The Duck

As Crafty webfoot pointed out I never mentioned the DUCK. The duck has been officially passed. While we were on the cruise I made repeated attempts to contact the ship's Captain or a senior officer, but no go, so I had to come up with another plan. During the cruise we went to a very nice wine tasting and the Wine Pro was a very nice man who spent some time chatting with us at our table, so after the tasting I asked him if he would present it to Mom over the Fancy Dress dinner that night. That night we all got dressed to the nines, had our pictures taken by the ship's photographer and went in to dinner. After we ordered cocktails the wine guy comes over to the table with a glass of Champagne for Mom and says "On behalf of Holland America I want to thank you for cruising with us, so I have a small gift for you", and he hands Mom a Holland America bag. She opens the bag thinking she is going to be getting a little Holland America gift and inside is the DUCK. She was so suprised! So, now she has it and I have to watch my back.

Merry Christmas!

I almost forgot that it is indeed Thursday AND Christmas day. What a great time to say good morning and Merry Christmas to my extended family. That is what you all are. What a morning to be thankful. We got to sleep in until 7am when H decided enough was enough and he wasn't going to wait a second longer, and frankly I am suprised he waited until 7. G on the other hand had to be woken up to open presents. Santa made it through the blizzard like conditions to our house and made the babies very happy. Mom and Dad are pretty happy too. We seemed to have picked the right gifts for everyone and each other. Before we opened our gifts I took a picture of our tree with all the presents under it and thought, WOW! We sure do have a lot of people that love us. We took our time, enjoyed the coffee and the chatter. I was very suprised to find that my sister Beth and her family sent us a Santa's breakfast kit with Pancake/Waffle Mix, coffee, jam and syrup in it, and Paul and the kids gave me a new waffle maker because mine broke last Christmas morning. KISMET! So we enjoyed waffles for breakfast. The kids are in the midst of building a huge LEGO kit and than they are moving on the build Barbie's Cruise ship. So is it tacky to say what we all got for Christmas? If we were talking on the phone we would tell each other, so maybe not that tacky. I was pretty pleased I got some of the things on my list. I forgot I posted a list, until one of my presents said read the blog and you will understand the gift. I asked Santa for a new winter coat, as mine got slammed in the trunk of the car and the zipped was smushed. So, I got a new winter coat and a gift Certificate for my books at Amazon. YAHOO!!!!! Paul and the kids got me a new computer chair so when I am studying I will be comfortable. Both kids made out like bandits. They are so happy and have declared this the best Christmas EVER!!! H still believes and we are trying to keep it that way for at least one more year. I think the only reason he believes is that he knows we would never in his wildest dreams spend that much money on toys for them, and while we were on the cruise the elves came and filled the elf box everyday. If that's not magic I don't know what is. I have pictures to post, but I don't want to spend all of Christmas morning on the computer, so I will post later in the week or maybe tomorrow. I hope all of you have a wonderful day, Merry Christmas to all of you and your families.

Watch this Ya'll

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's Thursday Again....well almost!

Hello Everyone! I am getting this done on weds. night again. After I drop the kiddies at school tomorrow I am off to do some Christmas shopping. I have Paul done and all the gifties shipped to the rest of the family members (I won't say what I got everyone, who knows if they are reading this), I also sent out goodies to each of you sweet ladies. Nothing terribly exciting, but I did think of you all on my trip. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

The first is from a 700 year old walled village. These ladies are "Professional Models". They will allow you to take their picture if you pay them. The other picture is from a 400 year old garden that some guy built as a 65th birthday present to his parents. I hope H and G remember this story for later in life. So, back to the Christmas thing...... I need to get stocking stuffers and some other little things for the kids from us and Santa. Everyone keeps asking me what I want and I am not exactly sure. What is it that all of you are hoping for this Christmas? I remember loving Christmas presents, but since I had kids it has all changed. It is more important for the babies to love their presents than about what I am getting. Is that when you become an adult? I do have to say that the older the kids get the more expensive the gifts become (Amy I feel your pain). H has an IPOD Video, an inflatable kayack, a motorcycle, Nintendo DS, cooking stuff, golf clubs, and a tent on his list. G is better, but still has American Girl doll stuff and a Nintendo DS on her list. What are the big ticket items in your houses this year? What are you all doing for stocking stuffers for your kids and hubbies this year? I always blow it and spend a gazillion dollars on the stocking stuffers, but this year I vow to be better. So here is my list of wants, stocking stuffers, and traditions.

WANTS
A gift certificate to get all the books on my Amazon list
A massage
A new winter coat
A DOONEY or COACH bag

STOCKING STUFFERS
Paul-lottery ticket, cigar, orange slices candy, a motorcycle magazine (give me any other ideas you all may have)
H and G-socks, pez, candy (any other ideas you may have)

TRADITIONS
In my family we would open a present on Christmas Eve, but Paul poo pooed that when we got married, so now we have snack tray on Christmas Eve. It is a tray with lots of cheeses, meats, veggies and cookies (all gourmet) so that you don't have to cook on Christmas Eve. I am also going to start somthing new this year. During the summer the kids and I were bored and I got some paper out and asked them each 50 questions about themselves. We had so much fun I decided to do it at Christmas time every year. So this year I am getting some Christmas paper, and a binder and I am going ot run off some questionaires to ask the kids. Fav. color, food, song, book, movie, friend, toy, event and so on. I am going to place it in a Christmas binder and do it every Christmas Eve. I know the answers will change every year and it will be fun to go over last years answers at the same time. We also have the Christmas pickle. Let me know what your traditions, maybe I will adopt some of them.

So that is my time for this evening. I will probably jump on all of your blog tomorrow and chat.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving. I just got home and spent a few minutes reading last weeks blogs. I tried to get mine done while I was in China, but everytime I would log onto a computer there it was always in Chinese. Tara I am so happy that you are going back to school to get your LPN. Who would have thought that at this stage in their lives Ray and Paul would be married to co-eds! WooHoo! Amy I am totally jealous that you got to have a special lunch with Tara for your birthday. An Melissa you may have put someone else's pictures of turkey cookies on your blog, but we all know you made some that looked just like the picture you posted.....miss fancy pants. I also know that Laurie is being quiet right now because somewhere in her kitchen is a plate of something yummy that looks fairly designerish as well, that would put all of us Oreos cookie buyers to shame. So to those of you that are making all homemade yummy desserts I say "SEND ME SOME". We are also getting ready for Thanksgiving here which is why I am blogging on Weds, not Thurs. It is only going to be us for the holiday this year so very low key, but H is helping make all the dishes. Today we are making pie and cranberry sauce. Tomorrow he will help with everything else, so here is the menu:
Turkey (plain, not fried this year)
Stuffing (the real stuff, not out of a box)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans with bacon and Spatzles
Corn Suffle
Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Pecan Pie
I feel slightly ill thinking about the amount of food we are going to be making and comsuming, but Thanksgiving only comes once a year and everyone wants their favorite dishes, so here we go.

China was fab! I had a wonderful time. Travelling with my Mom was wonderful. We took a great tour of Hong Kong on the second day we were there, did a lot of shopping, spent a bounch of time with my friend Leah from Paris, ate great food, and loved the city! Shanghi was a completely different kind of city. It was much more gritty. The people there didn't speak English for the most part. I did take a city tour and spent some time wandering about on my own. Mom was working in Shanghi, so I spent most of my touring time there on my own. One day I went into an older part of the city, that was a real neighborhood and ended up in a real, Chinese grocery store. It was two stories tall and had the craziest stuff in it. Melissa you would have loved all the crazy things in it. I ended up getting a few things to bring back for the kids to take to school and sample with the other kids. I have some really fun pictures that I will load later in the week. I am still struggling with sleep issues. I got back very late in the evening and had trouble falling asleep because it was morning in China, and H is sick with a cough, so that last 36 hours have been a bit rough. I think the folks at the local Starbucks must think I am a professional coffee runner for an office building with the amount of trips I have been making there. Everyone will be pleased to know that you can get Starbucks on almost every coner in China! They are very name concious over there and they love American brands. Starbuck's, McDonald's, KFC, Coldstone, Coach, you name it they have it! While I was walking around I ended up in the museum of Science and Technology in Shanghi. It was full of Chinese school kids and Chinese military guys. I was the olny western person in the museum, and all the kids kept asking if they could take their picture with me. I felt like Paris Hilton! WEIRD! So, next week I will post some pictures. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

What I am Giving Thanks For:
My Husband
My Kids
My Family
you all knew those would top any list!
Having friends that stand the test of time. I know I could go on about how much I care for all of you and what you all mean to me, but I know you get it, and I don't have to say it out loud. I trust you all, I love you all, and I miss you all!
My pretty new house.
A good school, for me and the kids.
A fireplace
SNOW

What I will give thanks for that everyone would think is silly
Long fingernails that are all the same length.
A perfect white V-Neck shirt I found on sale and got two of in my size!
Cheetos while watching Survivor
TiVo
Knowing I will totally get my Mom with the Duck.
Pecan Pie
Starbucks
Shopping close by

Enjoy Turkey Day!

Sorry No Pictures.

I was all about going out and photographing all of my favorite places here in MI, but I never got around to it this week. I was very intent on getting all the laundry done and making sure there was food in the house before I go off on my fantasy vacation without the family. A few people pointed out that Paul is more than capable of doing all these chores himself and I shouldn't bother, but this way I have way less guilt about splitting. Besides, if it was just Paul I would give a quick wave over my shoulder as I was on the way out the door, but the babies are so used to the Mom way, that I want to make sure they are well taken care of. They have never been without me. The max was two nights and three days when I would go for a girl's weekend in Washington, so why make them suffer. We had a bit of snow here last weekend, and when I say snow I mean a sleet/rain/flake mix that never stuck and the kids didn't get to play in. I guess it usually doesn't really snow here until December. My big hip-hip-hooray moment came this weekend when I finally found snow pants for H. He has those darn short little legs, but is a husky boy, so I tried two different pair at Target, one at Meijer, one at Wal-Mart and was getting ready to go to Land's End online when I found them at Sears. If I was in OR I would have been hosed and would have just gotten them online to start.

Laurie- Very nice story about W's Veteran's day. I think scouting is a really great thing to do with a boy. I wish H would have been a bit more interested in it, but alas he is not. He did get two medals in his swim meet two weeks ago....are those kind of like patches? Let's pretend they are!

Tara-Where are you in Gilmore Girls? Has anyone else watched Gilmore Girls? What part are you watching now? I took a break for a bit to catch up on Grey's and Desperate Housewives, which by the way is really good this season. Last season wasn't so exciting, but this is nice.

Did you all watch the season finale of Army wives yet?

I have all of your addresses and will send postcards any such from China. I hope I will be able to blog from there next week. The hotel should have a business center, so I will include pictures if I can and let you know how it is going.

I am not sure why I find it so hard to get pictures up on the screen. I am pretty good with other things, but the picture/blog thing I need help with. I guess that is why I usually stay away from computers. Here are the Halloween pictures I promised to show off. If any of you tell Paul I posted his picture I will surely find a way to make you suffer! It is Fall here in a big way. We only have two really big Oak trees on our property, but we have a bunch next door on the vacant land and they are all dropping leaves in our yard, so we have a tidal wave of leaves. The one really weird thing about living in this town is that they do not have a dump here, so there is no place to take yard waste, and there is no burning allowed, so the only option is to bag them and put them out with your garbage. Do any of you know how long that process takes? Well I can tell you Paul and the kids have been hard at work on it for weeks now. I pull the "I birthed your babies, you take care of the yard" card when it comes up that I should help. Halloween was lots of fun here. The school parties went very well. Paul came and helped out in G's classroom with her party. He ran the beanbag toss and seemed to be having a great time. He will be going in and filling my reading time slot with her class while I am in China which is nice. I am so glad we are off the boat so he can do things like that. The best part of Halloween night was when I got duped! I had three boys show up at the door. I tell all the older kids that come to the door that if they don't say "Trick-or-Treat" I will not give them candy, and if they are not in a costume I tell them that next year "no costume/no candy" well, we give out full sized candy bars and these three boys were very impressed with that, so unknown to me they took the candy, went out to the yard, stripped their costumes off and came back up to get another bar. Paul happened to be walking up the driveway and watched them do it.

I am very excited that elections are over and the political commercials are off my TV. Don't get me wrong, I followed the elections like a crazy person, but I gave up way to much of my TV viewing time to the elections, and I hate the commercials. I won't share who I voted for, that is the joy of being an American and having the right to privacy at the polls, but either way what an exciting time in America to have a woman and an African American running. The kids at H and G's school held elections. They all got a ballot and went to a voting box and got a sticker that said they voted. It was very exciting for them.

Paul and I didn't do much for our anniversary because of our obligations at the school, so we are going out this weekend to celebrate. I finally have a nice babysitter. She works at the counter at the pharmacy here in town. It is a small pharmacy that has a really old fashioned soda fountain in it. This summer the kids and I would go and have a pop or an ice cream and we started to get to know McKenzie. She is 17, in high school and has been babysitting for years. Over the summer she watched 4 kids every morning from 6:30 to 12:30. If a girl is willing to get up early all summer long in oreder to make money she is the girl for me. She also provided references from me. I know I am a stick in the mud when it comes to leaving my kids. The other big news is that I have an emergency contact for the kids now. I have been spending time with the woman that is the playground monitor at the kids school. She lives a few houses down from us and I adore her. She only wotks in the mornings and she said she would be the contact. With me going to China I was terrified that something would happen and there would be no one to call if Paul got held up at work or something.

Tara- Where are you in Gilmore Girls? I just hit the end of the first season! Are you there yet?

Amy- So glad elections were on Tuesday and not Thursday. I don't think I could give up Survivor. I have seen the commercials and a merge is coming this week! But, I think there is a twist!

Melissa-I have Twighlight in my pile of books to take to read on the plane, so don't give anything up! Are you enjoying being in town? Have you become best friends with the Starbuck's counter person?

Michelle-I need your address, could you please email it to me?

ACTUALLY- I NEED ALL OF YOUR ADDRESSES, PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO ME!

Happy Thursday ladies. I miss all of you and will be thinking of you as I am a tourist in a far away land with lots of Chinese made products for the American market sold very cheaply. If I have an address I can send gifties! I will try and post before I leave next week. If not maybe on late on Thursday when I am in san Francisco, so just keep looking.