Category: Misc

 Thank you for all the twoo wuv song suggestions. All of them considered, most of them serious contenders for Landon’s playlist. I’m sure iTunes has some sort of love song essential list as well, so I’ll waste time do research there. And M, you’re right: you’re a touch more country than Landon, but man, Hopelessly Devoted? So perfect.

And I’ll be requesting even more musical help (bet you can’t wait), but not right away.

In other news, last night, Kyra wanted help spelling something on a picture she’d drawn. I was cooking dinner at the time, assuming one can define cooking as: browning ground beef and adding Manwich sauce. Hey, the ConAgra site (the fine people who bring you this product) says it’s is a quick and easy one-pan meal the whole family loves. It’s not just a sandwich, it’s a meal.

Anyway, back to the drawing. I took a quick glance at it (due to stove, hot grease, and so on). A triangle, lots of red. What was it Miss B wanted me to spell?

No going by volcanoes.

Clearly a cautionary drawing. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

And hey, she’d already written no. But by far her favorite thing to write is this:

I love u
Mom
Daddy
Andrew

We have paper after paper covered with those words. I find them all over the house. Love notes from Miss B.

Winter. She is here:

Yep, we’re digging out today.

And yes, we did go to Chuck E. Cheese yesterday. Amazingly (or perhaps not so), the only people there were people with birthday parties, so it was  quiet, or not so loud, at least. I’m glad we went, since Kyra was the first school friend to show up (a few more trickled in), but all the parties had low attendance. I chatted with the parents and read. The kids had a blast, won lots of tickets, got prizes.

A good time was had by all.

Kyra is very excited about the first day of December. While we shopped for Thanksgiving dinner, she picked out an Advent calendar, and I explained that we couldn’t start opening the little windows until the first day of December. Apparently, she’s been waiting ever since.

Plus! It’s snowing! Real snow, real, let’s stay inside, or bundle up the kids and send them outside, but we’ll watch them through the window kind of snow. We’ve already trekked through it once to ballet. Now, I’m wondering about the whole Chuck E. Cheese party. Is it bad enough we stay home? Do we brave the weather and venture out? We’re supposed to get six to ten inches.

I woke up this morning and it was so strange not to sit at the computer and start in on some sort of manuscript. I got nothing–at least at the moment. The plan is to take a month break from MacKenna, then I’ll work up a third draft. Then, maybe I can convince a few victims beta readers to review it.

Until then, I’m going to read: a lot. I have The Virginia Woolf Writers’ Workshop, Seven Lessons to Inspire Great Writing (we can only hope, no?), and of course, the holidays. I’m taking Kyra to the Nutcracker this year (well, Andrew and my mom too). I promised Kyra a “theater” dress, because you have to dress up when you go to the ballet. She wants something colorful, with hearts, flowers, diamonds, and who knows what else. If such a dress exists, leave it to the Marvelous Miss B to find it.

Yes, that’s right. We have snow. Maybe just a quarter of an inch, but it’s cold and it stuck. Kyra was very excited about this development, wanted to go outside, but thanks to one of our Thanksgiving traditions, she couldn’t.

 What’s that?

Someone getting sick. Poor Miss B woke up with a fever yesterday. This isn’t as bad as the year Andrew sprouted spots (chicken pox) on Thanksgiving Day.

Today, her fever was actually higher (pre-Motrin) and while she’s fairly perky, she hasn’t strayed from bed–that would be my bed, my side of it, which now has a lovely layer of cracker crumbs all over it. She’s been drawing pictures and making books all day long, and actually kicks me out of the room, because each picture and each book is a surprise.

In other Thanksgiving news, Anno has a thing against mashed potatoes. I’m still trying to work out how I feel about that. Marianne has a terrific cover for her latest story, Don’t Fence Me In. And stay tuned to the postings over at Jenn in MI–she grew up on the block where they inflated the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

So the other day I did the unthinkable. I went to Target and bought pajamas … for myself. That’s right. Sure, I bought some long sleeved shirts for the kids, but I neglected to buy them pajamas. I know. What was I thinking? (For some reason, I can always be talked into buying pajamas, toothbrushes, and books–I’d probably buy a complete stranger a pair of pajamas, a toothbrush, and a book if he/she asked.)

It didn’t help that these pajamas have dogs and milk-bones on them, like so:

I mean, who wouldn’t want a pair.

So, yesterday at Target, I found two more pairs, in the boys’ section (shh, don’t tell Kyra, but it’s the reason Andrew’s wearing them). Same exact pajamas, red, with dogs and milk-bones. I wondered if Andrew would want to wear the same pajamas as me. Kyra–she was all over that. Remember those mother-daughter Laura Ashley dresses? Well, let’s just say it’s probably a good thing there aren’t any of those stores around here.

But with Andrew, I wasn’t sure. I’ve crossed over that threshold and now have the power to embarrass. And like a small nuclear device, just the mention of using it gets a reaction.

But the pajamas? Just too cool. By the time we walked through the door last night, Andrew had dubbed us: Team Milk-bone. They changed into them before dinner.

I’m hoping they change out of them sometime today. Go Team Milk-bone.

Today I need to pick up my Thanksgiving-in-a-box. I know. The sacrilege. How my foodie friends even read this blog is beyond me. We informally priced it one year and figured Thanksgiving-in-a-box costs the same as buying all the ingredients and making it from scratch.

But here’s the beauty part: tomorrow, when everyone else is busy turning their kitchens into disaster areas, I’ll pop everything into the oven, go write for few hours, then take everything out of the oven.

Now that’s something to be thankful for.

So, the other day when Andrew went roller skating, he brought back two flying monkeys (uh, stuffed ones, not the real deal from Oz), one brown for him, and one pink for Kyra.

They (the monkeys, not the kids) have little capes and masks and rubber bands in their arms. Their little hands are pockets, so you can slip your fingers in there, pull back on their tails, and zing! They fly across the room.

Upon landing, however, the make the most hideous noise known to mankind. I am tempted to fling one at the floor, record it, and post it here to prove it is the most hideous noise known to mankind.

As you’ve probably guessed, it’s all I’ve been hearing for the past few days, because while it’s the most hideous noise known to mankind, it is also the noise guaranteed to make kids laugh.

So, the other morning, when the kids wouldn’t budge from bed, I went in search of the flying, hideous-noise-making monkeys (one under the dining room table, the other next to the bathroom sink). Then, loving mom that I am, I flung the flying monkeys at the kids.

Monkeys hit child; monkeys make the most hideous noise known to mankind. Child wakes up laughing.

So much for revenge.

So, we walked into school this morning, with me, carrying Kyra’s snow princess costume on a hanger, and caused a small riot.

Everyone oohed and ahed. Or rather, the adults did. The little boys strutted around and acted tough. The little girls crowded around the dress and declared it the best costume ever. Kyra took it all in with a shy, but very pleased, smile on her face.

Like I’ve said, she knows how to dress. Chalk one up for the snow princess costume.

The fifth and six graders don’t get to dress up. They do get some “drop everything and read” time, plus roller skating. Andrew’s been doing some calculations for extra book projects (turn in twelve and you get to go to Valley Fair at the end of the school year). He’s turned in a couple, done some extra credit projects that substitute for a book project. By his calculations, he figures reading Harry Potter 5 will take care of the rest.

He’s on page 12, but hanging in there so far.

Tonight we’ll go trick or treating, but that means we won’t be home to hand out candy. This would be bad except hardly anyone comes to our house and we live in the sort of neighborhood where you can leave a bowl of candy on the front step and everyone will politely take one or two pieces and that’s it.

So, minus any riots started by snow princess sightings, it should be a good night.