Deck the Halls

David and Henry have a little Christmas tree in their room that they decorated yesterday. I think it's been redecorated about 9082375897234 times since. Somehow though, all of the ornaments seem to end up in the lower right portion of the tree! And the artificial tree that Chris and I bought six Christmases ago and paid a ridiculously stupid amount of money for now no longer lights up. WTF? We bought a real tree yesterday. We'll see how that goes. . . These pictures are, for the most part, horrendous but you get the idea!

Any Volunteers?

Who's coming to my house to wrap all of my Christmas gifts??

I Can't Make This Up

It's 5:17 and David has already said two hysterical things today.

1. Running out of his bedroom holding his belly, "Ouch! Ouch! My belly hurts so much!" I suggested he lay down and rest. You know, since it's practically the middle of the night and all. He replied with, "NO! I need to drink, and drink, and drink my face off. That's the only thing that will make my belly feel better." Trust me dude. Been there. It doesn't work.

2. Seeing a story about someplace dreadful that got lots of snow, "WHAT is THAT?" Um, snow. "Ugh. I HATE snow. Why would anyone want that?" He is so my child.

Gross

David came running into our bedroom yesterday while I was folding laundry. He was yelling, "POO POO! POO POO! LOOK OUT - POO POO EXPRESS COMING THROUGH!" He likes to go to the bathroom in our master bathroom. Why? So he can blow the hair dryer on the seat to warm it up. No, I'm not kidding. First he wanted to leave the door open. Thanks, no. Then, as soon as I came near him he wanted the door closed "for pribacy". He's normally fine with the door closed. No funny business, he just does what he needs to and comes out. Normally. He was in there for what seemed like a long time. Much longer than normal. I cracked the door and peeked in to see him "washing" the vanity with my freshly cleaned makeup brushes. Purchased decent makeup brushes lately? They're not cheap. I had cleaned them that morning and had them on the edge of the sink drying. I knew the vanity wasn't dirty, so I asked him where gross wet clumpy dust came from that was smeared all over the counter. "I just cleaned that dusty part of the toilet with this cleaning brush. It was dusty!" Right, that would be the part of the toilet on the floor. And the "cleaning brush" would be my Kabuki brush.

Tuesday Twelve

Twelve things I'm thankful for this Tuesday

1. I'm thankful that my parents and sister all live in TN now. I never thought when I moved here that my whole family would follow. And I never thought that I would so enjoy that they did!

2. My husband. He's fun, works so hard to take care of us, loves this crazy bunch we've created, loves me even when I act psycho, and makes me laugh harder than anyone else.

3. David. He's a mini-me in every single sense. He looks like me, he acts like me, he talks like me, he has my sense of humor. He is my guinea pig for how to be a mother. He's sweet and thoughtful. He's witty and silly. He's smart and imaginative. He's sassy and sneaky. He's perfect.

4. Henry. He's my mini-Chris! He looks just like Chris, has his laid back personality, and has the sneaky curiosity of my dad. He has the sweetest, most loving personality. He is the first person to give a hug or kiss if he thinks someone is sad. He's creative and has a fabulous imagination. He's the silliest of my boys and always makes me laugh. He's persistent and decisive. He is my special boy.

5. Jack. I can't imagine our lives without this chubby little baby. He makes our family complete. He is never sad, always happy, and has a smile that could warm the heart of the coldest stranger. He smiles so wide it looks like his face will crack. He has my dad's dimples on Chris' face. He is curious, friendly, and hasn't met a stranger. He is the perfect third child for us.

6. My job. I love my job. Everyday I feel like I'm doing well at my job and that I'm appreciated. My boss is fabulous. It feels good to have found the right fit.

7. Super Suppers. No, I'm not kidding. They will keep my family well-fed when I'm not home to cook dinner every night.

8. Our babysitters. They're amazing. They love my crazy bunch. They're so helpful. They're creative, and encourage my children to be. They're smart and like to teach our boys. They're loving and not afraid to give hugs and kisses to our children. They make the boys feel safe. They make it easy for me to go to work.

9. Publix. Thank you for building another store so close to our house. It allows me to not go to ghetto Food Lion anymore. Seriously, you don't know how thankful I am for that.

10. My friends. I have the best friends. I know everyone thinks that, but sorry. I really do. Whether they live close or far, I know I can always count on my girlfriends for a big laugh, an ear if I need to vent, someone to take my side, or help in any form. I love you girls!

11. My Blackberry. I know that's so foolish, but I love the little thing.

12. My hairdresser Chloe. Do you know how hard it is to find a stylist you love?? She is fun, funny, and I'm always happy to see her. She does a great cut, and I am so thankful I found someone I really like!

Is it possible for something to suck and still be really great, all at the same time? I know it is, because it happened last night. Jack and I are in Oklahoma with my sister and parents for Craig's memorial. He owned a restaurant and bar, and last night his partners hosted his memorial service. I hope Craig had any idea of even a small number of the amazing friends he had and lives he influenced. People literally flew in from all over the country - from California to Washington DC to come. There were hundreds of people there to celebrate Craig's life. There were musicians he loved playing his favorite songs. People from other area restaurants and bars worked the bar so none of his employees, who truly were another family to him, would have to. People shared great stories about him and talked about how he had touched their lives. The NPR station in Oklahoma City dedicated some of its programming yesterday to Craig and the tremendous impact he has had on the music and arts community in Oklahoma City. Last night was a perfect send off for Craig, and was just what he would have wanted. And he would have especially enjoyed seeing his Red Sox flag flying proudly outside the restaurant and the sea of Red Sox hats, shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, jersies, and t-shirts inside!

Shock

My dad's brother, my uncle Craig, passed away this morning. This is a total shock to my family and was completely unexpected. Please keep my family, but especially my dad and my aunt Carol in your thoughts. Rest in Peace Uncle Craig. We love you.

*Edited to add* Thank you for all of your thoughts. I really appreciate it!

Santa Baby

I am beyond less than skillful with the photo editing software. . . I scanned this into our computer. Notice anyone missing??? Check my rear end - he's just recently reemerged.

It's 7:13. . .

Jack is sleeping, David is in one corner screaming bloody murder interjected with screams of, "BAD MAMA! BAD MAMA!" and Henry is in another corner screaming and crying, all the while screaming, "I WANT TO HUG YOU! I WANT TO HUG YOU!" Let me remind you, it's not even 7:30 yet.

I want to go back to Knoxville. And you can bet your ass I'm telling Santa about this little episode when we go to see him. . .

Procrastination

I have to go out of town this weekend for work. I have a full-day training tomorrow in Knoxville. I will be leaving in two hours, and I've not even told my children yet that I'm going. I'm dreading it. It's one night, they'll be fine, but I don't want to go. I don't want someone else to put them to bed tomorrow night, even if it's my own mother. I want it to be me. This is the part about being a working mother that I abhor.

On the other hand, I'm psyched to sleep in a hotel, in a bed, without anyone waking me up in the middle of the night.

Don't miss me too much!

*Edited to Add* As with most things in my life, the anticipation over this trip was much worse than actually leaving. They really didn't care when I told them, and the promise of a trip to see Santa was the icing on the cake. I'm pretty sure David thinks we're headed to the North Pole tomorrow.

Five for Friday

Let's lighten things up around here. . . although I do love me some dramz!

1. Henry has had some *ahem* issues lately. His doctor has put him on a daily does of Miralax. Indefinitely. That stuff is no joke. . . his issue has been resolved. BIG TIME.

2. I'm listening to/watching Crossroads on CMT right now. It's Def Leppard and Taylor Swift. Bet you didn't know I have a secret Def Leppard love, did you? And, for the record, I'm LOVING Taylor's dress.

3. David, Henry, and Chris all fell asleep tonight in the living room, scattered about like drunks after a party. All of them were asleep before 7:15.

4. Chris is turning into Super Dad. While I was at work today, he brought all three boys to The Discovery Center by himself. And didn't turn the van around and leave when he saw two bus loads of children unloading. And stayed for three hours. Then brought them to lunch after! Chris has always been a very active parent, and we truly do split most of the responsibilities around here 50-50. However, I am so proud of how he has just stepped right in when needed since I've gone back to work, and he's been so helpful. We're very lucky to have him.

5. Did I tell you already that David told his teachers the other day during circle time, "Uh, Ms. F., Ms. S.? All this circle time stuff? When you do all that talking and stuff? It makes me bored with all that talking."? It scares me how much that boy's personality is like mine. I pray that he develops more of Christopher's traits!!! And I'm SO proud of his writing lately. He's doing a fabulous job with his letters. This is a huge accomplishment for a child with apraxia of speech. The same portion of his brain that was dysfunctional in relation to his speech is the portion that controls things like letter recognition, letter patterns, and the recall of how to read and write letters in combination. For him to be able, at 4 years old, to write a letter with me just verbalizing what I want him to write, not providing him with a written example, is an enormous celebration for us. Granted he makes his "s" backwards and thinks the "A" is connected at the bottom, but it's a process. We were so afraid that the apraxia would be a major issue again with his learning, but so far so good! I pray it continues!! He's been through so much already to come so far with the apraxia, we are really hoping that he doesn't require any further occupational therapies, etc. to help assist with his learning process.

Seriously?

Dear Keri,

I received your comment on my previous post. While I appreciate you reading my blog, I'm not quite sure why you do, as we obviously don't agree on things. I knew, when I clicked on your profile, that I had seen your profile before. When? Oh, right. The last time you left me a snarky comment. I didn't comment on what you had to say then, but for some reason I feel the need to now. Mostly, I think, because I sort of feel sorry for you.

The following is your most recent comment, in it's entirety:

The dress?? We are at WAR(a war my husband has deployed to THREE times), our economy is in the crapper, our nation is DIVIDED and you care about a friggin dress??

***shakes head in shame***

Never during this election, which I followed very closely, did I choose to comment about it on my blog, other than posting a McCain/Palin graphic. I didn't feel it was necessary. I don't think people read my blog because they care about my political affiliations. I've never tried to hide the fact that I'm a very proud Republican, nor have I ever felt the need to announce it. Until now.

Oh, no kidding, we've got some issues in this country? Thanks for enlightening me. Are you serious? I appreciate the fact that you've been a military wife and the sacrifices that your family has made for our country. I respect the fact that your husband was deployed to Iraq three times and fought to keep our country free. A country, might I add, in which we are very fortunate to live. Please don't think I don't understand that. I am a very, very proud American. Do you think that Barack Obama is going to end the war and get every single member of the military who is currently serving in this war back to the United States? I don't.

You also point out our economy is "in the crapper". The crapper? And Obama's suggestion that we increase taxes on wealthy individuals and families to reroute that money to poor people is going to help that? Whatever happened to working hard for your money and, oh I don't know, getting to freaking keep it? Why on earth would you want to tax wealthy people more? They already pay more than half of the taxes in this country. And do you know what else they do? Create jobs. You have to have capital in this free country we live in to open small businesses and invest in large corporations. What will they do when their tax burdens increase? What any smart business owner would do - find a way to lower their operating expenses. What does that mean? Layoffs, job losses, and moving companies and corporations to locations (ie: Mexico) where the cost of doing business is decreased. Boy, that's going to pull us right out of "the crapper".

Do you find it interesting at all that in the two days since Obama has been elected the Dow has plunged more than 440 points and that major indexes have lost nearly 10 percent? This has been the Dow's worst two-day percentage decline since October of 1987. I think that's significant. I also think it's significant that CEOs of major American business surveyed before the election thought that Obama would bankrupt this country's economy in three years.

And, if you've read this blog for any length of time, I'm sure you know my husband works for a major auto manufacturer. Right, because that's such a booming industry right now. I'm sure you also have read that I've recently gone back to work. Why? Because my husband and I had the foresight, when his company offered for the second time in two years to PAY people to quit their jobs, to realize that his income would be decreasing. Do I love my new job? Yes. Would I have gone back to work if I felt like it was a realistic option for me to continue to stay home? No. So please don't feel the need to point out so eloquently to me that our economy is "in the crapper". We're experiencing that first hand in our house, as I'm sure many families are.

So yes, I did care about Michelle Obama's dress. It was ugly. On what has probably been to this point the biggest night of her family's lives she wore a damn ugly dress. Why does that make you shake your head in shame? Because I didn't feel the need to spout my political affiliations and beliefs on MY blog? Why do you even care? I did my part as an American, and I voted for who I thought would be the best person to do the job. My "best person" didn't win. I can accept that. I can also accept that the world as I know it is not going to end because Obama won. I'm not happy about it, but it's not the end of the world. I will still keep my sense of humor, and keep informed. I hope you can do that too.

What the. . . ?

So about that election . . . I'm about as right-leaning as one can get, so you can imagine my discouragement at the outcome. Really, anymore leaning to the right and I would probably tip right over. Although, I do have to say that I am very proud of my fellow Americans for having the courage and open minds to elect a black president in an age when I didn't think it would happen. I thought it would happen some day, just not this day. Although I do have to say that, even though I'm proud of the country for electing a black man, I think it was the wrong black man.

Really, the bigger issue to me right now, is what the hell was that dress Michelle Obama wore last night??

What's For Dinner?

Monday - Chicken Pot Pie (SO good, and so easy to make)
Tuesday - Taco soup and cornbread
Wednesday - Enchilada casserole
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Salad and baked potatoes
Saturday - Pizza

Thanks Briana for posting about taco soup and cornbread on your blog -- it reminded me of how much we like that!

I'm assuming Saturday will be a pizza night. I will be out of town overnight for a workshop, so Chris will be on his own with the boys. You do the math!

HELP ME!

I'm with the boys right now at the bookstore, and they're playing on the train table. I was getting Jack's bottle ready, and the liner broke. Are you freaking kidding me?? 8 ounces of fresh formula, all over my jeans. I look like I just peed all over myself. Three children, and the first time a bottle explodes on me it happens in public!!!

Free Coffee!

Weekend

What did you have going on this weekend? At the Simpson house the weekend can be summed up into two words. Bowel. Cleanse. No, I'm not kidding. Let's just say Henry should be almost cleansed. . .

Trick or Treat!

We had a very fun time Trick or Treating Friday night. Julie, Darrell, JT, and LJ joined us, as is our Halloween tradition. Also, this year David's "little girl" Sophia and her family joined us as well. We had a lot of fun! My Little Jack-o-Lantern and LJ the cowgirlIndiana Jones and Thomas the Tank Engine (I love Henry's hat crooked like that!)

Our crew (minus Jack and Sophia's little sister). I blocked David's "little girl's" eyes out, because I'm not sure her parents would want her on the internet. She was adorable as Snow White. And David INSISTED she stand next to him!