Allison's Special Day

Allison received her First Communion today. She was one of the first kids (out of 230 kids- in three First Communion services) to do it. It was the largest group EVER at St. Ann's! She has been excited about this day for some time. The priest, Father Tom, actually made it really fun for the kids by doing a "quiz" along the lines of "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" during the homily. He'd go around asking the kids some religious questions, some quite hard and some fun, but all good. It was a big hit and drove home the fact that this is a day you prepare for rather than just show up for.

We got quite a few pictures, including a few of "the boy". We even got him to wear a tie. The best part of his day was when he tried to "high-5"the priest during Communion. Wait, I was just corrected: Todd said he was trying to just grab a wafer. He has this idea that it must be some great tasting stuff and it's crazy that he can't get any of it. He doesn't want a blessing - he wants the Communion wafer. Sigh....

So, that was our day. Tomorrow Amanda gets one step closer to being a teenager...I KNOW I'm not ready for that. It's good I have another year.

Why do I hear laughing????

Julia hits double digits!!!

Yet another milestone was reached in the Linskey household: Julia has turned 10. I can't figure this out, and neither can Matthew. Matthew said I am 4 years old, so it is just impossible that she (being my daughter) is 10. It also makes it impossible for him to be my son, but he just kissed me, screamed "Euuwww! Girl germs!", and went on his merry way. But, it just doesn't seem like it has been 10 years.

We didn't really have a party (if you want to know why, read the blog entry from about a year ago). She instead had a "get together" and invited a few (3) friends to sleepover after her softball game. They had pizza, watched movies, and just hung out. Although I promised we'd have pictures of her from softball, we didn't get any last night. Today's game was rained out. Apparently, you can't play softball if the field is underwater...or if that happens and there's also lightning.

Thanks for all the cards and gifts. Ohh, and Grandma Irma, you'll like this comment: "Does Grandma Irma just spend ALL her money on US?"

Softball pictures

Here are a few softball pictues of Allison. We'll get some of Julia's game hopefully this Friday or Saturday.

Julia...the blondest of them all

So, we have a girl who is quite the blonde. She comes up with some of the funniest things to say sometimes. Should you doubt her blondeness, here are a few examples:

Example 1:
------------
Mom: (While watching a Subway "$5 footlong" commercial) "Ohh, I just saw that they have $5 footlong subs at Kroger."

Julia: "Really? How much are they?"

Example 2:
------------
Grandpa Terry: "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?"

Julia: "Who's Grant?"

Example 3:
------------
Julia singing: "And all that liberty gold...only shooting stars break the mo-u-oold"
(to the tune of Smashmouth's song "Allstar" - the lyric is actually "...and all that glitters is gold..."



She'll end up being a rocket scientist or something, just wait.

Spring Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of the kids (the ones that they try to guilt you into buying by saying "Your child is only this age once.")

Scanners are a good thing...

Our house is still for sale. It hasn't been quite 3 weeks. We've had about a dozen couples through it, which is good traffic especially for this market. But, no official offers yet. A few have our house number 1 on their list....but they have to sell their homes first. Sigh....

The early bird gets a ...double monkey?

Huh?





Okay, that's a mix of two of Matthew's latest sayings. Let me explain

First, at school, the teachers asked the children to complete the phrase, "The early bird gets the ...."
Matthew's answer:
"Chocolate & vanilla ice cream."
The birds like our house.

Second, we have another incident inspired by Wii. So, Matthew likes Wii sports. A lot. He will play them all and it's funny to watch him. He really gets into it and tries SO hard. One day, he was playing Wii sports and had just finished playing a round of Wii golf when Todd walked in. Todd asked what he was up to, and Matthew responded matter-of-factly the progress of his game:


"Yeah, I got a double-monkey."

It sounds better than bogey I think...

Not to make you think that the girls do nothing, we have a picture courtesy of our very own Bucky dog and Princess Grumpy Pants (PGP - aka Allison). She was being grumpy about something and decided to rest in her closet. And promptly fell asleep. Not one to be left out of any situation involving laziness, Bucky immediately joined in.

WOW!!!

Check out this video - it's amazing!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY


Maybe we could get her to sing about the Fair Tax....

Fair Tax

After yesterday's protests, I realized that rather than be against something why not be FOR something:

www.fairtax.org

Read about it and make your own informed decision. There are two books on it you can check out from the library for free, and the website above if you're not into reading books.

Spring Break 2009

It's Spring Break!!! Yeah! Well, actually, it started a week ago. So, what did we do? We put our house on the market, and promptly ran away.

Well, not really, but we did take a quick trip to Florida. For those shaking your heads in disgust at this, we only live about 6 hours away from Florida so it's not like it's hard to get to!

Our first day, we drove to Jacksonville. It took a little longer than usual for two reasons. First, the powers-that-be (which these days means "total idiots" no matter where you live) decided that the Saturday of Spring Break for most of metro Atlanta (and many locales north that travel through Atlanta) would be an AWESOME day to close half the lanes of traffic on the major interstates for road construction. Add to that impatient drivers, stupid-driver accidents, and the occasional cigarette-ignited brush fire and you have a recipe for multiple-hour delays in sunny weather! Well, we just avoided that whole mess and didn't even get on the freeway until Macon. That is south of Atlanta for those who are not up on their Georgia geography or think that the whole state is comprised of Atlanta and Hazzard County (the latter being a fictional place - sorry to disappoint). The second reason was that our detour route was flooded out. Apparently, a few days earlier, the southern non-drought stricken part of the state got 10 inches of rain in a day (literally). So, most of the creeks had turned into class 5 rapids. But, we got to our destination and showed Amanda the hospital she was born in and where we used to live. Well, we think it was where we used to live because we got a little lost. It turns out that when you lived somewhere 12 years ago it's amazing how you forget where everything is (especially when you've moved 5 times since then).

Our next day, we took a short trip to St. Augustine (the oldest city in America) and to Kennedy Space Center. We didn't see any astronauts, but we did see a lot of cool stuff (specifically, rockets and turtles). We learned that Matthew needs closed captioning. He raised his hand when they asked if anyone needed this...and, on another note, if you DID need closed captioning how would you know to raise your hand when somebody SPOKE this??? And, even more confusing was the fact that it had closed captioning ANYWAY even though nobody really said they needed it. It could be that the meant to say "closed captioning" in another language because we were literally in the minority. We heard French, German, Russian, Yiddish, and Bostonian. Yes, Bostonian. We have this theory that all the tour guides are from some nearby retirement community that is exclusively comprised of people from the Northeast, or of people with a speech disorder that causes them to add an "r" where this isn't one and to not pronounce an "r" where there is (i.e. "We will wartch the shuttle." and "We will paak by the caas.") The space program only uses a small part of the land, so we were also able to see lots of animals (like running turtles, an alligator, lots of birds, and buzzards!) It's a fun trip, and you could easily spend the whole day there. Plus, we got to see a shuttle on the launch pad - so cool......

We spent the next day with Great Grandpa Russell and Great Grandma Ruth. Matthew only tried to steal the golf cart twice and did get to drive it once with dad's help. He only almost threw his sisters off the cart and gave a new meaning to the phrase "lead foot." He also rode on the back of Grandma's mamasan bike (think Japan bike with a basket in the back) and watered a few of the plants in the front yard in his own "unique" way. He fell asleep 10 minutes after we left. It was the first time the kids had met these great grandparents, and we suspect the great grandparents may still be recovering. We also saw an odd sign that I think you'd only see in either central Florida or maybe anywhere in Louisiana (see picture).

We were able to hang out with Aunt Rosie and Uncle Keith. We swam in their pool and enjoyed the blackout that kept us from watching Michigan State get their butts kicked. Rosie was thwarted in her attempt to watch "Dancing with the Stars" - which seriously upset Keith (ha!) We also had fun with little Maggie, the killer dachsund. What a cool little dog (no offense to our Bucky, but she was so cute and able to jump onto your lap without permanently injuring any vital body parts).

Our drive back consisted of lots of wind, lots of orange trees, and a stop at Gatorland. We stopped there once many years ago, and it really hasn't changed even a little bit. They still had a "gator feeding" time complete with Bubba and Cooter wearing half-buttoned oversized overalls and acting as though they had the combined IQ of a kumquat. We thought about going to a few of the big Orlando theme parks, but figured that we had better ways to burn through $500. Seriously, there's not much economic trouble in Florida despite what we see on the news....

We got back and have finished all the laundry and settled into the fun routine of having to be ready to vacate our house at a moment's notice (and maybe vacate and have the people not show up). So fun, but that is real estate in hell (which means trying to sell anywhere right now). The kids go back to school Monday so the regular routine starts again all too soon.

So, that's what we've been up to for the last few weeks. We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter (or, Passover). Keep your fingers crossed that we can sell our house with no problems (and no crazy people, other than Kelly, involved).

More pictures of Alaina

Here are a few more pictures of our new niece Alaina (and her older brother Chase and older sister Ella).

What do parents discuss at a teacher conference?

So, Matthew has his preschool teacher conference today (yes, they really do have conferences for preschool). I told him that his teacher and I were going to talk about him today.
I asked him,
"Matthew, what do you think we will talk about in your conference?"
Matthew responds,
"Hamsters."
I said,
"I think we will talk about whether you behave. If you are a good boy or a bad boy, and we'll talk about what you are learning."
He said,
"No, you talk about hamsters."

Hmmmmm, I wonder if this should worry me.....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!

We have a new cousin!!!

Welcome to the world Miss Alaina Marion Ball :)

8lbs 9 oz

21.5 inches long

described as "a carbon copy of older sister Ella"

Alaina and mom Tarra are reportedly doing well and are healthy and happy.





Matthew was so happy to learn of his new cousin. He was, however, quite disappointed (to the point of tears) when he learned she was not at our house for him to meet in person.

Camping....with 14 second grade girls

Yes, you read that correctly. What did I do this weekend? I and three other brave moms took 14 (yes, fourteen, outnumbering us by more than 3-to-1) girls camping. Did we have the fantastic 70-degree sunny weather that we had last weekend? Uhhh, not quite. We did get a lot of drizzle, wind, and rain. It didn't snow, nobody was stepped on by a horse (that happened to a girl in Julia's friend's cabin), and nobody fell down a flight of stairs (that happened in Amanda's cabin). A girl in Julia's cabin did actually have to leave early to get stitches when she fell running on slippery wood, and that story was spread in detail to everyone (getting more devastating with each telling). We had smores, did crafts, did a scavenger hunt, got wet a few times, and had a pretty good time. We were supposed to do canoeing, but the weather was not good enough. Some kids did archery and horseback riding. Some kids just got really muddy (but I think that was intended in many cases). There is even a pool there! Okay, it's only open in the summer but how cool is that? Some kids wondered if they could bring their families back. So, that's a good sign that they liked it I think. They didn't even seem to be concerned when I answered that probably only the girls in the family could come!!! Who needs boys, right?

Meanwhile, Matthew and dad had what was probably their first male-only weekend ever. Dad took Matthew out for a fun lunch and then took him to a candy store. They also did a bunch of stuff around the house. They had fun I think....

Cookies and snow

It finally snowed again in Georgia! I can hear all you up north laughing at us (and secretly hating us for not having to deal with it more often!) But, for all the hype on the news, it was pretty uneventful. We still have a tiny bit on the ground, but the roads are fine. I think it's the parents here who are disappointed more than the kids that school won't be cancelled (I didn't expect it to be - but there were some I spoke with who were convinced that this meant a 3-day weekend!) I don't have pictures because our camera finally died. It lasted 7 years. That's an amazing amount of time for something to remain functional, let alone intact, in our house.

So, the snow was the big story. The other story is THE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES ARE FINALLY HERE! Yeah! And, we have almost all of them already delivered. I have a few orders still in my kitchen waiting to be picked up, but our girls' boxes are all delivered or soon to be delivered. I picked up 79 cases of cookies with Matthew on Saturday morning in the pouring rain. As we were quickly loading the cases, he just had this incredulous look on his face watching the cases stack up all around him. He said, "Wow mom! This is a lot of cookies." Then, he said, "This is TOO many cookies mom. You'll get a tummy ache." Awwwww....he's worried about me getting fat too! Although, I have a feeling that what he really meant was that I could not possibly eat them all by myself and would have to SHARE them with someone like (for example) a 5-year old little boy. And, yes, he still considers himself a "little" boy.

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)

More quotes...

First up, we have Julia. Julia was home today with a 104.5 fever. When asked how she felt, she casually responded, "Fine!" Only Julia would feel fine with a high fever.
Anyway, a few days ago she was reading something. She asked me the following question:

"Mom, what is 'Teddy' short for? Is it 'Tedsworth?'"

"No, Teddy is short for Theodore." I was also told that it was not correct that my nickname came out of Kathryn. Apparently, it "doesn't make sense". Anyone who knows me knows that I seldom make a great deal of sense, so it really does fit.

Next up, we have (of course) Matthew. When putting him to bed the other night, I saw his little stuffed rhinoceros which he calls "Rhino". So, I asked, "Ohh, here's Rhino. Is Rhino your friend?" He looks at me with THAT look (the one that says, "Really? Do you really have any functioning brain cells left? It's amazing that you can even put your shoes on the right feet.") and says, "No, mom. This is my sleeping toy. Rhino is my favorite sleeping toy."

Overheard ...

Amanda asked to make popcorn after finishing her dinner. I said yes (I must have hit my head falling off the chair or inhaled way too many paint fumes). So, she popped it up and was getting the usual accompanying drink, napkins, and bowl. Allison came over and was eyeing the popcorn. I overheard the following exchange:

Allison: "Ummmmmm." (visibly drooling contemplating a handful of popcorn)
Amanda: "Ohhhhh, no. Don't even think about it. And, it's not because I'll kill you. It's because it's hot."

There was some sharing in the end. No deaths or serious burns were reported.

More 5-year old viewpoints

The girls really do live in the house too, but the stuff they say sometimes borders on more exasperating than funny. It used to be funny, but now it's really not. So, we are left at the mercy of Matthew for a lot of our material. Here are two of his latest views on comments or situations...

First, we have an incident where Matthew was being a bit of a clown (which is pretty much most of the time he is awake). So, I said to him, "You're a funny guy aren't you?!?" To which he responded angrily, "I'm NOT a funny GUY! I'm a funny BOY!" And you know he is already, at 5, wondering how long he will have to put up with his parents being idiots.

Our second incident comes at the expense of both Bucky and Matthew. Bucky is close behind Matthew as the source of most of our entertainment. Bucky was actively pursuing a squirrel. He thinks he will someday catch one. We mostly laugh a whole lot watching him try to miss the trees, fence, and the occasional child as he tears after the seemingly taunting critters. We were joking around and said, "Attack, Bucky!" Matthew turns and looks at us (with hands on hips) and says quite seriously, "He CAN'T! He doesn't have arms, only legs!" I guess to a 5 year old, hands are really required for an attack.

Have a great Tuesday :)

Polite Refusals

In Matthew's school today, they were asking the children what their favorite vegetable was. There was corn, peas, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and a few other odds and ends. The children were not asked WHICH they liked, they were asked to name a vegetable they liked. So, they listed the vegetables and the names of the children who chose that particular vegetable. Then, at the bottom of the list, there is one last category. And, it's not a vegetable. It simply says, "No Thank You." Apparently, when asked what his favorite vegetable was, Matthew calmly and adamantly replied:

"NO THANK YOU!"

The Littlest Linskey is 5!!!

Yes, it's official, the boy has actually made it to 5 years old. We didn't think he'd make it this far, but he proved us wrong.

He was awakened by his sisters who serenaded him with "Happy Birthday". He seemed to jump right out of bed (perhaps because his sisters did this before brushing their teeth?) Then, we brought out the balloons. We always get mylar balloons from the Dollar store...and they last a few weeks (unless Bucky gets them). His favorite was a "Love Monkey" balloon. I guess that's the benefit to having a birthday not too far away from Valentine's Day. He had a great day at school, and overall had a really fun birthday.

It's just hard to believe that it's been 5 years since Matthew made his early appearance...where did the time go? Hopefully, the next 5 are as fun (and include fewer hospital visits and/or stays!)

Good quote and article

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

- Margaret Thatcher


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123388703203755361.html

How to...what???

Okay, I have another lesson learned. And, of course, Matthew was the instructor.

So, Matthew has been known to enjoy his "special time" on the floor. He is hit or miss with doing it, but today decided to do it when we had guests over. He has no problem with this. And, when I said to him (stupidly), "Why do you do that?" He answered, "Huh? (with a look of 'why is someone interrupting me!') Ohh! Like this!" and proceeded to SHOW me, demonstrating how to use particular body parts in excruciating detail, trying to get ME on the floor to try it, wondering why I was just such a boring mom NOT to try it, how to do this peculiar little thing on the floor. Being that I was so stupid and uncooperative, he even stood up and showed me how to do it standing up. Yeah, why did I even ask? Did I think I'd get an answer that made sense? No, but I also didn't expect a play-by-play demonstration of the exact technique. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the reverse of Julia's butt-crunching (which, in itself, is a whole different peculiar habit that anyone who's known Julia knows she's done since she could clench muscle...but although not a common grade-school activity it is, in fact, an incredibly effective buns-of-steel exercise...go rent the video if you don't believe me).

So, the lesson is:
Lesson #432
Don't ask why they have a strange/odd/peculiar little habit and expect a logical answer (or any answer at all). Don't be surprised if they try to get you to join in the fun. If it's not breaking the law, and improves muscle tone, why not just let them do it? Eventually, they'll grow out of it. Right?

Dad gets older

We celebrated Todd's birthday this weekend. Bucky surprised him with...a hickory nut. Actually, this was a surprise because we didn't think there were actually any left. He must have saved it for the special occasion. He did get a few other odds and ends, but really enjoyed Amanda inviting 3 friends over for a sleepover. Nothing says "Happy Birthday Dad!" more than screaming and giggling girls and the blaring soundtrack to High School Musical.

Matthew surprised mom by upending the birthday cake she'd made the day before. I always make the cakes ahead of time. I didn't tell him or show it to him - I think he just found it. When I make the cake, I use a big tupperware bowl that as the cover and the lid as the cake plate. So, it's upside down when you see it. Matthew apparently believes that anything upside down needs to be turned right-side up. SO, that is what he did. The cake was actually okay - the candles were driven about 4 inches into it, but other than that it was good. I guess that could be a new rule too:

#431 - Keep all 4-year old boys away from birthday cakes. If they don't flip them upside down or drop them, they will "take a peek" at it and take enough "tastes" that by the time you actually get around to eating the cake you'll have to re-frost it (if it's still intact).

Matthew's birthday is in a few weeks. I told him he was going to be turning 5. He said he wanted to remain 4. I asked why, and he said, "Because I just do!" I reminded him that he couldn't have a birthday cake if he didnt' turn 5. He then decided it would be okay to turn 5.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHY!!!

Happy Birthday to our great aunt Cathy in Philadelphia. We wish it would be a warmer day for your birthday (78 degrees would be great!) But, 18 is what it is there now. It's only 60 degrees off. Think warm thoughts...

If you know Cathy, wish her a happy birthday. I think she's 27 this year.

Have a great one :)

Ohh Where, ohh where, could the remote control be????

It's been a few months since we had a good lesson. Today, we learned another one.

Lesson Number 430:

NEVER LET A 4-YEAR OLD MAINTAIN POSSESSION OF ANY REMOTE CONTROL EVER. YOU MAY NEVER SEE IT AGAIN OR FIND IT 12 YEARS LATER IN THE BOTTOM OF A SUITCASE OR ENCASED IN SHOE POLISH OR BURIED IN THE MUD OF THE BACKYARD.

So, we watched a little tv this morning. It was tuned to HGTV. That's okay on Sunday morning. But, when Sunday afternoon rolls around it is a LAW that it be tuned to a station carrying a football game. Especially, a playoff game. Otherwise, husbands fixing torn apart bathrooms have to run up and down the stairs to check the score. Are we really that lazy that we can't just turn the channel on the television manually? No. But, we have a good reason for why we can't do this: It lacks that capability. Seriously, you actually NEED the remote to change the channel. That's the one downside to this tv. So, Todd assumes that I have lost it. This is often true, but not always. I often maintain my innocence until it turns up in my pocket or hand. But, today, we knew that Matthew had been playing in our room. He must have taken it. We looked in all the obvious places (under the bed, in the covers, in the bathroom, in the refrigerator, etc.). Then, we looked in not-so-obvious places (in Bucky's kennel, in the garbage, in the car, in the neighbor's tree, in the attic, etc.). We couldn't find it. Matthew said he "put it in the box". Well, that narrows it down only a little because anyone who's ever been here knows we have boxes EVERYWHERE. So, after about 3 hours of searching off and on, we found it. The girls had looked in my dresser. There was a "box" for sunglasses. Matthew had indicated to them that that was where it was. It wasn't. The brilliant search party neglected to realize that there were TWO sunglass boxes. Next to each other. In plain view. They only checked one. They even put the empty one back next to the one that mom discovered 2 hours later containing the remote. So, we learned another lesson - get a better search party next time. The pictures above show Matthew's hiding place, his smiling mug with the evidence, and the reason why the others were searching (they couldn't play Wii again until we found it).

Basketball!!!

Here are some pictures from basketball. Julia took a few shots and had some assists - but they didn't win. That's okay - they played a tough team. Allison's team tied (0-0). They don't keep score. She had an good game too. They will have some things to work on at practice, and they enjoy playing, so all is well :)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 to everyone!

To start off with, we have new quotes from (yes, you guessed it) Matthew.

Our first quote was from a situation involving the Wii. Allison, in her exhuberance to bowl as well as Grandma Irma, threw the Wii remote. Shockingly, she'd forgotten to put the wrist strap on. It thankfully missed the television, but it also got her banned for the day from any more Wii playing. She came up and told me about it (although, I heard it happen). About 20 seconds later, Matthew came up to tattle on Allison and tell me what she did. I let him finish his tattling, and then started the conversation...

"Matthew," I said, "Allison already told me what happened. Are you being a tattle-tail?"

"NO! I don't have a tail."

"But, Matthew, you are tattling on your sister. That makes you a tattle-tail."

"NO, it don't!!!" Pulling his pants down to show me his butt, he points and exclaims triumphantly, "See, I don't have a tail. There's no tail. Only a butt."


Our second quote came when Matthew walked outside to say goodbye to our neighbor Mr. Paul. As he's waving goodbye, he all of sudden says,

"Look! It's my friend."

I look and see that he's pointing at the moon. So, I said, "Matthew, that's the moon."

Matthew, displaying an expression often shown by his sisters - the one that you give to someone who is monumentally stupid -replies, "Yes!" (eye-roll) "It's my FRIEND, the MOON."


In other news, Girl Scout Cookie selling season has begun (stop screaming, it's not that bad!) The girls were out the first day of the sale...walking up and down hills, in rain and shine, showing big smiles and selling cookies with stunning sales pitches like, "Hey, ummm, do you want to buy cookies?" or, "We're girl scouts. Guess what we're selling?" Our goal is the same as last year - each of them sells 75 boxes to get a patch. Mom can't wait to get to that goal. It takes a LONG TIME to walk our neighborhood (especially when we have Matthew - who we dress in a festive Brownie shirt and green Girl Scout hat - hey, it's better than the tutu).

We LOVE Christmas!!!

News stations reported that there was a thunder-like disturbance resonating from the northern Atlanta suburbs earlier today. Was it a fight at a gas station? Was it the sound of Lake Lanier finally filling up after our rain last night? Was it exuberant Badger fans on their way to Orlando? No, it was none of those. It was instead the sound of 4 kids jumping up and down in unrestrained exuberance. Santa brought a Wii. You can't find a Wii, according to mom. In fact, some of dad's coworkers were wondering if Santa might be bribed to get any Wiis he may have obtained. Hypothetically. In case you fell into a well or have been asleep for the last few years, Wii is a really neat game system. It's very interactive in a way that no other gaming systems are. This means that you can literally get injured playing video games. And, they are the kind of injuries normally only seen by people reenacting Packer plays in their livings rooms after consuming a lot of beer. But maybe not this season, in which case the injuries were more related to punching holes in walls. Especially on Monday night.

We're playing Wii sports baseball right now. This is thoroughly confusing Bucky, who keeps thinking we're either throwing him a ball or trying to hit him. See, Allison is pitching and dad is hitting. To a dog, or anyone staring in our window, this would look really odd. Now, we switched to bowling. Anyway, it's really cool. Santa rocks.

We also opened our other gifts. And, holy Bakugan! That is what Matthew is playing. He is walking around with his Bakugan figures. He has set up his Bakugan game. He will probably sleep with Bakugan. Yes, he is happy. If you want to know what Bakugan is, ask any boy ages 4-10.

The kids were all thrilled to get pajamas and outfits- we really BADLY needed them. We have been lax in our clothes shopping of late. Now, Matthew won't have to wear any hand-me-downs from Allison (although he looked stunning in her Easter dress).

Amanda received a purse and candy from her good friend Yumina in Japan! According to Amanda, "It's the best!!! Thank you Yumina!!"

Then, there were games. We got a lot of games. Zingo is AWESOME! And, we love the ones that make us think. We got a few movies - WallE, Kung Fu Panda, and Horton Hears a Who. And, we got some Nintendo and Wii games (wow!!!) We also got some gift cards and coloring books and a great bubble maker. Allison has proclaimed that this is the best Christmas EVER.

And, mom even got a present from the kids. She got a Nuvi 360 GPS. She is currently trying to figure out how to program it with voices from Monty Python. Just picture John Cleese yelling, "What are you doing! I told you to turn right you daft imbecile!" Dad shopped for himself and bought himself a handheld GPS. Apparently, mom and dad decided that we should start planning ahead for when we can't figure out where we are.

So, thank you to everyone who sent us such great presents and gifts and cards and everything!!

Merry Christmas !!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone (at least to everyone who celebrates Christmas). If you don't celebrate it, then instead Happy December 25th.



We'll open presents tomorrow. Today, we made some sugar cookies for Santa (and some for our neighbors Mr. Paul and Miss Betty, and their daughter and son-in-law). Ohh, and the kids ate a lot of frosting. This could explain why they went running up and down the hill for 10 minutes (our hill is at about a 60 degree angle for those who have not yet visited us). They sang a few Christmas songs (Jingle Bell Rock, and Reindeer Rap). Matthew dazzled us with his dancing moves that rivaled Steve Martin in "The Jerk". Right now, we are watching the Grinch.

We did have a new feature in our pre-Christmas festivities. The girls wrote last Friday to Santa asking if they could have an elf. See, all these kids at school have written to elves and then (magically) these elves appear in their houses. Magically. The elves turn into stuffed animals during the day, and at night make their "secret reports" to Santa. And, they also do mischief. Our elf has hung himself from ceiling fans (by his clothes, not to kill himself!), turned chairs over, put chairs on tables, etc.. Some in the house have wondered out loud if our little elf might do good and nice things (like baking cookies or cakes or cleaning up bedrooms) instead of mischief. I said that I didn't think our elf, Eugene, was that kind of elf. Those helpful elves have to stay at the north pole. The elves that get to come to houses are sort of like elves-in-training or delinquent elves. Anyway, when Allison first read the letter from Eugene (see above picture of Allison and Eugene)explaining how this was his first house and how he hoped he wouldn't do too much damage, she couldn't pronounce his name. She called him "Egu". Mom also had trouble, and Allison has to keep correcting her when she refers to Eugene the Elf as "Egu the Elf". Mom is really dumb. Sadly, Eugene will be hitching a ride with Santa tonight and heading back to the north pole. We hope he can find our house next Christmas, wherever that will be!

We heard that Santa was on his way. We've checked NORAD to make sure the kids are in bed on time. He's getting close! Here's the link for you to track him: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

Matthew has nice rosy cheeks as he is going to bed. When dad asked him why his face was so red, he calmly answered, "I just pooped." He's a charming package.

Merry Christmas to everyone :)


(Ohh, and as you can see in the picture, Allison got an early Christmas present...her other front tooth!)

Piano Recital

Here is video of Amanda playing "Over the Rainbow" at her recital a few weeks ago :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJBqHEbrfk

Happy Holidays from The Linskeys!

Happy Holidays for the second consecutive year from Georgia! We enjoy Atlanta, but sadly we will have to say goodbye next summer and say hello to our new home in….Rochester, New York. Yes, another Navy town!!! Who knew! Todd will be running the NOSC (Navy Operational Support Center). It’s similar to his current job and he’d have been an idiot to say no to it. On the upside, there is no drought and really almost no chance of being hit by hurricanes or earthquakes. But, if anyone has a spare snow blower they would be willing to lend us please give us a call. So, what else is new? Todd has started running in races and finished his first half-marathon in October. He seems to like it, or he just really needs to get away from us. Kelly, bored with lying around now that the kids are all in various forms of school and longing for a change, had an appendectomy in the spring. That was about the only truly exciting thing she did all year. Most of the time, she is the chauffer and events coordinator for the kids. Sometimes, (sit down for this) she subs at Matthew’s preschool. Yeah, picture that! But, what you really want to hear about is the kids. So, here is what they were up to this year…



Amanda – age 11, 6th grader (argh!!!! MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!), future zoologist, learned that “Webkinz are finally getting boring, never try to rename your teacher’s chair, never let your sisters near your stuff, never let Matthew pretend to be a tulip, and mom and dad are starting to get stupid.” Yes, we’re almost there! She’s still in Girl Scouts, did swim team (“for the last time!”), sings in chorus, and plays piano. Her favorite subject? Nintendo and Pokemon. Bet you didn’t know they taught that in school. Actually, it’s science (where does she get that from?!?) For Christmas, she’d love…a new pokemon game. She would also like Allison, Julia, and Matthew to get Pokemon games. And Bucky, mom, and dad too. But, she’d play them for us if we didn’t want them. She’d also like a cellphone (because about half of the kids at her school have one – but she is so not getting one and just asks us to laugh at our reaction) and as many books as she can fit into her room.



Julia – age 9, 4th grader, wants to maybe be a lawyer, and definitely doesn’t want to be “the dude who eats all the weird food on the travel channel”. Me neither, Julia. This year, Julia learned long division, and, “like, other things.” She’s tried new sports (softball and basketball) and continued others (swimming, “car exercising”, and being blonde). Like her older sister, she has joined chorus and is a junior girl scout. This year, she learned, “Don’t sleep next to a sick person, don’t wind up the dog or ignore him when he has to go outside or feed him cheese, don’t take great-grandmothers on walks through poison ivy, never name trees, and don’t help your brother put on makeup or make him wear a tutu.” She would like a Cosmic Catch and Boom Blox for Christmas. Although they sound like diseases, I think they are actually games.



Allison – age 7, 2nd grader, future 2nd grade teacher or “cash cab prize girl”, Allison is our PGP – Princess Grumpy Pants. She got over her disappointment of not playing tackle football and instead played soccer and basketball. She is planning to try softball in the spring. She is our jock and seems to do well in sports. But,outside of sports, she often falls on her face (a.k.a “tripping on air”). Her most often uttered phrase? “I’m okay.” She also loves to sing…anywhere, anytime, and often as loud as she can. Allison’s other claim to fame is that she has the best hand-writing of all the Linskey kids combined. It might not be grammatically perfect, but it’s sure pretty! When she’s not being a jock, falling down, or singing she’s usually playing or “being a Brownie”. This year, she learned, “Geometry, trying not to fall in midair, not tormenting the dog…much, not telling classmates who your parents are voting for, and don’t get hit in the face by a basketball.” For Christmas, she’d like her other front tooth, a cell-phone, and a Pokemon ball.



Matthew – age 4 1/2, future Transformer or “Spiderman wearing a costume”, able to create letters with his body …and other things, has had a great year. Most importantly, he talks more! Although you may think this is bad, it is good. Check our blog for some more interesting conversations he has had with us that, sadly, can’t be put in the Christmas letter. Matthew likes snowflakes, going to two schools, playing soccer (which strongly resembles interpretive dance), and constantly finding new ways to make us laugh. He does not like getting hurt, having surgery, being in time out, or walking into things. This year, he learned, “Moms who go to the hospital don’t always bring home babies, never give the dog the phone, don’t cook by myself…ever, don’t try and crash your sister’s sleepover party, don’t change your underwear in front of your sister’s girl scout troop, and if you hug the prize machine at the dentist sometimes people will give you prizes just because you are so cute.” Since nobody delivered last year, he still wants a lifetime supply of Betty Crocker blueberry and double chocolate muffins. New for his list this year is “Bakugan.” Ohh, and everything he sees in any children’s toy catalog ever made and any toy store he happens to trick you into going to.



“Bucky” (seen frequently chewing on a metal sprinkler) is 83+ pounds of raw… inertness. We think he may have either horse, beaver, squirrel, or possibly trilobite DNA mixed in the chocolate lab. His favorite toy? Anything that you don’t want him to destroy…and hickory nuts. He ate our rake, he killed the grill brush, he really loves hoses, and as if that wasn’t enough…he chews up razor sharp chunks of hickory nuts for everyone to step on. He leaves them on the couch at night for us to find like little presents (where he hides them? No idea!) He’s actually a good dog and very lovable...in the way that a horse sitting on your foot is lovable.

We’ve had a few brave visitors this year, but we wish there were more. It’s not that far! Yes, we do still have a drought, but the water company doubled our water bills to make up for lower water usage so we’ve pretty much just given up on being “water responsible".

Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Todd, Kelly, Amanda, Julia, Allison, Matthew, and “Bucky”

Catnap

Matthew fell asleep last night around 6pm (it was a long Monday apparently). He slept for about an hour or two, woke up and came down to sit with dad. After he was more awake, he looked at Todd and asked, "Am I going to school now?"

He thought he'd had a good night's sleep! Since he gets up for school when it's dark, it's often hard to know for sure if it's day or night!

Matthew's Special Doctor

While waiting for Allison to finish her appointment at the dentist, I was trying to keep Matthew occupied.

I said, "Matthew, guess where you're going tomorrow?"

Matthew said, "Where?"

I answered, "The doctor."

He looked scared, so I added,
"It's the boys doctor."

Matthew thought about this for a second and then quickly asked,
"Is that the penis tickling doctor?"


Yes, Matthew, it is. It's the pediatric urologist. It's Matthew's surgical follow-up to see if he is all done with surgeries or if he requires more plumbing modifications.

Deep Thoughts...from Matthew

Last night, the kids were playing a little rough. At one point, some pushing was involved. Apparently, Allison pushed Matthew. He turned to her and stated most seriously,

"Allison, if you push anybody they could get hurt or dead."

He paused briefly in reflection and added,

"I don't think I'm dead though."