Light Reading For Tumnus

Tumnus found the current Sports Illustrated very interesting - but, obviously not interesting enough as he rolled over into his usual "spread eagle" sleeping position.

It's been awhile since I've posted a "Tumnus Sleeping" picture... And I KNOW some of you look forward to these pictures :-)

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Looks Can Be Deceiving

You’d never guess which one was REALLY shooting the rubber bands at other people’s butts… Yes, a picture can be very deceiving. However, I have a feeling Lyle wasn’t a little angel in the back row at school, either.

Mr Nice & Mr Naughty

 

Moose Mug Cheers

A "Moose Mug Cheers" to all for Christmas. - it's now time to sit down and watch Christmas Vacation :-)
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Pecans

Yummy - bulk pecans ...
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Father/Daughter Starbucks Stop

We bring our kids up right :-)
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Laurie's Birthday

We had a fun-filled day on Sunday celebrating Laurie's birthday... Of course, most of it was being at church, watching football, napping, finishing Christmas cards (yes, we're actually going to get them out this year AND before Christmas... WOO HOO!!!).

We were suppose to go out for lunch for Laurie's birthday, but because of the C-O-L-D, we decided to grab some fried chicken from Wal-Mart. FYI... not recommended... Kroger fried chicken is MUCH better and a regular pick-up for Andrew and I on Sundays for lunch :')

So Laurie enjoyed a very relaxing day of watching football, cross stitching, eating my fabulous caramels (they really did turn out VERY good... if I may say so myself).

We sat down and enjoyed a little birthday cake (courtesy of Wal-Mart... gotta love their cakes). Laurie had asked for a small chocolate cake so... that's what she got. Here are a few pictures from our little celebration (Laurie's crown was made by Savannah on the computer... I wasn't surprised that it said "Hannah" on it):

Laurie got all the candles out in one blow... 

the candles were suppose to be "relighting" ones, but... 

only one wouldn't blow out. That was a waste of $2.

The kids always love to lick the icing off of the candles... 

well, so do Laurie and I :)

Chocolate truffle cake... Yummy!!!

The kids always do a good job of wrapping presents... (almost too good sometimes). They wanted to make sure Mommy could play with them on the Wii during their Christmas break :)

I've already heard Andrew ask SEVERAL times "Mommy, do you want to play the Wii with me?"

As usual, I wrapped my presents for Laurie immediately before she opened them... some year I'm going to have them wrapped several days before and sitting out so she has to stare at them. (Yes, I did have them purchased several days ago)

Also, as usual, something practical 

(new everyday glasses that were desperately needed)...

And then something fun... a little (or a lot, as is usually the case for me) of "VS" for a woman's birthday (or Christmas or V-day or Groundhog Day or Memorial Day or 4th of July or... just any day) always brings some happiness into her life :-)

Celebrating my sweetie's birthday

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Birthday Girl

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Savannah's New "Do"

Savannah's been using curlers in her hair after her evening showers and her hair has been SO cute! She received many many compliments this morning at church. She's always had such VERY straight and thin hair - It's amazing what a few curlers can do!
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Pecan Tassies DONE

Another first for me today - pecan tassies. I LOVE these (so does my dad, and he was a little jealous I was making them) and really really really hope they turn out. I'll know after supper tonight when I try one... or two... or three :-)

FYI to my mom - these went MUCH more smoothly than the caramels. I didn't have to call you mid-way on these.
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Making Caramels - the story

After 1 hour and 19 minutes of stirring (shew!!!) I finally hit the 245 degree temp - woo hoo!!! Poured and setting now.

Notes to self for making caramels next year:
1) DO NOT double the recipe
2) Caramel mix rises
3) Use a big enough pot at the start
4) Have the next two pot sizes ready just in case I overlook #1
5) Having to pour into a larger pot while heating adds more time
6) Having to pour into an even larger pot (yes again) adds much more time
7) Have a bar stool to sit on
8) Workout my arms at Golds Gym for one month prior
9) Don't wear a sweatshirt
10) Have cell phone handy to call my mom (to give her a good laugh at my expense)
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Making Caramels

One hour of stirring and counting - I'll explain more later.

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Suitcase

I was doing a little (actually a lot) catching up tonight on several blogs that I follow using Google Reader. I ran into THIS entry at the "shlog" of Shaun Groves, who I met in Austin this past summer. Oh the life of a traveling musician... I've seen some pretty ratty looking suitcases thru the years, but I've never seen one in this "rare" condition. Obviously Shaun has a lot of patience... and a lot of glue and tape.

New class for dogs

Our dog Mister Tumnus has very obviously been instructed in a "Growing Dogs God's Way" class - notice how he patiently waits for Laurie's attention while placing his paw onto her foot to let her know he needs her for something.

Sad that we've seen Tumnus do a better job with this than most kids :-)

(You really will only get this if you're familiar with the book and teaching series called "Growing Kids God's Way")
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Winter Medicine

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"Twoth" Down... Two to Go

There were lots of tears shed tonight in our home… much different than the other night when Savannah lost the first of four teeth possibly to be lost over the next few days.

During supper Savannah suddenly started crying and sobbing with her hand over mouth. From what we could understand between sobs, while eating she hit her most-loose front tooth (yes, both are loose… one was dangling by a string, the other somewhat attached… does that make sense?). Anyway… when Laurie looked, the tooth was barely hanging on. She told Savannah that the tooth had to be pulled, we couldn’t leave it… Savannah sobbed harder. Of course, it didn’t help that this tooth was bleeding quite a bit more than the tooth two nights ago, and seeing the blood just got her more upset. Laurie finally got a good grip on the tooth (and on Savannah) and got it out (it didn’t take much).

Savannah continued crying as she ran into the bathroom to swish with saltwater… she slowly settled down over the next few minutes and explained a little more… She wanted to wait until tomorrow and lose the tooth at school so her teacher could see it. HA!!! I’m sure Mrs. Koch (pronounced “cook”) appreciates us taking care of it at home tonight :-[)

So, being the quick thinking dad, I mentioned that she could take it to school tomorrow and still show it… blah, blah, blah. I then said, “ I hope the tooth fairy doesn’t still come tonight and take it…” as I said this, her eyes immediately showed concern. More quick thinking required… “Well, maybe you’ll just have to give the tooth fairy a call tonight and explain to him why he has to wait until tomorrow night.” Oh great… what’s that line about how one lie leads to another???

She just looked at me after I said “give the tooth fairy a call…” “Really?” she asked. Sure, I’ll make a few phone calls and see if I can find out how to get in touch with him. We’ll figure this out somehow.

Off I go into the basement to fold laundry and go through my cell phone’s address book trying to find someone that would appropriately fit the role of “The Tooth Fairy.” JOSH… my nephew. He’ll play along… so I text Josh:

Me: Are you available for an emergency?

Josh: What do you mean?

Me: We need a tooth fairy to call for Savannah to talk to – she lost her tooth tonight but she wants to take it to school tomorrow and she’s afraid he might still come tonight

Josh: Hahaha. Quite the emergency. I would but I’m in the movie theatre. Not sure people would appreciate me calling my cousin and act fairy-ish here.

Now, first of all… I always understood “FAMILY COMES FIRST.” I obviously need to sit down with Josh and explain this to him. Geesh!!!

Ok, back to the story… I took Tumnus outside for his nightly business and called… who else… my dad. I started explaining the “emergency” to him (he immediately thought she had swallowed the tooth and that’s why I was calling for his help... GROSS!!!) Anyway… I told him what I needed, a tooth fairy to call. Of course, his response was that the tooth fairy is a female. I told him that he obviously has never seen The Santa Clause 1, 2 or 3… because in those movies the tooth fairy is a male and that’s what the kids know. I told him that he had played Santa several times on the phone for grandkids over the years, so why not be the tooth fairy, too (he is a dentist… it just seems right).

So, I went back inside, wrote down his cell phone number and removed it from my address book… why, you ask? Because my kids know that the screen tells who we’re talking to and I knew Savannah would look at the screen. As I sat down I told Savannah I made a couple of phone calls and I think I had the right number to get him. When Andrew figured out what we were talking about his eyes became HUGE… which, kind of surprised me. I guess I figured he knew there wasn’t a tooth fairy by now. Then again… he’s all about Santa still.

So, the phone call was made… and the conversation went well. :-[) YEAH!!! Papa comes through for me!!!

Savannah was VERY impressed that he remembered her from two nights before :-[)

All is well now and the tooth is in the “tooth box” and ready to be taken to school tomorrow for show and tell. Laurie is helping in Savannah’s classroom for their “winter party” tomorrow. I’m interested in hearing Mrs. Koch’s reaction to Savannah speaking with the tooth fairy on the phone tonight… I’m fairly certain that she’ll be sharing about it as she shows off her tooth.

Savannah has two more teeth that will probably be coming out before Christmas… We’re hoping they’re more like the one two nights ago (“Mommy, pull my tooth”) and not tonight’s (“Nooo, Nooo, scream, scream, cry, cry, cry…”).

In the end, I’m sure she thinks it was all worth it… after all, she got to talk to the tooth fairy… how many kids can say THAT?!

A Tooth is Pulled

At the start of tonight Savannah had four loose teeth... her two front teeth on the top and two on the bottom. We've noticed that one of the bottom teeth was BARELY hanging on... she's been playing with it a lot the last few days. Tonight she walked up to Laurie and said, "Pull my tooth, Mommy."

Laurie was very surprised, especially remembering back to the last time we attempted that (lots of tears with no result). But... we decided to go for it.

At first, she became a little stubborn and almost changed her mind...

But, she decided we should go for it...

I couldn't get a good grip on with my big fingers, so Laurie got a piece of napkin and tested it...

Savannah got ready as she gave me one last peek at the tooth...

1 - 2 - 3...

It happened so quickly Savannah didn't even feel it... And there was only a little blood


Of course, Andrew reacted with his usual dramatic face...



What a pretty smile... nothing like a brand new smile with one less tooth (notice the upper front tooth that's dangling... it shouldn't be long)

Savannah recently purchased a "tooth box" to leave for the Tooth Fairy and this is the first time she gets to use it...

Notice the curlers that Savannah had put into her hair tonight after her shower... She saw them recently and asked Mommy about them... Laurie had bought them a long time ago for her, but Savannah didn't have interest in them until now). There were more, but... I think Savannah treated them more like "toys" originally and lost most of them. She's so excited about waking up in the morning with "curly hair." We'll see, though... especially since there were only eight curlers left and Savannah has such straight hair.

Snow Happy 2

Snow Happy 2, originally uploaded by M A S Photography.

Two very happy kids during their first opportunity to play in the snow this
'08-'09 winter.

A New Picture of Laurie

A New Picture of Laurie, originally uploaded by M A S Photography.

I just got done with a picture of Laurie from today when we were outside
with the kids playing in the snow. ok, the kids were playing in the snow, I
was taking pictures and Laurie was walking Tumnus. I really like this
picture of her. as always when I finish a picture of her or the kids, it's
now the wallpaper on my Blackberry. : )

I'm doing better with "portraits" (whether they are planned or not), but
still learning. I find that I usually go overboard on doing some corrections
on color, skin softening, blemish removal, sharpening, etc. I just keep
telling myself. "Practice and patience."