God has a sense of humor

I’m pretty positive that God has a really great sense of humor.

Let me first back up.

As I’ve said before- I was raised an only child.  My grandma babysat me from the time I was a baby until I was in 1st grade.  She also babysat a little girl who was 6 months younger than me from the time she was about 2 months old.  Of course, since we grew up together we were nearly fused at the hip.  We spent weekends at eachother’s houses, went on vacations together, etc.

She had older brothers that were already in college, so it was always just the two of us.

 

So several years later, I had a baby boy.

A baby BOY.

…and I remember distinctly thinking,

“God, seriously – what am I going to do with a boy?”

me of all people.

I don’t know anything about a BOY!

 

So as the story goes, I figured out “what to do with a boy” and we’re still chugging along.

Now, he’s at the age where he’s starting to have friends spend the night.

And when he has friends over, I’m faced with a Boy (times TWO!).

Now the question becomes “what do I do with 2 boys?!”

 

So tonight – Chaston’s cousin Benjamin spent the night.

Which is good ,because obviously I’ve known him since before he was born - he’s comfy here and the boys get along.

The boys are really into Nerf guns this year.  Benjamin brought over a couple of his new Nerf guns and apparently some other fun Nerf gear as well.

After I got out of the shower, I realized the boys were having a great time at “Target Practice”

 

They look so EVIL!

 

In action:

 

SCORE!!!!!

 

 

What are these boys aiming at?

…need I say more?

 

 

The giant picture of The Little Sister…

 

 

 

WOW.

So THIS is what boys do.

 

…Here’s to an awesome year ahead!

~G

I’m Moving…

I wanted to let everyone know that I’m moving my blog to Blogspot!!

I’ve been testing it for some time now and am still working on moving over the old stuff from this blog, but am happy to let you know that I’ve moved to a new address…

Come visit me at :

www.somecallmemomma.blogspot.com

(be sure to update your favorites or you’ll be viewing this site with no updates…)

See you there!

April’s Extended Family Photos

A few days before Christmas, I received a phone call from a lady named April as a referral from another one of my friends Jessica.  April said that some of her family was in town from out of state and she was hoping to get some pictures with her family, her siblings, her mom and her grandma.

As you all know, I do enjoy taking all sorts of photos, but I genuinely enjoy taking pictures of new parents and elderly people.  I guess because those two things in a family are so monumental.  As morbid as it sounds, the generations that came before us won’t be around forever, so I love it when a family asks me to take photos “with grandma/grandpa”.  Those photos will be treasured so much after they leave this Earth and I love knowing that I took part and shared in that experience. 

Anyway – because of the holiday – we weren’t sure if we could pull everyone together for an indoor photoshoot, since it’s so cold out .  We compared our schedules and decided that I would meet at April’s house on Saturday evening!

When I arrived, her family was so welcoming and I definately felt right at home.  April’s kids are the cutest kiddos EVER! 

Meet Jared and Paige

I’m not sure if I’m getting the spelling correct, but Jared (the big brother) is 4 and Paige (the little sister) is 2.  They were so fun!  Jared had tons of trains and wanted them in nearly every picture.  Paige had a new FurReal Kitty and it showed up in quite a few photos as well !

Where did these two gorgeous children come from?

Meet April and Nick…

 

I learned while i was at their house, that they’ve been married for 10 years!!  CONGRATS GUYS!!

What a beautiful family..

 

I couldn’t leave out the trains!

 

…Nor the Kitty!!

 

April’s mom joined in the fun with her sweet grandbabies too!

 

(Notice the kitty and trains made it in the picture too!)

 

While the kiddos took a break from photos and ate some pizza, I got to hang out with Tiffany and Seth, April’s brother and sister in law!

 

…and Holly and Roderick, April’s sister and future-brother-in-law.  (Congrats on your engagement!)

 

Who started this big family?

I’m glad you asked!

Meet Great Grandma… (isn’t she just the cutest little lady ever?!)

 

What an awesome family…

 

THANK YOU ALL … for having me over to take your photos!  I had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing you all again soon!

~G

Christmas Eve

Today has been a whirlwind day, as most Christmas Eves are…

I’ll spare you of the details and give you just enough information to bring you up to speed.

Got up around 10

Picked up Bekah at 1

Hung out till 3

Got ready for church until 4.

 

Here’s where the record screeches…

I decided to take some “traditional family photos” in front of the Christmas Tree before we left for Christmas Eve service.

You know, the ones that eventually you come to hate your mom for, but do it anyway because it will “make her happy”.

Anyway.

Chaston was (surprisingly) compliant about taking the photos.  Bekah however was compliant, but a little emotional and was crying about LITERALLY everything.  I’m still not really sure SHE even knew what she was crying about.

Despite her red eyes in most of them, we did manage to get some decent photos that I’ll somday look back on and remember ‘the good ‘ol days’.

So I set up my tripiod + camera and tried to get my kids to do what I said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I finished being the momma-razzi, we headed to a wonderful Christmas Eve service at church together.  Our minister challenged us to go out and buy some donuts or a treat and give it to someone who is working this evening. 

We left the service and headed to the gas station to buy a treat for “someone working on Christmas Eve”.

We talked about it in the car and decided to take the treat to the State Police Post in Pendleton, knowing someone would most likely be out there at 7 pm when we got there.

Sure enough!  There were 3 officers there.  The kids and I went inside and gave them their treat and thanked them for working this Christmas.  They appreciated the treat very much and gave my kids two stuffed animals (which the kids were both shocked and thankful for!).  We arrived home safely with “Trooper” the white polar bear and “Taser” the spotted giraffe.  So awesome.

Last night, Carli helped me bake 2 birthday cakes for Jesus to remind her family and mine of the true meaning of Christmas.  This evening, the kids and I lit some candles (1 for each of us to be fair…. ya know) and sang Happy Birthday to Him.

My friend Kelli does this tradition with her girls and I’d heard of other people doing it and decided this year would be a good year to do it with my kids, as they do understand the meaning of Christmas.

 

(it’s a J for Jesus and a Cross). … NOT JT

 

Anyway – Chaston and Carli decided we should make a white cake for his body with Strawberry icing for his blood.  I agreed.  And after eating a piece tonight, I feel it was a GREAT decision!  YUMMMM!

So we ate some cake and decided to make Reindeer food to leave outside for our guest(s) this evening….

 

 

 

 

Finally – we left coookies for Santa…

 

And waited for the Jolly man in the Red Suit to arrive.

After some delay in getting to sleep because of excitement.

He came.

And left what appears to be some goodies.

 

I can’t wait for the kiddos to wake up in the morning!

 

In the meantime… to answer one of your questions:

No, my children do not always act nice to eachother.  In fact they rarely do!  Getting them to pose like this in front of the camera happens once every 3 or so months.

And I’m thankful when it does.

In fact, now that I’ve shown you the “good pictures” let me show you how our little “session” started….

 

Cute isn’t it? 

 

 

Anyway …

 

Thank you GOD for sending Jesus to us.

Thank you JESUS for letting your light shine…

 

Tomorrow we celebrate your birth

Every day … we celebrate your being.

 

Merry Christmas!

It’s almost Christmas

I’m so ready for 2009.

This time of year is so bittersweet for me.

I love it because of the decorations, the food, the good company, spending time with people I love, gift giving, lazy days with my kids and most importantly for the celebration of our Savior’s birth.

I dislike it all at the same time because of the family aspect.

I want so badly to have a family like the ones that get together for the holidays, exchanging gifts, stories, happy memories and just genuine love.

I know that all families have their issues, and even the most perfect ones aren’t so perfect but I just hate going to family functions and being on “edge”. Having flashbacks of the things that have been said, the excuses for past behavior, wondering if they invite me because they feel obligated or because they really care.

Most of you know that I’ve never had a relationship with my biological father. And the father that raised me .. hasn’t spoken to me for years.

And I hate that.

Because after it’s all said and done…

he was a great dad.

I sat here yesterday wrapping “santa” presents for my kids thinking about the kind of Christmases I had as a child.

He was the man with all the good ideas.

He had “special writing” for the tags on the gifts that came from Santa.

He had “special wrapping paper” for the gifts that Santa left.

I know that despite his shortcomings, he had good intentions.

I did without nothing as a child.

My parents spent a lot of their weekends in a band, playing different gigs for extra money.

Every Sunday at church, as the praise band plays I think about my dad.

And what an awesome drummer he was.

I dream of having a relationship with him where Chaston could have a grandpa on my side of the family that he could do fun things with.

Like learn how to work on cars (my dad could do it all).

Or learn how to play the drums.

Or build legos (my dad had tons of them).

Or play Hot Wheels (he had TUBS of them that he collected since he was a child).

I hate answering the questions from my son….

“Who’s your dad?”

“Why don’t I have a grandpa on your side of the family?”

We see my biological dad around town often. He’ll speak- come over and talk sometimes for a minute. He refers to Bekah as “baby Becky” and Chaston as “that little boy”. It’s very awkward. First because I am a little uncomfortable around him because of the past. Secondly because my kids have no idea who he really is. A couple of months ago, we saw him at Waffle and Steak. He gave my kids each a 1 dollar coin. The kids thanked him and we left.

I was about Chaston’s age when my mom told me that my step dad wasn’t my real dad.

Finally, last night after more questions lately than I can handle … Chaston and I were alone and I told him the story of who my dad is.

Both of them.

I told him that I didn’t know my biological dad growing up. And I met my sister Kathy when I was about 12. I told him I was raised by a man that we never see.

I told him that the guy at Waffle and Steak was my real dad.

And he said “Bob?”

I said yes.

He just looked at me.

Stunned.

I told him to be thankful for his dad. Because it’s really easy to walk away.

Last week, in my small group at the Prison we talked about seeing people’s light instead of their lampshade.

And it’s so true.

We all have a light inside.

Deep down, below all of the hurt, pain, anger and outward feelings is a light. A truly good person.

But most people see our lampshade.

Our lampshaded consists of rumors, gossip, the way we look, the car we drive, the way we treat people, the things we do for people ,etc.

People form opinions about us.

From the way our lampshade appears.

As I sit in a room with 40 men in Khaki’s (and 5 other volunteers) … all I see is their lampshade. But the more I get to know them, especially the guys in my small group – the more I see their light.

They are good people.

That made bad choices.

Just like me.

and You.

One of my big goals in 2009 is to see more light and less lampshade.

Merry CHRISTmas.

~G

Reindeer Cookies

I’ll admit it.

I’m guilty.

Sometimes I put myself out there a little too much with regards to helping others out.

I don’t know why, I just really enjoy doing for other people.

When it comes to Chaston’s class parties and activities, I’m a sucker for signing up.  I want to help out.  I want the kids and his teacher to know who I am and that I want to be involved in his life.

So I sign up to help out with “anything”.

And that quickly translates into “everything”.

Now this wouldn’t be a problem if I would just go to the store and buy cookies and take them to the class.

But I can’t.

There’s some silly little “switch” inside of me that ignites and makes me go into over-creative-mom mode and store bought cookies just won’t work.  I have to think up some crazy-cute-festive idea for a snack to take to the class.

Why?

I don’t know.

It’s not to “out-do” anyone.

I think it’s more just because I enjoy doing things that show that I care by going the extra mile.  Stupid, I know.

So tomorrow is both of my kids’ “Holiday Parties”.

I decided that it would be “fun” to make homemade sugar cookies, roll them out, use cookie cutters and make cute little Reindeer Cookies.

Long story short…

Chaston wasn’t real enthused about helping (which should’ve been my queue to go to the store and buy the dang oreos with red filling and take them to school tomorrow, but no).  So Bekah and I work together at making the sugar cookie dough and doing the first couple of batches. 

Then she lost interest.

And I was left finishing up the remaining 25 Reindeer Cookies. 

I should’ve known!

 

I really have no clue why I’m so anal about this crap.

I could’ve used the 2 or 3 hours that I spent making Reindeer cookies to put away laundry that I can’t seem to find the time to do.

But no.

I could’ve used the 2 or 3 hours that I spent making Reindeer cookies to dust off my picture table(s) that haven’t been dusted in weeks.

But no.

I probably should’ve used the 2 or 3 hours that I spent making Reindeer cookies to put together the Princess Puzzle (for the 3rd time) with Bekah.

But no.

It just isn’t that simple.

Chaston really enjoys it when I come to his class and either help out during the week, eat lunch with him or help on field trips/parties.  So, I really want to make something that I know he’ll get excited about.  I think that’s why I do it.

And I know, 20 years from now he won’t remember the stupid Reindeer Cookies that his momma brought to his classroom “back in 2008″. 

I think I fill up my schedule because I work best under pressure.

I’ve always been that way.

In high school, it seemed layouts for the yearbook weren’t turned in until literally the day before.

In college, I don’t know how many papers/reports/etc I got an A on that i’d written the night before.  (Too bad I’m a horrible test taker!)

At work, I can’t effectively complete a project, slide set, status report, etc without waiting until the day before the deadline.

But somehow…

99.9% of the time, it all gets done, and no one ever really knows how much of a procrastinator I really am.

I can see this item on my list of goals for 2009, can’t you?

In other news:

~ I’m excited for Christmas!!

~I’m thankful for my friends that know all of my quirks .. but love me anyway.

~I’m absolutely loving my new digital photo keychain that my friend Jenny got me.  LOOOOVE it!!

~While I’m enjoying my flannel sheets a whole lot, I’m really missing my “favorite” sheets from summer time and also hoping that I’ll get an electric blanket or electric mattress pad or a gift card or perhaps will utilize my own money to purchase either of those items before March when it gets warm.  It would be like heaven to have an electric blanket/mattress pad ANNNND get to use my favorite sheets!! 

~Bekah informed me today that she has two kids; Emma and Henry.  She’s such a good mommy – loving her children unconditionally.  In her case, Emma is a green frog and Henry is a grey Khoala Bear.  Sometimes, she babysits for “Jayla” the purple elephant.

~Again this year, Chaston is obsessed with pencils.  Not just any pencil.  They have to be pencils from the machine at school.  You know, the ones that are a QUARTER a piece?!  Yea.  He and his cousin Benjamin are determined to get the colts pencil, they’re just a little too scared to go in “The 5th Grade Hall” where they think it is.  When asked what Benjamin wants for Christmas, his reply is “A pencil machine”.  Chaston wants me to save up $400 and then give it to him in all quarters so he can buy pencils.  At this point, I’m not sure which is worse?  Owning the pencil machine, or owning 1600 pencils.  Is it too early to talk to these boys about “ROI = Return on Investment”?

~My shower is now hot enough for me to take an acceptable shower.  My toilet, while not running constantly like it has been is now leaking.  I give up.

 

How did the Reindeer Cookies turn out?

Pretty darn cute.  And i bet in less than 10 minutes, they’ll disappear tomorrow.

 

Time to send Elfis to the North Pole!

Until next time -

~G

I could’ve done without it.

Today is a day I definately could’ve done without.

I went to bed at 11, like any other day.

I woke up at 1 a.m. to Bekah telling me she didn’t feel good. I asked her if she wanted to go to teh potty and she said no. Then about 30 seconds later, she said yes. Just as I got ready to help her to the potty, it happened.

puke.

everywhere in the bed.

and it kept on going.

It’s 1 a.m. I have no glasses on. I cannot see.

I just know that my child is puking.

And I’m trying to wake up.

Everything I knew about parenting was gone.

What am i supposed to do?

Normally, this wouldn’t have been an issue but at 1 a.m. – that’s another story!

So I stand there looking at her.

When all of a sudden, I hear in my head: “Grab a towel, Ginny – grab a towel!”

DUH!!! Who wouldn’t have thought of that?! So I grab a towel from the floor in my room (seeeee – this is why I don’t clean my room! ). I lay it down on the bed so she can at least maybe contain it.

When all of a sudden…

IT’S COMING OUT BOTH ENDS!

OMG OMG OMG OMG.

Now i’m really in shock. Because it’s not 1:03 a.m., I have a kid in bed with fluids coming from both ends and I’m half asleep.

****Let’s rewind***

I’ve been having water heater/toilet issues for the past month. THe repair guy has been here at least 1 time per week throughout the month “fixing” it.

Last week, he finally installed a new hot water heater.

…that’s HALF the size of my old one.

Then he came back to adjust it because i had no water pressure in the shower… nor hot enough showers.

Then my toilet is running NON STOP. All the while, all I can hear in my head is “Cha-ching, Cha-ching, Cha-ching” as the friggen water is running constantly.

So Monday, he came back to my house to fix the water pressure and the toilet. He said nothing was wrong with the toilet but he fixed “something” – hopefully that will solve the problem.

I cannot tell you how many times throughout the past couple of months I’ve not only FLUSHED my toilet by taking the back top part off, but also made it stop running by manually lifting up on the bobber. I swear if I have to flush the toilet manually or stop it from running one more time, I’m literally giong to scream.

***Now [reluctantly] back to reality***

So back to 1:03 this morning.

I finally get it together and recommend that she get in the shower. Great Idea!!

While she’s in the shower, I’ll put all the sheets from the bed in the washer on hot and we’ll just ‘kill 2 birds with one stone’, so to speak.

Everything was great until 1/2 way thru her shower, the water was totally COLD! DUH DUH DUH!!! I should’ve waited on the washer until she got OUT of the shower. Crap! [no pun intended] So the little trooper stood in the shower while i washed her off as best and quickly as i could with the cold water, got her out and headed to my bed to finish off the night.

Sometime around 5 a.m. …

it happened again.

Round 2 (ding ding ding!)

Only this time, my toilet was RUNNING non-stop. Lord only knows how long it had been running, because I know that I passed out after the shinanigans at 1 a.m.

Only this time, the normal protocol of taking the back off the toilet, blah blah blah isn’t working.

So just like any frazzled mother enduring round two of the puke-n-poop marathon would do, I start crying!

What does this help?

Nothing!

So now i’m in the damn bathroom, looking at the toilet crying (again, hearing ching, ching, ching, ching) my daughter is standing there in panties; post round 2 clean up and I can’t get the toilet to stop running!!!!!

So I get it together after a couple of pitty-party moments:

“why me?”

“it’s friggen 5 a.m. – i’m so sick of this crap”

“why can’t my dang toilet just work!? .. Is that too much to ask?”

“Omg, how am i going to get his to stop running? IF i pull it out of the floor and throw it out the front door, then i’ll have even MORE water flowing out of the floor and that will be a mess, so I can’t do that”

“What the heck am i going to do?”

[meanwhile, bekah's patting my back/leg saying "it's ok mommy, we'll get our toilet fixed"]

still crying, over a toilet, puke-n-poop marathon, early morning, etc

So I decide it’s 6 a.m. – i’m calling the dang repair guy … AGAIN.

He says he’ll be to my house by noon.

NOON?!?!?!? Are you kidding?

He tells me to turn my valve off on the side of the wall beside my toilet.

That wouldn’t be a problem… if i were a MAN! I can’t get the thing loose!

To wrap this segment of the story up, I think i got mad enough that i was finally able to get the valve turned off.

In the meantime, school was cancelled for the day so Chaston stayed with me in the morning until the afternoon when I had several conference calls to participate in for work. Overall – from 5 a.m. on – the day went as well as can be expected.

Bekah was supposed to go to her dad’s this weekend starting today but he can’t take her since she’s sick and his grandma lives with his mom (and so does he).

So now – everything i had planned for the weekend (wrapping Santa gifts, getting last minute items, etc) has been put on hold. UGH! Today is just not my day!

Is it tomorrow yet?

~G

I’m dreaming of a Whhhhaaaat?

Is it bad to have a dream that my grandparents got call waiting on their phone?

I woke up sometime early this morning in the middle of a dream that I’d called my grandma and she was so excited and kept clicking back and forth because she just got call waiting.

These are the same grandparents that don’t own a cordless phone, only corded phones.  Two of them.  God love them.

 

Anyway – as 2008 winds down in the next couple of weeks and 2009 commences, I wanted to review my list of goals that I gave myself at the end of last year. 

With that being said – here are the goals for 2008:

** Be more organized in my home.  I would like to really try to make a habit out of putting away my laundry when it gets dry in the dryer.  I have a horrible habit of NOT doing that, and this year – i’d like to try to beat that habit.  I would also like to be more organized with my storage of toys, cleaning out closets regularly and the like.

FINAL UPDATE: FAILED!!  I still cannot seem to put my dang laundry away REGULARLY.  There has got to be some sort of system I can come up with this year to tackle this one.   My laundry room has been kept relatively in order, however I cannot seem to put the clothes away once they reach my bedroom.  In regards to storage of toys, I’ve done a lot better at keeping those toys in tubs in the kids room, however I’m still not quite where I’d like to be on this one.

 

**At work, this is my 6th year at HP, so with that being said…   I would like to take some more of the online learning classes, in preparation for the new position that i’ve been asked to work towards.  I would like to be completely prepared for the new workload, so when my boss approaches my team about it, i can sell myself for the mini-promo.  This is a huge opportunity for me career wise, and i’d like to be prepared.

FINAL UPDATE: Done! I was given the opportunity to take on a new-role throughout the year and successfully completed the mission.  I’ve also been given a special project that I’m leading a team on and look forward to the process improvements that come from our team.  I’m looking forward to the year ahead and hopeful for a promotion of sorts, which in the corporate world translates to a “lateral move” so they won’t have to increase my salary .  So we’ll just call it a Strategic Career Move.

**Regarding my finances, my goal is to reward myself with one thing per month (small) for my hard work and then put the rest towards paying off my new car loan.

FINAL UPDATE: Done! Car paying-off is going well!  I’ve consistently paid extra on my car payment in an effort to eliminate debt! 

**Healthwise… I’d like to cut out my morning Mt. Dew from Rickers and turn that into a Water.  I’d like to continue to drink more water in an effort to be more healthy.  I have considered joining the gym at work because it’s cheap…. and easy to just run over there and work out on my lunch.  It would really be lazy of me if i didn’t.  I haven’t quite decided on the gym membership.

FINAL UPDATE:  FAILED!  Yea, I’m addicted to Mt. Dew.  I did pretty well for a couple of months but I failed.  Not sure what the go-forward plan is for this goal.

**On a self/spiritual level… I would like to do at least one kind thing for someone per week, in the form of a pick me up, a nice note, an appreciation call/card, etc.  And at least once a month, my goal is to do one random act of kindness that is anonomous.  Something that will help someone out either in my friend/family “pool” or thru church or an organization, but i’d like to put some extra funds to use by helping others.  I would also like to involve my kids in this by having them possibly donate one or two toys a month to either Goodwill or A Shelter of some sort.  My son has started wanting to give things away to people in need, and i want to latch onto that.

FINAL UPDATE: This one was a success.. kinda.  I tried very hard to reach out and give to people regularly whether through my time, resources or talents.  I do believe I’ve “given back” a lot this year and hope to do the same next year. 

**I want to continue to attend church weekly.  My life and my heart is so much better when I go to church.  On the same note, I am going to try to be as much of a positive influence on people in my life as possible.  I will fail at times, but i really want to be a positive influence on people.

FINAL UPDATE:  Done! I’ve gotten more involved in church, teaching in the children’s program once a month.  I’ve tried to remain positive in my blog, and although misinterpreted at times, I feel I’ve done a decent job of trying to be a positive influence on others.

**I want to continue to enjoy the friendships in my life.

FINAL UPDATE: Done! I’ve really enjoyed opening up my life to people and just overall enriching the friendships I have in my life.  Unfortunately, I did lose a friend this year.  I’m still not sure how I feel about that situation, but my heart is at peace, and that’s all I can ask for. I know that everything happens for a reason and I did what I could. 

**I would like to recover my emotional side and try to be more in tune with my heart and not trying to subdue emotions.  I have a horrible habit of surpressing all emotion to protect myself, and I’d like to loosen up on that a tad.

FINAL UPDATE: Hmm.  Not sure how I did on this one.  I still remain guarded emotionally, but I think I did open up a little.

**I want to continue capturing moments in people’s lives thru my eyes and my camera.  I love spending time with people, taking pictures that they’ll have forever and the like. 

FINAL UPDATE:  Oh my goodness, DONE DONE DONE!  I am so thankful for all of the new friends that I made through the lens of my camera this year.  What an awesome year.  THANK YOU to everyone who referred someone to me, had your photos taken by me or simply supported me in this hobby.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.  Can’t wait to see you all in ’09!

**I want to take my kids more places, expose them to different things and perhaps take my son on a little vacation somewhere – just he and I.  I don’t think my daughter is quite ready for that yet.

FINAL UPDATE: Done! I took Chaston to Kings Island over the summer and a couple of Civil War Reinactments in the fall. 

**I am going to utilize one of the 3+ weeks of vacation i have and take the whole week off and go somewhere.  I’ve never taken a week off work at a time and traveled.  No where extravagant, just a small trip away from home and away from work. 

FINAL UPDATE:  DONE!  Hoosier Hottie Vacation Completed in June 08.  Looking forward to some sort of a get-away in 09.

**I want to cook dinner at home more.  I eat out wayyy too much, so i’d really like to buckle down and cook at home.

FINAL UPDATE: Done!  I enjoyed several home cooked meals throughout the year!  I’m gonna learn to cook dang it!  ( Thank You Andrew for the awesome recipes and phone tutorials on fun recipes)

**I want to continue to BLOG!!  It’s so much fun! And it keeps any of you blog-stalkers entertained!  whoo-hoo.

FINAL UPDATE:  Done!!

 

 

Coming soon – 2009 Goals

What’s a blog without pictures?

Last night, Bekah used anything solid she could find to line up her “class” for their activities.

So cute.

 

~G

Coming up for Air

This weekend was a busy weekend.  It seems all of the weekends run together throughout the holidays, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Friday evening, I went to Greenfield to pick up Bekah from her grandma and rushed back home to get Chaston from after-school care.  I got him home and fed before taking him to the “Santa Workshop” at the Elementary School.  Instead of the traditional “Jingle Bell Shop” they normally do, this year they allowed the children to make their own gifts ranging from $1 to $7 depending on what the kids made.  I thought it was an awesome idea, just knowing that the gift he was “giving” was personally made with TLC.  Anyway, he made several hot chocolate cones, coasters for pappaw, ornament for daddy, etc.  Overall, i thought it went pretty well for being the first year!  I know he had an awesome time.  By the end of the evening, I was most certainly ready to get home with all of his goodies.

After I got home, I started baking “pigs-in-a-blanket” for Holly’s surprise birthday party on Saturday.  (..more on that later)

Saturday was a busy day!  Bekah’s basketball game was at 8 a.m. so we had to get up super early (especially for a Saturday) and head to the school for basketball.  After the game, we came home and I finished the pigs in a blanket while Bekah and Chaston went to their cousin’s house to play for a little bit.

I picked them up and headed home to get everything I needed for Holly’s party together and packed up.

Finally at about 3:30, I was able to get into the building and decorate for her party. 

This week, Holly will be turning 30, and I wanted to do something special for her big birthday!  She isn’t very fond of her “holiday birthday” so her sister and I decided to do a Luau theme (Totally opposite, right?!).

Her sister Heidi is a baker-in-training so she wanted to see how well she could decorate a Luau cake.

I say she did an AWESOME JOB.

 

 

The food table

 

The little centerpieces

 

 

…and yes – that’s THIRTY candles!

 

The party went very well.  Exactly what we wanted.  No fuss, simple, family and fun.

Although Holly wasn’t completely surprised, I think she enjoyed her birthday nonetheless.

When I got home after the party, the kids and I hung out and pretty much fell asleep early.

This morning, we got up and headed to church.  Today was my day to teach, so we didn’t get home until about 1 pm.  By that time it was just enough time to make Dirt Pudding to take to my friend Jenny’s house for Christmas!

For the past 4 years or so, we’ve gotten together for Christmas with our families and it is always so much fun.  It seemed like just yesterday Jenny and I were playing in Kindergarten together and now, our kids are running around her house like wild turkeys!!  They always have such a fun time together.

Before we went, I had to get some standard “in-front-of-the-Christmas-tree-pictures” that my children will someday love (..or make fun of me for).

Chaston was less than thrilled.

 

 

Off to Indy we went and finally arrived at their house just before 5!  We ate a nice Taco-Bar dinner that Jenny made (YUM!) and then enjoyed opening gifts.  I’m pretty sure our kids had the gifts opened in just under 10 seconds.  It was wild, but the kids had so much fun.  I’m so excited to hang up my little memo-board photo holder that Jenny, Scott and Ashley got me. 

Our kiddos:

 

My new Digital Photo Keychain!!!!!

 

 

Scott playing with Chaston and his new basketball goal!

 

Jenny and I with our kiddos!

 

In other news, Elfis is still lurking in our home!  Today, he landed in my plant!  Silly Elfis. 

 

The kids are enjoying him so much.  Each morning, as they wake up they immediately want to know; “Where’s Elfis?!”  And at that very moment, the race begins.  I’m so excited to have Elfis in our home this year, I will have some really fun memories of Christmas this year.

This week is going to be a big week as well.  Chaston decided he wanted to make blankets for his class project for the St. Vincent NICU.  This is what he wants to do to “give back” in honor of Jesus’s birthday, so this week we have to get the blankets finished up and ready to give to his teacher for delivery.  I also have photos Monday and Wednesday- Tuesday I have volunteering, Thursday I have Girl Scouts (and treat making for Chaston’s class), Friday I have Chaston’s Class Christmas Party, Bekah’s daycare Christmas Party and we are going to The Nutcracker Ballet, Saturday I’m wrapping the final gifts that need to be wrapped and Sunday the kids come back home then Sweets And Santa at The Diner.  WOWSERS!

Tis the Season!

~G

The Adventures of Elfis Day 4

Wow! What a day!

We woke up this morning with no Bekah, as she was at her daddy’s house last night, so Chaston jumped up out of bed and searched for quite some time before finding Elfis…

…sitting in a candle holder in my bathroom!

Chaston was hopeful that the candle wasn’t lit when he arrived, or he would’ve “burnt-his-bootie”!

He willingly posed for the daily Elfis-n-Me photo

And off to school we went!!

Tomorrow is Friday …. wonder where he’ll hide tomorrow?

In other news, our neighbor Isaac’s elf, Joey landed on the top of his bookshelf this morning and EEEEEVEN moved a lamp! Can you believe it?!

Carli and Cambri’s elf, Jack was reportedly on top of their TV this morning.

There’s something magical going on this Christmas..

~G