Catapulting fun

What feels like happened way back (September) Beerman built a catapult a la Angry Birds to play at our Fall Fest. The party was so busy, I never took any photos of the little kids lined up in an orderly way to get their shot. Recently, C-man had his friend over for a sleepover, and they wanted to play with it. A perfect chance for me to show it in action.

The deflated balls seemed to work better in the cold and the bungees pulled a little harder, but it was still a ton of fun.

Until that got too hard, and chucking balls at the obstacles just became more fun. But hey, whatever works, right?

Wordless Wednesday: Relax

Lazy Day

C-man asked if we could sleep in and then just cuddle and watch movies all day. I told him I saw no reason that wasn't possible. So as soon as he's done killing his Ninjago bad guys with all his new sets (which he is also reviewing on his very own YOUTUBE CHANNEL these days) and killing bad guys with his fire sword (Seeing a theme here anyone?), we'll get right on that.

The day after

We had such a nice Christmas. It ended with teaching our good friends the beauty of fondue. I got Beerman a raclette set for Christmas, and that fit in really well with the all-Swiss theme. I feel we are so blessed to have such good friends in our life to share fun things like that.

But now, it's the day after. The day when the wrapping paper gets thrown into the recycling, the fondue remnants cleaned up, I drink too much coffee from my beautiful new maker, and I help put a ridiculous amount of Legos together. I'm confident there will be a movie or two thrown in there for good measure, too.

Enjoy your boxing day!

Our blessed Christmas

We went to bed with a note wishing Santa the best. And then Santa was almost caught when the child got up an hour later complaining of a nightmare. Ooops!

But it all turned out splendidly.

Especially since he did get the only thing he'd been asking for...

And since his dad is part-owner of the team now, and he wants to be Clay Matthews, it was only fitting he have a new jersey.

It was all opened in record time.

But nothing says Christmas like Garmadon's Dark Fortress building, which is getting assembled at the most frenetic pace I've ever seen.

And as I was brewing a new cup of coffee in my brand new machine, a beautiful friend came to wish us all a Merry Christmas.(And eat my juniper berries, but we're not being picky.)

Merry Christmas to you.

My Christmas Wishes

For the door of hate to be closed and the window to tolerance opened.

For those with heavy hearts of loss and depression to find at least a bit of peace.

And for your plates to be plentiful, and both hearts and homes warm.

Unexpectedly joyous

Sometimes, when the sun is shining and the breeze blowing, you have so much happiness in you that you can't hold it any longer. And you realize you need to do something to release it back to the universe.

For some, that means doing flips. For others, it means taking pictures of it happening. Here's hoping you have an unexpectedly joyous moment today.

Thursday Thirteen: Miscellaneously me

1. While on vacation, I started and finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I got it this summer as a recommended read from NPR, and it'd been sitting on my nightstand ever since. Why hadn't I read it sooner?! Oh my. It was so strange and so awesome. Screw vampires and werewolves- angels and demons is totally where it's at! I can't wait for the September 2012 sequel!
2. My reporting structure has changed at work, and it's been such a breath of fresh air. I sense more change coming, which makes me hopeful about further alleviating the boredom problem I've been having.
3. Somehow, each night after a Harry Potter chapter and before sleep, Cman has started asking what my favorite part of my day is. It's always tough to answer, because I can't tell him that it's when we talk about the favorite parts of our days.
4. I got some work done on our vehicle this week. There was finally a recall on the lights that have been on almost since we bought the stupid thing. Except now, there is something actually wrong with the thing. I don't know what they did, but it's stalling and grinding on me. Bugger!
5. While waiting at the dealership, I watched the Wendy Williams show. What a train wreck THAT show is!
6. Beerman got me an 85mm lens for Christmas. I got it early to take to Sanibel. It's so heavy to allow for its beautiful 1.4 f. Dear God, I get all squishy just thinking about it. Screw blood diamonds, baby. Give me some glass!
7. The Milwaukee Public Museum has a general store in its old fashioned streets portion that Cman never misses. They sell these bars of Indulge, a local chocolatier, and the Mayan Spice bar with cayenne and cinnamon is particularly to die for. Yum.
8. Every time I think I'm finished buying Christmas gifts, I remember about teachers' gifts. Argh! It never ends. Would the elves come to wrap now, please?
9. The trash talk about finding the pickle on Christmas Eve has begun. At what age will Cman realize his dad lets him win? Or that the present is always something he, specifically, wants? I love the pickle "competition"
10. This week we were supposed to wear our holiday attire to work on Tuesday. I'm no scrooge, but I have my limits. And walking into a meeting with a Santa hat on is definitely one of them.
11. C-man is having a friend sleep over tonight. You'd think he had just won the lottery, he's so excited. Totally adorable.
12. I bought nothing while in Sanibel and we hardly ate out. (The beauty of renting a kitchenette). And I've got to say, I'm not sad about that.
13. I really wish people would stop bringing food to work. I can't resist it, and I really don't want it, and all it does is make me feel like garbage. At least it's the last day here for 10 days. Whoot!

Wordless Wednesday: The good life

Christmas concert time of year

It was C-man's Christmas concert last night. Of course, the shoes that were fine for weddings in August no longer fit him, so I had to scramble to the store to find a new pair. But, I had a quick success at Target and even had time to grab the last few Christmas gifts.

It was a typical grade school concert, complete with the 4th graders busting out the devil's instrument recorders, a little brother escaping his seat to make his way to the stage repeatedly to the mother's mortification and crowd's great pleasure, and enough camera flashes to send you into a Japanese cartoon seizure. (Never mind they asked for no flashes - but that would bring me back to my usual rant about people not being able to figure out how to turn the flashes off on their cameras.) The 8th graders even played a song on their iPads. I thanked our friend who was on the technology committee for getting the school iPads this year. That song made the expense totally worthwhile. *sarcasm

And after an hour of indescribable cuteness, it was all over and time to go to Baskin Robbins. Clearly, the best part of the night for most of the kids.

Here are some snippets of C-man's parts:

Of course, by the 2nd song, the shirt was completely untucked. Not entirely surprising.

Yea for amazing weekends

What a fantastic long weekend we had celebrating Beerman's 40th birthday. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we couldn't have asked for a more terrific time.

We found loads of starfish...

And C-man taught us that they re-grow their legs if lost. He learned that from the Hulk. (Don't ever let someone tell you that cartoons rot the brain. They teach important nature facts!)

We watched birds...

And we found loads of sand dollars and shells. (Although we didn't find a shell that sounded like the ocean.)

We went on a search for manatees...

And were lucky enough to find two.

And then we were incredibly blessed to see pods of dolphins...

...from the back of the gorgeous sailboat we sailed around North Captiva Island.

In our "down time", we swam,

Just enjoyed being together...

And played shuffleboard.

Thanks, Sanibel. Until next time.

Still birthdaying

We're still celebrating birthday, but this Christmas image is too precious not to share.

Merry Love

It takes a long time to grow young...

Happy 40th to the man I love the most.

And also to you...

And you, too.

Smell you later

Milwaukee's in our rear-view mirror. We'll catch you on the other side.

Salt water countdown

Most people right now are counting down until Christmas or Hanukkah. Either with worry because they aren't ready, or glee because they know Santa's coming. I, however, am throwing all that Christmas stuff to the wayside for a moment, because I'm counting down the hours until we get on that jet plane bound for Fort Myers. That's because tomorrow the three of us will be in beautiful, sunny, deliciously 80 degree, shell-covered Sanibel Island for the long weekend to celebrate Beerman's 40th. And I can.not.wait.

I injected myself with the rat poison this morning, so it should kick in tomorrow sometime, giving me a little extra pep. (Is it wrong that every other Wednesday I sing, "Injection day, injection day, time to get my injection today to the tune of Picture Pages and then make the computer noises the pen used to make when I inject it?)

24 hours, people. 24 hours until we're on our way. Whoot!

Fa la la la la-ing

The befuddlement in my brain continues with some work changes and all that is going on personally. But I'm making some significant progress navigating through the obscurity. Last night I managed to pull out Florida clothes for both C-man and me, so that piece is improving. (And the fact that the forecast for Sanibel Island is in the upper 70s and low 80s this week doesn't hurt the mood either!) And I'm down to only 2 gifts that need to be gotten, which is a relief. (Now if the elves would just wrap them all for me!) I'm feeling much more "together" about it all than I have in past years.

However, this is the time of year to practice some gentle parenting techniques, as it is also baseball trade time. I still don't know how we're going to address the Ryan Braun scandal with C-man, as there were actual tears and "I hate the Diamondbacks!" shouts about the Saito trade.(Casey McGehee, not so much) But since the official ruling won't come out on Braun for a bit, maybe we can just avoid it for now. (And don't think I don't realize how ridiculous it is that these things are so important at our house.)

C-man is missing a day and a half of school this week with our little celebratory foray south. I notified his teachers out of courtesy. They responded with the assignments that he has due. Can I just say for the record that he's in 1st grade and has absolutely no academic troubles in school?

Anyhow, have I mentioned we'll be in the sun in 2 days? Whoot!

Befuddledly busy

For a weekend with little on the schedule, it suddenly became so jam-packed I couldn't think straight. It doesn't help that we have a short one in the house with whom we are beginning to need an appointment just to see. But the weekend was all screwy. I got my dates mixed up on a birthday party that C-man was supposed to go to, and that about explains how the rest went - totally un-according to plan. We are leaving for a long weekend getaway on Thursday, and I haven't even made a single list yet. In other words, I'm TOTALLY behind. Then again, a few pairs of shorts in the suitcase and we should be good to go, right? Say right. I am just too befuddled to think of it any other way right now.

Friday's Fifteen Favorite Things

I'm not so much with the raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, but I thought it was an appropriate time of year to talk about a few of my own favorite things. You know, because Oprah's done and all.

So in no particular order, here are 15 of my favorite things:

1. Reading through the Harry Potter series at night with C-man and discussing the differences between the books and the movies
2. A fresh latte in the morning
3. Harry's fuzzy belly
4. Swiss chocolates direct from Sprungli
5. Sunrises
6. White twinkle lights
7. Hot chocolate with marshmallows bobbing in it
8. Long showers
9. Photo Christmas cards
10. Fuzzy slippers
11. Soft, chunky blue yarn
12. Days off work
13. French onion soup with a giant crouton on top
14. Going to see a movie matinee by myself
15. Dave Brubeck music. I can't help but smile when I hear it

Day in the Life of First Grade

C-man got a cheapy camera from St. Nick. He wasn't all that excited about getting a non-Lego gift when he opened it. But then he realized he could use it as his spy tool, and now doesn't want to stop snapping pictures. He took it to school with him. And I've got to say, the pictures crack me up. I usually hate the time/date stamp, but on these, it just adds to the story.

Wordless Wednesday

A bunch of stuff

• I had my one-month exam at the acupuncturist last night. Absolutely nothing has changed. So I left with 10 "tacks" (aka - needles on the end of band-aids) stuck in my back. I'm supposed to leave them there until my appointment on Thursday. Here goes nothing.
• The problem with hosting a party at the house is that we bought food for the party, but forgot about the rest of the week. I broiled a half of a stale bagel this morning for breakfast and forgot about it. Not even I am hungry enough to eat burned bagel.
• St. Nick brought me a recycled beer bottle glass necklace and earrings. Apparently St. Nick shops at the brewery over lunch.
• Beerman had ladder envy of one of our friends' fancy 26' fold-up in all sorts of configurations ladders. So I bought it for him for his birthday. It arrived yesterday. The ONE day he got home before me. Happy birthday, honey.
• At least I didn't have to haul that sucker into the back yard by myself to hide it.
• I bought a Barry Manilow Christmas CD, because it was $5, and I couldn't stomach getting Mariah Carey. Surprisingly, I'm digging it.