A Tale of Two Valentines

I always sort of dread valentine's day for the elementary school set. I've always had to fight with Sam to even sign his name to a basic card, and Lucy always wants to hand-craft elaborate valentine's for each and every person she knows, but she doesn't always come up with this idea until a day or two before the party.

So I was really surprised this year when Sam decided that he wanted to make rainbow loom bracelets for everyone in his class. Prior to this, he's only sucessfully made about 2.6 rainbow loom bracelets, and that was with a lot of help from me and/or his friend J. Luckily, he came up with idea with more than a week to work on it. We sat down with his classroom list and devised a schedule, and he's stuck with it really well. Plus making so many in a row has really helped with his technique. At this point he only has 3 or 4 left to go. He really wants to finish them tonight so that he can focus his attention on the new Lego set he got for an early birthday gift from grandma.

Lucy also devised her valentine's idea with ample time. She came out of the gate strong on her individualized, unique to each person valentine, but has hit some bumps along the way. For example, she's having trouble coming up with 19 completely authentic, different valentine's day messages. I've tried printing out examples for her, so she doesn't have to even think about the spelling, but they just aren't good enough for her poetic expectations. I suggested variations of 'I'm stuck on you' and 'Let's stick together' since she's using lots of stickers to decorate her valentines, but she prefers things like 'You make my heart melt like the springtime.' The two of us made a schedule, also, but she's hasn't been able to stay on it. If she powers through, she'll get finished, but she doesn't work well on a deadline. She keeps crying and dramaticially declaring that this valentine's day will be RUNIED! Meanwhile, she only has 7 or 8 more to go. I have a feeling I will be finishing them late thrursday night.

Since I'll probably be busy making helping with my kids' valentine's, consider this my valentine to all of you lovely folks out there in blogland.

Can a Picture Be Worth 1,000,000 Words?

Santa 2013

My kids are Santa pros. Gotta love em! Here are some, but not all, of the years past…

2012

2011

2010

2009

Another Year, Another Obnoxious Christmas Menagerie On Our Lawn

I think that a part of what makes decorating our house so much fun for me and SOB is pondering what the neighbors think about it. When we first started with the insanity decorations, we were back in Philly in an orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Luckily, someone there was kind enough to tell us what they thought. Then we moved to WV, to a nice, quiet, tasteful community. Until we came along!

Now we are here in the south hills of Pittsburgh. Our neighborhood has a reputation for being a little snobby, which can be daunting at times. However, there are enough people here who don't take themselves too seriously, and that more than makes up for the snobbery. Our house in located on a very visible intersection, and so we knew we had to do it up right this year, especially since we didn't do so much last year. It was done in stages over three separate weekends, but it is done! And it is a delightful smorgasbord of tacky insanity.

The kids love it. And guess what? So do the adults!

Turkey & Stuffing 2013

We've been doing this for a long time now! If you have the time and the interest, here are all of the old ones, including some out takes. Scroll down to see the newest addition to our collection!











And finally, the new one!

Happy Valentine's Day!

From my incredibly strong children!

Santa 2012

Sam asked for Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 and a football. Lucy asked for her very own Mickey Mouse toy. Maggie asked for a Winter Robot, and Fred simply said 'Mismas! Ho! Ho! Ho!'

2011
2010
2009

Thanksgiving Highlights

Turkey & Stuffing, 2012

Sam was not feeling it this year.

For years past, see here, and here and here.

Halloween, Past and Present

We've had a lot of fun with Halloween costumes. In 2010 we did Star Wars...

Then last year we did Ghost Busters...

This year, I really though I was going to have trouble getting them to all dress in a theme. But Lucy got a super fancy Tinker Bell costume for her birthday, so I really wanted to go all in on the Peter Pan theme. Originally I wanted Fred to be Captain Hook, but Sam wouldn't comply unless he was given a weapon, so they switched. Wendy Darling was a tough costume to find, but thanks to Etsy I was able to get Maggie outfitted quite nicely, and for a fair price. 

Too bad her pirate brother beheaded her.

The Haul

From all of the various easter bunnies in our lives, my kids collected:

- $26 in paper money

- $7.90 in coins

- 1.5 pounds of jelly beans

- 26 ounces of solid chocolate

- 10 different types of bubbles

- 10 princess lip glosses

- 7 books

- 4 shirts

- 4 pairs of socks

- 12 pairs of underwear

I've already replenished the change cups in my car and thrown a few quarters in my wallet. I threw out all of the things no one likes (laffy taffy) and hid the most dangerous of chocking hazards (squinkies), then I stashed about 2/3rds of the chocolate in the freezer. I think that next year we shouldn't have to buy a thing for their baskets.

My Funny Valentines

Freddie Fridays: 2011 Wrap Up

Photobucket">

Looking forward to 2012

This has been a lovely, busy holiday season. We still have unopened presents, uneaten cookies, unfolded laundry and unrested children. But we're happy. I wouldn't have changed a thing. A lot like 2011. Little Fred up there has made this one of the best years in history. I know that his smiling face, along with those other three kids I love more than my luggage, will make 2012 just as great, if not better.

Happy New Year!

Turkey and Stuffing, 2011

For a day that began with a trip to the emergency room, I'd say it ended pretty well.

(Here's 2010 and 2009, in case you missed them!)

If I Were a Pumpkin...

My little Lucy has a thing for pumpkins. A serious thing. Every time we're out and she sees some, she wants them for her own. If she spies them at another person's house, she asks if she can have them. If we're at the farmer's market, she wants to buy them. And when I say no, she often finds a way to charm the person selling them into giving her one. Which is how we ended up with SIX pumpkins in our house.

According to her, I am the big orange one, the big green one is daddy, the medium one in the middle is Sam, she is the other medium one, and the two littlest ones are Maggs and Freddie, sized accordingly.

I don't know what we're going to do when they start to rot.

In other news, we went to a hockey game on Monday night. It was no big deal...

Except that it TOTALLY WAS. It was supposed to be me and SOB, my mom and dad, but as soon as we heard that Sidney Crosby was going to be making his season debut, SOB threw out the idea that Sam should go in his place. We forced him to take a nap on Monday afternoon, and he complied, so we piled into my dad's car and headed to Pittsburgh! He had an amazing time, and his excitement was so darling I nearly cried. Plus it was my parents' first time in the new arena, so they were pretty jazzed, too. In fact, my mom did cry!

Our Thanksgiving vacation has been pretty bomb ass so far, and we haven't even gotten to the main event yet. How is it going out there for you, internet friends?

And now I'm off to make some cranberry sauce!

Who You Gonna Call?

I thought this might be the year that my kids finally exerted their own independence when it came to choosing Halloween costumes. Last year was really only the first year we did coordinated costumes (unless you count the grouchy ladybug and friendly ladybug costumes) but it was a triumph. It was going to be a tough act to follow.

Ever since some time in September Lucy has been going on and on about being a ghost this Halloween. I kept waiting for her to change her mind, but sometime last week I realized that wasn't going to happen. Sam, on the other hand, changed his mind about forty three times. A knight, an angry bird (but it had to be the bomb one, you know, the one that was sold out everywhere) some Jedi, some other random thing with a sword. As long as a weapon was involved he was in. I tried to convince them to dress as the charters of The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan and Alice In Wonderland to no avail. Lucy was going to be a ghost and Sam was going to have a weapon, PERIOD.

So I was online looking for Lulu's ghost costume, and when I typed 'ghost' into the search field, it also suggested searching for 'ghostbusters'. LIGHT BULB! After a few more clicks, our ensemble was complete!

Everybody wins! Sam gets a proton blaster, Lucy gets to be a ghost, Maggie gets to be the cutest damn marshmallow villain in history, and Fred, with the assistance of a little neon green fabric paint, gets to be Slimer. And since he is teething, he's pretty authentic.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Four Kids Friday

Halloween jammies for everyone!

Hopeless Romantics

Because SOB and I are so, so in love, on Valentine's day we went shopping for the most romantic things you could imagine. No, not sexy outfits or jewelry, silly! Counter tops and exercise equipment of course! Aren't those the items that instantly come to mind when thinking about our national holiday for love and romance? No? Really?

Well, let me tell you something. Watching your husband demolish counter tops can have a titillating effect. Unfortunately, my father was his co-worker, so any excitement I may have been feeling was pretty much squashed. And even if it hadn't been, my husband won't come within 40 yards of me at this point in my pregnancy, so it was probably better for me that my dad's presence dampened my libido.

Anyway, starting on Monday evening, with the help of pry bars, saws and brute strength, most of my kitchen looks like this:

I say most because my loving husband (and father) spared me the pain of removing the section of my counter with the sink. While I can tolerate the idea of no sink, i.e. no water (and no dishwasher) in my kitchen for a prolonged period of time, the later we can postpone the dry spell the better. So the sink goes Friday morning. Tell me that isn't romantic?

And if the sight of this beauty in your basement doesn't get you all hot under the collar, well, then you should get checked out by a licensed physician. I can't wait to get all sweaty and worked up on this bad boy!

Here's hoping your manufactured romantic holiday was a lovely as mine!