Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 4 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Fly on the Wall Post

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado                  https://www.BakingInATornado.com

Never Ever Give Up Hope             https://batteredhope.blogspot.com

Menopausal Mother                   http://www.menopausalmom.com/

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

  • Me, Mama O.
  • Daddy O.
  • Big Sister, age 11
  • Little Brother, age 9

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page.  Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

Turkey Day Awards

The four of us spent Thanksgiving together, and we enjoyed a delicious meal. I made turkey wings in the InstaPot, smoked ham in the oven, green beans in the microwave, and Daddy O. and Big Sister made garlic mashed potatoes on the stovetop.  We reflected on our meal, giving each other awards:

Messiest eater: ME – I ate the turkey wing with my hands

Cleanest eater: Little Brother (this was a role reversal with me)

Best cake froster: Big Sister (a chocolate cherry cake frosted with chocolate frosting)

Best mashed potatoes: Daddy O.  

Little Brother said, “Dad is the mashed potato master.” He sure is, and we love it!! 

Reality Check

Little Brother and I were watching football on tv, and the commercials tend to get repetitive.  I especially get annoyed with the holiday car commercials, so I told him, “Ugh, I hate this commercial. Just so you know, I’ve NEVER gotten a car for Christmas.” 

Little Brother replied, “Nor should you expect one.” 

Grading Holiday Cheer

While we were headed to a park for a hike, I noticed a home that was full of holiday decor. 

Little Brother: Wow, it looks like Christmas puked all over their lawn.  

I should not have been surprised by what happened on another night of looking at Christmas lights: my kids started grading each home’s decor.

They’d yell out letter grades: B. 

“Oh D!”  

“I’d give that a C!”

They were being kind of harsh! I said that every homeowner did whatever he or she liked.  

On another car ride, the kids said, “If you just have a wreath, then you get a D.”  

Little Brother graded some of my holiday decorations (on a scale of one to ten): two wreaths and planters that I made from leftover fraser fir boughs from our tree that we named Dustin, or Dusty for short.

My holiday wreaths and planters graded

Thoughts on Santa

Me: Kids, are you going to write to Santa this year? 

Little Brother: No, if he’s everywhere, then he already knows what I want: technology, a drum set….” 

We have our Elf on the Shelf named Fred visiting our home again. My kids are recognizing some of the places where he appears. When he showed up in the gravy boat, Little Brother said, “He likes that spot.” Personally, I liked seeing him under the wine glass. Don’t we all want to hide in (or with) a wine glass sometimes?!

Dinnertime Conversations

Big Sister: I mix up tobacco and tabasco.

Me: Tabasco’s cool, tobacco’s not.

Little Brother: But I thought tabasco was hot sauce.

Me: Tabasco’s hot, tobacco’s not.

Big Sister: The mysteries of life number one – you can never understand how moms talk. 

My pre-tween is questioning my cool factor.

Sweet Memories

As I was writing my past two Fly on the Wall posts, Little Brother helped me review my draft and then scrolled through and re-read past Fly blog posts. It was really sweet to look back at the funny things he and his sister have said since I started participating in this blogging challenge.

I hope you all enjoy looking back on sweet memories with loved ones!

Wishing you happy moments during the holidays.