Gingerbread Army

My cousin Danny came over to visit with his two youngest children yesterday. It was a really nice visit, as his kids have matured tons since we last saw them. We watched movies and the kids played with the trains, and we had spaghetti and meatballs for supper (except for Cameron who only eats hot dogs, so Dan ran home to get him one.).

We were in the kitchen and the girls were climbing all over the Dads, and Gary asked if Katherine reminded Dan of anyone else. He then went on and on about what an annoying child I was and how I would drive he and his father nuts, and he would just want to “go pop, (and he made a punching motion here)” Nice! NOT! I was feeling badly, and not quite sure how to respond, and then I realized that his children had to be far more annoying than I ever was. Then I remembered a time that his nephew Tyler was coming to spend a week with us and he asked why on earth we would have him visit, as “that kid will drive you nuts!” Tyler never drove me nuts (other than the time he called my cell phone costing me about $10).

Today we have been baking gingerbread cookies. A double batch seemed like a good idea at the time, and now we are still baking an army of gingerbread men. I had to shut off the oven to let it rest!

Our favorite Chinese restaurant has started delivering, so we had that for supper. Mmm. The owner brought our food and told the kids he had a stuffed animal for each of them the next time they came into the restaurant. That’s one way to drum up business! Kinda like good old Ronald McDonald…get the kids, get the cash! He is a very nice man and is always very kind to the kids. When Joshua’s class was looking for knitting needles I planned to make them out of chopsticks. He asked why I was buying so many chopsticks, and when he found out he wouldn’t let me pay for them.

Does anyone know where to get whatever it is they make those picture quilts from? As you know Santa was asked to bring shirts with pictures on them, and they aren’t easy to come by. I know that we haven’t had great luck with the iron on type.

Here is Noah’s list: (in his best decorative writing!)

Dear Santa,

I would love a white shirt with a box, in the box a real picture of a panda. And one the size for Piney. The animal tree is in my room. (as in “put all the loot for our furry friends right where we can get to it quick!)

Love, Noah

So you can see how important that quilt stuff is becoming. The only thing on their letters!

And yes, the trees are artificial. We decided years ago to eliminate “Fight day”, also known in come circles as “the day you pick a tree.”

“It is so cold, I don’t care what tree you pick, just pick one!”
“The man said to cut it here, no here!”
“To the LEFT! LEFT! Is is strait? No, to the left. No, my left!” Kaboom! “There is water everywhere! Get some towels!”
“How did these lights get so tangled? AUGH!”

Now our tree day is simply bring the tree down from the attic, plug into an outlets, and fluff! And the best part is that we no longer have to shell out $30 every year to kill a tree. (not that there is anything wrong with that!)

For your reading pleasure here is something I stole from another blog, just because it was so funny!

During my court-ordered parenting class on how children cope when parents separate which of the following stupid jokes did I make?
A. When asked to take a turn reading aloud from handbook, said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak any English. None at all."
B. When the facilitator informed the group that very often, an undercover cop is present just in case violence breaks out, I pointed at a random group participant and said "I bet it's HER!!!"
C. Suggested to all those sad lonely women that perhaps they would like to hook up with my now-partner.
D. The facilitator quoted one statistic: 51% of first marriages end; the number is higher for second marriages; and the number is lower for third marriages. I said, "So that means I just have to get married again, let that crash and burn, and then I'll know the one after that will be the one that sticks!"

ps I remeber my friend's uncle wanting to tie her to a tree when she was little. What's up with people hating children?