One home, Six more here....!!!!

Thanks to some fenagling and with a little help from Diana, we managed to check Garry in at the airport for her flight, pick up Risa from the airport, visit with Diana for an hour or so, go back to the airport, drop off Garry ( : ( ) and then take Risa, via Open Harvest, back to our house where Alicia and gang arrived soon after!!!! As usual Alicia had an eventful trip to our house... THIS time her son puked all over the entire car and it's contents. Apparently 10 ( loooong ) miles later they found a gas station where they were able to clean up as much as possible.....!! :} Nevertheless....!!! Here they are and we are already having lots of fun!! ;D Rex worked until 10pm last night so it was just us girls and the kids! We had two HUGE pizzas and gallons of tea! ;D

Rex got home after the kids were in bed and we sat and talked until TWO AM !!! Yawn!!!! Everyone slept well and at 8:30 this morning Garry phoned and said she was back home safe and sound! .... I missed her right away this morning....

Anyway.... I must get on... I hear cross children's voices from the other room....!!!

Toodles!!

Lazing on a Lazing midmorning! :D

I started this blog post on Saturday morning... something came up, I don't know what it was, a child needed something I imagine!! and so here it sits, unfinished!! :D I'll get to it right away! : D

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

Well we slept in a little Saturday morning which was nice. Rex and I went out Friday night to see a movie and have a little "foog" ( FOOD! ). We had hoped to see a comedy, but the reviews were so pitiful for all of them, "Formulaic" was the term used I think, that we ended up joining a looooooong line for Valkyrie. Wow. Despite dreadful seating ( at the veeeery front on the veeeeery right hand side ) resulting in us having to crank our necks a little, the movie was incredible. It really was a very intense movie and the silence when the movie ended was palpable. It was eerie. Anyway, great, but depressing flick! We then went to a bar and had some very tasty soup and drinks then headed home. Mum said the kids had been really good, playing Wiiiii until the point of collapse and she had no trouble getting them to go to bed. In fact the children had apparently decided it was time to go to bed and took themselves upstairs to get ready!!! :D She was amazed!!!

Saturday saw us spending more time on the Wii, looking at photos on the computer and generally "waiting". It turns out Rex was waiting for ME to make a plan and I was waiting for Rex to make a plan!!! Don't you hate when that happens?! :D We decided in the end to drive up to Mahoney State Park and go ice skating. I realised yesterday that it had been more than TWENTY YEARS since I last went!!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH!!!! How can ANYTHING have been so long ago in my life time?!?! :D Anyway, we all went and the kids, Garry and I skated happily for hours!! Rex didn't want to skate so he was the chocolate and hot chocolate provider! Jack LOVED it and kept saying "LOOK!! I Gating" !!!! Jack actually stopped another boy and said "Hello!! Are you having fun?! " I was amazed! He doesn't usually engage other children like that!!! Oh we had a super time. Jessie did not want to leave and cried and cried!!! I promised her we could come again. I'm so impressed with how cheap it was! $2 admission and $3 for skate rental!!! That's incredible!!!

Here are some pics from the skating!

Garry and Jack.......

Jessie, Garry, Jack and Me! ......

Happy Jack!

Happy Me! ......

Crazy happy Jessie!

Jessie and Jack.....

I love this one!!! Look at the faces!!!!!!

Garry hanging on !!!!

We really had such fun it was insane!!

After the ice skating we headed home again. Garry and I got changed and we went out for dinner at some really fancy and rahther pricey "Beeeeestroh" in town! It was a nice place, the food was LOVELY but it was a bit drafty. Every time someone opened the door everyone in the restaurant shivered! :D We had a lovely meal then headed over to The Venue for a drink. They made me some raspberry fizzy drink, it was very tasty and alcohol free (!) ... it must have been alcohol free as they didn't charge us for it!!! Nice!!! :D

Anyway, we came home and found the kids asleep and tucked up in their beds. They'd apparently been Wii~ing all night and Jack had beaten Jessie's butt in Boxing. Hm. No surprise there! They'd been playing Tennis, Car racing, Baseball... the lot!! I'm really impressed with how quickly Jack picked it up! I've never really been into computer games, but this is a really fun use of technology! :D

Well... Garry leaves tomorrow and Risa and Alicia arrive !!! It's going to be a liiiittle chaotic! But Hey, I thrive on chaos!!! (Until I collapse from exhaustion of course...!)

Have a super Sunday and I'll talk to ya soon! : D

Oh and I haven't forgotten to post Pics from Christmas Day... there are just rather a lot, as you can imagine, and I need to sort them out!! :D

Byeeeee!!!

Boxing Day!

We just got back from a walk in the heat. Seriously! Remember when I was saying it was -11, you know, like TWO DAYS AGO!?! Well, and I'm not kidding or exaggerating here, it's 65 degrees!!!!!!!!!! SIXTY FIVE!!!!! We thought the thermometer was broken!!!!!! It's GORGEOUS outside!!!!!!!! We went out for a lovely walk, the kids played in the puddles, we walked without coats or even sleeves!!! Can you believe it?!!? :D The snow is ALL GONE... the grass is warm....!! It's NUTSO!! :D Ah well... I'm just grateful it stayed white for Christmas Day! If it had been like today it would just have been aaaaall wrong! ;D

Stay cool! ;D

Happpppyyyyy siiiiiiiiigh !!!

Well! Christmas is over and I can still fasten my pants and, as yet, I have not put on any weight!! Can I get a Hallelujah !!?? :D

We spent most of Christmas Eve wrapping presents, then, as darkness arrived, we set off out for some cheap food and a Christmas Lights tour! It was nice as we didn't leave it tooo late this time so the kids weren't tooo tired, even so, upon arriving in the driveway 4 out of 5 of us were sleeping! ;D We got the kids to bed after they hung their stockings and wrote a note to Santa to leave with the cookies and milk. The kids went to sleep in a moment... to be honest I'm not really sure Jack even woke up! The wrapping fest continued, then we put our gifts out ready for Santa to finish the job. Mum and I had a sherry and we all watched a movie and chatted a bit as Midnight rolled around.

Christmas was here at last!

We said goodnight and went to bed about one am for a short sleep and the kids woke up at 6:45 which is almost sleeping in to me! I went down first, put on the tree lights and woke up Garry... she loves to see the kids faces when they first see their stockings! :D I had been concerned that Jessie seemed to have lots more gifts than Jack and we NEARLY went Christmas Eve Barmy where we end up at Toys R Us frantically buying anything just to fill out the stockings. Happily we didn't do that this year and the children did not suffer in the least as you can imagine! :D Santa did the kids proud and got Jessie the CD player she has asked for and Jack got a giant remote control truck as he had requested! Santa also went hog wild and left a Wii for us all to play with~! We didn't do anything with the Wii all day as the kids were busy with their toys and such. We went out to visit with Rex's Ma and then came home to start cooking! :D We just had an organic Chicken as Rex and Garry were the only ones going to have meat. We had tomato soup and crescent rolls for starters, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, glazed carrots, peas, corn and green beans, stuffing, and yummy gravy for the main course. For dessert we had Christmas Pudding and homemade Brandy Butter... oh my! ;D The fire crackled away all day, the kids played and played and we just had a lovely evening. The children went to bed early as they were so worn out and when I came back downstairs the kitchen was spotless and the Wii game was all ready for play! :D Not only did Garry do the majority of the cooking, she also set up the table and cleaned the whole place afterwards!! Garrys ROCK! :D Anyway, we had a little more champagne and orange juice and settled down to try out the Wii !! oh what FUN!!! We had such a ball and we were in stitches laughing at it!!! ; D We played and played for four hours without even noticing the time go by!! We ended up going to bed at 1am again and it really felt like we had taken every minute of Christmas Day and used it well!! We saw it in at Midnight.... and saw it back out again! What a wonderful day! :D

Spoiled much!? :D

My Lovely Ma made me go out for lunch with my Wonderful Husband today! I didn't think I would go as I had lots to do and I knew he was busy trying to finish up a project but between them they convinced me and I set out, all "gussied up", into the cold. We went to a lovely, fancy schmancy restaurant in the Cornhusker Hotel and had some delicious food. We talked about stuff, nothing important, we relaxed, sipped hot tea and coffee and had a lovely time. We went to take some cookies to our friend the jeweler. He's in his 90's now and still going strong but business is tough for him this year and I felt so sorry that times are hard. Rex and he both did their bits to try and persuade me into buying some diamonds! Seriously! I kept having to say NO! Really, Rex, NO!!! (I'm so lucky!!) I wish we could have bought up the store, more for Fred's sake than mine. Ah well! Anyway, hubby and I sauntered back to his office where we parted ways and I headed home with one or two last minute stops ( like to pick up a Christmas gift for the Cat. Honestly. Ahem. ) When I got home the house was spotless, there was a cup of tea ready for me and ALL THE LAUNDRY WAS DONE!!!! WOW!!!! Santa will have to work hard to top all that I tell ya! :D

You'd better not pout!! :D

The big Man is in town tonight!! I hope you all have all your shopping done, your Turkey thawed and peace will reign on earth and in the living room at your place!!!

We're about as ready as we are going to be, though the jig was nearly up this morning...!!! Hubby and I were looking at one of the bigger ticket items for Christmas last night and Hubby inadvertently left the damn thing on the living room floor for any small child to discover upon waking this morning!!! Happily it occurred to me when I woke up that I didn't recall him carrying it up before bed. I went down quick and secured it! Somewhat takes the magic out otherwise, eh!? :D

Today should be a bit of a baking day, a cookie distribution day, you should see them, they are all bagged and ready to go....

 

We also have to ice our Christmas cake and hope it hardens in time for tomorrow! I'm sure it will and it will probably be more delicious than ever! :D
I have some last minute wrapping to do and my room is a PIT and needs a good clear out before tomorrow. Not that it really matters, but I've never seen it so dreadful!
I'm going to make some mince pies for our light tour tonight I think... that or brownies... I can't decide!

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve again! I'm not sure who's more excited, me or the kids! It's a close call, believe me! :D

Happy Holidays to one and all.... may your days be merry and bright!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Some Christmas Pics from our house!

Fa la la la laaaaaagggghhhhhhhh

Oh man!!!! It's getting close to the wire! I need to take BIG BREATHS but I don't have TIME!!!!!

My hubby, bless him, he's an absolute star. WHAT a guy. Anyway, he keeps telling me to relax. He's not worried about what we eat on Christmas Day... he was happy, HAPPY, when Jessie said she'd like Mac and Cheese!!! I must try and keep it in my head that Christmas is NOT about the gifts, it's NOT about the food... it's not even about how pretty your house looks or how nice the kids are dressed.... it's about joy. It's about love. It's about.... COOKIES!!! Cookies, cakes, Christmas puddings and mince pies!!! :D ..... ahem. Sorry... forgot myself there, just a tad!!! Christmas IS about joy and love and family.... but today it's about the cookies!! I'm baking the "Neighbor Cookies" today so they will be ready for distribution on Christmas Eve and I'm also making some delicious brownies that pass easily for fudge to take along on our annual trip to see the Christmas Eve lights! :D

Nearly nearly nearly guys!!! Are you all as excited as me?!?!! : D Weeeeeeeee!!! : D

Yes, it's the Valium talking.... but still...... Weeeeeeeeeeee!!! ;D

Ch..Ch...Chilly!

I did it AGAIN! :D My awesome mother watched the kids for me this morning and I went out shopping.... alone!!! I even managed a lunch date with my husband!!! I felt like a real grown up!! It was sooo dang cold though, I thought I might just freeze, especially as I had failed to notice that the fan on my van was not switched on. This tends to slow down the air movement around the vehicle resulting in a rather lesser effect of the heater than one might have originally intended.

I slid into Super Target parking lot with fingers that were frozen at the tips. I had tried sitting on them, blowing on them, all to no avail. When I got out the car I realised that a poor guy, dressed head to toe in winter gear, was busy chipping and scraping the ice off the path so that us shoppers could get into the store without injury! ( I know it's so they don't get sued, but in my mind it's because they like us and care about us! ) The poor guy must have been frozen to the marrow. I ran into Super Target and called in first at Starbucks! Actually that is a lie, I called in first to the bathroom where I emptied my bladder and warmed my hands under the hot tap THEN I went to Starbucks! I bought a hot chocolate and took it out to the guy! "Merry Christmas" I called to him! He must have thought I was a nutter!! I'd decided on hot chocolate as you can't tell with coffee... people my like decaf, may like cream, sugar, etc...I figured if the guy was lactose intolerant then I'd bloody well drink it!!! : D

I hope it brightened his day, it certainly did mine! ;D

Dooooo Over!!

Oh Look!! An actual AP Parenting post ! : D

Yesterday turned out nice.... it was waaay too cold to leave the house, -6F, so we stayed in and wrapped presents all day! I managed to pay the bills with no trouble, I realised that wrapping the presents would make me feel better so I spent most of the day working on that!!! Rex came home and had bought me a new set of Christmas dishes! Kohls had a 75% off sale and the set and six additional cups came to around $50 !!! They are pretty white plates with red snowflakes so I can use them all winter... not just for Christmas!! Dishes. Not just for Christmas anymore! ;D

Anyway, in the evening Garry offered to give the children a bath. All was peaceful and quiet from upstairs for a long while and Rex and I "reclined" on our sofa!! After a while we began to hear "No!" and "Stop that!!" and "Aggggghhhhhhhhhh" etc!!! There was a great deal of very loud screaming and yelling so I thought I should go up and investigate. Jack was sitting in what was left of an emptying bath. He was crying, screaming and yelling that he didn't want to get out. No No No. In a remarkable moment of AP Parenting clarity, I sat next to the bath and talked quietly to him. We discussed how he loves to have a bath and he hates to get out when he is having such fun.... I suggested that he get out the bath now and let Garry get him dry and ready for bed, but then tomorrow he could have a bath in the afternoon and stay in and play for hours if he wanted to!!It worked!!! I mean, I spoke only for a moment and he said "OK" and happily climbed out the bath!!! It was a Christmas Miracle!! ;D Then, this morning, another one!! :D .....Rex and I were snoozing in bed and suddenly heard "Jaaaack!!! NOOOO!!!" and various other squabbling sounds!! I hate to be woken by squabbling sounds and I think it sets the day off on the wrong foot. I headed into the kids room and asked what the heck was going on. Turns out Jack had knocked something of Jessie's off the dresser and broken it. It could have been accidental, but it wasn't perceived that way! :D The kids were unhappy, Jack was feeling bad I think, (which tends to make him angry) and the day was headed downhill. I suggested the kids have a "Do Over" !!! I told them to go back to bed, pretend to be asleep, and start again. Jessie gets annoyed that Jack wakes her up every morning, so THIS time, she got to be the one to "wake up" first. I told her to wake up gently, have a good stretch and smile. After waking up nicely Jessie had to tiptoe over to Jack's bed, where he was "sleeping", kiss him on the head, say "Good MORNING Jack" and "I LOVE you" !! Jack was then told to say "Good morning, Jessie, would you like a hug?" and then they snuggled in bed together for a while! I went back to bed and Rex and I were both happily surprised when we heard the children get up, tiptoe downstairs and start quietly coloring together!!! ;D What a difference!!! I know if Rex and I get the day started on the wrong foot we have been known to just start again. It really works!!!!

Today the temp is -7 and is set to snow this afternoon!!! Bah!! I still have some pressies to pick up and it's getting faaaar too close to Christmas for my liking!! :D I'm going to have to face the cold today I think....!! Wish me luck! :D

Ho ho ho....Oh Oh Oh.........

Man that was a looooooong day yesterday! The kids advent was to go to the Mall and get into the spirit by looking at the Christmas lights and listening to the music and so on. Hmmm. On the last Saturday before Christmas??!?! WHAT WAS I THINKING??!! Also the temp barely hit 6 before it plummeted to minus 6 with a -20 windchill. Awesome. PLUS it snowed in the morning and the roads were hell. Oooh Faboooo.

Nevertheless I ploughed on. I took the kids and Garry to the mall for a while and we met Daddy there. We traded vehicles, he took the kids home in the van and Garry and I set out for a mammoth shopping event. Ugh. I don't really like shopping, in fact if I could avoid a shopping mall for the rest of my life, I'd gladly do it! I don't like buying clothes, don't like buying shoes, don't like purses.... I know. How can I call myself a woman?!?! I DO like Garry though, so plodded happily through the stores convincing her not to buy THIS and did she need THAT....!!!I came home at 10 pm...yes, we'd been out LITERALLY 12 hours.... with a $4 hair band. No kidding. I still have to go back out now to buy some things for Garry that I couldn't get as she was with me the whole time. * sigh * The joy of Christmas is wearing thin for me now. I'm sad to say it but it happens to me most years. The bubble bursts and I see Christmas for what it has become... a mad dash to the finish, to be the one to buy the most presents for people, Quick Quick, Hurry Hurry, let's snatch up this thing, it will do for so and so..... it's like the stores will stop trading on Christmas Day and you will Never Be Able To Buy ANYTHING Again..... EVERY YEAR I fall in to the trap of spending too much on too little, or rather on too little of significance and too much junk. I haven't given a moment's thought to Christmas Dinner only to dread it. I despise having to cook dinner on Christmas day... it's hell for me. I would gladly order in or eat out..... I'm a terrible mother and wife at Christmas time... I don't have the Christmas Chromosome I guess. I think I do... I dress up my house like I do.... I love the idea of Christmas... the log fires, the mince pies, the Christmas Cake.. I love giving gifts to the children...I hate finding the perfect gift for my husband and my Mum.... They always manage to get lovely things for me and I feel such GUILT that I don't take the time or have the imagination to find the perfect thing for them. I don't have a moment to myself this time of year, it's exhausting. I haven't wrapped anything of any consequence yet... I still have loads to do...... HELP MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

*** deep sigh ***

I need to get back to the basics a little here. I need to take my vitamins, double up my progesterone, go back to bed with a cup of tea and a good book. Later I will make a list of what's important and what's not...and I'll try and focus on the important things....

Something that is over my head at the moment is the bills.... UGH! I dread them this time of year. Everytime we find something "perfect" for someone it's more money out the bank. I'm not averse to spending money on people and I love to get them something they love, but if I'm spending money, LOTS of money, and it's not even a great gift, just "Something" to give someone.... it makes me nuts. It really does.


Bah. And Humbug.

Where's that Hot Buttered Rum!!???........

Friday!!

Well last night we had an ice storm with thunder and lightening to boot!!! Exciting! :D We missed out on the heavy snow but we did get an extra layer and the ice on top will make sledding heaps of fun today! : D

We probably won't leave the house today, much to Mum's consternation! She NEEDS to shop! :D I don't tend to drive on ice and snow just for the hell of it! We'll wait until tomorrow when Rex said he would watch the children and Mum and I can go out and shop ALONE! That will be nice! The kids are fine, but we tend to do only one or two shops at a time and Garry.... well.... she's a shopper! 'D She's doing her part to restimulate the US economy and we should all be grateful to her for that! :D

The kids are starting to drive me bananas to be honest! Christmas is on it's way ( oh really!? I hear you gasp!!) and that's got them giddy. A week or so ago Alicia and gang were here which is exciting, then right after that Megan visited, then Garry arrived which just sent them over the top! All this attention! All this excitement!!! They are getting wound up, rude, unhelpful, naughty and just plain difficult. It's exhausting!!!! I try to see it from their point of view, but what makes me crazy is I'm trying to make this a really fun month for them and give them treats and make them happy... and the more I do that, the crazier they get! ;D They'd be better off if I made them sit down and do school every morning I think. I might have to do that... a little more structure, a little less sugar!!! :D

Well, it's time for me to get started ... bathroom's free!! :D

Have a wonderful Friday! :D Stay warm! :D

One Week To Go ! :D

Yaaaaiiieeeeee!!! Only one week until Christmas.... deep breaths..... deeeeeep breaths..... remember your Lamaze breathing??? Heee heee heee heee hoo hoo hoo hoo hee heee hheee heee....etc! :D Actually I never did it, but I've seen it on plenty of lame movies to make ME a fake birth EXPERT! :D

Sooo.... today looks BEAUTIFUL outside! We had some snow the other day and now we have blue skies to make it just glisten and glimmer out there! The temp is holding around 10F at the moment but will probably go up as the day goes on! We're anticipating a freezing rain storm tonight ! ( Oh goody!) so I'm going to go out and fill the bird feeders, bring in fire wood and that's ALL today! :D Our advent To Do was make paper snowflakes today, so we'll do that, and we're also planning on making a gingerbread house with Garry too! Fun! :D

We flew too close to the sun yesterday... we took the kids shopping... to Kohls, to Panera, to Barnes and Noble, we waited in the car at Michaels whilst Garry ran in, then we all went to Super Target and met Daddy there... then onto Applebees for dinner. Yeah. Jack LOST it in Super Target... it was NOT a good AP occasion. Threats were exchanged... tears were shed.... I wasn't sure going to Applebees was even a good idea, but after Jack being so hard all day long, I wanted to not have to make dinner !!! Rex met us again latere at the restaurant and Jack .. well.. Jack was good as GOLD!! Lovely manners, singing to the Christmas music.... what a star. Tsk. Typical! :D I'm glad really. I don't want him to be miserable, but darn it, I wish he could be chipper when we drag him around the kitchen supplies, ladies shoes, towels, mens clothing, fabric and bedding departments....!! ;D Yes... I know.....!

Another cold one, a New Couch and an Ear Infection....

Oh Man..... Chilly is one word to describe it around here!! It's just bitter!! The high yesterday was 8 degrees F. I know some folks get less than that, but for me and mine, 8 is just TOO COLD!!! ;D My Mum had wished for "Just a Light Covering of Snow....." we got 4 inches!!; D Ah well, thought we, we won't have to go OUT in it! We'll just sit happily by the fire, sipping Hot Buttered Rum and chatting! :D We were also expecting the arrival of our new couch "Anytime between 2 and 4" so we figured we'd be waiting around anyway!! Weeeelllll this is just FINE, but what happens when your usually affable daughter beings to walk the house, crying and being grumpy and mean?? What happens when she tells you her ear "hurts AGAIN" and you suddenly remember that she never complains of being sick, she never whines about being ill and the last time you took her in, almost a year ago to the day, she had the Worst Ear Infection Ever and a 25% hearing loss!!! Sooo... at 2:10 I made an appointment for 4:20 ( knowing the couch had to come...!) and did my best for Jessie with warm olive oil and suggestions that she rest. I said to myself "Well, the couch should really get here by 2:30 .... 5 minutes later, it was here and we were sitting on it!! :D Whoot!! ;D It's a fancy electric reclining sofa... hmmm... yeah.... the kids don't play with it AT ALL.... they don't drive me bonkers with the zzzzzzzz.......zzzzzzzz....zzz.........zzzzzzzzzzzzz...... sound of the recliner drifting forward and back.... uuuup and down..... baaaaack.... baack.....back....fooooooorward...... AAAAGGGGHHH!! I've already threatened to yank the plug!!! ;D Anyhoo......so the sofa arrived and we lit the fire in it's honor! We all took turns trying it out and we began to realise that this would be the end of late night television for all of us! MAN that thing is comfy!

Meanwhile poor Jessie is in bits. I gather up my courage and strike out through the snow to get the van which I had moved to our lower driveway to allow the couch movers in. It's a trick to get our our drive as it's North facing and with the snow.... well it all drifts at the bottom. I know I shouldn't complain about the snowplough, but seriously, it sweeps by and piles snow upon snow at the top of the drive, so I have to fight one drift at the bottom, floor the van to get up the hill and bust through the snow at the top, being careful to not go so fast that I shoot across the road and into the opposite ditch!!! Always fun. Isn't this what I pay my husband for?!!? Anyway, I managed it!!! Whoooot!! :D I realised I was going to have to go into Super Target ( weeeeeeee! *waves tiny flag*) to get the prescription, but with it being so cold I didn't want Jessie to have to come in. I ALSO didn't want to leave her in the car without the engine running as she'd FREEZE and I didn't want to leave her in the car WITH the engine running for all sorts of fairly obvious reasons! Sooooo I had to pack Jack and Garry in the van too and we headed off to the Docs! I love our Pediatrician as they are so friendly and prompt! Jessie and I walked in, went right in, the doc looked in one ear, said "fine!" looked in the other and said, and I quote "Owie KazOwie!" Note to self, it's NEVER good when the Doc says "Owie Kazowie"!! He wrote a prescription immediately, wished us a Merry Christmas..... and we were off. Super Target is my Mecca and I love the place! I left everyone in the nice, warm van and headed in. It must be a busy time of year as they told me it would be "about 20 minutes!" .. now they could usually tell me it would be "about 8 hours" and I would say "OK!" and happily toddle off to shop, but of course today I wanted them to be as fast as possible because Jessie and everyone were waiting. I picked up a couple of essentials...... medicine, toothpaste, cheese, butter and spray whipping cream ( ! ) and then dotted off to Starbucks and picked up Egg Nog, Hot Chocolate and Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha!! ;D ( Sluuuurp!!) I slithered and slid back out the van and loaded them up with warm beverages and gave Jessie a dose of Tylenol. I still had to go back for the prescription so headed back into Target again! The poor Pharmacist was running around like a madman as they were concerned I was waiting too long and had family in the car! So sweet!! I told them there was no rush, everyone had warm coffee and would survive!! ;D He handed me the prescription and again, off I went! By the time I made it back to the van a second time, Jessie was like a new kid! She had been in such pain that the simple relief of the Tylenol had felt like a complete cure! Bless her! ... Sooooo we drove back home, this time in the dark and snow and cold. We resurrected the fire, switched on the tree lights, started dinner ( Cauliflower Cheese... Delicious! ) and settled in for the rest of the night!! aaahhhhh...... Later I did try and watch The Mentalist ( one of my fave shows! ) whilst reclining on the sofa, under a blanket, next to the fire. Yeah. Who was I kidding!!! I probably managed to keep my eyes open for all of 10 minutes !!! Lovely couch though!!! Can anyone tell me what happened on my show!?!?!? :D

Oh and by the way, here's a pic of one of our Christmas Trees... pretty eh?!

Have a great day! Stay cozy! : D

*Garry's Here!! :D

Well after a bit of a delay with the connecting flight Garry made it to very chilly Nebraska! :D

We're currently about to sample some Maple Cake and a cuppa tea and then head to bed! Jackster was such a sweetie! He'd fallen asleep on Daddy's lap before it was time to collect Garry, so he stayed home with Dad and Jessie and I braved the cold for the trip to the airport. When we arrived home the puppy woke Jack up by barking her head off! Jack was so happy to see Garry! he took her by the hand and led her around the house pointing out the trees and decorations and so on! He never said a word.... just pointed!! Finally he pointed up the stairs, put his hands on the side of his head to indicate "sleep" and basically asked Garry to take him to bed!!! He was quite clear that he did NOT want me there, just Garry!! :D Bless him!! He does love his Garry! :D


*Garry is how Jessie first used to say Grannie... and like all odd names, it stuck! :D

Damn. Universe 1 Me 1....

Looks like it's a tie...!! Mum missed her flight! She will be here about 10pm, which isn't too bad, but is a bit of a pain as we were all excited! Still, all the more time for finishing touches! I'm presently in the middle of making a Maple Cake ... it's delicious and she'll really like it I hope! Well I suppose I should finish off and start getting ready for the airport.... The place looks even more lovely, there's pretty music playing from behind one of our trees, the kids are watching Horton Hears A Hoo ( who? ) in the other room and hubby claims he's going to go and lie down on the bed for a while! Pah! :D

More soon! Really! :D

The Universe and I part II

Well the Universe and I came to an agreement! ;D The Universe would stop trying to bugger up everything I do and I, in turn, would stop trying to do anything!!! LOL!! Worked for me!! :D

The house is, erm, almost ready! ;D The bedspread is still mint green ( bugger bugger bugger ) but there isn't cat poop all over the floor anymore. ( thank heavens for small mercies! )

Mum just texted from the airport in Chicago and she has landed so it won't be long now until she is here!!! :D 3 hours!!! I've literally only got a few teensy things left to do, maybe I'll do them... maybe I won't!! I'll be soooo glad when tomorrow is here, then I won't have to "Get Ready" anymore!! It will all be too late!!! LOL!!!

OK I've set the timer for 5 minutes... I'm going to tackle the dining table! ( Well, not literally, that would hurt and the table would win, hands down. I AM going to try and get all the papers and junk of it! How's that?!!? :D )

So you're gonna play hardball eh?!

The Universe and I are playing a dangerous game! I'm thinking I'm going to get aaaaalll the stuff done I had planned to do before Mum gets in tonight and the Universe keeps trying to throw things in my way and cause me to freak out. I'm refusing so far! ;D

A simple 5 minute task of cleaning out a small fish bowl turned into a 30 minute epic when babies were discovered and my tiny and very handy fishing net "disappeared". The Universe has hidden it. It will show up tomorrow most likely. Exactly where I looked for it. As usual. I washed the bedspread off my Mum's bed as it looked like it could use refreshing... I tossed in a blanket that needed washing too. A green blanket. A hunter green blanket. Now I have a mint green bedspread. Gah. I'm washing it again in hopes that the dye will wash out. Hah. I went down into the nicely cleaned basement and followed a trail of cat poop out of the litter box and through the entire lower floor. God DAMN it. Now I have to vacuum the whole place again. Jackster has found an entire plate of Gingerbread cookies. And. Eaten. Them. All. That will make life easier in about 30 minutes when he goes HAYWIRE from all the sugar!!! :D The Universe is out to get me, but it won't win!! I have realised that my house is pretty nice as it is. It doesn't have to be spotless, it just has to be comfortable! The soup is cooking away in the crockpot, the trees look beautiful. There is hot tea, hot buttered Rum, Gin, Chocolate and warm soup. What more can anyone want!? Mum hasn't been here for over 2 years, I don't think she's going to be doing a white glove inspection!!! And guess what? If she did, the house would fail! I'll just tell her that and spare her the trouble!! I know that everyone in my house, including myself, would rather the house were a disaster but we were all relaxed when she arrives... and the house is not a disaster, even if I do nothing more! So there ya go... ** blows raspberries at the Universe** go bug someone else!!! ;P I'm NOT going to lose it! ;D

Happy sigh! ;D The good news is, the article I'm writing for the paper is coming along nicely. I just checked my word count...... 578. Required word count? 500 !! SwwwEEEEt !! ;D
Off to make another cup of tea, and maybe I'll pick up some stuff.... or not !! ;P

Brrrr and an update! :D

Oh boy....!! -3 F (-16 C) AND with a windchill which takes us to at least 20 below is enough for me to almost prefer the dog to crap on the carpet than to take her outside at 6:30 am clad only in flannel nightie, slippers, dressing gown, coat, hat, gloves and scarf!!! The wind whipping around my naked legs was just cruel and I found myself yelling at her "COME ON!!!! HURRY UP!!!!" Poor wee pet!! ;D I decided after she had peed I just didn't have the patience to wait for poop and we'd have to try again later when I was dressed!!! :D Hubby went out with her instead! ;D What a guy!!!

So I promised an update on our lovely weekend!! :D LOL!! Everywhere we stopped, gas station, furniture store, restaurant, hotel.... we told everyone that we were on a weekend away without the children. Someone asked me when the last time we had done that was and I replied "Hmmm... I think it was the 12th of NEVER actually!!" :D Since we had children we have never had a night away ! Oh it was lovely. Just to be able to go into every shop without waiting in the car with the kids! To be able to actually BROWSE a furniture shop ( we are looking for a reclining love seat ) without having to physically restrain one of the children from running off.... To be able to eat at a grown up restaurant without having to cut up anyone else's food and actually using cloth napkins!!!! At the hotel I told them, when we checked in, that it was our first weekend without the children and so on.... they upgraded us to an executive suite on the top floor! It's a private floor so we would not be disturbed!!!! Oh bliss!!! I just wanted to be able to sleep until I was ready to wake up rather than a child or a dog waking me!!

We did lots of shopping, we toured fancy malls ( oh so fabulous...! ), we drove through the city to check out the lights, we ate at fancy restaurants, we watched questionable movies, we soaked in the whirlpool tub..... oh boy.... it was just the best weekend.

Believe it or not, we really did miss the children! ;D Not so much that we wouldn't leave them again, but enough that we talked about them once in a while, we considered calling them ( but decided against it... best not to poke a sleeping bear, if you know what I mean! ) I figured they'd call us if there was a problem! :D When we got home they were very pleased to see us, and us them! They had made a thousand cookies and decorated them with various colored frosting, they had made origami this and thats and seemed to have had a good time! If nothing else, they were smiling, the house was still standing and they had eaten! All good as far as we were concerned!! The most telling part of the whole weekend for me was when Hubby asked Megan if she would be willing to do it again, maybe in February, as he said our relationship would really benefit from it! I guess he must have had a good time too then, eh?!! :D

Just A Quickie !! ( Ooo er missus!! )

Well...!! Megan, our dear, sweet, beloved Megan, is on her way soon to relieve Rex and I of our children for AN ENTIRE WEEKEND!!!! **blissful sigh** We LOVE Megan!! :D LOL!!

Rex and I are off shopping in Omaha, eating at a grown up restaurant and then spending in the night in a lovely hotel where we will SLEEP UNTIL WE ARE DONE SLEEPING!!!!!!! WhOOOoopiiiIIiiiEEEEE!!! :D I'm really looking forward to it and have my bag packed and by the door ready to go !! :D

I'm pretty spoiled really, (REALLY!?!) Last night my good friend Sandi ( yes, off the Hot Buttered Rum fame ) took me out to see The Santa Land Diaries, by David Sedaris. Hoo boy it was funny!! :D We went out to eat first and the service was a little slow ( to be fair we hadn't told them we needed to leave at a certain time so it was not their fault....) but anyway, we ran a little late with our food then we ran to the theatre... and went to the wrong place!! It was on the University Campus and neither of us know it well.. in fact I don't know it at all! :D So anyway, we missed our early show and were given tickets for the 10 o'clock performance! So be it! We went back to the restaurant we had just left, much to their confusion and surprise and some of the staff hadn't even noticed we had gone!!! We bought desserts and coffee's ( with a little Baileys... ) and sat and chatted for an hour or two until our show rolled around once more! ;D The staff were so sweet and felt bad that we had missed our show, so desserts were free!! ;D Yeahy!!! :D ** Happy sigh **

Anyway, the show was amazing and such fun, we laughed our socks off! :D I didn't get home until 1:00am but you know what? It was such fun that we both want to do it again sometime soon and I thought it was a tremendous way to kick off my fantastic weekend!! ;D

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend too! :D

Talk to you soon! ;D

Oh My Goodness! :D

So sorry, Blog Fans...!! ;D LOL!! I hadn't realised it's Thursday already and my last entry was SUNDAY!!! GAH!!! Well I blame Alicia. She totally hogs my computer when she is visiting and even when I begged and PLEADED for a few minutes online, she would slap at my head and hands and scream at me. Naturally I just went back to the closet under the stairs and sobbed until they went back home.


Anyhoo!! They left yesterday and I spent most of the day resting, napping and Henna~ing my hair!! WOW it's RED! : D

Brown, before....

 

Red after!!! :D

 

 

 

Here's a bit of an update on everything we did last week! ;D
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Firstly we went to the Star City Parade!! We had a HORRIBLE time trying to find parking ( I left it too late... ) but in the end we got a great spot where we could watch it from above. We also got to go into a walkway and watch it from the warmth... only it was TOO warm and I thought I might die!! Ah well... the kids liked what they saw and Santa waved to us personally which made my day! ;D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the parade we had to stop in at PetSmart and buy some dog food! My kids LOVE the pet store ( I do too! ) and we spent ages looking at all the stuff and getting to hold a neato Chameleon! We all loved how he could look all over the place with his oddball eyes! He was very happy to be held by all of us and I was so grateful to the guy who works there who is so patient with kids!

 

 

 

On Sunday morning we were sitting around and chatting when out of the blue a van pulled into our driveway. Out climbed a woman holding a "dog". We thought it was a dog... silly us......

 

 

Yeah... turned out to be a fainting goat named Oreo!! :D She was a hoot and enjoyed butting my dogs in the bellies if they startled her! She never did faint but still provided ample enjoyment!! ;D

After the thrill that was the goat we got ready to go out to the holiday Open House that I mentioned earlier. The kids were all dressed up so Alicia took some pics of her children and mine got in on the act too.....

 

 

I just think this one is cute!! ;D

 

The girls are old enough and wise enough that they immediately get to playing together whenever Alicia comes for a visit, but the boys take longer to warm up to each other. I think it's that they are younger and change more often in the short time between trips. Well whatever it is, it's usually a few days before they will play together and Jack really never wanted anything to do with "Baby Alex" ...! However, how things change.....

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday we had Gingerbread House Making Day... but because we had been so busy up until then, our gingerbread had not been made in advance and was going to be really soft and difficult to work with. I told Alicia on Sunday night that we HAD to bake the gingerbread... the thing is she got all "hopped up" on chocolates and Kahlua and was basically impossible to work with!! I may have had to drink some too, you know, just to be social and I made all the roofs too small. Ooops. "}

 

 

 

 

 

The Hopkins gang came over though and they made a church... it was super!!! :D Ah well... we had fun too and the kids got to eat lots of frosting and candy! ; D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best part of the weekend for me came at the very end as the kids were leaving.. I'd checked with Alicia a while back and asked what the kids would like for Christmas. I'd been able to order the gifts which came whilst they were here, so I'd sneakily wrapped them all up and hidden them in my room. I'd shared my secret with Jessie and we were both pretty excited about it. As everyone was getting ready to leave we had them all sit on the couch and we said we were going to do a double check upstairs to make sure they hadn't left anything ( they ALWAYS leave something! ;D ) Jessie and I went upstairs and came back down with our arms FULL of gifts! "You guys left ALL THIS!!!!!!" we said!! Oh you should have seen their faces! I wish I'd been able to get a picture of it!!! It was wonderful! The gifts were pretty big so they really had their arms FULL !! Kids LOVE big boxes, right?!! :D As we were leaving the house and heading for their car, Jackfella said to his Mom..."Next time I'm going to SEARCH!" !! He wanted to be SURE he didn't leave anything like that NEXT time!!!! Cute!!!!

 

 

 

Anyway, to sum up, that's what we've been up to the last few days!! :D Alicia got home safely after a BIT of a detour though Nebraska... ( ahem )... and they will all be back again on the 29th !!! Until then it's time for us to rest up a little, clean up a little and prepare for the arrival of Garry!!!!!!!!!! She flies in on Monday!! Whoooopieeeeee!! :D ...

*** I need a nap.....!! *** : D