Category Archives: holidays

>The Fabled Fairies of Thanksgiving

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>Thanksgiving Dinner? No problem! I’ll call in the fairies. They’ll do everything.

The laundry fairy washes, dries, and presses the table linens, including the cloth napkins. If she’s feeling generous, the sheets and towels might get folded, too.
The turkey fairy will practice her specialty and make sure the bird is cooked and carved just in time for dinner. White meat and dark, it’ll all be moist and savory and leave just enough leftovers for sandwiches and a turkey noodle soup.
The baker fairy will take care of pies, pumpkin and otherwise. He’s an expert on flaky crust, selected spices, and the perfect portion of whipped cream. Don’t let that Simple Simon guy get in the way; the kitchen’s too small for anyone who begs to taste the wares.
The brownie — the cunning little house elf — will clean the home thoroughly, put the leaf in the big table, and get the extra chairs out of the basement.
I wouldn’t dream of neglecting the wine fairy: the sommelier so tiny she only recommends, never lifts, a bottle. Her taste is impeccable. Now if we could stop her before she over-imbibes and falls asleep on top of the piano…
Did I mention the decorator fairy? She’ll fix the fireplace mantel with something tasteful and seasonal before she makes sure the couch and rocker are properly arranged for the annual holiday gladiator contests known as NFL football.
The ambiance fairy keeps the wood fire crackling in the fireplace, the aromas wafting deliciously through the home, and the family discussions neutral.
The kitchen fairies: really, there must be a whole crew of these talented sprites. One to do the shopping early and avoid the crowds, another to make sure the cranberries are perfect (and local, of course), and a magical maestro with the potato masher. Then we’ll need a feisty fairy, one with attitude — yes, you, Tinkerbell, you can make the coffees.

Mom, you can send the fairies over to my house now that we’re hosting the annual family Thanksgiving dinner. Let them know that I’ll have their room ready and their favorite cookies baked. If they arrive on Sunday there should be enough time to get everything done.

Wait. What do you mean…they’re…not….real?

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Butterball.
On the holiday theme as well is Scribbit’s November Write-Away Contest, brought to you by the letter F.

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>The Most Scariest Time of the Year!

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To the tune of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
It’s the most scariest time of the year.
With incumbents campaigning
The pundits complaining
And bending your ear…
It’s the most scariest time of the year!!

My “kids” are too old to trick or treat, but they’re not too old to enjoy the holiday and the candy that comes with it. They’re of different minds about the upcoming “holiday” on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, however. Amigo would mute every political commercial and hide the campaign signs in the front lawn. La Petite, however, enjoys experiencing political events through the lense of her camera and proudly wears an Obama/Biden button on her backpack.

My household costumes won’t qualify for the cutest or the most creative of the 2 and under set, and I doubt they’d work for over 3 either. But Halloween fun? No one is too old for that!

Here are the Three Blind Mice: three intermediate teachers.
Amigo loaned them an old white cane so they could make theirs look more authentic.

Here’s a rabbit auditioning for a part in a Monty Python movie as the Beast Like No Other.

And last, but not least, here’s a cow masquerading as a rabbit. Or vice-versa. You decide.


Parent Bloggers Network has links to number of this weekend’s Blog Blast posts and the Blurb/PBN Flickr pool as well. Blurb is a book publishing platform that anyone, yes, even you, can use. They’re the sponsor of this blast. Nope, don’t feel disillusioned, I wrote this post for fun. I’m not even eligible for the photo contest this time. Blog blasts are fun, with a contest element involved sometimes.

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>Extreme Toy Story – er, I mean Shopping

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>The difference between the men and the boys may be the price of their toys, but do their parents wait in line and rush the store to find them? Not here.

My husband and I never really dove into the Overnight Campout in the Parking Lot routine. Our kiddos might have enjoyed the Toy of the Year, but we didn’t have the time, money, or energy to pursue it. We have been clever, though, in the name of gift-giving.

When Furbies were all the rage, I managed to snag one on Amazon before they ran out.

When our beloved Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XXXI (shhh, don’t remind me how long ago that was), we called around town for days to find the Locker Room Cap that La Petite wanted. After a few calls I began to feel a little punchy. The store employee would say, “No, I’m sorry, we’re all out.” I would then ask, “Well, do you have Tickle Me Elmo (the current Toy of the Year) in stock?” Most of them paused, then broke out laughing. They understood.

Husband surprised me with a pink Packer baseball cap, the charity cap that donated to breast cancer research with every purchase. Those were incredibly hard to get! He won major Husband points for getting to the Packer Pro Shop when a new shipment had just come in (Hugs, dear, you’re still terrific). He’ll claim it was luck; he often goes to Lambeau Field as part of his regular workday, so he just checked in the shop each time he arrived.

La Petite’s boyfriend used to camp out before the Black Friday deals at the Big Box Electronics store. She liked to visit the tent of determined shoppers, but she was never enthusiastic enough to spend the night in a tent during late November in the close-to-frozen tundra land. I wasn’t even excited enough to visit; I sent cookies instead.

Since giving is more important than receiving, we’ve made a point of donating to Toys for Tots and our local schools’ Adopt-a-Family programs every year in December. Amigo likes to and pick out something nice for the donation box, and he has good taste. During Hasbro’s Hot Summer Toy Event, Hasbro is donating one toy to Toys for Tots for every Hasbro toy purchased. For a little extra fun, take a look at this Hot Summer Toy Event Video. Don’t you wish your toys could – ahem, maybe not.

This post was suggested by Parent Bloggers Network, where you can find more posts about Extreme Toy Shopping. I suspect some will be much more dramatic than mine….

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>White Elephants and Rabbits

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>”Mom, Grandpa sent me a white elephant!” La Petite moaned one Christmas morning. Grandpa’s heart was in the right place. He knew she loved rabbits, and he had picked out a ceramic candlestick shaped like a rabbit. The rabbit was, I kid you not, this rabbit was scary. He meant well, and she kept it (at the back of a shelf somewhere), but thank goodness she was old enough to appreciate the thought behind the gift!

As kids get older, it’s harder to shop for them. La Petite is in college, so we let the grandparents know what she needs for her apartment and for school. They often pick up gift cards for her favorite online stores, too, knowing that clothes and Converse shoes make this girl happy. Most of the time we’re lucky that way.
Amigo is a little tougher. When he was young, his toys were easy to pick out; they were the ones that talked, sang, and made noise. The noisiest, of course, came from the grandparents. We think they were laughing all the way through the store knowing what they were plotting for their own offspring! Now he is interested in cooking, so they buy him Braille cookbooks and kitchen utensils. Kitchen utensils make great fidget tools for a fidgety kid, too.

Parent Bloggers Network suggests Grandkids Gift Guide, a resource for gift giving. This could be handy! It doesn’t have a specific area for teens or college kids (yet), but there are some unique and fun items in the 12 and over section. No candle holders. Darn.

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>Mother’s Day? Already?

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>But it’s only Cinco de Mayo today! It can’t be Mother’s Day — oh, I give in. I’ll go shopping tomorrow night after school. My mom, Husband’s mom — they each need something as special as they are. This always takes a little thought.
Me? You wanted to know what I need or want? Oh, that’s harder.
I already have a new purse, a unique and timely clutch.
I’m pretty well stocked on clothing.
My bike needs a new seat, but it’s already purchased and sitting in the garage waiting to be installed.
The cupboard has plenty of coffee in it. Chocolate is always welcome, but really.
I’ve hinted (directly) to the family that they could pick up the garden supplies I need and I’ll be very, very happy. Simple pleasures work for me. Okay, kiddos and Husband, here’s the list. I already have quite a few of the seeds I need; I mainly need seedlings.
Tomatoes — cherry and Big ‘Uns (Early Girl grows well in our soil).
Peppers: Green, Red, Chili
Broccoli or Cauliflower to grow and share with the bunbuns.
Herbs! Seeds or seedlings, either works for me. Basil, rosemary, thyme, at the least. Oregano grows nicely, too.
A new watering can, unfortunately. The old one cracked last fall. Sniff.
A small sprinkler to replace the one I stepped on and destroyed the day Tiny Bunny died. I was a little distracted.
That’s about it, family. Any or all of these lovely items would make me very happy. You know how much I love to dig in the dirt!

This blog blast suggested by Parent Bloggers Network and Johnson’s, sponsors of Johnson’s Baby Cause, a charitable organization supporting mothers and children worldwide.

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>Valentine, will you be mine?

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I’ve never been a big celebrator of Valentine’s Day. Husband and I used to go out for lunch or dinner when we were young and childless. Now and then we’d get a sitter and do the same thing. But now, we rarely celebrate this seemingly created-by-Hallmark date on the calendar. We have some nice Valentine stories in our past, and it’s a good time to look at wine glass as half full rather than half empty or (in engineering language) twice as big as it needs to be.

In the deep and philosophical approach, a day when Husband knew what I needed and took care of it, would be nice. But those days don’t happen very often because, well, we don’t need them very often. We take care of ourselves and each other a lot, but we also make sure there’s a little specialness now and then.

My February 14th would have been exhausting and crazy, if I’d been in school. I feel for my substitute! Being sick on Valentine’s Day was not in my planning book. My students are usually almost as hyped as they are for Christmas. Sugar, holiday, big snowstorm, long weekend ahead…oh, this sub might never speak to me again.

Husband has Friday, February 15th off, but it won’t be an easy day. He will be home with Amigo all day because teachers have staff development and students have no classes. They’ll probably sleep in, have a late breakfast, and then Husband will start packing for his weekend train show. As soon as I get home (if I’m well enough to go, that is), he’ll hit the road.

I don’t need a celebration of the hearts and flowers type. I’ll put a simple supper on the table Thursday as usual for a weekday, maybe simpler than usual due to the extra stress of being ill. If Husband is home early enough, maybe we’ll break open a bottle of wine and relax a little bit.

But I have to admit, he surprised me this morning with a coffee mug flower arrangement and a small package of really nice chocolates. What a sweetie!
Happy Love Thursday, everyone.

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>Funday Sunday…one! more! time!

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>Poor Husband. He doesn’t have to work at Lambeau Field today for the Packer game, and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
Most Sundays, if there’s a home game, he is either working his day job for a local television station or he’s moonlighting for the visiting network that’s airing the game. This week, somehow, he’s not.
So last night we told him wow! He gets to watch the game with his family! Together! In the den!
He’s not sure it’s good.
It might have something to do with the idea that we want the Packers to keep winning. He is, at best, neutral. It relates, again, to his job. You can read the details here, but suffice it to say that the more they win, the longer the season, and the longer and more complicated his workload will be.
It might be that we are, well, vocal fans. Okay, we’re loud. Loud! We shout. We moan. We jump up and down. We have our very own touchdown dance! Sometimes the rabbit even joins in! Okay, most of the time she cowers in a corner when we get up and start bouncing. Husband cowers in a corner with her.
Maybe it feels like a wasted day. After all, he normally works a lot of Sundays. He’ll still work on the coach’s show and the other local follow-up productions later this week. If he’s just parked in front of the TV, it isn’t a good use of his time. Daughter and I, on the other hand, find watching Brett Favre a very good use of our time. We call it bonding.
Well, if he insists on staying busy, maybe we can talk him into working on taking down the tree. I’ll take down my Packer ornaments, like my mini-blimp, my crystal snowmen, and my jingle bell guy, and pack them with care. Then I’ll re-do the fireplace mantle in Title Towels and cheeseheads.
After all, ’tis the season.

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>Winter Break, and the livin’ is (not) easy

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>To do list for today:

  • Clean bunny litter boxes
  • Return overdue book on tape to the library
  • Pay fine on overdue book on tape (cringe)
  • Buy bunny food and bread
  • Sign and mail adjudicator contracts for 2008 music festivals
  • Update family prescriptions
  • Take Amigo to doctor to look at potential ear infection
  • Pick up prescription for ear infection (When Amigo says his ear hurts, he’s usually infected)
  • Fill car with gas for La Petite’s trip to job interview at her university
  • Prepare car for possible winter emergency in case back roads are bad on the way to university
  • Remind La Petite to pack food, since her apartment cupboards are bare
  • Make sure all errands are done before La Petite leaves us temporarily without wheels
  • Laundry, including La Petite’s extra baskets
  • Pack boxes for thrift store pick-up tomorrow
  • Clean kitchen (again)
  • Fill refrigerator with fruit from music dept. fundraiser
  • Write thank you notes for student gifts (smile; fourth graders are still cute)
  • Grind coffee beans (oh, such a sacrifice: two Christmas gifts inlcuded whole bean coffee)
  • Nibble on Christmas cookies
  • Read A Wrinkle in Time with Amigo (he got the Braille edition for Christmas)
  • Snuggle up on the couch and watch CNN or the Weather Channel
  • Catch up on Time Magazines and sip coffee or hot cocoa

Come to think of it, maybe the livin’ isn’t so hard after all. Any to-do list that includes reading, nibbling on cookies and sipping coffee can’t be all bad.

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