Pirates, and butterflies, and writers...OH MY!

I recently discovered "The Writer's Almanac". It was listed on a blog I happened upon. There's been lots of "happening upon" Garrison Keillor this week for some reason. (I'm not complaining) Saturday night when I was making dinner I turned NPR just to see what was on...lo and behold it was "A Prairie Home Companion"! Do you know how many years it's been since I've listened to this? No? Well, me either! Years and years and years. So I forced the kids to listen to it with me while we ate dinner. They even enjoyed part of it (the polka music, go figure - they've got some German blood in them for sure). So, at any rate, I ran into this "Writer's Almanac" page sometime late Sunday afternoon...enjoyed reading it yesterday, enjoyed reading it today. It just might become one of my daily cyber-stops.

We are all feeling a little better today. Delaney was still home from school but mostly as a preventive measure because she still looked so pale and tired. I'm fairly certain that she'll be good to go in the morning. (thank goodness...she needs it as much as I do!) I got a decent night of sleep last night. No one woke up and I slept straight through from about 11 until 5 and then dozed off and on until 6:47 when I jumped up to walk the dog. The rest of the day was productive. I vacuumed all of the house except kid areas because they need to be tidied up first. After the vacuuming, I packaged up gifts to two friends. Tomorrow it is back to the post office once more and then for some groceries. My kids are going through a fruit phase...I bought at least 9 apples on Sunday morning and they were all gone yesterday!

Below are a few photos from the Children's Holiday Party we attended on Saturday. It was huge and crowded. The kids had their faces painted, bounced in a bouncy house, ate some popcorn, did a craft...then we went to McDonald's for lunch and came home. Delaney said "It (the party) wasn't very good but I had an ok time." I think it was just too crowded for her. It was held in a gym and just very loud and overwhelming. We are quite similar in our poor tolerance of heightened noise levels.





I wanted to share two more photos with you. One is of some potholders I've used to decorate my kitchen this year. They came from my friend Anne Lise in Norway (hi, Anne Lise!!!) and say "God Jul" (Merry Christmas in Norwegian). I thought I was quite clever to put up two of those little 3M hooks and hang them on the doors of that cabinet. They brighten up a normally boring spot pretty well!

Delaney always enjoys looking through my "Star" magazines so today I grabbed a few back issues and put her at the table with a pair of scissors, a glue stick, markers, and some paper. She was originally searching for the Jonas Brothers and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (their movies are all the rage in our house right now). Below is the first page she came up with...diamond and gemstone rings that she coloured in, Paris Hilton, and Baby Spice. I'm scared for my child! Bling bling and dingy blonde chicks.




I think that's it for the report today. I'm making dinner at the moment...chicken nuggets and french fries for the kids, jasmine rice and palak paneer for me...again!