Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Happy Thanksgiving

November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope it is a day filled with lots of food, fun, family and friends. Life is short so let your loved ones know how much you are thankful for them and how much you care about them.

On the menu today at our house are the usual suspects: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries (?), pink stuff, green bean casserole, rolls, butter, pumpkin pie and apple pies (homemade) with real whipped cream. I decided not to stuff the turkey this year and just make the yummy boxed stuff instead – easier and just as good. I have to say there was a near riot over this decision, but the rest of the meal remained the same so the kids were okay with it. Also, I have real cranberries and I might attempt to make real cranberry sauce – wish me luck if I do because I’ve never done that before!

For snacks before the meal (just to ward off the hunger) will be crackers and cheese and cocktail sausages. I may need to run to the store this morning and get more crackers though – not sure if we have enough.

We’ll watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and also the Garfield and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials (we have those on dvd). This evening we continue our tradition of watching A Christmas Story. Later on I’m going to watch Home for the Holidays – a new favorite of mine.

Again, HAPPY THANKSGIVING and may God bless your families now and always.

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Music Monday – Joy A Holiday Collection

November 22, 2010

Today I am starting my reviews of Christmas music and starting with my favorite album Joy – A Holiday Collection by Jewel. There are classics beautifully sung and newer ones that have become classics for me.

The album boasts 7 of the best traditional Christmas hymns: Joy to the World, O Holy Night, Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and Ave Maria. All are beautifully sung and while the settings may be a little updated, they still remain the songs we know and love and have cherished for generations. My personal favorite? Hark the Herald Angels Sing because she sings the 3 verses we usually sing in church – it is a joyous song of the reason we celebrate Christmas and also sings of the passion to come. My other favorite is Ave Maria which rings clear and beautiful in all its Latin glory.

There are a couple of fun songs as well – Winter Wonderland and Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, the latter which she sings with her mom – very cool! Again, no messing around too much with the melodies which I absolutely appreciate – anything else would be heresy in my book.

Almost forgot about I Wonder As I Wander which is a lesser known Christmas hymn but very powerfully done here as she sings with her mom without much accompaniment. Now I did look up this song’s history today and it was written in 1933 by John Jacob Niles – the melody is haunting and now that I know it was written during the great depression it makes even more sense that Jewel and her mother sing it very simply.

Now for the newer “classics”. Face of Love is so beautiful and the words so meaningful to me – especially after going through what I have the last two years. Favorite line – “now I know that the skin just veils the soul” – indeed! Why can’t we get past the exterior to the interior of people? She has a melody on here of Go Tell It On the Mountain, Life Uncommon, and God Is Watching Us. I know, the God Is Watching Us is theologically precarious at best, but there are some things in this song that I’ve liked so it doesn’t bother me too much. I do have to sing along with Go Tell It On the Mountain though – I mean who can resist? Life Uncommon is another one of her songs and I think it is a nice addition here even though it isn’t Christmas per se. Favorite line in this song – “No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from”. That’s something to think about!

My favorite song on the whole album – Hands. The words are a lullaby for those of us who have been and are going through tremendous trials in our lives. And it’s a song for all of us especially at this time of year when so many need our help and we can truly be God’s eyes to see our neighbor and share in their sorrows and joys. We can also be God’s hands to help where we can and in whatever way, large or small. We don’t have to give a lot of money or time to make a difference in someone’s life. Many times, the smallest gesture will mean the most.

So, if you don’t have this album, give it a listen and if you have it, dust it off and bring the JOY of Christmas into your home this season.

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Others’ Christmas Wishes

November 20, 2010

I was taking Chris to work last Saturday and had to stop at the gas station first. When I was done, I hopped up in the van and saw a person crossing the parking lot and stopping in front of the store. He (or she) had on layers of sweaters and was carrying a big black trash bag over their shoulder. I knew right away that the bag probably carried all the goods that person owned. I felt ashamed at first that I had been complaining about our lot – at least we have a home, a car that works fairly well, and lots of kids to make our home lively. Then I felt bad – I had no money to give them. So, I did the only thing I could do – I prayed for that person.

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Dear Santa Claus

Well, it’s almost Thanksgiving so that means Christmas is right around the corner, and it’s time for children (and some adults) to make their wish lists. My children have made and submitted theirs, but my husband and I haven’t yet. There are a few things I’d love to have and since I’m just wishing, I thought I’d wish a little bigger than usual.

1. Quality Street – The really big tin! When my family lived overseas, Santa would bring us a great huge tin every year and it would take us a long time to eat them all up – at least until Epiphany I think. My favorites were the flat caramel discs, the chocolate mousse (green triangle), chocolate toffee finger, and if there was a coffee one it was probably that too. I haven’t had any of these in years so it would be lovely to find some and grace our Christmas table with them.

2. Mommy Makeup Pretty and Polished Kit – This looks so wonderful! I’m needing new makeup anyway and all of this comes in one big kit. It’s mineral makeup that also doubles as spf which my uber sensitive rosacea skin would love. It also comes with concealer which, at my age, I really should use. Years ago I pared down my makeup to the essentials and here they are all in one kit.

3. A Tom-Tom GPS System – So that I don’t have to settle for all the same haunts when I go places. I’d love to be able to find new restaurants, new bookstores, etc., but I really need a visual of how to get to those places. Besides, I believe you can get celebrity voices to give you directions – I wonder if one is George Clooney??

4. A stick blender – I have wanted one of these for a really long time. I would love to make homemade soups and smoothies for the health benefits. Blenders are too big and bulky and too much of a pain in the butt to use. Nothing major mind you – just something simple and easy to use.

Well, that’s my list this year – of course that’s in addition to the usual things I ask for: peace on earth and good will toward men.

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What a way to start the week…sigh

November 9, 2010

Yes, not one but two Oh Crap moments to start the week off right. The first was yesterday when my kids and I were making Chocolate Dudes (I think they are actually called no bake cookies, but my brother called them this once and the name stuck) and I was only going to make a single batch. Well, everything was going fine until we put the oatmeal in – all 6 cups of it. That was when I realized I’d make a mistake – Oh Crap! – I’d doubled the oatmeal. It clumped and dried up right away and I realized that we were going to have to make another batch of the “sauce” to make up for the additional oatmeal. So, that’s what we did and Chris added more milk to it to save it from further damage and it came out just fine. Phew – crisis averted.

This morning I was looking in the dishwasher to see if the dishes were clean because I only vaguely remembered running it yesterday. Yep, clean. Then I looked at the dial – Oh Crap – I’d stopped the cycle last night so I could hear my mom on the phone over the noise of the dishwasher. It is now running on the water saver wash – those dishes will be extra clean won’t they. *SIGH*

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Family Jammin’

November 7, 2010

We’ve had a fun family weekend I have to say! Last night, we watched Toy Story 3 – which was excellent! But that’s a whole ‘nuther post. Today, we (the kids and I) played Rock Band for about two hours. It was SO much fun!! We decided right off to switch out band members and vocals every two songs so everyone would get a turn. We also made sure that most of the littles were on easy and they knew the song lyrics. With that set we were off!

Maggie was the first to sing and she did very well! Becky and Katie however needed lots of help with guitar and drums, and their big brothers stepped up to the plate. Joe sang the next set with the girl backing him up on guitar and drums – kind of like the Go-Go’s mini style. Joe really got into his singing – I have to say he was quite good. Next set Steve got in on the act, but I only think he sang one song overall – mostly he was on instruments. Every two sets, we gave the little kids a break, and Matt, Chris, Steve, and I were on. I sang vocals on a couple songs, and the next set Matt sang vocals. At one point Maggie decided to sing cat style to “That’s What You Get” – there was a lot of meowing by her and Katie throughout. Very cute!

We played mostly classic rock and 80’s songs. I chose “Just Like Heaven” as it is one of my all time favorites. Others were: “Go Your Own Way”, “Take It On The Run”, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”, “That’s What You Get”, “Still Alive”, “Rio”, “Don’t Stop Believin'”. We ended the jam session by playing “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the room came alive with 7 voices singing this classic of classic songs. It was pure bliss for this mom to have such a close moment with her children singing and making music together. *sniff*

I hope we do this again because it was an absolute BLAST – one of those moments that’s a true memory maker. I also was the band’s photographer and captured these moments to remember the occasion. Enjoy!!

Setting up for the "gig".

Maggie is ready for her solo.

Matt helps Joe tune his guitar.

The concert begins!

Joe rockin' on.

Helping Becky and Katie

Our all girl band.

Steve on guitar.

Matt singing "Take It On The Run".

Maggie and Katie doing a duet of "That's What You Get".

Chris on guitar now.

Steve on drums and Joe on guitar.

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Friday Fluff – The Shopping Edition

November 5, 2010

Okay, let’s face it, most of us have at one time or another wished we could have a shopping spree at one of our favorite stores. Believe me I have many, many times! I don’t mean I’d clean the place out, but I’d buy all my favorite things from that store. So today, I want to talk about the stores I would LOVE to have a shopping spree in and why. SO without further ado – let’s get to the fluff!

1. Aldi – Every time I go through this store I think how much fun it would be to have $1,000 to spend so I can fill this house up with food!! Especially now since they have all their holiday goodies out – yum!

2. Sephora – Oh yeah, this is the ultimate girly girl store if you are a makeup junkie like me! I would go to the big store though and buy all my favorites from Philosophy. I really like that line and while it is expensive, it is effective and that’s all I want. Besides, the Amazing Grace fragrance is well, amazing.

3. Old Navy, Children’s Place, and Gymboree – For my kids! Trying to outfit so many kids over the years is a real challenge and we buy more used clothes than we buy new. Just once it would be fun to go through these stores and buy all the clothes that my kids need each season.

4. Target – Oh my gosh I LOVE Target and we don’t have one in our town – boo. I just enjoy looking most days – it’s just a fun place to go. I would probably buy home good items here – you know linens and towels – that kind of stuff.

5. CJ Banks – I love the clothes in this store!! I’m overweight and it is so hard to find a clothing store with things that aren’t totally shapeless and dull. This place has it ALL – fun seasonal items and nice basics that you can add to each year. Oh, forgot to mention their sales – they are phenomenal! You can buy a lot of clothes for not a lot of money and it is a real party atmosphere when you go on those days. My goal is to lose the weight and then shop at their sister store Christopher and Banks. Same great clothing, just smaller sizes.

6. Any new, used, or online bookstore – Because I LOVE books!! Besides, you can get a lot of great deals on books for homeschooling from the used places. My secret wish (besides a spree), is just to go with a huge cup of coffee and spend hours perusing all the different areas of a bookstore. That’s my idea of Quiet Time :-).

7 IKEA – We don’t even have an IKEA in the whole state, but I did get their catalog so I could get ideas for when we can actually fix our place up (it has a LOT of potential!!). Besides, next year we’ll be able to think about buying new furniture – we haven’t done that since 1988. No kidding.

8. Starbucks – Not so much a shopping spree, but a gift card loaded with big bucks. Of course that will work better once the driver’s side window rolls back up after you roll it down – hehe.

Since we are on the subject of fantasy shopping trips, my other ultimate fantasy is to take my sil’s and my online friends on a bus trip to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN. I’d block out a whole floor of rooms in a really nice hotel and give each gal $1,000 spending money to shop in that fantastic place. Oh, the fun it would be!!

Well, those are my picks – now it’s your turn: Where have you always wanted to have a shopping spree?

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thirtysomething – episode 9

October 30, 2010

Okay, so I’m a little behind and I’ll catch up on the other episodes this week, but this is such a beautiful show that I want to talk about it while it’s all fresh in my head. Warning – spoilers ahead in case you haven’t watched it yet!

Episode 9 – I’ll Be Home For Christmas This is about how Hope and Michael, a couple of differing faiths, try to find unity for their daughter’s sake as well as their own. It challenges them both to think about what they believe in and how they want to show that in their marriage and family life. Hope wants Janey to have what she had – presents, carols, cookies, the tree – but where does that leave Michael who is a Jew?

Hope is all happy and cheery going about baking cookies, decorating the house and such, and Michael is not on board with it – especially not with a tree. As the show goes on, Michael becomes more and more scrooge-like to his family and friends because he feels very left out during a season that is not about Christmas for him – it’s about Hannukah. Hope doesn’t seem to see how she is leaving him out.

By the end of the show he finally realizes that it can be about both and brings a tree home to surprise Hope, but when he opens the door of his home, he finds Hope standing by a Menorah ready to light the first candle to celebrate Hannukah. Turning around he sees Melissa and he holds her and cries – it’s forgiveness, family, and faith at its finest. I have to say, when I first watched this episode I cried at the end, and when I watched it last year (for the first time in 20 years), I cried again.

Maybe, more than anything, Michael realizes that the holidays are really about giving and he gives meaningful gifts (well, maybe with the exception of the Santa Pez he gave to Gary), to those he cares about. He gives the office employees time off, he gives a tree to Hope, to Melissa an opportunity. To me, the ending in a way mimics the ending of A Christmas Carol: Scrooge changing his ways – Michael changing the way he sees Christmas. He is given a gift in return – the gift of celebrating his faith.

I had a boyfriend many years ago who was Jewish, but had really lost touch with his faith and God. The high holy days meant little to him and his family. I remember going to his house on the first night of Hannukah because I wanted to see the lighting of the menorah and hear the prayers. While it was beautiful, what saddened me was the fact hat his mom was in the kitchen and his brother and sister no where visible. It only meant something to his father. How very, very sad to me that was.

Anyway, I also watched the episode with the commentary because I love to hear what the cast thought about this episode and what memories they had in general. Mel Harris/Hope and Melanie Mayron/Melissa did the commentary and it is really fun and interesting. They make comments about how fashion has changed and also comment on how the show was made then and compared it to other shows of the time and even shows now. So, don’t forget to listen to this!!

One of the scenes in this episode that they comment on is the one in which Michael and Hope are discussing the whole holiday thing and end up in a deadlock after Michael makes the comment, “I don’t see you polishing up a menorah”. Then there is nothing but silence as they finish getting ready for wherever they are going. A lot of silence. Now, folks, this is real life. Have you ever had an argument with your spouse (or friend, or family member) that ended like that? I have. As Melanie Mayron says in the commentary, the show dealt with the minutia of every day life and that is what made it so popular. I would have to agree.

I think I will watch the holiday episodes again at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, because they are as classic and timeless as A Christmas Carol, or Charlie Brown Christmas. Enjoy!

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Reading Roadblock?

October 28, 2010

I overheard Becky singing her ABC’s this morning with the Sing, Read, and Right cd, and this is how she finished the song:

“Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y and Z. Now I know my DUMB ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me.”

Hmm, so much for that post I wrote last month gushing about how she was reading ;-).

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Learning Life Skills

October 26, 2010

Here are a couple of pictures I took this week showing skills being learned by my kiddos. The first is a doll’s dress that Maggie made out of a leaf. Yes, she cut the leaf for the design she wanted and to fit the doll. Here’s what she made:

This next one is of Joe, who is 11 now, using a large knife to cut potatoes with. He has been begging for awhile and I felt it was time for him to learn – he is growing up and becoming more responsible. Besides, being able to cook is one of the best life skills one can have in my opinion.

I’m really proud of my kids – or could you tell :-).

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