You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Celebrate good times' category.
I need to go to Walmart. I know what you’re thinking, there can’t possibly be any reason on God’s green earth compelling enough to justify a trip to Walmart the day before Thanksgiving. The thing is, I promised DynaGirl that I would make her pumpkin cookies for Thanksgiving dessert. These special pumpkin cookies (the ones my allergy stricken children can eat) require a spice cake mix. But not just any old spice cake mix. No, no, no. I need a particular brand of cake mix because all of the other brands have milk in them. And naturally, the only store in our town that carries the particular brand I need also happens to be the only store that I particularly avoid at all costs. The sacrifices we make for our children.
We typically get together with my oldest sister and her family for Thanksgiving. It makes sense, seeing how they live just three miles down the road. We share the meal responsibilities. We each make a turkey. I make the potatoes, rolls, jello and a dessert. She makes the stuffing, green beans, yams and pumpkin pie. This past year her husband has had some health concerns, which have resulted in changes in their lifestyle and diet. Instead of my sister’s delicious homemade stuffing (the part of the meal I look forward to the most), we will be having low sodium Stove Top. There will be no bacony, sweet and soury green beans. There will be no pumpkin pie. The yams will not be candied (which is actually fine since as far as I’m concerned yams are a non-food group). And yes, I’m perfectly aware that there are starving people living under bridges who would gladly give their right pinkies for low sodium Stove Top and bacon-free green beans, but we’re talking about me right now.
While waiting for my girls to get out of school yesterday, I had a brief conversation with the mother of one of Goose’s little friends. We were having a perfectly lovely conversation until she casually mentioned that she had their turkey thawing in the bathtub. IN THE BATHTUB. She further explained that they do this every year, and if it’s not fully thawed by Wednesday night, they just run warm water into the tub. Thanks to her, I don’t even think I’ll be able to enjoy my turkey this year.
In short, Thanksgiving will suck.
But I am grateful for all of you and hope you have a lovely day of gratitude and thanksgiving. Please know I will be thinking of you as I’m choking down my fat free pumpkin-like dessert.
Because Julie asked, some pics of the kids in their Halloween garb:
DynaGirl as The Cat in the Hat:
Goose as The Cheerleader:
BigHugs as The Black Cat:
Saturday ended up being a pretty busy day, so the girls didn’t get out trick-or-treating until after 7:30 pm. I was a little worried we wouldn’t be able to employ our annual Halloween candy strategy. You don’t have a Halloween candy strategy? I’m not talking about mapping out a trick-or-treating route or going to the houses with the best loot or anything like that. Let me explain.
My first few Halloweens I was a total sucker, buying and passing out the good stuff only to have my children come home with gummy thumbs and chocolate eyeballs and Arby’s restaurant mints that had been scrounged from the bottom of someone’s purse or pocket or something. (The wrappers wrinkled and covered in lint and crumbs are kind of a tip off, cheapo restaurant mint passer-outers. If you think no one has noticed, you’re wrong.) Then I started buying the cheapo stuff like smarties and the bubble gum that’s rock hard by Veteran’s Day. The problem with that is if you overestimate the number of trick-or-treaters you’re likely to have, then you’re still stuck with the crap.
A few years ago, I finally figured out that if you send your kids out early enough, they can come home, sort the undesirable and inedible from the good stuff, and then you can turn around and pass it out to unsuspecting trick-or-treaters and keep the good candy for yourself. I know, it’s diabolical. But pretty much in keeping with the whole spirit of the holiday, no?
They ended up getting home in plenty of time, but the parade of trick-or-treaters had really tapered off by about 8:30 pm, and we still had plenty of candy of the undesirable, inedible variety left in our bowl. Chuck tried to turn the porch light off at 9 pm, but I told him to leave it on just in case we got a few stragglers. I instructed Mr. T and DynaGirl to make sure the bowl was clear of any stuff worth keeping, and to just dump the entire contents of the bowl into the outstretched bag of anyone who dared trick-or-treat past 9 pm.
At 9:15 the doorbell rang and DynaGirl dumped as instructed. We turned off the porch light and locked the door. Our house is now completely devoid of all the abominations that people try to pass off as Halloween candy. Complete mission success this year, my friends, complete mission success.
Yes, occasionally I do feel some pangs of guilt for re-treating something that I deem unworthy of my own family’s consumption. But some of these kids come from the very homes that are passing out this stuff, and while it would be helpful to have every child carry a sample of the offerings from their own homes so that one might be better able to judge what candy of which they are worthy, that’s not really realistic, is it?
So yes, innocents may fall victim to the particular brand of Halloween candy justice we dispense here at Casa de Bythelbs (I might be giving your child a box of Dots at the very moment you are generously dropping a king-snize Snickers into my child’s sack), but I can live with the collateral damage if it means I never again have to look at another Now and later or Laffy taffy or flavored Tootsie roll collecting dust in my pantry.
Hey, it would be wasteful to just throw it away.
Plus, some people like that kind of stuff.
I am not a monster!
And no referencing that last post!
In honor of DynaGirl’s 10th, ten things I love about my firstborn daughter:
1. She is sweet and kind, with an amazing capacity for sympathy and empathy. (She came home from school the other day embarrassed because she had teared up during read aloud story time. She started crying again while she was telling me what the story was about. Yet she can fall off a bike, break both her arms, and not shed a tear.)
2. She is seriously funny (accidentally and on purpose), and has saved me from having a complete disaster of a day on more than one occasion with her ability to make me smile or laugh myself silly.
3. She cares what others think about her, but not enough to try to be someone she is not. In the end, she’s a take me or leave me kind of girl, in the nicest possible way.
4. She is artistic and creative. She writes her own comic strip, “The Adventures of Guy and Doody”, that showcases her talent and quirky sense of humor.
5. She is helpful, and somehow manages to be there when I need her the most without my asking.
6. She does great impressions: the valley girl, the homegirl, the surfer dude, the English street urchin (I could go on and on).
7. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and a finely developed sense of guilt. She feels genuine remorse, and is willing to do whatever she needs to do to make amends. She is also quick to forgive, being more concerned with others’ feelings than her own.
8. She is adored by every adult she interacts with. Every teacher, every friend’s mother or father—you name it—can’t say enough good things about her because she is so fun, so well-behaved, so hardworking and so genuinely delightful.
9. She is grateful and generous, giving thanks and compliments freely and sincerely.
10. She is the kind of girl that puts a zebra print Snuggie at the very top of her birthday list with a big star, squeals with delight when she opens the gift, and then spends the next several minutes having her picture taken in various Snuggie poses. Who can resist that?
Happy Birthday, DynaGirl! You are ALL THAT and a zebra print Snuggie with bonus book light, and I love you!
Mr. T has officially reached adolescence. Since the day he was born, I’ve looked forward to this day with the dread of a Y2K fatalist—like a countdown to destruction and our impending doom.
I’ve spent the past several months wondering when everything will be different. When we he lose interest in this? When will he start refusing to do that? When will he decide he’s too old or too cool to do the things I’m not ready for him to give up? Or old enough or cool enough to do the things I’m not ready for him to try?
Late last night, I realized I’ve been bracing myself for the very worst. As a general rule, my life strategy is to keep the expectations low to avoid disappointment. But it’s not fair for me to assume everything will be a struggle. Undoubtedly, our adventure through the teenage years will be fraught with peril, but surely the most essential talisman to carry on our journey is hope.
I woke up this morning to find the earth is still turning, the sun still shining. Mr. T is still making me laugh and making me crazy in the usual dosages. Come what may, he’ll still be mine. And I’ll love him just the same.
Happy Birthday, Mr. T!
Good thing there’s no charge for awesomeness, or we’d never be able to afford you.
BigHugs was born on 7-31 at 1:31 am, weighing 7 lbs 7 oz. I’ve always liked those numbers.
Once we decided that our number four would be our last, I was determined to get this one right—to avoid all of the mistakes I thought I’d made with the first three. It didn’t take long for me to realize that either I’m not the kind of mom who learns from her mistakes or BigHugs isn’t the kind of kid who bends to the will and whims of her mother.
Year four has brought to pass so many milestones: out of diapers, out of our bed, out of our hair for a few moments at a time as she’s discovered how to entertain herself. As the last vestiges of babyhood fade away, I occasionally find myself wondering why I ever waste a moment wishing she would just grow up a little already. The past few months I’ve begun to feel the distance–that little bit of space opening up between us that has been both a source of relief and regret. Her more recent clinginess and sometimes resistance to all the “big girl” talk makes me wonder if maybe part of her is feeling it too, if maybe part of her is subconsciously reeling herself back in a bit. That pull makes me hopeful for the future—hopeful that no matter what we may say or do to each other in the coming years, we’ll instinctively manage to keep each other within reachable bounds.
Happy 4th birthday, BigHugs! I couldn’t have asked for a better last chapter to the story of my childbearing years—a chapter I hope will fill volumes. I love you!
Some of my fondest childhood memories are sitting at the piano with Madhousewife playing and singing from our book of James Bond movie themes. Sometimes Mad would play and I would sing, sometimes she would play the right hand and I the left while we sang together. I was not the best player or the best singer, but Mad didn’t care.
The catalog of James Bond movie themes is full of all kinds of awesomeness, but I believe our favorite, and correct me if I’m wrong here Mad, was Thunderball. No matter how many times we sang it, I would always come in prematurely with my thunderballs. But Mad was patient and encouraging, never revoking my license to kill a song. I will be forever grateful for that, and for those cherished memories.
Thank you, Madhousewife. And happy birthday! You are double-O awesome and I love you!
If only I had a recording to share with you all. I suppose Mr. Jones will have to do.
Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. Fifteen years ago today, I made Chuck the happiest man on earth. I won’t say that I love him even more today than I did 15 years ago. I don’t even know what that means. But I will say I’ve never stopped.
Here are 15 things I love about Chuck.
1. Early on in our marriage he volunteered to be the designated fridge-cleaner-outer, and he’s still doing it.
2. I can always count on him to make a corny joke. And he loves it when I roll my eyes.
3. He often can’t remember things I’ve told him 5 minutes before, but he recalls our courtship in vivid details even I had forgotten.
4. He takes care of all the maintenance on my car and sometimes even makes a special trip to make sure the tank is full, not because he thinks I’m incapable or that it’s his manly/husbandly duty, but just so I won’t have to bother with it.
5. I always know when I’ve “caught” him doing something because he has a guilty smile/chuckle that gives him away every time. He knows that I know, and he still smiles.
6. He always compliments me and tells me I’m beautiful, even when I feel (and, let’s be honest, look) worked over.
7. He’s very loyal. When I’m upset, he always takes my side—sometimes even when I’m upset with him.
8. He still writes me love notes and makes me mix CDs, often pointing out the lyrics of special significance.
9. He is careful with money (our finances are great), but he is not a tightwad, and if he’s ever been worried about my spending habits, he’s never let on to me. We have never had an argument over money.
10. Whenever he needs to go out of town, our kids are very upset and make a BIG deal over his homecoming. That says a lot about him as a father.
11. He always asks my opinion.
12. He sends me links and things that he thinks will make good blogging material.
13. He would rather spend time with me than hang out with the guys, but doesn’t mind giving me a girl’s night out. (Or at least he’s very good at pretending.)
14. He is quick to reassure me when I doubt myself, quick to recognize my accomplishments (even if it’s just that I’ve managed to get the dishes done that day), and always without my feeling patronized or doubting his sincerity.
15. He has a special appreciation for my particular flavor of crazy. He must, after all, he’s still here!
Happy anniversary, Chuck! I still love you!
I have just a moment, dear readers, as Madhousewife is on her way and I’m still in the midst of Thanksgiving/houseguest preparations. Just wanted to wish you a very happy Turkey Day and let you all know how thankful I am for my dear bloggy friends!
And also for youtube. And people who have too much time on their hands. And no shame.
Happy Thanksgiving!
As promised, Bythelbs’ children in all their Halloween glory:
BigHugs liked to draw special attention to her curly tail with a little booty-shakin’.
Goose loved how her hobo Cinderella turned out. Here’s a closer look at the mice:
DynaGirl got a lot of compliments on her hobo. When she went trick-or-treating, one guy said it was the best costume he’d seen all night.
Mr. T decided he didn’t want to be a hobo bro, so he went with this instead (entirely his vision):
When he first said he wanted to be a garden gnome, I wasn’t so sure we could pull it off. But I think we did OK. Ever the goofball, he can’t help but strike a pose in front of the camera.
Another Halloween come and gone. It was good. How was yours?
It’s here. The day my little hands have been slaving away for. The costumes are done. The pumpkins are carved. The candy is purchased. Now all that’s left to do is the girls’ class Halloween parties and a quick trip around the neighborhood for some trick-or-treating and it will all be over. Yesssssssss.
I think the jack-o-lanterns turned out great, as usual.
The old school one on the left is BigHugs’. Goose drew the face for BigHugs according to her specific instructions, and then Goose and Chuck carved it. The big melon head face belongs to Mr. T—it fits him perfectly, personality-wise I mean (though, he does have a larger than average noggin). The ghost belongs to DynaGirl who did the design and carving all by herself and was very proud of that fact. And the boo on the end belongs to Goose, who chose hers from a set of stencils we have. Oh, and it was carved by yours truly, as was the melon head. Betcha didn’t know what mad carving skillz I had. Snort.
I complain about the hassle and mess of the carving of the pumpkins every year, but it’s tradition and I’m always happy with how they turn out.
Here’s Halloween 2007.
Yep, that’s the Kool-Aid man. Mr. T was the Kool-Aid man last year for Halloween, and wanted his pumpkin to match.
Halloween 2006
That’s Mr. T’s Darth Vader. I hadn’t remembered that DynaGirl had done the ghost thing before.
Halloween 2005
The kitty belonged to DynaGirl. I remember her specifically requesting the wink.
I’ll be sure to post pictures of my little goblins in their full Halloween garb next week.
Have a fun and safe Halloween!
P.S. Have you ever seen the entire Thriller video? It’s a classic. Oh Michael, what happened to you?
Recent Comments