Sew Relative

 Saturday morning, Robb and I got up early and started getting breakfast ready for the relatives that weren't going home until that day.  All of those had stayed at nearby hotels except for one of my sisters who stayed here until Sunday.

While my mom and another sister enjoyed the piano, Leon had a blast with his cousins that he'd been reacquainted with the prior day.  

Showing off ones toys is always a hit with him.  Until they touch them.

Almost everyone left by 11 or so and I got a call that Maddy's accordion that we'd gotten her for her birthday was fixed.  A couple chord keys had fallen inside of it and the straps needed to be replaced.  We'd bought it from the antique store.  It has an awesome sound to it!  So the kids, Tammy and I ran to retrieve it from the store.  Maddy wanted to take it back to college.

But not before Tammy could try it out.  Tammy used to sing professionally at bars around my home town and anywhere that would have her.  She moved to Nashville to seek her fortune and did with a different sort of fortune, nine kids.  None were able to come with her on this trip this year though.  

The accordion isn't much different that playing piano while laying underneath it, except you can sort of see the keys.

Mama's got a squeezebox!  

That afternoon, the kids ran an errand, so Robb and I put up the tree and got it ready for the ornaments.  Tammy napped.  Then Maddy, sleepy Meri and Leon put on the decorations.  Matthew helped some, but Maddy sent him off to the dining room to work on his paper that's due soon.  She's a slave driver, that one!

After a quick supper, we loaded up the family truckster and headed to Des Moines to see the Jolly Holiday Lights display.  It's a grand fundraiser for the Make A Wish foundation.  It's amazing how many sick kids want to go to Hawaii...

At the end of the light display, Leon got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas.  Two years ago, he wasn't too keen and cried the whole time.  

Santa was scary that year. 

 But this year, he knew what Santa was all about and had a list of things he wanted, practicing the whole way there.  As well as a cookie that he and Maddy had made that afternoon  contained in a baggy because Santa likes fresh cookies.  Santa was so impressed with Leon's kindness!  Apparently another kid had given him a Coke, so the cookie was a nice addition.

Then after slushies, home.  

It had been a long few days so far...  But fun. 

Tammy left Sunday morning.  After church and a lunch with Maddy and Matthew at the HyChi, they left too.  I spent the afternoon sewing!  I just have a belt to make and my outfit for this next weekend is done.  Well, with a little handwork...  But that's what a car drive is for!

Potty training bribes for the traveling child

In June 1998, my hubby and I, with MIL, son (6 - turned 7 there) and daughter (3) went to Ireland. My daughter was still in Pull-ups and as the date to ship out grew closer, we got a bit more nervous. I REALLY didn't want to lug Pull-ups over seas...

So we lied to our daughter. *gasp* *inhale all oxygen from room*. Yeah right! You guys have never lied to your kids??! We're the ones who taught our kids that "Other" kids believed in Santa Claus. We didn't lie on a regular basis anyway... unless it's really funny.... but I digress....

The lie was that the flight attendants wouldn't let her get on the airplane unless she was potty trained. There... Is that a huge lie? I mean, for crying out loud, she was THREE! If we waited any longer for her to be potty trained, it would be by intimidation from the other kids in preschool... or her future husband... We needed her to have some inspiration so she wouldn't settle on diapers the rest of her life!

On the flight over, we stopped in the Dublin airport before our final destination of Shannon and several people disembarked. The attendants counted everyone and the count was wrong. dang... that meant that too many people got off. This was WAY before 9/11, but the cautionary measures of the time were followed. They counted and counted and counted and we sat on the tarmac for an extra 3 hours while they counted heads. My DD did very well during this time. We weren't even supposed to use the restrooms... So she did great for a 3 year old.

On the flight back now... that was a different story. Some mixup with the layover in New York and we had to wait for customs. We weren't allowed to go past the rope gate and use the restrooms on the other side. We could see the bathrooms... we just couldn't use them... By this time, Maddy was frantic and really had to go. Before we had gotten on this flight, I had her wear a pull-up just in case. I tried to reassure her that she was wearing a pull up so she could go in her pants if she really needed to, but she was sobbing because she HAD to use the toilet.

I guess we trained her TOO well.

My MIL flagged down one of the flight attendants who had just gotten off the plane, pulling her cute little suitcase. MIL asked her where there was a restroom that her grand-daughter could use. The flight attendant pretty much blew her off and said she didn't know and didn't even break her stride in walking. My MIL was livid and said the first F-word she could think of. I was SHOCKED! She had never spoken like that before. I was a bit impressed, but when she didn't calm down, I lost the impressed part and just took matters into my own hands.

Carrying Maddy, I just walked over to the guard by the "rope" gate and said that my daughter was going to wet their floor if we couldn't use that bathroom over there, not 30 feet away.

Okey dokey then!!! He held the gate open for us and we strolled in. It was on the outside of the customs line but he didn't want to wield a mop apparently...