The Karate Mom

Supey POD

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:33:00 +0000

The Kids are currently in Colorado with
Troy's dad and stepmom, which is quite a change. All told, by the time we go and pick them up, they will have been gone two and a half weeks! Before they left, Reilly said something about how she was going to miss Schmoopy, which is one of probably a dozen nicknames for the cat. (Supey us his REAL name, and it's short for SuperCat.) So I told her that I would email her pictures of Supey, and have done so, faithfully! I decided if share a few here, since they really kind of capture how weird cats really are.
This one was on the first day after they left. Supey was up on Deco's top bunk, just like he owned the place!

Bullets

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:28:00 +0000

No, this post isn't about shooting. Although maybe it could be. No, wait, it couldn't, because I don't know all that much about shooting. I mean, I know how to load a hand gun, and I know where the trigger is and that you don't point the end with the hole at anything that you don't want damaged. I know how to hold the gun in the "safe position", which might possibly be the most important thing to know about a gun, and I can (sometimes) hit a target when shooting. But, this post isn't about guns.
It's about stuff that's been going on in life. And, since there's been quite a bit of days since I said anything about stuff that's been going on in life, I decided that bullet points would be easier because that way I don't have to tie the things together. That would tax my brain too much.

When we started P90X, I could do one guy-style push up. Yes, that says ONE. Uno. As in a single push up without my knees on the ground. Since push ups seem to be a staple in several of the workouts, that's how I did them - knees down. A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to step it up and switch from girly push ups to manly push ups. I did one hundred ten push ups through the course of the workout that day. ONE. HUNDRED. TEN. As in 110 times more than when I started. Yeah, that felt good.
Troy has lost fifty pounds! WOOT!
In a week and a half, The Kids are going to Colorado with my FIL and MIL to spend two and a half weeks with them. I alternate between being excited about all the free time I'm going to have and feeling a bit of panic over how much I'm worried I'm going to miss them!
I want to repaint the bathroom while The Kids are gone. It's covered in this fairly busy wallpaper which is peeling over the shower and, really, all it would take is a couple of gallons of paint to do the job. Well, paint and peeling of wallpaper and stripping and sanding of cabinet doors and fixing of a hole in the wall that's hidden by the wallpaper and, basically, lots of elbow grease and time. But, since The Kids will be gone, I'm thinking I'll need something to fill the time.
We spent last weekend in Branson at Silver Dollar City, which was LOTS of fun. We realized that it was the first time we had been there with just the four of us in a long time. Last year we took guests each time we went, which was also lots of fun. But it was nice for us to just hang out together for the weekend.

I think that's it for now. Wow, that was fairly painless, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Helloooo? Are you still there?

Unsolicited Parenting Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:04:00 +0000

John Acuff, over at Stuff Christians Like, which is one of my FAVORITE blogs, wrote a post today titled "The stranger at church who has never had kids but yet is compelled to give you unsolicited advice on how to parent yours"
The actual post says, "Quit it."
This literally made me laugh out loud! (LOTS of his stuff makes me LOL, though. Really, you should add him to your Google reader. What? You don't HAVE a Google reader? Oh, it makes keeping up on blogs so much easier! You really should sign up!)

I don't know that I've had this happen, but I HAVE had little old ladies at random places like the grocery store tell me that Declan really should have a coat on. When it's, like, 60 degrees out. Yes, he's probably in shorts at that temperature, which I think freaks them out, but he's a hot-natured kid. He's genuinely comfortable in shorts at that temperature. I've made a deal with him that if it's over 55 degrees and sunny, he can wear shorts.
I have my reply all ready the next time it happens. Wanna hear it?
Little Old Lady with Blue Permed Helmet Hair: "It's COLD out here! He should have a coat on! He's gonna ketch his death of cold!"
Me: "Oh, have you raised kids?"
LOLWBPHH: "Why, yes, I did. I raised me fourteen children through the Great Depression. They had to walk to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways..."
Me: "Good, then you're finished, so let ME raise MINE!"
(I'm not sure I'd have the guts to actually say that...but it makes me feel better to say it in my head!)

DIY, Taken to a Whole New Level

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:20:00 +0000

I would consider myself to be fairly crafty. Not in a "Oh, she's always up to some nefarious plot" kind of way, but in a "Yes, I have the ability to make some cute stuff" kind of way. I've recently joined Pinterest. I love seeing all the wonderful recipes that people pin, and the organizing ideas, and the funny captioned pictures and cleaning tips. However, there are sometimes things that people pin that make me think, "Nu uh! You're not going to do THAT, are you? Really?"
This is one of those things:
Panty Tutorial: How to Sew Underwear
Now, while I don't do a huge amount of sewing, I do enjoy it when I get the chance. I can even see the benefit of recycling an old t-shirt for some project or another, although my I do tend to wear my t-shirts until they're so worn out they are only good to be used as nightshirts. (I'm sure that Troy LOVES that! "Oh, look at me, so sexy in my stretched out Perry the Platypus shirt! Woo hoo!" *insert sexy shimmy here*)
The thing is, I think that the $8 that I would spend on a pack of Hanes at Target is completely worth the amount of time that it would take me to actually MAKE a pair of undies out of an old t-shirt. Plus, the ones from Target would actually fit.

Disneyland!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:25:00 +0000

Natalie and I have known each other since fourth grade, when we would talk together under a tree outside our elementary school while waiting for our moms to pick us up after school. We became best friends in sixth grade. Ours is that wonderful brand of friendship that can allow us to not talk for weeks, or even longer, but pick up right where we left off when we DO get together. It's wonderful! Even better is that her mom and my mom are also very close friends, and her kids and my kids love to play together.

Back in November, Natalie came to me and said, "Lisa, I want to take you to Disneyland. We will fund your airfare, your park tickets, and the hotel. All you have to do is buy food." It was all I could do to not jump up and down with excitement, but I managed to contain myself long enough to talk it over with Troy and decide that this was something that I really wanted to do. So, back in February, she and I headed off to The Happiest Place on Earth.

And, BOY was it fun! Oh my goodness, we were like 12-year-olds again, laughing 'til we almost peed our pants and talking virtually non-stop for the entire four days we were together! We had beautiful weather, light crowds at the park, and an absolutely fantastic vacation. I don't think it could have been more perfect!

I gave Natalie a Mickey Mouse watch as a thank-you gift!

We were first in line to hug Sully at California Adventures

Natalie treated me to Breakfast with Minnie

Wee little Mickey Mouse head waffles!!

Natalie also treated me to lunch at The Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was awesome, but I couldn't get any really good pictures because it was dark and I didn't want to ruin the ambiance with my flash!

A picture of our picture that was taken
on Space Mountain!

Delightfully BORING!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:14:00 +0000

We've been pretty busy the past few weeks, what with wrapping up basketball and cheerleading - both of those things were done through Upward, which was a FANTASTIC experience! - and Declan's birthday celebrations. His friend party was on Saturday, his birthday lunch on with Nani K. and Uncle E. on Sunday, and present-opening on Monday. Shortly after he opened his presents on Monday, we had to run off to the nursing home to perform the Children's Musical that our church is putting on. It's been a whirlwind! I was super excited to realize that today we had NOTHING to do. No place that we had to go. No errands to run. Not a single thing on our plate except school. I was really even pretty caught up with the housework!
I've been dealing with some plantar fasciitis because of working out, (SEE?! Working out ISN'T good for you! I NEVER dealt with this BEFORE I started leaping about like a maniac six days a week!) so I told Troy that my plan for today was really to do a whole lot of nothing. I would tape up my foot in the morning and then sit around a lot.
And I did.
While The Kids were doing school, I was playing around on Pinterest. (Yes, I've been sucked into the vortex that is Pinterest. I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but I'm having fun with it anyway!) During lunch, we all watched "The Worst Cooks in America", our favorite Food Network show, and then we played a little Lego Star Wars on the Wii. I took a short nap - delightful! - and then ran to the store to assemble a care package for the family of one of my oldest and closest friends. Her husband had a "minor" surgery yesterday that went TERRIBLY and then both of her kids got sick with high fevers. I decided they needed chocolate and cookies and chips. We DID end up having one appointment, as I decided to see if I could get in to see our naturopathic doctor because I realized I'm out of almost all the supplements I take and Troy was going to be there today anyway for his re-check. But other than that, there was nothing on the schedule AT ALL.
Combine that with a day that was cold and gray, and it made for the absolute perfect Thursday!

133 Days!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:50:00 +0000

I was just looking back through my blog and realized that I have a post from back in November that is titled "10 Days!", and which talks about the beginning of our workout routine with P90X.
I'm very, very excited to say that yesterday marked 133 days of working out! We are in our third week of our second round of P90X and have been working out six days a week since that first post.
OK, there were a couple of exceptions - we didn't work out on Christmas Day, and I didn't work out while I was at Disneyland with my friend Natalie. She and I DID walk about 60 miles over the three and a half days that we were there, though, so I think that counts for something! And Troy was still working out here at home! Also, Troy and The Kids and I went to Austin the week after that to visit Troy's mom, and he and I only exercised two of the four days we were there. That was technically the week off between our two rounds, so I don't feel too bad about that, either.
So, you might be wondering about if we've seen any results from all this flailing and sweating and grunting. Or, you might be smacking yourself in the head with your keyboard because you're bored to death and don't care about our health or the proactive stance we're taking toward becoming less jiggly. (If you're THAT person, well, I suggest you skip on to another blog because I'm not done talking exercise yet!)
Troy has lost over 30 pounds since we started! He looks SO great! All kinds of muscle definition in his arms - ROWR!!
I have only lost about six pounds, but I had to go and buy new jeans because the ones I bought right before we started were almost literally sliding off as I walked. (Heaven help me if I had to run!) So, apparently I've lost quite a few inches, although, unfortunately, I didn't actually take measurements before I started.
I've gone from being able to do about 8 regular girl-style push ups and 1 man-style push up in week one to 20+ girly push ups and 9 manly ones here in week 19. (I am AMAZED at the difference in strength required between doing girly push ups and manly ones!)
I still can't do a chin up. Oh well! When we started, I was using a 3 pound dumbbell for arm and shoulder exercises and now I use 10 pounds for most of them. (7.5 pounds for shoulder and back flys because THOSE THINGS ARE HARD!!)
I'm writing all of this down for two reasons. One, to remind myself how far I've come. This is the hardest physical thing I've ever done in my life and, honestly, were it not for Troy keeping me motivated, I probably would have quit long ago. The other reason is that I figure that someone might stumble across this and think, "Hmmm...if SHE can do this, maybe I can, too!"
I'll spare you the "official" before and right-now pictures that we took because I don't want to scare you. (I'm wearing shorts and a sports bra in them...EEEK!) However, here are a couple of regular pictures that, I believe, show a difference.

Time, It's A-Flyin'!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:10:00 +0000

How can it be? How can nine years have passed since this little guy was born? I just don't understand because it feels like it was just yesterday that he arrived. It feels like I took the picture above and then blinked and now he's a bit taller than my shoulder.

How can it be that the little guy in this picture:

is now the big kid in this picture?

Here are some of Declan's favorite things as he turns 9:

Favorite color: "I like a lot, but I'd have to say blue. But not baby blue."

Favorite book: "Ooo, that's tough. OH! I like Journey to the Center of the Earth!"

Favorite food: "Can it be junk food? Because it's totally pizza. Pizza is junk food, tragically."

Favorite movie: "OH! I know my favorite! Journey to the Mysterious Island! It was awesome."

Favorite superhero: "WOLVERINE!"

Favorite thing to play: "Play supers. You act like you're the super heroes and use your imagination." (His first answer was playing Capture the Flag, but then he said he didn't play it a lot. I pointed out to him that I was looking for things that he ACTUALLY did!)

Favorite animal: "Not an orangutan. WOLVERINES! They're really cool!"

Happy birthday, Declan! You make me laugh!

Today...

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:10:00 +0000

Outside my window... there is a gorgeous day. Sunshine, warm temps, literally feels like Spring. I hear Reilly and Declan playing in the front yard with the neighbor (who, consequently, is wearing Deco's punk rock wig and sunglasses. Wonder what they're playing?), and some dogs barking.

Side note - Exactly one year ago today, we here in Oklahoma had just experienced a record-breaking amount of snow. Twenty-one inches, I believe, and drifts up to four feet high. School closed for two weeks. For two days, Troy could not go to work.It was unbelievable.

I am thinking... about the Children's Musical practice at church tonight, about fun plans with friends this weekend, about a date night with Troy on Friday, about a trip I'm taking with a friend next week. Very excited for the trip, but trying to not to show it too much, as I don't want my family to feel bad. It's hard, though.

I am thankful for... oh, so much - my husband who is napping in the bedroom, my kids hollering outside, my silly cat who only sits on my lap by choice when I'm in the office, coffee brewing in the kitchen, a "pie date" tonight with my best friend of 25 years.

From the school room... today Alana and Zane (our homeschooled neighbors) came over and had school here so that their mom could go and visit HER mom in the hospital. So school was a little different!

From the kitchen... Portugese Kale Soup - YUM! Kale, leeks, kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, garlic and turkey sausage.

I am wearing... a basic shirt and brand new jeans, just purchased today, which are a size SMALLER than I used to wear! Yes, I had to buy new jeans because my others were TOO BIG. Thank you, P90X! And Troy, for inspiring me to continue working out!

I am reading... Wicked and another book called Blink, which is by Ted Dekker. Yes, I'm reading two books at once! Doesn't everyone do that?

I am hoping... that this summer isn't brutally hot, seeing as how our current temperatures are about 20 degrees above normal!

I am hearing... hollering kids, birds, cars, barking dogs. The screen door opening and shutting.

One of my favorite things... coffee. I'm on a complete coffee kick lately, drinking it when I get up in the morning and then craving a cup or two in the afternoon!

A few plans for the rest of the week: basketball and cheerleading practice tomorrow night (both of The Kids do these things through Upward), date with Troy on Friday, basketball game and cheering at a basketball game on Saturday, possibly going over to hang out with friends on Saturday afternoon, Super Bowl party on Sunday with our small group from church.

Traditions - December 23rd - Yeah...I'm behind

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:19:00 +0000

So, as we can all tell, apparently I simply cannot blog every day. I'm just glad I don't get paid for this because, well, I'd be fired by now.
I'm not going to try and make up the last eleven days of traditions, so you don't have to flee the room in terror that I'm going to bore you to death. As I thought about it, many of my traditions are things that everyone does - baking, decorating, etc. - and I found it frustrating, trying to think of ways that I do these things differently than everyone else does.
I did think of one that's unique, though. Many years ago, my aunt bought a beautiful, cream-colored, damask tree skirt for us for Christmas. The year Reilly was born, I decided that, each year, I was going to embroider her hand prints on the tree skirt in gold thread. For the first three years, I did both hands, with the year underneath them. Then, when Declan was born, I switched to one hand for each of them, with their initial in the middle. (It was much easier!) It's really neat to see how much bigger their hand prints have gotten!
Another tradition that goes along with this one is that I always trace their hands on it at the END of the season, and then lay it aside to embroider, resolving that I'll do it BEFORE next year. Then, three months later, I put the skirt in storage and don't get it back out until we get out the decorations the next year!

Nothing to Do with Traditions!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:58:00 +0000

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with Christmas traditions, but I wanted to share it anyway. Because it made me laugh. A lot!

Declan, who is eight, has a great sense of humor but can often really over-do a joke. I think that's a common quality in all eight-year-olds, especially boys. So, we were at dinner and he had done something funny by accident, then, when it got a laugh, proceeded to do it two more times. Then, this conversation happened:
Me: "My mom used to call that 'running it in the ground'."
Declan: "Guess what? My mom STILL calls that 'running it in the ground'!"
Oh, I foresee many hilarious conversations with him as he grows! He has The Reilly Gene big time - my Grandpa Charlie was a very funny man, so we call that silliness The Reilly Gene. (And, yes, my Reilly is named for the Reilly side of the family!) It's so much fun to watch his comedic timing mature.

Also, bonus story: I fed Supey a marshmallow and laughed a LOT when it got stuck on his raspy tongue thingys! I took a video on my phone and I'll try to figure out how to upload it. (I know you're waiting with bated breath!)

Traditions - December 12th - Music: Also Known as "Please Don't Make Me Listen to That Song!"

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:22:00 +0000

You know, I was thinking. Maybe I should go back and amend my original post about traditions to say that I'll post as many of our family traditions as I can manage in a month when things reach a light-speed amount of activity? Because I'm thinking I was a little ambitious when I said that I was going to post a new tradition every day. Plus, even with the large amount of traditions for our family, I'm not sure that we actually have twenty-five separate ones. And I'm kind of worried that, by the end of the month, I'll be turning, "Brushing my teeth on Christmas Eve" into a tradition.
SO.
I'm not going to backtrack and try to make up the lost days. I'm just going to start with today.
And my tradition for today IS...changing the radio station.
"Wait, how does this relate to Christmas?" you ask.
Here's the deal. I adore Christmas music. As much as I hate it that Wal Mart starts playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, I just LOVE playing Christmas CD's and listening to the radio stations that play non-stop Christmas music starting the day after Thanksgiving. I love the classic carols - Silent Night, Away in a Manger, Angels We Have Heard on High, and ones like that. Some of my favorites are the ones that Bing Crosby and his ilk sing - Walking in a Winter Wonderland, Silver Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bells. That classic sound! I sometimes like it when current artists re-make some of the classics. (I say "sometimes". There are plenty of artists who have murdered some of the classics!) A couple of weeks ago, we bought the Michael Buble' Christmas album and it's GREAT! So is Third Day: Christmas Offerings.
There is one song, though, that I really hate.
*gets ready to duck thrown candy canes*
It's "The Christmas Shoes". I think that I may have even blogged about it in the past, so much is my loathing for this song. Call me heartless, call me a Song Scrooge, I don't care. When I'm rocking along with Mariah Carey as she belts out "Alllll I want for Christmaaasss is yoooouuuuuu!", nothing can bring down the mood in the car like a song about a little boy, buying shoes for his dying mom in case she meets Jesus tonight. I'm sorry! When that song comes on, I change the station. The very small cynical part of me even imagines that this boy and his dad are in some kind of thief operation where they scam Jell-O hearted people into buying this darling little kid shoes for his mom, and then they turn around and sell them on eBay. Like a modern-day Artful Dodger and Fagan.
I'm just not sure why this is becoming a trend. I heard another song along that same sad line the other day. And the station actually played the SECOND sad song RIGHT AFTER the song about the shoes. I almost passed out.
Now, all joking aside, I do realize that there are people who are grieving during this season of joy. I realize that there are children out there, not just in third world countries but right here in the U.S., who are not having a jolly Christmas season because of their home life. And so, right before I reach for that radio knob, I try to remember to thank my Heavenly Father for the immense blessings in my life and pray for His divine comfort for those people who need to feel His presence.
Edited to add: I wanted to give you all a link to Samaritan's Purse, which is the organization that heads up the Operation Christmas Child. You can find it RIGHT HERE! I also realized, as I was browsing, that you can actually build a box online and they'll put in the things that you choose and ship it out. I may have to do this with The Kids!!

Traditions - December 6th - Operation Christmas Child

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:35:00 +0000

Every year, we fill a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child through an organization called Samaritan's Purse. The gist of it is that you pick the age range - 3-5, 6-8, 9-13, I think is how they break it up - and gender of the child you're buying for, and then fill a shoe box with all sorts of little things. The Kids always pick for a child that falls into their same age range and we tend to pack our stuff in a shoe box-sized plastic box with a lid. (I guess I've always figured that they can re-use the box for something. Plus, I never think to keep my shoe boxes!) We always try to put some personal hygiene items in the box, like a bar of soap and washcloth, toothpaste and toothbrush, combs, hair ties for the girl. We also put in something like a note pad and pencils, crayons, stickers, little toys, things like that. It's a lot of fun to do, and we're able to get most of the things at the dollar store. (I'd like to shop elsewhere for it, someplace like Walgreen's or Target, because sometimes it feels chintzy, but it's a budget issue at this time. I keep telling myself that, once we're out of debt, we'll have the freedom to give more. As Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else so later you can give like no one else!")
Reilly and Declan always seem to have such fun picking out what they pack in their box. You pay a small fee to cover shipping cost, and last year, we paid it online so we could find out where the boxes went - Mexico. I'm a little bummed this year, because we didn't actually get to DO this tradition, and it's the first time since Reilly was about four or five that we've missed it. Our niece got married the weekend they were due and, of course, I hadn't done it EARLY (Heaven forbid!), but I'm sure we'll get back in the swing next year.

Traditions - December 5th - Christmas Dishes

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:05:00 +0000

This tradition is going to be shorter, seeing as how I just wrote a REALLY long post all about our Christmas movies, and I don't want to bore you to tears during this time of Yuletide joy!
The actual tradition du jour for the 5th of December is my Christmas dishes. Several years ago, my mom bought for us a set of Christmas dishes - white with holly leaves and berries around the edge. The set came with dinner plates, salad plates, bowls, tea cups and saucers. It's just beautiful!Then, last year, she bought another set for me. It's not exactly the same, which I love. The one Martha Stewart-esque thing about me is a love of setting an eclectic table with mismatched dishes. (Probably because, most of the time, we're missing a dish or two because I've broken them. Necessity is the mother of eccentricity!) The newer dishes are rimmed in green and have a Christmas tree in the middle.
The very best thing about these dishes are that they are really for every day use. And that's where the tradition comes in. I pack away most of our regular dishes and mugs, and we use our Christmas dishes for the entire Christmas season. (They're dishwasher safe, which makes it that much easier! I'm not sure this tradition would have stood the test of time if I had to hand-wash everything!)

Traditions - December 4th - Let's Go to the Movies!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:44:00 +0000

Hee hee, I just KNEW I was going to skip a day by accident! I thought about writing several times yesterday, but we were pretty busy and I just flat forgot! Oh well, I'm sure that it won't be the last time this season.

December 4th - So, yesterday I was going to talk about movies - Christmas movies, to be exact! (Duh, Lisa, what other kind of movies would you be talking about in a post about CHRISTMAS traditions?) I remember, waaay back when I was a kid, we had to wait and hope and pray that we would just happen to see a preview for "Charlie Brown's Christmas" or "Frosty the Snowman" or that stop-action version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer so that we could try to remember to watch it when it came on TV. Sometimes we'd remember and get to watch the whole thing. Sometimes we'd miss the first part of the movie, which is why I was an adult before I realized that the reason that elf knew how to take the teeth out of the Abomidable Snowman was because he really wanted to be an elf dentist and not an elf toy maker. Because of that, and because they began to make such great Christmas movies, I decided that I wanted to start a collection.
I think that the first Christmas movie I bought was "The Polar Express", because that was the first movie Reilly ever saw in a theater. It was followed quickly by "Scrooge", which is, in my humble opinion, the very best version of "A Christmas Carol" ever made and none other will ever compare. Not even "The Muppet's Christmas Carol", although it comes in a close second. I mean, it's just not the same without the rousing rendition of "December the 25th"! Over the years, I've purchased all three of the "Santa Clause" movies, "The Miracle on 34th Street" - the new one with the cute girl from "Mrs. Doubtfire", Jim Carey's "The Grinch", as well as many others. I try to buy a new one each year, so our collection keeps on growing. This year, I actually bought two: "Mickey's Christmas Carol" and "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas". Next year, I already know I'm going to buy "Arthur Christmas" because we went and saw it on Saturday and I LOVED it!

Traditions - December 3rd - The Big Countdown

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:24:00 +0000

The tradition of the day is...*drumroll*...ADVENT CALENDARS! Years ago, my mom bought us a cloth Advent calendar, shaped like Santa, with little pockets for each day of December. Over the years, a variety of candy found its way into the pockets - Lifesavers, York Peppermint Patties, those little gold-wrapped chocolate coins. This year its Andes mints and little, tiny Reese's Christmas trees.
Side note: I was REALLY glad that there weren't too many peanut butter trees and Andes mints left over after I filled the calendar this year. I love Reese's candy with a passion that's almost obsessive, and Andes mints are a close second. It has taken every ounce of my self control not to empty the Advent calendar, scarf the candy, and blame it on the dog.
In addition to that calendar, we have a snowman with a candy cane that is moved from day to day, a Playmobil "Santa's Post Office" calendar with a new piece to add to the scene each day, and a Christmas ornament that we flip over each day to count down. PLUS, my mom got each of the kids one of the calendars that has a little chocolate behind each day. As it stands, there's NO WAY that this family won't know how many days are left until Christmas!

Traditions: December 1st and 2nd - Pastries and Lights and Soup! Oh, My!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:02:00 +0000

I love traditions. I mean, almost obsessively love traditions. So much so that it feels like the world tilts on its axis a bit if we can't DO one of them. Back in November, Troy mentioned watching a new Christmas movie that we had gotten and I said, "NO! It's a tradition that we don't watch a Christmas movie until Thanksgiving night, after the 'lights on' at the Square!" (More on that later...) He looked a little confused and remarked that he didn't really recall that that was a tradition. I realized that, so far, we had done that ONCE because we didn't have anyone join us for "lights on". (Apparently, doing something that I enjoy ONCE turns it into a tradition to me!)

So, I am challenging myself this December to share one of our family holiday traditions with you (all four of you!) each day. Some might be long standing traditions, some might be a little more recently added, (like the movie thing!) but they will all be things that I look forward to doing to usher in the Christmas season.

Since it's December 2nd and I only had this brilliant idea about five minutes ago, I'll share TWO with you today. (Hey, bonus! Two for the price of one! Yippee!)

Tradition Number 1: Thanksgiving Butter Braid - In this part of the U.S., many organizations sell Butter Braids as a fundraiser. Reilly's American Heritage Girl troop sold them a couple of years ago, and I was hooked. Butter Braids are frozen filled pastries that you put in the (cold) oven overnight to rise overnight, and then bake in the morning. I get one for Thanksgiving morning and one for Christmas morning!

Tradition Number 2: Lights On at the Square, plus Corn Soup: On Thanksgiving night, there is a high-society outdoor shopping center (I'll call it The Square) that lights all of their trees at once, officially starting the Christmas shopping season. We go at 6:30 when they start singing carols and then, at 7:00, Santa arrives and flips the switch to illuminate the night. Then we come home and eat corn soup and bread sticks! Sometimes we have friends join us for this end-of-Thanksgiving tradition, sometimes it's just us. This year, since I was sick, was the first year since 1998 that we couldn't go to The Square. :(

So, Did You All Have a Good Thanksgiving?

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:39:00 +0000

We did! Well, I mean, despite the fact that I managed to wake up with a stomach bug on Thanksgiving morning which caused me to feel nauseous every time I got up to walk around and didn't allow me to eat anything but half of a roll and a bread stick all day long, we had a great Thanksgiving. Hey, I will say that having a stomach bug is a GREAT way to ensure that you don't over eat on a holiday! Let's just all pray that there is no repeat of this on Christmas because I can't imagine trying to make merry and open presents and everything while feeling like I want to ralph every time I stand up. Plus, I really missed having turkey and trimmings. Leftovers are great, but just not the same!
Our house is officially turned into Christmas land now! Declan was DYING to get the decorations up, so we pulled them all out on Sunday afternoon. I think that this year was the first year that Reilly and Deco helped decorate throughout the entire process. Usually they fade off about halfway through, but they stuck it out the whole time. Reilly wanted to be in charge of putting out the Christmas bears, and she took that job very seriously, carefully choosing which ones were going to make the cut this year. (We have too many, some have to stay in storage!) Declan was in charge of setting up the Playmobil Nativity. I looked at it yesterday and realized that he set it so that all of the people AND all of the animals in the scene are bowing to the Baby Jesus. He has the right idea, yeah?
One of our favorite things to do leading up to Christmas is the Advent calendar. We have one with pockets that I fill with candy of some sort - this year it's Andes mints and KitKat bars! I may have to knock one of The Kids out of the way to take a turn this year. I also bought a Playmobil Santa's Post Office Advent calendar, and my mom got each of The Kids one of those ones that has a piece of chocolate behind each door. Add to that the snowman with the candy cane that you move from day to day, PLUS the Hallmark ornament that I bought at a garage sale that counts down to Christmas, and I think I have to say that we are the family who is most prepared to know EXACTLY how many days there is until Christmas!
P90X is still going well! I even did it last Thursday when I was sick. Not that that makes me a superstar or anything. I'm actually just kind of clueless because, when we did it, I just didn't realize that I was actually sick. I thought I had just eaten too many snacks at a friend's house the night before. Or that I was somehow hung over from the two glasses of wine in four hours that I had consumed, despite the fact that I was not even close to the region of "tipsy". (I really was thinking, "Whaaat?! I know don't drink alcohol often, but, really, I'm not THAT much of a lightweight, am I?") We're in Week 3 and, while I still feel like I do plenty of flailing around, I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than when I started, and there are a couple of places on my body that don't jiggle quite as much. Hey, that's really all I'm shooting for with this craziness - little to no jiggle!

10 Days!!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Wow! Troy and I have actually worked out for ten days in a row! Well, Monday was our day off, so I guess it's actually nine days. However, I really feel good that we're sticking with this. I know, without a doubt, that I probably would have not been as consistent if he wasnt' doing this with me.
Little back story for you, we decided that we wanted to do P90X together because, well, frankly, both of us are...lacking in tone? A little round a round the middle? Flabbity? It was really Troy's idea, and he has been so positive and gung-ho that it's really making it easier for me. We do have to work out before he goes to work, which means we usually start at about 4:15 or 4:30. (Yes, that's in the morning. This is the life of a Frito Man! And it's why we're both sacked out by 9:30!) I told him the first morning that it was REALLY good he was waiting for me in the living room because the bed was SO warm that I would have skipped it if he hadn't been counting on me to work out with him! We were waiting for the P90X DVD's to come in the mail, so the first week we just worked with Jillian Michaels on our Wii. I'm GLAD we did because that work out was intense in itself and was a good prep for the harder P90 course.
Today was Yoga in P90x, and it was pretty hard. I just did the best I could and took breaks as needed. It really felt like I was doing a lot of flailing around, but I can only assume that it will get easier. We were cracking each other up, though, which made it fun. (Tony Whats-his-face takes it so seriously!) At one point, I read the title of the next pose as the One Legged HAMSTER Stretch (instead of Hamstring) and just about died laughing! Of course, that led to several hamster jokes and we had a good time.
Anyway, I promise I'm not going to turn this into a workout blog and I DOUBLE promise that I'm not going to make you look at our "before" pictures. I don't want you to vomit on your keyboard! I do want to keep track of my progress, though, so I thought this was as good a place as any!

The Best Laid Plans...

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:16:00 +0000

To celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, which was back in August, we decided to take a trip to Branson. This is how our weekend went:
Friday Plans - get to Branson whenever we get there; eat dinner at a new Mexican restaurant at Branson Landing; check into hotel.
Friday Reality - stop in Springfield to go to the Bass Pro shop (loved it!), got to fancy Mexican restaurant and realize they wanted an arm and a leg (and possibly a kidney!) for some enchiladas; decided to go to "our" Mexican restaurant and get some decent priced, really good Mexican food; bonus - it's right next door to Cakes & Cream, so we got to have a funnel cake for dessert! Checked in to hotel.
Saturday Plans - get to Silver Dollar City when they open; ride Powder Keg, Wildfire, and the Barn Swing over and over until we just can't take it anymore; possibly go shopping; go to the little purple "Buy One, Get One Free" show ticket company and find a show to see; eat BBQ dinner.

Saturday Reality - got to SDC when they opened; realized we were really glad we'd brought our waterproof jackets and worn our jeans because it was kind of drippy. And cold. Decided to give it some time, see if the weather would clear; bought two ponchos when we realized that Troy's jacket wasn't really waterproof and he was pretty soaked; ate lunch (skillet potato and sausage! YUM!) and decided to call it because it was still raining; left without riding anything. Spent some time at the hotel, drying out Troy's shoes with a hairdryer. Got our tickets from the purple store - "The Legend of Kung Fu" - and went shopping at Branson Landing; ate BBQ dinner and went to show.
Sunday Plans - Zipline canopy tour at noon!! After that, WHATEVER!! Shopping, eating, it didn't matter because we were going ZIPLINING!!
Sunday Reality - Tour scheduled at 12, ominous clouds roll in at 11:50, skies open and thunder begins at 12:15. Tour rescheduled for Monday at 9:00! More shopping, lunch, and a movie ("Contagion" - blegh!). Got out of the movie and realized that IT WASN'T RAINING! Sped like a NASCAR racer up to SDC where we got to ride PowderKeg four times in succession before they closed all the outdoor rides because, you guessed it, MORE thunderstorms were heading our way! Shopped some more, then headed to another movie. ("Apollo 18" - meh.)

Monday Plans - ZIPLINING! FINALLY! It was awesome, the weather was perfect, and we had a blast. Headed home to our darling kids.

I can say that, with the exception of going to see the show on Saturday night, and despite my months of careful scheming, NOTHING this past weekend went as I had planned. Not a single thing.
I can also say that, because I just love being with Troy, no matter where we are or what we're doing, this was one of the best anniversary trips ever.

Cub World 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:57:00 +0000

Sunset over Cub World

Going out to Cub World with our Cub Scout pack is, by far, my favorite way to camp. It's a one night campout and all the moms and siblings are invited. Troy and a couple of other leaders head out the night before to set up the cooking area and get other things ready. An extra added bonus for ME is that this means that when I arrive on Saturday morning with Reilly, the tent is already set up. It's ALMOST like arriving at the Holiday Inn Express. Except for the sleeping bags and cots instead of sheets and beds...and the lack of a shower.
The kids spend a good portion of the day running amok, finding bugs and lizards, and discovering exactly how much dust and debris can stick to their skin, hair, clothes, and shoes.
This year we had the honor of staying at the Castle campsite - an incredible three-level castle structure, perfect for the water balloon battle that was held in the afternoon. This was AFTER they got to play on the 40-foot long slip 'n slide that the leaders constructed out of plastic sheeting and pool noodles. It was AWESOME! There was BB shooting and archery, plus some skits and jokes after dinner and a snipe hunt in the dark (Declan's most anticipated activity!) which all made for an incredibly fun Saturday. And some unbelievably exhausted kids!

Preparing for the Snipe Hunt

We all arose early on Sunday, which kind of surprised me. I mean, who would expect that everyone would play so hard on Saturday, stay up so far past any semblance of regular bedtime, and STILL be up before seven o'clock on Sunday morning? Sheesh! There was breakfast, chapel, a flag ceremony, and a flurry of packing up and scoping the campsite for trash, then we all headed home. Personally, I was ready for a nap by 11:00! I found one pair of Declan's socks that I was a little concerned would come to life in my washing machine, so I tossed them out. It's standard camp procedure, I think.

The sacrificed socks!

All in all, a fantastic weekend!

Bruiser: The Saga of the Fridge (Or "How A Great Deal Cost Us Around $3,000!)

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:03:00 +0000

As you all may or may not know, a few years ago we got a new fridge. Actually, I'm thinking that you may NOT know this information for one of two reasons: 1.) I did not write about it or 2.) I DID write about it but you don't remember because, really, who keeps track of some random person's appliance purchases? (Come to think of it, it's a funny world when people actually even consider writing about their appliance purchases.)
Anyway, whether you know it or not, we got a new fridge a few years ago. Being the Dave Ramsey uber-fans that we are, I took cash to the appliance store and started my search. I had every intention of bartering with the sales person, but ended up not haggling over price at all because I found a great deal on a really nice fridge in the scratch and dent section - big, glass shelves, ice maker in the freezer, regularly something like $600, marked down to $350. When I say "scratch and dent" I mean that this fridge literally looks like it got hit with a baseball bat on its door! And there's a funny place that looks like The Hulk pinched it with his fingertips. But, honestly, the great deal totally trumped the look of the fridge, so I bought it.

I was going to put a fridge picture, but
I must not have one. So I put this instead!

Skipping forward a few months, we realized that the kitchen was smelling kind of...musty and weird...and that the floor in front of the sink was warping a little bit. Upon further inspection, Troy realized that the place under the sink where he had installed the hose for the ice maker was leaking. Yikes! He fixed it and we went on our merry way. Fast forward about a month later and, lo and behold, we realize that the kitchen is smelling weird again. (We do live in a really old house, so weird smells are not unusual.) After investigation, we realize that now the ice maker for the fridge is leaking from behind , and it is, in fact, so bad that, because the fridge sits against an outside wall, you could see the water on the outside of the house! Double yikes!
At that point, we disconnected the ice maker and called our favorite contractor to come and replace the floor.
Ka-CHING! That was about $2000. Triple yikes!
(For those keeping track, our cheap fridge has, up to this point, cost us $2,350!)
Well, this happened almost two years ago and, being a little gun-shy, we have never made an attempt to re-install the ice making apparatus. Troy and I looked at each other and decided to let the professionals handle it. However, it seemed a little foolish to call a plumber JUST to come and install an ice maker, so we put it off and put it off. When we needed ice, we just ran to the store and bought a bag of ice and put it in the freezer.)
(Average 1 bag of ice per month at $2.00 per bag x 18 months = $360 spent on ice.)
(Yes, I realize that there are 24 months in 2 years. I'm not sure we actually bought a bag of ice every month for two years. I'm averaging here, people!)
Last Thursday, my washing machine began to over flow. Then the sinks in my kitchen. It was lovely, I tell you, because I got to see all the egg shells from the last few weeks. Or months. Plus some other stuff I didn't recognize.I called Roto Rooter and they promptly sent out a handy dandy plumber to fix the problem. While he was here, I asked, "Hey, how much more would it cost if you hooked up my ice maker?" He told me it would be about $120 or so more than the price of just reaming out the drain. "SOLD!" I said.
Off he went to get the part he needed and, bada-BOOM, bada-BING, an hour later we have an ice maker.
(I don't think anyone actually said "bada-BOOM, bada-BING". We are in Oklahoma, after all, not living in Little Italy in New York City. Maybe I should have said "yee-HAW!" instead. Because we say that here all the time, you know.)
(For those still keeping track at home, this brings the total cost of our fridge, on which we got such a great deal, to about $3070.)
(For those of you still reading after all this rambling, congratulations! I think you need a hobby!)
The sound of the ice maker clunking around is music to my ears now, and I still get a little thrill when I open the freezer and see those little crescent-shaped cubes. And we've all learned our lesson, I believe. When it comes to plumbing, we're gonna let the professionals handle it!
(By the way, I realize that we spent over $300 on ice when we could have gotten a plumber out here two years ago for $120. The irony, it makes me laugh a little.)

*** EDIT ALERT! ****
My friend Julie, who is an accountant, pointed out to me that $2 per bag of ice x 18 months of ice is actually $36 NOT $360 like I said up there. This makes me feel a whole lot better about the amount of money we spent on ice.
However, it doesn't make me feel a whole lot better about the fact that I'm home schooling my kids and apparently don't know simple math. Quadruple yikes!

An Unexpected Advantage

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:18:00 +0000

My mom is a nurse. (A great nurse, by the way.) That means that when I was growing up, there was NO faking being sick. If we didn't have a fever, we weren't sick, and we didn't miss church or school unless we were practically bleeding out our ears. I loved school, but I LOVED staying at home with my mom when I was sick because she took such good care of me - I got to lay on the sofa and watch The Price is Right. I didn't often try to fake it because 1) I'm a terrible liar and 2) Momb* would pull out the thermometer and there was NO thwarting the thermometer! I do remember faking an ear infection once for a few days because I wanted to be at home with Momb, but that all came to a screeching halt when she took me to the doctor and - SURPRISE! - there was no infection at all. This was in the days before co-pay's, so parents just paid out of pocket for office visits? Yeah, I felt really guilty for faking it.

I think I still feel guilty about that.
Sorry, Momb!

Well, now I'm a mom myself (Number one: DUH! and number 2: I've not earned the title of Momb yet. I'm still a fledgling.) and The Kids sometimes don't feel well. Home schooling has a distinct advantage on sick days.

Because I can have them do school on the sofa under a blanket and they don't miss anything!

I kid, I kid! I don't do that!

Yesterday, Deco woke up not feeling well. He said that his throat hurt and his head hurt, so I gave him some Tylenol, installed him on the sofa with the TV remote and went about my business. (I should point out that he didn't ever run a fever. I always pull out the thermometer, too!) Some time later, I could tell he was feeling much perkier - YAY! I made sure that he knew that I thought it was great that he felt better, but he wouldn't be getting up and playing if he hadn't done school.

At about 11:00, he got dressed, started his schoolwork, and felt fine the rest of the day. (I think it's just a bit of a cold.)

When we started home schooling, lo so many years ago, I didn't think too much about what we'd do with sick days. I guess I just assumed that The Kids would be sick at least a whole day at a time! But I like the flexibility we have - they can rest when they're not feeling well and pick it back up when they're feeling better.

*Not a typo. It is Momb, with a "b". And I used to say that the "b" is silent, but I realized as I typed it that it's not. It's pronounced "Mom-buh".

Oooo! Technology!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:37:00 +0000

Guess what? I am not typing this blog post! I am SPEAKING it! This is my first post using Dragon Dictation, a phone app which allows me to just say what I want my phone to type and then I can just copy it into my blog. Oftentimes, I struggle with getting what is in my head on to the page and I thought that this might help. However, it could have its drawbacks because I DO tend to ramble. Who knows? I could end up with three-page long blog posts and bore you all to death! We will just see how it goes.
My birthday was wonderful! I did get two over-the-phone birthday songs, one from my mom and one from my brother. Plus Troy and The Kids sang to me as well, and we had wonderful chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and dinner and fantastic presents. (Don't you love how the cake was mentioned before dinner? That's how I roll!) I am such a blessed lady! This past Sunday we got to go to Shogun for lunch with my mom and my brother. Shogun is one of those restaurants where they cook at your table. They fling knives and eggs up into the air and make fire volcanoes with onions and things like that. It's awesome!! We had a wonderful lunch and more celebration. I just love my birthday week!
School is going really well so far; no major issues to speak of. I still have all my hair, so that's a good thing! We have it kind of easy this first couple of weeks because we haven't started our co-op yet. That is where we get most of our assignments, so for right now we're reviewing some things from last year and doing math and stuff like that. It's been a good way to ease back into school.
Okay, I'm going to have to sign off and actually get this into my blog! This dictation thing is a whole lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Apparently there is a disconnect not only between my brain and my fingers but between my brain in my mouth as well!

Today is my BIRTHDAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Karate Mom) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:03:00 +0000

And I swear, I'm like a 5-year-old with how much I love my birthday! If I could, I'd buy Hello Kitty paper plates and balloons and streamers and decorate the house. Well, I guess I COULD do that, actually. I mean, I'm a 36-year-old woman, I guess I can do just about whatever I want that's legal. But I didn't...maybe because I'm a 36-year-old woman...
Here's a list of things I'm thankful for on my birthday:
~ It's my BIRTHDAY!

~ A fantastic husband to celebrate with!
~ Two adorable kidlets to celebrate with!

~ The singing phone call I'm sure I'll get from both my mom and my older brother. Because, that's a family tradition, after all! (Possibly my cousin, too, but she does have small children, so calling and singing is quite possibly NOT on the top of her To Do list for today.)
~ My mom will say, "On this day I was so what?" and I'll respond, "Tired? Bemused? Cantankerous? In pain?" and she'll say, "NO! So HAPPY!" and then tell me how she was wheeled down the hall after giving birth, waving the pink card to my dad to show him that she'd had a GIRL! (I love this story!)
~ My wonderful girlfriends who are taking me out to lunch today!
~ EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!
~ Chicken paprika and egg noodles for dinner tonight
~ Chocolate cake with chocolate powdered sugar icing
~ Shogun for lunch on Sunday with my mom and brother (and Troy and The Kids, too, of course!)
~ A dog to lay on my feet (because that's where he is right now!)
~ A floofy cat to bite at me almost every time I pet him.
~ A home
Happy birthday to MEEEEEE!