Rejected Christmas Card Pictures 2009

REJECTED: Christmas does not smell funny.


REJECTED: "How you doin'?" is NOT a proper Christmas greeting.


REJECTED: Not fake happy enough.



REJECTED: Almost there.


REJECTED: You overshot a bit.


REJECTED: Yes, Scarlett, tomorrow is another day, but it isn't Christmas.


Technically, this isn't rejected. I'm using it as our plumber's Christmas card.

They Came From the North

We were very excited to be visited by the P family this weekend. KidP is scared of cats and Mr. P is allergic, so they were brave indeed. (And also smart as they took a hotel room.)

Upon their arrival Friday night, there was much rejoicing, feasting, and gift giving. Fin got a beautiful easel and the world's most fabulous cheetah tutu. Seriously, I am looking for a matching one. We visited until the adults were too tired to keep going.

When Fin spilled a cup of water (mostly on Kid P), I took the opportunity to indoctrinate her.


The girls had a great time bouncing... until my downstairs neighbors came up to complain.


How cute is that?


Saturday, we started out at the mall so that the kids could use the indoor playground and mini-rides. I am so happy that the girls are at the ages that the playground is the reason they want to come to the mall.



The weather was clear and not too cold, so we moved to the zoo.



There's always time to have an attitude.


Look! Cows, Mama! COWS!


Then Nancy met us and we were able to go behind-the-scenes to see the lion family (from a distance), Mr. P and Fin pet the rhino, and KathyP and Fin fed the zebra candy canes. Doesn't get much better than that!



Today, I needed to be at the Chanukah Carnival at work, so they kindly agreed to brave the sugar-fueled children to come over.

Fin loved the tossing game. She won frequently.


Mr. P enjoyed the electric maze more than the kids. Most of the games were too old for KidP, so he was her stand-in.


KidP checks the Chanukah watch her daddy won her.


Fin takes her turn at the dreidel pinata. When one of the big kids finally got the thing to burst, she dove onto the floor, landing on other children, to rake in a big haul.


She and KidP also benefited from a little boy who tried to pick up my daughter with a handful of prize tickets. We and the P family walked away with plenty of little things to get left in pockets to go through the laundry, left in the living room to stab bare feet, and left in the bathtub to unseen slip down the drain and cause expensive plumbing repairs. Happy Chanukah!


We had a blast and can't wait to get together with the P family again!

Oh, C'mon

Well, Rainbow Shark, to whom you were introduced on Sunday, was dead when we got home. He was perky this morning. He was perky at 2:30 when we swung by the house to get some forgotten items. He was dead by 5:30. Fin even told him at 2:30 that we would be back soon and he shouldn't miss us. The fish was active and seemed perfectly healthy.

If I am going to be honest (if not rational), I am sort of pissed at the fish. Fin is bummed out. She has already drawn his death masks and taped them to the tank. Plus, she drew a "dead fish calendar" that she hung beneath our family calendar to mark off when one of our fish dies. Damn fish.

Our Weekend

We had a fun weekend. My parents came in on Friday and babysat so that my friends and I could see New Moon. Finally! We all wore our matching shirts (only one of us was embarrassed) and had a blast with the movie and going to dinner afterwards. They didn't even balk when I whipped out the Edward and Jacob paper plates to use with our appetizers at the nice restaurant we went to.


Fin seemed to have a good time with her grandparents. She continues to be a grandpa's girl, but that's ok. I told her we have a long, family tradition of wrapping our grandpa's around our little fingers.


Saturday was a yucky weather day, so we spent the day inside with Christmas shows on the television and a pot of soup in the crock pot. Fin and Grandpa planned a wonderful birthday/tea party in honor of Maggie the Cat which mom and I were invited to attend.


Sunday, my parents took us out to breakfast then headed home. We had some Christmas activities to do. First, Fin was very insistent about shopping for Grandma, Grandpa, and Emmy. She brought her money along, some of which she said she found on my dresser. We went to Dollar Tree and she took FOREVER and ended up switching items several times, but she is now sure that what she picked will be perfect for each person.


Off to the mall to see Santa. As you can see from the previous post, the picture wasn't so great. But, at least she was brave enough to tell him what she wanted this year, even at a whisper. "A cheetah toy and a dinosaur toy." She forgot to tell him what the cats want, but I am pretty sure Santa knows our cats want food. Lots of food.


We were both pretty hungry, so we got pretzels and settled down. I was about finished when I looked up and saw where I had selected to have a snack with my six-year-old. (Really? I didn't even know these places were still around!)



We finished up at the mall with a carousel ride at her grandfather's insistence.


Our last stop of the day was to add a new family member. Meet, Rainbow Shark, a red tailed shark. (It's actually a little confusing because there actually are fish called "rainbow sharks".) He is a very cool fish and, surprisingly, does have some shark-like personality. He stalks then attacks his food and he swims with bursts of speed like a real, grown-up shark. I think I will have as much fun with him as she will. Welcome, Rainbow Shark!

. . . _ _ _ . . .

Such a sweet-looking Santa. Such a possessed-looking child. I think Santa was blinking S.O.S.



And, that was the best of the bunch. At least this time she doesn't look ill or like an abductee. I guess it can be called progress.