stuck in my head

Please ignore the weird videos. In fact, click play and then turn around for optimal listening pleasure.








Many thanks to Mom (and Ros!) for the cd.

Christmas morning at our house

We had a really low-key Christmas morning, which was fun. We hung out and ate too much sugar and enjoyed my brother and sister before the hit the road back to Colorado. Jonah especially loved her dogs.

Loving on Ramona. He tried to take all his naps with them, but when Teri left the room, so would the dogs. Jonah would sit on the bed and yell, "Wait! Doggies, come back!" Jonah has asked for the doggies every time he's woken up (nap, morning, nap) since they left. Sometimes he remembers to ask about Aunt Teri and Uncle Quindi, too:A rare occasion...all 3 of us smiling (ok, not that rare, but still rare on film):Teri & Jonah:Splashing in puddles:

I love Christmas cards and some clarification

We sent out Christmas cards for the first time this year. In addition to the 5 or so we usually get, we got 7 or 8 more from people we sent cards to. It was great! In fact, 6+ came in the mail just today. We had a great time reading the letters. I can see why this is such an enduring tradition and must start plotting a letter for next year.

Also, a few thoughts on the previous post. First of all, Josh wrote it, for anyone who couldn't tell. Here are some answers to the FAQ:
1. True to his nature, the post is quite sarcastic. In response to your question, Mom, the "relaxing trip" was really hectic and stressful. Grocery shopping with Jonah is hit or miss these days and this was one of the miss trips.
2. Here's the background: I made a comment similar to the one in the story about breaking the ground beef into chunks smaller than 1 lb to save money. It is true that I try to do it sneakily because if Josh thinks it's a full pound he won't protest that I'm feeding him "girl food". Josh didn't like the idea that I had to sneak it, though, because he thought it made him sound like an ogre. Hence the tone of the story. I stand corrected. Apparently, Josh likes the idea, too.
3. We heard a comedy skit that said, "if a date tells you she's not crazy, run away. Only crazy people say 'I'm not crazy.'"

Beware of the overbearing husband

It was a quiet peaceful afternoon. The family had just returned from a relaxing trip to the grocery store where they were way over-budget and the offspring acted like his father the entire time. Typically it was the woman's job to place the items neatly on the shelves while the man sat alone on the couch ignoring both his wife and son, but this day was different. Despite the man's natural tendencies to cannibalize his offspring and suppress his wife, he was feeling the spirit of Christmas and began to put the groceries away. Of course, he went straight for the meat. Ground meat. Pre-abused and bloody--just the way 'his kind' often liked to imagine their families. He figured if he had to suffer through doing a woman's job, he may as well start with the good stuff. The woman, threatened by the excellence and ease with which the man did her "difficult" tasks that often took all day, decided to speak despite the fact that the man had not given her permission. Daring, indeed, but she figured since the man was already feeling the spirit of Christmas he would forgive her little informality.

"Its 5lbs, but you should divide it into 6 portions instead of 5. It will last longer."

The man thought for a moment. Yes, it would be less meat per meal, but the instant payoff of hacking up the bloody meat one extra time was worth it. He could worry about getting enough food at dinner later. He let out a subtle grunt and smiled a bit as he made the extra cut.

"Thats it? You aren't going to protest or yell at me or anything? You're just going to cut it into 6 pieces even though that means you won't have a full pound at each meal?"

The man, lacking proper training in the sophisticated art of verbalization just pounded his chest violently as if to say, "Grrrrrrrr". (Mind you, this is the only emotion--or thought--men are capable of feeling). His wife, thinking this was a form of 'communication' clearly missed the message, but because she was still alive in the presence of this beastly (and handsome) man she continued to press her luck and spoke again.

"I can't believe you're doing it. It won't be 5 chunks of one pound each. They will be uneven. I spend half of my day worrying about how you will react to the way I do things. Are the dishes cleaned to your liking? Is the food delicious enough? Is your offspring behaving properly? You know. I am always trying to see just how much I can get away with without you noticing. I cut corners here and there hoping you will never know. I am sneaky. SNEAKY! And now you just cut the meat into 6 pieces instead of 5? Like you don't even care? I'm not crazy. I'M NOT CRAZY!!!"

The man is still not sure what this means.

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

The man's offspring proudly shows his destructive abilities when the woman leaves her war-paint bag on the floor:

These don't quite do it justice. He had three shades of crushed blush all down the front of his shirt, the couch, and the floor. I, of course, brushed him off before deciding to take pictures for the grandparents. Oh well.

where'd Jonah go?

Jonah (hiding in the closet): Where'd Jonah go?
Me & Josh: Where's Jonah?
Jonah: Check in the closet! I'm in the closet!

Not quite ready for hide & seek, I guess.

I can see how Christmas gets out of control.

I just found "Elmo Visits the Firehouse" on VHS for $2.99 (that's including 2-day shipping) and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (only one of the best picture books ever) for $3.50 (again, including 2-day shipping) on Amazon. I'm so excited for Jonah to open them and be excited too! We checked Chicka Chicka Boom Boom out at the library a few weeks ago and both liked it a ton. Jonah's favorite part is the black-eyed P. I can see how without really thinking about it the gifts could get out of control...it's going to be so much fun to watch him open them.

On a more reflective note, Jonah loves his little nativity. The stable is currently being inhabited by all the animals, though, instead of Baby Jesus. The manger (and Jesus) are in his pocket.

speechless

I have nothing to say. That never happens! I've been trying to spend some better time with my boys, though, now that the semester is over (yay!) and just haven't had the creative juices when I have time at the computer.

Recently, we have been:
-making ugly pipe cleaner snowflakes (not ugly in the tutorial...just ugly when I do them).
-eating smoothies (Jonah calls them "movies" and thinks every morning is a holiday when he gets one. In fact, he woke up at 3:00 this morning asking for one).
-slooowly decorating for Christmas. I'm not sure, but I think it might be more fun this way because we get to stretch it out.
-hunkering down against the cold.
-crying when our heating bill arrives.
-watching a whole ton of weird Elmo movies. The library has a fair number of VHS Sesame Street movies (DVD player is on the fritz) but a lot of them are bizarre. Jonah's favorite, of course, is Elmo Visits the Fire Station. Hooper's store catches on fire at the beginning and Elmo spends most of the opening scared to death while very creepy music plays. I'm not sure what I think but Jonah thinks its awesome.
-loving our space heater. Really, it's a good one and actually cool to the touch like it claims (I was skeptical, but it has not disappointed).

why you should always ask

The other day I was ordering photo prints on snapfish.com (I try to keep at least a Christmas scrapbook up to date. The last page I did was from 2008. Whoops.) when I noticed a credit for a free photo poster. I clicked to redeem, made myself a nice little photo poster calendar and went about my way. Well, when I got to checkout, the poster was not free. I would have ordered one anyway (it's a yearly gift for Josh's step mom to put in her office) but I was sad because I had already reallocated that money. Then I noticed a live chat help option. I entered the live chat (my only other experience with live chat help was with Comcast and was a very negative one) and explained my issue. It seems that my credit was for a single photo poster, not a collage poster. Phooey. On the spot, I thought of a few pictures I'd like in poster size, so I got over it. But then I thought, why not ask? So I said, "Is there any way to update the credit to be good towards a collage poster? This is a purchase I make every year and it would be great if I could use my credit today." The rep's response? "Sure, just give me a second." Woohoo $10!

Fast forward 2 days and I'm back on snapfish ordering Christmas cards (It'll be our first time. I'm excited. If I don't have your address, I need it. How is that for vague?) with a 25% coupon. I was pleased with the deal I found and loved the card and off I went. Well then, the very next day, I saw a coupon for 25% off plus free shipping and another coupon for 30% off plus free shipping. So I sent a service request asking if either of those could be applied to my order? The 30% off one started the day after my order, so that was a long shot. The other one (that included free shipping) was valid, however, I had just missed it somehow. They have all of a billion codes they've emailed me and on their site. Lo and behold this morning, a response! A refund of $6 for shipping. Woohoo!

So all in all, asking (even though I figured the answer would be "no" on both accounts) saved me $16. Nice work, me.

2 1/2 going on 16

5 minutes ago at our house:
"Mom, can I have your keys please?"
"Sure dear."
"I need to go to work."

eat that little bug, lizard!

On a walk today

Number of trucks from the collection of truck books seen: 8.
Varieties: pickup truck, telephone repair truck, backhoe loader, dump truck, fire truck, ambulance, mini excavator, delivery truck.
Number of delighted boys: 1.
Variety: Jonah.