I swear, we go through more towels....

"There's a witch living inside it"

I planned on packing this two weeks at home with the kids with lots of fun things to do. Among them was to build a gingerbread house. I vaguely remember making one years ago, when either the kids were too young to help, or maybe even before the kids...I really can't remember. And obviously it's been so long that I forgot how much of a pain in the ass it is to make one. Nevertheless, we set out with high hopes.

I prepared the icing, and read the directions, while the older kids played with the younger...

Soon the basic assembly began, but not without, of course, the icing bag bursting open, and then making a bigger mess with the replacement bag, only to find moderate success with the 2nd replacement bag (neither included). Have you ever worked with gingerbread-house icing? It's like a thick, gooey version of Plaster-of-Paris.

After a 24-hour time out, we got back to it, with more success...

The kids did a pretty good job...

Eventually, it was declared a success, despite the rough start. Still, I looked over the packaging and the directions and wondered just how one was supposed to make one that looked like this:
Maybe if you were Martha Stewart.

But, ours looked pretty good in the end:

At least, good enough to eat...

We never did find the witch that the kids said lived inside it.

Stand by your man

This last month has seen a lot of changes for Fenton. He started to crawl. He's grown two teeth. He's eating "real" food. He's wearing 18 mo. clothes. And his newest trick is to pull himself up to standing, and then walk a few steps. And, of course, the kids love every minute with him...




Yes... I think that's Adelaide saying "Fenton sure is a crap!" at the end. I'm not really sure why...

Sledding!

I was never one to grow up around snow. The first place I lived (in my conscious childhood) that had snow was Maryland, and we didn't get there until I was 13. As you might guess, I have been fascinated with it ever since.

Still, Maryland was not a place that got a lot of snow. Although it would get the occasional blizzard or big storm, it's snowfall amounts (and climate in general, for that matter) were not much different than where we live now. (Lexington gets about 16 inches a year, Baltimore gets about 20.)

Back in the day, I remember occasionally sledding with friends, or even when I was an undergrad, I remember borrowing trays from the dining hall, then traipsing across 193 to the golf course to slide down the hills.

But here in Kentucky, I don't think we've ever been sledding. We get some snow during the year, but it's usually an inch or two at a time, and so often not on a weekend where we can go out, or it's miserably cold, or someone is sick, or I'm just lazy, or whatever.

But last weekend was the perfect storm. We got several inches of snow on Christmas and I realized that this may be just the opportunity. Of course, things were too busy at home on Christmas to consider going out, and, oh yeah, we didn't have any sleds.

So the day after Christmas, with several inches of snow still on the ground, we headed out. It took a couple of stores to locate some sleds, but then we were on our way. Locals around here swear by the Stonewall Elementary hill*, so we headed there.

Before I knew it the kids were ready to go.


I, however, kept looking for the bunny slope. Apparently, we'd have to go to Shriner's for the smaller hills. Nonetheless, after a long contemplation, we tackled it.

I took a couple runs with the kids before they convinced me to let them go solo. It was a fun, scary, thrilling, nervous day. We had a blast.

Adelaide coming down...

Kestian's turn. He had a knack for always heading towards the one tree on the hill.

Heading back to do it again...

* While I was admittedly chicken to go down the hill at Stonewall, I am a bit disappointed in Lexington for it being the "best" hill. Lexington is a fairly hilly place (by some estimates) and I'd hate to think that there are no better, longer, steeper, faster hills than this one. I'm not exactly sure why I have such high standards for sledding hills, as I clearly have little sledding background.

More like 12 minutes...

On the twelfth "day" of Christmas, my under-appreciated parents (and grandparents) gave to me:

Twelve* barrettes-of-hairstyling

Eleven-ish sunflower seeds-of-chocolate coating

Ten gifts of stockings

Nine Peeps-of-Snowmen

Eight jammies-of-sleeping

Seven Legos-of-building

Six pretend guitar strings-of-strumming

Five various metal coins

Four raining bows

Three DVD movies

Two handmade cloth books

And a Pillow Pet for each and every one

*Quantities are estimates only. Not all items may appear in ad. Please see the Customer Service desk for details.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays everyone! In case you did not get our newsletter this year, here ya go! Send us your address if you want one next year.

'Twas the day before Christmas...

'Twas the day before Christmas, when all through the house,
All the creatures were stirring, especially The Mouse;


The music of Mixmas from the radio blared,
In hopes that a good song soon might be aired;


The children played Legos and jumped on their beds,
While visions of Pillow Pets danced in their heads;


I walked to the sink and got a drink from the tap,
Waiting for the littlest one to finally nap;


Then out from the play room there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the computer to see what was the matter;


Away to the play room I flew like a flash,
Threw open the door and found the room trashed;


Seems the older ones decided to empty the shelves,
Playing 'flying reindeer and little red elves';


"You'd all better starting cleaning this mess up right now,"
I said as I stood in the doorway and growled;


So the Elder Ones (no, not Chthulu!) soon got quite busy,
"They'd better be cleaning!" I thought in a tizzy;


Soon the mess was forgotten and in time we got lost,
As the gingerbread cookies we began to frost;


"No one likes a lichen like a reindeer likes a lichen,"
Yelled the boy as his sister yelled "These cookies, I liken!"


The kids played in the parlor with markers and paper,
While the youngest continued on his exploratory capers;


Soon the kids were upstairs for an hour of quiet,
Just in time, 'cause it seemed there would soon be a riot;


The oldest played Angry Birds while the youngest looked on,
I took this picture before the moment was gone;


The day will stay busy and we'll certainly be no thinner,
As we feast on a traditional Italian Eve dinner;


Tomorrow there will be presents and fun, oh you know...
With promises of cheer and a new Christmas snow.

A moment in time

The other night I was tired. OK, yeah, that's nothing new. But it was one of those I-just-want-to-sit-the-heck-down-and-do-nothing nights. Of course, there is always plenty to do, but I was willing to live with the 8,932 dishes in the sink that needed to be washed, the 18 loads of laundry waiting for their turn, the gross bathrooms asking for a good scrubbing, the overflowing trash spilling on the floor... You know: usual.

So finally, after the kids* were in bed, it was time to try and get Fenton to sleep. I gathered the bottles. I gathered the blankets. I gathered the pillows. I gathered the remotes. I gathered the baby. And we settled down for a long winters nap. Only 5 minutes into this nap, (long enough to make getting back up a tortuous hell) I remembered that I didn't change his diaper. This is a serious infraction. Sure I delay diaper changes (during the day) because I'm lazy. I put off baths because I don't feel like it. But Fenton must have a new diaper before bed. Trust me. It's important to all of us. A wet baby in our bed = wet everyone in bed.

So, grumpily I got up and changed his little butt. Then I just sat there. Too grumpy to gather everything up again and start over. But, then, my dear little Fenton sat up and crawled into my lap and snuggled his warm little body into mine. It was like he was trying to hug me. Instantly, all my grumpiness melted away. So I picked him up, inhaled the sweet smells from his warm body, and we sat back down on the couch to reconnect.


Then he looked up at me and pulled my hair.


* "kids" always refers to the older rats of the family

A day home from school means more school

Earlier this week, the kids had a day off from school on account of snow. This was our first "snow day" and Damon had the privilege of staying home with Kestian and Adelaide while I took Fenton to daycare and I went to work.

In case you were wondering what the kids do at home on a snow day, you'll be happy to know that they played "school."


Damon sent me these texts throughout the afternoon...

Kestian is teaching the bear.

Addy arrived. I think she is also a student in this setup.

This was where the stuffed animals had lunch, they are now in class (as seen previously).

(BTW, Addy is a “new teacher” and not a student as I thought earlier.)

Some were napping, but apparently it was time to get up.

Note that Lorax is now at the computer and the bear is now at the books. Yes, they are rotating them.

More toys on the way to the parlor apparently. Also the Xmas animals on the stairs are now part of the school.

PS...the house was completely clean when I got home. I would have never believed they played like this if there hadn't been photographic evidence.