Christmas 2005 Recap

Our Christmas weekend started on Thursday with the arrival of my parents. We took them out that evening to caroling at a neighborhood bar/restaurant. It was great. They had some middle school band members playing off key Christmas carols. Morrigan promptly took her spot in front of them & conducted. Wearing my Mom's gloves no less. Maggie quickly warmed up to Santa once she realized he had candy and was willing to share.

Dominick & Chris arrived on Friday. It was great to see Dominick for the first time in a two years. Also nice finally meet Chris who met with my approval. He has many endearing qualities including but not limited to: he's a Republican, loves butter, and takes his coffee light & sweet like I do.

The girls have figured out Christmas. Maggie was especially sweet. She would grab each of her presents & exclaim "It's exactly what I wanted!" prior to opening the gift. Eion was happy to eat the wrapping paper.
We had a great Christmas and hope you did too!

One More Weekend of Christmas Parties Down

This past weekend was full of holiday fun for the whole clan. On Saturday, we went to the Roanoke Country Club's children's Christmas party. For those who have never been, the party breaks down like this:

Upon arrival, you get in line to see Santa. More correctly, one parent waits in line while the children going running in circles around the dining room screaming at the top of their lungs. The reactions to Santa run the gamut. We had a little bit of everything. Morrigan hopped right up on his lap and gave him her list as well as Maggie & Eion's lists. By the by, if anyone knows what "purple plastic jumping ovals" are, please let me know. They have been added to the list. Maggie, wanted to go nowhere near the guy. She only went close to claim her goodie bag. Eion sat on his lap in fascinated silence.

Then it is time for lunch. The fact that the food is greatly improved by the new chef did not impress the kids. The whole room was full of Moms withholding goodie bags until the kids ate something. Plates full of pizza and fruit generally being ignored as the negotiations raged. "Just eat three pieces of fruit & you can have a treat." For the record, I have completely given up at these events. I feed the kids before and just let them loose at the party. I didn't even bother with plates of food for show. Kids 1, Mom 0.

With the kids are all hopped up on sugar, most of the parents are eagerly seeking the bartender. Those drinks will be needed for the next part of the party: the puppet show. Mind you, this segment doesn't start till almost 1pm. Most of these kids still nap around this time so we are on dangerous ground. Now this show really should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention as torture. But the kids like it. And mercifully, 2 out of 3 of mine watched it this year. Leaving me to my Jack and coke. Eion was still on the loose but he had fun crawling around. His mouth was smeared with chocolate of unknown origin when he emerged from under the table but what the hell. He looked pretty happy. Merry Christmas E.

House of Hair Issues

So I went to my hairdresser the other day & I asked what was up with my hair. I have this ring of hair around my forehead that is one inch long and stands straight up. I couldn't figure out how I got it. Apparently, pregnancy, childbirth, and stopping nursing can make your hair fall out. Hence, my little spikes. But even better, I apparently have them all over my head. I just hadn't noticed. Excellent.

Of course, having messed up hair, I am in good company in this family. Eion's hair really speaks for itself. He has a double crown. The hair around the crowns grows in opposite direction, one clockwise, the other counter-clockwise. And what is in the middle just sticks straight up.

Maggie was bald for so long. She's finally getting hair which looks like it will be very pretty. It is a beautiful red color & has a nice texture. In the meantime, it is about 1 1/2 inches long. Not too bad to smooth down with gel. But after I'm done, she informs me she will be doing her own hair, runs her fingers through it and ends up looking like Heat Meiser.

Morrigan's Face Paint

Morrigan's Face Paint,
originally uploaded by jgertsen.

First Snow of the Season

First snow of the season today. Morrigan and Maggie had a ball outside. Morrigan seemed determined to eat her weight in snow. Currently, she's making Tim build a snowman with her. Mama had enough snow in Michigan all those years & has declined to participate.

The birthday party this weekend was a big hit. And yes, there was a pinata! Morrigan had her face painted by the clown/magician, who came complete with tattoos and a tongue stud. She was pretty bummed that she had to wash her face that night but her pain was eased by knowing that she was going to attend a Christmas party her brother & sister would not (it was during naptime.)

There were lots of other kids at the Christmas party the next day. In the playroom, Morrigan promptly dressed up in a Snow White costume & instructed the other kids to call her Snow White. She refused to divulge her real name. On the way home we picked up a sled & she informed all the other KMart shoppers we were buying a sleigh.

Little Eion is sick & has to use a nebulizer twice a day. He hates it & screams the whole time. His sisters on the other hand love it & insist on wearing the mask (but no medicine for them.) We all took Eion to the doctor together. All the way there, Maggie practiced saying, "Hello Dr. Eskenazi." He says she pronounces it better than half his staff.

Maggie also moved to a big girl bed last night. So far, so good. She seems very proud of herself. Now if we can just get her to use the potty...I hear the E fussing upstairs so I'd best go get him!

On Birthday Parties and Proper Attire

We're going to a birthday party this afternoon. With the possible exceptions of Christmas and one's own birthday, birthday parties are about as good as it gets for kids. I never tell them about the party till the day of. They just can't handle the excitement. Now I don't know about when you were a kid but I don't remember going to or having tons of birthday parties. Went to some, had some. Had some cake. Maybe played pin the tail on the donkey. Now, according to my children, there are very specific chains of events.

It goes something like this: "Kids, this afternoon we're going to a birthday party." Children respond: "Will there be party hats, balloons, party games, cake, ice cream, presents, goodie bags and a pinata?" This, as far as I can tell, seems to be "the list" of what a party should be. We went to a perfectly lovely party not long ago. But alas, it was not complete. We got in the car & Morrigan said, "There was no pinata at that party." And so the rating of parties begins.

Party dresses are also very important. The girls have matching birthday dresses (see above) that they generally wear to their own and other people's birthdays. Now the party today will be at least partially outside (I drove by & saw the moon walk.) Neither outdoors in December nor moon walks lend themselves to dresses. I recommended the girls wear jeans.

This was a mistake. Howls of "No! We have to wear our party gowns!" were heard all the way to West Virginia. That's right, gowns. My girls don't want to wear dresses these days, only gowns. Pants and skirts are right out. I was informed that princesses don't wear pants or skirts. They only wear long gowns. Now Maggie is a bit more flexible but Morrigan is relentless. She just switched sizes so we don't have tons of dresses. The ones we do have are mostly hand-me-down Christmas dresses from her cousins. So I send her to school in velvet dresses on a regular basis. I'm sure her teacher thinks I am insane.

Morrigan's favorite gown is a red velvet dress. Many, many mornings I have to prove to her that the dress she will be wearing is as long as the red dress, the standard by which all other dresses are measured. As for today, I will not fight the fight. If they want to wear their birthday gowns outside in the moonwalk, they can. How else would anyone know they were princesses?

Worn Down Into A Tiny Nub

Man I am tired. It is 7:40 and all I can think about is going to bed. I know from experience that going to sleep now will just mean I am up at 3am so I will blather on here instead. Today was "one of those days." The kids endeavored to wear me into a tiny nub. And I must say the succeeded. There are only so many times I can answer questions like "What is a chair?" without hissing "You know damn well what a chair is!" For the record, there was no such hissing today.

But the day was not without bright spots. Maggie (pictured above) was, between fits, pretty funny. She likes to call Eion "little booty boy head." Where this name comes from I have no idea but he responds to it (something to tell his therapist in the future.) So she calls out to him, "Come on little little booty boy head" and they chase each other around in circles laughing.

And of course, there is the Maggie foot check. When getting undressed for bed each night, she gives a verdict on her feet. She pulls a foot to her nose and declares "stinky feet" or "no stinky feet." Trying to keep her from having a complex, I have argued with her in the past. "No Maggie, your feet aren't stinky." To which the response is " Stinky feet!" with a foot shoved in my nose. Unfortunately for my nose, she is right.

Morrigan's Education

Morrigan is attending the public preschool at Crystal Springs Elementary. She adores it there. They have a bus just for pre-k that picks her up in front of the house. She is so happy there that she cries almost every day when there is no school. I thought she was going to go to pieces over Thanksgiving when there was no school for 4 days in a row!

She really seems to be learning allot. She can use a computer, write her name and learned about fire safety. She was not very happy when she came home after fire safety day & we found out that two out of three of our smoke alarms didn't work. (They've been replaced.)

But what I find the most interesting are the "other" things she's learned. Today she showed me how to shoot a rubber band. We can thank Matthew for that one. She also told me that daddies have boobies too, only very small ones. Thanks Lizzie Kate. Some uncredited discoveries include the word nasty. I cracked up when she started using that one.

The girls have both taken to telling knock knock jokes. I think the point of the jokes is lost on them. They generally go something like "Knock, knock. Who's there? Pickled peppers!" and that's it. Or they will say "apple." When I say "apple who?" they crack up and say something like "eyeball." I'm not sure which kid to thank for the jokes.