Terror.

It has been too long.

 Uncle Alex has been away for too long.

My kids were not used to all the roaring and tickling and roaring and teasing and roaring and chasing.

So instead of a fun, silly uncle . . . he is now a huge, scary monster.

It's a shame, really.

Look at what was ironically on the computer screen at the time.

Very interesting . . .

Yes.

It does take guts to be a part of this family.

Handsome Dude does not yet have the required guts.

Poor Handsome Dude.

Poor Daisy Mae.

Although, I think she was secretly having fun.

Dear Daisy Mae,

Why are you wearing a dress with jeans?

Love,

Mom.

Poor Sweet Pea.

Speaking of Sweet Pea . . . look at what she made with her new sewing machine:

Pajamas for her doll.

She made them with help from Grandma, of course.

For I know not how to even sew buttons on.

We had a lovely evening.

It was nice to see Alex again.

And once the kids' heart rates returned to normal and they recognized their fun uncle, they were happy to see him, too.

Now this is typical of family events.

Random weapons.

100 (meaningless) points to anyone who can name the weapon.

Personally, I have no idea, so I will have to take this one to the Lumberjack later on.

I am going with a light saber.

Or some sort of sword?

"Taylor.  Stop.  Are you going to put this in your blog?"

Well . . . Lumberjack . . . you kind of set yourself up when you are sitting next to a picture of John Wayne and holding what appears to be a light saber at a family gathering.

I mean, really.

What else can I do?

It is my duty to share the insanity.

"Blog?  What's a blog?  Oh, yeah.  Your blog.  I don't read it.  I don't have time for that stuff."

Good.

Then I can talk about you all the more, silly father-in-law.

And with that, I will conclude this family gathering recap.

Happy Sunday everyone!

P.S.-Everyone liked the Potatoes

P.P.S-Everyone like the Carrots.

Thanks, Dad!

I guess you weren't trying to sabotage me after all.

 

Merry Christmas!

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Merry Christmas!

Ten Things Thursday

Ten Things that, in retrospect, were a bad idea:

Fact:  These pictures were taken last night (12/23)

Fact:  These pictures include my sister, MegaTech

Fact:  I don't have time to tell you why she is called MegaTech

Fact:  I still have presents to wrap

Ok . . . .

Here we go.

1)  We should never gotten a fancy schmancy camera.

Clearly, we have not mastered it yet.

Although I do like the way it sheds pounds off of me.

2)  Don't take a group photo in front of a chain link fence.

It does not turn out as classy as one would hope.

*Interruption*

Can we please acknowledge the fact that I figured out the self-timer?

I will wait for your applause to cease.

Thank you.

3)  We went on a walk downtown to look at the lights.

We went on the boardwalk.

Water + Cold= Ice

Lumberjacklings+Cold+Ice= Cold Lumberjacklingsickles + stressed out Mama

 

4)  It needs to be said.

Megatech.

How do you see with your uber-hip asymmetrical hair cut?

Hmmm . . . .

Fact:  I do not know how to use the word uber in a sentence.

Fact:  I heard the word uber from MegaTech herself.

MegaTech?

Did I use it right?

5)  We went on a long walk and then put our names in for dessert.

So we had an hour wait.

If we had put on our thinking caps, we would have put our names in and then went and looked at the lights.

6)  Please, if you can, avoid at all costs waiting in a hotel lobby for over an hour with 4 cold and whiny children.

No good can come out of a 1 hour wait.

7)  If you are forced to wait with your children, do not show them where the pool is.

And, please, do not allow your children to do this when they see the pool:

Come on.

I mean, that' s just rude.

8)  Also, if you are waiting for over an hour with four whiny, cold, and hungry children, please do not try to get a cute photo.

You can try all you want.

But it simply will not happen.

9)  Do not buy coats with detachable hoods.

They will forever drive you insane.

10)  Do not let your daughter leave the house without a belt on.

Oh, well.

We made some memories.

Merry Christmas from the Lumberjacklings:

Fact:  Handsome Dude is not in this picture

Fact:  Handsome Dude was throwing a fit

Fact:  This is our life.

Blue Christmas.

My brother-in-law, Alex, will not make it home for Christmas.

So, in honor of his absence, I would like to dedicate this post to him

I am fairly certain that he is about as internet savvy as my dad:

So, he more than likely will never know this post even existed.

I wonder if my dad is getting tired of me posting that ridiculous picture of him?

Oh, well.

He brought it on himself.

Back to Alex:

Poor guy can't make it home for Christmas this year.

He adds a lot of  . . . um . . . excitement to all of our family gatherings.

So, without further ado, I present to you this song tribute to my most-entertaining brother-in-law.

And to help those of you who might not know him, I will add captions to inform you of what kind of pickle/adventure he has gotten himself or others into, as I see fit.

I'm thoughtful like that.

100 points if you can tell me of any artist who sings this song

200 points if you can name multiple artists who sing this song

300 points if you can tell me of a family member that consistently does crazier things than our Alex.

400 points if you can figure out why some pictures are medium-sized and some are large-sized in my posts.

There is a method to my madness.

*************

We'll have a blue Christmas

(Playing Twister)

Without You.

(Made a swing out of a log while camping)

We'll be so blue

(Made a bench out of a log while camping)

Just thinking about you.

(Made a teeter-totter out of a log while camping)

Decorations of red

(Almost killed us by suffocation while camping when he knocked down our parachute)

On a green Christmas Tree

(Still suffocating us)

Won't be the same dear

(Driving his truck into the river.  Getting stuck in the river)

If you're not here with us.

(Trying to ascertain why his truck no longer runs.  FYI:  he didn't have his gas cap on and consequently, filled his tank up with water)

And when those blue snowflakes

(Hiking with my Handsome Dude.  I feared for Handsome Dude's life)

Start falling.

 

(He's still hiking . . . I'm still fearing)

That's when those blue memories

(We made it safe and sound . . . color me relieved)

Start calling.

(Asleep at a family event . . . per usual)

You'll be doin' alright.

(Awwww . . . a nice picture )

With your Christmas of white.

(Soaking small children with water balloons)

But we'll have a blue

(Roaring, and consequently ruining, the family photo)

 Blue

(He also occasionally shoots firearms.  Wonderful!)

Blue, Blue Christmas.

 

(Finally getting a taste of his own medicine.)

Merry Christmas, Alex !

Christmas Traditions

As a child, we had several Christmas traditions that I loved.

*making a garland with popcorn and cranberries

*candlelight Christmas Eve services at church

*The Brenda Lee Christmas Album

*decorating the tree as a family

*baking cookies with mom

*Christmas Eve dinner (one time my parents did an appetizer theme and we thought we were hot stuff)

*opening one present on Christmas Eve

Now I am the parent.

Yikes.

I am a parent.

Is that not the weirdest thing ever?

And not just of one.

Four!

That's insane.

I am really getting close to the ripe old age of 30.

How ridiculous is that?

And I still have acne.

Has the world gone mad?

Four kids . . . what were we not thinking?

I kid!

I jest!

Calm down.

I love them with all my heart.

Here's my quandary for the day:

Am I doing a good job as a parent making Christmas special?

Not with presents.

But am I doing a good job making my own traditions?

And am I showing them consistently throughout the season the true meaning of Christmas?

I was wondering . . . if it wouldn't be too much trouble . . .

Could you let me know some of your favorite traditions or memories of Christmastime?

FYI:  I might steal them.

Thank you.