Oh, Wow, There's Even A SONG About These Trees

So what may be obvious to the rest of the planet is that, ahem, the Pacific Northwest is KNOWN for its production of Christmas trees.

Hey, I never said I was a trivia buff.

So someone casually mentioned the other day that at some U-Chop places around here, you can cut down your own good-lookin' Christmas tree for $15. After I scooped myself off the chair, I had to take them down a walk through memory lane, how the local Stuff Mart in Ohio would have a Khlassy little lighted fenced display, complete with trees that have been dragged from Who Knows Where, sat there for Who Knows How Long, then sold to the General Public for $75 or so. And all that for a tree that is half-shed by the time you get it home.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just sayin'.

So the localites are pretty proud of the 75-foot monstrosity in the downtown area. It's a spectacle for sure. A nice one, I must admit.

I picked up a copy of the paper today, and what to my wondering eyes did appear, were about 18 gazillion ads for Christmas Tree Farms. (See, Dad? People farm in the West!) And these were not just ads for Christmas trees; they were selling "Douglas Firs" and "Scotch Pines" and "Noble Firs." I mean sakes alive!!! Who even KNEW there was more than one kind of Christmas tree? I just thought they came "dead" or "almost dead."

And if you thought I was done rambling about trees, you might be wrong.

So anyway, as I'm-a-listenin' to the Super Annoying Christmas Radio Station the other day, this over-the-top cheesy song comes on, the Likes Of Which I Have Never Heard.

It's a Christmas song, FROM 1985, titled Christmas in the Northwest (Brenda White). And it's about the trees. Here are the full lyrics, for additional entertainment. "Christmas...in the Northwest...is a gift God wrapped in green."

Well, I'll be. They like their trees, and sing songs about them, that they do.

You Can See The Fender Mark, Yes You Can

Well, now that most of the gore is gone, we can take a closer look at Campers' face.

Because I just KNOW that you woke up today and said to yourself, "I wonder how that ol' matchbox-car-to-the-face wound is-a-healin'?"

Here's the update.

Dudes With Their Cell Phones

Since our children still think that Ma and Pa are C-O-O-L, and Want To Be Just Like Us, Oh Help Us All, both boys like to carry around their own "cell phone." Zig's is the toy one you can record all kinds of intelligent sounds on, namely bodily noises:

[Yes, Bucky Beaver is still at it, as you can tell from the red mark on his chin.]

And Campers carries his phone that Transforms into a robot, pretty cool even for this Ma. His latest accessory, which he has drooled at for weeks, is my cell phone holder. Having one of these for his very own tops his Christmas wish list for the year.

And since I'm rattling on about our cell phones, I just wanted to say that we've been very pleased with our choice. When we made the big move Out West, we ditched the land line and chose two cell phones instead. It's been handy, cost-effective, AND cool.

Because you know that Pa and I are the Very Definition of "cool."

And our coverage is fabulous, thank you, Verizon. And I don't even get paid to say that.

Why A Girl Growing Up With Two Big Brothers Is NOTHING Like A Girl Growing Up With Two Big Sisters

Sister Susie has found bliss, simply shoving a fire truck around the house:

And oh the glory, it even makes noise:

Oh look! A car transporter too!

We were chatting with a family with three girls last night, mentioning how Campers got blasted by a matchbox car, and the oldest daughter said, "What's a matchbox car?"

Such glee I get out of the little things.

And then I think of my own childhood toys, where matchbox cars, Legos, and science kits top the list of what I remember playing with most.

That might explain a few things about me, I suppose.

(Please tell me there is another female in this audience that loved the electrical board that you could wire to make noises! And light up lights!)

Thank you, Older Brother.

And Sister Susie? Someday she'll have a sister. Then they can share the noisy fire truck.

They Are Resourceful, That They Are

What cracks me up is that the kids beg and plead for Transformers but end up playing with stuff like this:

An old pill bottle, the grungy "step too" from the bathroom, and a cooling rack.

In case you were wondering, they "transformed it" into a boat.

A noisy boat, if I remember correctly.

Scamp Meets Self-Control

On your right, is the First Born, Responsible, Rule-Loving Child who when told to eat six candies from his necklace, eats six candies from his necklace and promptly returns the jewelry to Ma.

Then on your left, is the Second Born, Goof of the Century, Candy-Loving, Gets Away With Murder Because He's Squashy, Expert Hider of a Boy who likes to run off with his candy necklace, and when told he can eat three candies, interprets that as "at a time."

Let's just see whose necklace is gone, and who still has a lot to go.

Some things are so predictable, so cliche, but I just have to mention them.

Oh, and if you click on the picture and wonder what the red line is under Zig's chin, that's chapped skin, because he thinks it's necessary to do his Bucky Beaver impersonation eighteen hours a day.
Not that he knows who "Bucky Beaver" is, but you get the point.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

I guess ramming a matchbox car against Campers' head seemed like an effective form of communication to the Zig.

You've not experienced Violence A La Extraordinaire until you've had boys. A couple of 'em.

That's a nice shiner, yep it is.

'Bout scared me to the emergency room, but then I remembered the cost of admission handy super glue for the skin and got that boy fixed up right fine.

And 30 minutes later, after Zig had been sent to his room for the rest of his life, losing all privileges up to and including getting his driver's license at age sixteen, we had a nice chat about how the argument got started in the first place.

And neither one of them could remember.

Well, I'll be.

We'll just add that scar to the other one on Campers' face.

Teethy!

Sometimes I just marvel at Sister's teeth--how many there are, and how they come in big batches.

Looking at her toothy grin inspires me to recite, "My, what large teeth you have!"

I'm just glad the drool is back to manageable quantities.

There's Just Something Very Delightful About This

I've determined I used up my allotment of compassion with...well let's just say it was gone before I ever had children.

So cries and tears over a hat, and a cute one at that, bring nothing but a snicker and a smile to my face.

And of course we have to capture these moments 'on film,' shall we say.

It's A Wiggler!

If you can get past the spooky neck-tendon thing, you might notice Campers' front tooth, which is a wobblin'! I am hoping that this one comes out with as much ease and drama as the last one, but I doubt that will be the case.

I asked Campers what he thought the Tooth Fairy might bring this time, and he said "Duh, Mom...You ARE the Tooth Fairy. It's up to YOU to decide."

Well, I guess it will be a LUMP OF COAL for you, festive boy!!!

It Melts My Heart, Yes It Does

Here's the Zig, taking one of his four allotted naps for the year.



I mean, it's just so glorious, I don't know where to begin.

Ornamental Awe

Just takin' a look:

I'm guessing she figured out that her face looks mightily funny in the reflection:

Or, she is just trying to categorize this ornament as "food" or "no-no."

Doo Wah Ziggy

There he was, justa walking down the street...

Singin' "Doo wah Ziggy Ziggy dum Ziggy doo..."

He looked good! (He looked good!) He looked fine! (He looked fine!) He looked good, he looked fine, and we've always lost our mind!

Happy, happy Zig. In these shots he was trailing along with his Pa, who was out and about taking some pics.

That Zig, you can't get him down. It might be because if you look closely enough, there's a Batman shirt peeking out from under his coat.

If I Was Looking To Ride The Normal Train, I Got On At The Wrong Stop

I mean, what can I say about THIS??



This is my life.

It's Just Another Manic Church Day

Slicked back hair and all, ready for church:

The Sister, taking time out to explore the Man Toy:

And then scream a bit about her hat:

Some Festive Looking Stuff, That's What It Is

Thought you might like to see our living room, all gussied up for Christmas:

And the Memory Tree:

And had to throw the boys in for good measure, setting the nativity set up. This was one of the few things that broke during the move, but nothing a tube of super glue couldn't fix.

Deck The Halls

Considering that we sold our Ginormous Christmas Tree right before we moved, well, this year's decorating was a snap!

We pulled out our small Memory Tree, where we hang special ornaments we have collected throughout our years (10) as a family.

Campers and Zig were pretty stoked about seeing their baby pictures. Maybe "stoked" isn't the word, but whatever mood it was got Zig to do his Eye Trick for the camera.

And the best part is letting the boys hang all the ornaments themselves, all on one branch.

We won't mention which member of the family sorted it all out after the kids went to bed, but lemmeetellya, it wasn't me.

Okay, that "decorating was a snap" business really means that we had to snap our fingers a gazillion times to keep Sister Susie from eating or demolishing all the decor. Fun.

And here is the Ma and her girl, putting up Sister Susie's first ornament, which has her Chinese name and the first picture we ever saw of our daughter. Precious.

Especially when she smudged the ink that I had worked so hard at to look nice.

Puppeteering!

Took the boys to the local library for a puppet show. I thought for sure they'd be bored out of their gourd, but they surprised me!

There was singing and dancing and shaker-shaking, all the things the boys just *love* to do. But I saw them smiling, and sitting still, and they even interacted with Miss Puppet Lady after the show.

Did I ever tell you how much I love the library??!?

Because We Are Festive And Social, Dontcha Know

Made our way downtown to Pioneer Square tonight to see the lighting of the Big Seventy Five Foot Christmas Tree.

Hail, hail, the gang's all here--Zig, Susie, Ma, Campers and the Cool Dude Cousin (with Pa manning the camera):

Campers got to ride on the shoulders of the Cool Dude:

And why, you might ask? Oh, maybe just because Everyone In The Pacific Northwest was at the big shindig, as you can see from this picture:

Not that we could actually see what was going on from where we stood, mind you. We would have had to arrive at 2:30 in the afternoon, complete with campfire equipment and marshmallows to roast while we waited it out.

And most of the fun was just in getting downtown and back, via public transit. Sardines, anyone?

But we saw the tree! And they lit it! And I saw some especially big smiles on the faces of two boys as they counted down (10...9...8...) to the actual lighting. And another member of the family, who shall remain nameless, was Especially Happy to be stuck in the stroller, staring at kneecaps and knuckles.

And aren't we all just in the Christmas spirit now, dontcha know.

He's Mommy's Little Helper

My six-year-old is becoming quite the helper around the house. Here he is pictured with some bread cutouts he made for our Thanksgiving feast. Course, he has learned the Cook's Art of sampling about half of what should have ended up on the serving plate. That's my boy!

And he really wanted to help decorate the table, as well:

And completely off topic, let's get a close-up of that face! That little "dimple" you see on his right cheek is where the bruise was just a week ago, from him falling face-first onto the bottom step. I am wondering if this mark is going to stick around forever, or not? Readers, weigh in! I need you to (lie to me if necessary) tell me that All Will Be Well With My Baby's Face!

And if you didn't catch the title of this post, it is a reference to a song, an oldie for sure, sung by Cheri Keaggy, "Little Boy On His Knees."

Which I guess is an appropriate title, since that is where he landed when he took his tumble onto the step.

These Movies, You See, They Do A Body Good

You know, it's just so great on Thanksgiving to rush to the theater to catch the first showing of the latest flick to come out.

And don't we all remember those days, with fondness.

But there is just something! About your own house! And your own couch! And your own john! That makes watching a video at home so much better.

So we checked out Meet the Robinsons, which was a fine movie to digest our Thanksgiving dinner to.

On one end of the couch is the Campers:

And on the other is the Zig:

And not pictured, but sandwiched in between, with drool coming out her mouth, was the Sleeping Ma.

It was a good movie, really. What I caught of it, anyway. Which I'm guessing was the last half hour. But it was a good half hour! And so dreadfully tear-jerking, with the "orphan" theme and "adoption" theme running throughout the story. I wasn't quite prepared for that, especially this day as we think back to a tiny little girl, alone in her bed at the orphanage. And now this Thanksgiving, our Sister Susie has a family to call her own.

Pretty crazy. Pretty thankful. Pretty good.

Who knew a movie could be so refreshing, both to the body and the soul.

Just Thankful, That's All

So I tortured my kids and made them do the Thankfulness Journal again this year, where each person in the family has to write down or draw what s/he is most thankful for.

That little act of parenting might be why *my* name did not appear on Campers' list, and everyone else's did.

But I've got broad shoulders, yep, and a set of hips to match.

Campers helped Sister Susie write down what she was thankful for, and that happened to be "grapes."

I think that food items should have topped my list as well.

And who knows what the Zig is thankful for, but here he is, drawing a "leaf."

Then Sister Susie takes a turn at writing down her own list, or maybe she was just waxing philosophical about which crayon tasted better, the green or the orange.

And there's the gang, working so hard to be thankful.

And behind the camera are two parents, who are thankful as well, for the faces they see on the screen.

And In Case You Haven't Lost Your Appetite Already

Here are some shots of us eating.

Mmmmm, lima beans. Very Traditional.

I don't know about you, but I find this picture of me very scary.

Sticking out between the decorations and the vital bottle of ketchup, is the Zig.

And Miss Susie, who is so enthralled with signing the word for "more" these days that I think she has put on 10 pounds.