It's Christmas Ryan!

It's that time of year. The Christmas season is my favorite! I adore Christmas music and driving through neighborhoods looking at the lights and decorations people put up. Until recently, my favorite Christmas CD was Muppet Christmas with John Denver. It's nostalgic and wonderful. I used to put it in my walkman and fall asleep to it when I was a kid as I cuddled up to my stuffed Santa (which I still have and put out every year!) Now, my favorite, my mom's favorite, my sister Erin's favorite and my brother Ryan's least favorite in the whole world is the five CD set by Sufjan Stevens. Ryan might have liked it at first but since it has become the staple of mom's Christmas listening, he has been overwhelmed by the soothing sounds and they have become nails on a chalkboard to the poor boy. Me, I have it on repeat on my office computer and I never tire of it. How can you not love this?


Merry Christmas to all my friends, family, and internet readers!

Houston, we are go for poop

One of the most daunting tasks of parenting is potty training. It is frustrating and messy. I made the decision to stop fooling around with the pull ups already and get down to business on the long holiday weekend. Why didn't I try this sooner?! Layla took to it almost immediately. Seriously, one day of accidents (thank you GOD the one at my in-law's was outside!) and she was all into being a big girl! She argues about wearing a pull up to bed but I draw the line on washing sheets more than 3 times in a week! Not to get all graphic but going number 2 is a bit difficult for the little ones. Layla seemed to wait until she got her nap diaper to go. My dear, loving husband found this out the hard way. We had just sat down to dinner and she said she had to go. I, luckily, was trapped in bench seating and he was at the head seat so he got up to help her. He took her to the bathroom, yanked her diaper down and *plop*, a nice present landed in his hand! For all the mothers out there you know what a moment this is! This is retribution for all the stinky diapers and throw up and runny noses we have ever had to clean up. I could barely choke out a "sorry honey" as the tears rolled down my face.
She has since mastered that aspect and though she still has an accident here and there, they are getting fewer and farther between and I am proud to say that I bought my last package of diapers!

Hi, remember me?

I'm the girl with the blog. I've been busy/lazy and not updating for - jeebus - one month! Sorry to my loyal 3 readers. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I missed my VA family as I nommed on dry turkey and strange yellow gravy. It tasted right but looked off. However, yellow gravy does not top the myserious green potatoes of '89. I can eat yellow gravy, I could not find it within myself to sample Nana's potatoes.

In the time between now and my last blog. We've been busy! The girls enjoyed trick-or-treating very much!

We went to a neighborhood that goes all out for the holiday and though many houses scared the crap out of poor Layla, many were like this Hollywood home - very cool! There was a Wizard of Oz house that was handing out full tins of hot chocolate mix. It was a lot of fun. Although Layla still complains about the monsters to this day.

In other news, they are preparing for Santa's arrival by studying toy catalogues and asking for different things everyday. Chuck prepared by cashing in extra leave hours and buying a huge a$$ TV! I have to admit, it is an awesome television and we have enjoyed it immensly. Especially when LOTR came on this weekend and Aragon was in 42" of high def!

So, we are all still alive and well. I will leave you with a Mia-ism. Last night we were driving home from my father-in-law's and Mia asked, "Mommy & Daddy, can you get me & Layla some stock bonds?"

Anything Can Happen on Halloween!

Before Hogwarts, there was Miss Cackle's. Before Malfoy, there was Ethel. Before Snape there was Miss Hardbroom and before Harry Potter, there was Mildred Hubble - The Worst Witch. This was an HBO made for TV movie starring Fairuza Balk, Tim Curry, and the lady from Facts of Life who plays both the head mistress and her evil twin with a southern accent. See an 11 minute recap of the movie here (Megan, you must watch it!) My family watched this so many times when I was a kid and I had forgotten all about it until stumbling across a clip yesterday. It is that clip which I will post here for your viewing please and can be described only as Harry Potter on PCP.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Blisters don't require Chemo

I've thought long and hard about what to say in this post. Everytime I've tried to describe this past weekend, I cry. My family and I walked 39 miles in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Charlotte, NC. It was the hardest thing I've ever done both physically and emotionally. So instead of recounting the 2 days, I'm going to write to you about how to best support the walkers in your area.

• Check the Avon Walk site for dates and locations. There may be a walk in your area; 2009 dates are already announced!
  
• While honking at the walkers shows great support, please be sure to do it early on day 1. If it is late afternoon, those walkers are too tired to wave back at you and too tired to care that you're honking.
  
• The Avon site will list the different cheer stations along the walkers' route. The absolute best thing you can do is go to one of those stations and cheer those walkers on! Many people had candy (the chocolates were life savers!) and signs and water.
  
• If you've sponsored a specific person, get the name of their team and make posters for them. The regular fans were good but the family & friends who had Team T-Mar signs just made our day!
  
• Please don't tell us we're almost there until we're actually almost there. There are mile markers, we know where we are and mile 5 isn't anywhere close to "almost there".
  
• Now, I am not one to condone rule breaking BUT if a friend or family member were to sneak an alcoholic beverage or two into the camp site for a walker, I would venture to guess that it would be the best beer that walker had in a long time!

To Tricia!

To support the Avon Foundation and get something in return, please visit Reebok and Avon to purchase Pink items benefitting this great cause!

Why I should have been a high school education major

My friend Emily is a college English professor. One of her grad students is currently doing her student teaching and assigns the kids to use their vocabulary words in sentences. Then she shares the sentences with her college class and Emily consequently shares them with us. And I think our friend Angel put it best "I love this so much I could hug it."

If I'm in church and I'm feelin the lord I tenacious someone's hand.
Communism permeated in China a long time ago.
Billy Bob feed his chickens with notoriety.
Everyone has to get a tantamount of food.
My girl has a special place that she go hackneyed.
I couldn't tell that one my aunt was pregnant because she's socorpulent as it is.
My mum and I are completely incompatible, we're like day & night at the same place & time.
The cold permeates through my jacket like a hot knife through butter.
Incompatibility is impossible on eHarmony.com.
I'm in the retard class, and we only know the rudimentary skills ofgrammar.
Before the man was hung, he was thinking on how tenacious the ropeholding him was.
Just by looking at it, you could tell the greased up pig was very elusive.

Justice

When I was 5 or 6 years old my mother made us memorize If I Had A Hammer by Peter, Paul, and Mary. No, this was not as punishment. It was to be sung by us as we marched in the annual 4th of July Parade in my Grandma's neighborhood. We had sandwich board signs with lines of the chorus written on them. To this day I can sing the whole thing and I am not proud of that but it always brings me joy as the nostalgia comes rushing in.

Today Mia asked me what "justice" means. So I explained it and she was like, "how do you use it in a sentence because we sang a song about it today?" I asked what song and could she sing it and she said, "I don't remember but it's about a hammer. I hammer justice." And OH. MY. GOD. My daughter knows If I Had A Hammer.

We proceeded to belt that MFer out and as I just mentioned. I still know all of it. It was a moment very few can appreciate (hello Megan & Steve) but is the stuff of parental legend! As my cousin Shane would say, that is some justice!

P.S. I am developing quite the lyrical crush on her music teacher. She has come home singing Yellow Submarine and the theme to Happy Days. When I was a kid, I learned Hot Cross Buns on the recorder.