Farewell Cookie Monster

After all these years and all the memories, cookie is gone, newly purchased by another teenage boy looking for a pimp chair.  It wasn't easy letting this Alderete family heirloom go but Jed was brave and bit the bullet and 14 years of memories were sold for $20.  (I know, can you believe it?)   We both shed a little tear as it was tossed in the back of a truck and carted away, taps careening in the background.  I have swore and cursed at this thing our whole married (and unmarried) life but now that it is really gone I feel like a piece of me is missing, literally, the furry beast has taken chunks of my flesh on a regular basis. I have vicious scars to prove it.  Don't worry we did fix it for the sale , it won't ever harm anyone again. 

Now for the cookie monster chair's life story...

Right after Jed and I first started dating, way, way back in '99 my great-granny needed help moving.  I was eager to volunteer/show-off my handsome, strapping new boyfriend so I enlisted Jed.  It was love at first sight, cookie and Jed immediately bonded (oh us too.)  I would like to say at this point that Jed asked granny for her chair, but lets be honest it might have changed destinations en route.  Neither one of us are clear on that little detail.  No matter.  Cookie had found a new loving home, rid of Precious the chihuahua mix, forever (thought I'd throw that in Ash..)  Cookie was one of two pieces of furniture in Jed's den of iniquity, um I mean first college apartment, and he had many a good times and survived to tell about it.  At the end of that rodeo, Cookie made his way back to Logandale.  But not without a good cleansing.  Nothing a little Palmolive and the pressure washer in the driveway couldn't take care of.  Cookie's plush, blue, velvet furry-fur had never been so swanky.  The monster resided with Jed's little bro. Jesse in a life of shaggy contentment.  Retirement years for cookie.  As in he should have been retired when Jesse left the house, but no!  Jed came home from his mission and not only did I marry the man, I married the monster.  He never went to a "man cave" like he was supposed to, he scratched my desk up worse than a rabid cat on a tree trunk, and he has been shedding fur for so many years that it is true testament to the withstanding nature of shag that he is still fuzzy.  On top of that, he has been residing in the formal living room, which frankly requires a lot of exhausting explanation, bringing down my PB rug for over a year now.  I have threatened to throw it to the curb for years in many a bloody rage after it would rip open my wrists but I could never execute such cruelty, I would turn the other cheek.  However, in light of our impending move #5 in nine years, we decided it was time to pass on the torch of glorious blue, tufted downy'ness.  Actually we didn't think anyone would actually love it enough to buy it and put it up for sale without a worry.  I guesssss we would have to move it again if no one wanted it.  

or not.

Goodbye Cookie-monster-furry-blue-chair we loved you.  May the boy who bought you keep you long enough to have his wife write a bittersweet saga too.  amen

sniff sniff

we want you back

Kindygarten Program

Catchy songs, well executed memorization, coordinating actions that I am still laughing about it.  Well done Kindergarten.  Well done.  I love this age, they are so...inherently good (well there is always a little johnny, but for the most part...)

In the spirit 

Grateful for this wonderful lady.

All Wrapped Up

The flurry of holiday happenings has come and almost gone.  I want it to stop, slow down and quit making me utter such old person sayings.   I haven't even had time to chronicle all the happenings.  I now make my attempt...

Christmas bonding time: Jara, Jack and Max.  I love that Jara still totes around Max from time to time.  She never plays with dolls but Max gets dressed up, talked to and cared for more tenderly than any baby doll.

Santa visits...

Classic.  Poor Elise, poor Santa.

Jack telling Santa he wanted a BB gun.  Santa, bless his heart, didn't tell Jack "you'll shoot your eye out kid."  However, he did tell him 4 year olds don't get BB guns...he has to wait until he's 6 or 7.  Oh my.  

Jara and Santa.  All week she begged to see the big guy and was scared to death when the big moment came.  She made it through upon the precept that it was necessary to tell him her heart's desire.  However, the next night at the ward Christmas party when Santa showed up, she'd had her fill and begged us to leave because once was enough.  "He already knows mom...lets get outta here."

Toothless Jara.  She lost her bottom right one.  You might not be able to tell because the big tooth is already in place.  After sitting on her and holding her hands down I ripped it out by its tiny thread (the results of weeks of wiggling) and declared myself a dentist.  And then told Jara to save her tooth fairy money for therapy.  kidding. kind-a

Gingerbread house making, or should I say, doghouse making.  We bought the, "oh so easy, so perfectly perfect" 4 doghouse making kit at lin's, thinking to save some time.  It was beastly.  Two days and two very red hands later we had our doggy houses.   

Master dog house maker.  I may or may not have sang:  "put this on your snoop doggy, dog house" as I handed the kids their candy.  Jed told me it was inappropriate.  I told him it was culture, every kid should know that line and only that line.

Santa's workshop.  Sending off the Christmas cards.  I have lickers!  Yay!  I've waited a long time for this.  If your card has two stamps you are the lucky winner and if your card has any chocolate residue I apologize.

We have also been...

 -playing in snow, the kind you make in a bowl at home, we do live in the desert after all, and it was 75 degrees for the first two weeks of December.  Didn't light the pilot light to the furnace until the 9th.

-Ornament making: popcorn garlands that a little birdie ate, and do-it-yourself kits from the advent calendar, thank you Loni.

-attending parties: the aforementioned family ward party and two work-related, kid free parties.  One of them Jed forgot to find out was a black-tie affair.  I showed up in my school teacher cardigan.  Classy and frumpy all at the same time.   

-Crunching the numbers:  16 deliveries the kids and I made one rainy day to friends and neighbors, 8 loaves of pumpkin bread (not bad) and 12 days of Christmas adventures, 9 rolls of wrapping paper I have amassed in fear of repeating the Sponge Bob year.

I love Christmas!  Now before I burst into rapturous singing...

Happy 4 more days!

Elise 15+

Where to begin?  She is naughty, nice, devilish, loving, demanding, adoring...The list goes on.  The consensus, Elise has multiple personalities.  The last 3 or so months have brought increased understanding, determinism, independence, and 2 shiny new top chompers, which she has used to pulverize everything in the house.  She now has a grand total of four teeth!  Latest teether ever.  Don't think has stopped her from eating everything in sight.  

This age amazes me, she clearly understands everything , for example, she picked up a crumpled piece of paper in the living room and I absently told her "garbage, go throw it away."  To my astonishment she crawled right over to the trash can and dumped it in.  The understanding is great, the communicating...ehh, not so much...Elise insists on achieving her needs only through varying degrees of screaming.  AhhhhAHH means: "I want my food NOW" whereas, AHHHHahh means: "get out of my way NOW " and then there is always the !@#$ screaming.   

She loves to be a "destructo" as Jack has deemed her.  Jara calls her wreck-it Elise.  Cupboards are a specialty   My bathroom often looks like a bomb went off.  I don't care, look at that precious face.  Besides, she is happily entertaining herself while I am getting ready.  (Maybe this is why I don't get ready too often.)

Bath-time.  Don't you just want to eat up that delicious baby chubbiness?  She gets "squeezeeed" alot. 

Favorite past-time, reloading dart guns.  Much more gratifying than the lame shape sorter.  After she is done she proudly hands her weapon to Jed and waits for him to aim at an object, then laughs.  Scary? Yes.

Acceptance of the toy/walker.  She is FINALLY giving it a try.  She might be walking before Kindergarten. She absolutely refused to put any weight on her feet, standing up, until the last week or so.  Crawling is much more efficient.

Following after her dear old sister.  Elise loves art and has decorated the fridge, wall, floor, picnic table...most surfaces have now her signature style-drooly scribbles, littered with chunks of gnawed off crayon.

Elise could you please stop growing and go back to cuddling me for hours on end?  10 minutes of hugging just isn't enough.  

Family Torture Time

I want to know how large families take pictures and someone isn't making

a)squash face

b)mean eyes

or

c)surprise face

because I'm pretty sure I was one of the above in all but two pictures

Black Friday

We Came

We Saw

We conquered

I like the idea of black Friday shopping, great deals/shopping time, but I just don't have it in me.  I need sleep.  Every day.  I don't like crowds.  I get cranky.  I don't like rushing.  I boycott the importance of black Friday over Thanksgiving.  I think it's cruel store workers have to suffer for the mania and miss a holiday with family.  I used to have a job that wasn't mindful of holidays and paid minimum wage, it was terrible.  

So (now that my little spill is over and don't worry I don't begrudge the BF lovers out there)

we spent the day outdoors with all the Wheeler's.  It was a perfect day for Red Rock.  And then I went home and hit up internet deals because who can pass it all up?

Thanksgiving

The carvers.  

Three little Wheeler's sitting on a bench...

Kiddie table

Post turkey walk

All eggs were JTE (formerly the FDA) approved

My daughter who refuses to wear bows

Happy Movemeber

Or should I say Happy Mooovemeber.  haha I kill myself

Thanksgiving was a gah-lorious day.  A bounteous spread of food was consumed.  Pie was devoured.  Thanks was given.  Cousins were mustached.  The scenery was so pretty it hurt, fall skies, orange foliage and cows.  Beautiful weather.  I am thankful.