Monday, December 24, 2012

Good Bye, Ben


This morning the boys woke up and looked all over the house for Ben.

They'd seen this sitting outside of their bedroom, but finding Ben was a much more exciting prospect than opening gifts.


That in itself should tell you how much they love Ben.  

They've found him all over the house for the last couple of weeks.

Let me precurse the pictures by saying this:

The Elf on the Shelf cannot be touched or else his magic disappears and he can't fly to the North Pole to report to Santa.

That means Ben cannot be found any place Goose would be able to reach him.

It also means that he is pretty much just going to sit or hang in a high place.

While that seems kind of boring, it does save mommy from having to find new, overly-creative things for Ben to do.

Here are some Elf ideas from Pinterest.

Source: flickr.com via Jill on Pinterest


Source: cafemom.com via CafeMom on Pinterest




All of these are really cute ideas.

Our Ben is just not that creative.

I will tell you honestly that even trying to find a new place to just hang him can be horribly stressful, way too much work, a tremendous pain in the rear somewhat difficult. 

In fact, I think Ben won't be here until mid-December next year.  
I'm much more inclined to be more creative if I only need to do it 
for a week or so rather than three weeks...

Here are the places Ben was found:

On the snowman in the boys' room.


Hanging on the TV in the living room.


Sitting on the door plaque in the boys' bedroom.


Atop the huge wreath on the living room wall.


Hanging up-side-down on the robe hook in the bathroom.
(This was one of Tink's favorite.  I found him in the bathroom, laying on the floor, 
looking straight up at Ben with his feet on the toilet.)


On our Christmas tree, wearing SIU sunglasses that say "Go Dawgs."
(Please ignore that there are no ornaments. Goose makes them a no-go.)


Fishing from the doorbell, using a jingle bell as a bobber, and catching Nemo.
We have Daddy to thank for this one...


On the fan in the bedroom.
That is Tink sleeping below him.


Hanging from one of the "bubbles" on the boys' ceiling.
This time he is above a sleeping Goose.


The lid of the large decorative container of ornaments in the kitchen.


Riding a Christmas moose.
At one point, Ben evidently slid off the back of the moose and ended up 
in a rather compromising position.  I was prepared to blame that on 
Daddy, too, but he said he didn't do it.
I'm not sure I believe him...


Doing pull-ups on the photo bar.


Giving hugs to the UNC doll hanging on the back door.


Straddling the lights in the living room.


Hanging in Tink's stocking.


Hanging with the Christmas cards in the kitchen.


Straddling the lights in the bathroom.


And, of course, you will remember from this post (and this one and this one) how Ben left Tink a note and then returned with another note on the kitchen wreath.


So, anyway, since today is Christmas Eve, Ben stopped by last night to 
leave some things for the boys, but had to quickly head back up to 
the North Pole to help Santa finish preparing for tonight.  

After running around looking for him, they were a 
bit disappointed to find he wasn't there. But, when they saw the little picture of 
Ben at the bottom of the note he left, their spirits were lifted.  

I think the fact that he'd left them gifts did help.  




  I told them we needed to change Goose's diaper, Tink 
could potty, and then we'd read the letter.  

They both sat really quietly while I read it to them. 


 Unless your eyes are WAY better than mine, that picture is impossible to read.

Here is what the letter said:


December 24, 2012
Good Morning, Tink and Goose!

I’m sure you were looking for me when you got out of bed, but, as you can see, I am not here.  I had to fly back up to the North Pole so I could help Santa get all of the toys ready to deliver to boys and girls around the world tonight.   

Yesterday was my last day here until next year’s holiday season.  I have been watching you both and I have seen all that I needed to see.  

I hope you remember to put out milk, cookies, and reindeer food because Santa will be stopping by your house tonight.  Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen will all be with him.  I just know they are going to love the food you made them at the North Pole party!  Oh, by the way, before I forget to tell you, Peppermint asked me to tell you “Hello!”  You remember her, right?  She was the elf at that party.  She thought you were a pretty cool guy, Tink!  I told her you are really awesome, too, Goose.  :)

Anyway, I left some presents for you since you were both so well-behaved this year.  I really hope you love them!  You are suppose to use them tonight.  (That will make sense once you’ve opened them!)

I’m sure you have also noticed that I left a bag with your gifts.  Here is what I would like for you to do:

You each should pick out one or two toys to put in the bag.  They should be in good shape and things you think other children would enjoy.  Please leave the bag near the milk and cookies for Santa.  I will let him know that he is to bring the bag back to the North Pole with him.  Me and the other elves will fix up the toys so they are good as new.  Then, we will give them to other children who aren’t as lucky to have as many toys as you two have.  It will make them very happy.  

Thank you both for being SO good and I will miss you.  

I’ll be back next year, but remember, even though you won’t see me until then, I will always know how you are doing.  

Merry Christmas!

Love, Ben


Well, the boys were pretty excited about giving 
some toys to other kids for Christmas.

In fact, before I'd even put the letter down after reading it, Goose had 
already run to the living room, picked up one of the gifts, and 
was running back down the hallway to put it in the bag Ben had left.

He was saying, "I got one, mama."


Bless his sweet little heart.  

He'd picked up the gift under the tree which was 
suppose to go to Annie, my sister's dog.

Needless to say, I'm not sure any children out there are going to 
want a chew-toy or doggy treats...

Naturally, as soon as Tink saw Goose holding a gift, he ran to get one, too.


I explained to them that those were gifts under the tree were for people in our family.

I told them we needed to find toys in the playroom to give to other children.

So we started on a toy hunt.  

Mama may or may not have conveniently placed a Spongebob dvd in the playroom 
for them to want to give away since she won't let them watch that show.

Ahem.

(If you are wondering why I am not a fan of Spongebob or many of the 
other kids' shows you find on TV, read this.  I have to admit that I was more 
tempted to just throw it away.  However, just because I don't let my children
watch Spongebob, it doesn't mean another parent isn't allowed to 
make the choice to let their child watch the show.)

We ended up with four toys in the bag and left it under the tree.

Then we opened the presents that Ben had left.  

They were jammies (for the boys to wear tonight) and the 
Elf on a Shelf movie.



They were so excited!

This picture is of them sitting in front of the TV yelling, "BEN!!!!!"


Ben obviously made the right decision with the movie.  :)

Ben might have a confession, though.

The boys might have already owned (and once worn) those jammies.

Ben might have thought the pjs MaMaw and PawPaw had bought the boys would be perfect as gifts, but he might not have realized they were about two sizes too big, so they couldn't be worn this Christmas Eve.

Ben might have had to improvise by raiding their closets and hoping they wouldn't remember the Christmas jammies with monkeys.

And he might have been successful because they didn't remember them.

Whatever works, Ben.

We've watched the movie twice so far.  

I'm sure we will watch it many, many more times.

Especially if we get all the snow they are predicting and we're stuck in the house.

I am REALLY hoping that doesn't happen...

Anway, that brings our season of Ben to an end this year.

I will let you all know when he makes his return next year.  

Maybe he will zip-line or makes flour snow angels like he did last year.

Maybe.

For now, Ben and I will just say Merry Christmas 
and we hope you enjoy your holiday.  






Sunday, December 23, 2012

The Christmas Card You Didn't See...

We always do Christmas cards with family pictures on them.

Typically, the card is either a single family shot or it 
is multiple shots of mostly Tink and Goose.  

I really only include The Hubs and I on there because we send them to a number of people who've played integral roles in our (mostly his) lives as we were growing up and I figure they would like to see us (again, mostly him), too.  

I've had some pretty cute photos in the past.  

Here are the ones from last year:



I LOVED those so I wanted to do something similar this year.

I saw a picture on Pinterest and wanted to do my own version.  

It was of two boys, tied up with strings of Christmas lights, and they each had a piece of red duct tape over their mouth.  It said something like "Happy" and "Holidays" on the tape.  

I thought it was adorable, so I figured I could attempt to tie up Tink and Goose with lights.

  I was not going to attempt the tape because I knew that would cause meltdowns.  

The boys in the Pinterest shot were a few years older than my two, so they 
probably understood it was suppose to be funny for the picture.  

My two definitely wouldn't get it.

I thought they may find the lights part fun, though.

I was half right.

Goose was NOT having it.  

The lighting was terrible, the shots were dark and blurry, and 
Goose appeared as though he was really being tortured.  

I'm not going to bother explaining any more of it.  

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. 

So, enjoy these photos, the ones from the Christmas 
cards I came *thisclose* to ordering, but decided against.  

Just don't call DCFS on me because I didn't keep them tied up for long.

I swear.

Ahem.




Goose appeared to be somewhat cooperative in this next one, but 
Tink didn't look thrilled and the shadows were really bad.


And then we had this.

Game. Over.

Can't exactly send this picture out on a card meant to spread cheer...


These are the pictures that actually made it onto our Christmas cards.




Christmas-y?  

No.

But no one was laying, face down, seeming to be the most 
miserable, tortured person on the planet.  

That made them perfect.

Happy Holidays, from our crew to yours.



Someone Is Coming To Town!

We were in the car, headed to the boys' school, earlier this week 
when Santa Claus Is Coming To Town came on the radio.

Tink started singing along just as he tends to do with all of 
the most popular Christmas songs. 

However, his version was a bit different than the one I knew.  

It went like this:

Sanna Taws is tummin' to town.
Sanna Taws is tummin' to town.
You nah dunna twy.
Sanna...

(approximately 10 second pause)

Tumbuyee is tummin' to town,
Iiiiiiiiiiiiiy nah dunna tewl youuuuuuuu!
Tumbuyee is tummin' to town,
Iiiiiiiiii nah dunna tewl youuuuuuu!

Translation:

Santa Claus is coming to town.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
You not gonna cry.
Santa...

(pause)

Somebody is coming to town.
I'm not gonna tell you!
Somebody is coming to town.
I'm not gonna tell you!

Dude.  

Really?!

You are not a party to some big secret.  

Everyone knows who is coming to town.

And at whom, exactly, are you metaphorically wiggling your fingers 
with your thumbs stuck in your ears?

(sigh)

This kid cracks me up.

He sang his version of the song multiple times.

And I laughed with each rendition.

We have two more sleeps before everyone wakes to see what 
the visitor-who-will-remain-unnamed has brought for them.  

I'm sure this guy, the one in on the unnamed visitor's secret, will be 
super stoked to see what he has gotten.  

Until then, I will let him believe that he is the 
only one with the inside information.







Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sweet Zoey

On Monday I dealt with something I hope to never have to deal with again.

I accompanied my sister to her dogs' veterinary office in Anna so she could meet with the vet and get an update/prognosis report on her dog Zoey.  

The long and short of it is the prognosis was not good and the decision 
was made to put Zoey down. 

I cannot really explain what happened in detail because I'm not knowledgable 
enough, but I can try to give you a brief explanation.

Zoey had bulging discs in her back.  

They were pushing on her spinal cord and cutting off the circulation to her 
hind quarters.  Because of this, she was paralyzed from about mid-body down.

These discs could have been bulging for some time and just reached a point 
where they caused the paralysis.  We can't be sure.  

What we do know is that although surgery could have removed the discs, the damage to her spinal cord, blood vessels, and nerves was irreparable.  She would have required extensive physical therapy every day to attempt to regain even partial use of her legs.  The surgery and recovery would have been terribly painful, the medicine she would have needed had the potential to cause stomach ulcers, and she would have had to be crated 24 hours a day for an extended period of time so she did not risk further injury as she recovered.  

And those things don't even begin to touch on the frustrations Zoey would have had with the whole situation.  I mean, how do you explain to a dog why they can use their legs, run in the yard, potty independently, snuggle with their mama, and play with their sister one day, but can't do any of those things the next?  

You can't.

The bottom line is she would have had a terrible quality of life with 
no chance at really getting better. 

So, the choice was made to put her down rather than have her go through 
the terrible ordeal of attempting to "fix" her back.

I have to say, too, that I am using the word "choice" when referring to the 
decision to put her down, but there really was no choice.  

Or, maybe I should say there was no humane choice.  

Going through with the surgery would have been a selfish decision.  

Zoey would have been miserable and it would have served only the 
purpose of others not having to say "good bye."  

Ultimately it was AJ's choice and we were going to support her no matter what decision she'd made, but I think I can say we all feel absolutely certain she did the right thing.

But I'll be damned if it didn't about break her to do it.

It was terrible.

Watching her try to say good-bye to her baby while still trying to comfort Zoey so she would be calm and relaxed was heart-wrenching.

I pray to God she never has to deal with something like that again.  

I hate the thought of anyone having to go through it.  

The bottom line is that Jenny loves Zoey and her sister Annie more than anything in this world (except for maybe her two handsome, loving, funny, adorable nephews.  Ahem.), so she did what she needed to do to let Zoey be at peace.

She made the difficult decision to let her baby go.

Afterwards, we took Zoey to the pet cemetery between Carbondale and Murphysboro.  

Zoey was to be cremated, but first they were going to take a paw print to make a pendent which AJ can wear on either a bracelet or necklace.  

It was really nice how they treated both our family and sweet Zoey with such respect.  They quite obviously recognize how much a part of your family a pet can be.  It was a comfort to see how important it was to them to be sure we knew Zoey would be well cared for.  

I know AJ is missing Zoey more than words can describe.  

I am sure Annie is missing her sister, too.

I can only hope that time helps them to hurt a little less.  

I know they'll never forget Zoey, but I hope AJ can feel comforted that 
Zoey gets to run wild, pain-free, in puppy heaven.  

And, I'll bet she can eat dog toys to her heart's content without getting sick.  

That has got to be one of those heaven-bonuses.

This is for Zoey, AJ's angel.  

We'll see you on the other side, sweet girl.