Thursday: Food, Family, Friends and Football

Friday: Cookie bakin’, Leaves Rakin’, and Love Makin’ (Just kidding! Or am I? Come on — I couldn’t resist)

Saturday: A little Rest and Relaxation, and some Christmas Decoration

Remember the “Nobama Chickens?”

Well, they just started laying eggs. Here is Daniel with one of Zorro’s first eggs, and a chocolate chip cookie we made with the eggs. Yum Yum. They tasted even better with that fresh-from-the-farm goodness.

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Lizzie-Tizzie

My mom told me today that she wished she had named me Elizabeth. I told her that if she had done that, then my daughter Elizabeth wouldn’t be called Elizabeth and that “she is definitely an Elizabeth.”

“No, she is not an Elizabeth. She is a Lizzie.”

So very true.  Lizzie is one crazy-cool girl.

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Danny Boy

If Lizzie is the crazy one, Daniel is most definitely the serious one. He has been since the day he was born. The best way to describe Daniel is to say that he is a man stuck in a little person’s body.

I mean, just an hour ago, he was complaining to me because he wasn’t allowed to have a job — A real job — one that pays money. He thought that child labor laws are “dumb” and that kids should be able to work if they want to. Sorry son — you’re probably the only four year old that wants to work.

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Men in the Kitchen

I was going through “The Box” recently. “The Box” is that one item when people ask, “If your house is on fire and you could only get one thing, what would it be?” Mine would be “The Box” which is filled with every letter, email, ticket stubs, hotel keys, Chinese fortunes, pregnancy tests, random drawings. . . all that good memory-junk regarding me and ep.

I opened one letter from our first Valentines Day as a married couple, and in it I found two coupons that eppie made for me: One Free Dinner prepared by yours truly, and a half-hour massage by yours truly.

Wahoo!

I told eppie that I wanted to redeem them for our anniversary. To which he (jokingly) replied,”You were supposed to use these six years ago. You can’t redeem these now — now that the romance is gone.” Such a funny guy, isn’t he?

I did get my dinner this Sunday — Steak, which is Eppie’s specialty. Still waiting on the massage.

But here’s the kicker: Daniel would not let me in the kitchen at all. He wanted it to be just him and dad. Daniel set the table, mashed the potatoes, prepared the pink lemonade. . . all that good stuff.

When I sat down at my seat to eat, there on my plate was a piece of paper that read:

You have been

served by a secret

service agent.

“Oh Daniel! I’m going to have to tell your primary teachers about this.”

“Yeah. Then they’ll know that we actually listen to them.”

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One little Indian Boy (and girl)

That was one of the songs Daniel and his preschool class performed for their parents this week. They had to be politically correct, didn’t they?

All that hard work practicing songs and working on their Indian costumes really paid off.

Which reminds me of the conversation I had with Daniel two Monday’s ago:

Daniel: Mom. I really don’t want to go to Hip-Hop anymore. Monday’s are so stressful for me with preschool and then Hip-Hop.

Holly: Come on Daniel. It’s not that bad.

Daniel: Yes it is. I had to do four things already today. Four things!

Holly: What?

Daniel: I had to put beads on my Indian necklace. Then I had to glue my paper onto the drum, and then. . .

I forget what else he said, but it was hilarious. Needless to say, this boy is not a hip-hopper anymore.

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Church Fall Shin-Dig

Eppie didn’t make it home in time for the party. . . was it on purpose, do you think? Nah. He knew there was a cake-walk, and who in their right mind would want to miss a cake-walk?

By the way, I won the very last cake — But I gave it away. I’m so nice!  That, or I just don’t like cake.  Maybe a little bit of both:)

Daniel wants, quite literally, everything for christmas.  Here’s a list of some of my favorite things that Daniel has asked for:

     Land (so he can dig for Dinosaur bones)

  A real rocket — “not the toy kind, okay.”

  A spinning wheel. . .

 . . . with a sheep included.

  A laptop

  A dog

  A vice

  10,000 toys (that’s what he told Santa he wanted)

Daniel: Who are you going to vote for Elizabeth — McCain or Obama?
Lizzie: Donald Duck
Daniel: No. Who are you going to vote for — McCain or Obama?
Lizzie: Mickey Mouse.
Daniel: No. McCain or Obama?
Lizzie: Minnie Mouse!

While driving in our car — Heading home to celebrate our Family Election Party. Daniel often confuses “Election” with “Economy.”

Daniel: Now Lizzie. When we get home, we will be eating our Chinese food and watching tv. Now, it’s not your kind of tv. The tv we will be watching is about the economy. Do you understand?
Lizzie: No
Daniel: Today was economy day. A new president will be picked today.
Lizzie: Oh.
Daniel: Now, me and dad economied for Bob Barr, so that’s who we want to win.

Because Daniel is learning about Indians in Pre-school right now, he’s all into being a “child-Indian.” One night he wouldn’t let anyone use any electricity. For four hours we had to be in the dark with only candles. It was getting pretty difficult as the hours went on, and sometimes we would have to use things like the microwave or the phone, much to Daniel’s dislike. As he was heading up to bed that night, he yelled:

You and Dad are terrible Indians!!

Daniel: Mom, do you know how to get home from here?
Holly: Sure. I know where we are. This is Elizabethtown.
Lizzie: In her most surprised voice: I own this town!?

Kathy (our neighbor): You’re really good with that hammer, Daniel.
Daniel: Yeah. I’ve been doing this for years now.

After telling Eppie what I want for christmas and my birthday:

Holly: It’s going to be so easy shopping for me this year.
Eppie: Thank goodness.
Holly: Hey. It should be fun shopping for the person you love.
Daniel: (matter-of-factly) But dad doesn’t love you.

After coming downstairs to see Lizzie standing on the kitchen counter:

Holly: Elizabeth. What do you think it is that you’re doing?
Lizzie: The Hokey Pokey

Holly: Elizbeth, can you say “Do Re Mi?”
Elizabeth: Do Re You
Holly: Ha ha. No. Say “Do Re Mi.”
Elizabeth: Do Re You, Mommy.

Daniel had to give the Scripture for Closing Exercises in Primary. He practiced for grandma:

Daniel: Psalms 147:7 — “Sing unto the Lord with Thanksgiving.”
Grandma: Very good. Now what do you think that means?
Daniel: I don’t know. Sing to the Lord with a Turkey?

The conversation continued:

Grandma: Can you tell me some things that you are grateful for.
Daniel: Space, chickens, shelter, mom, cows, dinosaur bones, milk . . . (going on and on)
Grandpa: Okay, okay. Is there anything that you are NOT grateful for.
Daniel: Um. . . commercials.
 

After Eppie got after Daniel about his table manners:

Daniel: Dad, I don’t want you making the rules for this house anymore. I want President Bush to start making the rules. But I’m not going to be listening to President Obama!

And another Obama conversation - And I swear I have no idea where the negative attitude towards Obama comes from:)

Daniel: Did you know that there will be no weeds during the Mill. . . Mill. . .
Holly: Millenium. Yes I know. You’ve told me that many times before.
Daniel: I think I know when Jesus will come again to be our king.
Holly: Really? When do you think.
Daniel: After President Obama. In Primary we learned that things have to get really bad before Jesus comes again. So since Obama is going to ruin our country, I’m sure Jesus will come then.

I forgot Eppie had these on his iphone. But better late than never, I guess.

Introducing:

Daniel as Captain Jack Sparrow-Hook (in other words. . . Daniel is wearing the wig for Captain Jack-Sparrow, and the coat of Captain Hook)

Elizabeth as Crazy Cowgirl (in other words. . . Mom already spent too much at the Disney Store on Daniel, so cheap as she is, she gathered Lizzie’s cowgirl-ish collection together to make this ensemble. And thank goodness too - Lizzie knocked on one door and was done for the night).

Holly as Sexy Spy (in other words. . . Holly really wanted to wear her wig, and since she didn’t want to look like a prostitute, she thought she could be a spy - only she looked like a prostitute)

Eppie as The Halloween Grinch (in other words. . . Eppie just got off from work)

After five years of saying, “Let’s go to New York City” we finally did it. Me, Daniel and Uncle Dan had the time of our lives livin’ it up in the Big Apple. We planned the trip around Daniel — You know, did the things a four year old would want to do. And here’s what we came up with:

Because it was such a nice day, we just spent our time outside, visiting some of the famous sites of New York. Daniel wanted to see Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty, so headed to that part of town

.

When you put Dan in charge of finding a hotel to stay at, you know he’s going to pick the best, which is how we ended up staying at the Waldorf Astoria. We joked around about the whole thing, pretending to be “the elite of the world,” as the Waldorf claims to host. We would talk in our British accents, and and we taught Daniel to say, “Chop, chop cheerio” and “God bless us everyone.” It was fun stuff.

Daniel had come out of the shower that evening wearing the complimentary slippers. I thought it was cute — A picture moment, if you will.

The whole trip was fun, but the night was a blast. We ended up taking a bike-taxi to our restaurant and it was the funnest thing ever!!!! It was so expensive, but so worth it. We all said that that was the funnest part of the whole trip. I love this first picture of us in the bike-taxi. We had those smiles on our faces the whole ride.

Danny and I stayed up very, very late that night, so needless to say it was very difficult getting out of bed the next morning. But we manged to get ourselves up and moving. We walked the city a little more, ran into a Statue of Liberty and told Daniel, “See Daniel — I told you, the Statue of Liberty is actually smaller the closer you are to it.” Danny went to a dance class at the Broadway Dance Studio. Daniel and I thought it would be fun to watch, but after watching people do “step-ball-change” a gazillion times, it got kind of old really fast. We were bored…But we were very excited at the same time because we had reserved another bike-taxi to take us to the Museum of Natural History to see Dinosaur Bones! Yeah!

That was our NYC in 24 hours trip (I was pretty picture-happy, huh?) We all had a great time - Anytime you do something with Dan, you’re bound to have lots of fun…and spend lots of money. When we were driving back home Daniel announced, “Our next road-trip will be to North America!” He’s caught the road-trip bug! That-a boy!

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Scheafferstown Fall Harvest Festival

It is pretty much a mandatory thing on my side of the family to attend either the Scheafferstown’s Summer Cherry Festival and/or the Fall Harvest festival every year. It takes place on the property of my great, great, great grandparents. It’s the same thing every year, but we enjoy it nonetheless.

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Hershey Homecoming Weekend / 10 year High School Reunion

Sadly, this is the only picture I have from this weekend - This is Lizzie and cousin Paige at the Homecoming Parade. I’m guessing Lizzie is thinking, “Seriously mom, not only is this the lamest parade I have ever been to, but you did not dress me appropriately - it is quite chilly this evening!” Yes indeed! We went back home to dress ourselves a little warmer, then headed back to the stadium where Daniel and Elizabeth enjoyed their first Hershey High School football game. Wahoo!

That weekend was also my high school 10 year reunion at Ceolta’s in Harrisburg. All I have to say is that the Hershey high school class of ‘98 is some pretty hot stuff and we all did really well for ourselves! I just felt so happy and so grateful to have had these people in my life…most of whom I have known since elementary school. I genuinely hope the best for all of them!

Now I can’t wait to go to Eppie’s 10 year next year! So many people I want to see!

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Donde es la “Mi Tierra?”

I’ll throw this picture in here even though it’s from Hilton Head:

My sister emailed this picture to me recently. Three reason why I love this picture:

1. Eppie and I both have glowing tans, ur, burns.

2. It’s very rare to find a picture of us together.

3. This is taken at the infamous “Mi Tierra” in Hilton Head - The site of our very first marital argument (The argument was over what exit “Mi Tierra” is off of - so stupid, I know!) But the thought that eppie still thinks that he was right still makes my blood boil. We were clearly off the island, Mr. Magellan!!! (really, I’m not upset)

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A little Dirt won’t kill you!

Of all my mothering quirks, Eppie is most intolerant of my letting the children play in the dirt. Hey, I can’t deny my children the joy that I experienced as a child. What is more fun than making mud? I just don’t know.

Lately, Daniel’s been doing the army thing. My favorite thing about his set-up is the “army microphone.” I’m guessing that’s supposed to be like his walkie-talkie.

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Congrats Nora and Wayne

Ep’s mom got married on October 6th.  Wayne’s a great guy, and we’re excited to have him as a part of our family now (and to get to know him better).  Also, Ep now has another 5 siblings (his first of the step-variety) to go along with the 4 he already has (1 twin, 3 half-brothers).  Is there a “most interesting family tree” contest anywhere?  We should enter.

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Everyone needs an Uncle Dan

Here is Danny…wearing quite the shirt!! And of course, little Lucy! I don’t know what we’d ever do without uncle Dan. The kids love him and he’s like my best friend. Well, not like my best friend - He is my best friend…after eppie of course.

On a side note, for the longest time, Elizabeth always thought Dan’s first name was “Uncle.” It wasn’t until recently that she realized his name was Dan.

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Shiver me timbers! Is that a Pirate playing the piano? No, just Daniel

Daniel has begun the dreadful mandatory piano lessons. Actually, he really enjoys it. I hadn’t planned on starting Daniel so early, but when he broke his foot a few weeks ago, I figured learning the piano was a good sitting activity.

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The Nobama Chickens

Sure, my parents have had chickens in their backyard before, but never with the intent to kill them if necessary when the United States goes to ruins…And that would be when Barack Obama becomes our next president. That is why I have nicknamed these chickens the Nobama chickens. You may be asking, “Do your parents really think things will get that bad?” The answer is “yes - if Obama is our next president!” (Dave and Allyson - you can stop laughing now. Seriously. Stop laughing. I’ve been listening to my talk radio and I’ve become very, very upset with this Obama character. But don’t worry - I won’t disown you like mom and dad are going to if Obama wins:) Then again, as a sister I can’t really disown you.)

Anyway. . . The grandkids got to pick a chicken and name it. Daniel picked a black chicken and called her Zorro. Elizabeth picked a yellow chicken and named him Yellow. So clever!

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Enjoying the Fall weather

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Just found out we had these pictures this week!

Eppie took these pictures of our kids summer of 2007 and I totally forgot all about them.  They’re not edited, obviously.   But I’m so glad that we still have these!

Holly: “Hey Elizabeth. What do you think about Asher babysitting you this weekend?”
Elizabeth: “Asher. Asher. We all fall down!”

Holly: “Excuse me everyone. I just want you all to know that I lost two pounds. (striking a pose) Can’t you tell?”
Daniel: Um, yeah. Your boobs look smaller.

While watching a video on the Bible story of Joseph, Daniel didn’t understand why Joseph was sent to Jail. I explained it the best way I could:
Holly: Well, you see, Potiphar’s wife tried to kiss Joseph. But Joseph was like, “No! I can’t kiss you. You’re married.”
Daniel: Huh. It’s just a kissing problem. Kind of strange to go to jail for something like kissing.

Daniel: Mom, where’s dad?
Holly: Where he always is.
Daniel: On the toilet?
(Good guess. But what I was going for was the office)

Daniel: Mom, I need to start keeping a journal.
Mom: Why?
Daniel: Because all famous people write in journals.
Mom: Oh really. Who do you know that is famous who has kept a journal?
Daniel: Barack Obama.

At chocolate world:
Daniel: Can I get starbursts when we’re here.
Holly: Hershey doesn’t make starbursts.
Daniel: Who does?
Holly: I’m not sure. Maybe Mars.
Daniel: (thinking, thinking) Do they ship the candy to earth on rockets?

Holly: Lizzie, I’ve told you a thousand times to stop playing with the mirror.
Daniel: No, more like ONE-thousand times!

While going through some of our storage:
Daniel: Look what I found mom! An old-fashioned plate. How old do you think it is?
Holly: Well, it can’t be that old. I got it for a wedding gift.
Daniel: No, this was definitely used by the old-fashioners. Wow!

-At a restaraunt while waiting for a very long time for some appetizers to arrive, Daniel, in a valley-girl kind of style, said “We are not enjoying ourselves here.”

-A few weeks ago I took the kids out to Fudduckers with Uncle Dan for lunch. While finding our seats, Daniel said, “I want to sit by myself with Uncle Dan.  (pointing to me and Lizzie) You and the Turd stay here in this booth. (It’s so great having an uncle teach my kids all kinds of thing)

-After painting a big wooden box, Daniel looked at his “masterpiece” and asked, “Do you think this painting will make me famous?”

“It’s very good, Daniel.  But I don’t think so.”

“Well…I sure hope it does.  Then I could support you and dad.”

-While helping Daniel into the car:  “Mom.  Everyone has issues….except me.”

-I got the Mama Mia Soundtrack and while listening to the “Money, Money, Money” track for the first time, Daniel got a quizzical look on his face and then exclaimed, “Hey!  This is Daddy’s theme song.”  (Lyrics begin “I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay.  Aint it sad?  And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me, That’s too bad”)

-Daniel enjoys playing Chef when I give him my old, expired food from the fridge.  One day I asked him what he was making.  He responded matter-of-factly, “Apple bottom jean jeans boots with the fur.”

-Singing the song “Story of a Girl”:  ….And when she looks so fat in photographs, I absolutely love her when she smiles….

-And my personal favorite…while tucking Daniel into bed:  “Mom, if you die before me, I’m going to hang onto your coattails and fly up to heaven with you.”

Eppie and I LOVE Daniel’s drawings of people. It’s always just a head and then two legs.

So when Daniel came home from preschool with these drawings, I just had to put them up on the wall in the office - And when I get the time, I’m definitely going to get these framed.

Eppie and I both agree that Elizabeth’s drawing resembles her the best, don’t ya think?

Speaking of Preschool, Eppie and I decided that Daniel’s extreme mom-attachment needed to end, so we put him into a preschool where he’ll meet three times a week, instead of just one time a week like we had him in. He went last week with no complaints!!!! And he actually wants to go. So, it’s like a sigh of relief for me. I was so nervous about sending Daniel to Kindergarten every morning next year - thinking it would be a fight every day. But I think he’ll do well, considering how much he enjoys preschool.

And I’m enjoying all this too! I don’t know why I didn’t put Daniel into a “real” preschool before because it’s just nice having that time to do things without feeling guilty that I’m not entertaining him. You see, Daniel is the hard one at home because he constantly needs you to do things with him. Where Lizzie could spend the whole day by herself playing with her toys.

These pictures were taken three hours before Daniel was to be at preschool, but he was just so excited!!!! So excited, in fact, that he didn’t “have time” to take an individual picture, so Lizzie volunteered.