the dropsies

ok.
so i just wrote, once again, about my Craft Starting Disorder last week.
and now, i have a new one to claim.
i have The Dropsies.
more specifically, the Distraction Induced Dropsies.
whenever i am trying to manage 14 things at once, and thinking about a 15th, and happen to be carrying anything, i drop it.

this week, i had an epic moment of dropsiness.
i was driving from the north side of campus to park in the Ohio Union Garage on south campus.
i had my iphone in my coat pocket.
when i went to get out of the car, i did the awkward maneuver that only people-who-carry-unnecessarily-large-bags will completely understand.
i did the weird heft-the-bag-over-the-steering-wheel-while-tipping-sideways maneuver.
except, apparently, i tipped a little too far.
and my cell phone fell out of my coat pocket.
a whopping 1.5 feet.
but, as is generally my luck, it hit at the perfect angle to shatter the screen of the phone like a damaged windshield.
randomly, i was headed to a meeting in bernie's building, so i stopped over there first.
to walk into his office with a pout-lip and my phone held out in front of me.
i have to say, i have a patient husband.
if i was me i would have been frustrated with me.
he just called the Apple store to see what our insurance would cover.
meanwhile, i put a post-it on the phone with the information.
and when i went to move it, it came off with several shards of glass stuck to the sticky part.
brilliant.

anyway.
bern swapped out my phone for a new one and helped me restore the information.
i realized that i had lost some data today at work.
when i had another attack of the Dropsies.
this episode came on after i walked down the hallway to get a cup of water, headed back to my office, set the cup on my desk, and promptly knocked it over.
all over.
i thought i would take this photo to demonstrate exactly how much of the water i managed to spill:

note the small sip i managed to preserve.

anyway, when i went to take this photo, i realized that i lost all of my photos from November 22nd on.
so, no fun photos to share from my trip to Madison.
and, no photo of anth's recent holiday-related craft i was going to post about tonight.
because i will have to retake it.
and tell the story another day.
i tell myself that i remember being (at least slightly) more competent at life before i was distracted by kids.
but to be honest, my memory is shot these days, too.

a modern spin on a Christmas classic

today, our family headed out to a holiday party of a mutual colleague.
it was a lovely event and bern and I had a chance to catch up with some quality people while we were there.
on the way over, we were listening to 93.3, the local non-stop Christmas music station.
we heard Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas on the way over.

except, this is not what my little big man heard.
which I found out when anth asked, "why is he saying Have Your Cell Phone Merry Little Christmas? that doesn't even make sense."

you're right, honey.
it doesn't.
because that is not at all what he is saying.
(but when I really listened, it did kind of sound like that.)

fail photo 44 - sNOwman

this fail photo speaks for itself.
today at pickup, bern and i walked into benny's room.
it was pretty much a routine pick-up.
until bern pointed out the wall of giant-snowmen-with-kid-faces.
where i saw this:

that's my kid.

getting older

FYI: this post is specifically for my sister. 
not the content. 
but the fact that it is actually getting published tonight. 
because, about 20 minutes ago, she sent me a text from Kauai to say she was waiting for her 4pm installment of My Savvy Boys and that clearly i was behind. 
currently in the savvy abode, we are in the middle of the sad realization that the really big, pretty, pre-lit christmas tree we used to use is no longer conducive to the space in our house. 
and bernie is making a mad-dash to target. lowe's? i don't know. 
he is making a mad-dash to a place that hopefully has a more reasonably sized tree. 
as such, i have a few spare seconds to run downstairs and publish a post i wrote just after thanksgiving. 
because who wants to disappoint their little sister? 
not me. 
miss you, katie mae!
. . .
ahem.


when we visit bern's house overnight, we typically stay in the spare room upstairs. 
this was the drill while we were in town last week for Thanksgiving. 
outside of the door is a small landing, with a window that is covered by a set of white shutters. 


for some reason, ben loves to mess around with these shutters. 
we typically ask him to stop. 
he typically fails to do so. 
this pattern was in full-effect while we were upstairs getting the boys ready for folks to come over for food. 


anth was sprawled across the bed, propping up his head in one hand. 
he looked over at ben, who was inching back toward the window to open/close the shutters one more time. 
anth looked away from ben to glance over at me, shake his head, and say, "that ben. he's just such a little kid sometimes. i remember being like that."


funny. 
because i kind of don't remember you ever acting like a little kid. 

ernie

i have been M.I.A. for a bit. 
this last weekend, i was in Madison, Wisconsin visiting my friend kelly. 
it was a perfect mix of tourism and doing absolutely nothing. 
as in, i saw State Street and campus, and met kelly's colleagues. 
but mostly, we hung out on her couch knitting, addressing christmas cards, or eating the various appetizers we made to watch the MSU/Wisconsin game with friends. 


now i'm back. 
and tonight, while we were cooking dinner, we received a phone call. 
from one of santa's elves. 
anth had a very serious conversation with him. 
he shared his wishes, and also took a moment to stress the fact that, "actually, overall, benny is a pretty good kid."
(looking out for his little brother. precious.)
benny took the phone and panicked. 
he told the elf that he would like some more christmas decorations. 
(i am choosing not to take this as commentary on my progress so far. which can't really be called progress at all.)
this made it necessary for daddy to call back and clarify that benny would like a stuffed angry bird, a leapster, and a few other odds and ends. 


after dinner, we went up to get the boys undressed for bath time, and found a book in anth & benny's room. 
as well as an elf. 
on a shelf. 
curious. 


fortunately, the book explained everything. 
the elf is from Santa's workshop and flies home to report back to Santa each night, and will show up in a different place in our house each morning. 
the boys will have to find him in the morning. 
the basic rules are:
1. we have to name him instantly. 
2. we cannot touch the elf, lest he lose his magic. 
3. we can talk to him, but he can't talk back. 


so far tonight, the following things have occurred. 
1. benny suggested the name. . . Benny.
2. this suggestion was politely declined. 
3. benny suggested the name Ernie. 
4. anth loved it. we officially have Ernie the Elf in our house. 
5. the boys decided that, after their bath time, i would need to go in and get their underwear and pajamas, because Santa's elf would not appreciate such indiscretion. 
6. benny decided that we needed to talk quietly around the elf, because if we are too loud, he will turn into ice. he also decided that, at least for tonight, it would probably be best if mommy whispered his Christmas wishes to Ernie. 
7. anth has decided that there is no way he could really be an elf. because he's plastic. or that maybe he is a really good actor, like Woody and Buzz. or that maybe he is a spy camera for Santa.
8. ben found a permanent marker and drew in the book on the page where we wrote in the date the elf joined our family,  our family name, and the name we gave the elf. he wrote a "B" because he wanted to add that he was the one who named the elf. 
9. as i put anth to bed, he shared, "mom. i can't decide if tonight has been kind of mysterious, or just kind of creepy."
10.  and benny chimed in, "it's freaky." from under his covers. where he attempting to sleep/avoid Ernie's gaze. 


perhaps the elf should have started out in another room. 
but, well. . . we can't touch him. 
it's Santa's rule. 

climb every mountain. . .

last weekend, we were supposed to decorate for the holidays.

instead, we watched Ohio State play Michigan on saturday, and then built a bunk bed. 

on sunday, we shopped for christmas decor.

we had some. 

but it was kind of a sad amount. 

this is mainly because we usually head to california for the holidays, but are celebrating in our own home for the first time this year. 

santa has decided he would like to head down our non-existent chimney and provide whatever size gift he wants on christmas day. 

this made things like outdoor lighting, garland, and more snowmen necessary. 

so we hit up target and joann's on sunday. 

then we ran around looking for bedding for the guest room we suddenly acquired via bunk bed. 

and then we built a desk and a dresser and the trundle bed. 

so.

lots of christmas music.

no christmas tree.

just some garland around the staircase.

(which, by the way, made for an experience of unmatched expectations tonight. we put up the garland while the boys were sleeping last night. so bern wanted to show it to them tonight with the lights on. he had the boys come into the room with their eyes closed, plugged it in and told them to look. anth, of course, thought it was beautiful. ben surveyed the room and was upset that there was "christmas but no presents." oops.)

anyway. 

anth loves christmas lights. 

bern is at the the OSU/Duke basketball game tonight with his Uncle Bill.

i am packing for a trip to visit my friend Kelly in Madison this weekend. 

this means another night of no holiday decorating. 

but, i thought that i could at least give the boys a strand of lights for their room. 

 

here it is. 

(you will note that we have not yet put the books back on the shelf.)

in order to put up the lights, i stood on the little table anth is sitting on in the picture above. 

anth, seeing me standing on the table, yelled, "mom! oh no! be careful up there!"

(you will also note that "up there" is a loose term when you consider the height of this table.)

while looping the lights over the curtain rod, i told him, "don't worry, anth. i won't break the table."

i wish i could have seen his face, because i could hear the exasperation in his voice. 

"NO, mom. i'm not saying that because you're so BIG. i'm saying it because you're so OLD."

it's always time for christmas music

okay.
so, i don't actually think it's always time for holiday music. 
but, i am always ready for it to be time for holiday music. 
as such, i decided this year that the week before Thanksgiving was the appropriate time to bring on the holiday cheer. 
i officially kicked off the holiday season in the car, boys in tow, with the Glee Christmas Album. 
number 2. 


benny quickly decided that his favorite is Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. 
this is entertaining to me because it is about being good or bad, and ben teeters on the brink when making some of these decisions.
but, he loves it. 
this, of course, means repeat. 
often. 


at some point while we were driving and listening to this song for the nth time, ben decided it was not cold enough outside to warrant a vest. 
and he demanded that i immediately remove it from his 5-point-harnessed person. 
while driving. 
he then became quite...spirited...when i informed him that was not able to do so at the time. 


anth turned to ben, put his hand on his arm, and waited for him to calm down enough to listen.
"ben, you better listen to this song. even though it just sounds like a happy little song, it's the truth!"