christmas recap blogorrhea

THERE ARE 38 PICTURES IN THIS POST. you have been warned.
i have been dreading posting all of our pictures from christmas. mostly because there are 5246 billion of them and they are pretty self-explanatory and boring and i have nothing witty or clever to add to them. we had a great time, but if you are an insomniac, pull this post up next time you can't sleep. i could tell lies to entertain you, but you would see right through them. this is mostly for posterity. i'll try to keep the descriptions to a minimum. since i am a wordy gal, that will be a challenge in itself.

pre-christmas, scarlett opened most of the presents under the tree about 3 times. even the boring ones. and silly me, i kept rewrapping them thinking that THIS TIME would be the last time. i enjoy exercises in futility.

we had three different present opening celebrations. the first was with my little family on a saturday. we tried to hide the big present, but somehow in their spidey senses kicked in and they ran straight for it. and we don't have many good hiding places for gifts of this size.

our christmas tree had been dead since about november 30th.

later on bonnie and clyde took el jeep for a test drive in the basement. i think it was their favorite gift.

ridin' dirty- no pants, no shoes, haphazard use of a water pistol.

then it was off to a week in glorious fabulous waycross, georgia(where the ways cross!) thomas was kind enough to sit by the kidlets on the plane. even on the return trip when i was bumped up to first class. not to get all philosophical on you, but that is one of my love languages and thomas speaks it. riding on airplanes is terribly painful for me. my ears clog up at the slightest change in cabin pressure and i go practically deaf. i have to chew a gum wad about the size of the death star to ease some of the pressure. lucky for me, because of some jaw issues that i have had for most of my life, i am unable to chew gum without it causing intense pain to my jaw. ultimately, during the flight my jaw locks into place from gum chewing and i am sitting there about to cry because my ears are feel like they are bleeding in pain so if the kids are screaming, i don't even know because i can't even hear anything anymore. so much for not being wordy.

after landing in the ATL(where the playas play, and we ride on them things like everyday. big beats, hit streets, with gangstas roamin, and parties don't stop 'til 8 in the mornin')

we set off to find our favorite pizza place, the mellow mushroom. we got a large and we killed that thing in like 8 minutes. even with my jaw locked in place i was able to gnaw 3 pieces down.

we enjoyed first class accomodations and played in the 60 degree weather, thinking often of the 12 degree weather we left behind. i didn't even pack a coat!

we viewed some local sights, like memorial stadium, biggest high school football stadium not sponsored by wal*mart.

at some fine local delicacies:

spent some time at jekyll island at high tide.(and ROLL TIDE!)

it was sort of freezing.

and a little windy,

and then we cruised on over to some of the resort areas on jekyll island.

next time we visit there will be no kids and we will stay in this luxury resort. lucky for us there was a sign posted that said no children and no mistresses allowed. so no tiger woods either.

thomas and i made the world's largest red velvet cake, complete with brownie layer. i don't know why i felt the need to put my thumb in this picture.

then we tooled around on mimi susu's power wheels collection in the back yard.

and scarlett pulled the boys around on the four-wheeler. i think she felt quite at home.

i think my sister-in-law mindy said it best, "this is so redneck." but we love us some rednecks. and apparently we also love snots and boogers.

in waycross, i received my favorite christmas present a la thomas. "made in germany so you know it's good stuff!" it's like owning a tiny bit of a BMW. thomas really does speak my love language. i can't wait to dry my sweaters with it.

on our way back to atlanta, out nerd tendencies took over and we stopped at a historical site. but not just any historical site, the home in which jefferson davis was captured. for a good laugh enlarge this picture and read the description. i think that sign had been around since the 1950s.

i wish you could better see my georgia bulldogs t-shirt that i am proudly sporting.

this picture might just be up for framing. mostly because i love that sweater on thomas.

after a final trip to zaxby's, we hit up ikea. it was a madhouse. but, i got some fab fabric for my bathroom. hopefully it can sit in a box for a bout 6 months like all my other projects.

thomas' best christmas gift was from mother nature. christmas morning he got up and took a nice run in 65 degree weather.

which was great for him, because when we got home we discovered this. it has since snowed about 5 more inches. and we hate it.

our third and final christmas was at my mom's with most of my family. scarlett pressed this button about a million times.

we spent a day at crown center and did a session at kaleidescope. scarlett was not that amused by much of the activities and REALLY did not want her picture taken. she kept shouting, "NO CHEESE!" which is funny because the only way i know how to cook is with cheese. there is no other way. especially cooking with cream cheese. it almost hurt my heart to hear her say that.

no cheese with cousin whitney:

no cheese with uncle bonecrusher:

no cheese

and i can't pass up a photo opportunity.

a good portion of our time was spent at the water fountain, washing our hands. it's really the only exhibit that amused my kids. cleanliness is next to Godliness.

my dad surprised us with a performance on his new electric guitar. and then we heard the entire history of les paul and the electric guitar.

christine fake reading the scriptures. such a pharisee! reading to be seen of men!

hope your christmas was snuggie and bright!!!

are you part of the revolution?

because i am. i recently devoured(punny) the hunger games by suzanne collins and the sequel catching fire. great books! ALL CAPS GREAT BOOKS! i gave them both 5 stars on goodreads. and i don't do that everyday. i can only think of one other book for sure.(are we friends on goodreads? we should be. be my friend.) fun, easy, clean, creative, adventurous, motivating and exciting. plenty to think about and to chew on(HA!). and katniss is my kind of heroine. tough as nails yet vulnerable. like scarlett o'hara.


i purchased my mockingjay pin today and i think that just about puts me over the top for a very youthful and very hip 29 year old wife and mother of two. i was a touch disappointed that the pin was so ugly. but for $3.50 that's what you get. it's delightfully tacky, just like hooters. and refined, just like me.

i encourage everyone to RUN(like someone is trying to kill you) to their nearest bookstore and purchase these books. especially since it took me 6 MONTHS on the waiting list at the library to get the first one. if i had known it was going to be this fantastic i would have bought it outright and not waited. now that you have been warned-ask for them for christmas! cancel your other plans and read. start planning your ideal movie cast. i want to play katniss.(surprise!) i am already planning my katniss everdeen halloween costume. it should be ready by april. perhaps i will wear it for my birthday. who will want to go out with me dressed like that? the mockingjay pin is just the first step. i already own adequate boots and pants. i also need an orange tunic and a bow and a quiver of arrows. and some arrow shooting skillz. and some selflessness and courage.

the final book comes out in august of 2010. i hope i can make it that long. i would hate to tragically die between now and then and miss that coming out. what a downer that would be.

i am my own worst enemy

a short list of things i said that i would never do:

1. make scarlett and me wear coordinating outfits. i still have flashbacks of puffy black gauze and hot pink sparkles and polka dots on early 90s style drop waist easter dresses that i wore when i was 11 and my sister was 7. but as i recall my mom said she got a "really good deal" on them. i think i've already used that line too much with scarlett(and thomas). yikes bikes :

*please note reagan's hand on scarlett's head. it's like he can't help himself. he's addicted to touching her head.

2. let my kid run around with no pants(or a really boogery nose and her brother's socks):

3. have colored lights on a christmas tree. AND not rearrange the ornaments the kids put up after doing a shoddy job. they have no innate sense of ornament balance. and the red lights make it look like a satan tree. it's killing me. it looks like the little tree that couldn't:

*it's a double threat, red lights and no pants. i'm sure there's a joke in that somewhere.

there are monsters at the end of this post

a week of gratitude. in no particular order.

1. three rivalry weekend wins.
courtesy of my husband:

rivalry weekend was good to us. alabama, georgia and byu all made it happen. and if any of those teams are taking requests, how about a nice blowout next year so i am not so stressed at the end of ALL THREE GAMES? and i am not talking diaper blowout. i've had enough of those, thanks. i was sick to my stomach by the end of the byu-utah game. i think i am developing a football induced ulcer.

2. thanksgiving morning flag footballit was cold, but the kidlets and i loved it. and i get extra points for being only one of two supportive wives that showed up. (ooh, does it burn?)

2.5. the nice boys who let my little reagan run around the field with them while they were playing flag football with some of the dads. reagan LOVED IT. it warmed the icy cockles in my chest where most people keep their hearts.

3. totally presh photo opportunities because thomas had the day off.
4. the sister missionaries. we were blessed to have the sister missionaries in our home for thanksgiving. i melted as soon as they came in our door. i felt like our holiday was suddenly complete. we were so blessed by their presence. i love them. sister card is from utah and sister sasaki is from japan. (guess which one is which!) i always wanted to be japanese when i grew up. hopefully there is still a chance.

5. my stinky kids. regardless of body odor, i just like them. love them, even. it was so nice that they wanted ME, the slob in the sweats and apron to be their chair. meatball even joined in the displays of affection.

6. parents that will take family pictures of my little clan. i want a nice family picture SO badly that i force my mom and dad to take pictures of us in these faux happy settings each and every time that we are together in hopes that perhaps this time might be the mythical good picture. i know it is a pain and i am the ONLY person in my family who truly enjoys getting their picture taken. and because of this, none of them turn out very well. but i keep trying. and i am grateful for my parent's photography efforts. (even if i alway have to crop my mom's fingers out of the final product.)

and yes, we are the monsters at the end of this post. i am grateful that i get to have these monsters in my life.

you don't have to admit you're blown away.

the midwest just plain rocks. i hope you all realize that by now. i had the opportunity to play tour guide to my dear friend natalie this past weekend. she was a good sport whilst i played, "this is my life" and showed her all the mundane aspects of my current goings on. and even better, she was unable to escape me when i displayed the pointless-to-anyone-not-me-aspects of growing up in kansas city. anecdotes about people she doesn't know were shared, drives to nowhere important were made, tours of a bygone era were observed, gasps of "this used to be a field!" or "i always thought this was the boonies!" were listened to. she was my captive audience. and i do mean captive. she couldn't get away.

friday we were blessed to visit the country club plaza for dinner and shopping and a movie with friends. unfortunately, no pictures, which is a crying in the night shame because we were looking as fly as all get out with heels and make up and brushed teeth and everything! we were the textbook definition of "flossin' ". we were able to take in a little art house indie flick called new moon(perhaps you've heard of it?). natalie LOVED it. she sort of gushed about it, which is unusual for natalie. she is completely shy and reserved and normally has a hard time articulating herself. speaking in front of others makes her blush and occasionally she will cry. frankly, it was embarassing. she likes to give the impression that she was unimpressed by the twilight saga and that she didn't even want to see this movie. there were a few times when i had to say, "natalie, please. calm down! jacob black/taylor lautner is underage!!!" she left her ticket stub here, and now i need to mail it to her so she can frame it and put it next to her wedding pictures and pictures of her children. (does sarcasm normally translate well in written form?) thomas also made the trip to new moon. but he didn't like it one bit. i think his quote was, "one of the top five worst movies i have ever seen." he doesn't mince words. but he is still so supportive of my interests!

saturday was chock full of site seeing. after natalie has the simpson waffle breakfast experience, we set out to see former america idol david cook's childhood home:

and we found it.

it happens to be across the street from my high school alma mater. we jumped around and screamed but it didn't look like mr. cook had left a light on for us. (OH! so clever!) ps-i have no recollection of david cook in high school. it's like i was too cool for him.

we then ventured onward and upward to the new gap generation store. the website claims that it was "more than a factory store" and i think they were right. more expensive and fewer markdowns. i need to give it a few weeks to reassess itself and the go back. i demand a lot from my bargain shopping.

gratuitous photo opportunities

after we got all that worldliness out of our systems, we ventured northward to the liberty jail historic site. fascinating and humbling all at the same time. let's just say that my make up was done. it's time in my life for me to purchase stock in kleenex.

after liberty jail we ate at los compas mexican restaurant, which according to the server, means friends. quite apropo! and we laughed till we cried about the time in college that we ate at that terrible restaurant in draper called guadalahonky's and they used to have a billboard on I-15 that said, "i get gas at guads!" and they weren't kidding! the fact that we hadn't bathed that day meant nothing at gudalahonky's! as reagan would say, "a beautiful stink!"

after that we said our goodbyes and natalie headed back to real life in the ATL. and i headed back to my real life in the KC. but those 24 hours suspended in college silliness and carefree friendship were rejuvenating and priceless!

and when i got home i saw that my darling family had picked out our christmas tree! i have a fast held belief that only white lights belong on christmas trees(someone else here doesn't agree) and i compromised by only putting a few of my lovely jewel toned ribbons on the tree. not naming any names, but marriage is all about compromise. holla for christmas!

sunday was the primary program in our ward. it is hands down my favorite sunday of the year. reagan diligently practiced his line and delivered it flawlessly. if i can brag on reagan's talents, he is a master memorizer. after his dazzling performance, he sang his heart out and entertained the congregation by picking his nose, double barrel style. lucky for him he was sitting on the front row so everyone was able to catch a glimpse. thomas and i laughed until we cried.

afterward grandma gave him a present to comemorate the event. i wanted pictures and this is what i ended up with:


why doesn't everyone love taking pictures as much as i do?

i scream, you scream

we all scream and then eat ourselves silly on cookie dough.

as a flawed person, i admit that i lose my cool and yell at the kidlets. i know others have blogged about it and that i am not alone. some days i just can't take the messes and their childishness. today was one of those days. after all the smoke had cleared and we all cried it out, i decided our only solution was to say to heck with dinner and we made cookies. glorious cookies.

time and food heal all wounds. according to the The Family: A Proclamation to the World, "successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities." making cookies makes me feel like i am in heaven because it encompasses so many of these principles. we had to repent and forgive in order for us to be able to work together. i had to apologize in order to regain a modicum of respect from my kidlets. i was able to love on them while the cookies were mixed by the mixer. it was a lot of hard work to refrain from eating all the cookie dough. we laughed and chatted as we spooned the cookies onto the cookie sheets. all was made better as we used goody baking as a medium for recreation and family unity.


the healing powers of cookies helped me even to laugh when i banged the cookie sheet against the side of oven(like i always do) and smashed all the cookies in a big heap. they still tasted like happiness and smiles. much tastier than snots and boogers and tears and contention.

"families are about love overcoming emotional torture." matt groening, creator of the simpsons

it's snot fun

we've been sick. and our pumpkins are a perfect gourd still life representation of how we feel.
thomas even missed work.
i've turned into a blob of phlegm.
reagan doesn't complain but just lays around with puppy dog eyes and pathetic expressions.
scarlett hasn't let illness slow her down. she's still rollin' with the homies.
meatball isn't sick, but he's been lying around and getting in the way more than usual.
and the national unemployment rate is 10.2%. really sickening.

indoctrinate early

every family needs to have words to live by, a proclamataion to hold them together and to unify them. at the casa de simpson, we have such a proclamation.

1. we indoctrinate early
2. we don't pay full price.
3. we don't cheer for florida, utah or tennessee, which brings us to sublaw 3.1. we don't wear orange and blue together and we make a concerted effort to wear black and red together.
4. we don't like cats.
5. the name ronald reagan is spoken in hushed, reverent tones.
6. we take halloween seriously.

i'm in charge of costumes:



thomas is in charge of pumpkins:

BATMOM-

avenger of messes,

lightning quick folder of laundry,

human receptacle of rejected lunches, cast-off jackets, socks and partially-licked candy.

superchic machine washable superhero uniform known for it's bionic stretchy waist band to hold in not so bionic mom stomach, booger and snot proof cape, arch supportive sneaks for leaping over incredible messes, and classy/flashy truth seeking mask that burns through lying children's souls.

be afraid. be very afraid.

i like the way i work it, no diggity

i cry a lot. A LOT. more than your average bear.
saturday, i ran in the kansas city marathon, the half-marathon portion. it was great. i thoroughly enjoyed getting up earlier than anyone else on earth to run on saturday mornings. i thoroughly enjoyed talking about running and my practice courses. i thoroughly enjoyed carb-loading. and milk chocolate chip loading. (did you know i have a chocolate chip eating compulsion? my hand is permanently cupped because of how often i am holding a personal stash of chocolate chips. it's bad. crazy bad. kanye west crazy bad.) and sometimes when i am running, i will tear up. i just love it. i love the feeling of freedom from running and i can't hold my emotions in.

the night before the race, i teared up whilst carb-loading. i was that excited. the morning of, i let a few tears slip out as i read the love/encouragement note from thomas. i pretended that i had allergies when i got into my car and heard that thomas had queued up one of my all time favorite running songs, "we run" by sugarland.

i got misty when i saw that this man had pulled his old letterman's jacket out to wear to the race so that i could more easily spot him in the throngs of people.

my vision was completely blurred because i saw this homeless looking person waiting for me at the finish line. (apparently, once you move to las vegas you forget how cold it is when you come back to visit kansas city and have nothing to wear but your brother's castoffs. never mind that we are having an unusually cold october.)

i cried when i saw my dad. it meant the world to me to see him there.

this was my running crew. we all rode to the race together and it was so great be a part of this group. i cried unashamedly when we said a group pre-race prayer. it's so nice to have friends you can pray with.

i had a fantastic time running MOST of this race. it was a real treat to run with a friend for a good part of it. carie and i matched paces for a good portion. she has a great stride and i could feel her pulling me with her. it's really nice to rely on someone else's strength. then i hit mile 8. and could tell that i was needed to refuel a touch. i slowed for some gatorade and then when i was trying to speed up again, i felt myself hit a wall. the dreaded wall!!! i should have just said to heck with electrolytes and kept going. it was terrible. my beautiful pace was gone. i was crushed. i cried out of sadness for the first time that day. my run turned ugly. like a robot dancing in glue. i was so angry that i wasn't going to reach my goal of finishing in under 2 hours.
but i kept on keeping on.
i eventually sped up a little. but i mostly just concentrated on finishing.

the effort is what is important. that i really tried.

practice makes permanent.

i can do hard things.

i tried to believe all that.

and i finished. i was a touch disappointed when i crossed at 2 hours 1 minutes 20 seconds. but happy to be done. i was feeling fine. i cheered other runners on. i enjoyed the race atmosphere.

i ate my snacks and guzzled my water. then i realized that i was cold. REALLY COLD. it was still only about 9am and the weather was in the 40s. i was wearing my cold weather compression pants but just a stretchy long sleeve t-shirt. and i sweated my guts out whilst running. my shirt was soaked and i was freezing. and then i didn't feel so well. then i felt really bad.

how bad? this bad:
this picture isn't a completely accurate representation of my illness as i would never wear such awful shorts and only dreamt of throwing up. that dream evaded me. but i was sick. blue lips. uncontrollable full body shaking. doubled over. that sort of crazy feeling where sentences are hard to form and you are wondering why there is a dancing gnome standing next to you. and i don't really remember the drive home. when i got home(how did i get home? i think thomas was involved. my hero. i do recall dumping a bottle of gatorade on my seat.) i took that awful frozen shirt off and crawled into my bed and thought about girl's camp and how to avoid hypothermia. and then i tried not to cry. after about an hour i was okay. but now i am going to invest in a cold compression shirt to match my pants. i have learned my lesson about running around like a fool with no hat and only a light shirt in cold weather.
and then i got online to check my official finish time:

1:59:57

three precious seconds!
so i cried some more out of happiness!

ps- my darling sister was in town this weekend.

we celebrated a happy early heatherween!

she's the best. and the kindest. and the most loving. she's the good sister. the righteous sister. the elinor to my marianne dashwood. and i miss her terribly.

breaking news story

local husband gets wife's walmart request exactly right on first try! all while wrangling two small children in tow. on a saturday morning! and the crowd goes WILD! and the wife goes WILDER!

life in suburbia will never be the same. unbeknownst to the husband, all subsequent trips will require this same level of perfection.

craftastic

last thursday i completed only my second ever homemaking/enrichment night***/relief society meeting craft ever. and it is probably the FIRST craft that i have ever completed that i actually look forward to using again or even just looking at. my crafting skillz could best be described as craptastic and i have a closet bursting with half finished and super ugly crafts and projects. it's like the island of misfits toys, but with a pathetic partially sewn garment bag, unstuffed deflated halloween pumpkins, stacks of partially finished greeting cards that i misspelled things on, hideous glass globe christmas ornaments filled with ribbon(i taught that class), a family home evening board that i made upside down and several incomplete hostess aprons(i also "taught" that class). the only thing i ever successfully completed was this ceramic snowman statue. and the only reason that i have kept it around is because thomas likes it. i have always wanted to take a hammer to it. U-G-L-Y. it ain't got no alibi.

and now i think that i will take a hammer to it.

presenting my completed craft!!! a beaded necklace and bracelet set:

one more time??? okay!

so proud. i think i may try and make some more. just for funnsies. and so that i can see if i can actually finish it on my own. attaching the clasps required a lot of attention from someone who knew what they were doing. and that person was not me.

ps- i hadn't showered in these photos. so greasy good.

***am i the only one who will miss that name enrichment night??? i loved the sound of that. even if the only enriching that i got was from chitchatting with friends and meeting new people and enriching my waistline with goodies.