The Chuck E Cheese Christmas Bash!

Last week Monday (1/7/13) my Mother-In-Law held her annual Christmas outing at Chuck-E-Cheese, a holiday present for the kids in our circle. As usual, it was a blast, and we stayed until 9 pm!

 The day was best recorded by the 'sketchbook' booth at CEC. I don't know what technology it uses, but I LOVE that program. 

Here's Junie/Ginger and her friend Tempe

Junie and her Grandma

Junie and her Mom

Here's two of my beautiful ladies - YaYa and her Mom

Lisa and her entourage

LuLu and Meadow

Me and my lady

Here's Smiley, and Smiley and Lisa. 

Speaking of Smiley, he won the annual contest to win the Gingerbread House (this year a tree) that my mother-in-law crafts and places in a glass jar handed down from her mother. Smiley was thrilled to win it, as it has been all but owned in recent years by the Entourage's kids! 'Bout time we got to taste the treat (and btw, LuLu would scream at me if I didn't mention she'd helped Grandma make it)

The Layover aka Abducted

The only high point of the last 36 hours was watching "Abducted" (also known as "the Layover" an awful film in which Lauren Holley plays a hospitality mogul kidnapped by sex traffickers in Detroit. There's no nudity in the film, very little blood, and absolutely no story worth watching. BUT it does have a great, unintentionally hilarious line: "I'm not saying you're all hags, but at best you're Detroit Pretty". Worth the price of the rental right there.

So Far

So far I've spent the first day and 1/3 of my days off coughing up a lung or passed out in bed. I should have called in over the weekend when this thing hit and been done with it, but noooooo, I am a prisoner to my childhood and refuse to skip work/school unless I'm dying. Which, at the moment, it feels like might just be happening.

It's All We Have Left

As our culture and our nation continues its slide into full Suckassyness, one bastion of our grand past still stands tall: The Match Game.  Where have you gone Gene Rayburn, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you (woo woo woo).

The First Two Books of 2012

Today I finished my first book of the year, ‘The Lawgiver’, a new novel by the great Herman Wouk. It’s the story, told in epistolary format, of the pre-production troubles of a film about Moses. The book was written by Wouk as a concession to his decades-long inability to finish a book on the Old Testament figure, and he and his wife are included as characters in the novel.  I liked it well enough, and Wouk seems technologically savvy despite his advanced age (he’s in his late ‘90’s) but don’t kid yourself. This isn’t in the same class as his masterpieces. What bothered me greatly was that for all the talk about how complex Moses was and how difficult a subject he is, very, very little of the book is given over to explaining why that is so, or to attempting to unravel that enigma.  Grade: B-+

I’ve also finished ‘Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone’, a novel by Stefan Kiesbye. It reads as a collection of interconnected short stories centered on a small group of children in post-war Germany. It has been widely acclaimed as a gem of literary horror, but while I found some of the stories well developed and chilling, most of them left me feeling empty.  I have to say, this one was a bit of a disappointment. Grade: B

LOL

Txt from Lisa: I wish u could appreciate mac n cheese . . . I feel like it keeps us apart a bit ;)

50 Degrees

50 degrees on January 11th? Uh, and I'm supposed to consider global warming a "problem"? Enjoy the sun folks!

2 Books In!

Started - and finished - my first two books of the year in the last 12 hours. Yeah, you read that right. I'm just that good. BAM!

R.L. Stine books dont count. - Justin F

Uh, they were Christopher Pike, thank you. - Me

I was gonna say Bernstein Bears, but I figured I'd give you a little more credit. - Justin F

Two Pics of the Kids

I took these pictures (actually, I think either LuLu or YaYa took them) in the van on Christmas Eve. Not the best quality, but worth a laugh!

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas morning the kids came down, as required, in their pj’s and looking photo ready. First to open a gift was YaYa, who received a beautiful hardbound sketch book!

Lulu was next. Alas, she chose to open a very small package, no doubt thinking it was jewelry of some sort. I’m afraid it was her least expensive gift, a cute pen I included at the last minute. She was still very gracious J

Then Smiley opened up his art set

Ginger opened a Rapunzel storybook from LuLu (she earned it as an award from her math tutor)

YaYa and LuLu, in turn, each opened up a brand new sleeping bag for them each to use on sleepovers!

Smiley then opened some Darth Vader slippers!

Ginger opened a Disney Rapunzel doll!

YaYa opened a monogrammed sketchbook

Lulu opened her ‘big’ gift – a Fijit interactive, alien looking thing. In lime green, naturally!

Smiley opened up a Star Wars Lego set

Ginger got a Barbie doll

YaYa opened a sketching/easel set

Lu opened a brand new pink and purple basketball!

Then Smiley opened his ‘big’ gift, a kids tablet known as an InnoTab2S!

After Lauren opened her art set, it was time for YaYa’s big gift – a 16MP shock-proof digital camera that retailed for nearly $300, but that we purchased new on closeout for $50. It’s better than my camera for pete’s sake!

Along with it she got a memory card too!

LuLu followed up by opening a brand new pair of roller skates!

Smiley opened up a Star Wars jigsaw puzzle and puzzle glue

While Ginger opened up her big gift – a Barbie closet!

Lu then unwrapped a pottery wheel and extra clay, just what she asked for!

Smiley then unwrapped a glow in the dark football, the ‘equivalent’ gift of the sleeping bags

Ginger then opened up an outfit that came with a matching ensemble for her doll!

Then she opened her ‘equivalent’ gift, a butterfly PillowPet

Finally, Smiley opened up a chirping cricket stuffed animal.

When I type all of the above out, it sure seems like an over-the-top Christmas. But it’s four kids remember. While we’ve never struck out or gone gonzo on Christmas in the past, I remember being largely dissatisfied with last year’s crop, and so we took pains to do well this year.

The kids all got one ‘big’ gift. They each got an art set of some sort, and a set of pajamas, and the sleeping bag/equivalent, plus a few extras. Careful long-term planning (and a K-Mart layaway) made the difference between a bust and a boom this holiday season.

So far the results have been good. Lu uses her basketball in the house all the time, to our annoyance. The InnoTab has been in constant use, as has YaYa’s camera. Ginger’s worn her outfit, and Lu made Lisa an ashtray with her pottery wheel and used the roller skates at Incrediroll; she also took her sleeping bag to a sleepover on New Years and decreed it “awesome!”. The art sets are all in use, although Ginger’s was too babyish and needed an upgrade.

So far – a hit!

Later that day, after a pancake breakfast with my father-in-law and his Lisa’s step-mom, and a good nap, we treated the kids to a movie at the Value Cinema (Frankenweenie), toured the decorated houses along Candy Cane Lane, and dined at McDonald’s.

A nice, relaxing, wonderful Christmas!

I hope yours was as well.