Getting into the spirit of things

We put up the mother of all trees the day after Thanksgiving.  It took the full length of our Giant ladder to decorate this Christmas tree, but we love the cozy lodge-feel it gives our family room.  I was thankful when it was all done and we had escaped putting the ladder through a window.  FYI, it took us seven strings of lights to decorate this 11.5 foot tree.

Drew is really into Christmas-time.  He & Jacob kept busy all afternoon one day filling all of the stockings with blocks and various toys.  Then one day I noticed that Daisy was right by Drew's side for a really long time (usually Daisy avoids Drew, for good reason).  Then I discovered why:  Drew had fashioned a leash for Daisy out of a beaded necklace.  I can't believe Daisy stayed still long enough and that Drew had the know-how to fix it up like he did, but it worked like a choke chain and Drew loved taking his reindeer all over the house with it.  It was like watching a scene from the Grinch:  cute but after awhile I had to give the poor dog a break and had Drew undo the leash and let Daisy have a well-deserved nap.

A beautiful reminder

This is for all those who think I live in a land that's not so pretty (me included, sometimes).  I might live in a desert but it has indeed blossomed as the rose as prophesied.  There are even times when it is down-right gorgeous.

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we scared off our small number of guests by having a stomach flu virus.  We missed you guys -- you know who you are.  They proved to be wise since the bug had not finished finding victims, but Thursday was uneventful and we had a jolly time.  We're so glad that Aunt Mandi could be with us.

 Callie made the brown paper turkey that Sara demonstrated on Martha Stewart.

 Mid-day snacks - Jacob cut all of the cheese into pretty shapes for us!

 Our turkey time table.  Drew never joined us -- he ran around naked and played while we ate and named all of the C things for which we are grateful (he was still recovering from the flu).

 We discovered that Camden LOVES sweet potatoes.

I never would have chosen to not have guests over, but the result was a very relaxed, enjoyable day, not to mention a killer pie-person ratio (4 pies: 4 pie eaters).

The caramel apple pie was the favorite of Tyler & I.  We've decided that we will no longer be serving pumpkin pie since it never gets eaten.  For the record, that is not a reflection upon the cook who was Callie this year -- it's just that all of us would rather gorge on the other pies, Callie included.

Cabin fever?

While it is very true that Drew is better than he used to be at keeping out of mischief, he seems to be trying to make up for lost time these last two days.  Just a little reminder for me to be more grateful on the days that we make forward progress.

This is from a couple weeks ago.  Read the instructions on the humidifier:










Does that mean that the water sensor is also particularly sensitive to baby powder & diaper creams?  I had the humidifier going in Camden's room to help him breathe easier but frankly, now I am afraid to use it.  Drew made a nice soup with baby powder, water, calmoseptine and every other kind of diaper cream we have in the humidifier base.  I had to dump it out, wipe it out with paper towels, and then do a regular cleaning with vinegar & bleach.  

The last couple of days have been particularly exasperating.

Sunday afternoon-
I cleaned up a baby powder mess from Camden's floor, courtesy of Drew, who also upturned the glider
I did have him help vacuum a little but 3 year olds aren't very thorough
I came downstairs from that to find Jacob with one of Tyler's golf clubs, putting into a cup in the family room
While I was putting the club away Callie came to tell me that the boys' dresser was all wet -- the carpet, too
I heard all kinds of crashes upstairs while starting dinner:  all the rocks from Jacob's collection, plus the lego submarine, got thrown at the bathroom door and were ALL over the hallway and bedroom floor upstairs
Drew stayed up in bed quietly reading books - then came down after two hours to tell us he was so HUNGRY and had to eat (and for once he had actually eaten his dinner - plus two ice cream cones)

Monday-
More baby powder all over Camden's floor, and this time there was powder on the bottom of the glider that had been turned upside down once again- thanks to Jacob who did the initial clean-up because I didn't have the heart to face it - again
Drew took his mattress off of his bed and used it ti ride down the stairs
I found a few boxes of toys in the basement off the shelf and spilled all over the floor
Drew fed his lunch sandwich to the dog
Drew took a full bag of delicious pumpkin chip muffins and had one or two for a snack -- then fed the rest of them to the dog and left a nice trail of crumbs all over the family room carpet

Of course this is above & beyond the snitching gum from my purse, jumping on the couches (forbidden), turning the outside Christmas lights on in the daytime, stripping down naked at random times, threatening to throw his wet diaper that he was pulling off at his brother, jumping all around instead of sitting at the table at mealtimes, pulling the shower curtain down in the bathroom while trying to climb out of the tub, the daily spilling of milk or water at the table, etc.

Cabin fever maybe? 

At least I know why our diabetic dog has been having a hard time lately.  And am I ever grateful to the sibling helpers that clean up spilled water, vacuumed powder, and who help to burn Drew's energy!

All that and I still love this little guy!   You are destined for great things, my little man.