How He Does It

This past weekend, while camping with the family, my older brother used our neice to show us how he eats corn on the cob.

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I am more of a typewriter-eater when I eat corn on the cob.

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Some Must Shares

I would like to share this fact- I cannot get over the holidays. My heart is still holiday-ing. I want to keep whatever hours I want, I want to celebrate, I want the kids to play and not have homework, I want to play and not ask about homework, I want to keep eating treats and putting off the healthy until the new year. I want, I want, I want.

My heart says it's Dec. 23.

The calendar says, "Hello? We're over here."

sniffle

.So while I am stuck on the holidays, may I share a few things that you might want to know?

Naomi got this game Hedbanz from Santa.

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We played it at my mother in law's house that night.

.While eating treats, such as Mrs. Prindables gourmet apples. Mrs. Prindables are the best dipped apples I have ever had.

Although Nolan is eating them the traditional way, may I suggest slicing them? Makes all the difference.

.And while we are talking about food, have you ever been to Cheeburger Cheeburger?

Here Nolan is pouring his kiwi soda.

If you find you have a Cheeburger anywhere near you, or anywhere near where you might ever..... GO!!

.I am not usually so bossy but really.... GO!

The hamburgers taste homemade, the fries and onion rings are to die for (there is something to frying them in peanut oil....) and there are a million milkshake choices and some old skool sodas.

.Oh, and back to the game-

After we played it a couple of times at the mother in laws, we played again at home for a Family Night. Turns out we had already memorized all the cards and it wasn't as fun.

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But it's fun for a time or two.

Where Time Stands Still

Gary has had a tough couple of weeks at works and has a few more weeks to go, with more to do and (of course) no extra time in the day. He desperately needed to unwind while he had a weekend off so we went to his favorite place to go for relaxation - his momma's.

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It's only an hour drive but it can feel as relaxing as a vacation on a far away deserted island.

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It's where time stands still.

Where a visit always warrants time on the swing.

With Gary reminiscing about all that surrounds us.

When all the now open fields were filled with vegetables. And memories of Gary helping his grandfather shoot the black birds that tried to wreak havoc on meals to come.

A place where wood paneling still stands

with signs that kids of the 80's once inhabited the space.

(a knock-off of the Garbage Pail Kids?)

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Fuzzy orange flowers on a bedroom mirror

might also mean kids of the 70's.

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When I am at Gary's mom's house I am especially drawn to the photo albums that tell his family history.

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This strong looking woman is Zoe Ella. The boy she has her hands on is Gary's dad.

She is where my Zoe got her name.

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But Gary's mom is where Zoe got her looks. And if I look at my beautiful 8 year old and wonder what she'll look like in 10 years, I have to look no further than at the family photo album and pictures of Gary's mom at 18 to know.

Did time stand still where you were this weekend?

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Do tell!

"When You Two Grow Up, You'll Need to be Next Door Neighbors"

That's what my mom said to me and my sister, Tam (short for Tamalamadingdong) years ago, and more than once.

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The most recent time (but still years ago.... think 25 years or so) was when we discovered that my sister loved newborns and I liked toddlers on up. My mom said, "When you two grow up, you'd need to be next door neighbors, so when her babies become toddlers she can send them over to you."

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Sounded like a plan!

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And before that, we discovered that Tam didn't handle medical emergencies so well, while I tended to stay calm. "When you two grow up, you'll need to be next door neighbors, so Lo can be there to help if ever you have an emergency."

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Interestingly enough, we aren't next door neighbors, but she came to visit with her busy little toddler. (she never handed him over to me when he outgrew the newborn stage- bummer) They weren't here long at all when we had a medical emergency while playing at the park.

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And just as it was in the past, I stayed calm while she..... didn't.

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Well, if him being in Tam's arms crying and bleeding one second and in my arms crying and bleeding the next.......... but I do not remember how he got in my arms....... if that's considered calm? Then I stayed calm. But Tam tells people I stayed calm, so let's go with that.

Here is the truth about me and being calm though. I am only calm when I have to be. I've discovered that when my kids have had their medical emergencies, or when I find a snake on my front porch or a spider in my shower..... if someone (usually Gary) is there that can be the calm one and handle the situation, then I become the uncalm one and let them handle it. If Gary's home, I am suddenly unable to kill a big spider, and he has to come in from outside or from the other side of the house to help. If there is a snake and he's not here, I got it. Because.... what choice do I have? And most especially, if one of my children have a medical emergency, if he's home I melt down and let him be the calm one...... but if there is nobody to rely on, I step up.

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So really I've discovered that I am not as calm as my mom used to say, in emergencies, unless I must be.

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But I reckon that's better than nothing, right?

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P.S. Tam- what happened to you giving me your kids when they grew out of the newborn stage?

Mardi Gras

This weekend my family had a belated Mardi Gras Family Dinner at Ma's house.

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My parents front doors are always inviting....

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The tables too.....

Because my Ma is my Ma, we had Word Puzzles....

And the teacher in my Ma made sure we had some Mardi Gras Educatin'....



And the creative animal in my Ma made sure we had Mask Makin'....



My Ma made sure we did some Mask Paradin'.....


And we had Beads, oodles and oodles of Beads.....


And Cajun Food....


And big bottles o' drink.


Food, Fun, Family.

July 18, 2007

So my family and I went on a TV Fast. Not exactly on purpose though, I decided I was tired of paying to watch TV and I knew that if we had less chanels that we would watch much less. So I had the cable turned off. Turned out we got nothing. I thought we would still have the basic ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and FOX. But oh no, we did not, we had nothing but snow.
The family wasn't very happy with me about it. Even my husband pouted for a day. About a week into it my kids drew up a petition, some signed it more than once in hopes I would get how very serious they were about it. So I caved and we got Dish Network with DVR in hopes that we won't be as set on turning down an invitation or hurrying home from something to see our latest show fasination.
We did however go a couple of week without and it was great. My husband even (finally) admitted that he appreciated the time off. I realized that the shows I think I am hooked on (Top Chef, Next Food Network Star, So You Think You Can Dance) were not missed, I never thought about what I was missing. I did however have very few moments of extreme boredom though.

I know that we won't look at TV the same again and I suggest everyone give it a try, if you haven't already. And if you are interested, check out this site http://www.tvturnoff.org/ .