Let There Be Light

This is the light fixture that was in Caleb's room. It has had some problems with producing light. We tried the simple things like flipping the switch to the on position and replacing the light bulb with a bulb we knew worked, and still we had no light. Caleb has a lamp in his room, and he would use the lamp for light while he was in there. However, he would still flip the light switch on every time he entered the room. One evening he flipped the switch, and he did not flip it to the off position. That night his light started flickering in the middle of the night (not a pleasant thing to wake up to). We decided that it was a wiring thing, so I decided to get a new light and replace it.

This is what I got.
Now Caleb has a light that works, and we are all happier with that (he can walk in and flip the switch, I can walk by his room and flip the switch to shut it off rather than walk into his room to turn off the lamp - which has three different bulbs and switches on it).

Christmas Eve Pranks

Three years ago, Brett's parents came out to visit for Christmas. If I remember correctly, Christmas Eve was a Sunday, so on the way home from church, Joyce was saying something to the effect of, "Let's all draw names and then do something nice for that person (service)." The boys interrupted her and said, I know, we draw names and then do something nice - in a snotty, mocking voice, and in the middle of what their grandma was saying, she changed it and said, "No! We draw names and then pull a prank on that person."

This is what we got that day.

Christmas Eve Pranks – Grandma Asay was telling the children a story on the way home from church about drawing names and doing something nice for the person whose name they got. The children kind of belly ached about it, so she changed it to playing a practical joke. The children jumped right on that and decide that would be fun. The rules were that the prank had to be pulled by bedtime and it wouldn’t hurt them. Emily had grandma Asay. She came right home and drew a picture of grandma. Then she said, “Merry Christmas” to grandma and hit her in the face with a pillow. Here are some of the trouble makers hiding after pulling a prank. Eli had grandpa Asay and grandma suggested making up grandpa while he napped.

Here is the prank they pulled (sorry Grandpa Asay)…

The next prank was one played on Emily. Caleb tied her up outside and then took a picture:

Grandma Asay had Caleb, and she was going to wrap up some sticks and rocks and give it to him for his Christmas Eve pajamas. Instead, we wrapped up his pajamas from last year. He didn’t recognize it, so he was excited and went to the other room to put them on. All of the adults were laughing, and he couldn’t figure out why. When we told him that he had last year’s pajamas on he kind of grumbled about it and wanted to change, but we made him pose with everyone so that we could remember the prank. Then grandma gave him his new pajamas, and he was happier. (The funny thing is that he didn't like them the year before, and when he opened them he said, "Thanks grandma, you really outdid yourself.)

Brett had Eli and when we sat down for cookies and eggnog, Brett put a pickle and a rock in his eggnog. Eli laughed and so did we. Grandpa had Claire and didn’t pull a prank. Claire had me and I had Brett, so I made 2 signs that said, “Kiss Me!” and had Claire tape them to our backs. The children didn’t think that was quite fair, but it worked. It worked out really well and the kids had fun.

On to this year... Since we knew Brett's parents and his grandmother were coming, the children were excited to do the "traditional" pranks (it is only a tradition when we celebrate with grandma & grandpa Asay). So we drew names. This first one wasn't really a "planned" prank, but it was fun. Grandma & grandpa wanted to play a game called "Oonga Boonga" and the children had to be initiated into the club. Grandma would do a dance, and the child would have to repeat it.

Here is grandma initiating one of the children.

While the child was standing up, grandpa slipped a wet towel under their bottom, and they sat on it.

Claire sitting on the wet towel.

Emily sitting on the wet towel.

Eli very skeptical of what is going on - he didn't end up sitting on the wet towel.

When it was Caleb's turn, he was very skeptical, also. I told him to play along, and he did. Instead of slipping a wet towel under Caleb's bottom, Brett had a different plan..

Brett enjoying his slyness.

Grandma's wet bottom.

Brett slid in behind (no pun intended) his mother and slipped a sopping wet paper towel on her chair. She had no idea it was there, and she plopped down. It took a few seconds for the water to soak in and register, and she jumped up. We all got a good laugh...

or at least most of us did (thanks for being such a good sport - mom).

Great grandma Asay had Caleb, and she could not think of anything to do, so grandma came up with an idea to wrap up grandma great's dentures and give them to Caleb. They got grandpa to make a "presentation" about a family heirloom that was his father's and he was supposed to pass it on to the oldest "Asay" grandson. During this "presentation," Caleb is almost getting emotional to think that he is receiving an heirloom, he is thinking how cool it will be, and he is thinking about what he might tell his friends... Little did he know he was being pranked. (As a side note, I started feeling bad for Caleb while grandpa was giving his little speech because I could tell that Caleb was really starting to feel some emotion about the whole thing.)

Grandpa Asay giving his speech.

Presentation of the heirloom.

A close-up of the "heirloom."

Needless to say, Caleb was not impressed, he was grossed out, and he thought they were really his great grandfather's dentures. He was ready to throw them out. Some of the others tried to touch them, but we stopped them and told them that they were grandma great's teeth.

Grandpa Asay had Emily, and he had grandma help him with his prank. Every year they give the children pajamas for Christmas. This year, Emily's pajamas would not go on.

Emily showing that her pajamas will not open.

The stitch in the back that grandma put in.

Caleb pranked grandpa. Grandma had got pajamas for grandpa, too. Caleb took them, wet them down, and then put them in the freezer. They pre-wrapped a box, so that all they had to do was put the pajamas in and tape a flap down.

Grandpa Asay with his frozen pajamas.

There were other pranks like bugs in beds, being tied up while napping, calls from the "missionaries" asking to bring a big family over for Christmas Eve, calls from Santa Claus, chocolate covered garlic cloves, snow balls down shirts, old books wrapped up for presents, etc.

It was very fun and something the children looked forward to. It is also something that makes memories, and that is what it is all about.

Small Town Living

There are some advantages to living in a small town. I have come across a couple of them this past weekend.

First, on Friday, I took a program into a local printing shop to be printed for the dance recital. I gave them my phone number, and they were going to call when they were done. As it happened, I didn't hear the phone because I was vacuuming or doing laundry (or something else domestic), and I got the message after the shop was closed. The owner had left his cell phone number, so I called him back.

In trying to set up a time to get the programs, he told me that I might be able to come to his house and pick them up. Then he found out that one of the dancers was at a local pizza shop, and asked if it was alright if he stopped by the pizza shop and had her bring them to the show. I told him that would be great. I still have to run in and pay for them.

Benefits of a small town #2: We got some Christmas cards addressed like this. They had our old address crossed out, and we got them in our current residence. I guess when your name is not very common, they can find you.

Peter Pan

This year, instead of doing the Nutcracker, the children's dance company did Peter Pan. They had two shows. In the first show Caleb was Peter Pan, Eli was a lost boy and a pirate, Emily was a mermaid, and Claire was a faerie.

They all did an excellent job. In the scene in the bedroom, Caleb, as Peter Pan, almost made me cry because it was simple and beautiful. He did a great job connecting with his counterparts, Wendy and Tinkerbell. They nailed it. It was also the first time I had seen it.

During the second show Claire was a faerie again, Emily was the mermaid princess, Eli was Captain Hook and a lost boy, and Caleb was a Native.

Again, they all did fabulously. Emily was so regal in her dancing. She really took her role seriously. Claire was beautiful. She is a little leader when she is on the stage. Caleb had a ton of energy in his dance jumping around. Eli, well, he plays his part. He made a grand entrance by hobbling on the stage, and he made a grand exit by being killed by Peter Pan, dying, falling to the ground, losing his hook, quickly grabbing his hook, and dragging his dying self off the stage.

I love to watch these four perform. They do very well, and they seem to enjoy it.

BOO-HOO! BOO

Brett announced some of his travel plans, and our Boo was not very happy about it. She made sure to let him know how she felt about it.

Here she is holding her "love" note.

Brett was not very happy about it either.

Fortunately, Brett's plans were such that he made it home on her birthday and took her out for dinner. Hopefully he will make it to her concert, and he should be at her recital.

Not BAAAAAd

My grandpa sent this to me. I thought it was very fun.

Who Needs a Snowblower,

when I have a fleet of "snow throwers?"

These were taken the morning after the blizzard. Our driveway was clear, but the snowplow decided it needed to come by and fill the end of our driveway with thick, heavy snow. I sent the children out before the bus to clear it, and they did an excellent job.

Eli

Emily

Caleb - notice he has his back pack on

Out With the Old,

and in with the NEW!

Well, this has been a long time in coming. On Black Friday, I dragged Brett out of bed with me to be at Sears when it opened. We bought a new washer and dryer. It was Thursday, December 4th when they were delivered.

Brett disconnected the old ones before the got here.

When the new ones got here, the delivery people hooked up the washer, and I used it right away to wash the sheets, I was not able to use the dryer because it is gas, and I had to get someone else to do it.

The person came to hook up my dryer on Saturday morning. I had it all up and running on Saturday, December 6.

Eli mesmerized by the washer.

I have definitely used them a lot. I got them just in time, especially with all of the cold temperatures and the blizzard. I am glad that I don't have to schedule my laundry around nice weather, because I am thinking that there won't be a whole lot of it for the next little while.

Guess

Here is the title I was going to use.

L_ _ _ _ _ _, the L_ _ _ L _ _ _ of L_ _ _ _ _ _ on the L_ _ _!

On December 3rd we hosted some young men from the Czech Republic. They stayed down in Emily & Claire's room. I put on clean bedding for the boys, and when they left I had took off the bedding and had to put sheets back on the beds for the girls. This would not normally be a "task" that had to be planned. Since I only have two sets of sheets for each bed, and since I was without a dryer, it did take some planning.

On December 1st, I had some luck with a load of whites. I put them out on the line, and even though it was cold (in the 20's), it was windy enough that they dried.

Well, Friday morning the skies were clear, even though there was snow on the ground, so I thought, "I'll give it a try." So I hung out the load of sheets. There was a little breeze, so that helped. I substituted at the preschool and then went to Claire's school to help make gingerbread houses, and when I got home there were light flurries (very light). I went out and the flat sheets were dry so I brought them in. The fitted sheets were a little crunchy around the elastic edges, so I stretched them out a little more and left them out a little longer. When the flurries picked up, I brought them in and spread them out inside. They did get dry, and the girls had clean sheets.

My blog title would have been:

LUCKILY, the LAST LOAD of LAUNDRY on the LINE!

Traditions

Normally within a week after Thanksgiving we decorate our Christmas trees. It is quite a productions. First we straighten the living room, play Christmas music, and dig out the trees and decorations. Then we arrange the furniture and leave a place for our trees. I have the job of setting up the trees and putting the lights on (I still don't have enough lights, hopefully soon). Then we decorate the trees. After the decorating is done, we indulge ourselves in cookies and eggnog.

Here are some pictures of our traditions:

Our trees (we bought the one on the left about twelve Christmases ago, and just can't seem to give it up - the one on the right was given to us a couple of years ago, so we added it to our little tree). We love the beginning of our Christmas tree forest.

This year we put on the Christmas music before we started decorating and we danced.

Eli anticipating the decorating.

Brett digging out, sorting out, and handing out the ornaments to be put on the tree (we enjoy looking at all of the ornaments the children have made).

The children decorating the trees.

Our magical visitors (they helped decorate the tree as well).

Our after decorating treats (yes, we almost always have pre-made cookies - that way they can be warm, right out of the oven, and I don't have to think about it).

Overall, our tree decorating went well. I'll have to post a picture of the finished product later.