Jeron for Christmas

Jeron came to stay at our house for Christmas. The kids love uncle Jeron and think he is all sorts of fun! Mark conned Jeron into setting up his new train, as well as opening some of his other toys.

Jeron was nice enough to think of my kids for Christmas, and brought a gift for each of them which of course were wrapped in classic Jeron tin foil.

The girls were a bit unsure how to open tin wrapped gifts....

Mark, he had no problem figuring out how to unwrap a tin wrapped gift.

We did a fun package for Jeron of all his favorite foods, including his all time favorite, Easy Cheese. On Christmas we joined Jeron in watching the Lakers game, and eating popcorn coated with Easy Cheese. For the record the girls and I were not too hip on Easy Cheese popcorn, but I am afraid it just might be Mark's new favorite food....oh the influence of uncle Jeron....., especially when Jeron told Mark in college he lived in Pringles and Easy Cheese. I could see the wheels in Mark's head turning.....

Christmas Morning.

Oh, yeah, Santa found us....

He left a healthy stack of stuff.

Even our tree has presents.

Anxiously waiting to see what Santa brought.

Stockings were filled to the brim.

It is not Christmas for Mark unless some sort of Thomas train is involved, we are on year number five of Thomas for Christmas.

A make up kit for Lauren...although other than the lip gloss and the fingernail polish, all other make up can only be worn around the house.

Katie got a really cool cookie set. I want to play with it!

Lots of mayhem and lots of fun!

Cookies for Santa.

We have great neighbors, just want you to be jealous. For Christmas the Stewart's gave us a kit for Santa cookies, which of course the kids thought was just dandy.

Here is our fun kit.

I put Lauren in charge.

Mixing of course is important.

Katie had to be in on the stirring action.

And she had to be in on the make the cookie ball action.

The finished product. I hear Santa thought they were yummy!

Merry Christmas

Twas the day before Christmas and all through our house, children were restless, and even starting to grouse.

Mommy suggested a trip to Santa you see, with hopes that it would inspire some glee.

Off to the mall in our finest Christmas attire, hoping our time to see Santa would not expire.

He was jolly and gleeful, just as he should be, and Katie even sat on his knee.

There was no crying, or screams, it was just like our dreams.

They each got a turn to tell Santa their list, before he headed out into the night mist.

Now filled with excitement in anticipation they wait, hoping that Santa will not be late. For tomorrow they'll see if good kids they've been, and then enjoy a day with their kin.

Merry Christmas.

Yes, we have our attitude on....

She is so grown up. I keep telling her to quit growing, but she is NOT listening to me.

My favorite man!

Santa survived us!

Everything.

Last night during a telephone call Ciarran asked Katie what she wanted for Christmas. Katie told Ciarran she wanted a ladybug pillow pet, a barbie house, and everything else, and then handed the telephone back to me. Ciarran asked how I was doing on Katie's list. I told Ciarran, Katie will be getting one of the specific items on her list, but the other one will not be forthcoming, at least this year.

As for everything else....well Katie's response for to any advertisement she see on television for any toy is "I want that for Christmas." So I figure I am safe with just anything ends up under the tree.....all I have to say is "You asked for everything else."

Tales of the Housekeeper #7

Two weeks ago I purchased this 27 ounce bottle of floor cleaner to clean the approximately 300 square feet of hardwood that is in my kitchen and mud room. Took Rosalina two weeks, or translation, two times of cleaning, to use the ENTIRE bottle. Did I mention she like chemicals?

Scarfs.

Oh, the wonders of scarfs are amazing...

You can be a "mary" or

you can be a fashionista.

White Christmas

Alright I can officially check "order white Christmas" off the list.

Purple Belt

Mark has one more notch under his belt, well so to speak. He advance from an orange belt to a purple belt.

First you have to show off your karate moves.

More moves....

This is the best move, you get to kick the teacher.

Finally, one purple belt.

And a bunch of happy kids!

Ode to Hertha.

I hereby declare its officially Christmas, we have made our gingerbread. Gingerbread is a long standing tradition that dates back as far as I can recall. When I was young I used to watch my mother make the cookies, and when I got older I helped her make the cookies. Some of the cookies we ate, but many of the cookies she decorated and gave to neighbor's and friends. We always seemed to take some to Grandma Ison's on Christmas Day. This is why its not Christmas until some gingerbread has entered our life.

The kids, well Mark specifically, have been bugging me for several weeks now to pull out the molasses and cookies cutters. I finally caved in last night. They had a great time selecting which shapes they would be using. And yes that ENTIRE yellow bin is full of cookie cutters. Now in my defense, many of them are from my mother and my Grandma Hales.

They were a little excited about the dough.

Lauren is now old enough to help! (Got to train her right, don't want to be cursed by my mother!) Katie on the other hand wishes she was old enough to help.

Mark selected a train cookie cutter, I know BIG surprise.

Lauren, working on her shapes.

Of course Katie was NOT going to be left out.

Finished product. Well kind of finished, the kids want to decorate them.....I said maybe tonight....still trying to recover from making them.

Tales of the Houskeeper #6

Last week it was the empty dust pan on the barstool chair.
Now I don't know about you, when I sweep I take the full dust pan, empty it in the trash can, and then snap the dust pan onto the handle of the broom, which is where I place it, before placing the broom and dust pan in the closet.

It was a bad day.

Last Wednesday Mark had a rough day, as in a very rough day at school. It began in the morning when he became so engrossed in his school work he forgot he had to go to the bathroom....he tried to make it in time, but didn't quite make it there....

Then in the afternoon I got a call from the school wanting to know if Mark rode the bus or if I pick him up. I reported I picked him up, and was told that his coat would be coming home in a plastic bag, because it was covered in blood.....Apparently Mark ran into a pole during afternoon recess and sustained a bloody nose, as is a very bloody nose. Like I said it was a rough day.

Its a marathon, not a sprint....

Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday I run a marathon, as in an after school marathon. The kids get out of school at 3:20 p.m. and Lauren has to be to dance by 4:00 p.m. and Mark has karate at 4:00 p.m. The challenge is that these two activities are 15 miles apart, and I have not quite figured out how to clone myself.

Around 3:00 p.m. I begin loading the car....I swear its like packing for vacation.

Here are the necessary items...my purse, bag with Mark's karate clothing, purple backpack with ALL of Lauren's dance clothing. (She does four different type of dance, so depending on the day of the week, clothing rotates in and out...) Two iPads, one for Katie, one for Mark. (Failure to bring the iPads results in Mark and Katie deciding that annoying each other during drive time is an acceptable activity. What do I mean by annoying? It usually involves Mark complaining that Katie is looking out his window, touching him, looking at him, or Katie screaming at the top of her lungs that Mark is violating some perceived right of hers.) And finally snacks are a MUST!

Upon picking up Lauren and Mark, both are required to change their clothes in the car. Lauren gets dropped off first which usually makes her about 20 minutes early for class. She is a good sport about this. Then its on to karate. Depending on the day of the week Lauren finishes dance anywhere from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Finally home, everything that was loaded must be unloaded. That is why I run a marathon, not a sprint.....

Opps.

Ummm....we found some make up, however our application technique needs some work.....

Thanksgiving crafting.

Its really not a holiday unless I am engaging in some sort of a craft project with one of my sisters. So at Thanksgiving it was coaster tiles with Ciarran. Ciarran was in need of a cute, inexpensive gift for her co-workers for Christmas. In Ciarran's office those who wish to engage in holiday fun sign up and they get a stocking on their cubical. Then each person who signed up is assigned a day to bring some sort of treat or fun gift to put in the stocking. Last year Ciarran got a bit overloaded with sweet treats, (something I did not think was possible) so she wanted to do something that was not a treat.

I can't take full credit for the coaster idea, I stole it from Arianne.

We took 4x4 tile, and Mod Podge a square of scrapbook paper on the tile.

We sealed it with a coat of hard coat Mod Podge. Look! Ciarran is actually doing this craft, I got an action shot to prove it!

Look how productive we were!

We tied them up with cute bows, and she is all ready to impress with her crafting skills.

And now for the close up....kind of wishing I worked in her office!

Crazy Hat Day.

Last week at school it was crazy hat day. Now I created this crazy hat 6 years ago when Lauren was in the same pre-school and not only has it been to school with Lauren but it also went to school with Mark on crazy hat day. So of course I intended for Katie to use the same hat. Forgot to clear that with Katie.... From the day she came home with the note for crazy hat day she was insistent that she wanted her own crazy hat and would not wear a hat worn by Lauren and Mark, despite the fact she had not even seen the hat. We continued to argue about this for two days.

On Friday morning, when the crazy hat was produced she took one look at it and we were good. Apparently it was crazy enough for her.