Sunday Sound Out

hey, is your picture from your twitter profile anywhere on the blog? it should be! it is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s!
Thanks and nah, it's not here. I'm impatiently anxiously awaiting pictures I had taken while I was in Sonoma. You can get a sneak peek HERE.

I have a question for next week's SSO: What do you think about Chicago possibly nabbing the 2016 Olympics? Is that exciting/would be a huge hassle or do you think your city could pull it off well?
Well, in all honesty, I don't live downtown and don't think it would personally affect me too much so I don't have any strong opinions.

I think it could be good for the city in that it would bring in tourism revenue. I'm sure a lot of improvements would be done to the CTA over the next several years to accommodate traffic. The city and private investors would likely enjoy a profit. And it should create some new jobs over the next few years.

I don't know what the effects will be long-term. Of course, there will be the increased traffic and congestion. Some people have suggested it puts Chicago at an increased risk of terrorist attacks. I imagine our taxes may rise which is stinky since we have the highest sales tax of all US cities and everything is taxed here.

I think it would be kinda cool to have the Olympics here, but I'm not really knowledgeable on the details of the plan, so I guess I can't really say. Daley has a way of getting whatever he wants though.

I swear this is the hardest part about parenting. How do you get a kid to understand the whole trust thing?
I don't know! I don't think it can just be taught. I think it's probably one of those things that has to be learned the hard way through making mistakes.

I can tolerate just about anything from my daughter, but when she lies to me, I completely come undone. I don't care WHAT the situation, DO NOT lie to me and we'll be cool. I love that you sort of suspected all along... your Mom Radar is pretty in tune!
Exactly! I have a real problem with lying. Had Austin told me that he'd messed up and blown off his homework, I would have been much more sympathetic. I don't tolerate lying though. Period.

Actually I think you were a little harsh on him.
I don't agree. I think it's important that he learn the effects of lying now when his punishment is simply a couple weeks without TV than to learn it when he's an adult and his wife leaves him because she's sick to death of his lies.

Wow, 2 weeks--are you going to be able to enforce that? I guess I'm used to 4- and 7-minute time-outs!
Well, it's been a week and so far, so good. I told him I'd consider shortening his punishment a bit if he turned in an excellent essay on the evils of lying. So far, he hasn't written a word, so it looks like it'll be another week.

Which child was the one who forgot to mention pizza? I'm guessing Brooklyn only because she's the youngest and it's possible that pizza has yet to fully permeate her consciousness.
Um, nope, Clayton was the only one to mention pizza. Repeatedly. He kept saying "pizza" mainly because it's his favorite word right now.
"Clay, what did you do at school today?"
"Pizza."
"What do you want for dinner?"
"Pizza."
"Get in bed if you want me to tuck you in."
"Pizza."
Yep, "pizza" and "plumpy" are the words of the month around here.

I love the Thankful for list...the pink comments have got to be from Brooklyn, yes? Too cute =)
But of course!

Austin's not too bad at drawing. I am a little concerned though why Brooklyn looks so evil in all the pictures.
She is kinda is evil. Austin was just being realistic.

Methinks Austin has a wee bit of hostility bottled up toward a certain Brooklyn, eh? Very common. My big bro (oldest of 6) did also. Oh the things he did to us...!
He's got a lot of talent though. =)
Ya think?
Actually, Austin is very good at drawing. Those pictures don't reflect his talent. He was just goofing off with those. He can look at a picture and duplicate it just like that. And he starts drawing from one end of the paper and works his way to the other end, details and all; whereas most people would sketch in the larger parts and make sure it was spaced out correctly and then they'd add the smaller details. He's a weird kid.

Do Jackson or Savannah draw?
Sure, all the kids like drawing. Especially on walls and furniture and skin.

This is what I did today.



I put up the tree and decorated the house. It always looks so festive right after Thanksgiving. I love sitting in the family room, just looking at the lights twinkle. I gaze at the assortment of ornaments hanging from the branches and remember a story behind each one.

There's the little dog with a helmet and a shield with the words "Genie Hahmer" painted on it. Austin got that when he was 3 and he was into this play castle with knights in shining armor. He couldn't say "knight in shining armor" and he pronounced it "genie hahmer". There's the little pair of pink shoes given to me by my friend Julie because I lived in my pink Converse hightops in high school. There are personalized ornaments representing our family for each year and each year those ornaments have gotten just a little bit bigger. There are wreaths made from paper plates, macaroni, glue and glitter. There are ornaments that have pictures of the kids from that year. There are even more ornaments that still have the factory-installed picture of the model in them because I never took the time to replace them with pictures of my kids. There are ornaments my grandmother has made us from plastic canvas and yarn. She's been making those for over 20 years and each year she comes up with a different design. And of course, there are the branches that look like this:



I don't know why this is, but every year the kids flock to the same three branches and hang all their ornaments on those.

Then comes December 26 and suddenly my house no longer looks festive. It just looks cluttered. I can't wait to take down the tree and gain a little more space in my family room. I'm sick and tired of rehanging the ornaments that the littlest kids pull off again and again. The twinkly lights, the stockings, the wreaths and candles all lose their luster and look like tacky garage sale items that I just want out of my house, soon after Christmas.

But for now, in this season of Advent, I'll bask in the glow of the tree and anticipate the celebration of Christmas.