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Elise started saying “Amelia” today instead of Ah-meena. Big deal? After hearing her sister’s name one hundred times a day for the last two and a half years and finally getting it right? Yes, yes it is.

Not a whole lot else is going on, except that we are firmly planted in Giants territory for the Patriots-Giants Superbowl showdown. We are off to the neighbor’s house tomorrow bearing mini bacon and cheese frittatas, Cuban sandwiches (have to get the dry rub on the pork), Fish House Punch (30 limes and 15 lemons to juice), and fudge brownies. There are only 4 adults and 3 children attending and that’s only my contribution, so we should be sufficiently fed and liquored by half-time. The girls will be excited and completely wiped out as the final is well past any bedtime they’ve ever had. We will also be bringing jammies.

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Posted in Food & Drink, Hey Momma.

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By Heather – 2/4/2012

Getting The Show On The Road…Wherever It Ends Up

Christmas came with Santa piling on the presents, stockings filled, and my contribution to Christmas crafts adorning the tree. I’m quite proud of my star garland. I thought it would be a good “girls project” and it was, for about 30 minutes. It took me an additional 3 hours to cut out the rest of the stars of various sizes and glue them on the hemp twine adorned with rhinestones. (First glue gun purchase ever!) Then it took an additional 4 hours to do it all over again when I discovered 30 feet of garland only covered half of the tree. Most projects that take that kind of time just aren’t worth it in the end and one should give up in the middle of it and stop wasting so much time. Thankfully, this was not one of those times and I’m pleased with myself. This project is good for any child that can punch designs out of playdough. You could use any little cookie cutter thing – hearts, flowers, skulls – and just glue them onto string. The project came from Creature Comforts Blog.

The girls got everything they asked Santa for, and a few more, quickly to be forgotten (though still strewn all over the house in every possible inch of floor). Favorite items received were little plastic desk sets with fold out chairs given to them by my Great Aunt Rene and Great Uncle Ralph, both Great and great. They drag them everywhere and sit for tv time, snacks, coloring, putting their stuffed animals in time-out….

We then went to Boston over New Years Eve weekend to see family and then this guy’s wife had her baby boy (three weeks early!) while we were there! And I got to see my other friend’s three week old baby boy. And we got to see some friends a bit unexpectedly that we haven’t seen in years. When you bump into someone you are dying to see while randomly leaving a bar you’ve never been to before and talk them into going to another bar you’ve never been to before it’s a fairly good indicator that no matter how many years go by and how things change, we’re all a bunch of lushes just roaming the streets of Boston looking for a cocktail. Man, I love my friends.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I think they are just another ploy to get me to feel pathetic about myself when I fail even more goals due to my total lack of commitment and will-power. However, I do like to think of ‘fresh start’ ideas – things I enjoy doing (or more truthfully, THINK I enjoy doing) but don’t make the time for because I am tired and disorganized.

This year is my home year. I’d like to take the idea of home-keeping more seriously because I hate feeling that I can’t enjoy sitting around and being lazy because there is so much stuff to do around the house. Did I mention that it is January 7th and the Christmas tree is still up? Moving right along…

If I keep on top of Part 1 then maybe I can move on to Part 2 which is doing more sewing. Or perhaps that should be any sewing at all considering it’s been months since I’ve touched the machine. Then there’s Part 3 which is nice ‘indoor quality time’ with the girls. The weather has been unseasonably warm but it can’t last forever. I bought craft books and safety scissor and construction paper and glue sticks. Amelia will be down with it but Elise gets left by the wayside a bit because she is too young, and she really isn’t. I need to stop treating her like a baby. I had exceedingly high expectations of Amelia when she was the same age and I don’t make Elise do as much on her own. So, I’m going to let them make a mess and I hope they can enjoy their time together instead of bitching about it relentlessly every waking moment of their lives.

I also did a huge liquor buy with my father a few days before Christmas and spent the bank stocking the bar. Packie Run = Quality Time. Seriously, we were there for almost an hour and had a blast. So, if all else fails, I’m well-prepared.

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Posted in Crafty, Hey Momma, Net Finds.

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By Heather – 1/7/2012

Yes, We Know It’s Christmas Time. Shut Up Already.

The “Holiday Season” that everyone in the entire world keeps trying to shove down my throat does not start the goddamn day after Thanksgiving. It has been so written. Right here. So, just stop it.

I do not want a Christmas tree more than 2 weeks before Christmas (and prefer a max of 10 days). I do not want to listen to Christmas carols when there is still Halloween candy in the house. I will not attend a Holiday Party on any day that is before December 10th. I have Christmas cards and will not mail them until next week. We have not yet gone to see Santa. (Hoping Elise won’t punch him in the gut.) Why is The America beating the living hell out of Christmas? Why do they suck the specialness of lights and gift-giving and eggnog right out of the atmosphere? Why? What did Christmas ever do to you?

I just received my first Christmas purchase by one of my beloved delivery people today. I have not gone to an actual store for anything and won’t if I can get away with it. I just took the little house decorations out today. We don’t have a tree yet, but may get one tomorrow. My desperately needed new Christmas tree stand won’t be here until Monday, so I’m hoping to hold off the tree-trimming until then and of course there is the Thomas tradition of letting the tree acclimate to the house to “let the boughs fall” so proper trimming can be done which will happen if I can get away with it.

I don’t have anything against Christmas. I just don’t want to be over it before it even gets here. It’s one day. One single day of the whole year. It’s suffocating. Just let it be Christmas Day. I don’t need a whole month, Walmart. Just a day.

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Posted in Temper Tantrums.

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By Heather – 12/11/2011

Burst of Energy

Two posts in a week? I’d better slow down before I pull something.

Even though I don’t DO a lot, in my head I am cooking glorious meals that spread across my table like a William-Sonoma catalogue cover and making crafty things and clothes that would be good enough to actually wear. I’m not sure if it is time, motivation, or skill that keeps any of these things from actually becoming a reality, but I still think about them for a fairly large portion of my day.

A few random bit and pieces I have been perusing:

Colette Sewing Handbook – I just received this and I’m just flipping through it, but I’ve spotted some good tips for projects I’m currently working on and at least one of the patterns included looks good enough to make

Oliver & S Bedtime Story PJs – this pattern is out of print (as usual I am late to the party), but I’d like to make these for both the girls, so maybe I can find them somewhere out there

A search on that pattern brought me to The Dabblist whose into all kinds of craftiness with a passion level I’d like to achieve. Her site also lead me here to….

Craftyminx Crotchet School – I tried crochet once and even made a blanket for Elise before she was born. I liked crotcheting but bought some nubby but beautiful yarn to make a shawl for Amelia and I couldn’t see the stitches because of the texture and I got totally aggravated, so ended up chucking the whole hobby. Maybe I’ll try again.

The Punch Bowl – 75 Recipes Spanning Four Centuries of Wanton Revelry- To put it simply, I like punch, particularly when it has booze in it. I’m not sure why punch as fallen out of favor but wherever we are spending the holidays this year, we will be having punch. I am certain this is a kitchen task I will more than willingly make time for and follow through on. You have all been warned.

Cakespy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life – Written by Jessie Oleson of cakespy.com – This book is 100x more awesome than I had expected. It doesn’t focus on ingredients as much as presentation, meaning there is no complicated cake recipe that takes 3 hours to make as all the sweat-equity is put into making whimsical-looking desserts.
Birthday Cake French Toast, Cakes Baked in Jars, and Pie Fries? The girls are going to be in sugar-high heaven.

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Posted in Crafty, Food & Drink, Lifetime Of Learning.

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By Heather – 11/4/2011

Let Down Your Hair

We got 4 inches of snow 2 days before Halloween. We lost power, had that come back on, shoveled and scraped ice of off the windshield, lost power again for a bit, and donned winter coats for the Halloween festivities. I’m done with winter 2011- 2012 already and we haven’t even “fallen back” for DST yet. Blargh.

Speaking of festivities, they do the Halloween things here a bit different than back home. I carved a pumpkin, but think I only saw one or two other carved pumpkins during our trick-or-treating. Which, by the way, unexpectedly occurs from 3:45 – 5:30pm. When it is still light out. When it doesn’t really feel like Halloween yet. In case you are wondering, you don’t get much loot when you are 2 years old and have to climb all of those steps for five M&M’s when you only have an hour to go door-to-door.

I wasn’t prepared to take them out so early so I suppose it’s good I brought them home from school early for dinner before going around the neighborhood. They never got dinner because my friend asked me if we were ready to go trick-or-treating and thank goodness because I would have missed it completely. Then at 5:30, everyone goes up to the library and gathers for a Halloween parade to the park where there is a costume contest, free donuts and cider. We left a little early because we were all chilly and tired. It’s all very nice and communal, the fire department and police are there, and yet…..eh. We spent a lot of time outside walking around and getting cold with no pay-out.

I also used to carve about 4 pumpkins every Halloween, but I’m glad I didn’t this year as the effort would have seemed wasted. The neighborhood has got to be in the Top 10 safest neighborhoods in America, so I don’t really understand the efforts made to make sure no one trick-or-treats during traditional trick-or-treat hours.

I’d rather take them out at 6 and drag them around until their bags are full and they can’t walk anymore. That’s what my Halloween used to be about. Getting the candy and then getting to the best part. The trading. After my mother “checked” our candy and pilfered all of the Mounds bars “for our own safety”, my brother and I would dump our bags out onto the living room floor to begin our candy swapping negotiations. Snickers and Reese’s were worth 2 trades and we always played pretty fair when it came to candy swap.

Anyhow, if we are here next year, I think we’ll go back home for Halloween. On the upside, I have 4 unopened bags of Halloween candy, so we’ll have no lack of chocolate until next Halloween.

ANYWAY – a photo of Rapunzel looking out of her classroom tower window and Alice in Wonderland marching in the school parade. More photos here.

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Posted in Photos, Temper Tantrums.

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By Heather – 11/2/2011