Misc. Christmas

I've done my best this month keeping track of fun things to tell you, Blog. You're the one I feel comfiest talking to, so curl up and listen up. ;)

So I found this gem of a sweatshirt at Ross sometime during the weeks before Christmas. I've been using it as festive loungewear.

I don't think the clothing designer intended to send such a grim message. I mean, it's a cute picture and all. But really. Think about it. What is Santa's relationship with cookies and milk?! The poor things. And they look so eager to receive their portly "pal".

 

 

Speaking of which, at our church Christmas party we watched video clips of Primary kids answering seasonal questions. A 4-year-old girl was asked, "Does Santa have any helpers?" She said yes. Then the follow-up question. "Who helps Santa?" I'm sure everyone was expecting her to say elves, but after a moment of contemplation she sweetly replied, "his mom."  =) I couldn't help but laugh out loud. 

 

While I'm on the subject of things kids say... This is a convo my sister overheard her boys (15 and 13) sharing while decorating the Christmas tree. I've borrowed her exact Facebook post...

 

Ethan (pulling out an ornament with a picture of Isaac in 2nd grade): Awww, look at that smiling face! Whatever happened to that cheerful, happy kid?

Isaac: That was before I learned what a cold, dark place the world is.

 

Ha!

 

Here's a little holiday cheer from Jane. She was about to attend a church activity that involved caroling. She did not want to go. I had to casually fetch a pen and paper after she spouted this:

"I hate caroling! I hate everything about it! I wish I could throw up on the person that invented it!"

 

She went, and later reported that she had only mouthed the words. I think she felt like she won. Silly girl.



 

My holiday decor will probably never fall under the category of elegant. I tend to lean toward the mishmash-Christmas look.

 

Tacky to some; cheerful and okay by me.



On the 15th, we attended a Christmas play written and directed by my 8th grade ex, Kevin. He's a good Christian fella. I think he invited all of his Facebook friends to attend the production. I like to support friends (and/or family) in their artistic endeavors, so I took Ryan with me to see it.

Kevin is the same kid I hounded for months after he dumped me for his pastor's daughter, Cherry.
I don't think he was prepared for my dramatic reaction. Not only did I pass him desperate, tear-stained notes of anguish between classes, I also faintly remember taping a bunch of construction paper broken hearts all over his locker one particularly rough afternoon. I'm sure that stunt alone made him seriously consider taking me back. =)

It's just that we were 13, and I refused to let my wild crush on him be extinguished without a good deal of kicking and screaming. ;) After all, at the height of our 2 week (at most) "relationship", he wrote that he felt safe with me. Ha! How in all the halls of Fairmont Jr. High could my impressionable teenybopper mind be expected to dismiss those tenderly penned words?! =)
Lucky for him, he was let off the hook sometime in 9th grade when I started chasing Alan, a nice boy with slicked back hair, pegged jeans, and a weakness for cheap cologne. Alan was my first kiss. I won't chronicle what happened after he dumped me for Mary. =)

I can't believe I'm admitting to this behavior now. (Not that I've changed much over the years... heh-heh...) I guess I never learned my lesson. This *might* explain why I never (ever) got back together with any boy after we broke up the first time. I made sure of that. ;) 

Wow, talk about a tangent. Anyway, the play was good, the crew was good, it was a nice evening. It's always fun to see people accomplish great things.

Okay, now let's end on some other note so as to not leave my junior high antics too fresh on anyone's mind. I wouldn't want anyone having nightmares. =^o

Friday the 21st, Ryan and I went to see The Hobbit with some of his family members. It was so good! I loved the sets and the acting, among other things. I keep forgetting how much I like Martin Freeman (who plays the part of Bilbo Baggins). He is just so likeable. I realized the other day that he plays Dr. Watson in the Sherlock TV series, so Ryan and I have begun watching that together. The first installment was entertaining, and it helps that Sherlock is played by a Benedict Cumberbatch. What an awesome name!

That's it for now. Can't believe December is all but over, and the new year is set to commence. Maybe I should compile a list of empty resolutions...

 

 

 





Ninjabread Men

Per Shannonish tradition, cutout cookies were yet again baked and lovingly draped with frosting and sprinkles, just in the nick of time for Christmas.

(yawn) These were nothing out of the ordinary.

A little good lighting goes a long way. =) 

 

I found a fun new ninjabread men cookie set this year, complete with 4 uniquely posed cutters. Standing at the store, staring slack-jawed at the box, I could do nothing else but buy it and take it home.

I knew it would come in handy sometime, but I didn't know when. I couldn't imagine straying from my typical goody-two-shoes style gingerbread people, but...

 

...a few weeks later I gave it a shot...

 

Which ones do you prefer? 

Things my kids draw.

Just thought I'd share some recent masterpieces made by my kiddies.

 

 

Jane drew and colored this Moshi Monster mural as Halloween was approaching...

 

I thought she did an awesome job. I know I'm her mom and I'm expected to be utterly impressed with her skills, but I really think she has a gift. I'm always excited to see what she does next. If she's this good at age 9, I can only imagine she'll get even better. She puts so much care and detail into her work. It's just so crisp!

Cora drew the elf below. =)

She doesn't like drawing as much as Jane does, but I think she's definitely on the right track. She makes some pretty cute stuff.

 

Here's another of Jane's holiday pictures...

 





 

She drew these cute elves just by looking at them on the computer. It takes some talent to get the proportions right, and that she did.

 

 



The girls are very interested in Monster High dolls, so they decided to design a series of their own.

 

I can tell Jane is my daughter when one of her drawings has candy corn adornments...

 



 

 

Cora drew the one on top, second from the left. Jane made the rest. Then she taped them all on her wall like this.

Let's not leave Oliver out. Here's one he brought home from church. It's now displayed on our fridge. He's just starting to get the hang of coloring. He never was interested in it until he started preschool. And I think it helps that he frequently sees his sisters engaged in artsy activity.

I like the wide smiles and hypnotic eyes. =) This picture struck me as kind of ironic. I wonder why the person who designed it decided to depict two boys and a girl. Is it some kind of juvenile love triangle? Planned that way or not, I agree with the message. I wish big people were as quick to forgive as little children are. Kids are amazing that way.
Speaking of amazing kids, Oliver just leaned over and asked why I took a picture of that. "It has girls in it! Dumb girls! She looks dumb!"  =) And I suppose he thinks the boys look totally brilliant? Sheesh.

Oliver has been practicing writing his name a lot lately. I think it's cute. And he is a confirmed lefty. I saw signs of it before he even turned two, but now I'm positive his left hand is his dominant one.

 

He's obviously taken lessons from Jane on the proper way to dot an "i". =)  I wonder what his preschool and primary teachers think.

 

Well, that's it for now.

 

SO... WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY KIDS' SKILLS?!

 

Facebook Hates Me

I don't know what I did to deserve it, but Facebook really gets a kick out of teasing me.

If I've already shared this tidbit before, please forgive me. It's classic Facebook vs. Shannon material, so I'm risking telling the story twice. But I really don't think I previously told you (you = my blog).

One time I made a comment on someone's post, and after some passage of time I noticed a tiny blue thumbs-up next to what I'd typed. That kind gesture warmed my heart through to the bone. Of course I wanted to see who had approved of my super-funny comment, so I casually let the cursor hover over the "like". Imagine my dismay when no name was displayed -- just an eye-opening, demotivating note: "No one currently likes this." Awww, dang. What a cruel prank to make me think someone liked what I said. =/ Ha ha. Very funny, FACEBOOK.

Another time while perusing the daily FB news feed I purposefully clicked "like" on a friend's humorous photo. The following message immediately popped up: "You don't have sufficient permissions to do that."  Seriously??? Not only are my comments largely unliked, but now I'm not allowed to like anyone else's posts?!

These incidents may possibly be linked to the reason I'm not a fan of the "like" button in general. I think it's kind of a cop-out. Without an actual comment at least briefly explaining what the person thinks about the topic, who's to know it's not just a sympathy click? And how does anyone know for sure that the"like" button was intentionally pressed in the first place? I'm sorry, but I think it's kinda lazy to simply "like" an adorable photo or thoughty post. It doesn't mean I don't sometimes resort to clicking it myself when I can't think of anything clever to type, but I never do so without a hearty dose of hypocritical guilt.

I don't like to make it a habit of repeating my "good material", so I usually save it for my blog. That means I don't post much on Facebook. Maybe it's a subconscious fear of judgment or worry over the inevitable silent rejection from loads of familiar people. Or it could have something to do with the fact that Facebook itself enjoys picking on me! Every time my ego gets a nice boost, I know to soon expect an emotional smackdown of equal or greater value. It all evens out, and that's why I'm the same insecure girl at the end of each day. Poor little Shan. Oh well. At least I can laugh at myself in the process. =)

While on the topic of Facebook, it's a sad fact that social networking (along with texting and online chatting) is rapidly taking the place of personal, face to face communication. For example, my sister was recently at a store when she saw a couple she hadn't seen in years, even prior to the days of easy internet stalking. As they acknowleged one another, she expected to pause and have a bit of friendly conversation with them. It was not to be. Instead, they basically breezed past as they spoke to her. They commented on how cute my sister's new baby is (the carseat was draped with a blanket, obscuring any possible view of said cute infant). But since they're friends of hers on Facebook, they'd already "seen" the new wee one, and felt like they'd been sufficiently in touch just by trolling through pictures and status updates over time (maybe even occasionally going out on a limb and clicking "like" on something she'd posted!) This apparently left them feeling like there was nothing to catch up on, even though they had not seen each other in person for many years. Pret-ty sad...

How do we stop this?! I don't know, but I have the feeling it's only going to get worse.

Sorry this wasn't very short.






 

Horrible

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if everyone, everywhere, made it a personal goal to NOT KILL ANYONE, anymore? Would that be too much to ask? 

What a horrible thing murder is. I've shed many tears for the Sandy Hook victims and their families this week. Every time I've seen a group of little kids, or heard a child cry, or watched one of my own children sleep, I've been haunted by thoughts of those innocent first graders who were so violently robbed of the rest of their lives. The whole nation mourns together with Newtown. I doubt there has ever been a more upsetting tragedy. I can't think of a severe enough punishment for the crime committed.

Now everyone is heartbroken, and people are scared that it will happen again. It feels like a nightmare that won't end. In a way, it'd be kind of nice if the world ended tomorrow. It could happen any minute now ... but it won't. Not when anyone's expecting it.

I don't know how parents ever go on after losing a child. It's one thing if there is some warning, like a prolonged illness or something. In those cases the child at least passes safely. But how does anyone continue to live after their child is intentionally killed? I've been thinking of all the mothers and fathers worldwide who have ever had to endure that agony, and I am so sad for them all.

=(

Upper Crust

Oh, what the heck... I think I'll produce some short posts for a change. It's a bit of a hypocritical thing for me to do, considering I'm often left unfulfilled and disappointed by the briefness of other blog entries I read. Oh well, I'll try to forgive myself somehow.

I think for this one I'll lump a few similar events OUT of chronological order, just to be crazy. I know what you're thinking. This is going to be another one of her long posts.

Nuh-uh...

Okay then, I'd better get to the point quickly.

The similar element in the events I'll list below this crust of an intro is Maria.

Last Saturday (Dec.1) Maria and I met up to attend the annual Christmas Show at the expo building at the fairgrounds. I don't know why it's called a "show". It really is misleading. It's just a bunch of vendors and hopeful entrepreneurs peddling their homespun crap. I mean, crafts. =) I like looking at stuff, and lots of it is really neat, but I feel guilty when I don't want to buy much of anything.
I would HATE sitting at one of those booths all day watching people point and laugh at my handiwork (the way Maria and I discreetly make fun of some of the odd things we encounter there).
I did buy some jams (apple pie, candied apple, and tomato basil) and a couple of cute Christmassy hair clippies for the girls.
It's always a welcome treat hanging out with Maria. We sure missed Renee this year. She's the one who chats up the vendors while Maria and I hang back and quietly take advantage of the free samples.

One Thursday near the middle of the month of October, Maria invited (begged) me to come to Burley with her so she could meet her cousin there so they could film an application video for
The Amazing Race. She has always wanted to be on the show, so she decided to give it a shot. Her gay cousin Trent has the same "impossible" dream. They are applying as a team.

I can already tell this is getting more wordy than I'd anticipated... =/

When we arrived in beautiful Burley, Idaho, we met her cousin at the most logical of locations, a restaurant called The Upper Crust.

We ate lunch, then moseyed across the street to a park of sorts where I filmed the two introducing themselves to the camera. It was fun hearing them share little stories about each other. They both have such appealing personalities, I don't see how they wouldn't get picked! Fingers crossed.
They submitted their application the beginning of November, and now all they can do is hope and wait.

Two days after the day trip to Burley, our friend Beca (from high school) was in town from Utah. She graced us with her presence for breakfast at Rembrandt's Saturday morning. It was all kinds of fun catching up with her. She's quite a peppy individual. I so enjoy the company of lively pals such as these. They are intricately woven into the crispy upper crust of my consciousness.

Sorry if that wasn't short enough. I'll try harder next time. I'm honestly trying to stop being such a windbag on here. =)