Tater-isms on turkey day...

watching a marching band in the parade:

Tater-tot: Here mommy, here are you some bee-oculars and me some bee-oculars...
(hands me a Viewmaster and has toy binoculars for himself)
Tater-tot: You just look through your bee-oculars...
(looks through his binoculars)

"WOW!!! There's GIRLS!"

Happy Thanksgiving

In honor of Thanksgiving... things I'm thankful for... (and these are not in order of importance or priority - just the order I thought of them).

Copper (husband)
Tater-tot (son)
Stretch (dog)
Lillith (cat)
Home
Job
Health
God
Family
Friends
Cyber-friends (yes, you!)
Community who gives so much to others
Military
Law Enforcement
Church family
Co-workers (most of them - not the ones that talk on their phones in the bathroom!)
All the little old ladies in my Sunday School class
(Funny story - when I picked my Sunday school the list said it was a "multi-generational" class of women - little did I know that it was women in their 60s, 70s and 80s! But I love them to pieces!)




Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

Craftiness... Ideas needed!

Sorry to have been silent awhile... this 'computer in the man-cave' thing really has thrown me.

Copper's promised to get me a wireless thingy so I can take my laptop anywhere in the house to blog...

The holidays are sneaking up on us. Tater-tot wants to make gifts this year - any suggested craft ideas that aren't too complicated for a 4 year old would be greatly appreciated!

Last night we were reading a book, Tater-tot and I, and he kept getting up and running out of the room (about every third page) and then coming right back again to keep reading...

It took me awhile but then I figured out - he's finally learned that "squeezinging a noise" (passing gas) while sitting on mommy's lap is rude!

He had a "yellow" day yesterday.

(yes his school subscribes to the terribly unimaginative Green, Yellow, Red system of daily discipline...)

On the way home he said he didn't want to be in trouble and I explained to him that he needed to think about that next time he is tempted to dis-obey his teachers and that he may have to have a time out when he gets home but that it was up to Daddy to decide since mommy had to go back to work.

When we got to the house Tater-tot got out of the car and headed inside and I said hi/bye to Copper in the driveway and then headed back to work... he called me later to tell me that Tater-tot had gone straight into the house and to his room and stuck his nose in the corner of his room... without being told.

Fox

When the sun is in your eyes...

Blue 'Diego' sunglasses are in style...

Copper graduates to Phase 3 of Field Training today. He's with his third and final field training officer (FTO). After this he'll have his first FTO back as a "ghost rider" (No, not a silly Nicholas Cage movie).

A Ghost Rider wears plain clothes and just observes, doesn't interfere or back up. Well, I guess the ghost would be armed so he could back up someone in a life or death situation (I hope!)

Anyway - at the very end of all of this I think the Chief of Police will ghost ride with him for a day (kind of like a Final Exam) and then they'll turn him loose...

His 2nd FTO and he were a good pair and Copper learned a lot from him, including some colorful new slang I'd never heard before...

(In my best Forest Gump voice I say, 'they was like peas and carrots').

I'm so super proud of him. He's already doing a great job! Tater-tot still doesn't really understand what Daddy does...

He drives as fast as he wants to... (all of the time, according to Tater-tot)

He helps people who crash their cars...

He takes bad-guys to jail...

Okay - so he's got two out of three right...

Tater-ism

Tater-tot: Momma, I smell something that smells poopie

Me: Did you 'squeeze a noise'? (Tater-tot's own special phrase for passing gas)

Tater-tot: No... I think Mater poo-pooed in the potty at Grammy's house and forgot to flush...

We are 150 miles away from Grammy's and he can smell Mater's poo?!?!
That's disgusting, Mater! (Eternal! What are you feeding that kid?!?!?)

Visions of sugar plums...snickerdoodles... and fish?

Is it bad that in one breath I tell my son that Christmas is all about celebrating Jesus Birthday and in the next breath I threaten that if he isn't good Santa won't bring him toys?

We hade a bake sale at work to raise money for a local area food drive that is happening next week... I've just started advertising but If I have any ad revenues in November I'll donate them to the local food bank that benefits from this drive (so get click happy, people).
Thursday night I made several new recipes all from the book "101 things to do with a Cake Mix"

With cake mixes (and a few ingredients, eggs, oil, butter, vanilla, etc.) I made Chocolate Chip Cookies (note if you do this - don't use salted butter! ick!) Snickerdoodles, Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins and Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies... At 10:20 p.m. I decided that I had done enough for one night and stopped short of making Brownies too... Even with Copper and Tater-tot sampling liberally before they went to bed I still brought a lot of stuff for the bake sale.

When we did a sale in May for Relay for Life we raised almost $500. I'm blessed to work in a very generous community! Turns out we did even better this time - topping $400 before noon and breaking $500 for the day!

It's frustrating though to have spent one of Copper's nights off baking all night on Thursday, and last night I had a Chamber of Commerce Fish Fry that I have to go to (I'm on the Board of Directors)... and today he went back on shift... I try to only be busy when he's at work... but that just doesn't seem to work since his shifts keep changing! We won't have the schedule that covers Christmas until the second week of December!!!

The fish fry was a military appreciation thing (we live and work pretty close to a big military installment). The officers who attended were so kind and gracious. Many went to the kitchen as they were leaving to personally thank the Volunteer Fire Fighters who had done all of the cooking for us. (they also responded to two dispatches and had the meal on the table on time! They are amazing!)

Yesterday was Crazy Friday at Tater-tot's school (daycare). They wore pajamas to school... he looked so cute in his CARS PJs and CARS tennis shoes... so matchy, matchy...

While I was at the fish fry he had some good "Daddy time." And since he's learning about police officers at school I'm sure there were tons of great things he said that I missed... maybe Copper will remember a few gems for me to share with everyone...

Speaking of Copper, he moved our computer into his 'man cave' this week so I have to invade his territory of bulletproof vests and guns and badges to blog... don't even get me started!

Fox

Tater-isms

Singing (spontaneously when the Eagles came on the radio)
Tater-tot: E-I-N-G-O, E-I-N-G-O, E-I-N-G-O and Dingo is his name, oh.


(do the Eagles sound like Bingo? See earlier thoughts on Journey)

Random - into the silence...
Tater-tot: Mommy, God is at your college, and God is in the sky, and God is in my heart.

*sigh*

I really didn't intend two posts about religious themes in a row - but the tater-tot is really on a God kick right now. According to him God is almost as strong as Daddy... God is in the sky and God is everywhere...and God is going to fix his broken sun-glasses up in heaven and then give them back to him.

I don't have to work today... (nanny nanny boo boo)

One of the perks of working for a bank. Happy Veterans Day

It was in the news yesterday that Christian monks from different sects got into a brawl outside of Jesus' tomb in Jerusalem. The Israeli swat team was called in to break it up and two monks (one from each sect) were arrested... The news article interviewed a monk named "Father Pakrat" about the incident - I thought to myself - 'I bet when they ordered new hymnals - he didn't throw the old ones away...'

Apparently monks from six different religious traditions share the church which is called Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is rumored to house the site of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Because the different groups can't work together and often disagree it sounds like not much of anything gets done there. The article referenced a ladder that was placed on a ledge near the door in the 19th century - its still there - because no one can decide who has the authority to remove it.

The city government has been after the church for ages to put in a fire exit but they won't because they can't decide where it should go.

I'm not making light of their disagreements - it has in fact put in to perspective some of the disagreements of my own body of faith in the past... we resolved the "we need softer toilet paper in the ladies room" synod of the mid 90's relatively simply now that I think about it.

Anyway - not to end abruptly but my main goal wasn't a diatribe on religious harmony - it was the Pakrat joke (if you missed it - re-read the first paragraph).

Fox

Is this for real?

Stumbled accross the following website Kid in a Box.

It someone who actually sells cardboard boxes as a new and innovative toy for kids. Of course we've all seen our kids play mindlessly for hours with a box... there's even a great Spongebob Squarepants episode all about the box and imagination...

I'm all for encouraging the creative and imaginative play. Someone bought us a new TV or something when my tater-tot was 2 and we turned the box into a play-house. We cut a front and back door in it and he loved it! It sat in our living room behind the sofa for a long time (until we needed to put a peice of furniture back there).

We actually have a box in the garage that his birthday present came in and we are saving it... for just such a time as we have a place to put it so he can have a new playhouse.

But are people really paying $29.95 for a 20-inch square box for their kids!?!?!? And shipping is extra... you have to pay them to ship you an empty box! To be fair they do include a box of crayons too... but come on!

Please tell that I'm not the only one that thinks this is crazy!

As promised - Velma

This is me - as Velma on Halloween. It was a fun day. One co-worker was Waldo, one was the Pope, one was a papparazzo (yes - he took the picture). My boss was a clown and we had one teller (a woman in her 60s) who dressed as a rapper another of our older tellers was a tourist and a younger teller was Snow White and one who was a witch. Oh, and our branch manager was a a vampire. On the wall next to me is our halloween 'pumpkin' decorating contest. We decorated foam cut outs that were shaped like pumpkins... We let our customers vote all week long and mine ended up winning. Here's a picture of it:

It was fun to make! Watching the tater-tot enjoy the Great Pumpkin this fall inspired it too.

So this post doesn't have much too it... I've hit my first dry spell... if you are just dying for something new from me... go back and read the tons of posts I made last week... by next week I fully expect to be out of this funk...

Fox

I am in the wrong line of work!

I recently inquired about hiring an 'inspirational speaker' for a brief talk at a civic dinner... he normally charges $5000. Yes, that's FIVE-THOUSAND DOLLARS for his speaking engagements but because we are small organization not too far from his hometown he is willing to do it for the bargain basement price of $1500. Yes that's FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. My committee was balking at a Mariachi band that charged $300 an hour so I'm thinking we can't afford this guy... and to be fair - this is his total livelihood and he is wonderful... I've known of him for years and he is truly a great speaker... I guess what keeps him from being Chris Farley and "living in a van down by the river" is that he can command such a large fee for his services...

I think I'm pretty clever (don't you just love my modesty!?!?) - and I don't get nervous speaking in front of crowds... I think I've found my new calling! I could really make some good money (even charging less than half what he does!) So far all you've heard from me is sarcasm - but I can do inspirational... really I can!

To book me for future civic events in your area - send me an email!!!

I'm not going to talk about politics!

But I am going to say that I felt very patriotic going to vote today (I always do). Whichever candidates you vote for, nationally, and on the state, county and local levels - be proud of yourself for going and letting your voice be heard today.

I'm in a very "RED" state so regardless how I vote our electoral votes always go the same way... but I never let that stop me (regardless of whether I'm voting red or blue that year) from going to the polls. I just turn my focus instead to the state and local elections and try to educate myself on those candidates too!

I also feel good about taking my tater-tot to the polls with me. It was out of necessity, since Copper had to work... but he was very excited about going with mommy to "float." Even though he didn't know what voting is (and couldn't even say it right) he still had fun and the very kind poll workers gave him an "I Voted" sticker too. More importantly he now knows what a polling site looks like, and what it means to vote.

I remember the first time I went to vote- I'd never even been in a polling place that I can remember. I felt like the new kid walking into the cafeteria on the first day of school... very uncomfortable and out of place... hopefully, by accompanying me, he'll never have that uneasy feeling with letting his voice be heard. Or at least no fear of the unknown situation.

When it was time to leave the tater-tot had decided that 'floating' was way more fun than going to "school" (daycare) and so convincing him that he did have to leave and go to school was a bit of a "challenge."

Is it just coinidence? Too weird for words (and yet - here are words)

In the car... listening to the radio... Tater tot in the back... relative quiet for once... The radio plays a familiar strain... a piano intro...

It's Faithfully by Journey (pause for nostalgic trip back in time)

Before the lyrics even start - Tater-tot starts singing "the wheels on the bus go round and round"

So I'm asking myself - does the intro to Faithfully sound like The Wheels on the Bus?

And then the lyrics start...

Highway run
Into the midnight sun
Wheels go round and round
Youre on my mind
Restless hearts
Sleep alone tonight
Sendin' all my love
Along the wire
They say that the road
Ain't no place to start a family
Right down the line
Its been you and me
And lovin a music man
Ain't always what its supposed to be
Oh girl you stand by me
I'm forever yours...faithfully

NO WAY does a 4-year old know Journey lyrics - but THIS CAN'T BE A COINCEDENCE!?!?!

Happy Halloween! (written late last night... forgot to hit post)

Every year in late September co-workers start talking about Halloween -

Should we dress up? Should we just wear Halloweenie t-shirts? (I'm claiming that Halloweenie is a word-even if it isn't)

I always vote for wearing a costume. I obsess... I shop... I hem... I haw... and then I finally decide... and I don't go half-way. If I'm going to dress up its going to be spectacular... I also DO NOT buy pre-made (read cheaply made) costumes! Not for me - not for my kid... it just seems like a waste of money to pay $15 or $20 for some flammable flimsy thing that will rip at the first sign of rough play.

This year the Tater-tot is wearing a pre-made police man costume but it is Imaginarium brand dress up clothing... made for year round play and much sturdier... and someone else bought it for him!

I do always vote to dress up - but I also feel a bit silly once I'm dressed up and out in public... I mean I work in bank... people trust me with their money and to advise them financially - and I'm dressed like a (whatever).

The following is a list of my best halloween costumes that I've done in the past...
1. Tulip (yes, as a child my mother made a tulip costume for me) If I had a scanner you'd see - the cutest thing ever!
2. Native American. (back then we called it an Indian Princess... "Eternal" was a Pony - and I 'rode' on her back)
3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider (I had the guns, and the "guns" - and more importantly - back then I had the rest of the body *sigh* those were the days)
4. Velma Dinkley from Scooby Doo (wearing this one as I sit here typing!)

The following is a list of costumes I want to do...
1. Tippy Hedron's character from Hitchcock's "The Birds"
2. Rosie the Riveter
3. Lara Croft Tomb Raider-again (I just want to have that body again!)
4. Daphne from Scooby Doo

The following is a list of ideas that I think are clever - even though I'm not on fire to do them myself
1. A Tourist (loud shirt, camera, fanny pack, luggage, straw hat)
2. A Temp (write 98.6 on a t-shirt) Along these same lines, a Pink Slip, and a Black-Eyed Pea ("P" on the shirt black your eye)
3. A Runaway Bride (wedding dress, tennis shoes, sweat bands on wrist and head)
4. A jilted prom-date (prom dress - torn stockings, carrying shoes, mascara running down face)

Let me know your great ideas - maybe next year I'll use one of them!

Fox