Tuesday Tell All: The Twelve Questions of Christmas

Real or artificial tree?

Artificial for now but real once the animals are gone.

Do you like eggnog?

Yes...yummy creamy goodness!

Favorite gift received as a child?

My dollhouse which Audrey will get in a few or twenty years.

Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes and Aiden loves to arrange the people. He likes to have baby Jesus in his room but I told him the baby needs to stay with his mommy and daddy since he is only a tiny baby.

Hardest? Easiest person to buy for?

Hardest: my brother Billy. Easiest: the kids.

Favorite Christmas movie?

Twas the Night Before Christmas...you know the one with the mice and the clock.

White lights or colored lights?

Either but we have white this year.

Favorite Christmas song?

The Chipmunk Christmas Song or Baby, it's Cold Outside.

Travel for Christmas or stay home?
Traveling around the city is fine. All of our closest family is within a 20 minute drive.

Do you open presents Christmas Eve

or Christmas morning?

Christmas Eve at Cathy and Larry's house with Trav's side of the family. Christmas morning at home alone with the kids. Christmas night at my mom and dad's with my brother.

Do you tell the Christmas story?

We read the book to the kids.

Good for a giggle

Amy Ritchie sent me this video on Monday and I really needed a good laugh. On Monday, neither Aiden nor Audrey slept well, the car passed out which will put us out $400 this close to the holidays and school was wacko! Thanks Amy...enjoy everyone!



When looking for this on YouTube I found a few more like it but none that truly hold a candle to this one.

Question: If you are married, would you redo it this way and what song would you use? I totally would! Our song would be, "You're the One that I Want" from Grease, Travis' favorite guilty pleasure!

Tuesday Tell All Catch-up

I feel like I've been in the Twilight Zone! Something weird happened with our computer that wouldn't allow us to log on to any websites: no email, no blogspot, no ebay! I have no idea why it works now but I ain't askin any questions neither!

Therefore I am going to catch up as much as possible and double dip last week's and this week's Tuesday Tell All:

Last Tuesday: Season of Giving

I hate tooting my own horn so this is a toughie for me. One nice thing I've done lately is give blood at my student council's blood drive last week at school. I felt that I should donate since I was coordinating the drive and asking others to do so. I was so nervous as it was my first time. Secretly I was hoping that I would fail one of the little tests along the way: contact with blood (Aiden always gets bloody noses from digging for gold), low iron (not the case anymore...those pesky multivitamins!). No such luck. I went to get my collection bag and sat on the donor table. One guy couldn't find a good vein...my lucky day...not! He switched me to the lady he called "the vein guru" and of course there was a "pretty one" as she called it on my left arm. Darn that guru! I admit I teared up from the anticipation of the needle but I should have been crying because I was making a huge deal over nothing. It was painless and I was able to help someone without asking for anything in return. Two teachers at my school have had family members recieve transfusions in the last week. I know they didn't get my blood but I feel good for helping the cause. I plan on giving again since I am, and this is in the guru's words, "an A+ sponsor with A - blood."

Something nice that was done for me doesn't really fit as neatly into this topic but I am going to make it fit since it did give me a better outlook. Freshman year at UK I was walking to take a test in a class I dreaded, biology with Dr. Just. He was one of those professors that was bound and determined that no one get an A in his class so his tests were impossible. Scowling, I was walking across "Blanding Beach" when I heard, "You dropped something." As I looked around on the ground I realized this was impossible because everything I needed to fail that test was in my backpack. I looked up at him with a confused look. He merely pointed to my face and said, "Your smile." Of course that comment led me straight to my lost smile, along with the realization that, as much as we hate it, people do see more than we may think we are exuding. I am a pretty friendly gal but anyone who saw me on that day before my chance encounter probably didn't get that vibe. I try and give off the same energy that I like to attract, which is friendliness mixed with fun. I regret that I never saw that guy so I could thank him. BTW, I failed that biology test (and ultimately the class) but retook the course with another teacher and got a B+.


This Tuesday: O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree

I don't think I'd ever want one of those department store window showpiece trees that some crave because it goes against what I think of when I think of the holidays: that is family. Here are some of my favorite ornaments and what they say.

Prewedding ornaments: Kiss, UK, WWF Wrestling, a computer, Scrabble board, ballet shoes, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. We found the fun stuff and loved just being us, embracing some of our cherished youth and finding stuff to like together.

Teacher ornaments: A large variety of ABC's, books, schoolhouses...you name it! I do like the one that reads, "Support Wildlife: Teach School."

Wedding ornaments: fancy decorator ones we received as gifts and 7,346 "Our First Christmas" ornaments. I love them all but it doesn't bother me when the fancy ones break. Each of the first Christmas ornaments is special because it shows a little about the giver. My favorites are the bride and groom snow people and the Santa riding an alligator we bought on our honeymoon in New Orleans.

Ornaments commemorating the kids: I love all the ornaments with the kids' names on them, including the ones with four of whatever that can symbolize the four of us. Of tthe kids's ornaments ornaments, my favorites are their dohs (pacifiers) on ribbon that hang on the tree. Aiden's is a blue doh and Audrey's is a UK doh, the only one she'd use for four months straight. The only thing I don't like is that I have more ornaments that have three characters not four as we need now so I don't want Audrey to get jealous one day (that is something I totally felt when it came to my older brother...he was mom's favorite :) ).

Some may not like it because it has no particular color pattern or doesn't stick to one particular style. To me, it is a representation of all of us and love.

Through Noni's eyes

When I was young I'd beg to stay at my grandmother's as long as she'd let me (sometimes it was a week over the summer!) and my kids do the same. They love to stay at either Mamaw and Papaw's or at Noni and Pop's house.

My mom was over the other day so I uploaded her camera to a disk for her since their computer is pretty much shot, and it would take me 40 minutes to get her to do it on her own anyway. I love seeing what the kids do at her house unfiltered like this. Here are some of my favorites.

Audrey's favorite thing to do at Noni's is to sit in this rocking chair. When she was a few months younger and would tip over very easily we would hide it. Wherever it was hidden she would seek it out.













This was Aiden's reaction when he was asked to sit next to his sister and give her a kiss. He is usually game for kisses (especially is you are taking his picture) but was not up for it this particular day.















Mom has also figured out how to take movies with her camera. Hers captures sound and mine doesn't...needless to say I am jealous! This first movie is too long but Audrey looks cute wearing her Chinese outfit I bought her in New York while she is bouncing on her horse.




This second video is pretty funny. You can learn two important things about Aiden from it:
1. He clearly loves playing in this car because his knees are hitting the steering wheel with every step he takes.
2. He has had his picture taken too many times.
Pop has created a spot for Aiden in the garage with his own tool bench, tool belt and tools. They could hang out there together all day!

Now that is OLD!

There are two garments that traditionally worn by our family members.

The first is the baptismal gown worn by all the children from my maternal grandmother down to Audrey (I think the count is at 45). Aiden and Audrey have both worn the gown. I need to scan Aiden's pics but here are Audrey's. She was exactly four weeks old when she was baptized by Deacon Mike Edwards at The Church of the Ascension where I have made all my sacraments (baptism, first communion, reconciliation, confirmation, marriage). She slept through the whole thing. Candace Hardy, my dear friend, and Craig Valente, Travis's cousin, are her godparents. We may need to switch godfathers now that Craig's wife is pregnant with TRIPLETS!



















The second garment is a dress that all the girls in the family have worn from my maternal grandmother down. I am going to scan the pics of me and my grandmother wearing the dress but here is it's latest model. Audrey is 16 months in the pictures. Thanks for the beautiful pics, Renee!

Thanks and No Thanks

Thanks for Brock and his silly idea to put this busted puffer ball on his head as a wig. It was the hit of the day.



Aiden's thanks (straight from his mouth): Thank you for Zack and Cody and for chips and cheese.

Audrey's thanks (if she could say them): Thank you for dohs, babas and phones.

No thanks for Bekah's trip to the Emergency room. She was hit in the eye with a ball from her cousin's pool table. Luckily she only had to get liquid stitches but it was still a downer. Especially since her birthday is today.

Happy Birthday Bekah!

Tell All Tuesday (two days late): An Attitude of Gratitde

I got the idea for Tell All Tuesdays from my friend Wendi's website. I thought it was a great idea so I am blog-lifting.

1. The things I give thanks for this Thanksgiving:

• my family
• the health of myself and family
• incredible freinds
• a job I really love
• pets that I love to hate
• all of the time I get to spend with Aiden and Audrey
• date nights with Travis
• the goofy faces in the picture below
  

2. My Thanksgiving traditions include:

• a relaxing morning
• an early dinner with Travis' side of the family
• a late dinner with my side of the family
• When Granny and Papa were still alive we'd play games after dinner and dessert. I'd like to start that tradition again once the kids are old enough to play with us (three rounds of Candy Land does not a game make).

3. The best thing about Thanksgiving for me is: spending time with family and getting to enjoy their company without the stress of gift giving. Plus all the yummy food!

4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is: stuffing.

5. The most exciting thing that ever happened at Thanksgiving was: nothing I can recall. It seems to be a pretty relaxed day. We used to love to watch Aunt Chere "sneak" food to our dog Snuggles. Mom would get so mad that she was feeding the dog the Honey Baked Ham. Also, I used to be in charge of drying the dishes when the ladies when the ladies would wash them after the meal. I loved to sneak the ones I'd dried back into the dirty pile and try to fool Granny and Chere. Sometimes they'd realize what I had done but many times it went unnoticed except for a comment like, "These holidays are all running together because I could have sworn I'd already washed this dish." Little did I realize that my prank caused me extra work too since the dished had to be dried again, too.

6. After the meal: everyone sits around the table and talks before we all help clean up the carnage. Lately Travis has been doing the dishes...not bad, huh? And Aiden likes to put the silverware back in the hutch. We'll see what Audrey does to fit in the mix since last year she snoozed in her swing through dinner. Like I mentioned earlier, I'd like for us to start playing games again soon.

7. To get ready I need to: make desserts since that always seems to be my job. I like to bake and do it better than cook. I need to make sure the kids stuff is all packed since we'll be going from Cathy's to Noni's and will be there late enough for jammys.


I am thankful for you! Happy Thanksgiving!