Crazy Turkey Time

Steph, Marla and Doug came over the night before Thanksgiving to prepare the two 20lb. turkeys. We went all out with the seasonings, butter and a secret liquid ingredient inside the turkey. We probably should have paid more attention because I never realized the pan was too small for the turkey.

Well, the turkey ended up being FABULOUS, truly, BUT juices had spilled all over the bottom of the oven, so the next night, I put it on self-clean and didn't give it a second thought. The next thing I know, Dave is screaming for me to come into the kitchen. I came down the stairs, and I couldn't even FIND the kitchen. Smoke was billowing out of the oven and had already taken over the entire first floor of our house. I grabbed the girls and ran over to a neighbor's. Meanwhile, the oven wouldn't turn off because it was still trying to clean it and was locked. Doug came running over and Dave and he got a circuit breaker turned off to the oven. It was a disaster. We have aired out our house for two days and washed everything in the house, but we still have smoke damage. We did have fun getting those turkeys ready and had a fabulous Thanksgiving and delicious turkey, so I'm sure it's all worth it...I'm sure!

Old School

When someone asks me what my favorite music is, I always answer Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Def Leppard (I'm the product of a rocker father!) I might add some Pearl Jam, Cult, Soundgarden, Clay Aiken, Alanis or a few others, but I really love old school 80's rock. Well, last night I was listening to Dave's Ipod while I was cleaning and he had some Chicago songs on there. I found myself belting out the tunes as loud as I could. I didn't want the cleaning to end. It has never been more enjoyable (weird, I know). But, the end result of all this...I had totally forgotten about Chicago and I think I love them!

My Babies

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, for babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep. I'm rocking my babies, and babies don't keep."

The Parent Trap

Dave is out of town; it's FREEZING cold outside and I planned this great Saturday night for me and the girls. We started the fire, popped popcorn and all got snuggly blankies and watched "The Parent Trap." No, not the old one, but the new version with Lindsay Lohan. After about 7 minutes, Amelia started saying she wanted cheese; after 15 minutes, Mikayla wanted water; after 18 minutes, Amelia wanted cereal with milk; after 29 minutes, Amelia started asking questions, "Why is that lady (the dad's fiance) so mean?" "I thought moms and dads only got married one time, so why is the dad marring someone else?" "How are they sisters but they don't live together?" etc., etc. After 32 minutes, Amelia told me she just wanted to read stories upstairs.

I don't know what it is about my kids and TV. Most almost-5-year-olds have their favorite movies and shows...not mine. She likes to watch Arthur in the mornings...sometimes and "A Baby Story" on TLC..sometimes, and that's about it. She has NEVER watched a movie from beginning to end. Nemo scares her because he doesn't have a mom; Cinderella scares her because the sisters are so mean, Toy Story scares her because of Sid and his crazy toys...but more than being scared, I think she just gets bored. Do I have an ADD child?

Anyway, it's still freezing outside and Dave is still gone, but we are just going to decorate the Christmas tree and make cookies, no more "movie nights!"

Jolly Old St. Nick

Is there anything more magical than introducing your young children to Santa each holiday season?


They are so enchanted by it all. I love Santa Claus.

Mirror Image?

I remember when I was about ten, we were at a family reunion and my rather plus-sized aunt ran over to my 8-year-old sister and exclaimed, "THERE'S MY LITTLE LOOK-ALIKE!!!!" My poor sister burst into tears on the spot. No one wanted to look like my aunt.

Fast forward twenty years: About a year and a half ago, our favorite babysitter Hillary informed me that my girls refused to play with any blonde Barbies. She went on about how cute it was that my BLONDE girls would only play with the ones that looked like their mom. I was a little touched; I mean after all, it might be the first instance where ANYONE preferred Barbie's brunette friend to beautiful, blonde Barbie!

Well, within the last year, Amelia's hair has started turning dark, and instead of embracing the brunette tresses that she loved so much before, I would catch her looking at her hair in the mirror and saying to herself, "Why is my vanilla hair getting mixed in with chocolate?" Now when people tell her (which is pretty much daily) that she looks like her mom. I see her wince at my hair and tell them one of two things, "Ya, but my hair is STILL vanilla" or "I don't look like my mom; I look like Aunt D" (my very blonde sister). Sometimes she is just quiet, and I seriously thinks she feels bad that she looks like her mom.

What happened to my little three year old that only liked the chocolate Barbies? Is she going to have "issues" because the whole world tells her that she looks like her mom and she really doesn't want to?

Trick or Treat

Amelia ate 7 candy bars today and Mikayla had one bite of at least 18 different candies in her bucket. We send them around to collect candy, but tell them they can't have it and secretly throw it away...or else this happens.

Never Quit

Okay, so Amelia begged to sign up for soccer again this season. She didn't love it last year, even though I coached both seasons, but since she asked, I obliged. After the first week, she wanted to quit. My response, "You asked to sign up. You started. You will finish." So, she did, and she did so quite well.

Fast forward one month...I arrived at drama today to find a note in my box that read: "Goulds have quit drama as of 11-02-05." Goulds? You mean, SANTA in my Christmas play that is in one month? You've got to be kidding. Not to mention the fact that his younger brother is one of four elves. I called their mom and she informed me that her boys thought it was boring, so they quit. COULD THEY NOT HAVE DECIDED THAT A MONTH AGO??????? Could she not make them stick it out until after the Christmas play? BORING????? They have the leads! What is happening to the youth of today? Things like this.