Another Unofficial Chatterbox Thread- Everyone is Welcome!

[MotoXPrincess99]

Its REALLY cold today (in the 60's) and we will be getting a little rain tonight and tomorrow, but then it should warm up by the time you get out here! low to mid 70's!

That's good news after being snowed in for 2 days. I'm ready for some warmth.

 

[eatmypixiedust]

GOOD MORNING HYENAS!

We had a company party that lasted about 2 1/2 hrs. We ate tons of food. I brought a huge sushi platter (all cooked) from Costco. Afterwards we all played Bingo. I kept losing every single game until the very last game where I shouted: "BINGO!BINGO! BINGO!" I won a $100 gift card to Costco

The evil engineer won a Wii console and some were not too happy about that. It was hysterical when our receptionist and another worker both got Bingo. They had a tie breaker where they called out another # to see who would win. Well the receptionist ended up winning, opens her gift and it was a Conair hair dryer. Everyone was teasing the other guy because he's bald and said: "Aren't you glad you didn't win that?" We all had a great time. We also got to leave work early. I left 30 minutes early because I had to do invoice/bill some orders for my customer in India.


My family and I ate dinner together last night. My mom bought a ham from the Honey Baked Ham Co. and we also made stuffing, cheese biscuits, sauteed mushroms, salad with feta cheese and balsamic vinegar. I gave my family their presents and they really liked what I got them, which was a relief. We are having brunch later at my parents house. My siblings are cooking. I hope you all are having a great Christmas!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Merry Christmas, hyenas!
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know...
Where the treetops glisten, and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow...

It has been snowing like crazy this morning; we're supposed to have another 3" - 5" by 1:00 PM today. The power has flickered a few times, but so far no outtage. (Crossing my fingers!)

We did lose part of our backyard fence (which is just a few years old) when a huge tree limb in the neighbor's yard fell and brought several lower limbs with it. The neighbor is an elderly retired woman with her DD and SIL living with her, and they never do any home or yard maintenance, so we're not expecting that they'll fix the fence or clean up the limbs.

When DH is more mobile (and it stops snowing!) he said he'd just clean up the mess on our side and fix the fence ourselves. It looks like several other branches up high were broken but haven't fallen yet, so no sense repairing the fence just yet anyway...

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My family did make it over last night to celebrate. It was iffy there for awhile, because it was snowing heavily here, but raining down south where they all come from. It was supposed to snow last night during their visit as well, but they all decided to take a chance and come anyway.

Everyone made it safe and sound, though I guess my new SIL was a tad nervous riding in the back of my brother's car.

SIL brought Cambodian food, including spring rolls, won-ton like shrimp rolls (a whole large shrimp wrapped up and fried, yum!), and a sweet dessert that was sort of like doughy balls in a sweet coconut milk 'soup'. Normally I love spring rolls, but she included cilantro and parsley (neither of which I like) and didn't fry them, so I wasn't too fond of them after all. I felt kinda bad, because she made this enormous batch, and only a few were eaten.

I think my dad and I were the only ones to try the coconut balls; the balls were kinda cool, they are made to look like a boiled egg, with a dry yellowish ball center and sort of a doughy white outside wrapper. They were kinda bland, but I bet if I'd taken more coconut 'soup' and dipped, it would have tasted better. (I'm also not a fan of coconut, but the sweetened coconut milk really wasn't bad!)

The shrimp rolls? I think there were a handful left, and she had made a ton of those! Those were a huge hit, even with the kids.

We also did our usual Lebanese dinner. DH bought extra this year, but we didn't realize SIL was bringing so much food, so we had enormous amounts left over. My sister happily took some home, and I think my brother did, too, but we still have lots left, and we won't even be home for dinner tonight. Ah well, that stinky garlic food will still taste good tomorrow.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Baby Etienne is so cute! That little stinker turned one year old yesterday, and he was walking all over the place if someone would let him hold their fingers. I think he got a little tired and overwhelmed with the present-opening part of the festivities, because he was a little fussy and only wanted mom or dad (no auntie, and yes, you bet I tried!)

His diaper was hanging low ("plumber's diaper", I guess), and DH told me they said they had trouble finding diapers to fit. I and ran to grab leftover diapers from our recent DL trip. (We hadn't brought enough pull-ups, so I wound up having to buy the biggest set of diapers the hotel carried.) They are size 4s, and DS barely fit into them, but surely they'd fit this little guy, huh?

My brother said, "Nope. He wears a size 7, it's the only ones that will fit." Seven? I didn't even know they made them that big!
So... yeah, he's a jolly, fat little elf.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

We've done our morning Christmas celebration. The kids were up around 8:30 (surprisingly late for them on Christmas morning!) and opened their stockings and Santa presents first. DH hadn't had a chance to shop, so felt terrible about not having anything for me, but I said it was fine. I had assured him I didn't have much for him either, since he was my transportation through the snow, but I found out last night that I'd ordered a few more things online than I remembered, so he did have a few things to open.

DS8 is in this funny phase, I guess. It's not funny at all, actually, it's really annoying us. But when we were in DL he was whiney and pouty if we weren't doing exactly what HE wanted to be doing WHEN he wanted to do it. We had to remind him several times that there were four of us on vacation, not just him, so just button up and wait your turn.

Anyway, so he opened all his presents and then started to mope. I asked what was wrong, and he went through a list of the things he'd gotten that he didn't really like: Pajamas, clothes, a Mr. Incredible costume (OK, it was a steal on the Disney site, so I got one for each boy), a Bionicle from his grandparents in Oregon... I pointed out the things he got that he DID like, and also the fact that he hadn't said much about what he wanted for Christmas. And he did get the ONE thing he mentioned!

Since he wasn't getting any sympathy from me, he moved on to Daddy. Oops, that was a mistake! Daddy got mad at the ungrateful little wretch and gave him an angry lecture!

Daddy let the little wretch have a half-hour hiatus from his no-videogames-for-a-week punishment, since the one thing he'd asked for was the Ben-10 wii game, so he was somewhat happy after that.

Tonight we head to DH's aunt's house for Christmas dinner. DH's dad and stepmom have a strict "no presents" for them policy, but I usually bend the rules by making them a photo calendar of the boys. I didn't get a chance to do that this year, but will try to get that done this weekend. Anyway, so I also have a Mrs. See's gift certificate for his aunt. I asked DH, "She does like chocolate, doesn't she?" (She has no dietary restrictions like so many of our family members, who are either diabetic or trying to lose weight, or have heart troubles) DH reminded me that she makes this unbelievably rich chocolate pie every year at Christmas. We've dubbed it "Death by Chocolate". So I think we're good there...

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Who is Eve?

Eva?

Wall-E?

Hey! The kids got a Wall-E DVD last night, so we watched it. (Actually, they started watching it before my family left. Kinda rude, I thought, but nobody but me seemed to care.)

Anyway, so I saw the last half-hour or so, it was cute! I love the way he says "Eve".

Merry Christmas, Grumpy! I hope Santa was good to you!

 

[staley7580]

Merry Christmas!!! What a lovely day we have had. My kids loved all their presents, and Mikalah got a little overwhelmed by all the gifts I think. She opened the present that Alex bought for her, and burst into tears. I asked if she liked it, and she said... YYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS..

I think Santa went a little nuts buying Alex Bakugan... He now has about 20 of them.

I woke up to someone jumping on my bed at 6 this morning... Santa CAME!! Santa Came!!!! Santa Came!!! The sad part?? It was my husband. I think he had more fun then the kids did this morning.. Watching them, and helping them open presents. He is such a geek.

 

[staley7580]

Hey! The kids got a Wall-E DVD last night, so we watched it. (Actually, they started watching it before my family left. Kinda rude, I thought, but nobody but me seemed to care.)

Anyway, so I saw the last half-hour or so, it was cute! I love the way he says "Eve".

Merry Christmas, Grumpy! I hope Santa was good to you!

Mikalah got Wall-E this morning.. I fell alseep while they watched it.

 

[eatmypixiedust]

Good Afternoon Hyenas,

I'm currently at my parents house using my mom's laptop in the kitchen My mom just handed me a present and inside was a cute Hello Kitty bag. I gave my little sister the Tink Santa Hat I bought from DL and she loves it and wore it while she was cooking breakfast. We had chocolate chip pancakes, eggs and bacon. I washed the dishes since everyone cooked.

My mom just gave my little sister Minnie Mouse slippers. They are really cute! They also got her a Wii Fit and she's thrilled!

Oh and I was shocked to learn that my parents are getting me a piano! I have wanted one for a long time and could never afford it. They said that Costco sold out so we will try another Costco tomorrow. They were able to get one for my older sister and she said it has 88 keys, a piano bench and a stool and comes with 3 pedals. It's also on sale and comes with a $50 rebate. I could also use the $100 gift card I won yesterday which would help. I'm really excited because I love playing the piano and haven't been able to play for the longest time. The funny thing is that while they were at Costco they bumped into my old piano teacher who was playing the piano display. He told my parents that he knows that my older sister and I have always wanted a piano and that the one he was playing was the way to go.


I'm glad that you are all having a great Christmas. : I haven't bought Wall-E on DVD yet. I thought it was cute and watched it in the theaters and thought it was okay. Wall-E is cute and I loved how he put Christmas lights on Eve. I also liked the little robot Mop (?) who cleaned all the dirt on the ground.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Hey! The kids got a Wall-E DVD last night, so we watched it. (Actually, they started watching it before my family left. Kinda rude, I thought, but nobody but me seemed to care.)

Anyway, so I saw the last half-hour or so, it was cute! I love the way he says "Eve".

Merry Christmas, Grumpy! I hope Santa was good to you!

I got a desk size version of the Famous "leg lamp!"

its going in my window!!!!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I got a desk size version of the Famous "leg lamp!"

its going in my window!!!!!

How perfect!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

We are back from slushy North Seattle. We had a wonderful turkey dinner, and it seems Santa brought a few presents for the kids to auntie's house as well.

DS8 got some sort of video-dance kind of game and another gift I can't remember, and DS4 got a toy Kawasaki keyboard AND a guitar! My goodness, both of those were a huge hit! The keyboard comes with a plug-in microphone, so the boys took turns singing until the adults began to pay attention. It was so adorable! DS8 sang Jingle Bells, and DS4 sang a preschool song about "the one little duck with the feather on the top".

Also at dinner (in addition to DH's dad and stepmom, and the hostess, who is the stepmom's sister) was a gentleman we didn't know. He was very nice, and I was wondering if he was a beau of the aunt's. (She's a long-time widow.) But it turns out they are business partners and friends. He seemed to fit right in, even getting in on some of the family ribbing of my MIL and her outspokenness.

We must have eaten pretty early, and yes, we had Death by Chocolate for dessert. OMG, thought I was going to die. Die of happiness, or die of super-high blood sugar, or perhaps just of being completely stuffed to the gills, I'm not sure which. I left one bite still in the dish. It just kills me to leave a bite of food on the plate, especially of something so lovely, but I seriously was afraid I'd explode if I ate it.

DS4 fell asleep on the drive home. I looked at the clock and it was only 6:30, but felt much later than that. It was so cute, his head was thrown back and lolling to one side so that the shoulder strap on the seatbelt was covering his face.

The freeways were bare and wet, but as soon as we got off at our exit, it was compact snow again. And in our neighborhood it wasn't even compact, it was rough tracks of snow over compact snow. Whew, it was good to get back home safely.

I hear all our lovely snow will likely be melting away tomorrow as the temperatures rise above freezing and stay there awhile into next week. Ohhhhh, but it was fun while it lasted! And it will be nice to be able to get out and about again on my own. Well, on my own with two kids in tow, I guess. My ILs asked, "So when do the kids go back to school?" and DH and I both said in unison, "Not soon enough!"

 

[staley7580]

Evening gals!

 

[sameyeyam]

Merry Christmas Hyenas. I am sick of snow...every day we just get more and more and more. Finally last night it started melting a little bit, but then froze back up again and snowed about 3-4 more inches again today. Around 3pm it started melting a bit again, but now it's frozen again. Apparently we may have a few flurries again tonight and then maybe a couple of inches tomorrow morning and then (WooHoo) above freezing and rain to wash all this snow away.

My inlaws showed up yesterday and couldn't make it up our driveway, so we called my brother to come over on his tractor. We now have piles of snow that are larger and taller than the trucks in the driveway.

We had a very nice Christmas, we've spent lots of time playing the Wii. And we've eaten way too much.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Wow, I was just about to close out for the night, but decided to refresh one more time...

Howdy! And Merry Christmas!

 

[sameyeyam]

Snow for 2-3 days is nice. But Bernice is right...snow for weeks on end is evil!

 

[staley7580]

I cooked our ham, but after getting it in the oven, and puttering around in the kitchen I was to tired to make the stuff to go with it.. So we had ham sandwiches for dinner. Delish!

 

[staley7580]

Snow for 2-3 days is nice. But Bernice is right...snow for weeks on end is evil!

Ours is almost gone.. It is rapidly melting.

 

[sameyeyam]

It's a Hyena Christmas party!