Kontan Jou

Now that grad school is complete I was not sure what to do with this blog. So much time was spent posting study material. I recently decided not to delete it and to continue its historical theme, possibly adding current events of interest if I get the urge. Maybe some of you will stumble back by when I get to posting here again. Until then, kontan jou!

I have had Christopher since I was two years old. At least that is what I am told. He has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, I carried him everywhere. Read the archived post on Gran and you can see that was a chore. As I grew, well, I guess you can say the same. Christopher went to college with me and he has been kept safe all through married life too. Every child who I show him to immediately falls in love with him. I do not let anyone play with him. He is so fragile. When I was eight we moved. I had to bag all of my stuffed animals. Somehow they were left behind. Christopher was almost lost, but my uncle went back to the abandoned house and found my bag of animals. Many didn’t make it, but Christopher did. My Gran recovered him once. I was a young teenager then. I cried and cut off the covering not too long afterward. Silly I know, but it just wasn’t Christopher with the new covering. As you can see he has many stitches. He has been well loved. These days he lives in the safety of my closet. I got him down for this picture and my five year old begged to play with him. She promised to be careful as she carried him around the house then safely tucked him in on the couch. Because they love him so much, I tried to find similar monkeys for my girls. There are several on E-Bay that are similar, but I haven’t found any just like him. I don’t even know what he is really called. For me, he will always be my much loved…Christopher. (No clue where that name came from.)

i have been tagged so here’s the plan…i’ll do the meme, but will not be tagging others. if you would like to participate follow the instructions that were given to me and go for it:

This is the plan:Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot
Ms. Mama
The Diaper Pail
the state of indiana
watching me grow
kontan jou!

eh-hmm. hack, cough,sputter, sniff. *from the bottom of a well* hi. thanks for stopping by. i’m better, djembe’s worse. oh the joy. virtually nothing was accomplished today, but i did discover a new wonder…the magic eraser sponge. OMG it actually works! first i removed black pen from the wall where my youngest neatly wrote her ABCs…then removed her name from the shelf, purple marker from the wall, cleaned my cooktop, then searched the house for more crayon, pen, marker. then i had to rest. this crud has us wiped out. i’ve taken a nap (or two) the last few days. djembe is really down with it. i hate that i made him sick! he says i wished it on him. Christmas eve i asked why he never got sick. whoops. i really didn’t wish it on him, i just didn’t understand how he never gets sick…yes, i teach and am exposed more…but still! this too shall pass.

now, if you haven’t tried the magic eraser sponge you must. it really does work. not too well on textures, but i plan to keep them on hand. great product (found in cleaning section of most stores like the dreaded walmart).

Your Christmas is Most Like: The Muppet Christmas Carol

You tend to reflect on Christmas past, present, and future… And you also do a little singing.

ummm, does it matter that i have never liked the muppets? we do the family craziness either before or after Christmas. but for Christmas day we stay home and enjoy our own small family of four. usually we go light looking on Christmas eve. this year we didnt feel like it. we are recovering from “the crud”. omg, NOT fun. Christmas day went well, the kids had fun and enjoyed their presents. froggy feels on top of the world with her cell and will be an accomplished singer soon….if i let the karaoke survive. between her and tweety they were able to get the barbie pegasus and little pet shop play centers together. oh yes, tons of colored plastic! as for me, i will be thrilled to take advantage of a spa package soon! thank you dear! Djembe cooked a wonderfully juicy turkey with exceptional dressing. he’s such a great chef! despite the fact that neither of us feel well it is great to have him home this week.

the holiday is past for us…waiting now for new year’s…but for others:

Happy Chanukah!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Do you have a favorite song of the season? Here’s mine:

i was really impressed with the girls the past two days as we did a lot of driving. 3 hours, visit, then another hour, visit, then drive home next day…almost three hours. they travel so well sometimes. then i laughed, and this time we did not hit a deer or have extra critters. thought i would share the source of this amusement:

we chose not to go on vacation for the 4th this year, a decision that was somewhat nice since the stress of a long journey was not present. no big plans for a 4th celebration, so we decided to visit “the Shoals” area in Alabama for their “Spirit of Freedom” celebration. the drive was only a little over an hour, not too bad. it was far enough away that the kids felt like they were going somewhere. so late afternoon we set off. “tweety” and “froggy” in the backseat. . . it doesnt take long for them to start antagonizing each other. “froggy”, the oldest, failed to rest earlier in the day and just wanted to nap. finally “tweety” left her alone and peace was present in our car. only 30 minutes away we hear “tweety’s” little voice in the back seat…theres a frog. “djembe” replies, “a what?”. “there’s a frog behind ‘froggy’”. i turn around to check and sure enough there is a moderate sized brown frog peeking out from behind “froggy”…keep in mind here that the “froggy” name choice has nothing to do with her liking frogs. . . So “tweety” then attempts to wake “froggy” by calling her name. both parents simultaneously “SHHHHH, no dont wake her”. so as “djembe” attempts to find a spot to pull over, “tweety” is trying to coax the frog out from behind her sister. he’s a shy little thing. we pull over…the stopping of the car causes “froggy” to stir and stretch. oh i am so hoping she does not realize she has had a sleeping buddy this whole hour! she’s still groggy when “djembe” opens the back door to retrieve the frog. “froggy” wraps her arms around his in an adorable hug. “tweety” takes the opportunity to reach behind “froggy” and retrieve the shy little frog friend. she holds him up for display then gently drops him out of her side of the car. “froggy” is still oblivious. . . thankfully. so we get all comfy back in our seats and go on our way, leaving the little frog far from home. i felt a little bad about that. do frogs get lonely? will they miss their “families” when separated? how in the snot did he get in the car? “tweety” swears she didnt bring him with us. but then, i wouldnt put that past her either, she’s the only one in the family who has any desire to play with frogs. guess we will never really know how “froggy’s” sleeping buddy joined us…but he is now on his own…in a new area, with lots of other new frogs to play with. i’ll keep my happy image and assume he made it to the water without becoming dinner.

kontan jou!

ever been shopping with 5 girls ages 2 to 9? argh!!! at least they enjoy each other’s company. good to be home though. so much to do. i have accepted the fact that we will not finish the painting by Christmas. NP! there’s always next week.

yesterday was another busy one. i decided to dedicate it to doing laundry. the girls head to the neighbor’s house…within an hour i get a call that he needs to run an errand the kids have asked to go to my house. no problem, send them on over. so 5 kids and a dog come around the pond to play at my house. yes, they brought their dog. i’m not sure if she was supposed to come in with them, but she did. tiki had a play date too. so five kids and two dogs were running around the house playing hide and seek, tug of war, or wrestling. yes, this is a wonderful way to complete the laundry task. dont do that to your sister…be nice to guests…sit in the kitchen with your drink, get that out of your mouth…bring that back! no biting! all said to both dogs and children.

most of the laundry was completed. i spent the evening…all the way to midnight wrapping presents for my cousins. our family has gotten WAY too big. 12 children and dual adults to match, throwing in a few extra here and there.

but before i could play santa to my cousins i had to visit my mother. LONG story for another day here, but we are not your typical mom and daughter combo. mother recognizes me as her daughter, i recognize her as the one who birthed me. that’s about the extent of it. but i do feel obligated to take my girls to visit every year or so. the girls were wonderful. they said please, thank you, and ma’am. woohoo! manners! only once did my youngest ask when we would “get, got, gone”. that’s just a funny phrase we use. it wasn’t long in that she asked either. we got to the house (out in what we call here in the south, the boondocks, or sticks) and no one was home yet. i knew mother had an errand, but she was supposed to be back. ok…my girls wanted food so we turned around and went to a place that had food. surprising, this spot in the road had the best burger i have ever had. turned around and drove the twisting road back. mother still not there. she arrives about 5 minutes later. girls open their gifts, play, and smile nicely. they are really wanting to get to mawmaws, my aunt, so they can play with their cousins. they were very patient. i was truly impressed. after a few hours our duty was done and we headed home, to my aunt’s chaotic house about an hour away. i love the craziness that is home.

everyone sing now…”oh there’s no place like home for the holidays . . . “