Football is painful yet wonderful

I'll admit I was very pessimistic about watching my Wolverines play yesterday. Michigan never seems to play well after a break and I was wondering which Michigan team would show up to play. I've been a fan forever. I've been watching Michigan football since I was in Elementary school and even started attending some of the games when I was in middle school. Both my dad's grandparents moved their families to the Ann Arbor area for the express purpose of my grandparents attending Michigan. We (me and my Dad) are true blue Michigan fans. That being said we both know that the Michigan football team is bi-polar. They either come out and play INCREDIBLE or they come out and look like they're not even trying. So it was with anxiety and angst that I sat down to watch the game yesterday. True to form the game brought me nearly to tears while I cursed like I had Tourette's syndrome at the TV. But it the end, it was worth it.

Now that I live in a split household having married into an Ohio State family I'll have to root for the Buckeyes next Monday. Actually, I would anyway. If the school is not playing Michigan, I always root for the other Big 10 schools. Unlike my Father-in-law who hates Michigan so much he went out and bought an Appalachian State shirt. At least Mike suffered through the game with me yesterday cheering for Michigan. There could have been some blood shed had I heard any of those well-deserved anti-Michigan comments during the game yesterday.

What Boys Dream Of

When I went to check on the kids the other night I found Mia sleeping in the top bunk sprawled out among her dolls. Mason on the bottom was asleep with his football. I just had to get the camera. I was so scared that I was going to wake him up with the flash but he didn't even notice.

Well Santa thinks they were good

The kids in front of their haul. That's not even all of it. That's what we could make visible for a picture. Mike has five sisters so you can imagine the amount of gifts they get from Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. As you may or may not be able to tell from the picture Mason just wants to rip into that box he has his hand on. Nothing fills you with Holiday Cheer more than screaming at your kids trying to get one good picture. First comes the challenge of getting them both within a couple feet of each other so they will both be in the same picture and to stay there. Followed by getting them to look at you, then look at the same time, then smile and finally to look and smile at the same time. Virtually impossible. It doesn't matter if Mike or I am manning the camera it always ends with one of us saying, "Well, that's as good as it gets. I think there might be one decent one in there."

Even Barley was happy with his gifts.

Keeping it separate

Christmas Eve is Mason's birthday and it's really getting to be a challenge for us to keep it separate from Christmas. We had hotdogs for dinner since that's one of Mason's favorites and tried to keep the day focused around his birthday.

The evening gets pre-empted for other programming however: Christmas mass and then preparing for Santa by laying out the cookies, carrots and beer.Yes, Santa gets beer from our family. We figure Santa gets milk from all the other kids and would probably enjoy a nice cold beer for all his efforts. I thought about celebrating his half birthdays with a party six months later since the poor kid never gets to have a party but that would make it days away from his cousin's who generally is visiting in Michigan at that time. I'm on the fence but I think we can manage a half birthday party in the summer.

Christie Rocks!

At least so far. Mike got Guitar Hero II for his PS2 and he tried it out yesterday. What we realized.... he sucks at it. So I gave it a go and am MUCH better. Hence, today when he went and bought new "shoot em' up" games that he's good at and told me he won't play Guitar Hero anymore because it's "impossible". It's nice to be better at something finally:)

The kids have been wanting nothing but to stay in and play with all their new toys. We dragged them out today to run to some stores: Target and ToysRUs. Mia got a giftcard to ToysRUs and they had the Leapster games BOGO free. So we drove to Muskegon (as the Holland TRU closed a couple years ago) and let her use her gift card to new games. We also went to Target where I bought wrapping paper, etc for next year and Mike finally broke down and bought some lights for outside. The kids have been asking us to make our house a "Christmas house" which in their lingo means put up some outside Christmas lights. I guess the two little wreaths I have framing the garage didn't cut it in their eyes. Now I have to wait almost a whole year to what I anticipate will be Mike on the roof with a lot of cursing.

I asked the kids what their favorite gifts were: Mason- "I don't have any" which means he likes it all. Mia- "the Leapster". So I guess getting up and going to Kohls on Black Friday was worth it.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Lights - TSO - Christmas Eve in Sarajevo - 2007

I'm thinking that we're going to the TSO concert next year. I think the kids we'll really enjoy it.

My Supermodels

Well for the first time Mason was actually used in the print ad for one of his modeling ads. He has had his pictures taken multiple times but in the end he never made the ad. This time he didn't take very good pictures. He always had fingers in his mouth, a finger up his nose or his tongue out so I'm pretty surprised that this was the time he actually made the ad. He's on the back page of the Meijer mid-week flyer.

Mike sent an e-mail and pictures to the kennel where we got Barley and Mia, Mike and Barley are now on the kennel's website.

In other news, today was the last day of school until after the new year. How will I survive?

Cotton candy, sweet and low, let me see that "crayon" roll

Decided last minute to make crayon rolls to stick in my "treat bags" for my kids in the Faith Formation class. So Tuesday night, up forever making crayon rolls and baking cookies.

I decided to use elastic to close rather than the ribbon that you tie because my kids can't tie yet.

The week before in the Faith Formation class the kids made St. Nick hats(mitres). Here's Mia and Mason wearing the one Mia made.

Just got back from my SIL's this weekend. She has an annual "wine and cheese" party and Mike and I have been lucky enough to go the last two years. It had been years since we made the one last year and I forget how much fun it is to be out. I got my mom to babysit and keep the kids for the night so we had a free ticket to party. The food is always FANTASTIC and the wine is great too. Since I've had kids though I only get to have a couple or more drinks and I'm done. Not because I stop myself but because I've become such a lightweight and will spend the rest of my evening "praying to the porcelain God" if I don't. Since most of Mike's family was attending the "Wine and Cheese" fest we decided to do his family Christmas today. The kids are so excited about their haul (presents) that I can't get them to go to sleep.

SNL Christmas Song

Too much going on to post to the blog today. This is to get you into the Christmas mood.

Naughty and Nice

This morning it was my friend Laura's turn to watch the kids for our kid swap and Mia was soooo naughty. I'm sooo sorry, Laura! I don't know why but when one kid is incredibly naughty the other becomes VERY good. Mason did everything I asked the first time and was very obedient. It must be some kind of natural offset. Thank goodness for that as I don't think I can handle them both being VERY naughty at the same time.
During my free time (probably Laura's hell time) I went to JCPenney and found these really cool shirts for $9.99 and they came with a toy. They had Transformers, Spiderman, monster trucks, etc. As I was first lured over by the Transformers I ended up getting the black glow-in-the-dark Spiderman one. It is sure to be too big but I know Mason will like it.
Mike went to pick up my finished Christmas cards at Walmart and again they were screwed up. So we had to go with a different card that they did there at the one-hour-photo but we got them for free. Thank goodness Mike went to pick them up because with my luck it probably would have been, "Screw you lady, Tough luck!". I find that Mike has much better luck with "customer handling" then I do except for the mitten incident of course.

My Customer Service Vent

Last week I ordered my Christmas Cards online to be picked up in the store at Walmart. I hate going to our Walmart. It is ALWAYS busy and trying to pay for anything is a nightmare since they only have about 4 lanes open for the whole store. I figured since I prepaid the cards just picking them up wouldn't be so bad. So for the card drama. I picked them up Saturday to get home and find out the wording is screwed up "on every card". So I call the store and they tell me to come in and redo the cards on the "one hour photo" machine. The Walmart parking lot was always packed out during the weekend so I waited to yesterday to go back. I then wait in line at the "one hour photo" machine for what seems like 20 minutes behind some lady that was ordering a few hundred vacation photos. It's finally my turn and I realize that they don't even have the cards I want on their machines. They said "Sorry, you'll just have to go home and redo them from there. Take these to the Service desk and we'll refund your money". So then I go wait in line at the Service desk. Never a small wait. I explain what happened to the Service person and say, "I really just want my cards since they were supposed to be done last week. I have to order them through the internet but I can choose the one-hour-photo option. Can you make up the difference of the cost since it was your mistake?". She says, "no" and hands me my refund. NEXT! Not only do I have to wait another week for my cards but I wasted a trip and my time going to the store for nothing. When I go shopping lately I feel like something is going to go wrong. It makes Christmas shopping all the more painful.

Bah Humbug!

Schweaty Balls

I was debating on what to make to take to my "Moms and Tots" cookie exchange and thought of this clip.

Where oh where has my lost mitten gone?

Okay I was a little ticked about Mason losing his mitten and I KNOW he lost it in the store so I call back twice that night, once Tuesday and then again today. Today she says, "Yes, we have it!" Great! I say, "Can you please put a note with our name on it and I'll be in to pick it up." She says, "no problem, I'll set out for you." So then I call Mike and ask him to pick it up. I get a call on my cell later. He went to Meijer and they can't find it. I tell him, I know they had it (the lady read me the word off the mitten) and she said she'd lay it on the desk. So he goes back, actually talks to the girl I had talked to who confirms she had the mitten and then laid it next to the cash register. They look everywhere they can think and it is gone. Now that it's determined that the mitten is no longer where it was they just turn their backs to him and walk off. Is it me or is that just rude? I know they're not responsible for lost items but when you find something and then lose it again doesn't that at least warrant an "I'm sorry about that". Now I'm more mad then if they had never found it at all.

On a good note, I went to the Rivertown mall and actually got some things accomplished. I had a coupon at VS that got me a bra and panties for $9, exchanged a lotion at Bath&Body works because I couldn't handle the smell of the old one, got the kid's 2007 tree ornaments (Mia wanted Barbie Island Princess and Mason got the black Spiderman), saw Santa, exchanged some shoe inserts (got home and find out they had given my men's last time), let the kid's run in the play area (the first ones in after it had been clean, BONUS) and found some long sleeve dress shirts for Mason that we're not plaid. Mason asked Santa for Transformers and Mia asked for a "real" cat. Santa tried to explain to her how he couldn't carry a real kitty in his bag with the presents because it couldn't breathe and how she would have to talk to Mom and Dad to see if they could work out the delivery for Santa. She just stared at him. He asked, "Is there anything else that you would like me to bring you?" More silence just intense staring. He told her to go home and think about what else she might like. I think Santa is now on her "list".

Catch up for another week

I'm just having trouble lately getting anything done. I did the craft fair this past week and it was really slow. I did OK for the amount of traffic that went through but it wasn't that great. If only I had some connections to get into some "busier" ones. Mike came home from his hunting trip today, THANK GOD! I had been pretty busy while he was gone and even went out of town right after the craft fair so it's not like I really had a chance to notice he was gone but my shopping trip to Meijer today..........Bad news. I pick the kids up from preschool and I tell them we have to go to Meijer and if they're good it will be really quick then we can see Daddy when we get home. I was pretty much screaming at them to sit down, behave, etc. I started out nice, calm but eventually I was starting to lose it and I could tell I was getting the "what a b****" looks from some other people. It's not like I spanked my kids although I sure felt like it. Then the wild man, Mason, ripped the string that I ran through his coat to keep his mittens from getting lost. He lost a mitten. They were expensive mittens too so I backtracked my steps like 5 times and what I think was 45 minutes. I went to the lost and found twice and called again tonight. No luck.

I have a pile of stuff to sort through on my desk...... time for me to try to catch up there as well.

Catch-Up

I know it's been a week since I last posted, I was getting so good at trying to post something every day. Thanksgiving was OK. It was just us at home and I spent a lot of time cooking and when we finally sat down (the kids sat down about 15 min. ahead of us and started grabbing food because they couldn't wait) it was done. Really in about 15 minutes we were stuffed. So then starts the clean-up. We watched the Lions play and lose so there was some tradition involved.

Me and my friend, Laura, were crazy and got up and went out Black Friday. She came and picked me up at 3:30 so we would be at Kohl's for their 4am opening. The line was already out in the parking lot and by the time the store opened the line was out past the end of the parking lot. CRAZY. It's not like we were there for something huge either, we were there for the Leapster L-MAX's that we missed out on at Meijer. As I'm standing there in line I say to Laura...." we should have taken the Meijer ad Monday to Walmart and just had them price match it." DUH! Instead we're up before the crack of dawn freezing out buttocks off for what better not be next year's garage sale toy. Later that afternoon.... I'm sick. I've been sick ever since but am gradually getting better. I've been sleeping in Mason's room though since I cough all night and don't want to get Mike sick before his hunting trip.

So I'm tired and sick.... Then I find out yesterday that I did get into the craft fair after all that is this Saturday. Now I need to start sewing so I have stuff to sell. Did I mention I'm tired. I'm getting pretty cranky too, this is my busy day so maybe that's part of it.

Day before Thanksgiving

Wow, since I thought I'd invite some people (family) over for Thanksgiving I bought a 18lb turkey. Now nobody else can make it and I can't really save the turkey because it takes up my freezer (actually it's defrosting now so I have my freezer back) so it looks like we'll be eating turkey for years to come. If you have good leftover recipes (preferably those that can be frozen) pass them on.

Bachelor news: I watched the Bachelor maybe a handful of times since it started.... I saw a couple of the first ones with this new Bachelor, Brad, and thought he seemed pretty "real". I saw in the news last night that he turned both girls down at the finale! That would have been worth watching as I'm never impressed with the women. Thanks for keeping it real Brad.

Leapster Blues

Yesterday was a whole lot of running around. I decided to get Mia this Leapster L-Max for Christmas. K-mart had BOGO games yesterday only so as soon as I dropped the kid's off at school off I went. They didn't have the games I wanted but I figured I'd buy what they had at comparable price and I could go back later to exchange. Meijer had the Leapster L-Max advertised as $59.99 which was much cheaper than the $69.99 at Amazon (price has already gone up). I went to both Meijer stores in Holland. GONE! Now it looks like I'll be getting up at 4am on Black Friday to try to get one at Kohls which is only $69.99 but I have the 15% off coupon. I have scoured the Black Friday ads with no other leads and I'm not going to pay more for it now. What kills me about these great advertised deals..... when they say stuff like, "at least 7 per store". That tells me one person probably went in and bought all 7 and the rest of us suckas that can't shop at the drop of a hat unless we lock our kids in the trunk of the car (just kidding, never happens) don't have a chance. At any rate, I guess I'll keep my eye out for awhile and hope it goes on sale before Christmas. I have no idea what to get Mason. Isn't Christmas shopping supposed to be fun? I just want it to be over. Maybe it just seems worse since I have the birthday presents to think of too.

Bee Movie- B minus

We went and saw the Bee Movie yesterday. I didn't think it was all that great. The kids seemed a little bored too. Mason's favorite thing? That he ate popcorn the ENTIRE time. I thought for sure he was going to make himself sick as I'm pretty sure that he ate more than the rest of us combined.

Mia woke up this morning... she's in a great mood, she's dressed and ready to go. I'm not sure how to handle this as I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, Mason is not awake yet so maybe her mood is to offset his. Time to wake him up. Wish me luck.

Mia gave her Locks for Love

Today was to be our "girls day". Mia got to wear eye shadow and lip gloss and then we went to get her hair cut. She seemed to really enjoy all the attention she got in the hair salon. When I originally said we were having a girl's day I was thinking of getting a manicure, taking her for "tea" or something similar, maybe some shopping...... What it turned into was just wearing make-up, getting a toy and going out for dinner. I guess I have to wait a few years before we get what I consider to be a "girls day". She seems happy though and genuinely excited to be giving her hair to some other little girl so I'm glad for that.

Here she is right after the Big Cut.

And at home after a little more styling.

House Divided, Mia Divided

As the big game approaches.....we're confusing our child.
I seem to be losing the battle though. When given the choice she says, "Go Bucks". Traitor. I tried to be equal opportunity and even made the OSU outfit for her. I guess I just need to stop showing a reaction. I think she chooses whatever is the opposite of my pick. That seems to be true when I try to get her dressed in the morning as well.

Note: the dog that is not allowed upstairs is upstairs. I caved and let him up.