Spell That

Sissy qualified for the school spelling bee again this year. She came home on the last day of school before Christmas break with the list of 450 words to practice. I asked her when we should start practicing. She said she didn't know when the spelling bee was so there was no reason to start. 

Hmmm. Seems to me that they sent the list home so you could practice over Christmas break.

Sissy respectfully disagreed. And sometimes not respectfully.

I prodded her a couple more times about practicing. She continued to refuse.

Imagine my surprise when Sissy returned to school on Tuesday morning and I received an email inviting me to the spelling bee on Friday.

Uhhhh....crap. 

Mykey quickly wrote her a program that would dictate the words and she would type them. The words would randomly appear until she correctly typed them 3 times each. That's a lot of typing and memorizing.

Did I mention there were 450 words and only 3 days to learn them? And did I mention that there were words on the list that I've never even heard before? And did I mention that I was worried about her ability to be prepared for this spelling bee? And did I mention that this line of questioning is incredibly annoying?

Sissy spent many hours the next 3 evenings clacking away on the keyboard. It was her only hope.

And then off she went to the spelling bee on Friday afternoon. Mykey had to attend because I nearly met my demise watching her last year - I'm much too nervous for that nonsense and didn't want my innards to explode. 

The crowd started like this:

And slowly whittled down to this:

And then it was this:

Sissy won! I was incredibly proud. The winning word was ensemble. Hooray for Sissy!

When I went to pick her up from school a couple of hours later, this was happening:

A poor old guy accidentally crashed his truck into the front of the school. The story is his accelerator stuck. Thankfully no one was hurt. And even though he demolished the aquarium, all the fish were rescued and survived. 

What an exciting day! We had a lot to talk about at dinner.

We celebrated Sissy's spelling bee victory with Knoppers cookies and coconut almonds.

And my parents bought us pizza for dinner.

Man! It was an exhilarating Friday for us.

Congratulations to Sissy!

P.S. The District spelling bee is in a mere 5 days...that list has thousands of words. Thousands!

Last Hurrah

Well, it's 2026 and nearly time to get back to school and responsibilities.

Booo!

Mykey was back at work but Sissy had one more day to party. So we went wild and drove to Buc-ee's.

Baby was incredibly excited about it until we started driving. She didn't realize that she'd have to sit in the car for an hour to actually get to Buc-ee's. There was some crying and desperate attempts by me and Sissy to distract her. 

It was a lengthy hour for all of us.

But we made it!

We poked around the store for a bit and tried not to lose Baby in the crowds. Then we had lunch and Icee's. Chicken nuggets and burritos all around please.

And then we went home.

We killed the remainder of the day at the play area at the mall. It's become a regular stop on our map these days. Sissy couldn't resist climbing to the top of the tree. It took a few attempts and a few tumbles, but she conquered. 

Well, poo. I guess that's it for our loitering about every day. School starts tomorrow.

I wonder if Sissy remembers how to set her alarm clock.

Bye Bye '25

Wanna know how you can tell if you're getting old?

Be too tired to celebrate New Year's Eve.

I'm standing smack in the middle of that field this year.

Actually, I blame my sick tummy.

Okay, okay, it's a sick tummy and my advanced age.

Dang it! I never felt completely well the entirety of Christmas Break. Darn kids and their grubby germs. Why can't they cover their mouths when they cough? Why can't they wash those filthy hands? I shake my cane at you!

So what was I talking about?

Oh yeah, New Year's Eve. I was sick and tired. Too sick and tired to make my traditional menu of bacon jam dip, meatballs, deviled eggs, and Muddy Buddies for dessert. Guess how delicious any of those items sound when your stomach hurts?

Instead I made the troops forage for scraps and I relied on the good ol' Pepsi man to coat my belly with fizzy lifting drink. But don't you go feeling bad for them - I made my traditional menu the next day. 

We made an afternoon trip to Target to buy underwear and a potty for Baby. Mykey thinks it's time for the next step. I'm a little uncertain. But we'll plant the seed nonetheless. She chose Frozen undies because it's currently her favorite movie. 

We didn't do much while we waited for the big event of trying to keep our peepers open until midnight. I mostly tried to pretend that my tummy wasn't trying to kill me. 

We watched Back to the Future parts one and two, and then rang in the New Year. I fell asleep somewhere but awoke mere minutes before the ball drop.

Whew. 

Happy New Year!

I hope 2026 isn't a jerk.

Lazy Days

Mykey had some time off from work between Christmas and New Year so we spent our days being lazy. We puttered about the house, didn't shower until we dadgum felt like it, and enjoyed having nowhere to go. 

Mykey and I built a puzzle. 

Mykey insulated the garage door.

And replaced the shower cartridge. (Like I even know what that means.)

We made a couple of trips to Baby's favorite grocery store so she could drive her car. 

And we wondered what Sissy looks like these days since she rarely emerged from her den. She's apparently undergoing scientific testing of hibernation.

It was lovely to be with my peeps without a schedule tying us down.

Why didn't you come over? I had plenty of leftover Christmas ham for you!

Christmas

It's Christmas Day so you know I gots to put up a gazillion photos. You've been warned.

As is the Christmas morning tradition at our place, we had to wake Sissy up for the festivities. Not a morning person, that one. Baby, on the other hand, rises with the sun. And sometimes even before that.

We all trampled into Sissy's room to shake the beast alive and then ran downstairs. Baby was excited to see all the presents huddled beneath the tree's warm embrace.

It is magical to experience Christmas with a toddler; such a gift for this old lady. Sissy was also enchanted but did her best to play it cool - you know - since she's 13 now. It's alright. I know the truth.

We began with stockings. Chocolate and goodies for me and Mykey, candy and little trinkets for the girls. Baby received a Minnie Mouse jewelry set and Sissy received a dice game and her favorite Soda Can Fizzy candy. I received Cadbury Eggs. Thank you.

Santa was a generous bloke this year. We began the bonanza with travel size watercolor sketch pads for Sissy.

And Moana and Ariel water bottles for Baby.

He carried a box set of The Lord of the Rings down the chimney with care. 

And left a velvety pink ball for Baby. 

There was also a squishy dinosaur and cars with people inside for Baby. 

And a Korok blanket for Sissy.

The old guy brought princess dishes, a doctor kit, and a numbers puzzle for Baby.

And a squeezy cheese block for Mykey. 

Michael made Sissy a book press so she can paint on the edges of books. 

And Baby received a bicycle!

I must note that Baby carefully threw her paper scraps away each time she opened a gift. She is fastidious to the core.

In addition to all the aforementioned goodies, Santa brought Sissy a Zelda calendar, Speks magnetic putty, Hatchimals, (for old times' sake), a National Geographic Kid's almanac, wearable hooded blankets, and gouache paints. Whew!

After the excitement of gifts, I made a delightful meal with our more-expensive-than-gold Honey Baked Ham, and we took it easy the rest of the day. 

Instead of exchanging gifts, Mykey and I decided to have a special excursion with just the two of us. We went to Pigeon Forge, where we ate at our favorite restaurant and saw a magician show. We had a nice time being together but the traffic and crowds were stifling. We plan on having an excursion for Christmas every year from now on, but next time we'll go someplace less popular - because I'm old and I don't like people being in my way. 

So there.

Merry Christmas to all!

Bluey Bustin'

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house...

Kids were cracking Bluey's head with a stick.

Poor Bluey. Thankfully, we've never watched Bluey at our house so Baby had no qualms about repeatedly smashing her face. 

Poor Bluey.

Bluey actually didn't hold up very well to the beatings. Her handle broke shortly after the games began and she crashed to the floor from ceiling height. Her bum broke and it didn't take long for the savages to exploit the weakness. 

Poor, poor Bluey.

But her gifts were plentiful. 

My cousin put in some Mexican candy this year. Talk about gross. (Sorry, Mexico. Stop with the tamarind and chili and try a peanut butter cup) You know it's icky when the kids were daring each other to eat the Mexican candy. (Sorry, Mexico. I do love your food though)

Mykey 3D printed spinning tops and a competition was quickly afoot. 

We ate soup and Chex mix, plenty of baked goods, all took part in singing The 12 Days of Christmas - Mykey and I were 5 Golden Rings - and we read the account of Christ's birth from the Bible.

Half of the party was feeling ill - I was included in that statistic - but we powered through nonetheless. It was another lovely evening of tradition and I'm grateful that my cousin lives nearby.

And then on the way home we sat in standstill traffic for nearly an hour. Not grateful for that. Hopefully Santa can get through.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Cousin Time

We had my cousin's kids for a few nights so he and his wife could celebrate their anniversary. We had a marvelous time. I love that Sissy gets along so well with the cousins. They sat in the basement and played Nintendo for hours. And then they watched TV for hours.

And then I made them shower and go on an excursion with me.

We went to Candyland Christmas in the park by the library. The whole park is filled with trees that are decorated by local businesses or other organizations. After wandering through the trees, we stopped at the playground and the kids slid down the hill on cardboard and had a fantastic time. 

Except for Sissy. She was feeling sick.

She wasn't the only one. The kids would all be sick over the next couple of days. 

And I didn't escape it either. Insert trombone sounds: Wah wah wah wah.

Tis the season to be coughing, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! 

It's the most wonderful time of the year.