Seven Years Ago...

Seven years ago, Maizie came into this world. She is a wonderful little girl. She’s our first baby. Here are some things about Maizie.

She loves to sing, but don’t look at her while she’s doing it

She is a very smart girl. She only likes to work on her terms.

You want to see her fury, tell her she has homework. She hates it with every fabric of her being.

Alabama is clearly her dog (with the exception of me). When Teddy and Stella get up in the morning, Alabama hardly looks at them. Maizie comes down and Alabama is all over her.

She loves to help, especially when cooking.

As much as she hates to admit it, she loves her brother.

Maizie is incredibly shy, but once in a while she will chat people up and shock the Hell out of me.

She is not outwardly funny like Stella, but let me tell you when she comes out with a witty comment; she hits it right on the head.

She is extremely empathetic. If something sad happens in a show or book, she will cry.

Maizie could eat salad for every meal; she gets one every day for lunch.

She is the only one that will stay in bed at night (unless she is sick or gets a foot cramp).

She will drink milk over any other beverage offered (except a shake).

She is not exactly a morning person.

Maizie is a smart, extraordinary, beautiful girl and I’m glad she’s mine!

 Happy Birthday May!

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to my Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for Sudafed. After weeks of battling a clogged head, I went for the Sudafed. I’m really not supposed to take it, but I don’t care I can breathe.

I am thankful for electronics. My kids have been using my laptop, my phone and Ted’s tablet and when they do, they leave me alone…Happy Holidays to me!

I am thankful for car starters. I love being able to warm up the car before getting in it. It was quite useful at the ice rink last night. There’s one light that’s about as useful as a candle in the parking lot and because I started the car before we went outside, I was able to find the car.

On that note, I am thankful for heated seats. Nothing is better than a warm fanny on a cold day (or night). (Teddy likes the one in the back seat as well.)

I am thankful for the Elf on the Shelf (Elfel). I have so much leverage now. Someone’s acting up; I go tell Elfel, panic sets in and then all is well in the Kraus House.

For more, just click!

Winter Wonderland

On Sunday we went to Winter Wonderland at Slater Park. We have been doing this for a few years and the kids love it. This year was a lot warmer than previous years (this first time we went, we froze our asses off). I didn’t tell them where we were going, but once I told the girls they couldn’t wear dresses because they had to dress warm, Teddy figured it out (he figures out everything).

We get there and the girls (especially Stella) “ooo and ahh” over all the trees and lights. Stella gets so excited, I have to laugh. We stop to talk to the giant Frosty. Teddy tells him he wants an iPad of his own and Stella tells him she wants and iPad and bunk beds for her babies. What did Maizie ask for? Nothing she hid behind me the whole time (she a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to those types of things).

Next my dad, the kids and I go on the hay ride. While we’re on it, I ask Maizie what she wants for Christmas; the girl has yet to give a definitive answer for me. She says she wants candy and toys; thanks that helped. She also mentioned that she wants Rebecca Rubin’s (American Girl Doll) sisters; they don’t make dolls for them. I’m going to have to break her down and get specifics.

Off to the boat house to see Santa (before the line gets ridiculous). Teddy and Stella are planning their attack of the big man; Maizie had to be dragged over to him. Teddy walks right up to him and starts chatting him up. He had on his Bruins jersey and Santa asks if he was really Chara. He answers with,”No I’m Teddy and I’ve been a very good boy.” Stella ends up scoring the middle spot of the picture; Maizie is off on the side (with a death grip on Ted). I don’t think she said a word to Santa.

Carousel time, have you ever been on the carousel at Slater Park? I remember back when I was about 9 years old we went for the last ride of the season. I believe this is the exact point which the speed lever broke and no one has bothered to fix it (Have you seen the guys who run the carousel? They are up there in years.) It is the fastest one I have ever been on, it actually makes me sick. We get on and they are playing Christmas polka music, Teddy loves polka music so he’s bouncing on his horse. When it starts to move, I closed my eyes (I had to, if not I would have been out of commission for the rest of the night.)

Onto the train, this train is a big improvement from the barrel train they had a few years ago. The old train went really fast, whipped the cars around and took a creepy path. I don’t know how the drivers of this and the hay ride can see; they take you into serial killer territory and of course, no lights. Ted had run to the car to get Teddy’s coat. When it was our turn to get on the train, he wasn’t back yet and Teddy had a breakdown, “He didn’t make it!” So I took the girls on the train (where Stella kept standing up) and Teddy waited with Grampie and Melissa for the next trip.

Winter Wonderland is always the first two weeks of December, and so is Maizie’s birthday. We end the evening at Friendly’s. The clapping started and I thought Maizie was going to crawl under the table (this is a girl who does not like to be the center of attention). We sang Happy Birthday and she squeaked out a, “Thank you.” This is the third year we have done this; you’d think she’d catch on by now.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

As soon as it hits Thanksgiving the kids start asking to decorate the mantle and put up the tree. Stella asked all week when we could decorate and I had her wait until Friday just so I could deal with all the boxes at once instead of spread out over the week.

Friday, I went downstairs and brought them all up. The kids flipped out, it was like they each inhaled pounds of sugar. The snow globes kept singing (three different songs at once) and they put up their stockings. One thing my kids lack is the concept that decorations are not toys. They continually take the stuff off the mantle, turn on all the snow globes at once and try to wear their stockings. One year I had fake presents on the mantle as part of my display, well Maizie and Teddy (mostly Maizie) took them and opened them; haven’t done that again.

Well yesterday we made our annual trek to cut down our Christmas tree. Ted and I have been going to Petersen’s Tree Farm for longer than I can remember. Now the kids (especially Teddy) couldn’t wait to get out there. We go, get a saw and enter the vastness of trees to cut down the perfect one. There are so many to choose from, it’s hard to decide. One year we picked a tree that was too small and we had to prop it up on a box. Another year we got a tree that was so big it hardly fit in the house and scraped the ceiling. The past couple of years, we’ve got it just right.

While searching, Stella (who didn’t put her boots on after several requests) would run and fall in the snow, Maizie was eating the snow off of the trees and Teddy was carrying (swinging) the saw, chomping at the bit to get to work. We saw several possibilities, but then a good one I saw got lost (all right, I couldn’t find it again). Resume the search.

Jackpot! We found one and it took forever to get it cut down. Ted was laying on the ground sawing away for what seemed like forever, his assistant trying to help and two supervisors barking orders (I just waited patiently). The good thing now a days is I don’t have to help carry it. Teddy loves to help and that is perfectly fine with me. The girls decided they were going to help “carry it” too; if your idea of helping is chasing the tree and trying to jump on the top as it’s moving.

The tree made it home safely and looked perfect in the corner, not too fat, not too tall. Now the waiting game; the kids weren’t going to decorate until after supper, pure torture!

Once I opened the ornament box, it was stimulation overload. Do you know that every ornament that Stella touches “is her favorite”? I didn’t realize you could have more than one favorite, I was wrong. Teddy was squawking about it being his turn to put on the angel (he’s been talking about it for a week). Maizie is very particular where she places her ornaments; Stella likes the all on one branch.

It wouldn’t be a Kraus House Christmas unless the tree fell over. Luckily I was standing in front of it and caught it (and saved the ornaments). So Ted McGuyvered the tree into place with dental floss.

When I was going to bed, I went to turn off the lights on the tree and the sucker was leaning on the wall and window; it started to fall the other way. Oh well, I guess that’s how we (and the ornaments) roll.