Wow!

First of all, let me say "Merry Christmas". I realize it is technically only Christmas day for another half an hour, but I wanted to get my Christmas wish in to all of you!

It has been a very busy couple of days. Yesterday, I had a little melt down for myself just before the Christmas Eve service at church and my husband had to shake me a little and remind me about what is truly important. I will admit that I completely lost my focus on the true meaning of Christmas for a couple of hours. Praise God for Christmas Eve service that gets you back in the right frame of mind and puts the focus back on Christ!

My parents got here Sunday afternoon and we have just truly enjoyed them being here. Although dad has complained about me working him to death, I think he has had fun too! Ruth and Ron got here on Wednesday afternoon and her and Kayla set right about making a birthday cake for Jesus! Last night we went to Christmas Eve service and then came home and had our traditional Christmas Eve party with the Hyders. I just publicly would like to thank James for my Bubble Butt guy - you are the best - how did you know that was exactly what I wanted. By the way, I hope that Butt Station looks good on your desk! James and I are kind of like my dad and my mother-in-law - we have an ongoing battle for who can get the other the tackiest gift. I think he won this year. I will have to post a picture!

Today, the kids were up just after 7:00a.m. to open presents. They had a great Christmas! So many fun toys and stuff! The best part??? Nerf guns for the whole family!!! Tons of fun, I'm not kidding! We had some friends from church over for dinner this afternoon and then played some cards. We always play games when we are together. Sometimes it's pretty and sometimes it's not. This week it is so ugly. We have not won one game yet. It is very sad!

My brother and his family will be here on Saturday and I'm so looking forward to doing Christmas all over again with them when they get here! My kids have missed their cousins and are looking so forward to playing with them for a couple of days.

So, other than my mental breakdown yesterday it has been a great, fun filled week! I'm about to get off here and see if I can pull my pictures up and look at them and hopefully I will get some posted tonight or tomorrow! Good night everyone! Merry Christmas!

Yeah!

Guess what??? Our tree is up AND decorated! All of the presents have been cleaned out from all of the closets throughout my house and are all under the tree or around the tree. We do family Christmas so there are gifts for and from my parents and my in-laws as well as my brother and Craig's sister, so it looks like we have a huge amount of gifts. But, we cut back a lot this year and it has been nice to not be so stressed about trying to come up with money to get everybody's gifts, which is so not the point of Christmas to begin with. That is a very good change that we have made this year, and, honestly, it still looks like we all bought too much!

Tonight I am going to pull another late night and try to get the rest of my baking done. I work 10 times better at midnight than I do at 9:00 a.m.! Craig is telling me I am obsessed and I have way too much of everything, but I will just bet you that it all gets eaten. Plus that, I am on a roll! I love baking!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tyler's Kids Choir Performance

And here is my little man! He did so good! He had a few moments where he wanted to copy his little partner in crime and fall all over the stage but between a look from Aunt Shannon and his mama shaking her head he straightened up. You never know what they are going to do when they get up there on stage! They are 4 - it is always an adventure!

Kids Choir Performance - F-A-I-T-H

Okay, look at me, I'm actually getting pictures and video loaded! Whoohoo! This was from the Kid's Choir concert at church on Wednesday. Kayla has a solo in the song F-A-I-T-H - she did awesome. She always had someone standing right in front of her so it was hard to get a clear shot of her, but, here it is anyway...

Christmas Concert

Kayla's Christmas Concert was at school today and she played her recorder - she did such a great job! I'm so impressed by the way with her music teachers. They ended the concert with a girl from our church singing Happy Birthday Jesus - it was very clear what the true meaning of Christmas is through that song. It blessed my heart and brought tears to my eyes that in today's day and age nobody was concerned about being "politically correct" or possibly offending someone.

Ramblings of A Crazy Person

Great day, it has been a whole week since I posted. What is going on with me? All of a sudden I have no time for blogging!

We have had a ton going on and have been having a blast skipping from party to party and getting our own house ready for our two week long party with family that is coming up! Let's see, last weekend was Kayla's first basketball game - she did so great! Maybe I will have pictures soon; okay, maybe not too, but I will try! Saturday was a crazy day for us and it didn't help that I just about knocked myself out. We left the basketball game and went to Ryland's two year birthday party - I can't believe that little boy is two already. He was so much fun to watch open his presents and play! As we were leaving that party I ran into the back of the van and whacked my head. Needless to say, I think I gave myself a bit of a concussion, and after visiting my chiropractor tonight, I do know that I definitely gave myself some whiplash because my neck was all out of whack. Just call me grace. I have to tell you though, it put me on the couch for the rest of the day and my head is still tender. We did make it to another Christmas party on Saturday night and got to visit with some folks that I went to Mexico with as well as other people from our church.

This week we have had something pretty much every night. Kayla had play practice on Monday and then her and Tyler had their Kid's Choir programs last night. They both did very well and I will hopefully have the video up of Kayla's solo as well as some photos in the near future! Tuesday night I went to a Bunko cookie swap and that was tons of fun. I'm telling you - I'm addicted to Bunko! There was about 20 people there and we had a great time of fellowship and food and I rolled my first Bunko - it was awesome!!! Tonight we got together with the Hyders and Maxwells for our annual kid's gift exchange! They all have such a big time together and this year Ryland was just right in the middle of everything and following Ty-Ty all around so that was fun to watch. The rest of the weekend we are home free. I think we are done with parties and we only have one more Christmas program to go to which is tomorrow at Kayla's school - she is playing a song on the recorder! Then on Sunday, Mom and Dad arrive!

I am still cooking up a storm. Today I made four batches of chex mix - we love us some chex mix! I also made some peanut clusters and chinese new year cookies and peanut butter cups. Still have more baking to do, but that it all that got done today.

I have a confession to make - our Christmas tree still is not up! Our goal is to get it put up and decorated tomorrow night. All of the rest of my decorations are up, but not the tree. Craig finished the painting last weekend and that is kind of what we were waiting on. I hope to have pictures of our finished home products soon also. Everything is done and it looks great - my husband is the bomb! I just love him!

Alright, I'm exhausted, I have to sleep - more to come soon!

The Energizer Bunny

I AM the Energizer bunny! I keep going and going and going. In all seriousness, this is a busy time, but I am having so much fun! We have been to get togethers and parties this month and I still have a few left to go and it really has just been a blast. I haven't been stressed about any of it until last night and today and then I got slightly irritable. Okay, I got a lot irritable! Thank you to my friends and my mother who have listened to me whine last night and today! I think I am over it. I realize I have packed our plate pretty full this month, but, again, I have to say, I am having the best time, and I am really trying to just have fun and not stress about everything I have to do. Tonight was our Sunday School Christmas party and it was just a scream! I laughed almost until I hurt. S, I'm so sorry about laughing at your near death experience on that mountain - you know I love you! It was a great time out at this barn that these people in our church own. This is not an ordinary barn ya'll! It is NICE! It is all decorated for Christmas and is just so festive!

Let's see...tomorrow is Kayla's first basketball game! Go Kayla! We leave the basketball game and head straight to Ryland's birthday party - he is two! He was singing Happy Birthday last night and just is getting so big! Craig will be putting the last coat of paint on in the living room after the party tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow night we have another Christmas party to go to. It will be another busy weekend with a busy week to follow. Next week, both of the kids have their kid's choir plays. On Friday, Kayla will be performing in her school Christmas play - she is playing a song on the recorder! I'm so proud of her - she has worked hard on that song!

So, there is lots going on, but I am trying to keep my perspective. I don't want to forget that Christmas is about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is so good to me! Especially at this time of year you can look around and find so much to be thankful for. Thank You Lord for all of Your many, many blessings. By blessings I don't just mean outward things, but the internal things too. You know what I mean - the things just between you and God. The way He speaks to you through a scripture or a song, the way He answers a prayer that you have been praying, or just the peace of His presence. How has He blessed you this week? Think about it and thank Him!

A Cooking Frenzy

It is ten minutes after eleven PM and I just put a coffee cake in the oven. I think I may have lost my mind. Craig has been craving coffee cake for a couple of weeks now. He is doing a crazy shift thing this month at work and I thought it might be fun for him to have his coffee cake when he gets home in the morning. Cooking has been the theme of my week! I'm getting ready for all of my family at Christmas and I thought I would get started early and go on ahead and make up the stuff that would freeze well. So, I have made a batch of homemade crescent rolls, about 5 dozen muffins, a double batch of chili, and a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. The crescent rolls I did a couple of weeks ago and the rest has been done in the last day or two. Tomorrow I am making up my meatballs and am also going to do some cookies for my Bunko cookie swap next week and some cookies for Christmas. I am loving every minute of it! I love to cook and I figure the more I get done now the more I will be able to enjoy everybody when they get here!

I'm going on a sympathy quest for a moment, ok? Over the weekend I noticed that my shoulder was really bothering me; it was all around my collar bone and even into my jaw sometimes. Not fun! So on Monday I went to the chiropractor and he told me he thought I had sprained something in there and he proceeded to adjust it for me. Can you say pain and agony? Want to know the really depressing part? He said it may take more than once. It has been hurting tonight and I am dreading having to go back! However, I am thankful that my deductible has kicked in and now it costs me less than $20 to go! WhoooHooo!

On a housing update, let me just say that we are getting so close! The wall in the living room is done and painted! The bottom half, where all the molding is, has to have one more coat of paint and then it is finished. I still have shelves to go up in the new closet and Craig has to assemble our new entertainment table/stand/center thing! On Monday, the carpet cleaners come and then we will be done. The Christmas tree goes up on Tuesday and the following weekend my parents come! So, it looks like this project should be done within a week's time! It has been quite a process, but it all looks so good!

Tomorrow, Tyler and I are off to buy groceries! If you see me at WalMart tomorrow and I look like a drowned rat who is ready to hurt someone you may want to head in the opposite direction! Hopefully Tyler will be very good and I will maintain my very happy, go lucky outlook on life! :)

Breakfast with Santa

Well, our crazy day started at 9:00a.m. with Breakfast with Santa at Kayla's school. I've told you before that we do not celebrate Santa at Christmas, but I couldn't resist taking them to see Santa at school. Tyler caught a glimpse of Santa at the mall last week and went a little crazy. He spent several minutes this morning practicing the hug that he was going to give Santa only to forget once he saw him. It was a fun time this morning that lasted, no kidding, less than 15 minutes. Kayla is pretty much totally out of the fascination with Santa and when we got there this morning she said, "do I really have to do this", to which I assured her that no, she didn't have to if she didn't want to. But you can see, when Santa called her forward, she couldn't resist!

So, now the rest of the day consists of me getting my hair done, a Christmas party this afternoon, painting, baking, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and on and on. I think we were invited to a total of 3 birthday parties for today, one breakfast open house this morning, and I think that is it. We are skipping all three birthday parties and even though I would have loved to go and hang out with my friends at breakfast this morning, we had already planned Breakfast with Santa. The holiday season has definitely begun for us and we are trying to pick and choose what we want to do rather than trying to do all of it and losing our sanity and our Christmas spirit! It will still be a busy time, but I am loving all the getting together, spending time with friends, and just being festive! Hope everyone has a great day!

I'm Addicted

Okay, so I have just discovered that I have two addictions. Anyone have a 12 step program for being addicted to Bunko and Facebook? Seriously, I played Bunko for the first time last month with a group of ladies from church and LOVED it! Tonight Craig and I went to a couple's Bunko night and had a blast. Now, I have to tell you that I don't usually enjoy doing things where I don't know a lot of the people in attendance, but there is just something about Bunko that makes you friends with everybody who is there! Weird, I know, but true! Tonight was a hoot and I got the most beautiful gift. Last month I won this gorgeous Christmas pitcher. This month I won a Christmas serving tray with matching Christmas spreaders. So cute! You guys do know that I'm a serving piece junkie right? I love serving pieces! These two things will both be on my table on Christmas Eve! In a couple of weeks we will do a Cookie Swap Bunko night with more Christmas themed gifts! Love it! Can't wait!

Now on to Facebook. Have ya'll tried Facebook? I love Facebook!!! Used to not get on there much, but pretty much all of our Church is on Facebook and I have also connected with some people that I have talked to in over twenty years. It is bizarre! Brian, I know you are dying to catch the facebook wave, so look me up after you join!Love ya!

WhoooHooo!

Wow, I'm so excited! David C. came today and sanded our wall in the living room and Craig has just finished priming it. It looks so good and makes such a huge difference in our living room, and best of all, there will be no more wasted space in the form of a wet bar. Now I will actually have a closet with storage! Here are some before and after pictures.

This is the before picture!

You thought I was joking about the new entertainment center didn't you?

This is where we are right now, only picture this wall completely pink - Craig just got finish putting on the primer!

Remodeling Update

AAAAHhhhhh... That is the sigh of nearing completion! It means this project is almost over with! The past few years Craig has taken off the whole week of Thanksgiving and we have hung out around the house just relaxing or doing projects. So, he was off this whole last week and he worked like a dog all week. He told me he was going back to work early in the week because he said it was easier than what he was doing here! I just have to say again that I just love him and am so impressed by his natural talent to do the things that he does around here. My backsplash is done and grouted and sealed. The matching travertine outlet covers have been put in and they look great. All that is left to do is just caulk the counter line and under the cabinets and put on one more coat of sealer and it is done. He has painted the pantry door and the new closet door and re-hung those. He drywalled up the door that was in the living room closing in the fourth wall of the closet. He has painted the ceiling in the closet and put primer on. Today we bought paint and shelving for in there and that will probably be in by the end of the week. We had a sweet friend from church come over to help with the living room side of the dry wall project. He is awesome! Thanks David! So, we are at maybe one more coat of mud in the living room or possibly having the sanding done on it tomorrow. Then Craig has to redo the molding and paint! This has been such a long and tedious process and I am so excited to have it so close to being done. I can't put up my Christmas decorations until it is finished and that is slightly frustrating, but they will get put up even if it is the last minute. I'm being patient!

Thanksgiving Recap

Wow, it seems like weeks have gone by since I posted but it was only a few days ago. Tons has happened around here so I'm going to break it down into a few different posts!

Thanksgiving was a very fun day relaxing with James and Shannon and Ryland and James' mom. The kids had a blast and Tyler wore himself right to sleep on their living room floor. We literally spent the whole day over there eating and playing games. It was great!

We left their house about 11:00p.m., were home and pretty much had the kids in bed by 11:30. Kayla and I got up about 3:15 A.M. on Friday morning to go and do the crazy Black Friday shopping. Last year was the first year I let her go with me and she asked me a gazillion times last week if we were going shopping again the day after Thanksgiving. I have most of my shopping done and just needed a few things for Tyler, so mostly, yes, I just went for the sheer thrill of being with 10,000 of my closest friends at a horrendous hour of the day/night. One of our friends saw me in Wal-Mart and commented to me on Sunday that he had seen me and could tell I was frustrated! How bad is that? Truth be told, though, I was frustrated. I found a great deal on these Nerf guns at Wal-Mart and went and bought enough for all four of us for Christmas. You have no idea what I had to go through to get those! Anyway, Kayla and I had a great time and I was home and back to bed by 6:30 a.m. I have two small gifts left to buy and maybe a few stocking stuffers and then I am done. Pretty much everything is wrapped and so I'm feeling pretty good about all that!

So, our Thanksgiving was great. We have done a ton on the house this past week and I can't wait to tell you all about it, so maybe tonight I will have time to do another post and tell you about it! However, right now I have two children who need to get in the bed!