For Auld Lang Syne, My Dear, For Auld Lang Syne!

Well, we made it.
Made it through another year and made it through a second straight month-long writing challenge.
Whew!
Our final word for December's challenge is fortuitous. It's a fitting word for a day like today.
Portions of the metro area were rocked by major spring-like storms today, including a tornado that danced it's destructive boogaloo through my aunt and uncle's neighborhood before sashaying miles away down WordADay December challenge participant, Chris's street, luckily only damaging property and not people. I know they all feel fortuitous tonight, despite the day's unexpected turn.

I, too, am feeling especially fortuitous as we close out 2010. In January, The Wubster had a successful heart procedure and he's doing phenomenally; in March, I helped organize a second, amazing Writers Week; in May, we welcomed Mickey (TKNTD) into our lives, completing our family; June and July was spent with the whole family at home...something that may never happen again; August brought the start of my eleventh year of teaching and some more amazing seniors; in November, I had the opportunity to present Writers Week, along with three other amazing folks, at the National Council of Teachers of English conference; I closed out the year with two straight months of daily writing after a lengthy hiatus; and tonight I'm wearing a light jacket on New Year's Eve while watching all three kids enjoy the annual local fireworks display.

It's been a good year, despite the normal hiccups life brings us. Check that...it's been a great year!

Of course, I'm certainly looking forward to the Noisy Little Adventures 2011 will bring.

Thank you for joining me here in the blogosphere. I wish you and yours a healthy and fortuitous new year!

See you on the other side!

Doug

Von Trapped in Paradise

I've heard rumors that the hills are alive with the sound of music, but I've pressed my ear to many a hill and it's not a beat I can dance to.

Now if you want something that's alive with the sound of music...visit a house with kids.

The 'music' at our house revs up anywhere between 5:00 and 5:15 AM as Mickey (TKNTD) wakes up crying for food, and the boys, typically with The Wubster in the lead, crawl into our bed to maul us into wakefulness. It never ends, but it does pause for extended periods of time starting around 8:00 PM. In between those hours, the house resonates with the melodic emanations of our children. These include, but are not limited to, harmonicas, guitars, drums, recorders, keyboards, giggles, chuckles, guffaws, snorts, squeals, screams, squawks, yelps, help!s, barks, meows, whines, thhbbbbtttss, but!s, and what?s.

So, if musical hills are your thing, dance with those mounds of rock.

Me? I'll keep spinning in circles to the boys singing 'ingle Bells at 115 dB while the keyboard's on Demo cranked to 11 and the dogs bark to join the fun...because I got earplugs from Santa!

Once I Rose Above the Noise and Confusion Just to Get a Glimpse Beyond This Illusion

Even when they cannot be always available, the parents' fierce, unique love for their child makes them different in the child's heart and mind from all other caregivers. In spite of a long working day, a parent's passion for his or her child retains its many nuances of emotional intensity, ranging from rapture and delight to impatience and even rage, that no other relationship in the child's life can match. Even very young infants are smart enough to recognize this passionate commitment and to reciprocate it in kind.

Alicia F. Lieberman

19:48 CST

Bye! Thanks for having us over...GET IN THE CAR NOW...we should do this again sometime...HEY! IN THE CAR!...maybe an adults night out would work, too...GET BUCKLED! STOP SHOVING YOUR BROTHER!...Happy New Year!...LET GO OF HIS EAR!

19:59 CST

Mommy, why don't all people have Christmas lights up? Why do people take them down right after Christmas? Can we keep our lights up until the end of Fall? Then can we keep them up until the end of Winter? Can we keep them up until next January? Why don't we want to be the people who leave them up all year?

20:07 CST

The Wubster's almost out...do we let this happen?
Hey Wubster! Look at the Christmas lights, monkey! See all the pretty lights!
Lights!
No, no...wake up. Look at the lights!
Yeah, Wubster! Look at those lights! I see lots of lights up there, mommy!
Mommy!...Mommy!...Mommy!
Yes, Wubster!
Look those lights, Mommy! McDonald's lights!

20:12 CST

Okay, guys...when we turn into the subdivision you'll see lots of lights...look at The Wubster's windows.
Mommy, I saw lightning Christmas lights! They had lightning shooting from the lights!
Wow, Mini-Me, that sounds cool!
Okay, Wubster, look at these lights...they're not lightning lights, though, they're rock and roll Christmas lights!
Rock-and-row Christmas!
Yeah, rock and roll lights! ♫ Rock and roll Christmas ♫ Rock and roll lights! ♫ Rock and roll Christmas lights...
Rocknrow lights ♫ rocknrow lights! ♫ ROCKNROW!!! ♫

20:22 CST

Alright, when we go inside we're not going to be crazy, we're going to go straight inside, take off our shoes and coats, put on our PJs, brush our teeth and get in bed. It's way past your bedtimes.
Okay, mommy. Can we use the new toothpaste?
Well, hmm...if you go inside without acting crazy, you can use the new special toothpaste.
WHAT! You're going to let them use the special new toothpaste!?!
If they're good I am!
Are you for REAL!!!???!!!
Yeah...if they listen and go straight inside and get ready for bed, they can use the special new toothpaste.
Wow! That's a pretty awesome deal!
Yeah, daddy! It's special!
Well, Mini-Me, what are you going to do when we get home, then?
I'm going to get my PJs on and brush my teeth with the special new toothpaste!
Cool...

20:27 CST

Alright, let's head inside and...HEY! NO! Don't climb over the seat! Your sister's right there! What are you doing! No, that's my...arrrggghh! Just stop. Watch where you're stepping!
Okay, go straight inside...
Whoa! Wait a minute! No! INSIDE! Stop running around the van! What happened to not acting crazy!?!

20:32 CST

Just step inside and look at the house.
What do you mean?
I don't think it's how we left it?
What do you mean?
Look at the floor.
What?
That stuff all torn up.
Okay...
That wasn't there when we left...but the dogs are behind their gate.
They must have gotten out.
But the dogs are behind their gate.
It's the pretzel M&Ms...
But the dogs are behind their gate!
        ...and that whole fruit danish Anna brought over this morning!
THE WHOLE THING!?! But the dogs are behind their gate!
They got out, snacked, and went back inside the gate!?! What the...! They probably went downstairs and played Just Dance, too!
It'd be the perfect crime if they'd learn to clean up after themselves!
At least they didn't get the Oreos...

20:48 CST

NO PANTS!
No, Wubster...you need pants!
NO PANTS! Cover UP!
Yeah, umm...no. You can't go to bed without pants...you wet yourself. These sheets aren't flood proof.
NO SHIRT!

20:59 CST

Ice water, puhleeaase!!!

21:09 CST

I've got to check up on work stuff...wanna watch something?
Sure...I've got to write about rapture. I haven't a clue where to start.

23:18 CST

They look so angelic when they're sleeping. They're beautiful...they're perfect.
I swear...tomorrow night I'm going to bed early.

Statler and Waldorf Hate This Post

Aww yeah! It's time to get random!

I'm getting cantankerous in my 'old' age...is it bad that I want to call the cops on the kids who tear up our common ground with their ATVs? Is it worse that I have? Rach and I also grumble frequently about the cars that speed past our house, gunning their engines to fly down a (roughly) 100 yard stretch of subdivision street. Drive 25 folks...don't make me invest in spike strips...I'm already shaking my cane at you!

My sister's an amazing artist! She painted an awesome picture of butterflies for Mickey (TKNTD)'s room and she's illustrated two fabulous books for the boy's now, Mini-Me and the Beanstalk and Bedtime Cat (a take on the actual book, Bedtime Cat, but with pictures of The Wubster and our cat Gretchen). Her recent work's inspired me to start brainstorming ideas for children's books. For now, check out her website.

Mini-Me and I (and The Wubster who cuddled up for the last twenty minutes or so) watched How To Train Your Dragon this morning. WOW! The Wubster enjoyed the final moments and I'm pretty sure Mini-Me liked it, but I loved it! The animation looked gorgeous via our blu-ray, I'm a huge fan of the voice work Jay Baruchel and Craig Ferguson provided, and the story used traditional mythic hero archetypes coupled with modern sensibilities. If you haven't seen it yet (and I know I'm a bit behind in seeing it myself), check it out! We give it six thumbs up.

If this WordADay December Challenge were a marathon, I'd be a Kenyan.

ISICYOADWWP-CP-A was a complete failure.

I love DVRing an entire fall season of a show and catching up in a matter of several evenings. Smallville? Check. Supernatural? Next up. Geek status? Raging!

Thanks to Santa we now have a ninja in our kitchen cabinets.

We took Mini-Me to Steak-n-Shake the other day for lunch and I was fascinated by the giant Red Bull case on the counter. I've seen 'em in bars, but Steak-n-Shake? Wow...I've totally missed the energy drink train.

I colored a picture of Robin (The Boy Wonder) today...

I love it, daddy. I want to cut it out so I can play with it.

I nearly cried. No one's ever verbalized their appreciation of my talent for coloring within the lines before. I finally feel like I've made it!

Rach just came into the living room to share the epiphany she had while brushing her teeth:

You know, how did The Growing Pains get away with naming a character Boner?

I think that trumps my randomness for tonight.

Thanks, again, to Keely at The Un Mom for these Random Tuesday's...check out her site and join in the fun!

As the Phrase Turns

Writing a blog post a day requires a great deal of wordiness, the ability to procrastinate, amusing muses, and careful editing.

Anyone else out there love the outtakes feature of DVDs? It's often what Rach and I look forward to the most. Well, because of the editing process, you guys usually get the most "polished" versions of the posts, but not necessarily the funniest. You should have seen the early drafts of the Christmas Eve post!

Before you get too excited, though, this isn't an outtake post. I was merely commenting that I like watching actors ad lib or flub their lines. What you will get here is a chance to participate in Noisy Little Adventure's first Interweb Special Interactive Choose Your Own Adventure Doug's Wacky Wordplay Post-Christmas Play-Along! We'll call it ISICYOADWWP-CP-A for short.

In researching the word-of-the-day, today, I was amused by a list of related expressions. Help me choose the right one py posting your favorite (or one of your own) and if you choose correctly, I might some day finish this blog post and dedicate it to you!

The boys are amassing quite the collection of piggy banks. Mini-Me, mainly, since Auntie K started a tradition of bringing him a new one after each of her worldly travels, but what's Mini-Me's is The Wubster's these days. The Wubster does have his own collection, but those are mostly porcelain (yeah...smart move on our part) and were hidden away after Mini-Me shattered one at bedtime a couple months ago.

The remaining piggy bank collection provides the boys with a fun play opportunity [they can spend hours emptying and filling those banks, but when they stop, it's always after emptying, natch], which we're hoping will help us teach them the benefits of saving, spending, donating and avoiding any improvidence in their future.

...and avoiding buttering their bread on both sides.
...and avoiding being a penny wise and a pound foolish.
...and avoiding playing ducks and drakes with their finances.
...and avoiding being scattergoods.
...and avoiding sending the helves after the hatchets.
...and avoiding sparing at the spigot and spilling at the bung.
...and avoiding spending money like drunken sailors.

Personally, I've been a fan of sparing at the spigot and spilling at the bung for years, but parents always want a better life for their kids.

Christmas Hangover

I'm trying to multi-task tonight and type this while the boys are playing in the tub with some new boats Santa dropped off yesterday morning. This is actually one of the calmest moments in what's been a very tumultuous couple of days.

The kids thrive on routine and we've done very little according to their normal schedule the past couple of days amongst the excitement of Christmas Morning and trips around the metro area to celebrate with our extended family.

The hardest part for me is the struggle between my desire for them to be on their best behaviour (my fingers are feeling British tonight, it seems) and their innate tendency to suffer breakdowns when they're overtired and can't control or effectively express their emotions. I know why they react the way they do, I'm rarely surprised anymore when they break down, I consider myself a fairly patient and logical bloke (British, again), but in the heat of the moment I still have a hard time not getting frustrated. At times I'll even catch myself responding to them as if it's their choice to throw the tantrum when I know, in most cases, it isn't something they can control. Of course, throwing tantrums over not getting an awesome Batman motorcycle at Toys R Us [even if daddy agrees that it's AWESOME] is a choice, and I feel like I handle those break downs pretty well. It's the tumultuousness when we're all overtired that I want to work on.

"Angels" We Have Certainly Heard on High!

The spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future smiled upon the WordADay December draw again, as today's word is quite fitting: angelic.

Unfortunately, an early Santa-inspired morning, toy and chocolate-fueled overstimulation, limited naps, and forced early bedtimes left Mini-Me and The Wubster a bit less than angelic as the day drew to a close.

Mickey (TKNTD), though? She was a little trooper and fought through the overstimulation and antics of her brothers with an adorable, angelic grin all day. When her face lights up, especially at my antics, well, it's enough to warm an old scrooge's heart. 

Dearest reader, I hope you have had the merriest of Christmases this year and that you and your family are cuddled together with full hearts tonight.

Here's to life!