Whew!

Did you miss me? Goodness...has it been hectic around here!

The picture today is of my Christmas tree light one of my parents made for me last year. It is made out of beads and gold safety pins with a string of lights on the inside. It is one of my favorite things I put in my kitchen. It took her a lot of time so I really cherish it and think of them whenever I see it.

I'm ready for this week to be over with. I need a break. Work has been wild and I have been getting ready for our play which puts a strain on getting everything done during the day. I am glad to do it, but I must say I will be happy when we can calm down a bit. The practice went great today and I was so thankful. Tomorrow is the real thing.

Wesley woke up sick last night. He has a HORRIBLE cold and it caused him to not sleep well. He hasn't run a fever...just feels badly. I hope he gets better rest tonight. I, too, am dealing with a cold as well as Mikayla. It is just that time of year.

My brother and I went to see Narnia the other day. OH MY GOODNESS....an AWESOME movie. I loved it. It is a true picture of Christ and how He laid down His life to save ours. All we have to do is realize we are sinners and need HIM to save us. It is nothing we can do on our own! He paid the price when He shed His blood on Calvary. I recommend Narnia to ANYONE. It truly was awesome and I'd love to see it again.

We also went that night to see A Christmas Carol which is put on by one of our local production groups. They have been doing it for 31 years and it is so funny and they do such a wonderful job. This year was no different. It is a fun tradition that we have with Mom and Dad and all of us.

Well, I am going to close for now. Steve made me some hot chocolate and I'm going to go sit by the fire and enjoy it. I am so thankful for the fire...I am thankful for the warmth. There are many people who don't have that tonight. Lord, please be with those people and keep them warm and safe.

Have a great evening everyone! MERRY CHRISTMAS! (I'm going to shout that from the rooftops....We can't take CHRIST out of CHRISTMAS!)

A rewarding night

This is one of the few Christmas ornaments Steve and I got when we were first married. We hardly had any our first Christmas together so we went down to the local Eckerd Drug and bought some. They aren't the most fabulous in the world, but they are some of the sweetest to me. I can't believe that has been 12 years ago. Most of the others we bought that year are long gone but these will always remain as long as I can keep them.

Well, this Friday was pretty eventful! Things at work were very non-normal and the day ended up the way it began. The best part of the day, though, is that Wesley and Mikayla BOTH did great on their work today!! Their teacher told me they had a "game" with cards with words on them and they could keep the words they got right. Well, both of them got to keep all of the cards they were shown. Their teacher was quite proud of how well they had done today. Wesley had also focused so much better and did a great job on his work. I was so proud of them that I knew we had to do something special because both of them would have earned a sticker tonight for their chart at home which would earn them a treat. I figured our treat would be a big one since Steve couldn't be at home with us tonight...I wanted to make it special. I stopped by McD's on the way home and then we took baths and got ready for bed so we could watch The Incredibles while eating our fun supper in the middle of the floor. I then let them have some chocolate and also some hot chocolate while we sat in front of the fireplace. (and...yes, I actually got a fire started in the fireplace after MUCH work and LOTS of pieces of fire logs....) The kids really had a fun night and I enjoyed it too. My house didn't get cleaned and I have dishes in the sink, but do you think I care right now? No....I really don't. I'll get to that later.....maybe tomorrow....maybe. hee hee

I have to go work on doing some ornaments for my students. I figure since Steve isn't here I would have plenty of time to get them done. Have I said before I don't like it when Steve has to work late? I just miss him. Yes, here I am whining again, huh? :o) Actually, I have the easiest "problem"....Steve is outside in this 20 degree weather watching over a soccer tournament and having to pick up trash after it is over. I get to stay in our warm house and "chill" out. He is such a hard worker. I appreciate that about him so much.

I guess those ornaments aren't getting done with me sitting here typing, huh? I still haven't wrapped one Christmas present, either....that will get done eventually, too. There is much to do before I can get all of that done, though. First things first.... Maybe I'll go eat a little bit of chocolate pie before I start my hard work on my ornaments...you know, to give me the ENERGY I need. Yeah, I think that is what I'll do. Have a super evening/day everyone. Enjoy the beautiful CHRISTMAS time!!!!!!!!

Reading and Soup

This is our favorite Christmas CD....along with many others. :o) Patti does a beautiful job singing old Christmas carols as well as newer ones. Mikayla and Wesley especially love "Santa Train" and we hear it pretty much everyday. It is an awesome CD. We've been listening to this CD since October!!

In my last post I was hoping to have some hot chocolate and sit by the fire that night. I got as far as sitting by the fire...and then I conked out. ha! That fire felt SO good and I just kept going deeper and deeper into the recliner. I finally woke up around 10:00 only to go back to bed again! That is some good sleepin', though. :o)

Today Wesley and Mikayla read to me their first sentence.. "The pig sat in the mud." Wesley is continuing to come a long way from where he has been. I am amazed at how much they have learned in so little of a time. Of course, Wes didn't have the best day in the world...he lost his sticker again because it took him ALL day to do his work..NOT good. He got in trouble at home for that one because we have really been talking to him about following directions and LISTENING. The thing is...the kiddo is smart. He is a thinker and you can SEE those wheels a turnin' but he just doesn't want to take the time to focus on what is in front of him before he goes off on one of his thinking moments. Mikayla had a better day with understanding her words. She has to fill in the vowel sound for a word like b_d...and has a choice of "e" or "o". She was literally just guessing. Not sure WHAT that was all about but we have been working with and talking to her regarding that as well. She did better on that today and I continued to encourage her to listen to the sound that should go in the word. You know, we don't think of it as being a hard concept, but if you have never done it before it would be quite tough!! I am proud of both of them for where they are now compared to where they were in August. There have been SO many improvements.

Mom made her homemade vegetable soup today. I know this may sound crazy, but I got teary-eyed when I picked up the soup she had set aside for us to have. These are the little things I didn't think about when Mom was so sick and now that they come around I think of what could have happened and I would have never eaten that soup again. There is nothing like Mom's vegetable soup. We also had her homemade pimiento cheese in a sandwich to go along with it. Wow, was that stinkin' good. :o)

The sweetest part about Mom's soup is that she made enough to take to two people in our church who have been sick. One of them is going through cancer and another broke her shoulder. It was so neat to see Mom being able to do for others after so long a time. She used to do that all of the time before her sickness so it was nice to see her feeling up to it again. She was also a blessing to the lady who has cancer because they were able to sit and talk and Mom could tell her that she definitely understands, in a lot of ways, what she is facing and going through. It reminded me of how the Lord puts things in our lives to help others. Now it is Mom's turn to be a blessing and a help.

Daddy came to school today to help me with some things for our play. It was so nice have MY Daddy be at school. You know, I am in my 30's and I don't think I'll ever get too old to get a butterfly in my stomach knowing Daddy is coming around. I am sure Mikayla feels that way when she sees Steve. I guess it is because Daddy's work longer hours a lot of times and you don't get to see them as often. I appreciated him coming, though. :o)

Steve will be getting home a little later tonight than usual and I am looking forward to him getting here because he needs to start a fire!! I just LOVE those fires.....can you tell???? OK...I realize that just sounded like all I need him for is to start a fire in the fireplace!!!! He is a wonderful man and I am thankful for him each day....and not just for starting a fire. ha!!

My brother and I are going to go see the Narnia movie on Saturday. I believe it begins tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. I'm sure I'll be posting how it goes!

Well, off to get one of the munchkins out of the tub, read some stories and get them off to bed. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. I am SO happy about that!!!

Have a wonderful evening and go enjoy some Christmas music!!!

One of those days....

Oh my...can life get any busier right now? And I have even "stepped away" from some things that we normally do this time of year! Between work and life at home my time is not my own. I'll be glad when some things calm down....

Today was one of those days that went well for the most part, but then you find out something at the end of the day that blows all of that out of the water. I hate days like that. You know, it isn't that the "bad" thing is all that BAD, but it justs adds on to other things and it seems that way. I need a Calgon moment, I believe. Today I feel that no matter how far I try to get ahead, I am behind. I guess we all have times of feeling that way.

The picture today is of one of the angels on my mantel. I love this angel and I love to make the lights shine underneath it to give it a glow. This isn't the best picture of it, but it was when I was playing around with my new camera. I'll be taking more pictures of Christmasy things as soon as I get my "head on straight."

Steve cooked supper for us tonight. He actually cooked it last night and we ate it tonight. Tuesdays are always hard because I take the kids to Kindermusik. Since I don't get home until late it makes it hard to have a great meal without Steve's help. Of course, the way things have gone this year, Steve is cooking MOST of the time!! Hey, my opinion is, though, that a marriage is a 50/50 and we have to help each other out.... I would be so lost if I didn't have Steve. He is always there to pick up where I leave off. I am so thankful for him.

Well, it is almost time to get the kiddos in bed and I need to read them a couple of stories. After the kids are in bed, I think I'll try to have a HOT chocolate tonight while I sit in front of the fireplace...where STEVE has already started a fire, and gaze at the Christmas tree. Sounds like a plan to me!!!! Have a great one!

Wild Weekend

Here is Mikayla girl's ornament she got this year. She loves it because it has sparkles on the wings. I just think it is precious...just like she is.

You know, the way my children look at me sometimes is amazing and makes my heart skip. Yeah, I have moments when I want to scream when they don't listen, but those times really aren't that many. They just seem to happen when everything else is happening too. Today in church Mikayla just smiled at me with that sweet face and I thought I'd melt. I wish time wouldn't go so fast. Do you know what Wesley said to me the other night? He said "Mommy, do you know what my heart is full of? I said "No, what?" and he says "Love...." That was precious to me....they can say some of the sweetest and most innocent things. That is what I want to continue for them in their lives. I want that innocence for as long as I can keep it.

OK...you know how I posted I was going to go sit in front of the fire and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate while looking at the Christmas tree lights and relax? Well, after 3 tries, the fire never started. I found out too late that I had used green wood! I thought I had gotten the dry wood. I can never get that right. By then, after working on the fire so many times, my hot chocolate was cool! Steve called to tell me he was going to be even later so I just sat down, smelling burnt green wood, staring at my Christmas tree and drinking cool hot chocolate. HA!! I decided to just veg in front of some TV show for a little while and then found myself falling asleep. I vaguely remembered Steve coming home at what I thought was 9:30 or so...only to find out later it was 10:30. He started the fire up pretty quickly (wouldn't you know it!) because he didn't want the wood to smell up the house. I was so out of it that I could barely talk to him. I only remember seeing him looking at the kids schoolwork and then I was out again. Next thing I know, I woke up, still in the recliner, and it was 12:45 am!!!! My contacts were so dried in my eyes that I couldn't even blink correctly. Once I got those out I was back in bed again. So much for the evening I had planned, huh???

On Saturday my brother came down and we went out and about getting things for Christmas and such. Steve had to work all day again. Our day took longer just because of all the people out shopping now. We didn't get back until mid-afternoon and then I went with one of my friends and her husband to watch one of her daughters in a local Christmas parade. This was the first one Wesley and Mikayla had ever been to so it was a neat experience. The funny thing was that it started to sleet when we got there! I didn't even know it was supposed to rain, let alone sleet! It didn't last long, though, and the rain held off till after the parade was over. When we got out of there we called Steve for him to meet us at a restaurant so he could be with us for supper. After that we went to our friends house for a while and sat and talked while the kids played. Wesley was so tired, though, that he fell asleep on their couch in between Steve and myself. It was sweet.

Today we went to church and then went to Mom and Dad's. We had to work on making stockings out of paper for Wesley and Mikayla for school tomorrow. I thought they did a pretty neat job of them. It was a project where we all could work together on them. If I hadn't of been so stressed over getting some tests graded I had forgotten about I could have enjoyed the experience a lot more!! :o) I'm going to take a picture of them tomorrow so hopefully I can post it on my blog tomorrow. They really turned out cute.

Well, off to get ready for another day of school. Have a wonderful day everyone!

When I least expected it...

It is so amazing to me how the Lord works. I have seen Him do so much this year but yet He always finds ways to show us He is in control and knows our needs before we do. Tonight I was working on the checkbook and paying bills. When I tried to balance it they statement said I had more money than I was showing. Well, after going back through everything I found that I miscalculated and had extra money that I didn't know I had!! That was SUCH a blessing, too, because I have so much to have to do right now with Christmas and all. I thanked the Lord for knowing I would need that extra money even before I knew it. He is so good.

Tonight Wesley, Mikayla and myself went to McDonald's for supper because it was late after I finished with the bills and such and I surely didn't feel like cooking. :o) I thought it would be neat to go through some subdivisions and see some Christmas lights on our way home. We found out too quickly that a lot of people haven't put them up yet but at least we tried. Steve had to work late tonight and I just wanted the kids to have something fun.

When we got home I went to help them get ready for bed and found that Wes had put away his own clothes today that I had washed. That was the first time he has ever done that. All I told him was to clean his room but I didn't think he'd take that initiative to get those put up on his own yet. I was SO proud of him and he was just beaming when I told him I was proud of him. He is so much more "retentive" than Mikayla in getting his room clean. I know he is going to be meticulous the older he gets. He is already a lot like that now.

Mikayla was cracking me up this afternoon. She was "cleaning" the office and playing all at the same time. Yes, you guessed it, not much cleaning going on. :O) She was talking on her Barbie Cell phone and talking to her "pretend" husband who said she had been lying to him so she needed to get a credit card. Where she got THAT I have no clue. She was too cute, though, because she would say bye in the same way Steve and I do.... "I love you, Ok...Bye" Makes us realize how much they are watching and listening. She also took a picture of me with her cell phone!! I didn't even realize she knew they could do that! She was cracking me up!

Mikayla had a bad start to her day today so the way it ended up was much better. She woke up with a red eye again. Everyone at school thought she had pink eye but I assured them she always gets this when she has a cold. By the end of the day it was pretty much gone. Pink eye wouldn't have gotten better on its own. Well, on her way into school she fell and skinned her knee, then forgot her folder and lost her little Wisdom bracelet she got as her award this week!! All of this before 7:30!!! I felt so badly for her. Thankfully, her day went smoother and overall it was OK.

The picture is an ornament on our tree. I think it was a gift from a student years ago. I always try to remember who has given me ornaments through the years but some I forget unless I write it on there. I have many from my grandmother and then from places we visit. It is always something that brings back sweet memories for me. I plan on sitting down and drinking some hot chocolate tonight in front of the fire I am TRYING to get going tonight while looking at my Christmas tree. I want to soak up all the lights and special moments of Christmas. It goes too fast as it is.

I will say that Wesley and Mikayla are cracking me up about Santa this year. We believe in Santa at this house, but we don't pour it down our children's throats. He is a fun part of Christmas but we want them to understand that Christ is the real reason we celebrate. Anyway, this year they are really getting into understanding Santa. They keep trying to figure out how he is going to come down our chimney! Mikayla told Wesley tonight "Oh, he just gets really skinny and tiny and comes down!" Other times they have asked how he wouldn't get stuck because he is so big. I am loving this age. Do you think I could freeze time? Nah, I guess not. It surely is precious, though.

I am off to soak up the lights of our tree. Enjoy your day/evening everyone! May God surprise you with a blessing today!

Hairspray!!!

I just got back from seeing Hairspray the musical. Can I just say I had SO MUCH FUN!?? It was a blast and I am glad I got to see this one. I even got some confetti streamers that came out at the end as a "souvenir." This was the first play my brother and I have seen this season. We're on second row center stage so we have awesome seats. I was able to take a nap this afternoon...(as much of a nap as the neighbors little yapping dog in their yard would allow...) so that I would be functional and stay awake until now!! I have to get up in 6 hours, which is SO not enough sleep for me, but at least I got a nap!! I began my normal yawning at intermission which was around 9:30. SO my bedtime. ha! I would have taken a picture of my confetti and playbill, but it is too late. :o)

Off to bed for my sleepy head!! I shall share more on the morrow!