Heptadecagon

We had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas. Food was good, the weather was fine, and we at least had some extra family around (thanks, Mom and Dad!). The best parts (aside from Grandma and Grandpa)? In no particular order I would say: 1. Gnocchi . The recipe was pretty easy, and they tasted pretty good. I might experiment with another recipe, but the taste brought me back to my childhood. 2. Dish drainers . I've been meaning to replace my dish drainer for ages. The drainer itself was rusting, and the plastic upon which it rested was no longer able to be cleaned. No amount of bleach and scrubbing got it looking nice. Mom and Dad surprised me with a new set. Cool! 3. Melina sleeps . The kid actually slept pretty well! Those of you that know me well know that I have cultivated a non-sleeper. Despite a hacking cough, Melina gave me a very nice Christmas present in allowing me just a bit more shut-eye. 4. Presents . Santa chose wisely this year, as did all the people who lov

The kids had crazy day at school a couple of Fridays ago. The principal promised that they could dress crazy -- clothes and hair -- if the school filled the 5 barrels at the front of the school with canned goods. The school kids were thrilled to know that they had fulfilled the requirement, and our kids were caught up in the excitement of trying to put together crazy outfits. The girls are just old enough to realize that some things just won't work for them. They would not be wearing their skirts backwards, nor would they be putting their undershirts on the outside of their shirts. Aaron, on the other hand, would have worn his underwear on top of his pants if I had let him. (Cryptozoologist -- let's blame Tim again for that one!) The result? Here they are, posing for a mug shot. Aaron reminds me of a young Steve Martin, don't you think? Later that day, Aaron posed for me again, and the result is much more pleasing to me.

Apparently, a germ is going around the kindergarten class. I spoke with Harper's dad on Saturday morning, only to find out that poor Harper had thrown up in the night. By the time I was on the phone with Matt, Aaron was doing better. By Saturday afternoon, he was actually starting to eat some food. I wonder how many other kindergarten kids are sick right now. Thank goodness for Mrs. H we all have two weeks off. Yesterday evening, Melina fell prey to the germ. It is not surprising, considering the enormous amount of time that Aaron and Melina spend together. In fact, not to be gross, but when Aaron was heaving over the bowl, Melina was right there, watching and patting his back. I tried to pull her away, but her compassion kept her there. You can't fault that...it makes you feel like you are doing something right. In any case, right around dinner, Melina said her elbow hurt. I am sure it did, as one of the other kids said she did something to injure it. She ate a litt

To the races. The sick races, I believe. I brought Aaron home from school today a little early. We had his Winter party (I am one of the homeroom parents) and it was clear that the little man wasn't feeling well. No fever. Just not well . Those are his words. Fifteen minutes ago, he vomited the party snack on the family room rug. We don't have to go anywhere the next two weeks. We aren't traveling for Christmas or New Year's Day. We only have a few plans with friends. I say this as a bright side to the lining that involves vomiting -- those viruses tend to run through the entire family and then some. So, I might take a few days off from blogging, and I am sure you'll understand. I will probably be calling our friends to cancel our plans; I don't like to bring unwanted holiday germs. If we are lucky, the entire thing will be over by the time the kids go back to school. If any of you feel that you have an immune system of steel, feel free to stop over :

Melina has this very funny habit. She says, "I want to be the mom" and then collects the things she needs to do this. Her list includes: 1. a hot pink bandana 2. shoes, either Aaron's brown school shoes, or the girls white communion shoes 3. an old pair of the girls' glasses 4. my old black purse 5. a toy stroller and baby Sometimes, she includes a calculator on that list. How does this all come together? In the usual way, of course. She asks for me to put the bandana around her waist, like an apron. I have to use a safety pin to do it, which I don't like, but I try to be careful, especially when she takes the bandana off. She then puts the shoes on her feet, perches the glasses on her nose, grabs the purse and the stroller, and proceeds to walk around the house. The calculator? She pretends that is a phone, and sticks it between her ear and shoulder. Why do we find this funny? Well for one, I don't wear an apron, ever. I do have one. And I have wor

We took the kids to see Santa. The girls wanted to go, and they had no trouble walking up to the man in red and telling him what they wanted. The girls told me they thought he was the real Santa. It's the beard , they said. It was a real beard, Mom! Aaron and Melina were not so thrilled with the adventure. They enjoyed looking at the Santaland decorations, but actually sitting with Santa didn't quite happen. At least there were no tears. I tried to get all four looking at the camera, with a nice smile. Aaron, the little devil, just couldn't cooperate. No sugar, no caffeine. Just Aaron on a normal day.

Melina has had a cold this past week. Actually, she is on day 8 of the cold, but it is clearing (or so I think). Napping is difficult when you have a stuffy nose, so a couple of days this past week, Melina just decided not to nap. I'd put her in her room, and she'd read some books for about 10 minutes, and then I'd hear her calling me. Two days ago, I really needed to get something done during what was supposed to be nap time. Therefore, I called in the troops: Aaron. Aaron said he'd go lay down with her. No sooner had he gone up the stairs and I hear over the monitor, "Melina! You are supposed to be next to me, not ON me!" I am sure you can imagine what I found. *** During a few of the naps that did occur this week, we managed to make almost an entire pound of chocolate covered pretzels, a few chocolate covered marshmallows (way better than I anticipated, hence I bought another bag of marshmallows), and 6 chocolate covered spicy squares. That is what

Finally, finally, I am posting pictures of Aaron's birthday cake. He turned 6 on November 1st. You'd have thought, with NaBloPoMo and all, that these pictures would have already been posted. Ah well. Aaron really likes Scooby-Doo, especially Fred. Aaron has taken to making traps, especially when the weather is warm (unlike now). In light of his fascination with the people of Mystery, Incorporated, I fashioned his cake like this: It is hard to see, considering the chocolate icing blends well with the tray the cake is on. The graham crackers are Fred's trap, and inside the trap is bait: a Swedish fish! Fred does have a twist tie attached to his hand, which extends to the graham crackers -- my attempt to make it look like a real trap. On the other side of the cake, by Shaggy, we had a figurine of Scooby-Doo himself. He just didn't make it into the picture. Apparently, Aaron liked the cake. I had toyed with trying to shape a cake into something that resembled Sco

Remember Aaron's joint birthday party with Harper? At the pool? The kids invited the entire kindergarten class plus some other friends, so Kelsey had the great idea of nixing presents for the kids. If the children wanted to bring something, they could, but it would be donated to Toys for Tots. Before agreeing to the party, I explained what this would entail to Aaron. He basically just wanted the party; he completely understood and was thrilled about donating the toys. We found that the local branch of the library had a bin for toys, so this past weekend, Aaron and Harper met up and filled the bin with the toys. Kelsey had her camera ready (as usual, and thanks, as we did not) as the kids put the toys in, and then posed for posterity's sake. As a side note, Aaron had been eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich about 5 minutes prior to meeting Harper, who is allergic to nuts . Thank goodness Tim thinks ahead when it counts. He informed Aaron not to touch Harper, and to

I took a much-needed break from blogging the past couple of days. November really wiped me out. I don't know that I'll attempt NaBloPoMo again. I can just say it's one thing I've already done, and cross it off of my list. On the other hand, it gives friends and family a nice glimpse into the lives of the little ones. Let's see what I decide next year. I went for my usual Saturday morning long run yesterday. It had started to snow, just as I headed out, so the entire time I was running, I was covered in little flakes of snow and ice. My face was cold, and ice collected in my eyelashes. I was actually enjoying the run, though. About 51 minutes into it, a blast of cold air blew by that carried the scent of hot buttered pancakes. My mouth watered. When I was a kid, my dad didn't do much cooking. He COULD cook -- he got married at 32, but had been on his own for a long time, so I imagine he sustained himself somehow. But before my mom went back to work, h