Mommathon

Knocked Up – Sean and I watched the uncut version, which I think means we got the raunchier version. (It’s sort of the same type of humor as American Pie.) It was funny though. Just pretend like you’re not an adult and that you are still in college and you won’t feel guilty for watching it. I cried it was so funny.

My Life as a Dog – This is a sort of coming of age tale. It is Swedish, so you have to read it. I thought it was okay, but it won and/or was nominated for several awards, so somebody out there must think it is really good.

Leila – SUCH A GOOD MOVIE!!! Again, you have to read it, it is Iranian. It is such a good story. A young married couple who is deeply in love come to find out that they can’t have children. The husband is the only son and if they don’t reproduce, the family line will end. His mother takes drastic measures to make sure the family line continues. It is a great movie for discussion and a real eye-opener as far as cultural differences.

I found another memoir to read. This is the story of a girl growing up in a large Catholic family, her push for independence during her early teenage years and the trouble it gets her into.

We started Christmas a few days early this year since my SIL had to be at work on the 26th. It has been great, though. The boys have had time to play with the things they got before being bombarded with more toys. Colm’s favorites are his Spiderman jammies and his remote control car. Liam’s faves are his Star Wars T-shirt and his Lego sets.

The boys didn’t have school today, so we headed out to enjoy the Christmas party at the American Jazz Museum. We then went to Union Station to look at the train display and ride the Spirit Train. We ended up running into my sister-in-law, her kids and my MIL when we were headed to lunch, so we got to have lunch with them. Quite a treat, since my nieces and my SIL live in Colorado and were only in town for a short while.

This book takes place in a small town in the south and is the story of two unlikely friends, how they meet and the adventures they share.

Colm and I did some Christmas baking today. We made spiced pretzels, chocolate-covered cranberries and chocolate chip cookies with an almond extract twist. The pretzels are my favorite. I can’t eat them…if I get started I will eat them all and they are meant to be gifts for our neighbors. We also found some cute little snowman tins at The Dollar Store to put them in.

Every year, we sort of embrace a few books that we read over and over at Christmastime. This year we are reading Santasaurus, Christmas Trolls and Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Christmas as well as our oldies, but goodies, Santa’s Stuck, Are You Grumpy, Santa? and Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve?

Yesterday after Colm’s naptime, that did not involve napping, I noticed he had something in his mouth. It was gum, but I hadn’t given him any. When I asked him about it he said it was old gum. Where did he get it? He told me he got it from a book in his room. (Please, dear God, don’t let it be a library book.) I asked him if it was a library book and he said it wasn’t. (Heavy sigh of relief.) I asked him to spit the gum out in the trash…I am still not exactly sure where the gum came from.

Since we were STUCK inside today, AGAIN, we had game day. I didn’t plan it…it just happened. Before lunch we played dungeon for forever. Basically, it consists of getting “thrown” in the dungeon. Then you get out and put someone else in the dungeon. It also helps to lock the door and dramatically throw away the key. The dungeon can be in the hallway, on my bed, in the closet or just about anywhere. After lunch, one of Liam’s friends and his older brother came over and they played Star Wars on the PS3 for a long while. After they left, we played dungeon again and then I taught the boys how to play Crazy Eights, Old Maid and Rummy. It was fun playing cards with the boys. It was especially funny playing Old Maid with Colm, he didn’t even try to trick us when he had the Old Maid card. He would get all giggly and start pointing at it in a sneaky way. Too funny.