I'm so excited, Jameson has a verse for the Christmas program at church. I have to admit, I'm a bit worried though. He knows the verse but I'm not sure if he'll actually say it in front of the church. I'm also a bit worried which version he'll actually say. Here are the three versions that were heard around the counter at lunch.
VERSION 1: THE REAL VERSE
I may be little, but I can say,
Thank you God, for Christmas day.
VERSION 2: HOW JAMESON SAYS IT
I be little, I can say,
Thank you God, for Christmas day.
(Very close, I'm happy. Actually, quite proud and beaming....)
VERSION 3: STELLAN CAME UP WITH THIS ONE
blah blah blah (can't really understand the first line)
Thank you God, for our Christmas tree
I will die if that is what comes out of Jameson's mouth the night of the program. I'll keep you updated.
(Go figure that Stellan would come up with that one. I'm in trouble with that little guy!)
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Potty
I've learned my lesson. Jameson has a huge bladder and can hold it forever but he eventually reaches a point where he can't hold on much longer. I now carry a potty in the back of my van. Good thing because he reached that point on the way back from the airport. Thankfully I was able to pull over on a dead end street and he hopped into the back of the van where he sat on the potty and did his thing. I wonder if the people who live on the street minded that I dumped it on the grass? I figure it's no worse than a dog peeing on the grass.......
Friday, November 30, 2007
O Christmas Tree continued....
I now had to head back to Kmart to return the top portion of the tree. I found a closer, but still not all that close, store online. My mom offered to watch the boys so I could quickly go there and exchange it. Uh right, quickly. Maybe if the people who worked at Kmart had an ounce of common sense.
I brought the tree top to customer service. I explained to the girl what the issue was and she told me I could not return it, there was nothing they could do, they needed the whole tree. She explained that they needed the tree in order to send it back as damaged goods. OK, I get that, but why not just substitute the top and call it done? Nope, can't do that. Fine, I asked to speak to her manager. She got on the intercom and screamed, "Can Louella please come to the front?". It was deafening.
Louella came to the front and I explained the situation to her. Nope, not allowed. I asked for further clarification and she told me that each tree has a different UPC therefore the top of one tree can't just be taken out and replaced.
"So, you're telling me that if you have 15 trees that are identical, they all have different UPC numbers?"
"Yep, they're different by a number or two. You can check for yourself."
"I will."
"So, uh, which tree was it anyway?"
"The 6 and a half food, blue somethingorother Martha Stewart tree, Box # 66."
"Uh, just a minute."
She came back carrying the tree top and offered to do the exchange. I asked her to plug it in to make sure it worked (it did). I thanked her and went on my way; on my way to the Christmas tree aisle where I double checked the UPCs. Of course, as I expected, they were all the same. So, do they typically deal with dumb people who buy these lame excuses? Sheesh
I finished putting up and decorating the tree when the boys were sleeping. I realize that part of the tradition is having the whole family dress the tree but I figured it was best if I did it so they wouldn't get used to touching it. I have to say, it looks beautiful. I love it! When the boys came down from their naps Stellan said, "Oh, a Christmas tree!!". He was so excited, how cute. We didn't have much time to admire it since we had to take my mom to the airport. It was the first thing we did when we got home though. After dinner we went over to the tree and each of us put our letter (J, C, J, S) on the tree. The boys were thrilled. Stellan kept trying to touch the balls, this is going to be a long process teaching him not to touch it. Eventually I told them that everytime they touch it Santa will bring one less toy. Hey, whatever works. ;)
I brought the tree top to customer service. I explained to the girl what the issue was and she told me I could not return it, there was nothing they could do, they needed the whole tree. She explained that they needed the tree in order to send it back as damaged goods. OK, I get that, but why not just substitute the top and call it done? Nope, can't do that. Fine, I asked to speak to her manager. She got on the intercom and screamed, "Can Louella please come to the front?". It was deafening.
Louella came to the front and I explained the situation to her. Nope, not allowed. I asked for further clarification and she told me that each tree has a different UPC therefore the top of one tree can't just be taken out and replaced.
"So, you're telling me that if you have 15 trees that are identical, they all have different UPC numbers?"
"Yep, they're different by a number or two. You can check for yourself."
"I will."
"So, uh, which tree was it anyway?"
"The 6 and a half food, blue somethingorother Martha Stewart tree, Box # 66."
"Uh, just a minute."
She came back carrying the tree top and offered to do the exchange. I asked her to plug it in to make sure it worked (it did). I thanked her and went on my way; on my way to the Christmas tree aisle where I double checked the UPCs. Of course, as I expected, they were all the same. So, do they typically deal with dumb people who buy these lame excuses? Sheesh
I finished putting up and decorating the tree when the boys were sleeping. I realize that part of the tradition is having the whole family dress the tree but I figured it was best if I did it so they wouldn't get used to touching it. I have to say, it looks beautiful. I love it! When the boys came down from their naps Stellan said, "Oh, a Christmas tree!!". He was so excited, how cute. We didn't have much time to admire it since we had to take my mom to the airport. It was the first thing we did when we got home though. After dinner we went over to the tree and each of us put our letter (J, C, J, S) on the tree. The boys were thrilled. Stellan kept trying to touch the balls, this is going to be a long process teaching him not to touch it. Eventually I told them that everytime they touch it Santa will bring one less toy. Hey, whatever works. ;)
Garden State Discovery Museum
I looked in my trustworthy New Jersey book and picked a new place to visit, the Garden State Discovery Museum. It was voted one of the 20 best kids museums in the country. I thought it was worth a try. What an amazing place!!! The kids were in love with it.
It's not a huge place but there are a ton of things for the kids to do. Since it is geared toward kids they are allowed to touch everything. There was a makeshift news room where they could actually work the cameras and see themselves on camera. There was a rock climbing wall and a bubble area where the kids could have a bubble blown up around them. There were miniature sports areas, Jameson was in heaven. There were a few displays that had animals, mostly reptiles and other creepy things. Stellan loved the lizards. This place was ideal for kids of all ages, I was so impressed. Actually, I ended up buying a year pass. I now have access to 150 kids museums across the country. How cool. Next we're going to the Please Touch museum in Philly.
I am so excited that I now have places to go when the weather is dreary. What's really nice about this pass is that I'm allowed to bring 4 friends for free each time. Yippee!! I'll fill up the van and head down there, can't wait!
It's not a huge place but there are a ton of things for the kids to do. Since it is geared toward kids they are allowed to touch everything. There was a makeshift news room where they could actually work the cameras and see themselves on camera. There was a rock climbing wall and a bubble area where the kids could have a bubble blown up around them. There were miniature sports areas, Jameson was in heaven. There were a few displays that had animals, mostly reptiles and other creepy things. Stellan loved the lizards. This place was ideal for kids of all ages, I was so impressed. Actually, I ended up buying a year pass. I now have access to 150 kids museums across the country. How cool. Next we're going to the Please Touch museum in Philly.
I am so excited that I now have places to go when the weather is dreary. What's really nice about this pass is that I'm allowed to bring 4 friends for free each time. Yippee!! I'll fill up the van and head down there, can't wait!
O Christmas Tree
James and I decided to get a Christmas tree this year. We felt the boys were old enough to understand that they can't climb it and throw all the ornaments off. My mom and I headed off with the boys to Target. I was greatly disappointed with their selection of trees. My mom suggested that we head to Kmart because they carry the Martha Stewart line. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea where there was a Kmart. I called James and he found one, telling me that it was just off Route 1. No problem, I was sure I could find it. We headed out that way and kept driving and driving. Uh right, no Kmart in sight. We ended up in a terrible part of Trenton. Similar to the areas of Detroit where you don't want to go, especially after dark. We locked our doors and mom called her friend back home in Yelm, trying to get specific directions. It took a while but we eventually found a Kmart. Thanks James, it was no where close to Route 1.
I found a tree I liked and then went about the task of picking out the decorations. What a big deal, so many choices. In order to keep the boys entertained I gave them each a train that made noises when you spun the wheels. It worked. They were so well behaved that I ended up buying them the trains. They played with them so much that the batteries wore out by the time we got home. Lovely.
Olivier came over for dinner and Pictionary. My mom had so much fun with him at Thanksgiving that she wanted him to come back while she was still here. She loves the fact that he picks on me as much as I pick on him. He's like a brother to me. For some strange reason the guys decided to do another round of guys vs gals. We kicked their butts, again. It was no fun though, they acted so defeated right from the beginning. Time for a new game.
It was too late to put up the tree, decided to do it the next day. I put up the bottom two sections of the tree and fluffed them up nicely. When we plugged in the top part of the tree we noticed that half of the lights didn't work. This was supposed to be the ever lit type. Man! Mom tried every single light bulb and even replaced the fuses. Still, nothing worked. What a pain!
I found a tree I liked and then went about the task of picking out the decorations. What a big deal, so many choices. In order to keep the boys entertained I gave them each a train that made noises when you spun the wheels. It worked. They were so well behaved that I ended up buying them the trains. They played with them so much that the batteries wore out by the time we got home. Lovely.
Olivier came over for dinner and Pictionary. My mom had so much fun with him at Thanksgiving that she wanted him to come back while she was still here. She loves the fact that he picks on me as much as I pick on him. He's like a brother to me. For some strange reason the guys decided to do another round of guys vs gals. We kicked their butts, again. It was no fun though, they acted so defeated right from the beginning. Time for a new game.
It was too late to put up the tree, decided to do it the next day. I put up the bottom two sections of the tree and fluffed them up nicely. When we plugged in the top part of the tree we noticed that half of the lights didn't work. This was supposed to be the ever lit type. Man! Mom tried every single light bulb and even replaced the fuses. Still, nothing worked. What a pain!
New York
I decided that it would be ridiculous for my mom to come all this way and not head into New York City. We decided that the five us would go on Sunday and spend the day there. I was looking forward to it but was somewhat apprehensive, not knowing how the boys would do. We figured it would be best to go for the first time when my mom was with us, an extra set of hands would come in "handy". Saturday night James changed his mind and decided that he would stay home with the boys. As much as I wanted all of us to go together, this was really the best decision. It was a pretty cold day and the crowds were crazy.
We just made it to the train (literally, we ran up the stairs to the platform to catch it). We got off at Penn Station where we headed above ground. My mom was quite taken aback by the size of the city. We grabbed coffee and a quick bite to eat and then headed out on a mission to go shopping. We definitely accomplished our mission. We started at Macy's and worked our way all over the city. I could not even guess how many blocks we walked during the day. We retraced a lot of the steps that James and I took just a few weeks earlier. It's amazing how much the city can change in a short period of time, it was all decked out for the holidays this time. It was great.
We decided to head back to Princeton on the 6:10 train. We headed back toward Penn Station with plenty of time to spare. (We had to walk at least 25 blocks. Thought the exercise would be good, decided not to take the subway.) That was until we realized how much the crowds slowed us down. Once we hit Broadway we could barely move. We headed underground to the subway or else we would never make the train. The subway was empty where we went down, it was eerie. We made it through and found a police officer who told us which way to go. Once we got there we had to stop someone again and find out which train to get on. I don't think I'll ever get used to the subway system. We got off and then had to ask yet another person how to get to Penn Station. We had no time to waste. As we rushed down we found our gate and got on our train. Only 10 minutes early. Good thing we decided to get on the subway otherwise we would never have made it. I fell asleep shortly after we took off.
What a long day......but I got a cute pair of shoes. ;)
We just made it to the train (literally, we ran up the stairs to the platform to catch it). We got off at Penn Station where we headed above ground. My mom was quite taken aback by the size of the city. We grabbed coffee and a quick bite to eat and then headed out on a mission to go shopping. We definitely accomplished our mission. We started at Macy's and worked our way all over the city. I could not even guess how many blocks we walked during the day. We retraced a lot of the steps that James and I took just a few weeks earlier. It's amazing how much the city can change in a short period of time, it was all decked out for the holidays this time. It was great.
We decided to head back to Princeton on the 6:10 train. We headed back toward Penn Station with plenty of time to spare. (We had to walk at least 25 blocks. Thought the exercise would be good, decided not to take the subway.) That was until we realized how much the crowds slowed us down. Once we hit Broadway we could barely move. We headed underground to the subway or else we would never make the train. The subway was empty where we went down, it was eerie. We made it through and found a police officer who told us which way to go. Once we got there we had to stop someone again and find out which train to get on. I don't think I'll ever get used to the subway system. We got off and then had to ask yet another person how to get to Penn Station. We had no time to waste. As we rushed down we found our gate and got on our train. Only 10 minutes early. Good thing we decided to get on the subway otherwise we would never have made it. I fell asleep shortly after we took off.
What a long day......but I got a cute pair of shoes. ;)
Black Friday
There was no way I was going to drag my butt out of bed to make it to the Black Friday sales. I could barely drag myself off the couch once I got out of bed. I was EXHAUSTED.
My mom and I decided to head into downtown Princeton to look around at the shops once the boys went down for a nap. We didn't see any killer deals but I still managed to find a cute pair of black boots with a wedge heel. The plan was for James to bring the boys downtown once they woke up from their naps. There was going to be a tree lighting so we thought it would be a lot of fun for the boys to see. James battled the crowds in the downtown and we met him outside the hotel where he handed over the boys and then he headed off to the parking garage. We fought our way toward the tree ceremony where we listened to the brass group and the local high school choir. It was a beautiful evening. The weather was quite cold but tolerable. We had to hold both of the boys but that meant that my back was killing me. James put Jameson on his shoulders and I held Stellan. They were absolutely mesmerized. Santa eventually made his appearance and flipped the switch. It was amazing. The huge tree has more lights than the tree in Rockefeller Center. The boys loved it. They are definitely in the mood for Christmas now.
My mom and I decided to head into downtown Princeton to look around at the shops once the boys went down for a nap. We didn't see any killer deals but I still managed to find a cute pair of black boots with a wedge heel. The plan was for James to bring the boys downtown once they woke up from their naps. There was going to be a tree lighting so we thought it would be a lot of fun for the boys to see. James battled the crowds in the downtown and we met him outside the hotel where he handed over the boys and then he headed off to the parking garage. We fought our way toward the tree ceremony where we listened to the brass group and the local high school choir. It was a beautiful evening. The weather was quite cold but tolerable. We had to hold both of the boys but that meant that my back was killing me. James put Jameson on his shoulders and I held Stellan. They were absolutely mesmerized. Santa eventually made his appearance and flipped the switch. It was amazing. The huge tree has more lights than the tree in Rockefeller Center. The boys loved it. They are definitely in the mood for Christmas now.
Thanksgiving
It has been a while but I'm back. So, thanksgiving....what a day. We made a ton of food and had a ton of left-overs. We had a great time though so it was all worth it.
When everyone came they congregated in the kitchen. I was glad to see everyone but I just didn't want to see them in the kitchen. It's a bit stressful trying to prepare a meal while having the company watching you from the other side of the counter. Besides, there is so much room elsewhere in the house. I set up the appetizers and drinks in the living room and dining room hoping that people would congregate there. But no, they still gathered in the kitchen. It ended up that they barely ate the appetizers so we had a ton of them left over.
It was unique that we had so many countries represented, something I was very thankful for. I know that many of them weren't exactly used to the typical American thanksgiving fare so it was interesting to see their reactions. The best reaction would be when a couple of them, who were hanging around the kitchen, saw my mom take the stuffing out of the turkey. Imagine being new to a country and some of the culinary delights it has to offer when you see a woman pulling stuffing out of the turkey's butt. And then to think that you are expected to eat that. Quite hilarious in my opinion.
All of the food was quite delicious. I'm sure everyone had more than enough to eat and then some. We moved onto dessert. Two of James' co-workers brought desserts in addition to the 3 pumpkin pies that I made. In the end one slice of the ice cream cake, about 4 cupcakes and half of one pie was eaten. Yikes!! That is a heck of a lot of left overs.
Olivier and a couple from Paris (how cool!!) stayed to play Pictionary. He spread the word all night that it was a great game to play and I was the person to beat. When it was guys against girls we had a noticeable command of the board. Imeine was a terrific artist, as was my mom, and I'm a great guesser. We won! We decided to switch it up a bit and move into mixed partners. I paired up with Walid (Imeine's husband) who was quite set on winning. He was obvisouly less than impressed that the guys lost the first round. It was a tense game and quite competitive but, in the end, Walid and I were the champions!! :) Yes, that is me gloating.
It was a long day but we were very thankful for all of the blessings of the year as well as the new friends in our lives. We are so thankful that we have been given the opportunity to move to Princeton and we believe that our lives have been truly blessed.
When everyone came they congregated in the kitchen. I was glad to see everyone but I just didn't want to see them in the kitchen. It's a bit stressful trying to prepare a meal while having the company watching you from the other side of the counter. Besides, there is so much room elsewhere in the house. I set up the appetizers and drinks in the living room and dining room hoping that people would congregate there. But no, they still gathered in the kitchen. It ended up that they barely ate the appetizers so we had a ton of them left over.
It was unique that we had so many countries represented, something I was very thankful for. I know that many of them weren't exactly used to the typical American thanksgiving fare so it was interesting to see their reactions. The best reaction would be when a couple of them, who were hanging around the kitchen, saw my mom take the stuffing out of the turkey. Imagine being new to a country and some of the culinary delights it has to offer when you see a woman pulling stuffing out of the turkey's butt. And then to think that you are expected to eat that. Quite hilarious in my opinion.
All of the food was quite delicious. I'm sure everyone had more than enough to eat and then some. We moved onto dessert. Two of James' co-workers brought desserts in addition to the 3 pumpkin pies that I made. In the end one slice of the ice cream cake, about 4 cupcakes and half of one pie was eaten. Yikes!! That is a heck of a lot of left overs.
Olivier and a couple from Paris (how cool!!) stayed to play Pictionary. He spread the word all night that it was a great game to play and I was the person to beat. When it was guys against girls we had a noticeable command of the board. Imeine was a terrific artist, as was my mom, and I'm a great guesser. We won! We decided to switch it up a bit and move into mixed partners. I paired up with Walid (Imeine's husband) who was quite set on winning. He was obvisouly less than impressed that the guys lost the first round. It was a tense game and quite competitive but, in the end, Walid and I were the champions!! :) Yes, that is me gloating.
It was a long day but we were very thankful for all of the blessings of the year as well as the new friends in our lives. We are so thankful that we have been given the opportunity to move to Princeton and we believe that our lives have been truly blessed.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)