For Your Reading Pleasure

1.  Last week,  I found shoes under my pillow.  If you’ll remember, The Man and I have a little game going on.  I did not find the shoes to be hilarious.  It’s way funnier when I do it. 

 

2.  I must preface #2 by asking you to recall William’s rules.  Pay particularly close attention to rule #1.  The one that says ”Don’t look at me when I’m getting dressed.”  Right.  So yesterday I got a note from The Man while I was out which stated the following: 

No more Wii for William today.  When I sent the boys upstairs to change, William did a naked dance in front of Henry.

Which totally made me laugh.  I know, I shouldn’t laugh.  Anyway, just to clarify the rules, you are not allowed to look at William while he gets dressed.  Even if he does a naked dance.  

 

3.  I got this super nice award from Daniele at Life As A Mom…thank you Daniele!  The award states:  This award is bestowed on blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to how ever many bloggers you choose and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

 

I actually had to look up ”self-aggrandizement” to make sure I knew what it meant.  I had a vague sense.  I also had a vague sense of how exceedingly charming I am.    Anyway, what a nice award to receive.   

 

4.  Yesterday the kids found this…

 

 

And The Man wanted to keep it.  I don’t know why.  Because he’s a man I guess.  It’s dead.  It’s in a baggie.  In my house.      

So I took a picture of it.  Because that’s what I do.  Anyway, look how it is preserved for all eternity…in striking position.  You can even see it’s creepy little viper tongue.  In case you were wondering, it is a milk snake (which is not a viper.  But “viper tongue” sounds very snakey).  It’s harmless.  Still gross.  And the deadness doesn’t do anything to lessen the “gross.”  I’m going to put it in Mr. Pink’s mailbox.  Just for fun. 

 

5.  Speaking of whom, Mr. Pink made a nasty comment about my daffodils looking unkempt.  So I spent several hours the other day tying them up into nice neat little bundles.  Now they look very kempt.  You would not believe how long that takes, really.  And I only did about half of them.  When Mr. Pink saw my handi-work, he said it was definitely a pink job.  Mm-hm.  That topic shall never die. 

 

6.  Superfudge.  Remember that book…Judy Blume?  Mm-hmm.  I bought it for Kate.  I was so impressed with myself for choosing this book for Kate, which she devoured in about 2 days.  And then I read this passage:

When I got home that afternoon, I cornered my mother.  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to let him go on believing in Santa.” 

bla bla bla…

“I do agree that sooner or later he’ll have to learn that Santa is just an idea.”  She sighed.  “But for now, he’s so enthusiastic and the idea of Santa is so lovely that Daddy and I have decided it can’t possibly hurt.  So please go along with us for a while Peter.”

bla bla bla…

“Well I think it’s a mistake!”  I said.  I turned and walked away.  I couldn’t remember ever having believed in Santa.  When I was three I caught my parents stacking presents under the tree.  And by the time I was five, I knew exactly where to look for the presents my parents thought they had carefully hidden from me.”

 

Well if that isn’t just fantastic.  Now Christmas — nay, her entire childhood — is ruined.  The magic is all over.  I know — it was only a matter of time – I know.  Actually, this was probably a pretty easy way to “find out.”  Unless she actually already knew.  Which is certainly possible.  But still.  Crap. 

The problem with finding books for Kate is that she needs something  a little advanced…like for a 11-12 year old level reader.  But she is only 8.  So I need books that are appropriate topic and material for an eight year old.  Any suggestions?  I tried The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, and pre-read that to make sure it was appropriate.  I found the selling of a little girl by her father (who never looked back, not even once) to a man that clouts her on the ear so much that her ears begin to look like cauliflower, and the mouse blood and bones and smell of death to be a little much thankyouverymuch.  So she’ll be waiting a little while to read that one.  Sheesh.  So please, your suggestions are very, very welcome.

And that’s pretty much it for this house for this week.  Night-night! 

Just a Bunch More of Nothing

I should really start a Miscellaneous carnival.  Because I seem to have a lot of miscellaneous things to share.  Things that, on their own, cannot make a story, but taken together can be rather entertaining.

I’ll do that later.  In the meantime, you might not want to hold your breath.

Moving right along…

1.  Onna at toddlercraft has inspired me to make these with the kids.  They all LOVE painting, and I love this kind of craft.  We’ll put them in the butterfly garden.  (The one that I still haven’t planted yet.  I’m going to do that later, too.)  Thank you Onna!

2.  Molly at The Bumbles Blog honored me with the Splash Award.   Because I allure, bemuse, bewitch, impress and inspire them.  And what do you know, it had to do with a booger.  And a black booger at that.  Thank you, Bumbles!

 

3.  V-8.  Spiced up with a little tabasco and a heavy coating of pepper.  I always feel healthy when I partake of the V-8.  So I bought a bottle the other week. 

Guess how many glasses of that bottle I drank?  Zero.  The Man drank the entire thing.  So the next time I went for groceries I bought two bottles. 

Guess how many glasses I got this time?  One.  O.N.E.  One.  When I need the V-8, I need the V-8.  And not only is he hogging all the V-8, but do you know what he pairs it with?  Cinnamon oatmeal squares.  Or today, pumpkin-chocolate bread.  Isn’t that just wrong?  

4.  Max and Ruby.  Where is the mom?  Is Ruby the mom?  Ruby appears to be the sister, but then where is the mom?  I thought maybe Ruby was a teenager, and therefore old enough to care for a toddler, but she’s in the bunny scouts.  And “bunny scouts” doesn’t sound too teenagerish. 

5.  This right here, I just don’t even know what to say.  Other than perhaps we have exposed the children to too much American Idol. 

You can’t read the caption at the bottom, so let me just fill you in.  It reads: “I fell in to a burning ring of fire.” 

Right-e-o. 

Please note the thought cloud of the poor soul on his way down into the burning ring of fire.  And also the words his associates speak – ”See you later!” and “bye bye!”  And I’m not sure, but it appears that as he is spiralling to his fiery death, the other two are flying around on trapeses, without a care in the world.  

I’m not sure whether to laugh hysterically or be concerned…

6.  I’m feeling the kids slip away a little. 

I watched Henry sleep the other night, and I realized that in one month preschool will be over.  Forever. 

And I don’t really remember it.  I don’t know where all that time went.  

I’m afraid I’ve missed some of the best times with him. 

And that really, really hurts my heart.

Lemonade

So Stephanie at Not a Significant Source… was nice enough to pass along this award to me…

(Side note:  I’ve noticed that I start a lot of my posts with “so”…  That must be breaking all kinds of grammar rules…) 

Anyway, this award is for “making life a little sweeter” or something to that effect.  You know, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right?  (Good thing Stephanie didn’t see me the other day when I was having a pity party.  But let’s just overlook that little episode, m-kay?)

Awards are kind of funny…they go all around the blogosphere…I’ve seen this one a time or two, so it’s not uncommon to receive one of these blog awards (well, for me it is kind of uncommon).  But I am always appreciative of it.  To think that someone, that in most cases I don’t even know outside of this computer, thinks enough of me and what I’ve written to send a little award my way, well, that just puts a smile on my face.  So thank you, Stephanie, for this lemonadey award!

Now I’m supposed to pick TEN (is that right?  Or correct?  or whatever the proper word to use here is?) blogs to pass this on to.  Well, guess what.  I’m going to switch it up a bit, and just pick one.  Because I’m a rebel.  And I have no cause.  So here you go…

Angie

She is the kind of person I’d like to be…faithful, loving, positive, strong, and clearly a wonderful mother.  Angie, here’s some lemonade to go with that sunshine I promised you!

Because I’m So Kreative…

Jen at Our Daily Bigtop gave me this award…

I am very thankful to Jen.  Just for the record, it is just a bit awkward for me to call her Jen.  I call her Jenny.  So from now on, she shall be called Jenny, but you’ll know that I mean Jen.  Soooo…  Jenny gave me this nice award.  Thanks Jenny!

Okay, so the idea is that now I shall name 6 things that make me happy, and then pass the award on to 6 other Kreative bloggers.  I gotta tell you, as I was writing, the happy things were just bubbling over in my mind.  Apparently it doesn’t take much to make me happy.  That’s a good thing, right?! 

1.  In case you didn’t know it already, my family is the number one thing that makes me happy.  Especially when they’re asleep.  Kidding.  Yeah, they make me happy.  Very happy.  What they say, what they do, how innocent they still are.  How inquisitive and curious they are.  How happy they are.  How their eyes shine when they tell stories or silly jokes that make no sense.  And the man who comes home to me every night.  And how each night he prepares the coffee to brew at 4:55 so that every morning at 5:00am there is fresh coffee, a mug and a spoon waiting for me. 

 

2.  My house.  My home.  We have beautiful trees.  We have lots of wildlife.  We have wonderful neighbors and friends.  It is warm, and bright and comfortable.  It has all of our memories.  All of the things we have collected over the last 12 years.  The things we have built together.  I love it’s sounds…the garage door opening…the bluebird pecking on the kitchen window…the deck door in the summer…the footsteps on the hardwood floors…the fan in the convection oven…the baths being poured…even the awfully loud dishwasher.   

3.  The autumn air.  The little puffs of wood smoke, the swirl of fallen leaves in the wind, and the crispness of the frost.  It puts a smile on my face every.single.time.

4.  Supper cooking.  The other day I was cooking potato soup for supper, and had a minute so I went and threw some laundry in the wash.  When I rounded the corner to the kitchen and heard the potatoes gently boiling, and the bacon sizzling on the stove, I am not kidding you I felt this little happy feeling in my heart.  What a pleasure it was to be cooking supper for my family. 

5.  Wine.  Oh, I kid.  Although if I’m being honest, it does make me happy.  But I wouldn’t put it in my top 6.  Probably not anyway.  Holiday foods make me happy.  Thinking about them, planning them, shopping for them, making them, eating them.  Yeah, let’s not forget the eating part.  In a few days I will sit down and go over my elaborate menu plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and begin the shopping.  And I can’t wait. 

6.  Christmas movies.  Yeah, sorry.  I look forward to this all year long.  It is–by far–my favorite holiday, and I’d say Thanksgiving is 2nd, so this is just the hap-hap-happiest time of the year for me (except for all of the colds and viruses and flus).  Last year I would watch Christmas movies every evening while I wrote and addressed Christmas cards.  I would have a glass of mulled wine, snuggle up in a blanket and write cards while something senitmental played on the tv.  Except one night I watched the Elephant Man.  That was just disturbing and sad. 

I actually started writing a seventh, and then realized I’m only allowed 6.  Just fyi, it was scents…scents of lavendar, cinnamon and orange.  They always, always make me smile.

So now I pay it forward to six other bloggers that I think are so Kreative.  Well, since I’m so Kreative, I’m going to change that up a bit, and just name one…  Drumroll please…

Beachy Mimi.  Yes, she’s the one!  The BM makes me laugh constantly with her, how shall I say, things-we-don’t-talk-about-in-mixed-company.  So there you have it.

The Drought Has Ended

Many, many, MANY years ago, I received an award for an essay I wrote about my home town.  If memory serves me correctly, I was seven, and in 2nd grade.  I was so busy yapping away to one of my friends during the assembly I didn’t even hear my name being called over and over.  Yap, yap yap.  Anyhoo, 30 years have passed without a tidbit of recognition people.  (Forget the fact that I haven’t really written anything other than to-do lists and thank you notes for the majority of those years.)  FINALLY, the drought has ended.  Beachy Mimi has bestowed a lovely honor upon me, the Arte y Pico award (Loosely translated, it means Wow. Over the top. The best art.)!   This award was originally created by the Uruguayan Arte y Pico blog.  Thank you BM!!!

The rules for this award are:
1) You must pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, based upon creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogger community.
2) Each award must have the name of the author with a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Award-winners must show the award and put the name and link to the blog that awarded it.
4) Award-winners and the one who has given the prize must show the link to the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) These rules must be included in your post.

Heart Gone Walking

Take 90 West

Such the Spot

Our Daily Bigtop

Citystreams

I think y’all are swell.  Congratulations!