It's beginning to look a lot like a boring blog.

First things first, I promised you pictures of Ben's bizarre post-terror sleeping:

Please note the (very clean) diaper on the floor, plus the blanket & pillow chucked out of the bed. This seriously could not have been comfortable.

Today has been much better so far. Ben seems to be out of his "NO!" phase of the weekend that I assume was brought on by being sick since it's not his normal modus operandi. I've decided that he has a deconstructed flu if you will. First he coughed for a couple of weeks, then once that was gone he got the fever for 24 hours & then that left, bringing about one bout of puking & now he's got a seriously sniffly nose & the occasional sneeze. What the hell else is next?? He doesn't sleep well when he's got the sniffles so after I fed Evan at 4am (after 8 glorious hours of sleep)(for him - I still went to bed after 11pm like a moron), I got to hang out with Ben in his room while he played with his car in bed. *sigh* If you are considering having kids, please realize that you will never win & your children will never be perfect & the most you can hope for is a little bit of sanity once in a while.

Do you ever watch Dr. Oz? Weird question, I know. I assumed I would hate him as much as Dr. Phil. That Dr. Phil makes me crazy mad because the people on there have no common sense & he talks down to them. Dr. Oz I don't mind, I've decided - he says his business, moves on, no judgment, no drama. But every single episode I've caught - maybe 5 total - there's a lot of talk about nuts. Not the boy kind, the eating kind. Shut up. The last episode I saw even mentioned us SDAs & how we eat so many walnuts, which could be the key to our longevity. Weird, right? He has convinced me to always buy nuts at the grocery store now at least. Maybe I need to get into more Adventist casseroles too! It's a bit odd because isn't the SDA diet a bit heavy on gluten, which is supposed to be kinda evil now? I could eat about a gazillion gluten steaks if they weren't too complicated to make (sorry Debbie, I'm not up to your speed!). I'm pretty sure the key to Adventists' long lives is we're all holding out until that guy at church plays the saw again for the service. Every church had the guy who played the saw, right? WHO WAS THAT GUY???

Okay, now I'm going to show you some of our Christmas ornaments so feel free to tune out because seriously, Christmas ornaments? Not as cool as I once was but I love the bastards! So does my dear son Ben, I'm afraid. When I got out of the shower this morning the Christmas tree had been pulled out a few feet from the wall, one adorable penguin ornament had been beheaded & there was a trail of ornament glitter across the floor. It took me a few minutes to realize that he had turned the tree lights on, which scares me. How did he figure that out? And also, he apparently loves a bit of ambiance. What if I had taken a long bath instead? He would have had time to go out & buy Michael Buble's Christmas album & heat up some hot chocolate to go with the lovely lights! Terrifying.

Anyway, the ornaments:

First of all, I need to move that blue poster to the left - not Christmasy & doesn't match at the moment. Maybe we'll just make up a little Christmas poster to replace it.

More importantly the little blue owl is Evan's Baby's 1st Christmas ornament. It's one of the only halfway cute ones I've ever seen. Poor Ben got a blue stocking ornament with a teddy bear hanging off it. He hated it so much he ripped the teddy bear off last year. Not really. Well, he did rip it off but not out of hatred ... I think.

Okay, the Mickey Mouse head made of bells is one of my favorites (warning: every ornament is "one of my favorite" so prepare yourself) - got it at Disneyland last year when Mom & I dragged Ben around. I am the kinda gal who thinks Disney at Christmas is MAGICAL but I understand if you disagree.

The heart was from my parents to celebrate Marcel & my first Christmas together. The delicate wooden snowflake scene (there are several) is from Marcel's parents & the little thing on the right is a Star Wars talking ornament with Obi Wan Kenobi, Luke & C3P0. 

I call this an Ode to Opa.

We got that (I can't spell what it's called close enough to find out the correct spelling online!)(sounds like Hampelman?) in Austria when Ben was 3 or 4 months old & Opa put it on his stroller. He loved it then & still does. He also chews his tongue when he's concentrating just like Opa (note: I just typed Oprah instead of Opa, which is a fantastic mental picture) - how is that stuff hereditary??

Anyone who knew me as a weirdo in high school will remember that for some odd reason I wanted to be a Secret Service agent (I blame Courtney who influenced everything I did!). Heaven bless the Spy Museum in DC for having this ornament. 

I'm sorry, you don't have a Cracker Barrel Christmas ornament? You're weird.

Also that little penguin is bedazzled ... bedazzle with rhinestones! If you enjoy the movie 17 Again, you'd understand that reference. And how hot is Zac Efron, am I right?

Got the penguin at Domayne who has got the best ornament this year. Love them!

The award for the classiest ornament on our tree goes to that one in the middle, which our lovely friends Nicole & Clint (visit Nicole at firsthouseontheright.blogspot.com/) brought us from The Plaza in NYC! 

Wait, one picture is missing. Hold on, I'll go find it - I know you'd just die if you missed out on any of the exciting ornaments ...

That little TV is from Domayne as well & it features the nativity scene, which I think is adorable for some reason. The awesome badass tiger jumping through the flames (my homage to my first crush, Gunther Gabel Williams) was a clearance one from Restoration Hardware years ago, the globe is from Big W last year, the gingerbread cookie B could be from anywhere & the kiwi in the top right corner was brought home with Marcel from New Zealand!

This just gives you an idea of the chaos we're living in while Christmas is settling into the house.

Now there's a ringing sound & I can't figure out where it's coming from - it's not my phone or anything like that. It sounds like a bell & Ben is putting his shoes on so I have a suspicion that he's hiding an ornament in his footwear. Gotta run & shake him down. Hope your week starts with a smile. If it doesn't, go out & buy an ornament that means something to you.