Life Happens...Game On

Useless Peanut Trivia

Today's Question of the Day is: How much can a 1-year-old eat in one sitting?

Answer: Two packages of oatmeal!

I have no idea where the kid puts it. She has apparently inherited Daddy's hollow leg (lucky girl!).

Tagged...the Christmas version

So, Jennifer has tagged me on her blog and since as you ALL know (Hello...anyone out there? Is this thing on?) that I'm a lazy blogger, I've accepted the tag challenge.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay,here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!!  Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Tag as many  people as you want to....Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer to give wrapped presents. That's not usually what happens, but I love the look of a wrapped box.

2. Real tree or Artificial?  Artificial. Who really wants to deal with all those needles...and hello? Did you miss the fire hazard video that showed a dried out tree going up and destroying a house in like, three seconds?

3. When do you put up the tree?  Generally the day after Thanksgiving. That doesn't mean it is decorated the day after Thanksgiving, but at least it is standing there and usually has lights on it.

4. When do you take the tree down?  Some point after New Year's. There's not a specific day we aim for.

5. Do you like eggnog? Um, no.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?  Probably the 4x4 pickup I got when I was 5 or 6. I remember riding it back and forth between my parents' and sister's rooms with every other present "Santa" had left for me in the truck bed so they could see it. It was roughly 2 am by the way.

7. Hardest person to buy for?  Everyone except for Paige.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Paige. Right now she's happy to play with anything we let her touch.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards. I love Christmas cards. I think I started sending them out the first year I was out of college. I don't know why they make me so happy...it's always such a joy to go to the mailbox during the Christmas holidays.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  Hmmmm...I'm not sure. Probably the socks from my Grandma as a kid. Why would you give a kid socks?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Christmas Story. If my family would let me, I would happily sit and watch the TBS 24-hour marathon. It truly is a movie I could watch over and over and over and over...

13. When do you start shopping?   NOT on Black Friday, although we did go to Toys R Us this year in Tulsa on Black Friday - they were running a good sale on something we wanted for Paige. Usually the weekend after I guess.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?  I don't think so, but who knows?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Mmmmm...chocolate delight and coconut pie. My two favorite desserts!

16   color lights on tree?  Multicolored...probably because that's what we had on our tree when I was a child. Todd would love to have gold lights (blech) probably because that was what his parents always put on their tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song?  Christmas Canon by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I prefer to be at home but I haven't been at home in YEARS.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Maybe but it would probably require me to sing a song.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have a star (sort of - it looks like it is made from poinsettia petals).

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?   When I was little we opened on Christmas Day and after my parents separated we started opening on Christmas Eve. Now I guess we open on Christmas Day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Rude and inconsiderate shoppers - hello, it's Christmas people! Let's spread a little Christmas spirit or something!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Our tree is decorated with a combination of generic balls and ornaments that we have picked up together during our travels. It is like a little walk down memory lane each year as we unwrap ornaments and put them on the tree. Also, I've determined that Paige will get her own ornament each year (and she will have them to take with her as an adult - I actually have a handful of the ornaments that my Mom got for me as a child and wish I had them all)...so those are now going on the tree, too.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I'm a big fan of ham and rolls.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?  To sit down with my family at home and have a nice, loving, peaceful Christmas together. And that, as a matter of fact, is what we are going to do. I'm so excited about the idea of waking up in my house on Christmas Day I'm practically beside myself!

I'm not going to tag anyone, so if anyone wants to play along just leave me a message and let me know so I can come check it out!

So, Jennifer has tagged me on her blog and since as you ALL know (Hello...anyone out there? Is this thing on?) that I'm a lazy blogger, I've accepted the tag challenge.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay,here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!!  Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Tag as many  people as you want to....Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer to give wrapped presents. That's not usually what happens, but I love the look of a wrapped box.

2. Real tree or Artificial?  Artificial. Who really wants to deal with all those needles...and hello? Did you miss the fire hazard video that showed a dried out tree going up and destroying a house in like, three seconds?

3. When do you put up the tree?  Generally the day after Thanksgiving. That doesn't mean it is decorated the day after Thanksgiving, but at least it is standing there and usually has lights on it.

4. When do you take the tree down?  Some point after New Year's. There's not a specific day we aim for.

5. Do you like eggnog? Um, no.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?  Probably the 4x4 pickup I got when I was 5 or 6. I remember riding it back and forth between my parents' and sister's rooms with every other present "Santa" had left for me in the truck bed so they could see it. It was roughly 2 am by the way.

7. Hardest person to buy for?  Everyone except for Paige.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Paige. Right now she's happy to play with anything we let her touch.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards. I love Christmas cards. I think I started sending them out the first year I was out of college. I don't know why they make me so happy...it's always such a joy to go to the mailbox during the Christmas holidays.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  Hmmmm...I'm not sure. Probably the socks from my Grandma as a kid. Why would you give a kid socks?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Christmas Story. If my family would let me, I would happily sit and watch the TBS 24-hour marathon. It truly is a movie I could watch over and over and over and over...

13. When do you start shopping?   NOT on Black Friday, although we did go to Toys R Us this year in Tulsa on Black Friday - they were running a good sale on something we wanted for Paige. Usually the weekend after I guess.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?  I don't think so, but who knows?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Mmmmm...chocolate delight and coconut pie. My two favorite desserts!

16   color lights on tree?  Multicolored...probably because that's what we had on our tree when I was a child. Todd would love to have gold lights (blech) probably because that was what his parents always put on their tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song?  Christmas Canon by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I prefer to be at home but I haven't been at home in YEARS.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Maybe but it would probably require me to sing a song.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have a star (sort of - it looks like it is made from poinsettia petals).

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?   When I was little we opened on Christmas Day and after my parents separated we started opening on Christmas Eve. Now I guess we open on Christmas Day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Rude and inconsiderate shoppers - hello, it's Christmas people! Let's spread a little Christmas spirit or something!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Our tree is decorated with a combination of generic balls and ornaments that we have picked up together during our travels. It is like a little walk down memory lane each year as we unwrap ornaments and put them on the tree. Also, I've determined that Paige will get her own ornament each year (and she will have them to take with her as an adult - I actually have a handful of the ornaments that my Mom got for me as a child and wish I had them all)...so those are now going on the tree, too.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I'm a big fan of ham and rolls.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?  To sit down with my family at home and have a nice, loving, peaceful Christmas together. And that, as a matter of fact, is what we are going to do. I'm so excited about the idea of waking up in my house on Christmas Day I'm practically beside myself!

I'm not going to tag anyone, so if anyone wants to play along just leave me a message and let me know so I can come check it out!

Emergence of a Toddler

"Uh oh."

Do you know what that is? That, my friends, is the warning signal that something has been dropped on the floor. Or more likely thrown on the floor. The subtle addition of an "uh oh" is inserted to fool you into thinking the act was an accident. Frequently the item in question is just a toy or some other harmless thing such as the dog's leash. Occasionally it's some forbidden object that was slipped from its home using all manner of stealth.

Sly little ninjas, these toddlers. Seriously, the cute, bumbling clumsiness is a ruse. The second your back is turned, the Mission Impossible theme song starts playing and the next thing you know they are sitting on the other side of the room downloading new software to the phone that you would have SWORN you left on a table out of their reach.

Another toddler ploy to trick you into submission? Talking. Who knew that common, everyday words could sound so cute? "Foot"? Precious. "Airplane"? Too adorable for words. They knock down your defenses by saying something mildly coherent, and by the time you stop goo-gooing back at them you realize they've already made it down the hall, intent on scaling Mount Staircase.

I once read a piece of wisdom that indicated our job as parents was to protect our children from themselves. The question is, who is supposed to protect us from them?

I'm pretty sure I'm already done for. One look at those big blue eyes and I turn into a big ball of subservient moosh. I'm also certain she has Daddy completely wrapped around her little finger. And the Grandparents? Fuhgeddaboutit. They were in cahoots with her from Day 1.

So, I think it may be up to the family dogs to keep the peanut in line and everything in order. I'm a bit concerned the little hairball may be swaying into her corner, though, so that really just leaves the Nonnie Dawg...and well, I've been having these gnawing feelings that she could be bribed with treats. There's just something about the way she hovers nearby whenever the peanut is in her high chair eating...

Send in reinforcements, we are a sinking ship over here at Chez Orange & Black.