The cacophony of noise that is our own...
...everyday.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Who are you calling a TURKEY?!!?
Gobble, Gobble!!!! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
Dana helped me get the turkey ready this morning and we got it in the roaster by 8:30 am. Yesterday I baked Dana's favorite pie---fudge pecan---and after the turkey began its roasting, the apple pie was slid into the oven. At 10:30 I ate some breakfast then went to clean up the kitchen before I messed it up again. I peeled the potatoes for mashed potatoes and they sat waiting for the right time to boil, bread was ready to slide in the oven the last few minutes, stuffing was looking good, and the concocting of the green bean casserole began. During this meal preparation, I was listening to the kitchen radio when the announcer came on and began to talk about all the mothers and grandmothers and aunts working since last week to get ready for the feast today. It took my mind back to the many Thanksgivings we had with family, where I was a kid running around with my cousins thinking that the meal just magically appeared and then just as magically cleaned itself up after we were all done eating it. So, before I forget all over again, thank you mom, grandma, and my many aunts and cousins who worked so hard to make this day one to remember and look forward to year after year. How we miss all of you!!!!!!
Aaaaand back to our house now: While all of this cooking and concocting was going on in the kitchen, Dana was in our laundry room ripping up old linoleum and scraping off the glue from the concrete floor. By the time he finished in the laundry room everything in the kitchen was all done. Dana began cutting the turkey around 12:45 when I heard..."Uhmmmmmmmm!!! Either we had two bags of giblets in here, or what I got out earlier was not really the bag at all!!!"
Ugh! Even though he did ask me to peak inside the bird to see if the bag was gone, I am blaming Dana anyway! And to be quite honest, when I did look in the carcass, I saw not a single thing! Double ugh!!!
Oh, well...other than that, the turkey was great!
Our kids tried green bean casserole for the first time that they can remember. MG loved it, D-D wouldn't really even try it, Z ate a few bites, but to our great surprise, E could not stand it!!! We took some pictures of him as he ate his portion. He was making us laugh with the faces he made. We were making him cry because he was made to eat the little bit on his plate! I am sure he was thinking, "yeah. right. happy thanksgiving to me. bleck!"
****************
Pulling the wishbone:
MG and E really wanted to break it on the first picture, but had to "fake it" so we could get all of the kids with the wishbone. As you can see, D-D disdained even getting near it! Z thought it felt funny!
E tugging the wish bone with Z. I think that Z had a wish he really wanted to come true. He was pulling on his end very hard!! If you look closely at the one with E and D-D, you will see that it only looks like she is holding the wish bone...her hand is actually a good 3 inches away from the bone.
Oh, my silly kids! Acting like they cleaned the whole turkey including the wish bone. In this shot of MG and E, they are actually pulling as hard as they can. Though Dana had cleaned and washed off the bone, it was still pretty slippery. MG's hand slid right off, but on the next pull E got the bigger end!
Dana helped me get the turkey ready this morning and we got it in the roaster by 8:30 am. Yesterday I baked Dana's favorite pie---fudge pecan---and after the turkey began its roasting, the apple pie was slid into the oven. At 10:30 I ate some breakfast then went to clean up the kitchen before I messed it up again. I peeled the potatoes for mashed potatoes and they sat waiting for the right time to boil, bread was ready to slide in the oven the last few minutes, stuffing was looking good, and the concocting of the green bean casserole began. During this meal preparation, I was listening to the kitchen radio when the announcer came on and began to talk about all the mothers and grandmothers and aunts working since last week to get ready for the feast today. It took my mind back to the many Thanksgivings we had with family, where I was a kid running around with my cousins thinking that the meal just magically appeared and then just as magically cleaned itself up after we were all done eating it. So, before I forget all over again, thank you mom, grandma, and my many aunts and cousins who worked so hard to make this day one to remember and look forward to year after year. How we miss all of you!!!!!!
Aaaaand back to our house now: While all of this cooking and concocting was going on in the kitchen, Dana was in our laundry room ripping up old linoleum and scraping off the glue from the concrete floor. By the time he finished in the laundry room everything in the kitchen was all done. Dana began cutting the turkey around 12:45 when I heard..."Uhmmmmmmmm!!! Either we had two bags of giblets in here, or what I got out earlier was not really the bag at all!!!"
Ugh! Even though he did ask me to peak inside the bird to see if the bag was gone, I am blaming Dana anyway! And to be quite honest, when I did look in the carcass, I saw not a single thing! Double ugh!!!
Oh, well...other than that, the turkey was great!
Our kids tried green bean casserole for the first time that they can remember. MG loved it, D-D wouldn't really even try it, Z ate a few bites, but to our great surprise, E could not stand it!!! We took some pictures of him as he ate his portion. He was making us laugh with the faces he made. We were making him cry because he was made to eat the little bit on his plate! I am sure he was thinking, "yeah. right. happy thanksgiving to me. bleck!"****************
Pulling the wishbone:
MG and E really wanted to break it on the first picture, but had to "fake it" so we could get all of the kids with the wishbone. As you can see, D-D disdained even getting near it! Z thought it felt funny!
E tugging the wish bone with Z. I think that Z had a wish he really wanted to come true. He was pulling on his end very hard!! If you look closely at the one with E and D-D, you will see that it only looks like she is holding the wish bone...her hand is actually a good 3 inches away from the bone. 
Oh, my silly kids! Acting like they cleaned the whole turkey including the wish bone. In this shot of MG and E, they are actually pulling as hard as they can. Though Dana had cleaned and washed off the bone, it was still pretty slippery. MG's hand slid right off, but on the next pull E got the bigger end!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
MG's School Project
MG's project this month was decorating a turkey. She had to use things around the house to decorate. We actually went outside and hunted for different colored leaves and berries. We also used some of the pine cone "leaves" that a nice little squirrel rips off the pine cones and throws on the ground. Here is the finished result:
MG acting like a turkey---too funny!
Chicka, Chicka, Bimbee---
...let's go climb the Ginkgo Tree! We didn't get all the kids up in the tree this year. But we did get MG up there and got a few pictures of its bright yellow-ness. I went out yesterday and noticed that there is not one single leaf left on the tree now. All around the base of the tree is a pool of sunshine, a lake of gold.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
I say Fall-iage ...
...You say foliage!!! Regardless of how it is said, it is beautiful right now. We are having quite a bit of rain and wind tonight, so I am thinking much of our leaves will be gone and scattered across our yard and the yards of our neighbors. Here are some pictures of our trees and those in our neighborhood from the past week or so. Our ginkgo tree has not even turned yet, so rest assured that you will be seeing some pictures later of our golden tree. Unless the wind takes care of that tonight.
Our house
Down by the river and walking through our neighborhood. I love the way the sun shines through the leaves and how blue, blue, blue the sky is!
Our house
Our neighbor's trees
Down by the river and walking through our neighborhood. I love the way the sun shines through the leaves and how blue, blue, blue the sky is!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Elementary Politics
3:00 Tuesday afternoon. November 4, 2008.
"We had an election at school today," MG and E inform me around their after-school snack.
"You did?" I ask, "Who won?"
"McCain" they both inform me.
7:00. Wednesday morning. November 5.
Kids are up, eating breakfast. Mom puts on a smile and says, "The results of the election came in last night and our new President in January will be Barack Obama."
"What?!!?" yells E.
"No, no, no!!!" says MG.
...
They both start crying.
Really.
They do.
Some no-nonsense comforting. Some good talking to about being thankful in everything. Drying tears. Hugging shoulders. The kids are sent on their way to school...
...with a little better attitude, but still somewhat depressed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7:00 A.M. Thursday. November 6, 2008.
"Mom!!!" remembers MG. "Yesterday I heard that Obama would take God out of The Pledge Of Allegiance (sniffle, sob) and...(voice quivering and full of tears) that all kids would have to go to school on (wailing now) Saaa-turrrr-daay!!"
I laughed. "Don't worry, MG. He won't do that. And if he does, we can still pledge our country to God, because that is what we want to do. He will not stop us from doing that. We can say it if we want, and those who don't want to say it, do not have to."
"Oh. Good!" she says.
And I am thinking, what ELSE is she going to hear at school from her class chums?
Same day. 9:45 AM. Fred's parking Lot.
mg is home from school due to a horrid sinus headache
We have been to the library, and several other places, when seemingly out of nowhere MG heaves a large sigh, full of sadness and resignation and says, "Mom? If he DOES change the pledge...I guess it will be like this:
I pledge allegiance
To the Flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic,
For which it stands,
One nation
Under (gulp, slight quiver of the voice)
........Obama---"
And this is when I start laughing.
Oh, my!!! Or as my Uncle Ralph would say, "GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!!!"
Dana and I have not really talked much politics at home, and when we do, the kids are swinging from the branches and flipping through the sky and flying from the swings or digging secret passages in our backyard...but usually they are sleeping during our political discussions. And even if they did hear our conversations, none of them leaned in this direction! We think that they CERTAINLY must be getting a lot of interesting information from their classmates!
"We had an election at school today," MG and E inform me around their after-school snack.
"You did?" I ask, "Who won?"
"McCain" they both inform me.
7:00. Wednesday morning. November 5.
Kids are up, eating breakfast. Mom puts on a smile and says, "The results of the election came in last night and our new President in January will be Barack Obama."
"What?!!?" yells E.
"No, no, no!!!" says MG.
...
They both start crying.
Really.
They do.
Some no-nonsense comforting. Some good talking to about being thankful in everything. Drying tears. Hugging shoulders. The kids are sent on their way to school...
...with a little better attitude, but still somewhat depressed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7:00 A.M. Thursday. November 6, 2008.
"Mom!!!" remembers MG. "Yesterday I heard that Obama would take God out of The Pledge Of Allegiance (sniffle, sob) and...(voice quivering and full of tears) that all kids would have to go to school on (wailing now) Saaa-turrrr-daay!!"I laughed. "Don't worry, MG. He won't do that. And if he does, we can still pledge our country to God, because that is what we want to do. He will not stop us from doing that. We can say it if we want, and those who don't want to say it, do not have to."
"Oh. Good!" she says.
And I am thinking, what ELSE is she going to hear at school from her class chums?
Same day. 9:45 AM. Fred's parking Lot.
mg is home from school due to a horrid sinus headache
We have been to the library, and several other places, when seemingly out of nowhere MG heaves a large sigh, full of sadness and resignation and says, "Mom? If he DOES change the pledge...I guess it will be like this:
I pledge allegiance
To the Flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic,
For which it stands,
One nation
Under (gulp, slight quiver of the voice)
........Obama---"
And this is when I start laughing.
Oh, my!!! Or as my Uncle Ralph would say, "GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!!!"
Dana and I have not really talked much politics at home, and when we do, the kids are swinging from the branches and flipping through the sky and flying from the swings or digging secret passages in our backyard...but usually they are sleeping during our political discussions. And even if they did hear our conversations, none of them leaned in this direction! We think that they CERTAINLY must be getting a lot of interesting information from their classmates!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Four Year Old Humor
D-D was trying to tell Knock-knock jokes today.
D-D: "Knock-knock"
M: Who's there?
D-D: Balloon
M: Balloon, who?
D-D: Balloon plate.....ba-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!
D-D: Knock, knock
M: Who's there?
D-D: Fork
M: Fork, who?
D-D: Fork gooble glub! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
M: My turn! Knock, knock!
D-D: Who's there?
M: Atch!"
D-D: Whose Atch?
M: No...you say 'Atch who?'
D-D: eew! Do you need a tissue?
D-D: "Knock-knock"M: Who's there?
D-D: Balloon
M: Balloon, who?
D-D: Balloon plate.....ba-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!
D-D: Knock, knock
M: Who's there?
D-D: Fork
M: Fork, who?
D-D: Fork gooble glub! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
M: My turn! Knock, knock!
D-D: Who's there?
M: Atch!"
D-D: Whose Atch?
M: No...you say 'Atch who?'
D-D: eew! Do you need a tissue?
Monday, November 3, 2008
It Was Bound To Happen!
With four children...I know that all the things that kids do to themselves will, at some time, happen to one of ours. It is just inevitable. We have seemed to breeze through life so far without many "scrapes" or mishaps and still I was holding my breath.
Yesterday, one of the things I did to myself when I was little to unwittingly torture my parents, came and got me back through one of my kids!
D-D!
This poem might best describe what happened:
Haircut
by Marilyn Singer
Moments ago
I had hair
down to there.
I could braid it
or parade it
I had hair
that I could wear.
Just like that
on a dare
I lopped it
and I chopped it
Now my head
is nearly bare.
For a second
I felt chic
Now I look
just like a freak.
What will everybody say?
I wish it was still yesterday
when my hair
my hair
my hair
was
long and sleek.
It is not as bad as the poem makes it appear, but much hair was cut and our sweet across--the--street--neighbor did a great job fixing it so that D-D looks very cute. The neighbor did not have to use the scissors on the left side of D-D's face since D-D had already done that for her!!
Yesterday, one of the things I did to myself when I was little to unwittingly torture my parents, came and got me back through one of my kids!
D-D!
This poem might best describe what happened:
Haircut
by Marilyn Singer
Moments ago
I had hair
down to there.
I could braid it
or parade it
I had hair
that I could wear.
Just like that
on a dare
I lopped it
and I chopped it
Now my head
is nearly bare.
For a second
I felt chic
Now I look
just like a freak.
What will everybody say?
I wish it was still yesterday
when my hair
my hair
my hair
was
long and sleek.
It is not as bad as the poem makes it appear, but much hair was cut and our sweet across--the--street--neighbor did a great job fixing it so that D-D looks very cute. The neighbor did not have to use the scissors on the left side of D-D's face since D-D had already done that for her!!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
My Favorite
This is my favorite picture of D-D in her southern belle costume. I took the picture on our way to the neighborhood Halloween parade (Oct 25). After downloading it, I took the picture and played with some attachments we have in our photo-enhancer thing (I am not technically savvy with the names of these computer tools). This is what I ended up with. To me, it looks like she has stepped out of a dream (dream....not nightmare!!). :-)
"I'm Stuffed!!!!!"
Well. I am definitely kicking myself. I forgot to touch the camera yesterday, so there are NO pictures of the kids trick or treating! I know you have seen several pictures of them already in costume at different Halloween festivities, but still...
And D-D decided to dress up in a different costume. She went out again last night as Tinkerbell. She was a cutie pie! MG looked very catlike, and E was his tough and tumbly self as Storm Trouper. They had a great time and came back with their buckets full. All of the candy they got at the TRUNK or Treat went with the candy we purchased for Oct 31. I put it all in a plastic tub and laughed at how it looked. I DID take a picture yesterday morning of THAT (which is not as cute as my kids-----arrrggg!) and I call it, "The Last Cake of October"
Anyway...all of this candy disappeared to fill the bags of the numerous children who visited our neighborhood. The tub lay empty (or nearly so) until I poured the new treats into it. It is now TOTALLY full----I think even more than what we started with! What this means is that we will be on a sugar high until April!!!
Since I do not have cute pictures of the kids, or funny stories of their Halloween adventures, you will have to---with me---live vicariously through my sister Keri (I should spell it vi-KERI-ously). Her two little ones (I will dub them with the letters X and A) went to several neighborhoods with a van load of friends. A was dressed up as Wall-E and X was a VOTING BOOTH!!!! Instead of carrying around a bucket, her costume had slots where people could drop the candy. One slot was for McCain, the other for Obama. Written on the outside of this voting booth was something like, "Remember to cast your vote...Ballot Stuffing allowed" Rest assured, both sides experienced some ballot stuffing! The votes were counted when they returned home with McCain leading just over 4 times Obama's side (M:abt 140 candies, O: abt 30). From what it sounds like, even strangers on the street would stop X and cast their vote. The costume was a hit. And X received more candy than normal.
This costume has made me giggle all day. I thought you might enjoy the chuckle, too.
What a fun idea!
And D-D decided to dress up in a different costume. She went out again last night as Tinkerbell. She was a cutie pie! MG looked very catlike, and E was his tough and tumbly self as Storm Trouper. They had a great time and came back with their buckets full. All of the candy they got at the TRUNK or Treat went with the candy we purchased for Oct 31. I put it all in a plastic tub and laughed at how it looked. I DID take a picture yesterday morning of THAT (which is not as cute as my kids-----arrrggg!) and I call it, "The Last Cake of October"
Anyway...all of this candy disappeared to fill the bags of the numerous children who visited our neighborhood. The tub lay empty (or nearly so) until I poured the new treats into it. It is now TOTALLY full----I think even more than what we started with! What this means is that we will be on a sugar high until April!!!
Since I do not have cute pictures of the kids, or funny stories of their Halloween adventures, you will have to---with me---live vicariously through my sister Keri (I should spell it vi-KERI-ously). Her two little ones (I will dub them with the letters X and A) went to several neighborhoods with a van load of friends. A was dressed up as Wall-E and X was a VOTING BOOTH!!!! Instead of carrying around a bucket, her costume had slots where people could drop the candy. One slot was for McCain, the other for Obama. Written on the outside of this voting booth was something like, "Remember to cast your vote...Ballot Stuffing allowed" Rest assured, both sides experienced some ballot stuffing! The votes were counted when they returned home with McCain leading just over 4 times Obama's side (M:abt 140 candies, O: abt 30). From what it sounds like, even strangers on the street would stop X and cast their vote. The costume was a hit. And X received more candy than normal.
This costume has made me giggle all day. I thought you might enjoy the chuckle, too.
What a fun idea!
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