It's All Over

Christmas is over. The built up is done and we are in full relaxation mode. Well sort of.
To update the month of December:
-The Women's Christmas event went well. I mean, up until the actual performance, the rehearsals were not great and almost terrible. The actual events went off with only one little snafu. It was a total God thing I know because no one got it completely right during rehearsals and then its like a magic wand was waved and they got it.
-I did get my house decorated, a little, at the insistence of my eldest. Not all of the decorations got up, but that's fine with me.
-Everyone who was on my list got presents.
-I finally made some Christmas cookies (albeit on Christmas Eve).
-We did our advent calendar with the verses for every day about the Christmas Story. Its nice to have an older child who remembers to do it everyday, otherwise, we'd still be on day 5.
-We got to see the light show at the rip-you-off farm. But its worth it. My kids love it. (although the lights here are even more expensive than the light show at Hershey Park, is that saying something?) But people pay it, including us, so I guess I can't complain, I'm just shocked at how much things cost in our neck-of-the-woods.
-In complete Christmas Eve tradition, my kids were in rare form. J was cranky and fell earlier in the day resulting in a sweet fat lip and nasty cut on it. Q and B completely walking side-ways and just rude. I guess its the sugar load up, or excitement, but they were just off. They were good during church, so that was a blessing.
-My dad, in his holiday tradition, came to my house and was acting strangely on Christmas Eve. So after dinner and church, I finally decided there was definitely something wrong with him and forced him to go to the ER. He was quickly diagnosed with another brain bleed (a quite large one), and right now no longer has speech abilities. Strangely, we are very thankful that this happened on Christmas, cause initially he was talking but just 'off', and I wouldn't have picked it up over the phone. But when he began wandering around my house opening and closing cabinets, and picking up random items and getting transfixed on them, I knew something was up. It took convincing at the ER that there was actually something wrong with him, but 10minutes and one head CT later, sure enough, a large, new bleed. Incidentally, God worked miracles here too cause I thought for sure there would be a huge wait at the ER, but when we got there, the waiting area was empty. When I left an hour and half later, the waiting room was packed. I think if we had gotten there later, that they would have pushed him off because his initial exam didn't warrant any urgency.
Now he sits at Jefferson Hospital, deteriorating daily. But they tell me that it is expected, and that he should recover. I'm hoping that is true, cause right now he looks like one of those old, sad men in the nursing homes just staring into space. For the first time, he seems old and frail to me, and I hate it. My brother is in town picking up slack and ensuring there is a good plan in place for him when they discharge him. Thankful for that. Its just good timing, sort of. Scott is off for the week so I can be free to do what I need to do. I have a strange peace about it all, just knowing that God is always in control and His hand is already so evident to me in this situation.
-We had a quiet Christmas morning which, is so foreign to me. Growing up the youngest of four, living with my grandmother and parents, we always had a bustling house-full. (and later in the day we'd get together with all the cousins and that was even more happy chaos!) It was a bit strange just the 5 of us. But the kids were happy and enjoyed the festivities. And I'm thankful I was able to be home to enjoy the morning.

well, I must run. Christmas is over, I'm a bit sad. And now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Thank You God for a Sick Day?

Yesterday, I took a sick day. Sort of. I have whatever ailment the little boys have, low grade fever, congestion, just miserableness. And believe me the youngest has been a charm the last 4 days or so. He wants to be held, and not just held, but rocked/swayed, while standing. You're not allowed to sit down and hold the boy, just stand and rock while he puts his sad little head on your shoulder. It would be sweet, and it is, for just a little while. But a whole morning of this yesterday, while being under the weather myself proved to be too much for this mama. So when Scott came home with the big boys from church, I declared a sick day, and horded myself away in my room. And blessed be the sick day. I took an hour and half nap, then watched at least 4 hours of Food Network. Then I ponied up and got out of bed when I heard my beloved starting to lose his mind with the youngest. Although, Scott being the resourceful man he is, put the kid in the backpack and went about his Sunday afternoon routine of laundry and trash and football watching. There was only so much he could take, which I can have sympathy for, so I undeclared the sick day and went back to work.
But honestly, I did love my long afternoon of being sick. I still feel rather crudy, but I guess mom's don't get more than 5 hours of "PTO" at time. And it was enough. I guess sick days are needed and good. As long as there are no stomach virus involved, in that case, what's a sick day, and who needs it. That's not worth it, ever.

I guess its time for a post.

But I have nothing to write.
I could go on and on about my pintrest observations (like what the heck is up with mustaches?).
I could write a moving post about Christmas, and how we are planning to keep the focus on Christ. And I could shame you into not acknowledging santa (except we do the santa thing, and see nothing wrong with it). But I won't bore you with those things.
Truth is, I'm trudging through my days, and I'm not motivated to do much. I finally got some Christmas decorations out. I have 4 presents bought. I have plans for getting a tree this weekend. But we shall see if it happens. And I just realized that Christmas is two weeks away. This always happens to me.

My mind and time has been occupied with more important things such as: the MOST AWESOME WOMEN'S CHRISTMAS EVENT THAT EVER WAS AND EVER SHALL BE! HA!(and that IS the title of the event too. Not really.)

The women's Christmas event at church, is this Friday and Saturday. I have been helping organizing the program and it has done the following to me.
-Made me crazy.
-Taught me a load of lessons when it comes to putting on a musical production of any type.
-Kept me up at night.
-Shown me how to not sweat the small stuff and God will work out details.
-Taught me how to roll with the punches and have plans B,C, D and E at the ready. No lie, I have had to alter my plans for this event so much.
-That it really is a privilege to be apart of an outreach event like this. I may not know if this event and its content will bring anyone to know Christ. But if it does, what an awesome privilege it is to be apart of that.
-Music does something to me. Even though I'm not singing in this event, when I listen to the words being sung and the musicians playing their instruments, gosh! I am overwhelmed. There's this little piece inside of me that ignites. (I hate poetic jargon like that, but there is truly no other way to describe it.). I know some or most people don't know what I'm talking about. Music speaks to me sometimes in ways nothing else can.
-Taught me a lot about myself. Like, how much I hate responsibility and hard work. For reals. I hate deadlines and making decisions.
-I am thankful for the opportunity to do something I was so passionate about not so long ago. I pray that someone else's heart ignites when they hear the message of the music and monologues.
I would covet your prayers too that this event would be a success in that someones heart is moved for God.

So maybe one day next year, I'll have something more to write. But if I don't. Have a merry Christmas!

Better Than A Baby Gate

I hate baby gates. But alas, they are needed in my house. seeing as we have a baby and all, and places/steps to keep the baby out of. I have a funky short stair case in our basement, that is impossible to gate off because there is no wall on one side. J LOVES to run to these steps and climb them as soon has his little knees and hands hit the floor. Its an exhausting game he likes to play and I was putting up barricades made out of the toy box and ottoman's to keep him from them. But he usually finds a way to get around even my best attempts. What is a mama to do?
Enter the Zhu Zhu Pet


My big boys love Zhu Zhu pets. They are mechanical little hamster rodents things. J has somehow developed a huge fear of the things. I'm not sure how. They big boys were playing with theirs one day, and J got panicked and scooted quickly away from the Zhu Zhu, screaming and with general fear/panic written across his face. This happened sometime ago, and I forgot about it. Until, last week, as the toy box was barricading the steps and J was standing next to it, the Zhu Zhu started making noise from the depths of the box. J freaked and made a bee line to my side. Hmm. An idea struck me and I experimented. I placed the zhu zhu pet on the second step, and J refused to go near the steps at all. I enjoyed 20 minutes of bliss sitting in the basement without having to get up a thousand times to get him off the steps. He just stayed away from the steps. (I'm wondering if it is wrong for me to capitalize on my baby's fear of a mechanical toy). But anyway, I tried it on the upstairs stairs and it worked as well.

So for now, my zhu zhu pet (named Rocky), is my new, very effective baby gate. I'm thinking about purchasing a couple more to make Christmas tree barricade.

On the Road to Organization

I might be on my way to organized. I'm afraid to say it, cause I'm famous for saying things like, "I'm really going to start exercising regularly." "I'm going to go on a diet." "I'm going to be organized." Well today, at least there is about 1% of my life is organized as of now. Last Saturday, I organized my linen closet (all by my self!). I so wish I had taken before and after pictures. It is a thing of beauty to me, and I want to live in it. I got rid of at least a dozen bath towels. I had to part with them, they didn't match my decor in either bathroom, and they were as old as my marriage. We prefer white bath towels that you can bleach anyway. Once I got rid of my collection of bath towels, the rest was easy! You can even find a wash cloth! Yippee!
And the biggest bonus, when you open the door, 5 floor mopping devices don't attack you. (I also threw out 4 mops--I have tried everything for my wood floors, and nothing does a good job, so I just stuck with the one the floor manufacturer recommends).
Its so exciting to have something look organized. I keep walking past it and opening the door and peek in. Just for a sense of accomplishment. AND it has stayed organized for a whole week! And it got me in the mood to do more. On Wednesday, I even turned down a friend's invitation to come play so I could work on my kitchen. Well, I did the kitchen and the whole great room and it looked GREAT! For about 2 hours. It made me sad to see the mess happen again. But that's what happens to a kitchen when you have a family. One day it will all be a nice, clean, organized space all the time, and I will be a sad, lonely, mama in her empty nest.
(But I can still try not to live in complete chaos right now right?)

Organized? Wha?

Me and the word organization are not two words that ever appear in a sentence together. I am not organized in the least bit. My words are not organized, thoughts aren't, I dream in unorganized craziness. When I see an organized home, I want to mess it up, just to mess with the organized person. Not really. But I would want to see what would happen if something got out of place with an organized person. I rebel against organization, I like to fly by the seat of my pants, unplanned and roll with it. Well, I should say, I USED to like to live this way. Lately, I find myself craving organization. My life is chaos everyday now, and I don't really like it anymore. In fact, things get a little too fly by the seat of my pants, and I feel like I'm doing everyone (including myself)a disservice by clinging to my old way of life. Now, thanks to pintrest and its plethora of pictures of beautiful-organized laundry rooms, I am craving to be organized, but where do I start?
By recognizing the organization that I have come into on my own and how it makes my life easier.
Such as,
-Only buying white socks for the kids, so finding pairs is easy peazy.
-Having a day designated to doing grocery shopping and laundry.
-Meal plans.
-making lists.

My husband happens to be the engineering type personality and is or used to be extremely organized. His system for laundry is so great, that I submitted that responsibility over to him years ago. His spaces (his closet, dresser, garage and shed), are organized and pretty to look at (at least until I am cleaning up for guests and just shove all the superfluous junk laying around the house into his beautiful organized spaces and then it looks like the rest of the cluttered mess that is my house). He's just better at it. In fact, he is the one who will, upon me asking him to help put away groceries, start purging and organizing all the cupboards and pantry. (I should re-work my grocery shopping so he's home all the time when I bring them home, it would make things easier, right? If only.) He has offered to organize the linen closet, and I will angrily say "NO THANKS!" Taking it as an insult to my homemaking skills. As if they are stellar, and I am actually good at it.
Maybe I should start there. Ask for his help. It is his strong suit. And that linen closet is bad. You can't open it without stuff falling on your head...and you can't close it all the way, due to the vacuum just thrown in there. Yes, I think that's a good jumping off place.

Birthday!

The Cake! Because my awesome sister convinced me when Q was a year old to do themed birthday parties, I now do them every year. Every birthday party, I always get stressed making the cake. I ask myself why I do it every year, but when its done, I'm mostly happy I did it, and I will continue to make them themed cakes, till they ask me not to. I do enjoy baking and planning the cake, but I always am rushed when it comes to decorating. This time was no different. I did learn from my mistakes and I made my own icing and that is ALWAYS worth it. With B's monster truck cake, I used canned icing and it was a certifiable cake wreck.








This is the first taste of cake our J has had, and he loved the icing. When he made it through the layer of icing to the cake, he spit it out like and looked at his hand like, "what the...?"
Scott made the food which was yummy. He grilled marinated chicken and made sandwiches with feta cheese and bacon on top, on a ciabatta roll with some fresh spinach. It was delicious. It was also hilarious, because we were in the middle of a snowstorm with some really heavy, wet snow and my precious Scott was out back grilling chicken. I felt bad for him. He is a man dedicated to good food. If the food were left up to me, I would have tossed it on the griddle inside and crossed my fingers that it turned out OK.
J got some cute toys that he played with that day and loved. However, he has not touched them since. He continues to enjoy racing me to the stairs to climb them, and opening my cupboards and emptying them. Also another of his favorite activities is opening the lazy susan and pinching his fingers in there, multiple times a day.
The best things in life are free, right?

It was a fun day! I am still in shock that I have a one year old!!