled or too hot and my head hurts. I got out a bunch of presents to wrap tonight in case I feel worse tomorrow. Jeff helped me wrap some presents (I bought too many this year and I'm not even giving them everything I bought) and we hid them in the basement. Jared woke up while we were wrapping and we didn't hear him come down the stairs - he was standing in the entryway looking at us. Luckily, I had brought a stack of presents downstairs and we only had a couple out. I told Jared I was wrapping his present from my mother (the truth) and got him back in bed. Good thing we were planning on letting them open the presents from my mother tomorrow.

I made and wrapped a batch of fudge and will have Adam deliver it to neighbors tomorrow. I also need to finish Jared's sheep costume for church. We only have a few presents left to wrap.

Hmmmm, Upsaid is at least partly back up. I think Upsaid is much easier to use and edit than Blogger but I'm not sure if I should return. There will always be this nagging feeling in the back of my mind - know what I mean? I'm having fun here and I'm getting used to the way things work. I'll have to really think about it.

Okay, I'm less grumpy. I think I've got the template thing worked out. I even got the pictures of my boys added (unless you don't see them - then you should let me know).

Today we will go to our annual Cookie Swap party. I made Gingersnaps yesterday. I was going to make the Chocolate Filled Poppyseed cookies but I didn't have the patience. A part of me just wants to stay home - keep the boys away from all the people and all the germs. I'm not normally a germaphobe but this year there are so many people that are so sick and I just don't want the boys sick for Christmas. I've been crazy with making them wash their hands.

The Cookie Swap will be fun. I'll get to visit with friends and the boys will see kids they only see a couple of times a year. By the time we get home, I'll be too tired to cook. We'll probably just have cookies for dinner.

GRRRRRRRRR ... I am getting very, very frustrated. I have two different versions of my blog showing up. I have the one you actually see and then the one that is in my blog template when I go to edit it. Somehow they're not the same.

Last night I typed in some links and added a small picture to my sidebar. I saved them about 10 times. This morning they're gone. When I view my blog by first logging in to Blogger I get the blue background. When I go to Template and try to edit it and hit Preview, I get an orange template with my Santa picture but missing my Comments section.

I can't even begin to figure this out but it's giving me a headache.

Okay, this whole Upsaid thing is making me very, very cranky. I really don't want to move to Blogger because Upsaid has much better features - especially images. But ... I already had this template ready and waiting before I ever started my Upsaid blog. If Upsaid goes back up, I'm moving. If I find a better place to blog, I'm moving. But for now, here I am. I hope people find me.

This is a bad time for Upsaid to go down. I've been wanting to post. Needing to post but had nowhere to go. I've missed reading the blogs of all my friends. I wonder what is going on in your lives.

We're in Christmas countdown mode here. This weekend I made Adam's shepherd costume and Jared's sheep costume for the living nativity. (of course I'd post pictures of the damn things if I could). Adam's costume took me 5 minutes and he's very happy with it. Jared's still needs some tweaking - he needs a tail and ears - but it will be cute. Eric doesn't go to church with us (hmm, I really need to give this some thought - it would make a good blog entry) but he wants to know if he can be the Baby Cheezit.

We've been reading the books in our Advent book basket (well there was never really a basket but there were a bunch of wrapped books on a shelf). We've read the Jesus Christmas story. He knows all Bethlehem, the manger, no place at the Inn ... He's even played with the baby Jesus in our Fisher Price nativity set and I've heard him say "Jesus" (nicely, of course). Still, he wants to be the Baby Cheezit. Even in a UU church, I think that'd be a little blasphemous on Christmas Eve.

We don't have firm plans for the week because my mother-in-law called today to tell us she has pneumonia and they won't be able to make it on Tuesday. She only has one lung so pneumonia is very serious for her. I pray she has a speedy recovery. The boys are upset that plans have changed. They were looking forward to seeing their grandparents in two days.

I'm not positive what our plans are but I know we have a busy week ahead.