Family Game Night & Carlyn's Birthday

Whew, glad this is working today! I know you've all been on the edge of your seats, waiting to see what I was going to post. LOL!

Saturday was Family Game Night at Eli & Krissy's house, although it started earlier in the day with scrapbooking and the big boys playing Texas Hold'em. (Sad to have to report here that Eli's head is not nice for rubbing, but stubbly like sandpaper. Sigh.)

Krissy made chicken and dumplings for dinner, which is always delicious, and then the grown-ups got down to the serious business of playing Pirate Dice while the kids ran around outside until after dark.

As always, we are very serious and mature when we play games together. Ha!

In between rounds of dice, we had cake and ice cream to celebrate Carlyn's 11th birthday.

We finished up around 9pm. I sure do like Family Game Night! Next time we might bust out Yahtzee, or play more Harry Potter Clue. You just never know. Everyone had a good time and there was a minimum of fighting between the kids. Can't ask for more than that!

Stay Tuned...

Blogger is experiencing technical difficulties today. Please stay tuned tomorrow, when I can hopefully update!

Puddle Dancing Video Posted!

There's a new video posted down below, of Xander enjoying the warm weather with some puddle dancing. Check it out!

One Fine Day in March

It was so incredibly nice this weekend! Temps right around 65 and no rain. Gorgeous! Xander took full advantage of this yesterday. First, he had to break in his new rain boots (more like barn boots, really) by jumping in the puddles in the driveway. His pants were soaked!!

Then out came the bike for a few speedy runs from the top of the driveway. Xander is much more at ease on the bike this year, starting his run from almost the very top of the driveway. We're probably going to have to adjust the seat, though, since he's grown since last summer. Doesn't he look cool with his SpongeBob shades on?

For the first time since we've lived in the Big Blue Barn, Xander went off-driveway to explore the stream that runs through our neighbor's property and underneath the driveway. He splashed around in there a bit, but was scared of seeing snakes so he didn't linger too long.

Up next: some baseball. Xander's hitting has gotten really good, but we're going to need to work on throwing and catching before T-ball starts back up again this year. I made him use the wiffle ball, because I have this fear of being hit in the face with the regular baseball. Did I mention I'm not a sports person?

Xander finished up the day with Joe, learning how to cast the fishing rod he got for his birthday last year (still sealed up in the box). Once he got casting down, Joe would go out on the lawn and try to catch the bobber, making Xander work extra hard to reel it back in. Neither Joe nor I fish, so we'll have to think of something to get Xander some actual fishing time this year. (Calling Uncle Eli...calling Uncle Eli...)

It was a really nice day, and we all had fun. I'm so glad that Spring is finally here!!

Xander B: Dating Consultant

Things took an interesting turn after dinner last night. Joe retired to the bedroom for a nap and I sat on the couch playing computer solitaire. Xander was sitting behind me futzing with my hair, so I said he may as well brush it, which he did. He also brought out the scissors to cut my hair, "just like Amanda!" Oh, I don't think so! Instead, he piled about 10 pounds of gel into my hair, smoothing it down into a very sturdy helmet.

Next was some lipstick, and the comment "I'm going to make you hot! Then you'll be beautiful!" Not quite sure that worked out as you can see:

LOL! I was then told to go and put on a dress. I wore my green tank dress with the celtic swirls on it. Xander set two places at the table, with pillows on the seats and fancy glasses for our water. This is what was on each plate:

Xander roused Joe and told him to put on a fancy jacket. I'll spare you that photo, but in case you would like to know what he wore...Joe had on his shorts, suspenders with hearts on them, a stripey maroon tie, his dressy courduroy jacket, and his halloween tophat. No shirt. Woo, woo!

Joe and I had our cupcakes, and then Xander scurried off to bed. He was so cute about the whole thing, I almost couldn't stand it! Looks like the romance skipped a generation, so Xander should make some lucky lady very happy one day! LOL!

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday

So, we got our Census form in the mail yesterday. I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly more than just the names, birth dates and nationalities of the people who live in my house. And what's up with the race thing? They asked about having Hispanic origins, but didn't include Hispanic under race. Huh?


It's been nice and warm the last few days - in the high 50s to 60 - but really chilly at night. The result of this is that the puddles in the driveway ice over each night with a thin scrim of ice. Xander loves to stab these with his baseball bat on the way up to wait for the bus. (I know, more violent tendancies. He even calls it "bleeding the puddles.")For myself, I like stepping on the bits of ice that sound like broken glass. Yes, I'm weird. :)


While getting his coat on this morning, Xander asked if he could see Joe's golf hat. I was all like, huh? Daddy doesn't have a golf hat. Xander pointed out the one he wanted, which is the Scottish cap Joe picked up somewhere years ago. I told Xander it was just a Scottish hat, not a golf hat. He informed me that all Scottish people play golf. Good to know! Xander topped that off with a little jig around the foyer.

And finally, I would just like to say Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Action-Packed Saturday

Most weekends, the Brunos just sit around at home and go grocery shopping. Nothing too exciting. This past Saturday we left the house at noon and didn't get back until about 8:30pm. Woo hoo, livin' the night life! Okay, not really. Here's what we did...

Monday the 8th had been my mother-in-law's birthday, so Saturday we drove down to her house, picked her up, and whisked her away to Oneonta. (I know, big thrill there!) We took her to two consignment shops and the Salvation Army - I'd never been there and was surprised how big it was and how they organized all the clothes by color. Xander somehow convinced Jean to buy him a bunch of toys at the SA, and I got him a couple pairs of pants.

We followed this up with a late lunch/early dinner at Applebees in the mall. Xander was having a hard time keeping secret that we'd asked the waitress to do the birthday thing after we'd finished eating. We all stuffed ourselves (you don't even want to know the obscene amounts of food my husband ingested) and Xander was more than happy to help Jean finish off her birthday dessert.

From there we headed - in increasingly bad weather - to Destiny and Jeanine's house. Jeanine had a table full of desserts, including her famous and totally sinful brownies, and we hung out for a few hours there admiring baby Layla and just catching up. Xander especially had a fun time playing with Mo, and is beside himself with the promise of a future sleepover that will involve a tent and a bonfire.

The ride home was miserable. The rain had turned into heavy, slushy snow that was nice and thick on the roads. Joe drove 20 mph home, sometimes less, and it was hairy in a couple places. But we survived, we had a great day, and helped to make Jean's birthday special. What more can you ask for?

Plethora of Cuteness

Xander had an over-abundance of cuteness yesterday. The big one for me was that I caught him reading outloud to himself after he was in bed. First time I have seen him read when it wasn't a school book. I was so excited! It was an easy-reader version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and when he saw me hovering in the doorway he called me in and started from the beginning so I could hear the whole book. Sigh. My little reader.


His other cuteness moments involved some phone calls. Every once in a while he gets the urge to call up a bunch of people he knows for two minute conversations. His own version of networking, I guess. This is what he said when he called his friend Ava's house:

"I am Xander Bruno and I'd like to speak to Ava please."

Tee hee! The other funny (to me at least) phone call was one he made to my father-in-law. In case you don't know, my inlaws are going through a divorce - they split up after Thanksgiving. We've only seen Mike once since then, and Xander has talked to him once or twice. When he called last night, I presume a woman picked up the phone because Xander was asking the person on the other end who they were.

I said, "Did Pop-Pop pick up?"
Xander said, "No, he got remarried."

Totally matter-of-fact, which is what made me laugh. Because of course he hasn't gotten remarried. At least not yet! When the person on the other end of the phone asked Xander who he was, this is what he said:

"I'm Xander Bruno, his nephew."

What? Nephew? I corrected him, and he said, "I mean, his grandson." At that point he did in fact get to talk to Mike. But I just thought the whole exchange was hilarious. This kid totally kills me sometimes!

TV Wars - Update

TV wars finally and officially ended on Monday, when the 52" was hauled out and replaced by the 40". I have to say, the new TV looks great, fits better in the room, and is no longer a focal point. Perfect!

To show the difference, here is Xander again with the 52":

And here he is with the 40":

Special thanks to my hubby for rectifying the situation, even though he really wanted the bigger TV. Love you!

Family Day on Saturday

It was definitely a family weekend this past weekend. Friday night we had Braden sleep over (so he didn't have to go bra shopping with his big sister - her first bra! Sigh.) which just about threw Xander into a whirlwind of excitement. The boys play pretty well together, though Xander needs frequent reminders not to be bossy.

On Saturday morning Krissy came over with the rest of the kids to spend the day. We scrapped, they played. There was some outside play, though the snow was a bit too hard to have much fun digging or throwing snowballs.

The kids brought over the new Scooby Doo movie, Abracadabra Doo, and they all watched that. We had lunch, and when Joe came home from doing laundry he brought pizza and wings for everyone. Eli even stopped by for a slice and a quick visit before he had to go to work.

It was a fun, but noisy and crazy, day. Xander had a couple of time outs and by the time everyone was leaving he was telling everyone how it was the worst day of his life because Braden - at some point in the day - wouldn't play with him. My drama king. :) Despite the chaos, I love it when the kids get to spend time together. And Krissy and I did up some pretty good scrapbook pages!

TV Wars

We've had a rough couple of days over at the Big Blue Barn, all because of TV. This all started quite a while ago, when I mentioned that sometime this year we'd probably need to get a new TV because ours (which is probably about 15 years old) is having sound issues.

Cut to last Saturday, when Joe was over paying off his Xbox. They were having a really good sale and offered him a deal on a 52" LCD TV. I looked at it and said, "No. It's too big." We - meaning me - looked at the other, smaller televisions. It was no go. I just kept hearing about the great deal, the great picture, blah blah blah, and soon it was from both Joe and Xander. Finally I said, "Do what you want" which in woman speak means, "No!"

Wednesday the 52" TV was delivered. I took one look at it when I got home and said, "I hate this TV." And I do. It's way too big. Don't believe me? Just look!


Joe got all mad at me, Xander got upset when he thought he might lose his new big TV, and fight ensued between my hubby and me which lasted about two days. To remedy the situation, Joe went back to the store and is having the big TV reclaimed on Monday. In its place we'll be getting a much more modest 40". Xander cried, of course, but I was just relieved. Now the TV wars have ended (I hope!) and we can go back to blissful movie watching.

Honestly, Spring needs to get here ASAP because I think we're all getting the snow crazies or something!

Mini Me & TV

One of the unexpected pleasures of being a parent is watching your kid get the same enjoyment of stuff that you liked to do. For example, Xander shares a lot of my music interests. He's becoming well-versed in Weird Al, Ray Stevens and Dr. Demento. Sniff. It makes a mother proud! LOL!

It's no different with TV and movies. Some of Xander's favorite things to watch were mine as well: Pee Wee's Playhouse, Labyrinth, Land of the Lost, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The list goes on and on. Recently we added something to the list that I honestly didn't think he'd care about at all - Home Improvement.

Sometimes when I'm scrapbooking I like to put a movie on. Lately I've been wanting some TV too, something funny. I already have the first season of the Jeff Foxworthy Show on DVD, which I'll put in from time to time. Last month I picked up the first season of Home Improvement and Xander was instantly hooked!

He has favorite episodes - the holiday ones especially - and will tell Joe all about what Randy, Mark and Brad are up to. It's so funny to listen to him laughing hysterically at something Tim Allen has done! So of course we then had to pick up season 2. Can season 3 be far behind? Now I'm wondering what other shows he'd like from back in the day. Fresh Prince? Cosby Show? With Xander, you just never know what's going to hit his funny bone!

NO MORE SNOW!!

Man, am I ever tired of looking out my window and seeing snow. Especially after last week. Three snow days in a row, which meant that Joe, Xander and I were stuck at home together for three long, long days. Xander loved it, of course. Plenty of snow to play in. Me, not so much.

Despite my deep, unabiding hatred of the white stuff, I was persuaded to get out and play in it. I honestly have no idea how Xander can play for an hour in three feet of snow and not be exhausted by the time he's done. I had to take a lot of naps in the last few days!

We even made Joe come out and play with us a couple of times. Xander loves that because Joe will toss him into snowbanks and bury him. Xander got his revenge when he buried Joe for a change. (Mommy doesn't get buried, no way!)

Of course, Xander doesn't need anyone to toss him because he's pretty good at tossing himself. He especially loves the wall of snow left over after our driveway has been plowed out. The kid can get some air! (It wasn't as high as it looks, though.)

I'm so ready now for the snow to be over. It's March 1st and I think Spring should just roll right in. Give me 45 degree temps and sunny days, and I'll be so happy! Still, I did get some pretty good pictures!