Thursday, December 31, 2009

Maggie Sez...

... See you later, Crocodile!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Maggie Sez...

Maggie (shout/singing): DECK! the halls wif bells and howwy, fa wuh la wuh la wuh la wuh la!! Mommy, what comes after "deckthehallswifbellsandhowwyfawuhlawuhlawuhlawuhla?"

Mommy: Tis the season...

Maggie: DECK! the halls wif bells and howwy, fa wuh la wuh la wuh la wuh la!!

Mommy: Tis the season...

Maggie: to be jowwy, fa wuh la wuh la wuh la wuh la!!

Mommy: Don we now...

Maggie: our gaze apparel, fa wuh la wuh la wuh la wuh la la la!!!! (feel free to imagine any melody you prefer for this last part because any is appropriate, no need to stick with the traditional song)

Mommy: Troll the ancient...

Maggie: yule tide cawol, (screaming) FA WUH LA WUH LA WUH LA WUH LA!!!!!!!

Repeat continuously without stopping for about 3 more hours.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

How Lovely Are Thy Branches...

We had to take our Christmas tree down today. It was kind of sad to be done with it so soon after Christmas, but we really shouldn't have even left it here alone for just the 3 days we were gone last week... it is seriously that dead. Our insurance agent would have an aneurysm if she knew we had gone away with that fire starter still standing in our living room. It was CRISPY and gnarled and curled up on itself like a grizzly old man. As I was removing the ornaments, it became clear that rather than pulling them off over the end of the branch or unhooking the metal hook, it was far easier to just snap the end of the branch off and let the ornament fall into my hand! Half the tree was scattered on the floor by the time Mike wrestled the lights off. We're in agreement that it's the worst tree either of us has ever had. I believe the girls probably just scared it to death.

But let's end on a lighter note by clicking on the following link and reading a lovely anecdote by Louis Armstrong's wife about the first Christmas tree he ever had, at the age of 40! It's a heart warmer...

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/21280

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Yes, Maggie, There is a Nana Claus



We did some crafts yesterday because my mom sent Maggie this little foam gingerbread house kit. It was so cute and easy for her to do because each piece was precut and self-adhesive. The only messy part was the glitter glue to stick on the red gemstone thingies, but hey, real fun is never tidy! Nevertheless, she said her favorite part was sticking on the mommy and baby gingerbread people. Thanks, Nana!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Maggie Sez...

... no, but thank you for offering.
(after being asked if she wanted a snack cup of crackers)

... I would have to go get The Grinch out of Whoville and put him on my naughty step and tell him, "You are being very naughty, The Grinch!"

... This is the original.
(informing Dad that he was not watching Frosty Returns or Frosty's Winter Wonderland, but in fact the original Frosty the Snowman holiday cartoon)

... Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. Because if the bedbugs start biting, you'll never get to sleep!
(said to Kate at bedtime a few nights ago)

Mommy Sez...

... Whatever you are doing that's making her cry, you better stop it right now!

(repeat approximately 15,000 times a day)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Riddle Me This

About once a week Maggie slips out of the kitchen with a cup of some beverage and then leaves it lying around the living room or play room for Kate to pick up, sample, and inevitably take a quick bath in. Today that beverage was juice, the drop point was the couch, and the amount of unsupervised time Kate had to chug half and then dump the rest on the couch and down her front was approximately 30 seconds.

The mystery here unveiled itself as I pulled off her sodden clothes... she had a Cat in the Hat sticker stuck to her chest! I'm POSITIVE that she did not have any decorations when I put the clothes on her this morning, and I definitely had not started drinking yet at that point. And, she was wearing a onesie undershirt with a pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt over it. Pretty much Fort Knox (hey, it's 36 degrees here today), so how did it get there?!?!

I asked her, but she's not telling.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Multimedia Tuesday

Here's a silly video of Kate. This knee scooting/bouncing thing is her favorite form of locomotion at the moment. She has taken a few actual steps and she stands around no-handed quite a bit, but she's still more confident walking on her knees! I think it looks a little like we're pioneering our own new style of baby hip hop dancing (Creep? Crab? Cranky? Crumbcruncher?) in our living room/dance club, especially since you can hear me cheering her on in the background. I feel like I should've been saying, "Go Katie, Go Katie, It's your birthday!"



And in Art news, here's a painting that Maggie did over the weekend. She informed us that she painted it for Kate. Charming, don't you think? So full of sisterly love and joy. I'm not sure if Mike was trying to create a logo for Maggie's future work or if he was just trying to cheer the piece up a bit with the blue bits on the side.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

How Not to Achieve The Perfect Holiday Atmosphere

We got our tree today, put it up in the living room, and decorated it, but something is a little lacking. Mike and I both always look forward to the fabulous smell of a live tree at Christmastime (see, I'm not a complete Grinch). My mom is now allergic to evergreen, so they have to have a fake tree these days and it's never quite the same without that lovely, Christmasy, pine tree smell in the house. And then there's the fact that we have been micro-apartment dwellers for most of our married life and always out of town on Christmas and so have only recently begun to decorate for the holidays ourselves. For that reason, having a live tree in our very own living room is a bit of a novelty that we're growing to enjoy. Last year we got a Douglas fir, and although it was very sappy and kind of a mess, it smelled so incredibly perfect. This year we got a balsam, and it doesn't seem to smell as piney. Maybe it's just this particular tree itself, or maybe it's the species...

...OR maybe it's the fact that I burned the CRAP out of a pot roast today and our entire house absolutely reeks of charred meat and onion soup. I don't even know exactly how it happened. I checked it, it looked fine, next thing I know - beef jerky. Kind of hard to bask in the sweet evergreen smell of Christmas when your hair and sweater smell like meat. Pooh pooh to the Whos!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Maggie Sez...

...Katie has a panty hat!



Maggie did this on her own and came to get me so she could show her handiwork off to me. Kate seemed to be enjoying it.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Happy Tuesday Everybody

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

--ee cummings