Extra (oops!) Song Lyrics

**Edited to fix my embarrassing mistake!

Linus loves to sing. She loves all things music. On occasion she misunderstands lyrics. Christmas songs tend to give her the most trouble. Here's a sampling of the songs we hear at our house:

Oh Well, Oh Well (Noel, Noel from The First Noel)

Glory had a nooner...(Glory Hallelujah to the newborn king from Glory Hallelujah)

Dawn was a fairy gaggle...(Don we now our gay apparel from Deck the Halls)

Hey, I'll take all of these over what she called Frosty when she was one and a half years old: Farty the Snowman. We don't even use the word fart in our house, so it was total coincidence!

Some Extra Info

I've been tagged by LeeAnn. I really need to add her to my links. She posts great weekly menus with recipes, she's hilarious, and I like her parenting style. She's got adorable kiddos too. :)

Here's how this one works:
Ok, this is specifically not a meme. It's a HOOPLA. Got it?
Here are the rules:
1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.

Here goes:

1) I have an absolute obsession with looking at Christmas lights. I grew up with beautifully decorated homes along St. Charles Avenue, *slightly* overdone (ha!) Al Copeland's various spots, and this amazing house in Metairie (I think) from when I was little. At the amazing house, they had great displays that totally grabbed children's attention, but they also had a talking Frosty! He was interactive waaayyyy before interactive was the thing. He'd call you by name when talking to you, and you could touch his icy body. Yikes! It wasn't as bad as that makes it sound.

2) Santa brings Linus Christmas pjs each year. He brings them a size up so that she can get a lot of wear out of them. He leaves instructions for her to wear them to bed Christmas Eve the following year so that he'll know he's at the correct house. This allows her to wear Christmas pjs to bed Christmas Eve and a new pair Christmas night.

3) I'm the oddball who doesn't take Christmas decorations down until January 6th. I'm all about waiting 'til the Epiphany.

4) I always look forward to January 6th because it's King's Day which means Mardi Gras King cakes begin to hit the stores. Yum!

5) I truly miss McKenzie's Christmas cookies. They did holiday cookies (Valentine's Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's day, Halloween, and Christmas) that were divine. Since they only did holidays you didn't get sick of them. This is the same bakery that made the yummiest petit fours.

6) Like LeeAnn, I keep Christmas card photos. I like to go back and see how people have grown. I LOVE getting Christmas cards.

7) I love Christmas Day, but I really love Christmas Eve. I think it's the anticipation that makes me so excited.

8) I am horrible about mailing my Christmas cards in a timely manner. Every year I promise myself that I'll get started earlier, but each year they go out on about the 20th. Nope, I still haven't done them this year. :(

9) I like eggnog. I wish I didn't. It would save me tons of calories.

10) My anniversary is during the week before Christmas. Everyone said I'd hate having it then, but I love it. I love that the city was decorated beautifully, the church was decorated beautifully, and my reception place was decorated for Christmas. Army and I really aren't into giving anniversary presents (and we're both perfectly ok with that), so it really doesn't cause present dilemma issues. The only issue that it causes is we sometimes take advantage of having a babysitter (so that we can go out to dinner) and use the time for shopping.

11) I love Christmas Eve service. We don't go to midnight mass, but we do go Christmas Eve. It always feel magical to me.

12) I love Christmas music. I love to hear Linus sing her heart out. We usually pop a Christmas cd in November 1st. Hey, at least we wait 'til after Halloween!

Ok, Kim, Katie, Lori, and Leia consider yourself tagged! I'm being nice to some of y'all and not tagging some of the people I know you'll tag. I hate when I'm tagged, but everyone I'd tag has already been tagged!

ETA: Adding a 13th just to see if I'm the only one who does this...
We don't put Baby Jesus in our Nativity until Christmas morning. Our reasoning is He wasn't born until then. When we put him in, we sing the Happy Birthday song to Baby Jesus.

Extra Loud, Extra Clear

Linus had her preschool Christmas program today. She, as usual, was front and center. I've always thought she was front and center because she is so tall. Not so the director told me. She said Linus is always in the middle because they know she'll perform. As the director said, "There's not a shy bone in that child."

She actually had lines in the program this time. Usually she's singing and dancing (and in years past, lifting her shirt to expose all her glory while her father and I cringe), but this year she even spoke. She spoke loud and clear. She had 31 words for her part. Yeah, I admit I'm the dork that counted, but I think that's a sizable amount for a four year old to memorize! If it's not, please don't burst my bubble. And she danced. The child danced her heart out as she sang Away in a Manger (I know, not so much of a dancing song, but Linus absolutely canNOT stand still if there's music being played in a five mile radius).

All of my pictures have other children in them, and I really don't think it's fair to post them on the internet without their parents' permission. I'll try to crop them out tomorrow so I can post them. For now, here's a pic with Santa who made a surprise visit after the breakfast.

An Extra Spelling Lesson

Linus had a few mishaps at preschool today, so when she asked to go look at Christmas lights we thought that might give a good ending to her day. When her daddy agreed, she took a shot and asked for ice cream too. Her day really was bad, so Army said she could have some ice cream. We stopped at an ice cream shop, but it was closing in 7 minutes, so we felt like it wouldn't be nice to drop in at that point. Poor Linus was a little bit upset, but Army promised to stop at the store and get a pint. After we looked at lights, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up the ice cream. Linus and I stayed in the car while army ran in. The grocery store is at the end of a large outdoor mall. It was nearing 9 o'clock (past L's bedtime!), so the stores were closing. Linus noticed the closings, and she remembered the closed ice cream shop, so she began asking why stores closed. After a short discussion, she commented that Bruno's (grocery) was still opened. We have two other large grocery chains within a few blocks of our home, so we rarely shop at Bruno's. I asked her how she knew we were at Bruno's, and she said, "Because I know."


Me: But how do you know?


Linus: It says so.


Me: What do you mean it says so?


Linus: (sigh) Right there, Mommy.


She was pointing to their sign:

Linus: It says Bruno's. J-3-r-u-n-o-s! Bruno's.

I'm thinking she might not be able to read a fancy B yet! :)

Poor child sells out way to easily too. She was perfectly happy with two spoons (spoons, not scoops!) of ice cream!

Uh-oh, Uh-oh, and an Extra Uh-oh!

I'm fear my daughter's teenage years. She's always had a great sense of humor, but tonight it became apparent that she's playing us. We, however, were way too slow to get it until it became obvious.

At dinner tonight, Linus ordered her own meal. She told the lady,
"I'd like a grilled cheese, please."
Lady: What side would you like with it?"
Linus: Cimmanon Apples

We finished placing our orders and I turned to Linus and said,
"What kind of apples did you order?"
Linus: Fruit ones
Me: But did you order plain ones or ones with a flavor
Linus: Fruit with an apple flavor
Me: Ok, exactly what kind of apple flavored fruit did you order?
L: Cimmanon
Me: (smiling) What?
L: Cimmanon
Me: I love that!

A few minutes later Army and I were talking about it again.

Me: Linus what did you order?
Linus: apples cimmanon
Me: What about the other way (meaning cimmanon apples instead of apples cimmanon)
Linus: Oh you mean cinnamon?

Little turkey knew how to say it correctly the whole time. There are very few things she mixes up anymore, and I kind of miss her words. At least she gave me a few minutes to enjoy it.

A little while later, Linus was drawing a picture on the back of her children's menu. I could see she was drawing an oval with a baby in it, and I realized it was baby Jesus in the manger. Then she went on to draw something slightly above and to the right of the manger. I couldn't tell what it was, but she quickly looked at me and said, "Mommy, does God wear earrings?"
Here's the thing: You can't just say "no" to Linus because without a doubt her next question would be, "How do you know? You've never seen God, have you?" I took the cheater's way out and said, "What do you think? Does He?"

An Extra Personality

Got this from my friend Leia. I was going to do a separate post for the recipe later this week, but since I'm stealing from her already, I though I'd just do it all together.

First:

You Are Rudolph

Sweet and shy, you tend to be happiest when you're making someone else happy. Why You're Naughty: You sometimes stick that nose where it doesn't belong Why You're Nice: Christmas would be a sad affair without you!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Second:
Leia is partially responsible for keeping Army very happy once or twice a month. She passed this recipe along, and Army LOVES it. If I let if fall from the rotation occasionally, he lets me know. Linus loves it too. She absolutely loves chicken and pineapple, so it's a win-win for her. It's so easy it's almost embarrassing, but it keeps them happy.

Leia's Slow-Cooker Pineapple Chicken
2-3 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 c teriyaki sauce
1 sm onion cut into wedges (I leave this out--Army hates onions)
1 med can (14 oz) pineapple chunks in juice

Cook on low 6-7 hours
Serve over rice or noodles (Sometimes we eat it plain too)

Easy, huh? You'd think I could remember that recipe, but before I memorized it, I had to ask Leia for it a zillion times. She's a dear. She always gave it and never complained. She had to be thinking what an idiot I was though; I know I did! **I do have it written down now. Had it saved to my computer, but that file is lost in nowhere land now.

An Extra OUCH or Two

I've been MIA for a few days, but I have a good (or bad depending on how you look at it) excuse.

First of all, I have a killer ear infection. For crying out loud, I'm in my thirties! Shouldn't these have ended, oh say, 30 years ago?

To make matters worse, Linus has some fluid in her ears, so she's unbelievably loud. Our neighbors should be calling soon to ask us to quiet her down some. I suspected she had some fluid based upon how loud she's been, but I didn't know for sure. Army usually has to look in her ears for true confirmation (or we have to take her to the pediatrician). He simply does not understand why I can't grab his otoscope and look myself. I can look, it just means nothing to me. Nothing. I didn't even have to have him look this time. Linus had been in her room napping, and when she woke up she asked if she could come out. I told her that she could, but she never appeared. She asked again, again I said yes. Once again, she didn't come out. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if your child doesn't come out of their room after you've told them they may that they are either up to something terribly naughty, or they simply can't hear you. I checked on her, and as suspected, she never heard me give her permission. Army checked her ears, and sure enough, I was right. Why did he spend all that money an a degree when I can diagnose just as well? ;)

Our other problem this week: our dishwasher broke. Army tried what he could, but nothing helped. We called a plumber, but he said we need a new motor. He suggested just getting a new dishwasher, but I think we may just go with a new motor. I just can't wrap my head around replacing a 3 year old appliance. We called a repair man to replace the motor, but he can't come for TWO weeks. Ok, so I know people washed dishes by hand in the past, and some still do, but I don't. Well, at least I don't like to. At all. These next two weeks are going to be a challenge.