My Children Are Deprived

Tonight was Big J's Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts. At the end, they gave all the boys a treat that was a car made out of a Twinkie with Oreo wheels. When Big J brought his dessert car over to us, Little J asks, "What is that?" I say,"It's a little car." He goes, "I know it's a car, but what is that?" pointing to the Twinkie. I say,"It's a Twinkie," to which Big J replies, "What's a Twinkie?"

Snow Days

Last week the boys had 2 days canceled because of the weather, but that didn't stop them from playing outside in it. They had a blast! Even when the temperature was only 8 degrees and I thought they were insane for being out. There are lots of really good sledding hills around here, but they had fun sledding down our driveway, hill in the front yard, and the street. I think we got about 5 inches that time with single-digit temperatures.

I thought last week was a lot snow until I saw today's. We got about 7 - 8 inches. Compared to some places I know that's nothing, but it is a pretty respectable amount! It's 13 degrees right now and we are still suppose to get a few more flurries.

My kids have only been to school 8 days out of this month so far. That's crazy! I don't mind it, though. I like having everyone home with me. There's something comforting and cozy about it.

I've Been Waiting...

I wanted to do some post about all our Christmas happenings but JC has most of the pictures on his computer, so I was waiting for him to put them on mine but it hasn't happened. So, now that it is 3 weeks after Christmas it seems kind of silly to talk about Christmas. But I will anyway, and make due with the pictures I have on my computer. Then I will steal some pics from Christmas down there off my sister's Facebook page.

We went down to Texas to visit my family, even though this year we had just gone down at Thanksgiving, as well. We did our own Christmas together before we went down and then had Christmas, Santa, Christmas dinner, 3 birthdays and New Years Eve celebrations all on different days because of varying people being there at different times. I think we were there for a rockin' 10 days total.

I also snuck in a day trip with my dad to Louisiana to visit his side of the family. Little Miss and Little J joined us, even though we left at 6:00 a.m. to get over there and then got home at 10:30 p.m. after a long day. Little Miss literally fell asleep 4 minutes after being back in the car. It was fun to see my relatives that I hadn't seen since 1999!

OUR CHRISTMAS HERE:

 My Loves

 It was fun having Little Miss more into it. Gift from Abuela.

 Most of our gifts this year were "group" gifts that everyone could enjoy likes games and Wii accessories.

 Little Miss pitching a fit. I just thought this picture was funny.

 Making Dada pretty.

 All girlie. But she'll still kick your butt.

I bet YOU didn't get a handmade ceramic cupcake.

CHRISTMAS THERE:

Visiting my Grandma

 Little Miss Cutie Pie on Christmas Eve

 Waiting to open presents. Missing our older cousins :-(

 My littlest sis Ali and Big J

 Little Miss on Christmas morning

 Little Man on Christmas morning

 Little J on Christmas morning

Big J on Christmas morning

 Ali, Mom, Tori and me

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS:

 Some of my homemade b-day cards. I went on a fun Girl's Night Out with my sisters, mom and niece.

 JC and 3 of our children. Mason was not participating, although you can get an idea of what he was doing by viewing the picture below. JC's cousin Diana who lives 30 minutes from my parents had him over for some authentic Mexican food that night, so he was happy.

Nicole would have been 32 on New Year's Day.

TRIP TO LOUISIANA:

 My dad and his siblings. He is the baby of the family, but the biggest.

Front row L - R: Aunt Rita,  Aunt Roma, Aunt Fran, Aunt Syble. Back row: Dad and Uncle Gene

 My cousin Leah the dentist. She is a year younger than me and a year older than Tori. Her two boys and Little J were playing outside in the same gully in the woods that we use to play in.

NEW YEARS EVE CELEBRATION:

Minute-to-Win-It Games:

 Skillz, baby.

 Primping my sister Ali for the New Year's Eve Dance. Can you imagine her wedding day?!?

 The finished product.

 Her hot date, my nephew (and her nephew!) Alec.

 You Tube watching, guitar playing, and general festivity making. (Sister-in-law Lissette, brother Walker, JC)

 Happy New Year! Someone lock the crazies up!

Stay tuned for some attempted family pictures and pictures from our latest snow storm/school's canceled days.

A Book Recommendation and a Revelation

So over the Christmas break I decided to re-read a book. As you know, I am not a big re-reader of books. I've read Gone With the Wind twice, and that was about 11 years apart, and I really love that book. And then there are a handful of other books I have re-read and that's it. But I had been thinking about this book for some reason, and then it was my turn to recommend a book for book club, so I chose The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Can I just say that I LOVE this book? That is big for me to say I love a book. I like a lot of books. I have enjoyed reading and discussing lots of books. But The Book Thief is one of those books that stick with you and changes the way you look at things.

I love the writing style in The Book Thief. It took me a little bit to get use to it at first, but the narration (which is by Death) is so unique. The way he describes things you can totally see it, feel it, taste it. Feelings sit on people's shoulders. Words drop at people's feet or are handed across spaces. Suns drip. Faces look like cardboard and accordions.There are so many beautifully written passages in this book I would go back and re-read inside of my re-reading. Death is witty, too. Who knew?

I love The Book Thief because of the story it tells. I recently found out that the inspiration for it came from stories the author would hear his parents tell of their experiences as German children during World War II.  There is so much beauty mixed in with the ugly. If I were to sum up the gist of what this book is about it is about the power of words, friendship, and the best and the darkest of the human race. I knew the story, what would happen to every single person, every single event that would take place, and I still cried, I still laughed and I still felt filled up. And I'm still thinking about it.

So just trust me. Read the book. Stick with it to the end and you won't regret it.


In other news...I just made a startling realization the other night:

I am a middle-aged 

suburban housewife...

in Kansas. 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Related Much?

Little J and me around the same age:

The Circle of Life

For Mom and Dad....


Me with one Q-tip and Little Miss with two:

Yeah, so, it's another post with Little Miss. What? I like her.

Showcasing her 17-month-old skills: