My three sons

Tonight, as I was tucking him into bed, Duck said to me, “You know, Mom – Hank is like my other brother.  And you know what else?  I like him best.”

After we got the boys all tucked in and set for the night, I told B about what Duck had said.  He started laughing.

“Oh really?  Duck said that?  Ha.  Well, earlier today Stealth said that Hank was his favorite brother.”

So in one day, both of our sons have said that they prefer Hank over their brother.

And that, friends and neighbors, is why we have a dog.

Happiness is

a chai latte

lunch and shopping with a good girlfriend

having a girlfriend who gives awesome uterus panties and hand-knit scarves for Christmas

figuring out how to convert movies from dvds to my iPod touch

having Will Ferrell at my fingertips at any given second

knowing that the upcoming birth will be fabulous ’cause of who will be there

Bobby coming to KC in Februrary

Greek Salad

Kalamata olives

throwing out the trash for good

laughter in abundance

love in excess

security at all times

waking up every day in my own skin.

Love – Love

I just have to say that I am in love with Wii Tennis.  Just had to say it.

Oh good grief!

I have been lambasted ad nauseum since posting the Christmas Unwrapped post.  Apparently, I have forgotten someone so here we go – my official correction.

Under the heading of “Greatest gifts”:

Hank – 6 tennis balls, a new rib-eye bone loaded with dead cow stuff, and 2 jars of peanut butter.

There, better?  Sheesh!

I’m telling you all, it’s not just me. I come from a whole family of wingnuts.

Christmas Unwrapped

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a very prosperous and exciting 2008!!  Having said that, here’s the lowdown on my Christmas, etc. ’cause you know, I’m getting old and might not remember this shiz in the future.

Before I get going on the recap, though, I have one order or business to attend to …

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG BROTHER!!!!! I love you, S.

Okay, moving on.

I’m proud to say that I survived the never ending Christmas parade once again!  I took down the tree and all the decorations yesterday and the holiday is officially a fete accompli.   I’m beyond thrilled to say that it was a wonderful time and surpassed even my hopes.  YAY!!

We made it through 6 Christmas celebrations including about 12 hours worth of house guests (divided up into two visits.)  My kids actually ate holiday meals including their very first experience with Ham (I won’t tell you what it took to get them to actually eat it, but they did!)  There’s currently more chocolate and sugar in my house than ever before and I’m dying for my kids to eat it all and then go away so I don’t have to eat it nor do I have to deal with them after they’ve eaten it.  So, ummm, when are they going to grandma’s?

Gift highlights of the year – in no particular order:

Duck – Transformers dvd, a zillion Transformer toys, Lightening “Storm” McQueen, Pokemon stuff, Hot Wheel Octopark, Rubik’s cube, Calvin and Hobbes books

Stealth – Erector set, Pokemon stuff, Transformer stuff, Star Wars dvd, Pokemon game, Hot Wheels,  Bionical, Glow in the Dark ceiling stars

B -  Table saw (heh,) a zillion rechargeable batteries and chargers, GCs to Home Depot, Lowes, a Pink Freud t-shirt, The Simpsons dvd, cash.

Me – 16 G iPod Touch, cash,  books that belonged to my grandfather, YOU: An Owner’s Manual, kitchen goodies (including some silicon spatulas that I adore,) some Al-Anon daily meditation books for women, funky striped knee socks, electric tea kettle.

Our favorite family gifts  – a beautiful sculpture depicting how love grows from generation to generation, a family game pack (perfect for our family,) and the grand winner of them all, the Nintendo Wii!!!  We are all addicted to the Wii and we have family bowling tournaments nearly every day.  I have started boxing with it and get a HUGE workout from it.  Within 15 minutes, I’m dripping in sweat and my heart is racing. I can see why folks are canceling their gym memberships and getting a Wii — it’s such a great work out!

We are very blessed, indeed.

Now that Christmas is over for another year, we are looking forward to ringing in 2008 – life gets better every year!

Finally – MotherHip on GMA NEXT WEEK!

Be sure to tune in to Good Morning America to watch The MotherHip!!

The segment will air Monday (12/31) or Tuesday (1/1) between 8 am and 9am.

Christmas Eve is

crack for kids.

I’m just saying …

Happy Holidays from Us to You!

Check out our Snowball Fight!

Best Christmas song EVER

Thanks, KimmieD. This is the best!!

Well, I’ve never done that before!

I just ran to the store with the kids.  I was gone for a total of 35 minutes.  While I was gone, Mr. Hanky The Christmas Pooch somehow rammed the fridge hard enough to knock down a bucket of Christmas goodies.  He then managed to rip open some ziplock bags and ate maybe a pound of white chocolate covered trail mix, a pound of dark chocolate fudge, and a pound of some kind of crazy cherry chocolate peanut butter fudge.  The one thing he could have eaten in that bucket – the bag of seasoned pretzels – was left untouched. Of course.

So I called the vet and was told to induce vomiting.  HAHHHAHHAHHAHAH!  Yeah, okay.  The dog who has eaten socks, yo-yos, transformers, countless plastic dinosaurs, and an entire pan of cinnamon rolls – I’m supposed to induce vomiting!  Right-i-o!  Bring on the fun!

I mix up 1/2 cup of peroxide with some chicken broth, throw in a Milk-bone and my bulimic dog laps it up.  10 minutes later, he’s out in the yard puking his poor guts out like he just wandered down the street from a progressive party at the frat house.

Currently, Hankypants is laying at my feet, looking like it’s the morning after the party and I’m banging on pans and chain smoking right into his face and offering him runny scrambled eggs with Tabasco sauce.   Heh heh heh.

All in a days work.