Playin' Games

Xander got some new games for Christmas, which was good because there's only so many times I can play the Power Rangers board game! This year he snagged Trouble, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Yahtzee Jr., and Guess Who? Marvel Edition. He hasn't much liked playing Trouble, but that's because we're still learning it. His fave is definitely Guess Who.

If you don't know the game play of Guess Who, it's pretty easy. You and your opponent have the same field of superheroes and villains. You each pick a random superhero or villain card, and the other person has to guess who you have using yes and no questions.

This works out pretty well, except that Xander is always ready to give you way more information than you asked for. I try to ignore that as much as possible, so the game isn't over in like five seconds. LOL! And it's a game that Joe doesn't mind playing, so that's fun too. I think we might have to look into still more game diversity for the Bruno house. I wonder if Xander is too young for Life?

Christmas - Bruno Style

I'm happy to report that the Brunos have survived another Christmas, more or less intact. The house is still a bit of a wreck but I guess that's to be expected. Ready for an overview?

After prepping dinner as best I could on Christmas Eve, Xander and I went over to Dad's house for lunch and the annual gift hunt (Krissy tells me that her kids don't like it, but Xander loves hunting up gifts). Dad made a big turkey and we all contributed side dishes. Afterwards there was gift opening, and I attempted to get a picture of the cousins together - Xander was being a grump, and I'm not sure what Braden's up to! LOL!

Back at the Bruno homestead, we had our traditional fish dinner. Xander, too - he had one of those frozen kid dinners with fish sticks. And then it was time for our present frenzy. Well, it's not much of a frenzy really because we all take turns opening. Xander was being very helpful by getting presents out from under the tree and reading tags. He was happy with everything he got, even the clothes!

Afterwards we took stock of our booty, and Xander popped in his new Scooby Doo DVD to watch. He's been watching it fairly non-stop since Christmas Eve. Sigh. It was hard to get him to go to sleep that night, he was way too pumped up! And he left Santa a feast - four cookies, a candy cane, and a Ferraro Rocher.

Christmas morning Xander was up at 6:30am (yawn!) and ready for some more presents. (He also got a dollar from the Tooth Fairy, since Aunt Krissy helped him pluck out his other loose tooth while we were at Dad's.) Santa had left Xander his big present under the little tree in his bedroom. But first we had to do our stockings - we all made out pretty well there, I can assure you!

Xander got the Dragon World Fortress that he'd asked Santa for, and played with that and his new Legos for most of the day. I spent way too much time on the floor putting these Legos together into cars and space ships - man did my back hurt!

Another fairly new tradition for the Brunos is for Joe and Xander to get coordinating gifts. The first year it was light sabers - Joe had got one for Xander, and I surprised Joe with one for him too so they could have saber fights together. Last year they got matching blankets. This year I got them a Nerf Dart Tag game, which they played on Christmas morning.

You can laugh at Joe for the helmet, but he needed it! Xander doesn't have very good aim, but lots of enthusiasm. I've played with him a couple of times, too, and I can tell you those Nerf darts hurt when you get hit with them (especially in the face!). We're going to have to get refills...we've already lost a couple darts!

Jean came up for dinner on Christmas Day - my first honey glazed spiral ham, and it was awesome! - and then we just chilled. Lots of napping, lots of reading, lots of playing. I'm happy to report that Xander is at daycare for the next three days; poor kid needs to play with other kids. And I'm back at work. The fun is over for another year, but fun it definitely was!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Bruno Family (of wackadoos!) to your family!

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Beeeeeeep....

Family Christmas - Harrington Style

We had our first family gathering of the holiday season on Saturday, at my mother-in-law's house. It was a special occasion: my brother-in-law, Mo, was up for a visit with his wife Jen and their son Aidan. They come up maybe once a year, so we went on over to celebrate Christmas with them.

Xander got some Legos, so he was a happy boy. And after several false starts, I was able to get the picture of the boys that Jean had wanted. This involved Joe bouncing Aidan around and then hastily plopping him on his knee while he was still happy.

We also got a moms picture. Aidan wouldn't stop looking at Xander, who of course was acting like a goof ball. Even more so once he had an appreciative audience.

I was also able to capture a brotherly embrace, a very rare photo with both brothers showing their teeth. Apparently this non-smiling business is a Bruno thing, because Mo doesn't like to smile for pictures either.

It was a fun night, no-one fought or argued, and we left with a bag of presents to open up on Christmas Day. The next joint family function will take place on Christmas Eve, when Xander and I trek over to Dad's for the annual present hunt. Hopefully that one will go as smoothly!

The Tree Is Up!

We finally decorated our Christmas tree last night. I can't recall ever doing one so late in the month! But the decorating went smoothly. Joe and Xander did the lights, and Xander helped me do the garland.

Xander was in full-on decorating mode, even though most of his ornaments are on his little tree in his room. Joe put up all of his special ones, and I mostly focused on filling gaps and rearranging bulbs that Xander had stacked all on one branch.

Joe hefted Xander up to do the angel, and then it was all done. I took some pictures using the tripod, to see if I could get a good lit tree picture. Of course, Xander had to get in on the act too!

Now it's really feeling like Christmas! Last night I started wrapping and now we have four presents under the tree. So festive! Now I just have to keep Stuart from chewing the paper off of them!

9 Days 'Til Christmas Eve!

Christmas prep is in full gear at the Bruno house!

On Saturday my pal Amy came over and we baked cookies all day. We each made four different kinds of cookies, and I have to say that my peanut butter batch is mostly crumbs already! Guess those came out really well this year. Xander was even eating one on the way up the driveway this morning to catch the school bus. :)

Sunday we got our Christmas tree, though picking one out in the pouring rain wasn't very much fun. Xander didn't like any of the trees in the lot - he said they were all too small. Ah, a boy after my own heart! We ended up with a very nice one that might even get decorated today.

Biggest fun was yesterday, when Amy and I headed up to Albany to do our Christmas shopping. It's our yearly holiday tradition, along with the cookies. We did Crossgates Mall, Colonie Mall, and Toys R Us. I spent almost all of Joe's bonus check, but crossed almost everyone off my list by the end of the day.

Now I just have to wait for remaining items to come in the mail, and get Xander to clean up the living room so I have room to wrap everything. Bring it on, Christmas! I'm ready!

1st Snow Day of the Season!

Wednesday dawned snowin' and blowin', and shortly after 6am I received the call. No work, no school for Xander. Our first snow day of the season! I crawled back into bed, but Xander came in around 7:30 to shake me awake because he thought we overslept. He sure was happy to have a snow day!

We lazed around for a little while, then I helped Xander assemble and decorate his new tree. He wanted one for his room, and I got this little four-footer at the Family Dollar for just $10. Perfect! Xander pulled out all of his Christmas ornaments, and I lent him some of mine.

Xander made the tree topper himself out of a toilet paper roll and items from my craft box. You can't see the back, but there's a little red Christmas present taped between the angel's wings. Not sure of the significance there, LOL!

And when I couldn't avoid it any more, I went outside into the snow to play with Xander. Actually, it felt about 30 degrees, which isn't bad when you're all bundled up. I took some pictures, then got busy building my fort so we could have our snowball fight. (I had to build mine. Xander just waited for the driveway to get plowed and he had an instant fort. Unfair!)

After I clocked Xander a few times with snowballs, he decided to try his hand at some sledding. I suggested the top of the driveway, where you can at least get a little momentum. He had a great time doing this, though I don't know how his knees aren't pulverized because of all the running and diving on the sled that he was doing. For all that my driveway resembles a luge, Xander was only able to get about halfway down before the sled stopped.

We finished off the day watching Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa. I got almost nothing done that I'd planned on, but we sure had fun!

Gingerbread House: Fail

I have never, in my 36 years, made a gingerbread house at the holidays. I've admired some that other people did, but I honestly never saw the point of them. Well, this year my step-mother gave us a gingerbread house kit with a Snoopy theme. It seemed easy enough - four little houses, with decorations. Ha!

Apparently I lack the skill for putting these stupid little cookie houses together. The instructions on the back of the box weren't clear enough for me. Finally Xander and I just gave up. He decorated some of the individual pieces, and squirted lots of frosting into his mouth.

We managed to get only one house assembled, but not the way it was supposed to look on the box. Oh, well. Xander still have fun with it. And now I know never to do this activity again! LOL!

Another Busy Holiday Weekend

The holiday season got a good kick-off this weekend! We had Joe's big Hospice party on Friday night (I'd missed the smaller party earlier in the week because Xander was sick.) and our friend Kathy was kind enough to watch Xander for us.

Joe of course was a social butterfly, going from table to table to visit. I mostly hung out with two of his supervisors. There was also a group participation murder mystery that was pretty funny, and Joe won the 50/50 raffle! He even danced with me. Awww!


Saturday we set out for the Yankee Candle Factory Flagship store in South Deerfield, MA. We'd made the trip last year and had such a good time that we all wanted to go back. It was a 3 hour drive, but so worth it. There were plenty of photo ops available, and Joe let me take advantage of most of them (Xander wasn't so generous).

Joe and Xander made wax hand molds again, and this year also made their own jar candles. Xander loves doing that kind of hands-on stuff! We also had a nice lunch at The Chandler, the restaurant that is part of the facility there.

Of course we looked at all of the toys. Xander played with some puppets, and got to make a monkey at Yankee Candle's version of Build a Bear (I think they call it Paws & Claws). While we were waiting for Joe to finish checking out, Xander took it upon himself to reorganize the smurf display because it was too disorderly. LOL!

The highlight, and main reason we made this trip, was seeing Santa. They had a very nice set-up there, lots of trees and other bits that added to the festive atmosphere. And since the line became quite long, they had two big screen TVs mounted up on the wall that were showing Christmas movies like Rudolph and Frosty.

Santa spent a good long while chatting with Xander, and looking over the wish lists we'd all made. Xander and I got chastised for not using the word please in our letters, at which point Xander pulled out his wallet and offered Santa his $2. That's my boy, LOL! He really was a nice Santa, the best next to Santa Bill (our local Santa who no longer does regular appearances).
The ride home was long and anxious, since the weather had changed to lots of wet, snotty snow. But we finally made it and we were all exhausted after the full day we had. Next year we'll leave earlier!

Dear Santa

Last night Xander penned his first ever letter to Santa. His list is long, as you can see! I helped him spell some of the words, others he decided to do on his own. I sure hope Santa can read all of this! Xander packed up his letter and will be giving it to Santa in person when we go to see him at Yankee Candle Factory tomorrow.

Best.Advent Calendar.Ever!

Xander has gotten really into Legos this year. So it was a stroke of good luck that when we went to Borders a couple of weeks ago we saw this great Lego advent calendar. Each day you open a door and get a figure or item to put together. Xander was beside himself waiting for December 1st. And the first thing he said when he woke up yesterday morning was that he wanted to open the first door.

Day one had a Lego figure to assemble, plus some Lego snowballs for him to throw. Cute! And when the calendar is open, they include a little area with a scene that you can put all the toys on as you open each door. Xander took his first toy with him to school yesterday, and when he got home he put it back in the calendar so it wouldn't get lost.

Last night sometime after 2am, when I finished getting Xander and his room clean from him being sick (so, so nasty!) he wanted to know if it was tomorrow so he could open door two. I took pity on him since he wasn't feeling good, and let him uncover the figure behind the second door - a snowman. I'm almost as excited as he is to see what new item he'll find each day. Way better than the chocolate calendars!!

Thanksgiving Weekend Update

It's been a busy few days! Here's a quick recap of how we spent Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving

I'd made the pumpkin pie the night before, so had only to put together and bake the corn and green bean casseroles. Xander surprised me by doing some house cleaning ("I'm doing all your chores, Mom!"). He washed all the dirty dishes, cleaned the kitchen counters and floors, and wiped down the TV. What a helper! Then it was off to Jean & Mike's for dinner, with Tanya to join us (surprise news: Tanya is pregnant!).

Xander surprised me again by helping himself to turkey and mashed potatoes - and eating them! Without me having to beg! I sure had a lot to be thankful for this year!

Black Friday

I'd had no big plans for Black Friday. I almost always go shopping, sometimes with Joe in Albany, sometimes in Oneonta by myself. This year Krissy decided to test the waters of Black Friday with me. She convinced me to get up at 5am (!!!) and we were out the door by 6am. We went to Walmart, Sears, Target, BJs, JoAnn Fabric, Toys R Us, and JC Penney. In between we finally got to see Twilight: New Moon (awesome abs, I may have to switch to Team Jacob!). It was a full, busy, and tiring day, but we walked away with some really good deals.

Saturday

House decorating day. Xander and I put out most of the Christmas decorations. He put himself in charge of the nativity ("Jesus brought jewelry and love to our nation.") and putting out the Christmas Carol figures I'd gotten from Jean a few years ago. Xander also lost a tooth on Saturday. It was a bleeder, so he spent most of the rest of the day with a cotton ball clamped between his teeth. Very attractive!

Sunday

Grocery shopping with Joe and Xander. I made Joe come because one of our tires has a leak in it and I didn't want to be responsible for keeping it inflated. We rented Up from Blockbuster and watched it together over dinner. It was a great movie!

Monday

Cyber-Monday, and I got some good deals online. Joe is doing laundry and taking the tire to hopefully get fixed. Today was Xander's snack day (we made brownies) and also the first day of Spirit Week, so he got to wear PJs to school.

Coming up we have a couple of Hospice parties, and a trip out to Yankee Candle in Massachusetts. December is going to be a busy month, as always!

Hope your Thanksgiving holiday was a good one!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing one and all a very Happy Thankgsiving!

Xander's First Digital Scrapbook Pages!

It makes a mother proud, I tell ya! The other night Xander asked if he could "make a picture" on the laptop like I do all the time. So I set him up with some pictures (he requested Halloween) and a scrap kit. The rest he did himself, with the exception of some spelling help from me. And no, I didn't correct his pronunciation of Michael Meyers - his way is cuter! LOL!

After he finished Halloween, Xander decided he wanted to do a Christmas page too. Again, all I did was set him up with a kit and some pictures. This is what he came up with:

I'm sure he'll get the hang of this in no time, assuming he wants to do more. Mommy's little scrapbooker!

Christmas Card Teaser

We had our Christmas card photo shoot this weekend, and I have to say I'm really happy with how it came out! That white sheet I bought at Walmart sure has been useful for these portrait shoots. Now you want to see it, right? Wrong! No viewing the photo until you actually get it in Christmas card form. Ha!

But, since I can't leave you with nothing, I'll let you see one of Xander's test shots. Is this kid cute or what? He was singing a song he made up about Santa. :)

Xander - singing fool!

My boy loves music - he listens to it in the car, and has a CD playing all night when he goes to bed. He has his own playlist on my MP3 player, and I've burned him several CDs with music he's selected. It's always so interesting to see what songs he really likes.

For instance, he's in Dr. Demento mode right now. He's been learning Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (by Allen Sherman) and it's hilarious to hear him sing it! And if you don't believe me, check out the new video at the bottom of the page. You won't be sorry!

Disney's A Christmas Carol - In 3D!

Joe, Xander and I went to see Disney's new movie A Christmas Carol, which has several characters played by Jim Carrey. Xander was very excited, because it was in 3D and also because he already knows the story of "Ebeneber" Scrooge.

I'm a big fan of this story, in all of its incarnations. I've got versions with Muppets, one with Susan Lucci (playing Elizabeth Scrooge), and my favorite George C. Scott edition. It's just such a great story! And I thought the new movie did a great job with it! There were some funny parts, but not as many as you'd think from a Jim Carrey film. There were some scary parts that had Xander covering his eyes. And the only thing I didn't really like was the way the Ghost of Christmas Present transitioned out of the story. Otherwise, it all kept very close to the original story.

The Bruno family as a whole recommends this movie. Xander is already asking when we can buy it on DVD. For me, it will be a welcome addition to the Christmas Carol collection I already have. Cause I never get tired of watching this story!

Our Overnight Guest!

Xander has been on many overnights, mostly to my mother-in-law's and my brother's. The only child we had stay over was Katie (her folks bunked in too) for Xander's second birthday. So it's been a while.

On Saturday, we had scheduled Braden for an all-day playdate. Xander was so excited, particularly because it would just be the boys all day - no pesky sisters! The boys played so nice together all day! Braden decided to stay for dinner, and when I would've taken him home afterwards, Xander begged for more playtime. And just like that, Braden ended up spending the night.

The boys decided they could both sleep on Xander's bed, once they got all the stuffed animals, extra blankets, and random toys off it. At 8:30 I put them to bed, but they played their DS games for about another hour. The night passed without incident. I'm so happy everything went well, it will make me less nervous about any future sleepovers we may have. Plus, it was nice for Xander and Braden to have all that time to hang out together. Might have to switch up to a bigger bed, though...

Happy Birthday To My Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mommo!

57 years young today! I've known you for 36 years now, and you're still my very best friend. Hope you have a great birthday!

Minekill Overlook

It's been unseasonably warm the last couple of days, the kind of weather where you want to throw open all your windows. Not only did I do that, but I wrangled Joe and Xander for a trip to the Minekill Falls Overlook. The last time I'd been there Xander was about two years old.




I'd wanted to do the big through-the-woods hike to the bottom of the falls, but the inspiration to go hiking came too late in the day (they close the park at 3pm). So we just did the overlook. I wasn't actually expecting much because there's been roadwork next to the falls for a couple years now, and sometimes the water isn't flowing at all. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the roar of the falls as we got closer, and to see how great it was flowing.

It was a nice little outing. When summer rolls around again, I'm determined to do the big hike. A big pool of water and lots of rocks for throwing? Xander will love it! I'm sure glad we live close enough to visit this natural wonder whenever we want to!