1:32 pm, December 22nd - last Christmas gift bought and paid for, I am done!
Earier this week I was so overwhelmed with everything left to do before Christmas. I had a house to clean, tons of gifts left to buy, parties & playdates to go to, all the wrapping... and I didn't really feel like budging from the couch.
I would love to say that some lovely magic moment returned my holiday spirit - but unfortunately my knight in shining armor was the movie "The Devil Wears Prada". There's a section of the movie where the heroin (uh...that can't be the right word? or do you spell both the drug and the female hero the same way?) is rushing around like mad meeting the whims of her "devilish" boss.
I think it was supposed to be a negative thing, but as I watched her run through the streets in her stilettos, looking fashionable, carrying bags of herme scarves & calvin kline skirts, it actually looked like a whole lot of fun. Oh, to be able to look stylish AND accomplish 20 or more tasks a day, keeping lists, your brain pumped up to remember every last detail, adrenaline flying... Its a far cry from entertaining an almost two year old, let me tell you.
But it inspired me to get my house cleaned in three hours and my shopping done in four and with each swoop of the credit card, I felt a small sense of accomplishment.
Now isn't that just a beautiful Christmas story?
Friday, December 22, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Christmas Rants
A couple cheerful holiday rants that have been on my mind lately and will (hopefully) amuse you this last week before Christmas...
(well they may amuse you if you're a stay at home mom who's weekly highlights include baking cookies & reading Martha Stewart magazines)
1) Baking. I made a bunch of cookies this weekend and was befuddled that every single recipe calls for room temperature butter. Does ANYONE really use room temperature butter? Do they wake up in the morning and think "oh, maybe I should pull some butter out of the fridge so that its ready for cookies this afternoon"? Cookbook authors must be aware that 99.9% of us stick the dumb thing in the microwave and hopefully pull it out before it makes a buttery mess. Why do they insist on writing "room temperature"? It would be so much more helpful if they gave us the exact seconds to nuke the thing to make it close to room temperature.
2) Martha. Every time I start to fall back in love with Martha Stewart, she does something to annoy me. This year's special "make your own gifts" magazine looked beautiful and awesome. Unfortunately the store ran out before I bought one, so I settled for her monthly magazine instead. I was chugging along, pleased as punch, until I came upon the article "Holiday Color Schemes". Actually it was the photos that did me in, particularly the "Citrus Christmas".
"Citrus Christmas" featured a photo of Christmas morning at some poor family's house where every single bleecarkin item was color coordinated. Lemon, orange and lime stockings, matching tree, carefully orchestrated citrusy present wrappings.... I could almost handle it. But the fact that the jubilant tots diving for their gifts were wearing matching citrus toned pajamas did me in. As if they were just one more accessory that needed to be coordinated.
All I could think of was some crazy psycho mom yelling at her kids "what are you doing wearing those red pajamas! You know we are citrus toned this year, what are you thinking!!!! You're not opening a single present until you go put on the lime green ones I bought you!" Then the lemon yellow couch started to peeve me as well..... Who has a couch that matches their christmas decorations?
Oh well, I'm sure I'll forget in a month or two and be back for more.
(well they may amuse you if you're a stay at home mom who's weekly highlights include baking cookies & reading Martha Stewart magazines)
1) Baking. I made a bunch of cookies this weekend and was befuddled that every single recipe calls for room temperature butter. Does ANYONE really use room temperature butter? Do they wake up in the morning and think "oh, maybe I should pull some butter out of the fridge so that its ready for cookies this afternoon"? Cookbook authors must be aware that 99.9% of us stick the dumb thing in the microwave and hopefully pull it out before it makes a buttery mess. Why do they insist on writing "room temperature"? It would be so much more helpful if they gave us the exact seconds to nuke the thing to make it close to room temperature.
2) Martha. Every time I start to fall back in love with Martha Stewart, she does something to annoy me. This year's special "make your own gifts" magazine looked beautiful and awesome. Unfortunately the store ran out before I bought one, so I settled for her monthly magazine instead. I was chugging along, pleased as punch, until I came upon the article "Holiday Color Schemes". Actually it was the photos that did me in, particularly the "Citrus Christmas".
"Citrus Christmas" featured a photo of Christmas morning at some poor family's house where every single bleecarkin item was color coordinated. Lemon, orange and lime stockings, matching tree, carefully orchestrated citrusy present wrappings.... I could almost handle it. But the fact that the jubilant tots diving for their gifts were wearing matching citrus toned pajamas did me in. As if they were just one more accessory that needed to be coordinated.
All I could think of was some crazy psycho mom yelling at her kids "what are you doing wearing those red pajamas! You know we are citrus toned this year, what are you thinking!!!! You're not opening a single present until you go put on the lime green ones I bought you!" Then the lemon yellow couch started to peeve me as well..... Who has a couch that matches their christmas decorations?
Oh well, I'm sure I'll forget in a month or two and be back for more.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Belated snow pics
Can you believe it's only 12 degrees out here? Plus wind chill?
Thank goodness for warm and cuddly hand-me-down snowsuits
I think I would prefer to NOT make a snow angel.Words - 20 months
Shape sorters are a thing of the past. While Saben still occaisionally indulges in a few minutes of sorting, his new passion is learning words. This is expressed mainly through books. Lots and lots of books. There are always 25-30 books piled on the couch by the time Kyle gets home. We must have 30-40 books, but I still yearn for new ones because I get so sick of the same ones all the time.
For the record, here are some of the word groups Saben loves right now:
1) He has learned all his colors and is about 90% accurate in telling you what color you are wearing.
2) He is maybe 40% accurate on his numbers - when he looks at them, he can name them, especially 6 and 8. I don't know how much he comprehends what they mean, I can't say "how many?" just "what is that number?" He is really into them right now and I think he'll have 1-10 memorized in a couple weeks.
3) He has uttered a few sentences, mostly mimics like "I'll get it." I don't think he quite knows what they mean. But his first real phrases are stringing together possessives "Saben Hat" and once he said "Saben Red Shirt". He'll use them as commands too "mummy ball" means that he wants daddy to give mommy the ball.
4) Saben has known his shapes for a couple months, although he doesn't say "rectangle".
5) He knows a lot of animals, but isn't really into animal noises at all. If he does say the noise, then that is what he calls the animal. Owls - Who who, but he never says "owl". Same with pigs, he calls them "oin oink"
6) He gets really excited by train whistles & airplanes/helicopters overhead. He says "eli-copter" when he hears one and knows pretty much all of his modes of transportation, including "hummer." We just love hummers, so we made sure to teach him that word.*
7) We need to work on adjectives, the only ones he knows are hot, cold, warm and heavy.
8) He says lots of names, but mangles some. He can't say "kelley" at all and calls her "too- joo" (or "Tous Jour" if like me, you enjoy pretending he's speaking some french)
I think that's everything, mostly the stuff I wanted to record and remember. You know, so once we have a second kid, I can totally compare them. ha ha ha. ha.
*Not really, it was thanks to a book.
For the record, here are some of the word groups Saben loves right now:
1) He has learned all his colors and is about 90% accurate in telling you what color you are wearing.
2) He is maybe 40% accurate on his numbers - when he looks at them, he can name them, especially 6 and 8. I don't know how much he comprehends what they mean, I can't say "how many?" just "what is that number?" He is really into them right now and I think he'll have 1-10 memorized in a couple weeks.
3) He has uttered a few sentences, mostly mimics like "I'll get it." I don't think he quite knows what they mean. But his first real phrases are stringing together possessives "Saben Hat" and once he said "Saben Red Shirt". He'll use them as commands too "mummy ball" means that he wants daddy to give mommy the ball.
4) Saben has known his shapes for a couple months, although he doesn't say "rectangle".
5) He knows a lot of animals, but isn't really into animal noises at all. If he does say the noise, then that is what he calls the animal. Owls - Who who, but he never says "owl". Same with pigs, he calls them "oin oink"
6) He gets really excited by train whistles & airplanes/helicopters overhead. He says "eli-copter" when he hears one and knows pretty much all of his modes of transportation, including "hummer." We just love hummers, so we made sure to teach him that word.*
7) We need to work on adjectives, the only ones he knows are hot, cold, warm and heavy.
8) He says lots of names, but mangles some. He can't say "kelley" at all and calls her "too- joo" (or "Tous Jour" if like me, you enjoy pretending he's speaking some french)
I think that's everything, mostly the stuff I wanted to record and remember. You know, so once we have a second kid, I can totally compare them. ha ha ha. ha.
*Not really, it was thanks to a book.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Links
If I didn't link to your blog, I either:
1) forgot -OR-
2) Wasn't sure if you wanted strangers coming to your site
Just let me know if you want me to link you!
1) forgot -OR-
2) Wasn't sure if you wanted strangers coming to your site
Just let me know if you want me to link you!
Oh Christmas Tree
I don't think there is there anything more controversial in our house than the annual trimming of the Christmas tree. After six years of marriage, we almost have it all worked out, but decorating the tree without at least a little tension would be like forgetting to put the star on top. We can remodel a house together, agree on cabinets or new tile, travel together for two weeks straight without fighting, but give us a Christmas tree and all hell breaks loose.
When you think about it, there's plenty to cause strife: different traditions, sentimentality, a complete lack of sentimentality, bossiness, bullheadedness and tree ettiquette. Just in case your tree trimming is a smooth, peaceful affair and you have no idea what I am talking about, I'll give you a few examples. Maybe this year you can even have a few fights of your own!
Do we hang every last ornament or do we stop when the tree gets full? Is it allowable to move an ornament someone has already placed in a really stupid spot? Should we spend 30 minutes pruning some branches to make the tree more shapely or does that make the ends of the branches look unnatural and icky? Do we keep working till both parties are finished, or is one person allowed to go do whatever they want once they personally think the tree is done? Do we have to listen to christmas music, or can we stick in some Radiohead?
It should be even more jolly fun once Saben is old enough to get in on the action. Secretly, we are both grooming him to take our side. I show him how to gingerly hang each ornament in the perfect spot, giving him the oral history of each one, while Kyle demonstrates how funny it is to hurl the ornaments at the tree hoping they stick in the branches. "See mommy's face turning red! Let's do it again!"
Actually, I am happy to say that I am getting quite good at ignoring (maybe enjoying?) these shennanigans, but we always find at least one new thing to fret about each year and Christmas wouldn't be the same without it.
When you think about it, there's plenty to cause strife: different traditions, sentimentality, a complete lack of sentimentality, bossiness, bullheadedness and tree ettiquette. Just in case your tree trimming is a smooth, peaceful affair and you have no idea what I am talking about, I'll give you a few examples. Maybe this year you can even have a few fights of your own!
Do we hang every last ornament or do we stop when the tree gets full? Is it allowable to move an ornament someone has already placed in a really stupid spot? Should we spend 30 minutes pruning some branches to make the tree more shapely or does that make the ends of the branches look unnatural and icky? Do we keep working till both parties are finished, or is one person allowed to go do whatever they want once they personally think the tree is done? Do we have to listen to christmas music, or can we stick in some Radiohead?
It should be even more jolly fun once Saben is old enough to get in on the action. Secretly, we are both grooming him to take our side. I show him how to gingerly hang each ornament in the perfect spot, giving him the oral history of each one, while Kyle demonstrates how funny it is to hurl the ornaments at the tree hoping they stick in the branches. "See mommy's face turning red! Let's do it again!"
Actually, I am happy to say that I am getting quite good at ignoring (maybe enjoying?) these shennanigans, but we always find at least one new thing to fret about each year and Christmas wouldn't be the same without it.
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