Christmas Wishes...

What do you want for Christmas?

J: a Wii, a grown up scooter, a game for my DS

S: High heels that are this high (about 3”) and a dress that comes down to here…my ankles…a ballgown…and no straps…it just is right across here (apparently one that defies gravity).

So, if anyone stumbles across a strapless ballgown with matching heels for a size 4T, let me know.

A Thanksgiving dinner unparalled...

For the past four years I have enjoyed a big family Thanksgiving dinner in Georgia with Grandmommy and Granddaddy, Grammalou, Grandpa Mike and a big loving family that I successfully merged myself and my girls into since meeting Michele and Andy several years ago, before getting J (and them getting their L). This year the girls and I hit the road and went to Kansas City for turkey day.

Check out this gorgeous turkey - you can practically smell it.

Beautiful and the perfectly seasoned stuffing peeking out the end of that turkey. I am a stuffing girl - dressing is good, I'll eat it...but nothing as yummy as the real thing cooked inside the turkey.

Mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, homemade cranberries, the classic green bean casserole, rolls warm from the oven. There is NOTHING like a great Thanksgiving dinner! ...and this was nothing like a great Thanksgiving dinner.

2:00 Dinner was planned to be ready...the big fat turkey wasn't done. It was a big turkey.

3:00 Dinner was expected to be ready...the big fat turkey wasn't done. When you cook it with stuffing you need to add 45 minutes.

4:00 Dinner should be ready, don't you think? ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. The oven is on, right? Right temperature...let's break out some spinach dip.

5:00 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. Is the temperature inside that turkey going down?

6:00 Time's up - isn't it? ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. Was there a brownout condition in the kitchen or something?

6:30 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. Isn't something open today?? Oh yeah - let's get something

7:00 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. All the side dishes were on the table and Uncle J returned from the grocery with what can only be described as 'turkey disks' from Swanson.

8:00 ...the big fat turkey wasn't done. We had finished our excellent collection of side dishes, had a bit of turkey disk - to simulate the essence of turkey - and moved on to the pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

9:00 ...beeping...beeping coming from the meat thermometer. We have a turkey!! So below you see we have an aunt, a cousin and J & S carving up and nibbling on 'leftovers' - 20 pounds of leftovers. 20+ counting the stuffing - it was delicious, worth waiting for!

Look over at the half carved turkey picture and check the foreground. That green can is Vernor's ginger ale and the glass has the last few drops of a 'traditional' concoction of Vernor's and eggnog. Sounds a little disgusting at first, but I gave it a try...mmmmmmm.....a very frothy light eggnog drink. For those of you outside the Vernor's belt look for it in the 'upscale' softdrinks at your grocery store and you may find it. The recipe is a 50/50 mix.

You know, when you don't make your own turkey dinner you sometimes miss out on the traditional day after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches. I knew that staying at my brother's over Thanksgiving would afford me those 'next day sandwiches'...I was not disappointed. In fact, they may still be eating them.

Simply nothing like Thanksgiving dinner memories...

To intellectualize or not to...

I have noticed a difference in how I respond to my girls when they ask questions. When it is J, I give a detailed answer...not just telling her what time it is but answering with the history of timepieces. I have found I have to, as she typically has a dozen follow up questions. The more information I give her at the start, the higher the likelihood I will give her enough to think about. With S, I tend to take the question and give her a one word reply. What time is it is either a number (1:00) or an event (lunchtime).

I recently thought I was shortchanging S…not giving her the full intellectual challenge that I do know that she can handle. She is a smart little girl, I needed to start making an effort to give her more info. Even if she isn’t the question machine J is, she needs to be afforded the same opportunity to collect facts into her brain.

For example -
S: That Truck says 53.
Me: That truck says 53 because it is 53 feet long. See how much bigger that truck is than our car…

This morning the weather was setting up for nasty here. There were flash flood warnings and tornado watches. So the ride to school was peppered with weather questions.

J: You mean it’s going to flood.
(shades of gathering the animals time…)
Me: No they are talking about flash floods. Lots of rain in a short period of time that the ground and drainage systems can’t support.
J: What is a flash flood anyway?
Me: It happens when so much rain comes so quickly that the normal flow of the creeks or the water running into the drains gets backed up and the water overflows into other areas like roads. Remember that time we were at WalMart and it rained so hard and fast for a long time…remember when we went to the car and some of the cars around the parking lot had water way up to the middle of the tires because the drains were not draining the water fast enough.
J: oh yeah – I remember
S: yea - I was wearing my red shirt with the sparkly stripe and….

Maybe, just maybe, S is not yet craving the fact-filled responses…or at least not the facts that I keep in my head.

Topics still to blog... Thanksgiving dinner, KC highlights, Christmas Wishes, Panda naming ceremony

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-YA!

Ok - I have no idea how to spell that or the rest of the stuff I heard thrown about last night at belt testing. In a standing room only studio we watched a lot of drills, and J earned her second belt. This one is gold - though to me it is pretty imperceptibly different from the yellow of last year's yellow with white stripe. Here she is with her sensei giving her the gold belt.

Karate is definitely her thing. She stands at attention riveted to the sensei and the process - while other kids her age showed a less focused approach. I understand little of the significance of things around this. Like the black and white uniform vs the all white one - except for two things B&W costs about $95 and can have patches. The white one still does not quite fit my 7 year old so we will not yet be springing for that more attractive two color number. And then there is the whole shoe thing. At first I was told no shoes were worn for karate, now I am hearing that there are karate shoes and she REALLY wants them. So thanks to a couple of birthday checks, J will be buying a pair of martial arts shoes that I hope last longer than one season.

The other big news in J's life Thursday was placing 2nd in her first grade spelling bee. She can remember only the one word that she missed - again - but out of over 200 first graders, 2nd is none too shabby!

And the topping for J's big day? Krispy Kreme donuts hot off the conveyor belt...finest kind!

Newest on S, you ask? Hmmm...she used Halloween money to purchase Hannah Montana make-up and is sparkly blue from her eye to her brow.

How can it be time already?

I knew it was coming...there were ripplings just before the end of October...yesterday it was confirmed...there it was...Santa at the mall. No lines, so we went ahead and got the traditional photo.


Postcrossing update: Received one from Finland and sent one to Texas

A day at the zoo...

A perfect weather weekend here. Sunny and clear, autumn colors popping and a 'must get out and enjoy it' day so we had an outing to Zoo Atlanta compliments of our friend Toula (an avid zoo supporter, she sent some of her passes our way). It was great fun to have an effortless stroll through the zoo - low crowd, pretty day and not too hot!

We saw the more typical zebra, elephant, rhino, giraffe and the less typical kangaroos, naked mole rats and komodo dragon. We walked through a treehouse for a great view of the lemurs and saw the golden lion tamarin with their irresistable tiny faces. The warthogs had moved and we missed those so-ugly-they're-cute creatures but we did see this little character at the meerkat home.

Zoo Atlanta is fortunate enough to have giant pandas and even more fortunate to have had two cubs born here at the zoo. Mei Lan is this 2 year old cub munching her bamboo and clicking on this link will get you a peek at the young man, not yet named, born Aug 30.

It's not just the pandas having babies, our felines have new little ones too. J never got to see her favorite - the lion - at Animal Kingdom on the Disney trip but the zoo was more accommodating. Two of the triplets born in June made themselves available for a photo. All three of the little guys were male.

We have been to the zoo several times but Sunday hit a new first for us. When you arrive at the zoo you are given a map and the schedule for goings-on that day. My policy has always been to ignore that listing and enjoy the zoo on our own schedule and we did that again. In the past we have caught the bird show and an elephant grooming and enjoyed both and yesterday's event we happened upon, again, did not disappoint. We were at the gorilla's at the time of a presentation on training. The trainer showed everyone how well Taz could participate in a medical exam. She would name a body part and he would press it against the screen, he opened his mouth so she could look at his throat and let her give him 'practice shots'. You can read about the families of gorillas that live at the zoo here and below you can behold a 365 pound gorilla named Taz getting his teeth brushed.

Postcrossing update - sent to Netherlands and California; received from Grant's cabin in Missouri. And a 'friend' postcard from Robin visiting Key West.

Some Final Disney notes

As we are getting ready for our Thanksgiving trip, I am posting the final notes on the Disney trip.

After visiting the Hall of Presidents we stumbled out onto front row seats for the afternoon parade. Here the girls are greeting one of the famous parade-rs. The other fun find following the Hall of Presidents was a great kid's book Smart About the Presidents that my almost 7 year old read over and over.

I was glad to see Animal Kingdom open a few years ago (ten) and one of my favorites there is the Kilimanjaro Safari ride - you never know what great glimpse of an animal is around the next bend. Here is my favorite giraffe and a 'quite close' white rhino - that is our vehicle in the corner of the picture. J was hoping to catch sight of a lion, but not that ride.

No vacation report is complete without talking food. We went with the Disney dining plan and with a full service meal, a counter service and a snack per night's stay, it seemed just about right for us. Advantages - great price for the kids, no looking at prices when ordering, you did eat a 'regular' meal once a day, ate places we hadn't before Disadvantages - more food than you really need - desserts with everything! would have preferred appetizer OR dessert, requires some scheduling and planning to eat and keeping a schedule doesn't always work with Disney lines and crowds. We had a great first day early dinner at Le Cellier at Epcot's Canada (though that probably wasn't the best first day park pick with young kids). Great steaks and the cheese soup appetizer the kids got was delicious. We also traded in two full service credits to eat at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. I actually wanted to go to Whispering Canyon but we found that is NOT a dropping in dining place at a resort (Tuesday evening, no less). The food was very good, as expected, but the kids desserts were the best. A white chocolate puzzle delivered on an arist palette with paint that allowed the kids to express their creativity. Here is J's artwork and S's artwork - which necessitated her being in the picture.

Monday musing...

Tonight's dinnertime question...

J: Mom, do you ever wonder if we are God's wooden dolls that He plays with?

age 6 y 11 1/2 mos.

Around the world with two different kids

Their chosen headgear:

Being the totem pole at Epcot's Canada:

With Casey at the bat - check the beginning of the 'curtsy' pose:

And posing with the giant Transformer Lego:

Disney Memories

M: What was your favorite Disney Memory?

S: Toy Story Mania and when you get splashed wet (Kali River Rapids) and Small World.

J: Buzz Lightyear.

I must admit I was hoping for wordier responses so I could have a springboard for writing about the trip.

I have 261 pictures (the age of digital) and am a little overwelmed at the sifting process.

Let's start with the Halloween Party - Mickey's Not So Very Scary Halloween Party was fun for the kids but for the grownups it was an example of getting less for more. Right at $200 for 2 adults and 2 kids and the 'perks' remembered from years past were missing. No travel group portrait and no event buttons. Disappointing...and when we asked about a group photo, we were told that we should get a Disney Photo Pass photographer to do it.

After our unsuccessful hunt for said photographer, we decided to grab someone walking by...so here is our 'unofficial' Halloween photo - That's Aunt Sharon (my cousin) the witch, me the Pirate, J the grimacing basketball player pretending to dribble and S the penguin with her 'piece hair'. In fairness to J - since she looked so much cuter than this - I am also adding in one of her taken pre-party in our room.

We got some trick or treating in (the kids got more than us adults, we noticed-lol), saw the fireworks (from the back of the castle which we were told would be just as good-but I have my doubts), rode several of the must-sees -Buzz Lightyear, Small World, Peter Pan, Goofy's Barnstormer and got autographs from the lesser seen Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip.

The kid's souvenirs from the trip

S: Hairpiece from the Princess dress-up area at Downtown Disney shop, wrapped hair with beads, necklace and earrings with birthstones, Autograph book and smashed pennies

J: Mickey PDA, Figment, Pegasus, Smart About the Presidents book from the Hall of Presidents, Autograph book and smashed pennies.

you knew it was coming....

J is a sensitive curious child. In PreK she attended a Christian pre-school and when Easter came and the related stories of Jesus' life she had trouble sleeping and had so many questions she ended up sitting with the youth minister for a meeting about Jesus. Recently when we were watching "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" Henry the VIII was mentioned and the related facts around his wives kept her from being able to go to sleep that night - she refuses to watch that show again.

Last night at dinner my almost 7 year old finally made the connection...

J: Is steak made of chicken?
M: No, it is made of steak (uh-oh)
J: But what is steak made of? where does it come from?

Now, being one of those people who prefers to believe that steak comes from packages in the grocery store, I have been dreading to having to face this...

M: Steak comes from cows
J: YOU MEAN I AM EATING A COW?

I have always suspected that she did not make a connection between the chicken she ate and the chicken in the barnyard.

Several minutes passed.

J: They must be pretty sad about their friends.
M: Who must?
J: Those cows...about their friends being in heaven. So, what happens to them...are they just cut in half?
M: Honey - this is really not the conversation for dinner.
J: OK - so do they just cut them up at grocery stores?

ugh...what do I do now? I pull the cop-out card...

M: I think these are some good questions for xxx - why don't you ask the next time we see xxx.

ha ha ha...don't you know that someone totally unsuspecting is in for an interesting conversation and I am in for a vegetarian daughter-who hates fruits and veggies and is allergic to soy...


Postcrossing update: Received one from Nova Scotia, Canada

HSM3 and about the only thing that could top it...

Off first thing this morning for High School Musical 3 - the long awaited theater finale of the High School Musical series. We enjoyed the movie and the images popped off the screen. The favorite parts? hmmmm....true to form J picked the number with Troy and Chad dancing around a salvage yard in The Boys Are Back ...

















...and my little diva S picked the "I Want It All" number...




A good time was had by all at the movie and then it was on for something that could top a movie musical...a new puppy! Not ours - we have a friend that raises puppies for Canine Companions for Independence and little Anzio came to Vicki a couple of weeks ago. A cute boy and here he is so happy to have two little girls fussing over him. ok - he doesn't really look that happy but when he wasn't restrained for a photo he was happier. He'll stay with Vicki until he is about 15 months old and then go on to doggie college in Orlando...if all that goes well he'll be graduating as a service dog. You can watch him grow on ccimiracles.blogspot.com

We are still wading through pictures and recovering from post-Disney-vacation-lag...but will try and add some of those pics soon.

Postcrossing update - Sent to Washington State, Florida, and two to Finland; received from SanFrancisco, Anaheim, Finland and Paris...and from friends in Greece, Italy and Siesta Key!

Whatever happened to Field Trips?

Both of the girls had field trips today…I had to work….why is that? When did we get to an age where it was deemed we no longer needed a break from the everyday? I would contend that field trips need to be re-instated…

J had a 1st grade trip to a pumpkin patch. Ahhh, the outdoors, the dirt…a dream come true for J. A break from the school uniforms and into jeans and a striped polo shirt this morning for school, and off she went. They went on a hayride , did an obstacle course, went in the bouncy things, saw animals and came back with pumpkins that they will be painting next week in art class. Good times were had by all.

S had a PreK trip to a gold mine…yep, that’s right - the letter ‘G’ means gold and if ever there was a child that did not need to be encouraged about getting excited about gold, it is my S! She has a beautiful real gold pendant that was given to her by our good friends Katherine and Toula – it had been a charm on their mother’s charm bracelet and she and J now each have a pendant. S would wear that every day if I let her – but I don’t. On her field trip today she saw real gold and panned for pretty rocks. Here she is with her prize artifacts from today’s trip and her special gold pendant.

So, what is the field trip I would schedule for myself? Strolling through a museum, visiting a state park complete with waterfalls, apple orchards for fresh cider and pie… oh, yes, a field trip is just the thing for all ages.

I took the idea into my 11:00 meeting and no one canceled the meeting in favor of a field trip, so for the time being I will have to be satisfied with mental field trips – or as J so aptly reported, “Mom, I found out I can dream when I am not even asleep!”

Postcrossing update – sent one to Florida

And so it begins...

We got a real start on our postcrossing project today - went to WalMart and got our first batch of postcards, got our stickers for our map (green for outgoing, blue for incoming) hung the map and wrote the postcards. Now for some results...

J is posing with the postcard that is on its way to The Netherlands. She is wearing a Hong Kong dragon shirt anxiously awaiting the first time we have a postcard - coming or going - involving China. That shirt was purchased in Hong Kong when J was 6 months old and she has been wearing it since she was 2. She loves that it still fits...I think we have passed 'fits', but I appreciate the sentimental attachment.

S is showing off her first postcard to mail to Finland, she enjoys signing the cards herself and at 4 she enjoys adding a few extra letters to her name. No - she does not think she is wearing the traditional garb of Finland, she thinks a bathing suit is appropriate any time of the year. I had her add the skirt for the photo but if you look closely you'll see the ruffle of her bikini bottom peeking out.

So, tomorrow it is off to the post office and then we begin the process of waiting to see that someone receives our cards and of course, we get some!

Postcrossing

Thanks to my Virginia homeschooler friend, Traci, I have learned about Postcrossing and we are very excited about getting started sending and receiving Postcards from around the world. We signed up for our first five addresses tonight and will be sending postcards to Finland, The Netherlands, Washington State, Russia and Lithuania. While sending to within your own country is a non-default choice, we went ahead and checked it because there is so much within our own country to learn about AND the mailing time might be a little less so we should see our cards registered more quickly and move to the top of the list to receive.

Starting out

Once again, I have the idea that a blog will be fun and I should give it a try. We'll see how that goes...

I am a single mom with two girls, J - a 6 year old karate and sports enthusiast and S - a 4 yr old princess in training...hence the blog name Sparklez and Sportz.

As we are preparing for a vacation in two weeks - and I am counting the minutes down already - I wanted to be ready to post vacation pictures and document the high points.