Christmas Eve 2008

So the three of us younger people descended on my parent's house for Christmas. This is how we spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve...

Snuggling with/stepping over/avoiding cats...



laughing at Angus who decided to faceplant himself in Kate's lap, of all places...


watching Bob Ross... (he had a bird on his hand at the beginning of the episode, and we were REALLY excited that he was going to paint something other than inanimate objects, but no, we were subjected to the same old happy little trees and streams that decide to live in the middle of the canvas...)

zoning out...


When it got dark we set out the candles...




awww, pretty.

And then we watched It's a Wonderful Life ("I'm all right... I'm allllllllll right!") and went to bed, with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads...

This one's for my Dad.

I think this is cheating, actually.

The more you know...

Heh. Heh heh heh heh heh.

Thanksgiving 2008

So the first part of Thanksgiving was spent over at my aunt's house. Dad immediately fell into conversation with Uncle Bob...


...while the kids ate dessert.


And we generally just stared at each other, trying to figure out exactly how we were related to one another...


...And of course Dad couldn't resist playing with the kids...



It actually looks like he's threatening them in this picture, but this was after they had pelted him with stuffed animals...


...And of course there was the general chatter of the grown-ups (except I really have no idea what Kimmie's doing...)

...this one's better...

And of course there's the obligatory sibling shot...



...and of course lots of cameras...


Finally Dad and I said goodbye and went home to this lovely feast:


Yummy. There were two turkeys: Dad smoked one intentionally using the smoker, while Mum smoked hers--not so intentionally--using the oven. There were the usual mashed potatoes and gross whole-cranberry concoctions, and olives and pickles, and bad jokes ("I really am kahlua-less about what time the yams will be done" and "I don't have any kahlua who ate the rest of the yams...").

...but the biggest mystery of the whole feast was where is the turkey head? Without the head, the pineapple just looks like a.... pineapple.

Confused Penguin Love

This is a story about Pingu the penguin. Pingu's older sibling kept eating all of Pingu's food so Pingu was taken away from its mother. But then Pingu got sad and needed a friend.

Of course the friend had to be about Pingu's size, and needed to look sort of like him.

So the zookeepers decided that any candidates must not compete with Pingu as far as looks...


They also had to be able to share the bed...


...and not eat too much...



...and needed to be able to pose for photographs.


You can read more about Pingu here.

Election Day 2008!

A message from Cute Overload: Vote vote vote like a baby stoat!

Cartoon-off

If you click on this sad cow, it will show you some pretty funny stuff.


But it's still a sad cow.

(However, I'm happy that "to pull a Palin" has become an official idiom.)

Informed choices...

You gotta watch this awesome political video... my favorite parts are when one kid is disappointed that Ralph Nader isn't an option, when another asks what a "democrap" is, the random "Ron Paul!" kid, the one who points to Obama and says, "I like Bush!" and the one very puzzled kid there who just asks, "Who the heck is he?"

Enjoy!

Sorries!!!!

I have been a bad blogger. Bad! I have pictures of the wedding, and of the Common Ground fair, and all kinds of stuff, but I've been very busy lately and haven't put anything up yet. So, to make up for it, here is a flow chart. Clickie to embiggeren... it's strangely accurate...

Getting ready for the wedding

So this weekend I went to my sister's to help with the wedding preparations. First, I went out and bought a dress. It is SOOOOOOOOO pretty-- I am very much in love with it. It doesn't look like much on the hanger, but don't worry-- there will be pictures of me wearing it in a few weeks!


Next, I headed over to Ellen's. She and Kate needed help making the party favors, so a whole ton of us went over to help.

Step 1: Wash and dry the squeeze bottles.


Step 2: Melt the chocolate (tint it if you like), put it in the squeeze bottles and squirt it into the molds. Important tip #1: don't get the food coloring on your forehead.


Step 3: Put the molds in the fridge. Wait until they're firm.


Step 4: Put the plastic baggies over them, twist-tie them, then put them back into the fridge.


Important Tip #2: Let Mia help, but don't let her get near the chocolate (or Weasley).


Important Tip #3: Seven people and a dog in a 4,000-degree kitchen is fairly uncomfortable, so pray for a cooling sunshower.



...and when you're all done, take a few minutes to kick back and relax!


...So there will be more updates to come as the date gets closer!