All I want for Christmas is to explode some pigs

Do you want the next thing she touches to be an expensive electronic?

Cora is fascinated with computer. Everything about them. And when she doesn't have computers, she wants your phone.

So thank goodness she doesn't talk so I don't have to explain why an iPhone and an iPad are not gifts I'm giving my 1 year old. That's right! If anyone is getting an iPAd2 in this house, its me!

So, you may ask yourself, how many stockpots does a girl need?  Well, I got three for Christmas.  I am set!  I gave one to my mom and decided to keep one. Once I found out what Jamey spent for the one he gave me, I turned that one in for an iPad2.  So Merry Christmas to me! Ruby Cora and I fight over who gets to play Angry Birds next. I have weight on my side, but Cora has the ability to wipe her snotty nose on my clothes and Ruby can talk till I just give up. It's an even and fair fight. The only real losers are the pigs, unless Cora's playing. She feels she should finger swipe the direction she wants the bird to go, which naturally sends it in another direction as it leaves the slingshot. What can I say? I didn't place slingshots high on my 1 year old present gift idea list either.

I thought we did rather well at our Christmas card this year... Jamey liked the 50's Stacy alot. I told him I would wear frivolous dresses and bake cookies everyday if he has me stay home. He decided he likes 2000s Stacy better then.

I know I am completely biased, but Ruby is the coolest 4 year old ever. And this all relates to the only time of the day when she doesn't talk, story time!  Ruby has a great attention span for her age. I decided she could handle real books.  I described the plot of Charlie and the Chocolate factory to her around her 4th birthday (last June) and she said "That sounds like an awesome story!"  Since then we have read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bunnicula and the Hobbit. I'll admit, I've never read the Hobbit because I couldn't get past the singing. Singing and books do not go along in my mind. Especially made up lyrics that require no thinking of a tune. Jamey read that one to Ruby. I would like to know how he handled the songs. If it were me, I would have sang them all to the tune of Oh Susanna.

By far the main book milage has been the Little House on the Prairie books. Reading them as an adult is a much different experience than reading it as a kid. As a kid, you get the impression that they are a family that keeps close together happily though tough times that they have no control over. As an adult, you realize Ma is passive passive and Pa can't plan his way out of a paper sack. Ma tries to shoehorn Laura into her idea of ladylike behavior which includes no laughing (even on Christmas), no crying (even when the dog dies) and no excitement of any kind (even if Pa had wolves follow him home that have surrounded the house and whoops! Pa hasn't built a door yet!).  Pa settles in Indian Territory and gets a bit miffed when they have to start over because they settled in Indian territory and have to leave.  It doesn't help that little Laura grew up to be a lier. The dog didn't die, Pa gave it away becuase they had to move. They had to move (this time) because the nice Norweigan man who sold them the sad little farm in a big hurry with a huge smile on his face neglected to tell them it was a grasshopper breeding ground. Oh well, we've started the Long Winter and I'm sure it will be more positive!  After all Almanzo, her future husband has arrived and is making eyes at her. Wait a minute, they are 10 years apart. EWWWWW She's like, 14 dude. Maybe I will quit reading Wikipedia... I do have one issue. Pa plays the fiddle. Alot!  Not a problem. The problem is there are songs in the books I don't know the tunes for. Argh! Break out the Oh Susanna tune.

Anyway, since the Hobbit is through and we went through the first 5 Little House books, Ruby got Harry Potter book 1, RedWall book 1 and the rest of the Little House books for Christmas.

I gave Cora a broom.  Hey, in Little house that would be a BIG gift, especially since it's a "boughten" broom. After all, Laura and Mary's big Christmas, they got their own tin cups!  They don't have to share anymore.  Spoiled little brats.  Laura has that doll made out of a corncob too.  Maybe Cora can get that next Christmas.

Santa and the rest of my family hasn't been reading pioneer novels, so the girl's loaded up from him and the family.