Discussions about Santa

With Andrew at our solo donut breakfast this week:

Me:  So, do you and your friends ever talk about Santa?
Andrew: Nah.  Not really.
-pause in conversation-
A: I have 3 theories about Santa.
Me: Really?
A: Number 1- Santa brings the presents.  Number 2- Some other magical force brings the presents.  Number 3: You and Dad bring the presents.
Me:  Wow.  Those are 3 very conflicting theories.
A: Yah.  Right now Number 1 is the most believable.  Number 3 is the least likely.


Jeff and I agreed that if he asked any questions about Santa this year, we would come clean.  But I have a feeling he won't be asking any questions.  He's got it all figured out in his head somehow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My parents and I took Lily and Michael to sit on Santa's lap Monday morning.  It was the first year ever that Michael just hopped up on Santa's lap and cooperated.  The Santa was a little dazed and forgot to ask the kids what they wanted...the photo elf had to remind him to ask.  Nice.

Later that day, Lily and I had this conversation:

Lily: Mom?  Is the Santa at the mall the REAL Santa?
Me:  No, of course not.  We've talked about this before.  Santa hires helpers to dress up like him and gather information.  He just is too busy to be at every mall.  So he depends on his helpers to find out what you want and then give him the info.
Lily:  I didn't think that Santa was real.  When I was 4, I thought it was the real Santa, but now I know the real Santa is very busy.  Do you think he heard what I said to tell Santa?
Me: Maybe...he seemed to have a hard time hearing, didn't he.
Lily:  Yah.  Maybe we should send a letter just in case.

Amazing Andrew turns 9

Dude.  Andrew is NINE.  Nine.  9.  Just...wow.

I realized that I've been updating my Facebook page quite a bit lately...putting a funny story down or whatever.  And that's been taking the place of my blog.  I think it's because so many more people comment or respond to a Facebook post.  Which is silly and a bit needy of me.  Because it is sooo much better to post on HERE...because I can actually come back and read in this space.  So I'm going to try and write HERE when I feel like just posting a quickie on Facebook.

Anyhoo...Andrew turned 9 on Tuesday.  We celebrated twice...on Saturday we took he and a friend to Medieval Times, a super cool live action show, with knights dueling, and horse tricks, and even a falconer.  Andrew got knighted (because it was his birthday and we were willing to shell out the dough).  He and his friend were captivated by the whole event.  And his friend just kept saying to Jeff, "THIS IS AWESOME.  YOU COULD HAVE PICKED 7 MILLION PEOPLE AND YOU PICKED ME.  THANK YOU SO MUCH.  THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME DAY OF MY LIFE."  

Which makes you really glad you brought that particular friend, right?  When I was volunteering at the school library the following Monday, Ben once again came up to me and said, "Thank you again for taking me.  It was the most awesome day of my life."

On Tuesday, he had to go to school.  So my parents stayed at home with the younger two while I took Andrew to Dunkin' Donuts for a pre-school treat.  Then Jeff got home at 4 pm...just so Andrew wouldn't have to wait to open his gifts once he got home from school.  Isn't he a great dad?  Andrew opened gifts and played...took a break to do homework...and then played some more.  We had his requested dinner...garlic sauteed shrimp with broccoli and couscous...and his requested cake...vanilla cake with vanilla icing and DOTS candy all over the top.

I think it was a good birthday.  Certainly better than my 9th was...(the moving truck actually came to our house on my 9th birthday.  My mom reminds me that I actually had a party that year...and I remind her that it was a birthday/goodbye party which makes it sad rather than happy.)

But enough about my scarring childhood memories...Hooray for Andrew!

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving!

We are going to Jeff's cousin's house for dinner today.  They live about 50 minutes away. Jeff's grandma and aunt will also be there.  Ellie has told me that I'm not to bring anything, so I feel kind of like a teenager going to Thanksgiving dinner this year. Except instead of just showing up and sitting on the couch all day, I'll also bring 3 rowdy kids to fill her house with noise and mess.  Aren't I just a peach of a guest?  Yet DJ and Ellie continue to invite us to holiday dinners.  Which means so so much when you don't have your own parents and siblings around to celebrate with.

Of course, on Friday my parents will arrive.  And we'll have another Thanksgiving dinner sometime during their visit.  Yummo.  Let's hope my kids like turkey a bit more than they have in the past.

Saturday, we are taking Andrew on his birthday "party" celebration.  We don't really DO parties so much around here.  So Andrew chose to take his best friend to Medieval Times .  Andrew has never been there, and we are anticipating having a very good time.  And, yes, I realize our little birthday expeditions (like Lily's NYC), probably cost more than an actual birthday party would.  But I enjoy them sooooo much more ;)

Oh dear.  I am rambling.  I just wanted to take down the whiny post about being busy so it wouldn't be up on Thanksgiving.

I am extraordinarily thankful for this little life I've been given.  I am blessed beyond words.  Healthy kids and spouse.  Loving and generous family.  Kind and fun friends.  A comfortable homey home filled with stuff we don't need but enjoy none-the-less.  Books.  Thank heavens for authors that take me to another world to expand my own little life view.  A partner in life who makes me laugh every day and after 17 years I still just want to hang out with.  Three unique and truly amazing children that exasperate and fill me with joy and pride every day.

I am thankful.  Have a great holiday!

One sport at a time...

I have always said that the kids will be a "one sport at a time" kind of kids.  I watch other families ship their kids from one practice to another...often overlapping.  Yuck.

But here we are.  Soccer is over.  Except that there is this intramural tournament.  Each coach of the 3rd grade intramurals got to pick their 3 best players to play.  Andrew was picked, but I wasn't even going to tell him and decline because travel basketball has started up.  But Jeff thought it would be really good for Andrew's self-esteem and confidence playing if he knew and played in the tournament.  He's right of course, but the overlapping practices are driving me crazy.

Here's how our evening have been this week:

Sunday:  late afternoon basketball practice for the travel basketball team
Monday: swim lessons after school for Michael and Lily.  Those are over pretty early, but messed with dinner making.
Tuesday: soccer practice for Andrew from 7-8.  Imagine how cold it was.  Insanity.
Wednesday: basketball practice for travel basketball 6:30-8
Thursday: Michael's school has a little harvest social...he'll sing and then we'll have snacks.  6:30-8
Friday: Andrew has another soccer practice from 6-8.  There is also the school book fair at Barnes and Noble from 6-8.
Saturday: All day soccer tournament.  All.  Day.  8-3.  Ugh.  He will be missing basketball clinics for the intramural basketball that he is required to play in while playing travel.

Add this into Jeff having an incredibly stressful and busy week at work.  Add in that my younger two are used to going to bed between 7 and 7:30.  Add in that my car desperately needs an oil change and the driver side window fixed (keeps leaking on me).  Which they can't/won't fix on the weekend, so I have to schlep myself to the shop and shuttle back home...and hope that Jeff gets home in time for us to go get the van before Michael's harvest social tonight.  Not going to happen.  Which means I've got to bribe a friend to take me Friday morning.

Whatever.  Next week will be better, right?  Oh, wait.  It's Thanksgiving week.  HOW THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN?  I've really got to get some presents for Andrew.  Yikes.

Deep breaths.  And don't remind me that I only have one child in sports so far.  This will not be possible with 3 kids.  Then they will HAVE to choose one sport.  And forget tournaments or travel teams.  It is simply ridiculous!

My love of the library by the numbers

I keep a log of the books I read.  You all know that, right?

So I was writing down my latest just now, The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes...a snooze fest full of philosophical navel gazing, if you ask me...also won some prestigious prize in England...apparently I have bad taste in books.  It doesn't bother me in the least that I didn't like this book, because I borrowed the e-book from the library right onto my Kindle.  No money spent...not even a trip to the library wasted.  Love this library thing.

I decided it would be interesting to go back and count how many books I've checked out and how many I've bought.  How much money I've saved.

As you know, I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas last year.  My one worry was that I would stop using the library as much and start buying books.  For someone who reads as much as me, that is an expensive proposition.  Would we have to start turning down the heat?  Take out a second mortgage?  Stop feeding the children?  Then I figured out how to use their e-book system and have not looked back since.

So here are the numbers:

2 = total number of paper books that I have bought and read this year.

1 = total number of e-books I have bought for my Kindle

1 = total number of paper books that I read that have been sitting on my shelf for so long I can't remember if I bought them or not.

5 = total number of free e-books that I downloaded and read.

17 = number of paper books that I have borrowed from the library or from a friend.

24 = number of e-books I have borrowed from the library and enjoyed on my Kindle



50 = total number of books that I have read so far in 2012.  This only counts books that I have finished...I have set several aside this year that I couldn't stand...getting wimpy.  Also it skews the figures a bit, since I know I bought one book that I never finished.  But I started and left behind more library books...maybe 4 or 5?

If we try and make the math easy, let's just say that a book costs an average of $10.  Many of mine would cost more since they were new releases or large books.  Some would be less since they are older releases or e-books that cost a teeny bit less than the regular price.

That means I spent $40 on books this year.

And I saved $460 by getting the books from the library.

And I'm not even counting the children's books we have enjoyed!  Or the movies!  All the kids movies we get and enjoy!  Or the music!  That we pirate enjoy and then return responsibly.

Damn.  I deserve to go out an buy some new pants and shirts.  Look at the money I saved this year!

Not meant to be

My poor kids.  Halloween just wasn't meant to be this year.  No Halloween fairy could've saved it.  It was doomed.

Last week...on actual Halloween...we didn't have power.  So our town sent out a notice via the school district that trick-or-treating was postponed until Wednesday, November 7th.

And now we are being hit by a nor'easter.  Winter Storm Athena, is what they are eagerly calling it.  It is 32 degrees, sleeting, and slushy out.  PLUS, because of Daylight Savings, it is DARK AS HECK.

So we had to break the new to the kids that there would be no trick-or-treating around the neighborhood this year.  They were disappointed, to be sure.  But they are good kids.  Such amazingly good kids.  And they accepted it without throwing fits or crying tears.

And then we had them dress up.  I took the bowl of candy intended for other children, and hid in Michael's room.  Andrew, Lily, and Michael came and knocked on the door.  When I opened it, I pretended that I was seeing them for the first time, commenting on their costumes, etc.  They said trick or treat.  I told them to pick 3 candies from the bowl.

Then I ran around them and closed myself up into Andrew's bedroom.  And then to Lily's.  And our bedroom.  Our closet.  Our bathroom.  The kids' bathroom.  The downstairs bathroom.

I did different voices for each "door" that they knocked on.  Old women, Swedish chef, grumpy old lady, obnoxious lady that pinches their cheeks.  Sometimes they got to take one candy, sometimes 3, sometimes I doled it out.  They were rolling with laughter and eagerly running from door to door to get more treats and more giggles.  They ended up with a bag full of candy (albeit not much variety).

Jeff pretended to check their candy for razor blades when they got back to the kitchen table.  They laughed some more about the Swedish chef voice as they shoveled M&Ms and Twix bars into their mouths.  Lily said, "Even though we didn't get to go trick or treating, we DID."  Andrew said, "It felt good to just say trick or treat."  Michael's mouth was too full of chocolate to say anything.

Who knows?  Maybe this will be the Halloween they remember for ever.  It will be the most momentous year for me, I'm sure.  Damn Sandy.  And Athena.

Bad excuse, Michael

Upon learning that we were having something new for dinner...Swedish meatballs...Michael announced,

"I don't like those.  I tried them once before I was born, and I didn't like them."


Nice try kid.  But maybe he was right...he tried a microscopic bite and didn't like them.  Amazing how he knew ahead of time (grumble, grumble, grumble).


Also, he was helpful when Andrew had a question for us during dinner:

Andrew:  Mom?  What if I don't like the meatballs, but I want to eat the noodles underneath?  What then?

Michael:  You can just scoop them right into the sink.  Down the dark hole.


Trouble, that one.

Sandy

Oh, Sandy.  What damage you have wrecked in New York and New Jersey.  Pennsylvania and Ohio too.  

We are back.  Well, the power is back, at least.  

Monday it rained steadily all day, although nothing unusual.  There was no school, Jeff had no work, so we just kind of sat around and waited for this big storm.  The wind was strong, but again, nothing unusual.  About 5 pm, on Monday night, we watched the weather channel reporters orgasm as Sandy's eye made landfall.  And I shrugged at the kids and commented on how it hadn't been that bad, and I guess we weren't going to lose power.  TV got shut off, and we moved on with our day.

Foolish, foolish me.

An hour or so later, the lights started flickering.  The wind also picked up quite a bit.

By 7, it was time to get the kids ready for bed.  We gave everyone a flashlight on their nightstands.  I tucked Michael in and explained that if he woke up and his clock wasn't on, he could use the flashlight.  He said, "Or I could just turn on my lamp."  Not quite, buddy.  

We had just put Michael to bed and Lily was brushing her teeth.  And everything just shut down.  Lily started shrieking and Michael came quickly out of his room.  We agreed to let them sleep together just to calm them down.  Amazingly, although the wind was howling, they fell right to sleep.  Andrew went to bed soon after and also had no problems.

Shadow was having problems.  She was shaking and panting and I was pretty sure she was going to have a heart attack.  Poor baby.  We moved her cage up into our room so she wouldn't have to be alone.  Jeff and I didn't sleep real well.  The wind was just HOWLING...and the occasional loud cracks made us nervous to be sure.  By 1am, all was quiet.  Really, really quiet. 

At 4 am, Michael and Lily woke up.  I ushered them back to bed, but I could hear all their chit-chatting.  At one point, I heard Michael say, "Lily?  When are Mom and Dad going to put new batteries in the house?"  Makes sense...everything else he deals with gets fixed with new batteries.  Cutie thought we were just delaying putting new batteries in for fun.

Tuesday, we waited for the sun to rise.  That was the worst few hours without power...from when the kids woke up at 5 until the sun rose at 7:30 or so.  Nothing to do.  

Once the sun came up, we played board games, read lots and lots of books, and carved pumpkins.  Jeff had no work, so he was hanging out with us.  We took lots of walks and surveyed the damages in our little neighborhood.  Our gas stove top worked, so we ate grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch.  Our water continued to run as well, so dishes weren't a problem and we had plenty of water to boil and toilets that flushed.  Not too bad, all in all.  A little stir crazy...the worst was just having zero information.  Radio programming sucks.  Lots of traffic and weather, but no real info.  And we tried lots of different AM stations.  Just sitting around not knowing if New Jersey was still there or if the Delaware River had flooded and we stuck for weeks.  Nothing.

We went to bed Tuesday night with no power still, but Jeff had gotten word that he could go back to work on Wednesday.  Our gym regained power late Tuesday night.  So Wednesday, I got up with the kids and we went to the gym.  I watched the news as I ran, and the kids got to watch some cartoons in the kids club. I recharged the Kindle and my phone.  It was heavenly.  Then we went to the library, which had never lost power.  Lily had her 6 year old well visit.  We started to feel normal.  Until we went to go out to lunch after Lily's appointment.  We made the mistake of going back to our town (all the rest of those places are in towns near by).  Nothing had power.  So we went home and had Halloween peanut butter sandwiches.

Recipe:

1 piece of bread spread with peanut butter
+
Halloween candy raided from stash...since trick or treat was cancelled anyway
+
Lots and lots of creativity
=
Super yummy and fun sandwiches

We putzed around for the rest of the afternoon.  Lots of books and board games.  We met Jeff at a restaurant for dinner and again kind of forgot about no power.  Came back to a completely dark neighborhood.  Started getting ready for bed.  At 7:30, I had tucked the littles into bed and Andrew was finishing a logic problem by candlelight.  And, Alleluia!  Power came back on!


So we're fine.  A few points that I am super annoyed with...

1)  Radio.  Seriously, folks.  When there are wide spread power outages, we need more info to be given out by radio.  And don't just refer us to your website for more information (they kept saying things like, for more info go to CBS.com.  Thanks.  Why do you think I'm listening to the radio?  BECAUSE I HAVE NO OTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION)

2)  We are now living in a society where it is ASSUMED you have a smart phone.  Michael pre-school was apparently communicating solely by e-mail.  Which I couldn't get because I don't have internet if I don't have electricity.  The older kids' school district had automated calls that said, "Due to weather related circumstances, there will be no school.  See our website for more info."  Once I finally got to the website last night, there was all this info about how our particular school had roof damage, and there would be no school until Monday at the earliest.  But if I still had no power, I wouldn't know that.  They just assumed I would be able to pick it up on my phone.  Even if I DID have a smart phone, I might not be getting service.  I have a friend who had no phone service for 24 hours after the storm hit.  It just proves my point that we are WAY too dependent on cell phones.

3)  We are getting our phone service through our cable provider.  But the phone jacks don't work.  So when there is no power, there is no phone service.  Why the heck do we still have a land line, then?

Gripe, gripe, gripe!  It really is good to be back!