We attended Zach’s preschool Christmas program today. More than 70 four and five year olds…along with about 100 admirers attended this world-class concert. Video cameras were a-rolling and flashbulbs were popping. Zach was in the front row and waved at us as he walked in.








They sang 12 songs including Jingle Bells (Zach’s favorite), Special Star, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.







After the program we had apple juice and apple cider and Christmas cookies...that was the most exciting part of the whole day, as you can imagine.

Here he is singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

Why I am exhausted today.

6:00 am: Alarm goes off. Hit snooze.
6:15 am: Alarm goes off. Turn alarm to OFF.
7:00 am: Finally get out of bed
7:10 am: Fix Adam and Zach breakfast.
7:20 am: Inform Adam he needs to wear a red shirt for school spirit day. Mention that he has no clean long-sleeved red shirts, so he’ll have to wear a long-sleeved white shirt underneath his short sleeved red shirt.
7:21 am: Lay out Zach’s clothes.
7:22 am: Argue with Adam about wearing the long-sleeved white shirt under the short-sleeved red shirt. Decide to let it go.
7:23 am: Adam comes out wearing a dirty red long-sleeved shirt he wore to school on Wednesday.
7:25 am: Zach says he can’t move his arms with these “rings” on his sleeves. Inform him that the designs on sleeves usually do not hinder movement in limbs, and besides, he has no other clean shirts.
7:27 am: Zach comes out wearing a different shirt that I think came out of his dirty clothes basket.
7:29 am: Break up an argument because “Zach is acting like a robot and keeps twirling my hair.”
7:30 am: Eat breakfast in peace.
8:10 am: Start the roundup for school – socks, shoes, coats, hats, gloves, backpacks, show-and-tell…does everyone have everything they need?
8:25 am: Off to school.

8:35 am: Drop off Adam.
8:45 am: Starbucks drive-through.
9:00 am: Drop off Zach.
9:10 am: Hobby Lobby.
9:45 am: Library to return 2 books…one that was under my stove that I already paid for, another that I was done reading. Also needed to pick up a book on hold that I talked the nice librarian into holding for me ONE more day, since I couldn’t get there yesterday to pick it up.
9:47 am: Librarian informs me that the library book that I found under the stove I had paid for three years ago and I could keep it. She indicated that maybe she should check under her stove for lost items.
10:05 am: Dillon's to pick up eight items on my list (please note, this is my first trip to Dillon's today).
10:45 am: Check out and end up spending $168.
11:15 am: Drop off Scott at the doctor.
11:30 am: Pick up Zach from pre-school.

11:40 am: Zach comes out of his room wearing sweats because his other pants were “too pinchy.”
12:00 pm: Start getting lunch ready.
12:20 pm: Adam gets off the bus and we start eating lunch.
12:30 pm: Scott calls for me to come pick him up.
12:45 pm: Pick up Scott and drop prescription off at Dillon’s pharmacy (2nd time).
1:00 pm: Finish lunch and boys go to their rooms to rest.
1:05 pm: Clean up kitchen and start dishwasher.
1:10 pm: Back to Dillon’s to pick up filled prescription (3rd time).
1:30 pm: Dad informs me that my van is done and is ready to be picked up.
2:15 pm: Dad picks me up to go get my van. Put carseats in Dad’s car.
2:30 pm: Move carseats from Dad’s car to van.
2:34 pm: Start driving to Adam’s doctor's appointment.
2:35 pm: Realize the radio in the van does not work.
2:45 pm: Adam’s appointment with a nurse practitioner who seemed to be talking really loud. Adam has a sinus infection, so she calls in a prescription.
3:15 pm: Back home.

3:30 pm: Start making pasta for baked spaghetti tonight.
3:35 pm: Call auto repair shop to inform them that I just picked up my van, and now the radio does not work.
3:37 pm: Pasta is overflowing on the stove.
4:00 pm: Back to the repair shop.
4:20 pm: Repair guy does not know what is wrong with the radio. Informs me that it will probably have to go to the dealer to get it fixed.
4:30 pm: Back home and put baked spaghetti in oven. Had to use a smaller dish, because the one I usually use is dirty.
4:50 pm: Hear something sizzling and realize my baked spaghetti is overflowing in the oven. Put a cookie sheet underneath it to catch the drips. Decide to clean it up later.
5:00 pm: Eat dinner.

5:15 pm: Tell the boys they have to put on turtlenecks underneath their shirts because we are going to be outside looking at lights at the gardens. Have to listen to Zach complain because turtlenecks “squeeze my neck.” Load up boys to go see lights at the gardens - socks, shoes, coats, hats, gloves.
5:25 pm: Stop by Dillon’s to pick up Adam’s prescription (4th time).
5:40 pm: Pick up Oma & Papa.
6:00-6:45 pm: Repeatedly say “please walk,” and “don’t stand so close to the fire.”
7:00 pm: Let the boys pick out a “treat” after seeing the lights. Explain to Zach that “Frito pie” is not like a dessert pie.
7:05 pm: Am mortified when Zach says “Did you see that little lady?” in a loud voice, when referring to a little person.
7:10 pm: Inform Adam that if he asks me one more time about his candy cane, I won’t let him eat it at all. Ever.
7:40 pm: Back home. Tell boys to get their pj’s on. They do, and then run downstairs to watch part of a roller coaster show with Scott.
8:00 pm: Realize the pharmacy gave me the wrong prescription. It was a prescription for Adam that was placed two weeks ago, that I had forgotten about.
8:01 pm: Call Dillon’s to see if they have another prescription for Adam. They do.
8:05 pm: Go downstairs to tell Scott that I’m going back to Dillon’s to get Adam’s prescription. Adam is already asleep. Zach is wide awake.

8:10 pm: Off to Dillon’s (5th time).
8:12 pm: Gas light comes on.
8:25 pm: Get prescription at Dillon’s.
8:30 pm: Almost home and then realize I still need to get gas. Head to QT to fill up.
8:51 pm: Zach still awake watching roller coaster show with Scott. Adam still asleep on the couch.
8:52 pm: Help Zach get ready for bed.
8:55 pm: Carry Adam upstairs to his bed.
8:57 pm: Zach asks for a drink of water.
9:07 pm: Finally get around to clearing dirty dishes from dinner. Stacked them in sink to deal with later (like tomorrow).
9:34 pm: Zach finally asleep.

I made the mistake of telling my brother-in-law that there was a library book stuck underneath our stove. It's been there for about 2 years. Little did I know that all you have to do is take the drawer that is below the stove out, and lo and behold, you can actually retrieve things that have gone under the stove. So here's what we found:



3 books: Peter Rabbit (the long lost library book); 123's and a little book about clothes.
1 matchbox car
1 plastic container lid
1 plastic letter "I"
1 top of a helicopter
Not pictured is a dirty spoon and mounds of dust. Yeah, it was pretty gross.
Now if we could just the golf ball out from in-between the counters, and the golf ball that somehow got thrown down the vent.

Thanksgiving 2008

What we are thankful for:

• My family
• Wood-smoked memories and family (this refers to Thanksgiving Day in years past at Uncle David's farmhouse, which was heated by a wood stove)
• Family
• Flies, Cockroaches, and Worms
• Quacky ducks that kiss me
• Trees
• Legos
• Minivans with automatic doors, brothers who play so well together, 3 boys who make me laugh
• Snarf and glarf
• The internet, coffee, and my family
• Mario Kart (a game played on the Wii)
• Having the privilege of loving my spouse!
• Music
• Family, food, housing, friends, a job, and love to all
• Dazzling sunshine
• Family being together and indoor plumbing (again referring to Uncle David's farm with the "two-holer" privy)
• Family and V-8 (engines, not juice!)
• *Family getting together and staying in touch

After our guessing game, Zach announced, "I should have said I was thankful for underwear!" Everyone agreed that we ALL were thankful for underwear!!

Each year our family writes down what they are thankful for. The notes are read aloud and we try and guess who wrote them.

A few funny sayings at our house:

After calling the boys to dinner, Zach pipes up from his room: “Mom, I just can’t come right now. I’m in the middle of something very important. When I’m done, I’ll come eat.” He was building something with Legos.

Adam on the way to school:
“Why is my school so far away?
Me: “Well, I guess that’s just where they built it.”
Adam: “Did you live far away from your school?”Me: “No. In fact, I walked to school.”
Adam: “Because they didn’t have cars back then, right?”

We had to run errands to Target, and Adam and Zach asked if they could take their wallets and buy something. I agreed, giving them a $10 limit. No surprise, they headed straight for the Lego aisle. Adam showed Zach where to find the price and how to read it. Adam quickly discovered that $10 would not buy much. Zach picked out his box, which was $4.79. I told Zach he could pick another box the same size and still be within the $10 limit. So he picked his two little boxes and was happy with his selection.

Adam spent about 20 minutes looking at all the Legos. Adam figured out that if he could talk Zach into getting certain boxes of Legos, he might be able to get two boxes that he liked. He started negotiating with Zach, “Zach, look, if you buy this box and I buy this box we can have TWO ships (or a good guy and a bad guy).” Zach stuck his ground and didn’t give in to any of Adam’s suggestions. I finally suggested to Adam that Zach was not going to change his mind, so we should go on with our shopping.