"Snape Snape Severus Snape..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

Ok, one of Devin's favorite YouTube offerings...thought I'd post it for mass amusement while I download XMas photos...

Holiday Fun With Max

Ok, the Grinch had nothing on Julia. Need a "Max" to dress up in horrible holiday attire? Check. Crazy Santa hat? Check. Totally annoyed animal? Check.

But isn't he cute??

Family Sledding

Those of you who know me know I'm not a big fan of the cold and snow, but once in a while I like to unleash my inner 8 year old. After the week we had, once we were all safely back home we decided to head out in Sunday's storm and do some sledding. It was a ball! Kids got good and tired out and we got to see some friends and catch up. And yes, we did a couple "family runs" on the giant sled.

Then it was back in for the "good" hot cocoa with marshmallos. Mmmm.

My favorite part was seeing John G. and having him tell me, "Oh, you just missed Jeanne!" And me looking at him and saying, "Really, Jeanne was here?" (Knowing full well she likes this less than I do.) Him laughing and saying "no". Tee hee!!

I Elfed My Grandma

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Grandma's House

Here's some of the fallout from the ice storm. It's kind of hard to see the water line in some of them, but it's about 3 feet (came to the top of Neil's legs). Note temperature inside the house - 44 degrees! The picture doesn't do it justice, but the ice on the trees was really thick.

Still can't reach her insurance company...

Twilight Puppets

http://www.youtube.com/spookydan

Ok all you Twilight fans, everybody clap your hands...
SpookyDan has made a short, everybody let's cavort...
Puppets are are all so funny, how come Forks is rarely sunny?
In love with Edwards glowing eyes, but hottie James - a big surprise!
No I haven't gone round the bend, but make sure to check out "Team The End"!

Ok, I really need a life, I know. This Twilight puppet show cracked me up, well worth the 3 minutes!!

Reunited and it feels so good!

After the stuff yourself full day on Thursday I spent the rest of the weekend in reunion mode. First at the cocktail party Friday night of the mom of a good friend of mine. That was like "reunion lite" and a good gear up to my actual reunion last night.

There were a lot of people that couldn't make it that I would have loved to have seen, but it was great seeing the crew who did make it. Here's a small sampling of the pix. I do have some really fun pix of Deb dancing, but love her too much to post them (though it's a series of very flattering shots of your posterior). All in all it was a fun night! Continuing it tonight with a few more folks that don't have to head back to their home states quite yet.

My new "must have" music

http://www.joshuaradin.com/

Ok, maybe I'm late to the Joshua Radin party, but you must find the means to acquire this man's new CD "Simple Times". Then, after you listen to his rich, folky voice (with what sounds like a hint of Irish influence) and his mello guitar sounds, read his story.

I love that he took a stand against the big music machine, sooo gutsy and risky (being a long time underwriter, I am risk-averse and therefore totally envy his intestinal fortitude). I hope he's the next household name and that big music scores this one as a huge loss. Seriously, Columbia/Sony thought there was no top 40 hit here? Sheep need not apply.

I need to go listen to "One of Those Days" again now...

Sturbridge Tournament

Spent last night and today at the karate tournament in Sturbridge. Julia's been practicing night and day b/c she was determined to get a "big" trophy this time. Now, this was only their 2nd tournament ever and the competition tends to be fierce. The kids did an AMAZING job. They both knew their "1 Kata" cold and used all the practice and techniques they've been learning. They each got participant trophies today which is great because they definitely earn them getting up in front of all those people to do what they do! (But I still think Julia got hosed in her division. Just saying.)

Judge for yourself...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...!

Yes, to me Christmas has officially begun. It started when Neil and I compiled our buying list on Saturday and I started wrapping on Sunday. I've spent the week shopping, re-ordering Christmas cards (long story) and generally getting into the Christmas spirit.

We have started some new homework rules, for those of you playing the home game, and one of the perks is a periodic celebration. The kids are left largely on their own to complete homework now (which is going REALLY well according to us and both of their teachers in conferences this past week) and when you complete a long term assignment you get a celebration. Devin had both a book report (# 2 of 10 due this year) and a Current Events topic which is written and an oral presentation to the class. Coming on the heels of those we told him he could pick a dinner out tonight to celebrate. He chose Olive Garden (shocking) and they both wanted to go see Santa (yeah!!).

Our mall Santa rocks. They import him from South Carolina every year. All hair is his own. He is my hero every year. This year our mall adapted last year's theme (reusing snow globes and the like - yeah, recycle!!) to be something to do with the Polar Express.

Happy memories of tonight - being in the snow globe, watching the snow fall on us and seeing Julia's face full of joy and wonder as she looked up at the snow. It was almost like a movie that played in slow motion. I'll never forget it. I was wiping tears away when we got to Santa.

When we got to Santa he amazed them with his recollection of their names (though later they both confessed they thought we told the workers their names - busted) and although Devin chose to sit "next" to Santa rather than on his lap, I was thrilled that, at age 9, he's still wanting to see him. Julia chose the "lap" option which made me glow. She's still my baby, after all.

They had a great chat with Santa, and I caught his eye on the walk away and mouthed "Thanks." Thanks for one more year of wonder, belief and the joy of being a kid. Thanks for that early Christmas gift for me, which I'll not soon forget. It will be only too soon before they shun the notion of the mall Santa and the real one, for that matter. I for one, still believe.

So, yes, it's Christmas time for me now.

P.S. Our mall did a brilliant thing this year and teamed up with Shutterfly for the pictures. Shutterfly sent me a $10 off coupon for the mall Santa pix. For $23 I got a reusable flash drive with our picture loaded on it and a $25 Shutterfly card-maker coupon to make prints of the photo. Such a deal!!

Nine? Continued...

A few more pix from last night...

a big Happy Birthday shout out to Oompa too! Devin and his Oompa have the same birthday, how cool is that?? Birthday boy # 2 in the red sweater!!

Nine?

Well, the last single digit birthday for Dev has come and gone. Hard to believe my "baby" is 9? He'd be horrified if he heard me call him that. I'll also share another funny story from Halloween. I was on the door while Neil and the kids trick or treated. Three girls rang the bell, cute costumes, candy handed out etc. When I hear..."Tell Devin we said hello!" I looked a little harder at the girls and realized I knew 2 of them from Dev's school. A few giggles followed as I stood stunned at the door. Has this already started?? Ack, I just sprouted another gray hair.

But, back to the birthday boy...we divorced ourselves from the whole election night and held his family party last night. It was really a lot of fun. It's the kind of night that I hope my kids will remember from childhood. A whole mess of family sitting around a big table, laughing and enjoying each other. Devin was in his glory. My Mom ordered the BEST cake for him. It's an Indiana Jones cake with the boulder that actually rolls down. Little frosting "vines" were swirled all over it. It could be the best birthday cake I've seen. Devin even had a few bites, which I consider tremendous progress for the boy who's been having some allergy related anxiety over food. All in all a great day!

Spooky Oookey

Happy Halloween! The kids were Hannah Montana and a gory Grim Reaper this year. Dev's costume had a blood pump in the chest. There was this little voice in my head that knew it was going to break and there would be fake blood all over him at some point. This concerned me a bit as I discovered it seemed to stain and he had brand new jeans on.

Well, of course it broke and there was "blood" all over him. And in my zeal to wash the clothes I forgot to take a picture of them!! Duh! It was kind of funny though, and the blood came out, go figure.

Julia had her diva act down. Papa and Aunt Bet came over to see them in their costumes and I couldn't resist taking a picture of the "paparazzi" in the kitchen too! As soon as they asked Julia for a picture, she struck a pose so naturally it was hysterical! She made a fabulous HM. The wig kept freaking Devin out though. He said it "didn't match her eyes". Hee hee.

We ran out of candy by 7:40 and had to turn the lights off. LOVE this neighborhood on Halloween!

Hopeyou all had a good one! Boo!

Halloween Candy - Important

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R3dbBQPIFf0

This is not the same message as the Pirate Candy melamine warning that's floating around in e-mail. It's legit on Snopes and worth the watch. The guy is a little off his rocker, but that just makes it FUN and important to watch. I'll bet you I could head to Marshall's or Target now and find some of this stuff. Be careful, be alert, be informed.

A familiar face from a happy time

I can't tell you what an Odyssey (yes, I just used a capitol letter b/c I'm used to referring to my mini-van) joining Facebook has been. I have several friends who have told me about it, encouraged me to join etc. But I had a My Space page and really don't get a lot out of it. Well, FB has been a very different experience. I have found and talked to soooooo many old friends, people I went to school with etc. It's been a week of re-living many memories. My high school reunion is coming up, so I thought it might be fun to refresh some faces and names, but I've found that I have taken so much more from it.

As you start searching through the recesses of your brain for "Friends" to "find" on FB your mind starts to wander. I decided to try and find a friend of my Dad's that I lost touch with shortly after he died. I looked up his name and and got a bunch of hits with female names attached. I moved on.

I decided to try again, my inner bloodhound on overdrive, and lo and behold - I found him!! I "friended" him and we've been exchanging e-mails ever since. There have been a lot of laughs and tears exchanged, and it made joining FB 150% worth it for me. Here is a photo he sent (probably taken by his amazingly talented daughter who is now all grown up, or by his beautiful and compassionate wife). But it pretty much summarizes how I remember him. Very deep and soulful, guitar in hand, making music.

WP's family had a lake house in NH that we went to. Some of my best memories of my Dad, even my life in general, are from that time. WP made up great games to play and organized this enormous scavenger hunt that required boats, cars etc. I still tell people about it.

The best part of this exchange (besides that we're now back in touch and getting to see him in these great photos) is that he wrote a song about my Dad. He sent me the lyrics and it was just amazing. It really healed a little part of my heart to know he had a friend that loved him and understood him so well that this song could have been written. I will treasure it more than you can imagine. So, thank you WP.

More of My Gorgeous Niece

I got to meet my beautiful little niece "A" yesterday and took a motherload of pixtures. I told Lindsay and Adam that she'll grow up thinking that Auntie Kelly has a lens for an eye. I don't want to spoil it too much since they may use some for her birth announcement, but here were some others. I could just eat her up!!

Anyone else see the strong family resemblence?? Those Hartzog genes are strong!

And yes, Neil has already said he wants another baby. Oh no...

SHE's HERE!!!!!

Say hello to my beautiful niece. Born 10/11, baby "A" weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 5 oz. Mother, Father and baby all doing very well. Cannot WAIT to meet her tomorrow!! Can't believe she wasn't a he, totally blown my mind.

I'm an aunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See the baby in the belly here...http://debhannadesigns.blogspot.com/2008/08/monster-maternity-post.html

A Little Closer To Equality

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20081010/Connecticut.Same.Sex.Marriage/

Yeah for Connecticut!! I've been thinking lately how unconstitutional it is to dis-allow gay marriage. Because that basically means individuals in same sex couple relationships have fewer rights than I do. Doesn't seem right, does it??

Max's Thoughts About the Debates

I think his face says it all. I couldn't agree more. I get myself all nestled in to hear them discuss the issues and ANSWER THE DANG QUESTIONS and what do I hear?? More blah blah blah (finger pointing) blah blah blah (more finger pointing). ENOUGH!!!!

I want a president who LEADS, who makes decisions, can think on his/her feet and takes some ownership. Done with all of them.

Max for president!!