I have stayed up way too late the last three nights watching Season 6, Part 2 of "The Sopranos". Fade to black indeed!

I spent the afternoon at the mall looking for a birthday present for a friend. I had no good ideas about what to get her. In the end, after I bought myself a pair of pants, a pair of socks and a Godiva chocolate (yum), I bought her a very nice smelling candle from Illuminations. I also went back to Godiva and bought her some chocolates. I hope that is enough. I am debating whether it is a lame gift or not... *sigh*

My new camera is a Nikon D40x. I am very intimidated by this camera. I have been trying all of the settings but all of the menus and screens scare me. Nikon offers classes on how to use their cameras so I may have to take one (there is one offered in Seattle in Jan).

We bought Cars a bow and arrow for Christmas. I found one at a little toy store for $7.99. He was delighted.

Today we have a hot tub guy coming out to show us how to take care of the hot tub. We also need his advice about getting the timer fixed so we do not get another OUTRAGEOUS ga$ bill. That was such a very big expen$e right before Christmas.

Ok, off to start the day...

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was good to the kids and I think we now have enough Lego that if we laid the pieces end to end, it would reach halfway around the world. Today, as always, is reserved as a Lego-building day. My friend with whom I usually shop on the day after Christmas is driving to California with her family so I just stayed home and napped, read and tried to find out all about my new digital SLR camera. Santa was good to me too. :)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Peace be with you.

I am still not done with my Christmas shopping. We realized that we were a gift short for Cars (the big one from us) so we have been frantically trying to figure out what to get him. His list consisted of Star Wars Lego, Star Wars Lego, Star Wars Lego and Star Wars Lego. I have been trying to get more out of him but he keeps telling me "it's a secret". I finally found out that he wants an archery set that we saw months ago at www.hearthsong.com but it is kind of late for that. I cannot believe we screwed up like this! Poor last child!

I totally pooped out this year and bought all of the kids who are coming over for dinner gift cards to Target. So, yes they can go buy what they want but the poor parents who will have to sit patiently (impatiently or is that just me?) while the kids pore over every single item in their price range over and over again until they decide what is the best use of their money. Or is that just something that Jax does. It is agonizing! I hope he doesn't get any gift cards. ;)

Dear Tabitha,

Thank you very much. It is one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. I hope in time it will come to look like this ->

I am looking forward to planting it and need to find the exact right spot. I hope to plant it in the backyard where I can see it from the living room and kitchen windows.

Thank you. You rock!

Kindest Regards,
Pez

Meme

A meme posted to me at myspace. Post in the comments the link to your blog if you play along:

1. is your handwriting big or small?
Big

2. are you left handed or right handed?
Right

3. can you drive?
Of course!

4. where were you before now?
Earlier today I ran some errands with the kids.

5. what color are the things your wearing?
black, purple, grey

6.what's one odd thing you do in the shower?
Shave my legs everyday (apparently my friends think this is weird)

7. what movie did you last watch?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

8. what did you eat last?
Lay's Ketchup Chips

9. what was your favorite subject in school?
Art

10. what color is your bra(if your wearing one)?
Black

11.what brand is your computer mouse?
Microsoft

12. whats your favorite type of Popsicle?
Orange

13. what class year are you?
82

14. what color is your shower curtain?
No shower curtain - only glass shower doors

15. what color pen do you prefer to use?
Blue

16. do you own a green ipod?
I don't own an ipod

17. do you have a bank account?
Yes

18. do you like ribbons?
Yes, I collect spools and spools of them

19. wide ruled or college ruled?
College ruled

20. do you keep receipts?
Yes but I can never find the ones I need.

21. who's the worst teacher you've ever had?
My grade 12 math teacher

22. do you own work out videos?
Nope

23. do you play soccer?
No

24. are you a cheerleader?
No

25. are you smarter then a 5th grader?
I'd like to think so!

26. do you like soap operas?
Not anymore

27. do you have wood flooring in your house?
Yes, in the front entry and kitchen

28. name a good candy:
PEZ

29. whats your favorite number and why?
3 - it's a magic number

30. what are the brand of pants your wearing?
Banana Republic (love those clearance racks)

Today was Cars' Christmas party at school. They class sang some songs then we ate a potluck lunch. Cars usually just stands there with stage fright but he did actually sing this time. When it was time to eat, Jax decided nothing was safe for him until I reminded him that I brought the bananas and satsumas. He had 4 satsumas for lunch. :\

Later in the day, I took Cars to Pump It Up for a B-day party. The party was only 1.5 hours long - too short to drive back home so Jax, Dex and I sat in the car for that time. I read a book and they played with the Nintendo DS. I rock as a mom. ~eye roll~ BTW, Cars had a great time at the party even though all of the other little boys spoke Japanese to each other.

I had a bath for the first time in almost a year. I had to have it in the boys' bathroom since ours only has a shower stall and the plug is broken in the tub in the downstairs bathroom. It was great except I used a Lush bath bomb and forgot to put it in a nylon and all of the little bits of seaweed went everywhere. I had to skim it all out with a sieve before I drained the tub.

I often wish I could write blahg posts that had a theme throughout the post and were not mere ramblings of my day-to-day activities.

For the second time in two weeks, I have managed to lose a book that I am reading. This is so frustrating! I finally found the first book in one of the moving boxes (I remember putting it down on the box but how it got into the box and another box on top is still a mystery). Today, I took a book with me when I went to the school, thinking I would have a few moments to read it before the kids got out (Dex was going directly to a b-day party so I had the gift for him to take and I brought his backpack home). Anyway, I remember picking the book up from the car when we got home...hang on...ok just checked Dex's backpack and it is not in there. Anyway, it is not in my purse, it is not in the bin where I keep my gloves, it is not on my dining room table or my craft table (all places where I might normally put something down then forget about it). The book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I guess most everyone else in book club read the book in school. I thought I had read it before but nothing seems familiar to me yet so perhaps not.

Anyway, this is very frustrating and it makes me feel very old and forgetful. Plus I do not have a book to read when I got to bed tonight. *pout*

I found 4 Christmas cards which are to go overseas that were hidden under the photo envelope from Snapfish so those cards will obviously be late arriving. Shoot!

Jax and Dex spent a good part of today making a Lego movie. I downloaded the pictures to laptop and noticed that they are all out of focus. I don't know why Jax did not notice as he was going along. So we have 400 pictures of blurry Lego Jedi knights and some bad guys. They are going to be so disappointed when they realize.

We are having 18 people here for Christmas dinner. I am trying to figure out the logistics of seating everyone. We only have 15 chairs (well, 13 chairs and a bench that will seat 2) so I will have to see if one of our guests can bring three folding chairs. I also do not have enough cloth napkins. I was out today but was too frugal to spend $15 on 4 napkins. So, looks like I will be buying some Christmas paper napkins for $4. A much better deal.

I have mentioned before that my kids have made Lego animation movies (Legomation) and they are always looking for inspiration. We found two really great ones on YouTube lately. This one entitled "Lego Music Video" and also "Lego Indiana Jones". Enjoy!

I finally finished my Christmas cards. Well, actually there will be a few stragglers here and there I am sure but I got the majority signed, sealed and hopefully the postal service will deliver them promptly. I had to buy a ton of 69 cent stamps (for cards to Canada) plus mail five packages. Cars was sick today (bad cough) so the post office was out. Later in the day he was feeling better so as soon as I picked the boys up from the bus we drove to the local Mail Post. I was able to mail the packages and buy $tamp$ for oh, about a 12% premium. Ok, the cheapskate in my was DYING to spend that extra money but we were in and out within 15 minutes and if I had decided to go to the post office, I would have still been driving there at that time. So, I have been able to convince myself that it was the right decision.

Tonight, Nanny babysat the kids and Stephen and I went shopping for Christmas gifts. He needed new shoes and the only way to get him to buy them was to say they were for Christmas. We also bought a few things for Dex and strategized (Pley is that a word? It is coming up as a typo) for the rest of the Christmas shopping.

BTW, no Cosmo Friday today. I just had too much to do (Mail post).

Tomorrow, I am sleeping in! w00t!

My book club rocks! We had our annual Christmas dinner out at Spazzo Italian Grill. What a great group of women! Made me forget all about my crappy week of sick kids (Jax was home sick today), friggin FedEx delivering packages to the wrong house and tardiness getting Christmas gifts in the mail (hopefully tomorrow).

Christmas card update - up to 42! But, they are not yet sealed or stamped. Just keep swimming...

Dex is better today and he went to school. I thought Cars was better (fever was gone, he seemed to be acting more like himself) but then right after breakfast he jumped over the back of the couch (grrrr!), hit his stomach and barfed up his Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds all over the couch. I am sure it is just because he hit his stomach but just in case, I did not send him to school.

Jax's appt last night went well. It was a get-to-know you meeting and the psychologist asked Jax a lot of questions then told Jax that his kids had food allergies so he completely knows all about food allergies. That made Jax feel a little better. Keeping my fingers crossed that this helps.

Today, I have two sick children at home. Cars awoke about 5am with a croup cough so we sat in the bathroom with the shower going for a bit. I noticed he had a bit of a fever too. He went back to bed about 6am. When I got up at 6:45 to take a shower, he threw up on the carpet in my bedroom. He was coming to tell me that he was going to throw up.

Dex awoke with a headache, slight fever and achy legs. He had a flu shot yesterday so it might just be a mild reaction to that (or he might have what Cars has - fortunately no vomitting on the carpet from him!). Luckily, the tooth fairy came last night (she forgot to come last month during a previous tooth-loss night).

Jax decided that his stomach was a little sore too but I think he was just nervous to take the bus to school himself. So I walked him down there (yes, I left 2 kids at home alone for 5 minutes!). I did not wait until the bus came but my neighbour was there to keep an eye on him.

So, because I am forced to stay home today, I am taking the time to write some Christmas cards. I have completed 20 so far! Go me!

I have been busy doing stuff around the house that I have sort of failed to notice that Christmas is in two weeks. As a result, I now have a day and a half to get my shopping done, parceled up and shipped off to Canada. Eeek! What have I done? Or rather, what haven't I done?!

Anyway, looks like everyone will just have to settle for late Christmas gifts. Sorry! I haven't even started on my Christmas cards. I almost feel like saying forget it this year but I will be overcome with guilt so I cannot do that. Chop-chop, time to get going!

We bought our Christmas tree today at our regular place (Home Depot). You cannot beat their prices. Anyway, the tree is huge. It is sitting in the stand while the branches fall a bit before I string the lights. Tomorrow we will put on the ornaments. I hope I have enough ornaments for this massive tree! I did buy a new topper (a lighted star!) so I hope that looks nice all lit up.

Stephen hung the outside lights today too. We had a record number of burnt-out bulbs (20!). We went to Ace Hardware to get more plus another strand then Stephen shorted one out so the rest of the lights will have to wait until tomorrow when we goes to the store to buy another fuse for the lights.

Ash had invited our family to join theirs for dinner last night at a local restaurant but I declined because Jax's anxiety. He asked me 15 times at Laurie's yesterday about the food and in the end only ate two oreos and a gogurt. Even today at Home Depot, they were handing out small bags of popcorn. Stephen asked the man about the oil and he showed Stephen the container (soybean of course) but Jax still was not comfortable. In fact, he told me he was nervous and worried because Stephen and Dex and Cars ate some. I am looking forward to Tuesday when Jax has his first meeting with the psychologist. I am not expecting a miracle cure after the first meeting but I will be honest and admit that I am hoping for one!

I want to get started on my Christmas cards but our printer is out of ink and I cannot print the labels. I know I ~could~ write on the inside but I really do not want to do that until I have the labels printed.

This weekend is Get-Ready-For-Christmas weekend. We are going to get our tree and get the lights up. I have already started receiving Christmas cards so I need to get my Christmas card display up (which really just consists of wire, red ribbon and split rings). I had the perfect spot in the old house but need to find out where to display them in this one.

I went to a jewelry party yesterday and bought a pair of earrings. I am also inspired to start making jewelry again. Hopefully in the New Year!

Today, I met Heidi for coffee/tea at Starbucks in Bothell. It was great to see her.

The last time we met was shortly before she moved to Alaska. Geez, I forget how long ago that was now. You know some people are just so comfortable to be around? That is Heidi. Anyway, we had a very nice chat and we've promised to see more of each other. My camera has been acting up a bit so it seems that this photo is slightly out of focus. And as you can see, I finally found the cord to my camera!

After we met, I went to see Jax's psych for the initial consultation. After reviewing everything he said that he has some ideas to help Jax and I do feel really positive about it. One thing that I do like is that he also has children with food allergies so as a parent, he definitely gets where I am coming from and hopefully he has had experience with his own children and has been able to help them. I did not think to ask him that.

Anyway, I feel more positive that we can help Jax.

Today was a "woe is me" day. I was still beating myself up for missing the appointment for flu shots yesterday. Then I was very impatient with Jax over his obsessive behaviour about his allergy. Next, I spent a very frustrating 24 minutes on telephone with the mail-order Rx drug company only to have the doctor's office call me a few minutes later asking me why the drug company faxed them. They apparently sent a fax requesting renewal of Rx's but did not say which ones or for which children. I despise dealing with them.

I was able to get Cars in for his flu shot today. They said nothing about the missed appointment so I guess I will get the bill in the mail.

Shoot! I was supposed to take Dex and Cars to the doctor today for flu shots and I totally forgot! Now I guess we will get charged for a missed appointment (appointments?!). They did not call on Friday to remind us. But, it was written on my calendar and I just plain forgot. I think I need to move my calendar to a different location where I can look at it more. Remember the day I almost forgot the dentist appointments! Shoot!

We had torrential rains today. There is flooding all over Western WA, roads washed away, etc. I was in Joann Fabrics and Linens'N'Things today and both stores had streams of water leaking from their ceilings. When I picked Cars up school, there was water leaking through the walls of the church. What a mess!

On a positive note, I had to keep shopping to stay out of the rain ;) so I went to the newly opened Kohl's and bought myself a new sweater. It will be a Christmas present from my mom. And unlike the tablecloth she bought me, I won't use it before Christmas. :)

Shoot! I cannot stop thinking about the missed flu shot appointments.

edited to add that I am supposed to meet with Jax's psych on Wednesday but much of the city where the office is located is under water and the mayor has declared an emergency. And one of the highways is closed there too. I am also supposed to meet Heidi that day too. More rain forecasted for tomorrow so who knows if the roads will be open again by then. Crazy weather!!

Lola with her Mommy in her First Snowfall

First Snowfall of Season

We have snow! Well, we had snow and then it melted then we got a lot more snow and now it is raining so we have a lot of slush outside. It made for great fun for the boys and not so much for for Jean-Paul, Marilyn and Lola as they drove back to Vancouver today.

It was a nice visit although we were mostly house-bound because of the snow. Lola is so cute! She is verbalizing and I loved listening to her babble. I did go to Safeway to get steaks for dinner and it was packed! It took me 20 minutes to check out. I guess everyone was stocking up for the storm.

We lit our wood stove and I just burned one log to see what kind of heat it would give off should the power go out. We definitely need to stock up on kindling because it was tough lighthing it with just newspaper.

I found my camera cord so I will try to get some photos back up on my boring ol' blog very soon.