Sensitive Topic

My 2008 Thanksgiving post was not well received by some because it made them homesick. So, in an effort to be more sensitive to these individuals I will NOT be talking about the incredible food, the bowling tournament, the Sponge Bob Square Pants pinata (they were out of turkeys) the large vessel of homemade root beer, or the fireworks which we may or may not have done since they are totally illegal this time of year. (They were bigger than ever. . but you didn't hear it from me.) Nope, none of these typical Thanksgiving traditions will be talked about in this post. Instead I will be talking about the 8th wonder of the world which is little known but very impressive. That would by my Aunt Kathy's basement. When you walk into her basement you are immediately transported to the world of Coca-Cola --the likes of which can only be duplicated in Atlanta, and Las Vegas. If I didn't know better I might think I had entered such an exotic location except no one charged me $8.75 (or $25.00 a family) to enter or made me pay to park the car. You see, my Aunt Kathy collects all things Coca-Cola, and when I say "all things" I really mean, ALL things. Here are a few pictures of her basement.

If I had had the presence of mind I would have taken a picture of the bathroom. If you ever wondered if they made Coca-Cola toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, shower curtains, wallpaper boarders, hand towels, bath mats, or anything at all, rest assured these things do exist and are situated quite comfortably in my Aunt Kathy's basement along with her Coca-Cola ceiling fan, chairs, vintage soda machines and bottles, salt and pepper shakers, puzzles, furniture, pillows, Christmas decorations, phones, games and every knick knack imaginable. Really, she should start charging an entrance fee. (It could probably pay for the Thankgiving pinatas, fireworks, homemade candies, and bowling fees which I am totally not going to talk about in this post!)

Adam was put to work this year making the rolls.

The leftovers.

Out of 24 possible menu items, this is what Jenna selected for her Thanksgiving fest.

Seriously, this girl has GOT to get over the picky eating thing!!

The pinata line- youngest to oldest.

Sponge Bob, where are you?

No, it's not cotton, it's Root Beer!

The Bowling.

Korinne wanted to do everything by herself and managed to do quite well.

Looks like a spare (something conspicuously absent from my bowling game).

Again, I cannot confirm nor deny the existence of fireworks. Please, don't ask.

We had a great time, see ya'll next year!

An 8 yr old's dilemma

To believe, or not to believe, that is the question.

Last night when Adam went to check on Britton before going to bed he found Britton wide awake.
"Dad, will you come lay by me for a minute?"
Adam "Sure"
Britton after a short pause. "Dad, are you Santa Claus?"
"Why, do I look like Santa Claus?"
"I just don't know whether to believe or not, I'm about 50/50 right now. I've been thinking about it and it's just not logical."
"What isn't logical?"
"Reindeer flying. How can reindeer fly? It's just not logical"
"Maybe it's magic."
"I've seen people do magic and I know how it works. They just have a coin up their sleeve."
"Maybe Santa has the highest level of magic"
"Maybe the sleigh has jets on it! . .No, that would be too loud. And Rudolf, how could he have a red nose? It just doesn't make any sense. And how could Santa get that many toys in a bag? I know a lot about science, Dad, and it just isn't logical."
"Does Quinn believe?" (Quinn is the next door neighbor who is a year older than Britton)
"He doesn't really believe, but he's not sure."
"What about London?" (Another neighbor friend)
"Yeah, she believes. She wouldn't talk to us for 3 days after we told her we didn't believe."
"Well, try not to talk about this with your sisters, it will just confuse them." And then he successfully went on to another topic before saying goodnight and leaving his room.

It wasn't the first time he has brought up the subject. A few weeks ago he came in from school saying something like, "Mom, we've been gathering FACTS and we just aren't sure Santa is real." He went on and on about the "facts" but obviously there is a part of him that still wants to believe in the magic of Christmas.

Ah, the dilemma of an 8 year old.

The Big 4

My baby is 4 years old. Wow. Time flies. By the time Britton was 4 Jenna was 2 1/2 and I was 6 months pregnant with Korinne. Korinne is more than happy to be the baby of the family, so I guess it is good that she always will be.

Grandma and Grandpa P came up last night to celebrate. We all went out to eat at the Golden Corral. My kids were introduced to the world of buffet restaurants a few weeks ago and it was love at first bite. Getting to pick everything they wanted coupled with an unlimited dessert bar was more than enough to have them declaring their love for the Golden Corral (picture Annie singing, "I think I'm going to like it here!" and you get the idea). It was Korinne's last day being able to eat for free, so we decided not to pass up the opportunity.

We asked Korinne what she wanted to have for her Birthday dinner. She replied, "Um, apples. . . .and um, peanut butter sandwiches." Well, Korinne, your wish is my command. I even threw in some crackers and root beer. Jenna sat down to eat and actually said, "This is the best dinner EVER!" It's official, I'm never cooking again. If my kids pick PB & J when they can have anything then my services are no longer required.

The Birthday feast.

We got Korinne a cat. Yes, you read that right, a cat. Now before you go thinking that we've changed our ways when it comes to pets we should probably clarify. When we say cat, we really mean "stuffed" cat. Let's be serious, we will never change our pet policy. Never.

She loves her cat. And when she asked for a cat for her birthday, she actually meant a stuffed cat. Our kids have never once asked for a real pet. In fact I have overheard Britton say, "Who would even want a pet?" more than once. My thoughts exactly.

We let Korinne frost her own birthday cake. She loved it and felt so grown up.

Happy Birthday Korinne!

Prancer is lost

What? You don't have deer walking down your sidewalk? We have seen a lot of deer in the neighborhood lately. This one was right by our house, but by the time I got the camera it had walked over to the neighbors--using the sidewalk, of course. Sure beats roaming dogs!

Work Lunch

While I was cleaning the kitchen today I couldn't help but notice Korinne running in, getting into the fridge or freezer and then making a mad dash out of the room only to come back about a minute later for something else. There was no sauntering or meandering involved, she was in a full sprint coming both in and out of the kitchen. I ignored it for awhile, but every time I looked up she would say, "Don't see me, Mom!" (which is one of Korinne's classic phrases, by the way). After the dishwasher was loaded and the counters were wiped off I went in search of Korinne's whereabouts. She was in Adam's office (surprise) and was eating lunch with him. She had brought a stool in so she could sit up to his desk and they were both eating apples, yogurt, and frozen eggo waffles.

Me: "What's going on here?"
Adam: "Korinne brought me lunch."
Korinne just smiled and giggled. While there was never any doubt, let it be known Korinne is definitely a Daddy's girl!

Thoughtful

Jenna has been saving her money and told me yesterday that she really wanted to go to the store and buy a toy with her own money. I was heading to the store at that moment so I told her to grab a jacket and come with me. At the store we spent a lot of time looking at all of the options. She had $11.00 and I must admit I loved seeing her be very practical, "Mom, these are all too expensive, let's go down here." I let her have free reign and didn't influence her in any way. It was her money and she could decide what to do with it. She picked out a Mulan Barbie that was about $7.50. As I went and picked up the few items I needed Jenna found some skittle flavored chapstick for her and Korinne with her remaining money. I thought it was kind of her to think of Korinne. (Jenna has always been very thoughtful that way.) Anyway, she went through the checkout by herself and paid with all of her 1 dollar bills. When we got home she gave Korinne the little chapstick and Korinne was so thrilled she cried, "Oh I love it! Thanks Jenna!" Right then and there Jenna handed her the plastic bag, "I got this for you, too, Korinne." Korinne opened the bag and could hardly contain her enthusiasm "Mulan? Oh, I love it so much! Is this for my Birthday??" (Her birthday is in less than 2 weeks) This is the part of the story when my jaw dropped. I had no idea that Jenna was going to give the toy that she had been saving for to Korinne. The rest of the night Korinne happily played with her Mulan Barbie and Jenna looked very pleased.

They are lucky to have each other. Sisters by birth, friends by choice.

End of an Era

Tonight was the first time in approx. 103 consecutive family home evenings that we did NOT sing the song, "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." Korinne even picked both the opening and closing song and said for the first time ever that she wanted to sing anything BUT the Sunbeam song. Wow. Of course she also acted like a dog the entire evening (complete with barking and crawling around on all fours) and only responded if we called her "Sissy the Dog" so perhaps she wasn't really in her right mind after all. Only time will tell, I guess.

The Hills are Alive

Britton was singing parts of the song Do-Re-Mi from "The Sound of Music" the other afternoon. I started singing along with him and he looked at me with eyes full of wonder, "you know that song??" Yeah, it's from "The Sound of Music". By now his eyes were wide open and he looked really surprised. "You've heard of 'The Sound of Music' ?" Just to prove my extensive knowledge of said movie I started to sing "My Favorite Things." He exploded, "Yeah, that's it! I can't believe you know about that movie!" Apparently their music teacher at school has been showing them musical scenes out of the "The Sound of Music" and Britton has absolutely loved it. By this time Jenna was in the room marveling at my ability to sing all of the songs so I decided to really throw them for a loop so I walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" from one of our CD cases. (I haven't listened to it since I got it back in college, but still, I HAD it.)

Britton: No way! That is my favorite movie EVER!

Me: Have you actually seen the whole thing?

Britton: No, but I just loooooove it!

Jenna turned out to be just as enthusiastic as Britton so instead of telling them that everyone in the world knows about "The Sound of Music", I let them gush about how cool I was for awhile. Why spoil the moment? Needless to say "The Sound of Music" is now at the top of our Netflix list.

I voted

It's election day. I live in a town of 6,000 people so all we voted for today was a new mayor and 2 city council people. I am a firm believer in voting in every election whether it be a primary or the final election. Having said that the last thing I wanted to do tonight was get in my car and drive to the voting place and vote. It was one of "those" days and I'm tired and worn out and the only thing that sounded good was taking a bath and going to bed. I didn't feel strongly about any of the candidates and it would have been super easy to just not go. Why did I go then? For the same reason that I actually get emotional every time I go to vote, no matter who or what is on the ballet. Do you know how many people have died so that I CAN go and vote?? How can I possibly throw that away? They put their lives on the line and they fought and a lot of them died. We have it good and we don't even appreciate it. I refuse to forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for me. So, I put on my coat and went out into the darkness and voted for our city mayor. And you know what? I feel better.