Stir Crazy is an Understatement

I've been stuck in my house--almost non-stop--since last Wednesday when I last wrote and left work early because of the blizzard that hit us. Except for Christmas Eve and a short praise band practice, I've been housebound with my three kids who I'll now call "ADHD", "little miss can't be wrong", and "little miss OCD". Yeah. I've been having fun. I just about walked out of the house last night when I found out that I wouldn't be getting to go to work today AGAIN because of a new snow storm and buried my head in a snow bank. Don't get me wrong.....I love my kids more than life itself, but two solid weeks (by the time I go to work next Tuesday) of being stuck to my house is about driving all of us crazy. CRAZY, I say!!

To try to maintain some sort of sanity, I've been immersing myself in "Chicken Soup For The Parent's Soul" which I checked out from Care Bear's (oops....I mean Little Miss Can't Be Wrong's") pre-school library. Reading about other parent's joys and heartaches that come along with parenting has somewhat helped me gain perspective when my kids are throwing themselves down the stairs and building a make-shift slide with the couch cushions down the stairs about breaking every bone in their bodies. One entry in particular really helped me yesterday and made me feel like I'm not the only mom in the world that feels the way I have been feeling the past week or so. I could have written it myself and I'm going to write it here for you to read.

I'm Okay

The house is a mess, the dishes are dirty.

I'm too old for this stuff, I'm well over thirty!

The car is not clean, my hair is a wreck,

And I've already spent next Friday's paycheck.

The laundry needs washing, the kids are too rowdy,

And I never have time for a leisurely, "Howdy."
With all that I do, it's never enough,

It's never quite finished, it always looks rough.

I looked in my mirror and what did I see?

A harried old stranger, where I used to be.

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get

Today is tomorrow, and I'm not caught up yet.

My kids are growing at such a fast pace,

That I'm missing their childhood for the sake of this race.

I work and I clean and I cook, and I say

"Hit the books, clean your room!" There's no time for play.

Well, the Lord, for some reason, chose ME with the care

Of three of His children, but I'm rarely there!

I've GOT to slow down lest there's nothing to show

For my role as their mom when they pack up and go!

I'm only one person, but look through my door,

What appears to be one, divides into more!

I'm a chauffer, a cook, a planter of trees,

A teacher, an umpire, a mender of knees.

Sometimes, I forget that deep down inside,

There's a lady with feelings, and last night she cried.

She gets tired and lonely, feels taken for granted

She wants to see blooms from the seeds that she's planted.

Then, amidst all the turmoil in this mind-bending pace,

My little ones look at me--square in the face...

And just when I need it, they all in one day

Say, "Momma, I love you" and then....I'm OKAY!

--Rabona Gordon

Well, now that that's off my chest....I must trudge back through the two new feet of snow back to my three rugrats....who I will resume calling Anakin, Care Bear and Feisty. I love 'em....squirrely or not.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

(Wordless Wednesday is below still....)

Well, I may or may not be back to post again before Christmas. Our area of the country is having a massive winter storm (read: blizzard). Everything is closing down (including our University which never closes down). I would say "yippeee skippeee, I get to go home early!" but instead I'll say, "yipeee skipeee, I get to go home early and be trapped inside my house all day with three kids who will most likely be extremely squirrelly and impossible to please." Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Who knows. Depending on the weather the next couple of days, I'm not sure if I'll be here Friday either. So I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas now in case I don't "see" you all before then. So from my family to yours...... (the picture can be clicked on to see it larger).

Wordless Wednesday - Tree Gazing

The Santa Myth

First off, I'd like to mention that I am this weeks "Tuesday Guess It" renter over at Her Majesty's Throne . Mosey on over there, take a guess and see if you could be this weeks "Tuesday Guess It" winner!!

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When I was a little girl, I didn't believe in Santa Claus. I knew other kids who did, and I never told them that there was no such thing; but in our home, we never "did" Santa. We opened all of our presents on Christmas Eve by the light of the tree and the candles with Christmas music playing in the background. Inevitably every year, my brother and I got a new pair of pajames; usually flannel; and after the presents were opened, we would cozy up in our new pajames and sit in the recliner with my mom while she read us Christmas stories. It's a very warm and fuzzy memory for me. On Christmas morning, we would rush downstairs to see what "Santa" put in our stockings. While we didn't believe in Santa, it was still "Santa" who put the items in our stockings. I don't ever remember feeling bitter or feeling like I missed out on anything by not believing in Santa Claus. I never knew any different. I probably wouldn't have believed even if my parents tried to make us believe because the logic of it all wouldn't have slipped past me: "We don't have a chimney, so how does Santa get into our house? How can Santa possibly transport presents for all the kids in the world on a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer? And how does he get all over the world in one night?"

As years passed, I questioned my mom now and then as to why we never believed in Santa. I don't know if I ever got a specific answer; my theories are: 1) It takes the focus off of the true meaning of Christmas. 2.) Eventually you have to tell your kids that Santa really doesn't exist.

Regardless of the reasons as to why we did or did not believe in Santa Claus as kids, I decided that I would pass the Santa myth onto mine. How much fun would it be as a child to anticipate Christmas and the magical and mystical idea that some man who lives in a far off place that employs tiny men with beards to make the toys and enjoys cookies and milk at every house he visits would be squeezing himself down the chimney while sleeping to bring you presents? So, my kids believe in Santa. I've enjoyed watching them anticipate the idea of Santa bringing them presents and eating the milk and cookies that they leave him. I've enjoyed watching them write letters to Santa and enjoyed even more so their thrill and awe when they received return letters from Santa personally written to them (courtesy of moi).

Anakin is almost nine. He's starting to have questions. He's starting to doubt. He was the first one this year to write his letter to Santa and when he received his letter back from Santa, he was overwhelmed with relief as he exclaimed, "I was starting to think he wasn't real. But now I have a letter from him, so I know he's real!" He carried that letter around all evening and read it over and over again announcing that he would be taking his letter to school the next day to prove to all of his non-believing friends that Santa does, in fact, exist. Dread filled me when he told me he was going to do that. Fear of him getting teased or made fun of over the letter terrified me. While he didn't get teased, his friends did inform him that his mom probably wrote the letter and mailed it to him. He questioned me about it. He questioned why there wasn't a stamp on the letter. (Uh....because I was out of stamps and didn't think you'd notice, oh observant one!)

This has become a rather difficult dilemna. He obviously has doubts. He doesn't believe as whole-heartedly as he used to. He desperately wants to still believe and hang on to one of his few early child-hood beliefs. But deep down, I think he doesn't really believe any longer.

I do not want to lie to the child. At the same time, I fear that if he knows the truth, he will ruin it for his sisters, who are just now beginning to grasp the fun of Santa. I'm starting to see where my parents were coming from when they chose not to tell us about Santa.

Regardless, whether or not Anakin chooses not to believe anymore, or continue on with the farse that he believes; and regardless of how long my daughters believe, its been fun to watch this aspect of Christmas through their eyes. And yes, they do know the true meaning of Christmas.

Do/did your kids believe in Santa? If so, if they no longer believe, how old were they when they quit believing? How did you approach the questions you received about Santa?

Only six more days.....clean out your fireplaces people! ;-)

Christmas Tour Of Homes

Welcome To Our Home!!

Anakin, Care Bear, Feisty, Hubby and I are happy that you came! Hubby is behind the scenes taking the picture, but he sends his greetings as well!

Take your shoes and coat off and help yourself to some Rice Krispy Treats or some home-made chocolate chip cookies! The hot water for the hot chocolate and cider is brewing. I apologize; my kids were anxious while we were waiting for you and dug into the rice krispy treats already. They helped make them so I couldn't say no!

This is our Christmas tree. It's an artificial one because we decided with so many little curious hands, the hassle of watering and trying to get it straight in the tree stand and pine needles ending up all over the floor that an artificial would be much easier (for a few years). I miss the smell of pine when I walk into my house, but I can sacrifice for awhile. I took this picture in the dark (unbelievably) with the lights on, but somehow it ended up looking like it's broad daylight and you can't see a single light. Care Bear and Feisty were very much into the tree decorating spirit this year so the garland is a little crooked and most of the ornaments ended up on the bottom but they had so much fun! It was the first year they really "got it" (the whole decorating thing that is.

This is a picture of the mantle above our fireplace. On top is a nativity set that my mom gave us the first year we were married. I hung a huge garland below with lights stringing through it. I also had a close up shot of the nativity scene, but mysteriously, it seems to have vanished. Hmmmmm.....Shame on me, I should have had a fire going for everyone! Where are my manners?!

This is a fake plant I have sitting on a corner table. I had a tiny string of lights sitting around doing nothing, and, well....in my opinion, the more lights the better. So I put some lights on the little fake plant. Again, I took this picture in the dark, but it doesn't even show the lights. :-( Whoa is me. You can picture it in your mind, though, I'm sure. (Hubby thought it was a little weird that I put lights on a fake plant....am I wierd?!)

This is an adorable little ceramic "toy shop" candle holder that my mother in law gave us a few years ago. The candle goes inside of the toy shop and looks real cute when it's lit up. My daughters both love to play with it with their little tiny toys. Every year, without fail, when I bring it out I hear gleeful little squeals. A little teddy bear that hangs off of it met its fate this year due to their play. Right now, it is perched on my fireplace mantle.

Yet another little gift from the MIL. I can always count on her to give us lovely little breakables every year. This happens to be a music box that is sitting on top of the upstairs entertainment center. We got another one with it, but it got broken. I wonder how that happened......

This is a little crocheted candle. To be honest, I'm not even sure where it came from, or who crocheted it. But it was in my assortment of Christmas decorations. Care Bear spotted it, loved it, and chose this spot for it. So, there it sits. It also gets played with a lot. I have a feeling it was made by a grandmother or great-aunt or something. I don't think it just wandered into my box of goodies by itself.

This is an ornament that Anakin made last year at school. He is extremely proud of it and so I thought I'd show it off as well.

Well, for now, that is all I have. I had a picture of our outdoor lights that hubby has worked tirelessly on for hours, but somehow that picture disappeared as well. Our decorations aren't the most fabulous or magnificent...I don't see the point when they'll all get broken or messed up anyway. But my kids helped me decorate this year and had the time of their lives. So, it's OK with me.

I hope you've enjoyed visiting our home. I hope the treats were tasty. And I hope you come back to visit sometime! Have a wonderful and blessed holiday season!!

Love,

My Entire Family!

Wordless Wednesday--Care Bear Drawing

"Girl Marching"--by Care Bear

Things That Make You Go "Hmmmm"...

The other day in the mail, I received something from our medical clinic that looked suspiciously like a bill. I had no desire to open it, but when I did, I discovered much to my surprise that it was a check issued to me for $20. Hmmmm.....

I owe this particular medical clinic money. How is it that they sent me money? I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth; but why on earth would they give me money when I owe them?

This was obviously on my mind the other night when I went to bed and dreamed that Hubby and I were friends with Clay Aiken and Clay had decided to pay off our medical bills. He overpaid $20, which is why I was issued the check. Hmmmm....

Do I cash the check and just be happy for a nice surprise in my mailbox? Or do I take the chance of calling the medical clinic and discover that it was a mistake and I have to give the money back? What a conundrum.

Hmmmm......

P.S. Thanks for all the great birthday wishes. I did end up getting to go out to dinner that evening with my brother and his wife and my cousin and her hubby. Good times.

Christmas Tree Treasures

It's my birthday today.

32 Years old

My daughter did a song and dance for me

I have to work.

FIL won't watch the kids tonight so I can go out to dinner.

I'm alive.

I have a husband and three beautiful children.

Dear Lord, please slow down time. Ok? That's all I want for my birthday.....

And now for....

My aunt, the lovely Morning Glory is hosting "Christmas Tree Treasures" today. It hit me at 9:00 last night that I had forgotten to borrow my mom's digital camera to take pictures for this event so I hustled my 32 year old booty down to her house last night to take some pictures. Can't miss out on this bloggy Christmas fun!! So, here are my Christmas Tree Treasures.

We are a "new" family....meaning we haven't collected a whole lot of ornaments yet. But there are several that are special to me so far. This was given to hubby and I from my aunt for our first Christmas together.

This is another "Our First Christmas Ornament" that my mom gave to us on our first Christmas.

These are Care Bear's 1st Christmas ornaments. One was given to her by my aunt, the other was given to her by my mom. (The one on the left showed her name visibly so I "erased" it.)

This is Feisty's First Christmas ornament given to her, also by my mom. (and again...name erased).

This is an ornament that Anakin made at school last year. This year he questioned me as to why we don't have any of his "first Christmas balls" up on the tree. I had to tell him that I didn't know him when he was a baby. I think he feels left out, but he has plenty of other "special" ornaments on our tree!

This is another ornament Anakin made at school that he is very proud of. To make it, they put glue inside the ornament, filled it with glitter and shook it around to make the glitter stick. We have two of these on our tree...he is very proud of them.

This is one of our special "year" balls. My mom has a tradition of buying a ball every year to commemorate that year. She gave us ths one last year to jump start us on this tradition.

And that is it. I had one more ball that I wanted to take a picture of and put up, it was my first Christmas ball; gold with my name written in green glitter. It was on our Christmas tree every year growing up and when I got my own family and my own Christmas tree, I adopted the ornament and have put it up every year. Including this year. But mysteriously, when picture time came last night, the ornament was missing. I believe it may have suffered at the hands of a step-son of mine who shall remain nameless and who simply can not keep his hands off of the tree. If I find it somewhere, I will officially offer him an apology, but for now......grrrrrr.

"The Most Germiest Time Of The Year"

My Wordless Wednesday is below this post...

--Adapted from “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Kristen P.
December, 2006 (sung with the same tune)

It’s the most germiest time of the year
When the kids are all coughing
And Mommy is puking
Oh please don’t come near!
It’s the most germiest time of the Year!

It’s the sick-sickiest season of all
When the cold man is calling
And Lysol is spraying
No friends come to call!!
It’s the sick-sickiest season of all!

There’ll be Pepto a-plenty
And stomachs are empty
And hacking is all you can hear
There’ll be foreheads a –roasting
No time for blog posting
It’s not a good season I fear!

It’s the Germ-Germiest time…..

OF THE YEAR!!

Wordless Wednesday--Thanksgiving 2006

Photo courtesy of Brooke

Who Needs TV.....

When I have these three monkeys to entertain me?? Last night, I had a very enjoyable evening with my children. Not that I don't usually have enjoyable evenings with my kids, but last night, they were in rare form. Hubby was out and about last night paying on his new drum set (yes, he got it), and helping my brother with his DVD player, so I was at home with the rugrats. (I say that in love). Care Bear (as usual) wanted mac n cheese for dinner. It has gotten to the point where whenever they want mac and cheese, I have to get two boxes so that each girl can put in their own noodles, their own butter, their own milk and their own cheese. Since each box is maybe an entire $.60, I don't typically have a problem with this; it saves me the pain of enduring a temper tantrum on either girls' part because the other got to put in the cheese this time. Anyhoo, those two little girls made their own mac and cheese last night from start to finish. All the way down to serving up their own bowls. A few cheesy noodles were sacrificed to the floor or to my freshly cleaned stove, but they were proud of themselves.

After the five star cuisine was complete, Anakin got to work on his homework, and Care Bear got out her drawing board and proceeded to make a very detailed picture of a tree with apples on it (complete with branches), a girl sitting next to the tree which was surrounded with flowers and grass. In the sky were clouds, birds and a sun with a smiley face. When she completed her picture, I was tempted to hide the magna-doodle board from her forever to keep it from getting erased. Anakin (the resident artist in the house) even managed to give her a half-hearted compliment on the drawing.

While Care Bear was working on the masterpiece, Feisty was busily scrubbing the table with a water soaked napkin and then made her way over to me and informed me that she had to wash my face (with the napkin that she had been using to wash the very dirty table). She lovingly and carefully washed my eyes, my nose, my mouth and my hair with that napkin. Anytime I tried to move my face in another direction, she would take her fingers on my face and move it back to her. Anakin informed me that she's going to be a stylist; I told him I believe she's going to be a very good mom.

Shortly, Anakin informed me that he wanted to perform a song for us all. We went downstairs and sat on the couch and he used the bricks in front of our fireplace as a stage and proceeded to sing (in all seriousness) a very butchered version of "Do You Hear What I Hear" (bless his heart). It was very sweet and that child can sing! The other two then had to get in on the action and get up on stage and sing various songs and tell stories. All three of them got up there at one point and did a comedy act, which literally had me in tears and clutching my stomach. I wished I had been taping it because it's one of those "you had to be there" moments to appreciate it and there is no way to describe it in a way to serve it justice. I wasn't politely or obligingly laughing; it was hilarious. They proceeded to entertain me for about a half hour after which time it was time for bed; and it was very difficult to get them calmed down after all that.

Care Bear is always the first to go to bed. She's the easiest one to get there and gives the least amount of complaints, so I always take her up before the other two. As always, we did our good night prayer to Jesus. Lately, she seems to be stuck on what to say so always asks me mid-prayer, "Now what should I say?". I tell her to just say whatever she wants to Jesus; he just loves for us to talk to him. She always wants me to pray first, and almost every night, she interrupts me while I'm praying and interjects her little comments. Here is last night's Care Bear Prayer/Conversation:


Me: Dear Jesus,
Thank you for this wonderful day. And thank you for my sweet Care Bear...

Care Bear: And help me to not have bad dreams and help Micah to get better...

Me: And thank you that Care Bear had a good day at school and that she gets to get new glasses. And thank you that Care Bear and Feisty were such good girls at the eye doctor. And help Care Bear to sleep good and not have bad dreams, and please help Micah to feel better....

Care Bear: I already said that!!

Me: And we love you, Jesus. Amen.

Care Bear: My turn!! Dear Jesus, thank you for this day and I loved all the things we did today. And thank you for Christmas and help Micah to have a good Christmas. ....Hey Mommy! Christmas is a Holy Day because it's Jesus' Birthday, right? Thank you for your Birthday Jesus because that's why we have Christmas. I love you, Jesus. Amen.

New Blog Alert!!

Attention one and all!! My sister-in-law (my brother, Kevin's wife) has launched a new blog. You can find her at Twenty Eight Celsius! Let's all show her the bloggy love!

Today Is The Day

Micah is Counting on Us!

http://www.pray4micah.com