HGE 2013

It’s that time of year for the Potts family to prepare for the annual Holiday Gift Exchange – or more simply put, the HGE.  I have the honor of serving as the (un)official HGE Coordinator.  While I’d like to say that I was The Chosen One this year because of my status as favorite Potts child, the truth is…well…several weeks ago I mentioned to mom that a superhero theme would be fun and she said, “So you’re volunteering to be the HGEC then?  Great!  You’d better get going on it so we all have time to plan.”  Deep down she knows she is the only one who really plans anything in this family, so I’m not too worried about the timeliness of this initial communication to the crew.  It’s quite likely most (if not all) shopping will be done online anyway.  And it’s also quite likely that most (if not all) online orders will be shipped to mom’s house for storage (and maybe a little organizing, because she’s good at that).

So here we are, folks.  For those of you who haven’t heard about the Potts Family HGE, it’s the annual exchange of gifts between adults to celebrate Christmas and a little bit of Hanukkah (we pride ourselves on being a blended family).  Participants include parents Jill/Larry, siblings Elisabeth/Charlie/Annie, and the characters who married into the family – Evan/Angie/Tanner.  The event itself usually doesn’t kick off until well after 9pm when all minions have (mostly) fallen asleep.  It may or may not include adult beverages (i.e. mostly Diet Coke, but some potent lemon liquor has been consumed in previous years).

The rules this year are fairly basic because nobody has time to for it to be complicating.  Here we go… 

In no particular order:

• In case you didn’t pick up on it already, the theme is SUPERHEROES!
•  Every HGE participant (giftee) will be assigned a name (giftee) for whom they are to purchase a gift.
• Multiple gifts are allowed, but may be construed as “favoritism” toward the giftee.  Totally fine if the gifter is Larry/Jill and the giftee is me.  Perhaps a bit awkward if the gifter is Evan and the giftee is Angie.  Just sayin’.  Keep in mind that superheroes do not have favorites – they come to the rescue of all people, regardless of race/ethnicity/gender/religious beliefs/scent/smartness.
• Maximum dollar value to be spent on gift(s) = $50.  Quit freaking out, Tanner.  I said it’s the maximum amount.  You can spend less.  But you might be called a jerk.
• No gift cards allowed.  Mainly because that’s always been a rule it’s a good one.
• The gift you purchase for your giftee must somehow tie back to the superhero theme.
• Creativity is always welcomed and generally required when purchasing the gift(s).  Refrain from buying someone a Batmobile or a catwoman suit.  Way too obvious (but totally awesome ideas!).
• As usual, you will be required to defend your gift at the time of gifting it to your giftee.  Props, songs, poetry, and other forms of entertainment are encouraged.

And some food for thought:

• Watch out for supervillains – they are not superheroes and nothing about them would make for a nice gift to your giftee.
• Remember that not all superheroes have super powers. For some reason that kind of makes me feel a little sentimental….hold on a minute while I wipe this tear from my eye.
• Okay.  Better now.
• Howard the Duck is considered a superhero, greatly skilled in Quakfu.  Interesting, no?
• There is a world superhero registry.  I’m pretty sure this would be a great resource for dad’s genealogy research.
• In your spare time (admit it – you have plenty!), I encourage you to create your own superhero:  http://marvel.com/games/play/31/create_your_own_superhero
• I was going to assign a superhero to each person but let’s be honest…you’re all superheroes just the way you are, so there’s no need to give you alternative identities.  Sigh.

And for a little inspiration, I leave you with Miles’ latest coloring job.  Who is this woman?  A superhero’s wife, of course.  He said it, not me….

You’ll receive the name of your giftee in the next day or two (I’m a little parched from this initial post) via email.  Check back on the blog for ideas, inspiration, and the occasional new or changed rule.  Keeps things fun when the game changes a bit.

Big Birthday Weekend

The Big Weekend of Birthday Fun lived up to its name!  I'll let the pictures do most of the storytelling.  You can use your imagination for some of it, too...the wilder, the better.

Things kicked off on Friday morning with Ms. Jen and the Kindergarten class.  Miles was busy working at one of the writing centers in his class room when I arrived.  He had to label some Thanksgiving-themed pictures.  He debated how to label the pilgrim's footwear... Are they shoes?  Boots?  Is there a fancy word for pilgrim footwear that we don't know?  We went with boots.  I think that's a safe bet.

Next it was time to pop bubbles as the class sang a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday.

Then Miles gloved up so he could serve puppy chow (not the REAL kind, as all 15 kindergartners took turns explaining) to his friends as a special birthday treat.  I think wearing the gloves was secretly the highlight of his morning....

At Miles' request, we went to Newt's in Rochester for supper on Friday night.  Newt's is known for their burgers and fries.  As far as Miles and Weston are concerned, the place is known for their popcorn, lemonade, and mac & cheese.  Add to it a birthday sundae!  And a dollar bill from some grandparents sitting near us who were clearly lonely for their grandchildren and were obviously fooled by Miles and Westy's mostly appropriate behavior during supper!  It was a fun night on the town.

Finally Saturday arrived, which meant official present opening day.  Miles didn't miss a beat.

Weston did, however.  He was quite upset over the fact that he couldn't tear into packages and bags himself. A tough reality check for this 3 year old.  He angrily threw tissue paper around the room until he decided he'd gotten enough attention.

Ethan, Owen, Uncle Charlie, Grandma Jill, and Grandpappy spent much of the day celebrating with us in Otown.  It doesn't look like any adults were around based on these pictures, but I promise there were...

After lunch the boys insisted on playing outside in the frigid November air.  It was ~10 degrees, but under 0 with the wind.  Brrrrr.

If you do a head count, you'll notice one boy is missing.  Ethan decided it was too cold for his own good and went inside.  He proceeded to take off his pants to warm up.  No pictures of that, but it must have worked because a couple other boys followed suit (or lack thereof) and immediately stopped complaining about being cold.  Hmmmmm.

On to Sunday.  We bundled up and went to St. Peter to continue celebrating Packer style at Grandpa Dave and Grandma Doreen's house.

Uncle Will and Auntie Anne were taking care of Kobe for the weekend, which meant the boys had another playmate for the day.  Miles loved helping with all of the dog-related chores, and Weston (who is usually terrified of dogs) got a kick out of playing fetch with Kobe.  Kobe is very sweet and tolerated the boys very well....and that takes a very special kind of dog.

After a little (or big) cookie cake --

Miles decided that being 6 means he can sit on the counter at Grandma's house.  When he was 3, he was quick to tell Grandpa Dave that sitting up there was a "sad choice".  My, how times change.

The NC cousins helped us celebrated Miles' birthday, too, with a very cute birthday video message.  Here's a shot from their performance....

We missed having them around for the excitement, but do appreciate their e-participation.  And their attempt to make us feel better about the cold weather -- nothing like wearing winter hats and summer dresses (with little cardigans, of course)!

Happy birthday, Miles Jay Grimmius.  We love you all the way to Z and are so glad you were born!*

*On a side note:  As I was snuggling Miles in bed on his big birthday night, I spent a minute reminding him how much I love him and how the last 6 years have been so awesome - he brings so much joy to our family and makes us so proud.  I didn't think I was over-doing it, but apparently I went on a little too long about my deep, unconditional love for that boy... He smiled and giggled, then leaned over the railing on his top bunk bed so he could see Weston and said, "Hey Westy, have you ever watched a dog go up or down stairs?  It's really funny because they have four legs.  I'll have Kobe show you tomorrow!"  I got the hint, smooched the boys good night, and let them get back to other important dog related topics.  Sigh.

hello

Long time no blog.  We've been busy doing homework...which is pretty awesome, because Kindergarten homework is FUN!  Miles is a reading and spelling machine.  We're lucky that he likes to practice because it means we flip through lots of pages in books, play round after round of hangman, and attempt to communicate by spelling out words so that a certain little brother can't follow along.  It sounds mean, but it's really not...he thinks he knows what we're spelling and we lead him to believe that he's right.  Only he's waaaay off.

Last weekend was dreary on the weather front (literally), and we were all taking turns battling the stomach flu.  It started with Weston on Thursday night, hit me by Friday, took out Tanner on Saturday, and ended with Miles on Monday.  Uffdah.  On the bright side, it meant lots of time to do art projects like this one --

We had to create a couple of pages for a family-themed scrap book that Miles' class is putting together. We are proud of how it turned out - it was a team effort!  Miles and mommy did the actual work while daddy and Westy voiced their ideas and opinions.  Probably a good strategy for future projects, too.

Miles turns 6 (say what?!) on Saturday.  To celebrate, he had his bi-annual dental checkup today.  No cavities!  But he does need to do a better job brushing his top teeth along the gum line.  Pretty sure he took detailed notes while listening to the hygienist (he was very interested), so we should see definite improvement at his next checkup.  Let's hope it continues into his teenage years.

And tonight we helped Owatonna kick off the holiday season with the annual lighted parade and Lighting of the Lights ceremony.  It was chillllllly, but we bundled up and had a great time.  I think we've gone almost every year since 2007 (except in 2007 because Miles was brand spanking new and still had his days and nights confused....therefore mommy and daddy were not interested in going to a parade).

Tanner and I have fun thinking back to the Lighting of the Lights ceremonies in St. Peter.  They used to make the magic happen with a big light switch - very symbolic.  There was hot chocolate, prizes (one year I won some colored pencils), and all sorts of activity in the Ginny May's parking lot.  Those were the good old days.  It's fun making similar memories with our little boys.  One of the best memories we'll have from tonight is Miles' reaction to "Steely", the Steele County Fair mascot (he's a moose).  Miles has seen Steely on numerous occasions and loves him -- loves all mascots, really.  We were certain that he overcame his fear of mascots long ago, but tonight was apparently an off night for him.  As Steely made his way toward us, Miles quickly moved to the back of the crowd along the sidewalk and squatted down behind a group of adults so that he wouldn't be spotted.  He was trying to blend in.  It worked!  Steely walked right on past him.  No big deal...we've got plenty of time to become friends with Steely.