Recently, Miss A had a chance to visit a local radio station and hang out with the disc jockeys for a bit. Our homeschool group was invited to come to the station and get a little on-air time, answering questions about what it is like to be a homeschool kid, and since it was right before the holidays, there were some Christmas questions thrown in as well.
Miss A and her homeschool buddy Mr. J (whom you may remember from the Hawaii proposal) were the first to get behind the mic. These two are anything but shy: both loquacious and precocious, it was sure to be interesting.
My favorite moments (aside from their unsolicited commentary on Michael Jackson) included Miss A singing Feliz Navidad, and Mr J blowing the d.j.’s away by spotting Bob Rivers’ name on their title screen.
Here it is: On the air with Miss A and Mr J!
I apologize for the shaky video at first, I’ve only used my new Flip (thanks Joyce!) a few times and am still getting the hang of it 😉 it gets better later on!
And click HERE for an audio clip to skip all the extra stuff and just hear how they sounded on-air.
Lil’ G has a present for you, it’s a bit of happiness: check out this picture, I can’t imagine anyone not getting a little bit of a giggle or grin from it!
Miss A’s Christmas Wishlist is long and just keeps getting longer. No, there is no freakin’ way she will be getting everything on her list, not now at Christmas, nor at her birthday, nor maybe ever.
Aside from the fact that we’d have no money left for college (or next month’s electric bill), some stuff she asks for is very spur of the moment, Gimme! Gimme! – and that’s the kind of stuff I know she can simply do without. For the most part, though, I make sure she gets what she really wants – and will go out of my way (like ordering Charlie and Lola dolls from the UK, or digging up vintage Littlest Pet Shops on E-bay) to find and buy something if she sticks with a particular request for awhile.
Here are the two items she asked for from Santa this year:
She saw this at a friend's house and calls it a "Dog Dress Up Set." Thanks Christine for helping me locate this!Front and center you can see the dolphin I managed to find on e-bay...apparently Sea World put out a series of LPS toys in the '90s.
Overall, I think I earn my gold Mama star in the gift department. Our Santa policy is that you can only ask for one or two things from the big man in red, because he has a lot of kids to take care of, and there just isn’t room for too many toys per kid in his sack. This way, she keeps her list with Santa (whether writing a letter to him or sitting on his lap) short and sweet – and I know the things she asks for from him are what she REALLY wants, more than anything, and that’s what I will work extra hard to make sure she finds on Christmas morning.
So I kinda brought the difficult toy hunt upon myself, because it seems Miss A has decided that if a toy can be found in a store, than that doesn’t go on the Santa list. For example, she originally planned to ask Santa for one of those FurReal cats…but then she saw it in a certain store that starts with a W and told me, “I’m not going to ask Santa for that. If it’s here in the store, you can get it for me!”
That kid is sharp.
I have to admit, I like our Santa policy – sure it can make me have to frantically hunt for things not commonly sold in stores – but it also lets my husband and I enjoy the lion’s share of credit for presents.
And yes, I admit to enjoying basking in the glow of juvenile gift gratification.
Then at a 7Nations concert (pretty much the only band I enjoy seeing live) the lead singer and bass player signed my CD.
ETA: I just wanted to add, that if you are looking for some new Christmas music – something a little different but still a bit traditional…you should check out 7Nations holiday CD:
My favorites: "The Rebel Jesus" and their version of 2000 Miles and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Several years ago, I had met the fiddle player and got a pic (I cornered him while he was grabbing a drink at IrishFest).
Here I am with Dan, the Fiddle Man of 7Nations, at IrishFest (clearly, this picture was taken BEFORE I had kids).
And to top it off, just after my birthday, I got to meet my favorite blogger (aside from the Bitches, whom I hope to meet one day as well) PW!
I know I have mentioned my love and admiration for The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond here before. I was first introduced to her a little over a year ago by another homeschooling mom, and ever since then, I’ve been hooked. I visit her site every week, sometimes every day, (ok, ok I admit it, sometimes more than once in a day).
I can’t decide what I love best about her site…sure there is the homeschooling section, but sadly, that doesn’t get updated as much as I’d like – she has some great contributors, like Mrs G and Oh My Stinkin’ Heck, who write wonderful articles and post cool tips and ideas. Like the one about notebook pages and free write stories I posted about awhile back.
Then there is the cooking section – full of recipes, most of which I just drool over, knowing I will never find the time to make any of it. I have actually tried making a few things from her site, like the apple tart and zucchini cake. I hope to try making her rosemary rolls at some point, and if I am successful with that, I’ll try something else.
I think my favorite section of her site is the Photography – she offers awesome free PhotoShop actions and between her and her incredible contributors (like Miz Booshay), all sorts of helpful tutorials and tips. Of course, I am still lusting after a DSLR instead of owning one, but I make do with my point and shoot. It’s a fun and a creative outlet.
Then there are her contests. Her awesome incredible contests. At least once a week (usually) she will run a contest giving away pots and pans, mixers, knives, cameras, printers, gift cards…all sorts of great stuff!!! And it’s never stressful to enter her contests, usually you just have to answer a random question that floats through her brain (like: “What’s your favorite kind of pizza?”) I am crossing my fingers and hoping that my luck is holding out to win one of her camera prize packages. Oh, I am hoping! (Me and the 30,000+ people who comment on her site everyday).
So, when PW announced she was coming to Chicagoland as part of her cookbook tour, you know I had to be there. Miss A and I went to the Barnes and Noble to hang out and wait for her, and Holy Cow (little bit of Chicago for you) does this woman draw a crowd!
The store was packed, literally, from floor to ceiling. I hung out in the back (in the kid's section) with Miss A, so that's why all my shots are from behind. Pretty cool, though, cuz it's more from her perspective.
She came along with her husband (whom she refers to as Marlboro Man on her blog) and her 2 boy “punks.” Her 2 daughters stayed at home on the ranch for this leg of her book tour. Miss A liked meeting some other homeschooled kids, and loved hearing how they each had their own horse!
Miss A brought with some markers and paper for the boys to sign.They were pretty busy running all over the place, but stopped for a moment to hang out with her.
I gave Miss A my old camera which hasn’t been working very well and told her to have some fun.
So she did.
She took pictures of other people in line with us.And she took pics of PW herself.
Ree was as sweet and funny and open in person as she is on her website. She was a good sport about Aishtyn basically shoving a camera up her nose (I know how PW hates “bad” pictures of herself, so I won’t post Miss A’s shots here).
Despite the loooong line, she chatted with me and Aishtyn and took the time to personalize my books. One for me, and one as a birthday gift to my mother-in-law. Hopefully she will get inspired and make something extra yummy for us to try when we visit (is that devious of me?).
If you have never been to Ree’s website, go now! You don’t know what you’re missing. She is currently running a Chirstmas contest – prizes every day from now until Christmas!
Let’s just take a look at this for a moment, shall we?
I really don’t need to say anything more.
This gem, along with 9 other Twilighterrific products, is from a post my darling husband sent to me. The man loves to tease me since I read all the Twilight books this past October (and made him watch the first movie with me when I NetFlixed it, and then went out and watched the second movie with a friend). I enjoyed the series, but I am by no means a fan, and certainly not one who would hope to see anything from THIS LIST under the tree Christmas morning.
Aside from the creepy shower curtain, my favorites included:
Dude, if a guy actually made it far enough with a girl who would slip these on in the first place…he just might be weird enough to go ahead and slip them off.
With his fake vampire teeth.
Because you know he’s wearing them.
It’s how he got her into bed to begin with.
And of course, once he got those undies off, he’ll need one of these – because DEAR GOD PLEASE DON’T REPRODUCE!
And my husband’s personal favorite, more for the poster’s comment about attacking it with a lead pipe in the middle of the night than anything else…
All’s I gotta say is that there is no way that thing is going into a bedroom like that…there needs to be waaaaaaay more stuffed animals.
Melonie Johnson 
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