It's hard to blog when everyone is home!

Kids home from school, husband home from work...that all equals 'too much stuff happening around me'. We had a nice Christmas, but I don't think I got to spend more than 5 minutes with my mom. Seriously. I was really sad when she left. Plus, the few days around Christmas are always really tough with Ethan...too much excitement, stuff going on, new stuff, whatever...just puts him in an awful mood which makes it hard on everyone.

Steven decided to start on putting in "wood"-not real wood, but the fake whatever they call it wood-floors. We have always planned on painting, also, so I thought we should paint before the new floor, so he's doing that right now. It only took us 5 tries to get the right color green. We wanted a Sage Green, but everything is either minty or too dark. He first painted the whole downstairs hallway, and it was so light that you could only tell the difference between the new green and the old white if you knew to look for it! So we picked 2 more colors and got a quart of each. One was so dark the house would have looked like a cave, and the other was totally mustard yellow! Mind you, we were putting a lot of thought into this...not just throwing a dart at random colors. So back to Lowe's for 2 more quarts of different colored greens. Finally, one of them worked ok, and we weren't going to mess with it anymore! Why can't they make those samples more true to life???

So far, he's gotten the downstairs hallway and the kitchen. Oh...and I bought curtains for the kitchen and got them up right before Christmas, and Molly has been climbing on them and now they are full of holes. (She climbs the curtains when she's not trying to climb up the chimney. She is so dirty! And we have to pin the gate closed in the middle to keep her out!) I have big plans on curtains for the family room, but...I'm rethinking those. Oh well, we've already gone a year and a half without curtains....

Also...I'm going to redo my office and make it a real craft room/studio/Mommy's Work! I can't wait to get started on that! I was going to do it this past week, also, but now I think I'll just wait until Ethan and Allison are back in school. It also involves the new flooring and paint (but not green) and new shelving so I'll have somewhere to put my stuff other than the floor. And as soon as I can find my camera, I will take a before picture-because you wouldn't believe me if I told you how bad it is anyway. lol! Well, maybe my mom would, because I grew up in her house...and she tried to walk in there last week. "Tried" being the operative word here.

Just in case anyone was wondering if the girls were actually my children or not (there's never really been a question about Claire, but Allison does lean more toward Steven's side), Allison is heading full-speed into Teenagedom, and is now growing cultures and various other things in her room in the bowls and glasses she leaves in there, hidden for weeks at a time. You know, just like mom taught me to do when I was a kid. And Claire has been announcing, "We need a maid!". LOL! I totally agree!

It's hard to clean house when everyone is home, too!

That's about it for our holidays so far...everyone fairly healthy and no one hurt and no ER trips. Well, unless you count my vaccuuming accident yesterday. That's what I get for trying to be domestic. It didn't require a trip to the ER, but, I did cry, so you know it hurt! It was worse than childbirth AND breaking that bone in my foot put together!

Wishing everyone a happy, safe and healthy 2007!

Happy Holidays to all!

Let's just keep this our little secret...

...and not tell Santa until AFTER Christmas!

Your Wrath Quotient: 65%

Everyone around you pretty much fears your wrath... which is probably what you want. But just remember, there's a very thin line between fear and hate!

How Much Wrath Do You Have?

Why does this keep repeating in my head?

So you know the song, "Here Comes Santa Clause"? Well, for about the last week, it's playing over and over and over in my head.
But, when it gets to the part about:

Bells are ringing
Children singing
All is merry and bright
So hang your stockings and say your prayers
Cause Santa comes tonight

Instead of "Hang your stockings and say your prayers", I keep singing "So drink your coffee and say your prayers". Why? I guess because I'm looking at it as a mother, rather than a child. But, shouldn't I substitute something a little stronger? Like the Jack and Coke I could always have at my mom and dad's Christmas Eve parties? Crown Royal? Tequila? Margaritas? Hmmm...margaritas sounds good there...

"So drink your margaritas and say your prayers..."

That settles it. Margaritas all around!





The Real Lyrics for "Here Comes Santa Claus"

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus lane
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer
Pullin' on the reins
Bells are ringin', children singin'
All is merry and bright
Hang your stockings and say your prayers
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight!
Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus lane
He's got a bag that's filled with toys
For boys and girls again
Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle,
Oh what a beautiful sight
So jump in bed and cover your head
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight!
Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus lane
He doesn't care if you're rich or poor
He loves you just the same
Santa Claus knows we're all Gods children
That makes everything right
So fill your hearts with Christmas cheer
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight!
Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus lane
He'll come around when the chimes ring out
That it's Christmas morn again
Peace on earth will come to all
It we just follow the light
So lets give thanks to the lord above
That Santa Claus comes tonight!

So I spent the WHOLE morning...

...setting up an Etsy shop! Just click on the Etsy button on the right sidebar. The name of the shop is 'munkeepod' (well, duh, since that's the name of the business and all) and hopefully I can get the website going soon and consolidate these 2 blogs and have lots more stuff over there.

Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing, but, it isn't as easy as it sounds. I managed to get 3 things listed...just totebags. I'll work on some other stuff later. I have to take pictures of everything and write up descriptions and all that, and that takes a lot of time. I should delegate those kinds of things to my assistant, but...last week when I asked her to do something for me, she said, "Hey, you could be your own assistant!", and went about her business. I haven't gotten a formal resignation, but I don't think she's working for me anymore! lol!

OMG! It's "snowing"!!!

It is so cold here that right this very second it is sleeting outside! Ethan and Claire think it's snowing, so they are running around yelling, "It's snowing! It's snowing!"

Allison is having a "social" after school-they can't call them "dances" anymore, and they can't have them at night. **Just inserting my opinion here: I think that really sucks! Even though they were Middle School Nightmares to me, they are like a Rite of Passage. It is really sad how one or two people, literally, can ruin something for everyone. OK-off soapbox now.** Anyway, it's like driving through the mountains to get to Allison's school. You are either going straight up or straight down. She may just have to spend the night there! lol!

Our Evening in Gruene, TX

Saturday evening, Dec. 2, was when the City of Gruene had their town Christmas Lighting. I have to admit the lights were not quite as spectacular as I thought they would be, but, the shopping was 100% better!!!

They were also having their "Market Days", which are normally the 3rd weekend of the month, but we didn't have time to even look around at all of that. But...the very first shop we went into had these marvelous ceramic sculptures by Sandy Coulter of 'Full of Spirit Creations'. They were all so beautiful! And the red one was screaming out to me, "I am yours! I was made for you!". It was one of the bigger sculptures, and I just couldn't buy it right now with Christmas coming up. I'm just praying it will still be there in January. I was able to afford one of her smaller sculptures...and it was even my second favorite, so I didn't feel like I was settling. The picture doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyway.



By the time we got out of that shop, I had about 2 minutes to zoom through an antique shop-real, live, 100+ year old antiques-with some very cool and beautiful things!

By then, we had to run on down to town center to see the lighting. Then we had to wait for Cowboy Kringle to get there. A local Santa, I suppose, riding on a horse. The kids (Ethan and Claire) thought he was great. He finally hitched up his horse, made his proclimation, did the countdown and voila! The Christmas lights all came on! Got this shot of Claire on Steven's shoulders.


Then, everybody in town made a beeline for The Grist Mill restaurant! That place is great! Of course, the perfect weather didn't hurt...but there is a HUGE park size waiting area outside, that is lighted and fenced, so if you are keeping an eye on your kids at all, you can't lose them. We had to wait an hour but it was no problem. Ethan, as usual, made friends with two other boys and ran around the whole time, and Allison and Claire just kept themselves entertained with different things.

And the food! It was all so good, and the Chocolate Sundaes the kids got for dessert were, I think, actually Chocolate Sunday, Monday and Tuesdays! Huge freakin' big! I think they only ate about a third of them.


From there we walked around town a little bit. We went into the General Store, but it wasn't anything real special. However, across the street is an "antique" store...but mostly a "vintage store". Anyway, they had some wonderful things! And I only got through about 1/8 of it before they kicked us out so they could close! lol! I did buy 3 things, though...one was this vintage Vera Christmas tablecloth.



Another was this vintage Christmas apron. They had several, but I love this one. Now I'm going to have to come up with a Christmas outfit to match it!


And this is my favorite thing of all! These little nesting owls! I thought there would be 3 in there, but they just kept on going and going...the tiniest one is sooo cute!



I'll leave you with this picture of the whole family that this nice drunk lady took. She was nice enough, but, she wouldn't wait for anyone to get settled, and we were all on the far right edge with part of Ethan's face chopped off, and some other girl in a very plump pink coat like I had in 1972 was the whole rest of the picture! Thank goodness for editing! lol!

The 'D-List'?!?

Give me a break! I know these stories are more interesting that that! lol! But hey...still better than my math grades in elementary, middle, high school AND college!

We're off to Gruene (Green), TX today, for some Christmasy celebrationy type stuff...including SHOPPING from INDIE artists and craftsters! Also in search of the elusively defining question..."Just what is "vintage" anyway?"

If anyone here knows, please let me know. The answer seems to be defined generationally.

Around the table...

Now that Blogger is allowing pictures on my blog again, here is a little more of our Thanksgiving Day. First of all, I should introduce you to everyone...

So here we go, around the table: I'm taking the pictures of course, so here on my right are Ethan, Steven and Claire.


And here on my left is Allison, my mom and my dad.


It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the obligatory "drumbstick shots" (which just reminded me that we never did the wishbone!). Here is Ethan trying to manage his drumbstick, but the meat was literally dropping off of the bone!


Claire with her's...


The only way I get into a picture is if I take it of myself. That day I decided to take a 'nice' picture of Steven and myself. Steven had other ideas in mind...he just wanted to be silly.


After about half a dozen pictures, you can see my disdain. lol! But really, I think this is just our personality...it's hard for us to take a serious picture. I remember when we were having our engagement picture taken we couldn't take it seriously...and when we did get a 'nice' one, it just didn't look right. After I don't know how many pictures, I lost trust in him completely, and while he was sitting there looking like an angel, I'm looking at him with my head straight ahead, but my eyeballs were looking at him at a 90 degree angle, and the photographer snapped the picture...much like this one below...and that's the one we put in the paper! lol! But it was totally us! And what? 14 years later? We're still the same.

In the beginning...

So we leave SA for Houston on Thursday. IMMEDIATELY I start getting car sick...which really doesn't happen anymore. But I'm feeling awful, and my head bouncing around is just making it worse. I happened to mention to Steven that what I needed was one of those little neck things that they make for babies to hold their heads up in the carseat.

Oh yeah. And Claire had no shoes. None. Nothing on her feet or in her suitcase. The poor neglected child with no shoes.

So we finally make it to Luling and Buc-ee's...where I head straight for the Dramamine aisle. Steven disappeared somewhere else, but I didn't really care...all I wanted was a Dr Pepper to down the Dramamine with. Then here he comes, my knight in shining armor, with a Buc-ee's neck rest thing! It's a beaver that wraps around your neck and holds your head up and straight. I think it is now my most favorite possession! just look at this! How could you not fall in love with a rabid looking beaver that is about to bite your head off?!?



After that, I thought Buc-cee's had everything...so we are looking for some flip-flops for Claire, but they got nothin'. Wal-Mart was open Thanksgiving Day though, so we got her some shoes there...you know, the traditional "Thanksgiving Crocs". LOL!

And get this...even with all of that, we still made it to Mom and Dad's in only 4 hours! It has never taken us less than 5, so that's pretty good.

When we arrived, everything was ready and it was time to eat. I didn't have time to get pictures of the food before hand, but, here's an after...


I did get a couple of in-betweens though...

OK-Blogger won't let me add the 'in-betweens'. Oh how I love Blogger! Don't you love Blogger, too? Anyway...guess I'll go watch 'Law & Order' and hopefully be able to post the rest of the story tomorrow!

The Fish Funeral

Allison's fish, Linda, died yesterday. Of course she decides to have the whole funeral thing around the toilet, and even made invitations for everyone:

What? Linda's Funeral
Where? Allison and Claire's Bathroom
When? When I say so.

(she has time commitment problems, I guess.)

Anytime something dies, it really upsets Ethan and he gets very emotional. He spent a lot of time making hearts out of construction paper for Linda. Claire made Linda two pair of construction paper pants. (I have no idea...)

Allison finally announces it's time...so we all gather 'round the toilet. I about busted out laughing when I see the lid up and a construction paper grave marker leaned up against it! I wanted to run and get the camera, but I thought maybe it wouldn't be appropriate. It said:

RIP
Linda
You were a good fish!

So, Steven scooped Linda out of her tank with the net thing and we all say something nice about her. Ethan is getting very weepy. Steven walks over to the toilet from the counter where the sinks are and dumps her in the toilet and Ethan REALLY starts to cry. Steven looks at Allison and asks, "Who's going to flush?", and before he can finish, "You or me?", Claire is leaping into the air trying to fly over Steven and yells, "I WILL!", like it's a really fun ride at Six Flags or something. Allison decided to flush, and Ethan, who I've had my arm around, starts totally bawling and turns around to grab and hug me and almost knocks me to the ground! I finally got him calmed down and had him lay down in our bed and he fell asleep almost immediately.

Out of respect for Linda, the girls won't use their toilet now, so they've been using ours ever since. There are TWO other bathrooms they could use, but what's the fun in that since there wouldn't be any reason to jump around and try to hold it in until Mommy or Daddy is finished? It's amazing how perfect their timing is! lol!

There's a new Target in town!

I thought you people were my friends...but no one even told me a Target was even being built here, much less already opened! I had to discover it all on my own. Well, Allison actually told me about it...and when she did, the first thing I did was load her up in the Jeep and go check it out! We may have actually been the first customers. Or at least there on the first day it opened, because these pictures were taken about 7:00pm, and I'm pretty sure we were the only people in the store besides the employees. Check out the parking lot and store front...






There is a big stone wall off to the right with a giant hole in it (yes, it was built that way on purpose) that Allison loves to climb through! lol!


Yeah, so I took these pictures right before Halloween and I'm only getting them up now...oh well. But...this is Gormet Candy Corn. Huh? I wonder if it actually tastes better than regular candy corn. I don't know, because I'm not willing to be the taste tester there.


As if the Gourmet Candy Corn wasn't bad enough, check out the Candy Corn Soda! Eeewww! That makes my stomach rebel just thinking about it! Allison bought some though, with her own money, because she thought it would be so wonderfully delicious. She wouldn't admit that it really was gross, but, I'm thinking she was glad it was only a 4-pack! lol!


For some reason, it's not technically a "Super" Target. Although, it does have a Starbucks and check out this "Aisle of Chocolate", aka, "The Chocolate Wall"! I heard the angels singing as I walked down this row. How can this NOT be a Super Target???

Conversations with Claire

She and Ethan are playing out in the backyard and Claire comes running in crying that Ethan is calling her a "baby". Which is the worst thing a 5 year old can be called. So she is just bawling and I'm trying to calm her down and she finally stops and says, "Can't you just send him to military school?"

How does she even know what military school is??? lol!

The Newest News

Due to some very unethical behavior within the group...behavior that I did not want to be associated with in any way...I have quit.

I'm sleeping better than I have in a long time, I can run my business the way I want to run it, have to free time to actually catch up on swaps (YES! I do remember and I'm so sorry I have allowed this to completely take over my life!) and hey...maybe even do some things for my self on the side...just don't tell the kids! lol!

I have also learned some lessons along the way, and that is the most important thing of all.

We gots a new bike rider in da hizzous!

(Do I sound cool??? rofl!)

So Claire has been wanting us to take her training wheels off of her bike. No way! Not on this mountain we live on! Allison and Ethan learned to ride in the Flatlands...aka: Houston, TX. Here in SA, however, we live on a freakin' mountain, and no way were we gonna just let her go...down our street...to fly off the cliff...straight into the valley...to become a coyote snack!

Well, Sunday, she, Allison and one of Allison's friends where out riding bikes in the street. One of her training wheels came off, so, rather than come tell one of her adults, she just took off the other training wheel! (I'm tellin' ya, that girl can do anything!)

I *think* Allison held the seat of her bike for just a second so Claire could get her balance, then she just took off! A perfect bike rider! They come in and say, "Come look outside for a second." And there she was, out riding around the circle, getting up on the sidewalk, getting down off the sidewalk...up and down the mountain...a bike riding champ.

Of course, Ethan learned to ride as quickly as Claire did, but like I said, it was on totally flat ground. I think Steven had to hold Allison's bike and run with her twice, and the third time she took off and that was it.

Claire has perfect bike riding posture though. Always has, like it's a natural born gift. Even going up steep hills, she stands up, bends at the waist keeping her spine straight, and uses the muscles in her legs to keep climbing. She only moves from the hips down. We have never talked to the kids about that at all-it's just all natural for her. No wiggling her hips back and forth or any of that.... I think I'll head on up to Austin and have a talk with Lance. I'm sure he would love to train her, because he will know, like I do, that she will be the first woman to win the Tour de France.

And don't even get me started on how fast she can run! Y'all just thought Ethan was fast. Claire is like a flash...you see some color zoom by and feel the breeze that follows, and that's it. She's outrun 9 year old boys down a street and up a full flight of stairs to the front door of a house, and the closest one behind her was still down on the landing! I'm tellin' ya...the girl is gonna win a gold medal some day.

OMG! Look!!!

My website is up!!! It's not all finished-it really only has the home page, but it's there! He'll be loading pictures and getting the blog ready soon. This is so COOL!!!

www.munkeepod.com

PS-Steven did the monkeys in the pod drawing.

She wanted to mop!

Claire decided yesterday that she wanted to mop the floor. Who am I to say no to that? lol! So I got her the Swiffer Wet Jet thing, and she is mopping in the kitchen while I'm in the dining room, sewing.

I didn't really notice her technique in the kitchen but, when she got to the entry hall, I realized that she just sprays all over the floor, then rides the mop around like a stick horse...or a witch on her broom! lol!

Whatever works!

Oh no!

I can't believe it's Halloween already! I totally forgot the pumpkins! Managed to remember the candy, though. :)

And...I can't find my camera! Allison is a Hula Girl and Claire is an Angel, and they look so cute!!! Ethan is his regular-some sort of Ninja. I don't think he has ever been anything else, except for the year he turned one, he was a monkey.

I'm going to keep looking for my camera...

This Motherhood Gig...

Just doesn't pay enough! I don't even get good benefits! I have decided that the one thing we (mothers) REALLY NEED is Worker's Comp. insurance!

Seriously...not to even mention the wrinkles and gray hair and insanity the children have given me, this week alone I've gotten a broken foot and a nice little slash in the top of my hand with the rotary cutter, because I had to look at Claire instead of what I was doing. One of these days, I'm gonna lose a finger I tell ya! Plus, what if all these make-overs with so much lipstick I'm sure it's going to stain my face permanently, or, what if she actually cuts my hair with real live scissors instead of the pretend ones she is supposed to be using? Who is going to pay for these things?

And really...worst of all...are the "salads" Claire comes up with that resemble that new Barf Bowl that Kentucky Fried Chichen just came out with. You know, the "Stoner Bowl", the "I'm so fucking stoned with major munchies I'll eat anything, even if just looking at it makes me throw up Bowl"? Her "salads" really do resemble those things. She claims they are really good though. But, as a woman who doesn't like her food to touch, I'm pretty sure it would kill me. So you're talking all the funeral costs, there.


This is me, about to get beaten over the head with Cascarrones at Easter. A concussion waiting to happen.

I say we make our own union, "Mothers for Compensation", and start our own movement.
"Fight, Unite, for Motherhood Rights"

Hey...it could happen...

She's taking lessons from Ethan...

Claire and subtlety mix about as well as oil and water. You always know right where you stand with her, you always know exactly what she wants...basically, she doesn't hold anything back so you always know exactly what she is thinking at any given moment.

Apparently she has been taking lessons on this from Ethan.

This morning, after I got Al and E off to school, I did something I never do...I flopped back down on my bed and thought I would watch the news, because I think the last time I saw any local or national news at all, was the day Meredith Viera took over the Today Show. The last thing I remember is reaching for the remote control.

I swear I must have a brain tumor or something...1) I ALWAYS make the bed AS SOON AS I get up. It's totally compulsive, and I cannot do anything else until the bed is made. And this morning, I didn't make it, which made it very easy to flop back into. 2) I ACTUALLY FELL ASLEEP WHEN THE SUN WAS OUT! Ethan and I are both roosters; we cannot sleep during the day. It's impossible. But...I did today and that means I must be sick...very sick.

So anyway...Claire comes in and asks me to make her some popcorn. I'm sure I mumbled something about, "Sure...be right there...whatever.", and Claire went back to doing whatever it was she was doing before. Apparently, her popcorn wasn't arriving so, she came back in telling me I needed to get up and asking for more popcorn. Then she says, "Here, let me turn on the TV to make you stay awake." lol!

So I got out of bed, washed my face, put on some clothes (because if I don't do it before I leave my room, I'll end up in my pajamas all day) then started making the bed. However, Claire's plan to get me downstairs and making her popcorn wasn't working fast enough, so she devised a new plan...Plan B.

So...I'm standing there making the bed and Claire walks in, holding the box of popcorn in her hands and says, "Hey! Let's play like we are a popcorn making company!"

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!