The Mother of Geese

I got a new 11 cup cuisinart for Christmas so any excuse I can make to chop something will be the order of business this week. Here goes: Thursday: Asparagus frittata Friday: Out with the Phillips Saturday: Asian chop salad Sunday: Lentil soup, cheddar cheese rolls Monday: Cranberry Glazed turkey Tuesday: Turkey pitas with tzatzki dressing Wednesday: Margherita pizza, salad It is the funnest appliance I have right now. And yeah! that I get to use it every night for dinner next week!

Here is Abbie waiting patiently for Daddy to wake up. It should be noted that the clock said 7:50 am. Not at all an unreasonable hour. Next picture you can see the 3 "kids" waiting patiently to see what was waiting downstairs. Abbie was the first to spot the pickle making her the first to open a present. Amelia is one of those people that need her morning drink before she is going to do any interacting with you at all. I think this is mid-milk.

If you have a few moments to spare in the next 2 days I would highly recommend visiting elfyourself.com. Amelia totally looked like a little old man elf and I was laughing pretty hard. My favorite is the random clapping for no reason.

Snow Angel #1 Snow Angel #2 Look in the window and you can see Melia out the window...

So I was talking to Abbie about what she wanted to ask Santa for Christmas. I thought it might be helpful for me to have an idea so I could let Santa know. Our conversation went something like this: Abbie: I can't tell you, its a secret. Mommy: I won't tell anyone, I promise just whisper it in my ear Abbie: Ok (Abbie comes up to my ear and whispers...) Abbie: Meow, meow, meow, mow, meow. Mommy: I don't understand kitty language, please tell me in Abbie language. Abbie: Nope, Its a secret. Crap. I'm in trouble.

Meet Abigail Maude. Her mom had to buy a special kind (read $10.00) of lipstick for one performance. Its not really her mom's color choice. Abigail Maude has worn it nonstop. Its a good thing her dad is not home. Its probably not really his color choice either.

I saw this news article. Let's go ahead and file this one away in the "Parent- of- the- year- missing- the- main- point- file". COLUMBIA , S.C. - A fed-up mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for allegedly rummaging through his great-grandmother's things and playing with his Christmas present early. The mother called police Sunday after learning her son had disobeyed orders and repeatedly taken a Game Boy from its hiding place at his great-grandmother's house next door and played it. He was arrested on petty larceny charges, taken to the police station in handcuffs and held until his mother picked him up after church. "My grandmother went out of her way to lay away a toy and paid on this thing for months," said the boy's mother, Brandi Ervin. "It was only to teach my son a lesson. He's been going through life doing things ... and getting away with it." Police did not release the boy's name. The mother said that...

Amelia, the Fullers, Santa, Grandma and Grandpa were there to show their support for Abbie.

Abbie had her first and last dance recital last night. She has decided that she doesn't love her ballet/tap class (because they always do the same steps...) I was thrilled with her teacher, the curriculum, the school but she would rather express herself in other forms. I have mentioned before that she loves art. I signed her up for lessons with Ms. Marlene and she is thrilled. If she is angry with Brad or I she will go and draw a picture of one of us with raindrops only falling on our heads. She performed at UVSC. Here are a few pictures from her big moment on stage.

The girls "were able" to come with me to my Monday morning meeting at DP. My bribe for Abbie for her to be a good girl has always been a donut on the way home. Little Melia earned one and was pretty excited. I thought it was so cute how she could sit and eat with a little smirk on her face.

"All I ever really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt" Lucy Van Belt in Peanuts

I have kind been a little bah buggin hum about putting Christmas up because it is a lot of work and it is tough to not have it already feel so cluttery in the house, but Abbie has been talking me into it. Brad keeps saying less is more which I think is so stupid because less is less and when have I ever done anything "less". Every year we say we are going to replace our sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and every year I keep dragging it up the stairs. Part of the problem is that I would love one of those cool retro aluminum tree which are about a billion dollars, or I really love those (albeit slightly tacky) white funky trees that I am seeing lately. In any event, Abbie was a great help in gettting me in the mood because now there is no stopping the Christmas cheer at 594 Harvest Moon

When I was little, I remember my brother Rob and I making a couple of crank calls. (I know he's going to deny, deny, deny...but that would be a lie, lie, lie) The first one of course was the refrigerator running one and the next one I remembered when I looked at this picture: Rob: Is Mr. Wall there? Crankee: No Rob: Is Mrs. Wall there? Crankee: No Rob: Are there any Walls there? Crankee: No Rob: Then how do you hold the roof up? (Rob and Heather hurry and hang up while in fits of laughter.) Bummer about caller-ID because our kids will never have that fun. Anyway, we now have something to hold the walls up, and Mr. and Mrs. Wall are definately in our basement.

Nathan, our fabulous paint guy came over to help Brad and I chose the paint for our basement. He knows I am not a "beige girl", and he really does a great job. We are excited for "salt bush" walls in the famiy room, "wild grasses" in Brad's office, and "maision blanche" in the guest bedroom. The drywallers have done a great job-all they have left to do is sand (yuck, big mess) and texture. Then its paint time! I can't wait.