Christmas time...

Our Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We went to Kuna and spent Christmas Eve with my family and my mom's side of the family. It was great to see everybody I haven't seen for awhile, but there were a lot of people there that I didn't know. We didn't really get to talk to family much because there were so many people and it was so loud. But, overall, it was nice to see some family and the girls had tons of fun.



Christmas morning, we went to Patty's house. I got a new set of silverware... boy is it wonderful!! :) I love it so much! And, I got a new Bible! I really wanted one, because I have still been using my teen study bible... Time for me to grow up! Then, my hubby got me a gift card to the Christian Book Store so I could buy a cover for my Bible. The girls got cute little Bible story books and toys! We had a great day! For dinner, we ate TURDUCKEN!! YUM YUM!! I am in love with the crawfish jambalaya stuffing now!! Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas. We are truly blessed! When my sister gets in town from New Orleans in a couple weeks, we are celebrating Christmas with my side of the family! :) And I am trying to get her to bring some jambalaya home!! :)

The things kids (and husbands) say and do...

Yesterday wasn't a real eventful day here. I did get quite a bit of school done with Kat. Slowly, but surely, we are getting caught up!! The evening came and the girls wanted to watch t.v. Katrina really wanted to watch Between the Lions... We are on a big kick of the PBS shows. They are really great about teaching letters and letter sounds. Kary is even recognizing letters and their sounds now! And, they are helpful for Kat, because she doesn't really know her letters. I want to buy one of those Word Whammer things.. They look really cool!

This was our conversation:
Kat: "Can we please watch Between the Lions?"
Me: "No, we already watched plenty of t.v. today."
Kat: "Don't you want me to learn, mom?" (Can we say sassy!)
Me: "We've already learned a bunch today, and I want you to use your imagination, so go play in your bedroom."
Kat: "Fine..." then she walks down the hall and says, "I'm going to use my imagination to kick my mom's butt.." First... she knows she is not allowed to say butt or talk about hurting people.
Me: "If you are going to talk like that, you're going to get a spanking."
Kat: "Okay, mom, how about you use your imagination to do that."

Awesome. Awesome, child. ERG! Little beast! :) I tried not to laugh. I thought it was pretty clever... Haha!

Then, we ran an errand and the kids ran in the house. Before I even make it inside, Kary starts screaming. She had put her thumb in my can of soda, and it got stuck! Then, the tab pulled up, so it was really stuck! She actually cut her thumb open on a can of soda! I know it's sharp, and knew you could get cut, I just don't think I've ever seen somebody do it! Crazy child! :)

Wes got home from work and was getting something out of the fridge, when all of a sudden, there was a huge bang and thud and him yelling. He shut the fridge door into his foot. I laughed, because I thought he was just being dramatic. I felt bad when he took off his shoes to show me. His big toe was bleeding like no other! About half way down the toenail, it was bent, so that was all just filled with blood. GROSS! I bandaged him all up, but his toe hurt really bad still! We will have to see what it looks like when he wakes up!!

WOW!! I am SO blessed!!

Tonight, I went to the special needs bible study at church. I have been going for a couple months now, and it's great! I am really shy when I meet new people, so hopefully, I can be more outgoing in the coming months!! The people are really welcoming and so nice. And, they understand about all the stuff we go through with Katrina and her medical stuff, because they are going through similar things with their children!

Well, today, the kids were being whiny and kept fighting, so when we got in the car, I told them "NO talking in the car until we get to church!" It actually worked! And, the ride is only 5 minutes, so it wasn't like I was being cruel or anything.. I just didn't want to hear fighting for a few minutes!

When I got in to class, this nice woman, Elsa, gave out Christmas cards. I thought, wow, how nice of her! She doesn't really know me, but she got me a card! I was pretty excited. At the end of class, she handed out envelopes to everyone. Nobody else opened theirs, so I said thank you, and put it in my purse and went to get the girls. (We had to get our redbox movie back by 9pm, so we were kinda in a hurry!).

Anyways, I got in the car, and opened the envelopes... and to my huge SURPRISE, there was money in it! WHAT?!?! How nice of them to give ME money!! I mean, they don't really know me, but they were kind enough to do that! On the way home, I ran out of gas! I was trying to make it to today (payday), but ran a little short. But, because of their kindness, I was able to put gas in my car!! TALK ABOUT AN INSTANT BLESSING!!! I started crying, I was so grateful for their kind hearts. I want to be more like Elsa and her husband Corey. You can just tell they have servant's hearts. They are a huge blessing to the bible study and to my family.

Christmas: It's a love/hate relationship...

For those of you who know me, you know I have never really liked Christmas.. My family has always called me the GRINCH! It probably started when I was nine, when my best friend died.. She died in January, so the last memories I have of her are from Christmas time.. Then, when I was thirteen, my uncle died three days after Christmas. Just lots of sad memories of Christmas time.

I never wanted to decorate, not a huge fan of Christmas music, etc. Because seriously, what is the need to start playing the darn music an entire MONTH before the holiday!?? I remember one year, Amelia and I were supposed to decorate the tree... We ended up throwing all the non breakable ornaments at the tree and left them where they landed. Needless to say, our mom wasn't thrilled!

It was really weird this year, because I was actually EXCITED about Christmas!! WHAT?!?! I don't really remember a year that I was excited. I have always acted thrilled for the kids, because I don't want them to be a Grinch like me! I think it must be that this year, both of the girls are excited. Kary actually SCREAMS every time we see Christmas lights! It's just the most amazing thing to her! Every morning she wakes up and asks if it's Christmas yet!

I thought perhaps it was that I was going to church again, and maybe having Christ in the center of my life again made me appreciate the holiday... I don't think that's what it is. I mean, I have always loved the reason to celebrate: Christ's birth. I think it's a very important thing. And, even in high school, when I was really big into church, I still didn't like Christmas, so that is not why my Grinch-ness has left.. The girls know that is why we celebrate Christmas, but also let them have fun with Santa.. I don't know if Kary will believe in him by next year, so I am enjoying this excitement with her!! She thinks about everything in a very critical way... I don't know if that word descibes it well enough, but she doesn't believe in fairies.. She tells me, "Mom, they are not real, they are pretend." Hmm.. true, but what made you come up with this discovery!?

So, Wes was really weirded out this year when I wanted to decorate. Direct quote, "Why do you want to decorate? You NEVER want to decorate for Christmas. And, why do we have Christmas movies and music now?" I DON'T KNOW!!! I blame it on the girls. They have softened my heart for this crazy, wild, sometimes selfish, annoying, and joyous holiday! So, here is hoping that next year I will have the same excitement for Christmas!!!

SNOW!!!!!

We decorated our house for Christmas Sunday night! The girls were so excited! Kary opened up the fireplace doors, so Santa could get in the house!! :) She was convinced when she woke up the next morning, it would be Christmas and it would be snowy for Christmas! Haha.. So, Monday morning, we woke up to SNOW!!! There was quite a bit too! Kary, Porter, and Katrina got all bundled up and played in the snow! Kary stayed out for about 40 minutes, and Porter and Katrina stayed out for over an hour!


Once we were inside, Porter said something about it being Christmas... I said, we have awhile to wait before Christmas is here. He pulled back the blinds and said, "Kyky, look, it's Christmas!" And Kary put her hand on her hips and said "Yep, it is, mom. See the snow?!!" Too funny. Kary was right about it snowing though! I think we are going to make those link countdown things tomorrow so they have something to look at to see how long before Santa really gets here!!!

1st Picture: Kary, 2nd Picture: Katrina, 3rd Picture: Porter

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

There was a really good deal on this kid scooter that I have really wanted to get Kary.. It was 50% at Toys R Us, and it was going on sale at midnight! It was 11:30pm, so Wes said, since I was still up I should at least go down and see if they still had any! So, I get to Toy R Us... The line was wrapped around to the back of the store, and then it started coming back towards the front! IT WAS INSANE! It was my first ever Black Friday shopping experience...

We finally make it in the store, and it's set up like a race track... The scooters sold out within minutes, but there was this ONE lonely Leapster on the ground. So, I snagged it up- just in case I wanted it! It was half off! I texted Wes to see what he thought, and he said it was a good deal, and the girls love playing Paul's, so I waited in line... We moved 20 feet in about 30 minutes... Then, they circled us around the bike section WHICH IS IN THE VERY BACK CORNER OF THE STORE! People kept cutting the line and they kept merging lines into ours! The workers back there were not very helpful.

Behind me about 10 people was an old friend from church, Tim Grimm. He was getting the Leapster for his son too! There was a woman holding a Leapster and Leapster 2 and she put down the Leapster, so he grabbed it really quick, because there were no more! They are going to Holland to visit Tim's parents after Christmas, so Tim and his wife want Noah (who is almost 4) to have something to do on the flight! They have a portable DVD player too!

I REALLY had to go to the bathroom, and we had only moved about 10 feet.. So, I handed the Leapster to Tim, and asked him if he would hold it while I ran to pee! He asked how I knew he wouldn't just take it... I was like whatever and walked off! He is a great guy and if he had, I would have told his dad!! :) Just getting to the bathroom was nuts! By the time I got back, Tim moved....... drum roll please.... TWO FEET! That is how slow the line was going!

Well, Tim's wife, Anna, was somewhere in the store, but she forgot her phone at home, so we couldn't get ahold of her.. We were debating whether or not to leave the line and go find her, because she was looking at stuff up at the front. While we were still debating this, she borrowed a phone from a worker and called Tim to tell him to come up to the front to get in line with her. So, I joined them too! THANK YOU!

While we were in the store, there was a Code Adam... missing child.. It turns out, she was right behind Anna! She grabbed her hand and pushed her way through yelling she had the missing girl. People yelled at her saying she was a liar and it wasn't true! SERIOUSLY!? Would people fake a missing child to cut in line?! But, she stood at the front watching for Tim that whole time we were in the back of the store, so she asked the lady working if she called him, if he could join her up in line. She said YES! Whoo hoo! We were probably in line for another 15 minutes or so before we got check out! AWESOME! (Wes couldn't believe that people were yelling at her! He was like, I would have gone back there and chewed them out!)

I think it was around 2am when I got home... I was there for a little over 2 hours and most of that time was standing in the back of the store in the check out line... WOW! I don't know if I'll ever brave it again, but if I do, I have learned some good lessons! So, that was my crazy initiation into Black Friday! THANK YOU TIM AND ANNA FOR MAKING IT BETTER!!!

Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Katrina was with Brittney this year, so it was a bummer not to have her around, but she will be with us next year! Wes woke up and headed to Becca and Miles' house to help Miles smoke a turkey (Patty and Becca made one too)! YUM! Kary and I stopped at my parent's house to see them before we went our separate ways for Thanksgiving!

Kary and I made green bean casserole (it's my favorite Thanksgiving food, so I had to make it!)! I love it! Then, we went to Becca and Miles'. It was so much fun! The kids had a blast on the trampoline, throwing leaves in the air, and running around being kids! I got a couple great shots of Paul, Kary, and Emily actually STANDING STILL! When does that ever happen?!?

The food was DELICIOUS! We had tons and tons of food! Nana, Matt, Amanda, Jessey, Shawn, Becca, Miles, Patty, Sam, Paul, Emily, Kary, Wes and I were there and there are still a lot of leftovers! I can't wait to eat some!

We played Beatles Rock Band! It was so fun! It was hilarious when Shawn thought he scored really well on bass, when really, he was watching the wrong line, and scored 25%! It's impressive that he got any when he wasn't even watching the right line! :) He was a good sport about being made fun of though! Welcome to the family, Shawn! It was a great night!

Thank you everyone for making it a great Thanksgiving!