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!