Triplets and a Mermaid

Here's the latest craftiness from the Ater house. First, are the triplets made for my littlest nieces (and Z). Z named them Elephant-Daisy, Butter Bean, and Ladybug. Then, we have Melody Mermaid made (this morning) for my other niece Melody. Z wants her cousins not to worry, she has been taking very good care of the babies since they were "born." They have slept at the end of her bed, all tucked in, and have been given lots of love. I'm sure Melody Mermaid will enjoy a few tea parties with Ariel (our resident mermaid) before she goes to her new home at Christmas. Lesson of the day: Girliness is not learned...it is innate behavior.

Snow...snow...snow...snow...snooow!

Snow! What a FANTASTIC winter day! The entire atmosphere was charged with excitement. Kids were let out of school early to enjoy the winter wonderland (at least a South Texas version of it). One couldn't help but smile as one elementary schooler after another walked to the front office, looked out the window and exclaimed in the most excited of voices, "It's SNOWING!" They would then proceed to leave the building scoop up a mound of the soft snow, pack it into a ball, and pelt whoever (and I mean whoever...kid they didn't know, someone elses mom, etc) was closest. For so many of them this was their first time to see snow. For a lot of adults that have always lived in this area, this was a rare occurance...to see a snowfall like that with big fluffy flakes that stick to everything.

My kids had a blast! They had a snowball fight with our neighbors. They tasted the snow. They made snow angels. They even built tiny snowmen until the snowmen were taken apart to use as large snowballs. They hated to come inside even though they were both soaked to the bone and shivering. Of course they warmed up quick with a mug of hot cocoa complete with marshmellows. What a great day!

It wasn't long before the snow started to melt, but J was able to gather a few more snowballs this morning to put in the freezer...a fun reminder of such a wonderful and rare Christmas treat!

Oh, Christmas Tree...Ohhhhhhh Christmas Tree

Last year, my beautiful (not cheap) Christmas tree (that had all sorts of guarantees about lights staying on, even if one burned out) started having complete strands go out in strange patterns. So, in an effort to save money this year, I spent two days this week unlighting my non working prelit tree....BIG pain in the booty. This picture does not do the amount of lights in my recycle bin justice because it's a huge amount. They were wrapped around and around and around..... Anyway, since we saved money, we were able to buy the really nice, bigger-bulbed, electricity-saving LED lights. So after rewrapping our tree with the new lights, it looks fantastic. Special thanks to Erica, J, and Alan for their help in the unlighting process. Lesson of the Day: Do not buy a prelit tree in the first place.

My Two Favorite Reindeer

"Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer, and Vixen.

On Z, on J, on Donder, and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

Goofy Glasses and Crazy Shades Night at Awana

This Wednesday was Goofy Glasses and Crazy Shades Theme Night at Awana. Check out the glasses Z and I put together. I love the dollar store. We bought the glasses then glued on the jewels. Z and I thought we looked maaaaarvelous. A lot of people actually thought my glasses were great and that I should wear them on a normal day. I think not! They're hideous. J wore the classic nose, glasses, eyebrow, and mustache combo (I'll try to get a picture and post). But his nose would light up and change colors...another dollar store find. Lesson of the day: The dollar store is GREAT and a lot of my friends have questionable taste!

Orphan Shoes...what's with that?

Okay, I'm constantly amazed by the number of orphaned shoes on the side of the road. Just yesterday, I was headed to Sams and there next to the curb was a once nice adult sized tennis shoe that had obviously met it's demise by the wheel of a car. Orphaned shoes always spur a plethera of questions like, "Does its owner know its gone?" "How did it end up there?" "Were they hanging their foot out the window and the shoe fall off?" "Did they leave their shoe on the top of their car?" I just don't get it. Shoes aren't cheap. I can almost understand if it's a kids shoe. I remember spending the good part of an afternoon searching up and down, in between, and under every isle at Target looking for a brand new sandle of J's. I also remember Z taking off her shoe and chunking it across Walmart about a year ago. But these aren't just kid shoes. In fact, most of them are adult shoes. I've seen everything from boots to flip-flops, sandles to tennis, high heels to crib shoes. I guess I'll aways wonder about it...the orphaned shoe on the side of the rode. Lesson of the Day: Don't hang a foot out the car window...you might just lose a shoe!

Meet Super Turkey

Faster than the consumption of pumpkin pie, stronger than the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking, able to leap small tables in a single bound, it's a bird...it's a turkey...it's Super Turkey!

Picture one: Super Turkey (J's latest art project for school) with Merlin the pumpkin (J's last art project), plotting a way for Super Turkey to avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinner.

Picture two: Ahhhhhhhhh!