[ elf on the shelf ]

sooooooo... first of all i can't stop myself saying shelf on the elf, it's driving me nuts!!!! my friend, jackie, has 2 elves on the shelf & when she explained how they worked i kind of fell in love with the whole thing!!

here's my version... basically they watch you & report back to santa. you can talk to them & they get moved around the house (by adults) & i think there's a book that comes with it too.

i went online to look at them & to tell you the truth i couldn't see any i liked...

this morning oscar & flynn were in our bedroom & flynn asked who that was on my shelf. i told him it was yoda. (it was a pre-kid present to my husband, mike, who loves star wars).

oscar asks if he is king of the elves? i quickly thought 2 steps ahead & said yes... & that he's watching you guys to see if you're being good.

this is such a magical age!! they TOTALLY believe!! it's wonderful!!

so i have been moving yoda around the house today... the boys are just amazed by the whole thing!! when he's not where they last saw him they search & then start yelling with excitement, i've been chuckling to myself all day!!

oscar swears he saw him walk a little!! the only thing is it's freaking me out a bit!! oscar keeps asking me if i can see yoda behind him... & then thought he saw him behind me!!

so yoda is our elf on the shelf!!

'good relations with the wookiees, i have.'

[ gobble gobble! ]

sooooooo the teachers & kiddies did a fantastic job, very very proud!! pass the tissues!!

[ can anyone hear me? ]

sooooooo... I'VE LOST MY VOICE!!!! [ has anyone seen it??? ] but seriously i have ~ this has never happened to me before. yes i've had colds & sore throats that have affected my voice but never like this.  i have to yell to get even a pathetic whisper sound out..

it was pretty bad for a couple of days ~ then absolutely no sound... :(

as thanksgiving was coming up i thought i best go to the dr's as if i do need antibiotics i'd rather get them sooner than later ~ i mean what's the point of prolonging the suffering?

the dr said it's better to try & talk normally instead of whispering... you think? i wanted to say 'listen lady I AM NOT WHISPERING, I'M YELLING' because I was!

anyway she pronounced laryngitis & that was that... no magic pill, just ride it out...

i have to say not having a voice is like having a power cut... you keep forgetting & constantly try to 'turn on the light' or in my case 'answer the phone' then get hung up on because no-one can hear you!

people react really weirdly too... a lot of people want to ask a million questions & the last thing you want to do is talk! or they think you are stupid & talk to you really slowly... or they start yelling at you!! THANKS!!

I found this GREAT butcher - but that's a whole other blog right there, they couldn't hear me so i was having to write things down... one butcher wrote me a note back, thinking I was deaf too!

i can't believe how much I take my voice for granted! the boys were playing up, fighting mainly, so i was trying to stop them without any voice... mmmmm that worked not! after about 20 attempts i just yelled! nothing came out but ~ then 'chewbacca' type noises ~ in random volume! the kids just looked at me as if i was nuts!!! for about 2 hours after that episode i had NO sound at all... i think i set the healing back a week :(

after a whole day of this i began to stop fighting it & started to accept, or surrender to, what was going on. the only thing i was really scared of was what if one of the boys ran out in the road (not that they ever do that) & i'd yell & be mute ~ like one of those crazy horrible dreams.

skype chat is great! no one knows anything is wrong...

hey voice ~ i miss you!! come back soon please!

[ can someone let james brown in...? ]

 

sooooooo... this is how james brown (one of our rescue cats) lets us know he'd like to come in!  he hangs on the door, by his front claws, meowing as if his tail was on fire. we open the door, cat always still attached... he jumps down & then very slowly saunters in, in a very cool manner, like only james brown could!

[ more costen library! ]

sooooooo... i know i've blogged about the costen children's library, before... ( previous post )

but... i can't get enough of this place!! & felt compelled to share my sons latest creations! i'm thinking of making this a permanent spot & for all you brits i'd like you to have tony hart's gallery music playing in your head as you peruse these master pieces!

i do have to fess up though, that i think i get the most excited (out of everyone in the whole library) when dr dana reveals what we will be making after she's read the story! the week it was the puppets i'm pretty sure i let a gasp! hahaha. i wonder how long it will be before the boys won't want to come... so i'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

october 22 2010 ~ monkeys with matching tee shirts

october 15 2010 ~ super hero puppets

[ nyc ]

sooooooo... last saturday my husband, mike, & i went to nyc to celebrate a birthday of the wonderful dr that delivered both our boys, oscar 4&3/4 & flynn 3.

i’ve been really ‘jump up & down’ excited (i mean that literally) about this event from the moment i was invited. 5 mintues later the boys were booked in for a sleep over with my lovely friend!

so we leave in time but there’s a ton of traffic... the lincoln tunnel is really backed up & then there are roads closed in the city... it was turning into one of those dreams where you really want to get somewhere but can’t. it got to a point where i just wanted to abandon the car & walk!!

we arrive at this beautiful hotel, drinks on the rooftop terrace ~ delicious nibbles

lovely people!! that have in common an admiration, friendship & desire to celebrate!

a wonderful sit down dinner... the mushroom risotto was sooooooo good!!(you have to remember i’ve not been eating gluten, sugar, dairy or drinking alcohol) i was making an mmmmmmmm sound with every forkful, till i notice mike looking at me with a raised eyebrow!

the meal ends with a buffet of desserts... there were these chocolate mushrooms that were d-i-v-i-n-e... i must have eaten about 15!!! i was chatting to the waiter while he was clearing the plates telling him how good these mushrooms were, he agreed. then i suddenly realize i really shouldn’t eat anymore... i was more than full! the lovely waiter came back with 4 more mushrooms.... uh oh

after the festivities we left & because it was john lennon’s 70th birthday i asked mike if we could stop by strawberry fields. there was a parking spot seemingly waiting for us. it was really lovely

the imagine mosaic was surrounded with people singing & in the center guitarists accompanying them.

when a song ended people shouted out song titles ~ i shouted out revolution, LOVE that song. the lady in front of me turned round & said we’ve just sung that. i replied i just got here. she said if you just got here you would have heard it. whatever, i thought, not really in the spirit of the moment... but i’m having a lovely time anyway.

we sang a few more songs & then went home. 

you know when you’ve got a tune in your head because you’ve been singing it recently... well the next morning i was singing ‘but if you go carrying pictures of chairman mao, you ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow’ over & over. i replay the night before events at strawberry fields in my head... i suddenly realize i had stood there singing ‘revolution’... as soon we had finished i yell out that request...HAHAHA

don’t you know it’s gonna be all right!

[ my brave flynn! ]

sooooooo... my little man, flynn, whose 3 years old had surgery today for a hydrocele & inguinal hernia.

i didn't realise how much i was worrying about it until the doctor called us into a room to tell us the surgery had gone well ~ i suddenly felt like a rag doll & could have just collapsed onto the floor.

while we were waiting for this news i felt really lightheaded. every time i heard a cry or a call for mum my ears pricked up with a yearning ache.

it's an odd feeling waiting for your child to finish their surgery & knowing everyone else in the waiting room is in the same boat. there's a sense of unspoken unity.

flynn had already had surgery when he was 3 weeks old for pyloric stenois, i went numb then. but i think my body could'nt cope with anymore as my husband & i were both laid off 3 days before.

when they wheeled flynn away today & was out of sight i shed a few tears but held it together pretty well (i think!!). but i did cry when i saw him afterwards all wired up & in pain.

we dressed flynn in his batman pj's but i didn't bother putting on the cape ( he was so out of it & hadn't really opened his eyes yet). flynn in his hoarse voice, brought on from the breathing tube, mustered up a gruff whisper 'put on the cape'. somehow he knew his outfit wasn't complete!

i can't say enough good things about the staff at CHOP.

thank goodness it's done & went well, i feel really lucky, blessed & proud of this very brave 3 year old.