December 29, 2008

the hell?

what is this???

pillsbury.com thinks 90 year olds are signing up for coupons!

I signed up for the free book of coupons from Pillsbury.com - their birthday chooser STARTS with 1908 as the birth year. I would be impressed if a 90 year old was using the internet!

Christmas Card Mishaps

I love Christmas cards. I love sending them AND getting them. Reading Christmas letters, looking at pics that people send out -it's all great. So it is with great care that I select our cards and the photo and send them out - always emailing people like crazy to make sure I've got the addresses right....

So this year's blunders (on my part!) include
* 2 cards with no stamp --> ONE OF WHICH WAS TO THE LITTLE GIRL WITH CANCER. SHOOT ME NOW!
* at least one card sent with NO CARD inside
* 2 incorrect addresses

UGH! I think I also forgot to mail one or two and they're hidden in the mess that is my desk at home!

December 22, 2008

Product Review: Papa John's Wheat Breadsticks.

YUCK!  They are simply pizza crust cooked in individual lengths.  No butter.  No sauce.  No flavor and AMAZINGLY dry.  Do not order these - I might try them again if they start offering them as cheese sticks or something, but $4.99 for dry cut up pizza crust?  I don't think so!

What a busy time!

We had ToddlerT's third birthday party yesterday!  How did he get to be 3 already??  It is amazing - and he's such a large child, it's like he's 4 or 5??  But having that party out of the way leaves me open to start prepping for Christmas.  I have 1/20th of the gifts wrapped, which is more than I had done by this time last year!  Only 19/20ths to go!  And I have to bake cookies tonight for gifts for my coworkers.  Then I have to bake all day Wednesday - a pumpkin pie and a birthday cake for the older son.  I am so tired of baking - I think I've worn out the engine on my beloved KitchenAid mixer (it was handed down to me by Hubby's Grandmother - it is one of the original ones, if you believe that).  So, it is old, but is an heirloom and I would hate for it to die.

Anyway -off to PartyCity to return most of the party supplies from ToddlerT's party that we didn't use - none of the kids from his class coud come so we had TONS of extra decorations and party goodies!

December 17, 2008

December 13, 2008

beck & call

one thing i didn't realize before having children is how much you are at their beck & call.  i understood the baby part - the baby cries and you WILL go fix whatever is wrong - but I never considered being at the beck and call of a toddler.  if either toddlerJ or toddlerT is calling - we go running.  Potty time?  we go.  The child is done eating - I hurry to wisk away the dishes and food so it doesn't become playtime with food.  child is done drawing - you rush to put the supplies away before they start doodling on something other than paper.  child is quiet in the other room - run like hell to see what they've gotten into.

before we had kids, I did not foresee the extreme demands on me past their babyhood.  Sure I know you watch the children and play with the children, etc.  But I did expect it to be a bit less demanding over time.  Now when either child gets up, we rush to get them before they wake the other children - so for the last three years, EVERY morning begins, for me, with going from a deep sleep to down the hall in 3.2 seconds.  WHICH IS A SUCKY WAY TO START EVERY GOSH DARN #$@%@ MORNING, BTW.  And we stay at that level of attention until they goto bed at 8.  It is freaking exhausting.    Just some whining, sorry, but I've spent every second since 6:30 this morning at strict attention and I'm a bit tired of it already.  only 9 more hours to go!

December 12, 2008

my toddlerT is a thief!

He stole another angel off their angel tree at the preschool - back to the toystore for us!

December 11, 2008

where did she go?

Hi there!  Miss me much?  Thought so!  I am in training this week for our ticket system, Maximo.  Very interesting stuff I tell you - but a little dry in a class type setting.  But luckily, the classmates are fun fun fun....
 
We are finally recovered from 4/5 of the family having the stomach virus.  THANK GOODNESS.  I am now wiping and spraying everyone with Lysol wipes and spray everytime they come back in the house.  Those fumes can't be worse than the stomach virus, can they??
 
Also - I need good ideas for gifts for my hubby!  I have a couple small ideas, but need something awesome.  Last year it was Rockband, I don't know what to do this year at all for his big gift!!??

December 02, 2008

Making Christmas Count

Last night hubby and I were talking about how to make Christmas more meaningful to our children. Last year they got so many presents they couldn't open them all in one day. They had presents the days leading up to and the days AFTER December 25. Throw in that ToddlerT's birthday is 1 week before Christmas and Son's birthday is 1 week AFTER and you have serious present overload. I feel like this makes the gifts less special because there simply is no time to appreciate the gifts before the next onslaught of gifts begins - we do a round presents w/my mother and brother, with hubby's Dad, with hubby's Aunt, with our little family and with my grandmother and extended family. Then there are the birthdays to deal with - we've tried having them at other points in the year but that isn't working out too well either.

We do sponser a child in Uganda and we are going to have discussions about the gifts that we are sending to him (through the Compassion organization) and to his family. We sent money specifically for the child then another gift for the family to buy things. We pick angels off the giving tree at ToddlerT's preschool. We plan to take the children to shop for those gifts and be more involved in that this year now that they are older.

My mother and grandmother give me cash to purchase gifts for the children. I am putting 50% of that cash into their college funds instead of toys. I would buy the children clothes if spring clothes were out - they have more than enough winter clothes.

What else can I do to

a. cut down on the amount of stuff coming into my house for the holidays?
b. make the gifts more special - present overload is seriously a problem with so many people that love our children.

Any suggestions?