Halloween and Stuff

Pumpkin carving

(in the nude)

It's a family tradition

At least for Cam it is. I can't get that kid to wear clothes around the house for anything. Perhaps I need to turn down the thermostat?

Halloween was a little different this year: Cam officially declared his independence and went out with just his friends. I can't even tell you what they were...three guys in black robes, maybe?

Aaron (after practically fasting and praying over it) decided to go with Troy on the road. He was immensely happy, so I think he chose well. Cam generously agreed to share his loot.

But that left me, alone with Oliver, to do the whole door thing. And Oliver doesn't do well with the whole door thing. It bothers him terribly that others would dare cross our doorstep, let alone ring the doorbell. The barking can be ear piercing, but I couldn't put him away in a bedroom - he'd still hear it and that would make him anxious.

Oliver + anxiety = liquified bowels.

Yes, there is a story behind that equation. No, I won't share it. I'm still in therapy.

So it was a 2 valium night for my Ollie.

He slept soundly in his crate (in the front room with me), then he'd wake and try his best to bark whenever the doorbell sounded.

I ate candy, surfed the internet, answered the door, and occasionally called Cam to make sure he was okay. Aaron checked in every once in a while from Arizona, reporting that they were 15 miles from the border and hauling a 53 foot trailer of jalapenos. I joked that they better not crash with trucks hauling tomatoes and onions -- that would be SALSA!

Gone, gone, gone are my days of dressing my kids in adorable costumes and delighting with them in the magic of a holiday.

In reality, it's been gradual. I mean, we've lived out the same days, weeks and months that everyone else has, but it feels like I blinked and suddenly my boys are grown into pre-teen man creatures. And they don't need me so much. Certainly not to trick or treat with, or even to do the carving on the pumpkin.

Great job, by the way, my little naked carving boy

Yup, I've seen my future.

Me and my stoned dog.

Pass the candy.

In Stores Now

Heaven help me, not only is the Valentine's candy 75% off, this is in the stores now:

May I present, the

Easter Trinity of Temptation:

Shiny, solid, name brands only.

Chocolate and peanut butter. 'Nuff said.

Remember licking the pastel shell and rubbing it across your lips like funky blue lipstick?

Me too.

Jelly Beans and Peeps? Please.

Note to Self: Stay out of the stores.

What do you find irresistable as far as Easter candy goes?

The Big Letdown

Yes, it's true, we had tears on Christmas Day. I had my happy tears over my ring and then Cameron (!) had a bad case of Christmas Letdown. At least that's what I'm calling it.

About two hours after the unwrapping and breakfast were over, Cameron sat down next to me and said tentatively,

"I'm bored..."

Excuse me? EXCUSE ME??????

This was from the kid who not long ago looked like this:

And this:

Looks like happiness on Christmas morning to me.

How could he possibly be bored? I dug deeper.

Apparently, there had not been a "big" gift along with the smaller gifts under the tree this year. In some years past, we've had a large gift - like the xbox, or last year it was the Nintendo DS lites and some accompanying games. He couldn't really think of any large gift that he wanted though. Was he disappointed that he didn't get a new gaming system? Not really...Grandma and Grandpa already have the Wii, and he's more into PC games ( Warcrack ).

Also, he "didn't really get what he wanted", though he absolutely could not name anything in particular that he would have liked instead.

And the cinnamon rolls had cream cheese frosting which ruined them.

And there hadn't really been any surprises...

And it was over so fast...

And, and...

By now the tears were flowing freely down his freckled cheeks. My first reaction was irritation, bordering on anger, and I began to plan an outing to a homeless shelter for this ungrateful boy.

He'd had a fabulous Christmas!!! The Warcraft Expansion Pack, Star Wars Legos and a Bionicle, two CDs, big army men and vehicle set that he had begged for, a scooter and how could he forget:

He also received a hoodie and pants and a beanie that he loves and won't take off.

What was going on?

We have closets and drawers full of toys that are not played with, movies that aren't watched, and the DS Lites from last year that only get played with every few months. Cameron is not lacking in things to do, he has not been deprived or made to do without. I'd say his life is pretty well charmed, wouldn't you?

Troy and I had gone over this endlessly, and the boys knew all along that Oliver was the big gift this year. I also knew that if we had splurged on a new gaming system (which Troy wanted to do) and had not gotten all the smaller gifts, he would have been upset about that. How big, how extreme, how superfantabulous does a Christmas have to be so that your kids aren't disappointed???

And then it hit me - a possible reason for all this drama. Cameron is growing up. There will never be another Christmas like the ones when he was little and everything was magical and $50 could buy his wildest dreams, and when the opening was over he'd collapse in a worn out heap. The kind of excitement over Santa that makes it impossible to sleep is gone. He's left with the "Is that all there is?" kind of feeling, that no amount of gifts can satisfy. The anticipation and the hype is finally bigger than the reality.

No wonder there were tears. I wasn't irritated any more, in fact I felt pretty bad for him. He didn't know how to put words to the awful, kind-of-empty feeling inside of him, and the only thing that made any sense was that he possibly didn't receive enough.

His tears dried and he felt bad that he'd made me feel bad (another sign of growing up), and then he and Troy got down to the business of the Expansion Pack. His smiles are back and he's played with his things -- the empty feeling went away. Oliver remains a very big deal around here.

Face it, the older you get, does anything really live up to the hype?

Who hasn't felt a little letdown after Christmas or Thanksgiving? Sure the tree or the table looked beautiful, but now there's the cleanup. And all that planning and preparation!

The movie wasn't that great...I could've waited for the dvd.

The wedding is over - now we have marriage.

Wedding night? Please.

Best vacation in the world - you still have to come home.

Does that make me sound like a glass half empty kind of person? I'm not, really, just thinking about Cameron and his first Christmas as a non-believer. It was kind of a hard day for him. The Letdown was tough.

The thought occurs to me (so how fortunate that I have a blog!!!), there is something that lives up to the hype - serving others, giving gifts, helping people. No letdown there. I need to teach my boys to serve others, to experience that kind of feeling.

Any thoughts?

What has been a letdown for you...and what has not?

A Few Things From Christmas

So...how was your Christmas? Was every wish fulfilled, every goodie eaten, every magical fantasy brought to life in a flurry of wrapping paper and bows? Or did you have a nasty case of Christmas Letdown that resulted in actual tears like my almost 11 year old? More on that tomorrow.

Aside from that, we had a lovely day. I had made cinnamon rolls the day before, so all I had to do in the morning was take them out of the fridge, let them rise while we opened presents, and then bake. Voila - Christmas Breakfast.

On Saturday, I had made a gigantic lasagna in my 10x15 Pyrex dish - big enough for us to eat over the course of many days. This was my best idea ever. I had french bread to make garlic toast and then any time we were hungry (and needed a break from the goodies), we just microwaved some lasagna and broiled some bread. Voila - Christmas Lunch.

I also had the foresight to do a big roast and veggies for Christmas dinner. My whole mindset for the day was to not have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I put the meat, potatoes, carrots and onions in the crockpot around 10 am, and then sat back to enjoy my day. Voila - Christmas Dinner.

The only drawback to my stay-out-of-the-kitchen-on-Christmas strategy, was that I really did stay out of the kitchen, except to serve up plates it seemed. And with me out of the kitchen, well, the dishes just didn't get done. I walked into the kitchen this morning and saw with clarity, the flaw in the plan. We did in fact use plates, silverware, glasses, 9x13 pans, 10x15 pans, cookie sheets, serving spoons and cutting boards, and one very large crock pot, bearing the evidence that our roast was not the leanest cut of meat. Tasty, but not so lean.

Voila - Day After Christmas Dishes.

I'm on my second dishwasher load and working on the by-hand dishes.

Note to self: Next year, use paper plates, etc., aluminum foil baking pans...or just suck it up and do the dishes. Remember the huge lasagna though - that part was brilliant.

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I received some wonderful gifts - a new flat iron for my hair, a blender, a new cutting board and a higher quality knife than I've ever owned, to name a few. Yes, I asked for these things - and I love them. I'm a homemaker and I need good tools. And my hair needed a new flat iron.

But the real surprise came from Troy. He gave me my ring again.

A little over a year ago, I was sitting in church and happened to look down at my hand. The center diamond on my engagement ring was gone. The prongs were all still in place, but the stone just wasn't there anymore. I was so sad.

I loved this ring. The diamond itself was tiny - smaller than the prongs that held it. I remember choosing the ring with Troy, when I was 19 and he was 21, and having the clerk explain that the prongs were white gold which would make the diamond look bigger. I never cared that it was small - I loved it. It was delicate and feminine and I thought it looked perfect on my small hands. And now it was unwearable.

I put the ring away in a tiny cardboard box that one of the boys had given me and buried it down in my underwear drawer. For a while I didn't wear any ring, and then I started buying these fabulous fakes from http://www.eleganzajewels.com/. Flashy and huge, they were inexpensive enough to own several, and I did. But eventually some of the plating wore off, and they became unwearable too. I think they had a guarantee, but I never went to the trouble of sending them back. For the last few months I've worn nothing on my ring finger.

Until yesterday. Troy, in a complete act of pure romance, gave me my original ring back. He'd dug through my underwear drawer and found the little box with the rings, still unsoldered after 19 years of marriage, and took them to a jewelers on the Saturday before Christmas. He chose a diamond - a little bit bigger this time - and had it placed in new white gold prongs. They soldered the engagement and wedding rings together, and polished it up like new.

When I saw the box, I was worried about what it might hold. Troy is notorious for going overboard and spending money that we haven't earned yet. I shook my head and protested that we were going to think about me getting a new ring around our twentieth anniversary. Not now...not with the new truck...not with the new dog...not with all the other Christmas expenses...I don't need it...blah, blah, blah.

"Just open it." he said, "You'll like it."

The boys were watching me, Troy was watching me. I prepared to gush and oooh and aaahh, and then find a way to return it - sensible girl that I am. I don't need...

And then I saw it. Polished and glittering, delicate and feminine.

"It's...it's my ring! You got my ring!"

And then I cried. And hugged him. And kissed him. And put it on.

I can't stop staring at it. It is the perfect ring for my hand, for me. That's true love, right there.

I gave him floor mats for his truck.

****************************************************

We weren't the only ones enjoying a new puppy for Christmas. Both are still waiting for their names, but you can see them here and here. Puppy love all around.

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And in Oliver news...well, he's just the sweetest thing!

He's still sleeping a lot, and we find ourselves carrying him around like a baby. It's taken him a few days to learn to walk on the slick kitchen floor, and now he bounds across it like a bunny. At least until his feet fly out from under him.

It's been so fun to introduce him to our friends and family.

This is my niece, Olivia. I predict that they will be good friends.

He spends a good amount of time crashed in his pad.

And he's starting to play with and chew on his toys.

Sometimes though...it's just so hard to get out of bed!

Alright, enough of this furry, cuddly, wonderful nonsense. I've got a few more dishes to do.

How was your Christmas?

No MQM Tomorrow

What can I say...tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I have some wrapping and cooking and general get-ready-for-the-Big-Day stuff going on. I'm sure you do too. So between all that and the puppy lovin' that is taking up a considerable amount of my time, Movie Quote Monday just isn't going to happen tomorrow.

But I do hope you have a very nice Christmas Eve.

I hope you have some good time off work.
I hope you can be with the ones you love.
I hope you are wearing comfortable, cozy clothes, and eating delicious food.
I hope you have time to sit and look at twinkling lights and to count your blessings.
I hope you listen to Silent Night and feel peace and joy as you remember our Savior's birth.
I hope you feel His love.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!


I'll be back on Wednesday, telling my tales and answering more of the Oliver questions, such as...
What does he look like when he's sleeping?
Will I be changing the name of my blog to "Oliver's World"?
Puppy breath...thumbs up or thumbs down?
And the biggest question on my mind - Now how am I going to find the time to do the Dishes and Laundry?

Because seriously:

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Years ago, my mother decided that she wanted to have a theme tree for Christmas. All the kids were grown to the point that she was no longer receiving the ornaments made at school, so by golly, she was making a fresh start. She got all new ornaments and created a Santa Claus Tree. She mixed clear lights and red balls with Santas of every shape, size, and color. It was fantastic - looked like something from the Festival of Trees.

Wanting my own beautiful and unique Christmas decor, the following year I created my little trio of trees. I had these three lodgepole pines (the same ones Cam used this year to go around our nativity) that I grouped together on our windowseat, and I decorated them with clear lights, pinecones, plastic berries tied with raffia, glittery tufts of dried weeds, and dark cranberry and pearly cream colored balls with raffia bows. I nestled those three trees on a blanket that looked like snow and set the two piece nativity beneath the branches. It was, and remains, the craftiest thing I have ever done.

Then I took things just a little too far. I wrapped every single present in brown kraft paper and tied a raffia bow (seriously, you can do almost anything with raffia) around the middle. Then with a hot glue gun, I added a pinecone, or a berry and some glittery dried weeds.

Merry Crafty Christmas!

Oh, how it's all changed! For one thing, that chubby-cheeked little baby in that picture up there is turning eleven in about three weeks. And we no longer have the trio out. We have a big artificial tree in the corner of our front room that is decorated with a mishmash of ornaments. There is no theme. The lights and the balls are glowing with every color and silver tinsel garland drapes between different ornaments that tell the story of our family.

Little angels for the babies we lost.

And now, one for Jeffrey.

We have a preschool gingerbread boy...

and puzzle piece wreaths,

golden pasta from my golden-haired boy,

a motorcycle for Cam,

and can you guess who this one belongs to?

It's a glorious tree - and no amount of raffia or color-coordinated ornaments and presents could ever be as fun to put together as this is.

At least for now.

What does your tree look like?

Theme or no theme?

Away In A Manger

When I was growing up, I always liked to help set up the nativity for Christmas. The pieces we had were painted ceramic, and I suppose that they were not expensive or of very high quality. But I loved them. I'd carefully unwrap them from their tissue paper and place them just so in the stable. Then I'd move them around a little...switch those two shepherds with the camel...put the sheep in front of the donkey...move Joseph just a hair closer to Mary. It had to look just right.


The stable was made of wood and it had bits of straw and irish moss glued to it in places. One of the wisemen was painted black and Mary's robe was painted blue. There were probably even a few pieces that were chipped or had places where the paint had worn off.


The set was discarded long ago - it wasn't like it was valuable or an heirloom in any way. My parents now have a beautiful nativity, the kind that is passed down to the next generation.


I have three nativities - and I think they're all pretty nice. The first one I got after my Grandmother died. It's not fancy, but I cherish it because it was hers, and she loved it.


The pieces are small - the entire 15 piece set fits inside an 8x8 cube box, along with two pieces of purple velvet. This is the top of the box:

My Grandma had wrapped all the pieces in Kleenex, and that's how it stays. The Kleenex is torn and falling apart, but it smells like her and her home. I can't imagine ever throwing it out in favor of crisp, new tissue paper. I miss my Grandma.

Here is the Family. Joseph is only about 3 inches tall.

And some of the other pieces...

It's priceless to me.


My next nativity set was made by my mother-in-law and given to us years and years ago. She was really into ceramics and (hopefully) made one of these for all her kids. She painted the pieces with a pearly clearcoat.

Cameron took over the setting up of this nativity. He's a lot like me...making it look right, with each piece in an aesthetically pleasing spot. He did this whole thing with the lodgepole pines and extra garland all by himself. It's sitting in a window seat in our front room. He did an excellent job. I think it looks really nice.


The only thing that I don't really care for in this set, is that Joseph has his arms folded. I like the outstretched arm from my grandma's set better. I don't know...the folded arms make him look bored or detached from the situation. He should be more welcoming to the visitors, saying "Come and see...". I'm probably the only one who thinks that. I really like the stable. It reminds me of the one we had when I was a little girl.

My last nativity is just this small two piece set. Does it count as a nativity if the wisemen and the camels aren't there? I don't remember where I got it, though it's possible that my mother-in-law made it as well. I love the closeness of Joseph and Mary and the fact that Mary is holding Baby Jesus, and how they are both just looking at Him with wonder and awe. 'Cause that's how it really is when a new baby comes.

That Baby Jesus is loose though. When I took the big piece out of the box and started unwrapping it, I couldn't find the Him! I frantically squeezed all the wads of tissue paper, worried that He'd gotten misplaced or thrown out. I found Him, carefully wrapped and down in a corner of the box. Whew!


And then because our house is small and the boys insist on using every single decoration, (also because we decorate one room and one room only), this peaceful scene of the Baby Jesus being held and cuddled and loved by His parents, is being watched over ...





by a giant, smiling snowman.






Do you have a nativity?

What makes it special to you?