Some (totally random) Updating

There is a lot of snow here. Yes, I know I live in Alaska. I'm not complaining, it's nice. The only trying part is how much time I have to spend wondering where in the heck fifty percent of the people who live here thought they were going when they got in their cars on any particular day. Do they not see the snow? Can they not tell that there is ice under the snow? Do they not realize that going eighty miles per hour for approximately ten miles and then spending the next three hours digging themselves out enough for a tow truck to pull their car out of the ditch is not an effective use of their time? Have they not driven on the roads enough by now to have seen this exact thing happen over and over and over again? It's all very perplexing.

Ben passed two of the four CPA tests. Yay Ben!! We are still waiting to hear about the third test and he will take the fourth at the end of the month. Ben is awesome. And nice. And pretty much perfect. Hey Ben, if you're reading this? Work schwork. Come home and hang out with us. We miss you and we really like you a lot.

Every Friday is popcorn Friday at the kids' school. They can buy brown paper bags full of popcorn lovingly popped by the PTA members just that morning for a mere 25 cents. If Will and Elizabeth want popcorn, they take some of their allowance to buy it. Beth usually comes home with at least one bag, sometimes as many as 4 (she says she's saving it for later? Maybe somehow that Mormon food storage gene has been triggered in her?) and Will - he never takes any money. To quote him "Why should I spend my money on popcorn when I know there will be some in the prize box at the end of the day? And I'm always so good, I get to pick lots of things out." Cheap and cocky.

Tonight Will, Beth, and Ella are making dinner. This should be interesting. I will be right there to supervise all oven usage and answer all questions relating to seasoning and fractions of course. This should be fun, and interesting. And later, depending on how it goes, I may be thinking Arby's.

I don't think my children need any toys this Christmas. They have Elaina. I'm not joking. From the instant Will and Beth arrive home, they whisk her away and start making up games with her at their center. "Pretend she's a princess in a big puffy dress with the most beautifullest crown. And pretend that she has some hair." Or "Pretend she's a giant lizard and she's crushing this town (shapes made out of Lego's or shoes or books) with her giant lizard feet. But she's disguised as a cute baby. Then nobody will know she's really the lizard. Unless they smell her. (this was the part where I was called to diaper duty.) " Or "Lets pretend she's a horse. A magic horse. One that makes rainbows when she flys. Pretend her drool looks like a rainbow, okay?" I'm glad they see her as a princess-lizard-horse and not a bald, stinky drool factory.

This year, the kids designed and created their own stockings. And we made a lot of ornaments for our tree. (We usually make some, but this year we made almost all.) It's been so very much fun. I'm sure there will be pictures of them all when I post the Christmas pictures.

A conversation between Beth and I:

Me: Beth, you're a lady. Please don't say fart. Say toot.
Beth: Or, you know, I could just say 'something from my gluteus that wasn't poop'. That would work too, right Mom?

I am so excited that the darkest part of the year is almost over. It's been really hard to get up and get the kids to school way before the sun comes up and then to have it get dark just after 4 p.m. It's also kinda weird to have the sun always hang out on the horizon and never get to the middle of the sky. But in just a little more than a week the daylight will begin it's comeback. Yay!!

"Mom?" said Beth. "I was thinking, I need to do some Christmas shopping." "Okay, who for?" I said. "For me. But I want to surprise myself. So you can take me to the store and I will close my eyes and pick out my present just using my ears and my hands. Then when I find it, I will put it in the cart and you cover it up so I won't know what it is."