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December 25, 2009
This little ornament could very well be the demise of my siblings. Actually there's a whole bunch of these little handmade treasures but every year we argue over who will finally get them from my mom. I of course, being the oldest and only one of two siblings to have actually been present when they were made, claim full rights to them. My mom says I have to share though.
When my brother and I were little my grandma had us help her made these. I think it was mostly to keep us busy one night but I'll never forget it. She had made this little round ornaments then got out a box of old Christmas cards she had saved and helped us cut out pictures to clue in the center of the ornaments. I remember going through all the cards searching for just the right scenes to cut out. And I remember each ornament, my favorite was this puppy in a Christmas stocking. We even have a blank one that didn't get a picture put in it... I'm positive this was the one, single ornament I gave to my brother Jesse to make. Once we were done my grandma decided they didn't match her tree and gave them all to us. We have loved and fought over them ever since.
Little do my siblings know that I've got a talented mother-in-law who not only found variegated yarn like this, but also knows how to make these little things. And I've got my own box of Christmas cards I've been saving so one day I can have my own special treasures.
December 20, 2009
I'm pretty sure our attempt to teach Pearl to count to 24 was only exciting because it involved chocolate. And not just any chocolate... the good kind. Dove, at Jeff's request. After finishing my advent calendar Pearl and Jeff would spend a few minutes each night counting to the next available square of candy. She LOVED this tradition and couldn't wait for Jeff to get home so she could "count." Thankfully all our practicing paid off and she counted to 12 all by herself. Who says bribery is a bad thing?
December 16, 2009
I thought this year would be different... Pearl might actually want to see Santa Claus. Hopefully next year we might be able to at least walk into the room with the Jolly Ole man seeing as how this year it took me 20 minutes of walking around my building before convincing Pearl to join her friends to see what Santa had brought. At least this year Pearl kept the screaming to a minimum and just clung to me instead. So this picture is as good as you'll get with a frightened two-year old and a prego mom who was just a bit freaked out herself by how much Santa wanted her to sit on his lap. Guess I can't blame Pearl after all, I was kind of weirded out myself afterwards.
November 21, 2009
I pretty much skipped October and November this year. Yes, we are all still alive but just barely at times. I swear kid #2 has just about killed us all! So now that I can get out and function for a few hours without crying or puking, we decided to keep with our family tradition of taking the train to the Gateway and watching the tree light up. Pearl loves riding the train (oh and the new hair cut she got today... super cute and way easier to do with less fighting and crying for all involved) and Jeff and I love avoiding the holiday traffic downtown. We listened to another great Jon Schmidt concert, ate dinner at the Sports Bar, shopped, watched a massive tree get lite up in about a million LED lights (still think we should donate our ugly pine tree for next year's celebration - after all with a thousand glowing lights on it who'd notice how ugly it really is?) and had a great time dancing to the music. Pearl had a blast until Santa arrived which instantly brought screams, tears, and clinging to our legs. Not even the temptation of a candy cane could convince her to finish out the evening's events so we hurried home, exhausted but grateful for a fun family night out.
October 4, 2009
Today was my family's annual Fish Fry at my Aunt Julie and Uncle Bob's house. Basically an excuse to get together, pig out on perch and salmon (or in some folk's cases, chicken), laugh, try to decide if you want to sit in the warm house or cool October temperatures on the patio, and did I mention pig out? This year I got lucky and had the attention of my Uncle Bob, a master photographer (check him out at Robert Dyer Photography on Facebook or his website), for a pert near hour. He explained my camera to me, helped me take a couple pictures, and then realized his "quick" photography lesson was going to be in vain considering there were rambunctious toddlers streaming in and out of the room, I was losing interest (not because I was bored, I was just trying to not throw up everywhere and then have to tell my family I was pregnant), and the fact that I have about as much knowledge when it comes to taking pictures and using my camera properly as a rock. Hopefully my photography growth won't plummet too much over the next few months of being sick and I can get back into the swing of things before kid #2 arrives.
BTW, this is the last, consistent 365 post. I'll do my best to take something at least weekly but as you'll see it's going to be pretty pathetic! Maybe next go around I'll actually accomplish a 365 project.
October 3, 2009
The day finally came... our 70+ year old cherry tree saw it's last day and Jeff got to buy a chain saw (I still think he could have hacked it down with his reciprocating saw and bare hands like he's done with at least 10 other trees in our yard). Personally I think the man just needed an excuse to buy a new toy, destroy something, and get out of an estrogen filled house. But the tree was half-dead, huge, and getting to be a bit of a worry that it was going to fall down and knowing our luck on our house or one of us! So down it came. I was sad to see it go - the first year we had our house it had the most fragrant and beautiful blossoms not to mention the most delicious cherries you've ever tasted - and it provided shade for us in our ginormous yard. Then my attention quickly changed to making sure my husband came of of this honey-do project with all limbs intact and eyeballs still in his sockets. To which I'm happy to report the only thing in pieces that day was the tree itself.
October 2, 2009
Pearl loves to have tea parties. The only problem with them is the preparation that must be taken beforehand to avoid massive flooding. We strip down to our diapers, ok so just Pearl does that, pull out at least two bath towels (regular old kitchen towels don't cut it with this kid), mover her table to a spot clear of any valuables, find every single tea cup and tea pot we can, and then refill them about 10-zillion times. She loves it and I figure what's a few sopping wet bath towels to dry when you can spend an hour pretending to drink the water (which inevitably has floaties in it from little fingers dipping into the cups) she pours you over and over again? Not to mention her cute faces as she explains the intricacies of drinking tea properly.
December 25, 2009
