thanks for the memories

Happy New Year from our little family


the Annual Puzzler Year in Review

Don and Sarah are older, but not much wiser. Don is still working on his MBA and Sarah is filling her days with PTA, Girl Scouts, and church responsibilities. Our family went on the vacation of a lifetime this summer, travelling over 4,300 miles to 6 states. We saw historic landmarks, visited family we love, and made fabulous memories. In August, we adopted a 2 year old basset hound named Bruno. He's cute, high-maintenance and loves food. Obviously, he fits in well, though not as easy to raise as Rosetta, the beta fish who also joined our family. Each day is a great new day and we're grateful for our blessings.

Little Miss Sunshine(6) remains the apple of our eye. This year, she took swim & cooking lessons, marched in a local city's Veteran's Day parade, starred as an Aimless Sheep in a school musical, won a district-wide essay contest and donated 10 inches of her hair to cancer patients. Each night when we tuck her in, she says, “This has been the BEST day of my life!” This summer we visited her Utopia, the childhood homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder. We’ve never seen her as happy as she was there, sleeping in a covered wagon, playing horseshoes and being free.

The Little Master(4) is the funniest, sweetest, and smartest little guy, definitely our favorite son. Because Sarah rewards kissing up, every morning he tells her, “You look gorgeous today, Mother.” Don has taught TLM how to give a man hug and they insist on calling each other “bro’s.” Last month, Buddy cut his hair into a reverse mohawk. Supposedly, he wanted to look like his dad. His favorite part of our vacation was “meeting” Teddy Roosevelt at Mt. Rushmore. Buddy’s greatest loves are Transformers, Scooby Doo, and Buzz Lightyear. If it’s for boys, it’s for him.

Little Polly Pocket(2) is our girliest girl - always trying to look fancy, always with a baby doll, & always playing teenage girl mind games. Definitely our most tyrannical child, Polly likes to say, “NO! That’s for Mo-wee Peh-ttiss. MINE!!!!” Mastering the terrible two’s, Pocket Locket routinely breaks iPods, rips curtain rods out of the walls, and destroys meaningful things. Because Polly demands only the best, she gets at least 3 Hello Kitty bandages each day, insists on lotioning her own body after bathtime, and will only eat while sitting on someone’s lap. She’s a precious little angel.

goodly parents

I was born of goodly parents.

My sweet little Mom has arthritis so badly in her hands that she could qualify for disability. But she keeps working at her full-time job, five days a week. She kept working all last year throughout her cancer treatment, only missing days when she really, really couldn't get out of bed. As part of this treatment they removed the lymph nodes in her left arm. She has to wear a special sleeve that is like an ace bandage and has limited mobility in that arm.

That sweet Mom made these black apple dolls for my girls this year. She's spent months working late at night, after a long day at work, crafting these beautiful dolls. Despite the pain and soreness caused by this handiwork, she did it anyways. The girls don't understand that sacrifice, but I want to document it so that they'll know one day just how much their Gramma loves them.


Truthfully, I didn't remember how hard something like this would be for my mom to do until my Faux Mom (you know, my Aunt who nursed me when I was a baby) reminded me on Christmas. She told me that she had been at my parent's house late one night last week and my mom was feverishly trying to finish the dolls. My dad was on the phone with FedEx Kinkos making sure how late he could drop them off and the package would still get here on time.


She also made aprons for each of us girlies, and they're fancy little ditties.

She also made some special things for The Little Master. Each night as we tuck him in, we sing to him a variation of "You are like a Star Shining Brightly." She handwrote the words to the song, drew him a little star, attached it to a beautiful glass star ornament, and pinned it all to the two star pillowcases that she sewed for him.

My dad has had long conversations with the little guy over the past few months about a toy that he really, really wanted, but he had already maxed out his one request from Santa. Sure enough, Papa made sure that "little Grimlock" was waiting for him on Christmas morning.

It's not the things they made and purchased that make them good parents and grandparents. It's that they know us. They know our hearts' desires. They worry about us and think about us endlessly. They are protectors of our secrets, wishes, and dreams. They accepted Don into our family without a moment's hesitation and have encircled him into their hearts. They have always made my children feel like they are of upmost importance to them, more important than a good night's sleep or a comfortable seat off the playroom floor.

I know my parents love me, despite our disagreements large and small. I know that makes me lucky. I know that I am blessed and fortunate. I am grateful for them and their continued sacrifices.

twas the night before Christmas - cookie time

I've decided that the kitchen table is a perfect example of my day to day life. We spend most of our day there.

I work really hard each night after everyone is asleep to make sure that the house is clean for Don when he wakes up. And for me. I don't like starting the day with a mess. It's so defeating.


During the day, I work hard to prepare activities for the children. Most of them are in the kitchen, either at the countertop or the table.





I like to set things up while they're napping or up in the gameroom, because I like order. My brain doesn't work well in chaos.


We have a great time together doing all of the funny, odd activities that make us laugh.







When we're done, they go about their day and leave the mess for me to clean up.


Then in the midst of twenty other things, I work really hard each evening to clean things up before Don gets home. I don't want him to know that I spend most of my day eating bon bons and watching soap operas.

Same thing. Every day.

It's funny. My life is a table. LOL

I should use tableclothes more often. Plastic, disposable ones. And wrap the children in them, too. It would cut down on my laundry and give me more to for my novellas. =)


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Christmas Journal Entry
Which of the following three events would you most enjoy attending during the holiday seasons: a stage production of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, a choral concert of Handel’s Messiah, or a performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker?

Sarah - the stage production, because I'd get a chance to see several types of performers
Don - The Nutcracker
Sunshine - The Nutcracker
Buddy - Christmas Carol
Polly - Gah-ssiah (Messiah)

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2 Days Before Christmas

Christmas Journal Entry
If you could Christmas shop until you drop in any one store, which store would you choose?

Sarah - WalMart, because they have great craft supplies like Big Bites and Cricut cartridges that I couldn't afford to buy as gifts otherwise. Plus, I could get "fine jewelry" there and lots of toys.
Don - VS
Sunshine - Toys R Us
Buddy - Toys R Us
Polly - Mulitiple Choice: Kroger, dry cleaners or WalMart. She chose the dry cleaners, which isn't really a surprise because they give out candy.

3 and 4 days until Christmas - a Cousin Christmas Party

The kiddles in Don's family exchange gifts each year. We thought it would be fun to have them exchange in person this year, while Don's sister Amber is in town with her kids from London. I thought, why not have a party? I could organize a whole day of fun! Well, of course there are tons of reasons not to, but I think we've established that I have sanity issues with doing a little more than necessary.


Part 1 - Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus
Yep, the big guy showed up with his little lady. Don's oldest sister, Donna prepared breakfast, embroidered stockings for Santa to hand out, decorated every single surface in her home and loaned her Santa suit to her dad. (Don grew up with a serious overachiever in his family. Donna and I get along well.)




Part 2 - Games, Food, and More
Some of us went to this crazy playland thing they have in their city and then to a pizza buffet. Some of us went to one of Don's sister's house for face painting and cookie decorating. We went to the playland because there was a sick cousin with a catchy virus at the house that we didn't want Molly to get.


Part 3 - Night at Bethlehem
Donna The Overachiever is the Activities Chair for her church group. She organized a fun and memorable Night at Bethlehem. We were supposed to come in 1st Century garb, but don't ask me about those costumes. I'll start fuming. We were supposed to bring canned goods to donate to a local charity as our "taxes," but don't ask me about that either. We were supposed to come at 6, but got there around 7ish. Don't ask me how we got lost going 2 blocks in a city we both lived in for over four years. Grr. Anyways, it was sooooooo much fun. We had a great Mediterranean meal, the kids played fun Middle Eastern games, we watched a reinactment of the Christmas Story and we left with dreidels. It was a great end to the day.


The next day, we witnessed the blessing of Amber's new baby, Ashton. Welcome to the family, little (fat) guy!!! Afterwards, The Overachiever hosted a luncheon prepared by Johnna and Danae, and gifted each niece and nephew with a blanket she had made and embroidered. Way to make us all look bad, Donna!


Please don't comment on the photos. I got a new lens and not one of the 200 photos that I've taken with it has turned out. I'm going to spend all tonight trying to figure it out. I'm so very sad that none of the Santa photos turned out. =(

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Christmas Journal Entry
When does it really start feeling like Christmas to you?

Sarah - the day after Thanksgiving is "go time" to me. But I really feel into it when we start to decorate the outside of the house and we see lights pop up in the neighborhood.
Don - when Christmas music begins playing
Sunshine - when it snows
Buddy - "I really like that Jesus."
Polly - Bruno!

Christmas Journal Entry
What do you think is the most enjoyable thing to do in the snow?

Sarah - I like to stand in it when it's windy and have the icy snow hit my face. I also like to wake up after it's snowed and you can "hear" the quiet. I love that.
Don - make snow balls
Sunshine - make snowmen and jump on the trampoline with snow
Buddy - play snow fight and like Jesus
Polly - Bruno! Bruno!

5 and 6 days until Christmas - Girl Scout Fun

Our Girl Scout troop goes to a local senior home to visit the Alzheimer patients as a service project. This month, we sang carols


played Christmas BINGO


(This is me making sure that I call out the words that will make each group win at least once. I'm such a cheater.)


and passed out the figurines the girls had painted for them earlier in the fall.


Good times were had by all.


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Christmas Journal Entry
Regardless of gender, what person would you like to be in the Nativity?

Sarah - an angel
Don - shepherd
Sunshine - an angel
Buddy - one of the kings
Polly - Mary

Christmas Journal Entry
If you were designing a brand-new outfit for old St. Nick, what would it look like?

Sarah - I like the Santa outfit from the Dickens time period. Lush and flowing.
Don - a cowboy outfit, with a big ole belt buckle
Sunshine - red and green suit pants and jacket, and a hat with candy canes
Buddy - like a reindeer costume
Polly - "Santa, okay? Okay."

7 days until Christmas - a winter holiday?!?

The Little Master's school had a cultural holiday exchange thingie last week. So dumb. Just have a Christmas party. Stop pretending like December isn't all about Christmas. We don't get mail on December 25th because it's CHRISTMAS, not because it's a winter holiday. Stupid. Acting like Christmas is a bad word annoys me, so I took this opportunity to blast our Christian culture to everyone. I'm rude that way. Amy G told me that I need to live in a land where I'm the queen and everyone follows my command. I soooooo agree.


Here are the tokens that represent our winter cultural traditions. We included items that represent the things that fill up the kids' stockings each year - an orange, a candy cane crazy straw, and a baby Jesus puzzle.


Take THAT political correctness.

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Christmas Journal Entry
If you could only use one color to decorate your Christmas tree, which color would you choose?

Sarah - pink
Don - green
Sunshine - pink and then red
Buddy - yellow
Polly - green

8 and 9 days until Christmas - the place

Chuck E Cheese
the place where a kid can be a kid
and a mom can ignore said kid


I love taking my kids to play at Chuck E Cheese. I know lots of moms hate that place and I used to be one of them. Then, I discovered the beauty that is a free playdate with Chuckie


Tips:
Go on Monday mornings: the place is spotless because they've just cleaned after the madness of the weekend


Go early: We go right after they open and NO ONE else is there. Have you ever been invited to a birthday party there on a Monday at 9am? Nope. I guarantee that you'll be the only people there and you won't have to guard your crazy kids from other crazy kids while they play.


Go within an hour of them opening: when they turn on the machines, around 10 tester tickets spew out and the workers leave them there for the first customers


Go sign up for their e-newsletters: they send me coupons for free tokens each month. They also have forms you can download for performance rewards, such as 10 free tokens for good behavior, or good grades, or brushing your teeth. I never buy tokens when I got there. The kids are used to having 15 to 20 tokens, using them, and then leaving. We don't stay longer than 45 minutes or so.


Go to the management and alert them to broken games: My sister in law always tells the management when a game is broken and waits around until they fix it. Apparently, the computer logs the tickets that should have been spit out to the past winners and when it gets fixed, it spits them ALL out. We've yet to try this, as we're there in the morning after they've already tested all of the games. But it's worth a try!


Go before you need to buy food there: the pizza is beyond gross. I've had a sandwich from there and it was good, but I wouldn't have paid for it. If you have to eat there, the all you can eat salad bar is a good deal. Otherwise, just go early in the morning and leave before the kidlets get hungry.


Go redeem your tickets right away: Don't save up for anything. That junk isn't worth it. "Buy" some crazy trinkets and leave. Instant gratification.

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Christmas Journal Entry
If time was not a concern and you had plenty of money, how would you decorate the outside of your home?

Sarah - a snow machine
Don - I would put cotton on all the grass parts of my lawn. I would line every eave on my roof. I would line my fence with lights. I would line all the trees with lights. Then I would put in a ferris wheel that had Santa in one seat , Rudolph and frosty in their own seats. This ferris wheel would spin and play loud Christmas music 24x7.
Sunshine - a North Pole setting (just learned that word in 1st Grade this year) with a pole and elves
Buddy - gingerbread men
Polly - Santa Claus!!

Christmas Journal Entry
What is the most meaningful or memorable gift you've received?
Sarah - my iPod. It was out of blue air. I'd never asked for one, but had really wanted one. It was just one of those things I never thought about, unless I saw a commercial or whatever. Don had gotten it a few months before my birthday and hadn't told me. I was so surprised.
Don - my compound bow in high school
Sunshine - easy bake oven
Buddy - light saber from Corbin
Pocket - Bruno (at least that's relevant this time. ee gads.)

10 days until Christmas - the boy

The Little Master has decided to be a boy this week. Last week, he wore through the knees in a pair of jeans I bought him back to school shopping. This week, he wore through the knees in TWO pairs of new jeans. The girls wear hand me downs or resale pairs, and I don't have this problem with them. I actually bought him BRAND NEW JEANS and paid at least $10-$12 for each pair. Good grief. It took a whole year of Kindergarten for Sunshine to wear through her pairs last year.


I'm not really sure how he does it. I do seem him sliding and crawling a lot, but really? Two NEW pairs of jeans in one week?!? If he's doing this to his jeans, I shudder to think of what he's doing to his knee caps!


Oh, these children cost money. So much money. I think Santa might return the gifts he made and just bring jeans. Buddy can snuggle up to denim on Christmas morning. hee hee



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Christmas Journal Entry
If you were going to be Santa Claus for a Christmas Eve, what one amenity or convenience factor would you insist the elves include on your sleigh?

Sarah - a freezer to store my cookies in, and a feet warmer
Don - a heater and then it would be WIFI access for my notebook
Sunshine - a fluffy seat
Buddy - penguin fur to keep me warm (that's sick and twisted)
Polly - BRUNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11 days until Christmas - CNN Santa Style

Throughout December, our cable provider has an interactive channel called SNN. Our family favorite is the Christmas Song Karaoke section. I've found that it's like Tetris of old - you just can't turn it off. We'll be watching it with bated breathe on Christmas Eve Day, for the 24 hour Santa Watch updates.

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Christmas Journal Entry
Candy canes, of course, are the traditional candy of Christmas. If you could have your way, what would be the official candy of Christmas?

Sarah - fudge
Don - Reese's peanut butter cups
Sunshine - gingerbread people
Buddy - ring pops
Polly - candy canes

12 days until Christmas - the little engine who could

Sunshine is our little engine who could. She never stops if she wants something. She always believes that she'll be able to achieve something if she puts her mind to it. But she's not bossy or overwhelming. It's a quiet strength that she has, one that she gets from her less overt parent.

Today, Sunshine participated in an all-day (9 to 3) dance clinic at the local high school...with her broken foot. She swore up and down that she was fine and off she went. I know. I'm a bad mom to let her, but I did. She was just so excited about it. I know, I know.

Here she is with her "buddy", Nicole after practice.


Next week, she'll perform at the basketball game's half time show. When she told us it was the best day of her life, as she does every day, she said the best part was performing for the parents. So, she might have a little diva in her after all. And I want y'all to know that she was as equally on rhythm as the other little girls were. So, she might not be rhythm tone deaf after all.


When we saw that they had placed her in the front row for the performance, we knew we had made the right choice to send her. What do doctors know anyways?!?

I know, I know.

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Christmas Journal Prompt:
Would you rather spend Christmas in the city or the country?

Sarah - the country, for sure. I want a cabin in the middle of a snowy village, perhaps in Switzerland.

The Little Master - "I want to be with my WHOLE family for Christmas." When I told him he had to choose a place, he chose the city.

Sunshine - The city for "all of the fancy places."

Little Mamma - BRUNO! BRUNO! (I really don't know why she keeps saying that. It's absurd.)

13 days until Christmas - family lunch

I let Sunshine buy lunch most Fridays. *insert vomit sound here* But it makes her happy and I'm a pushover.

Today, I took the little kidlets with me and they all ate together.



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Christmas Journal Entry:
What would your Winter Wonderland have in it?

TLM - "It would be really, really cold, but not too cold, and warm so that I wasn't cold. And lots of snow so I could build I snowman who could TALK AND BE REAL."

Sunshine - Icicles and ice skating, with real reindeer that could fly.

Pocket - Bruno!!!

Sarah - a cozy cabin with giant floor to ceiling windows and a warm fireplace