Happy Holidays!

I finished my shopping today with the exception of stocking stuffers. I've never waited this long to get everything done - it was a bit stressful! Rooster isn't getting a couple of things on his list because I couldn't find them but I'm sure he'll be pleased. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a great new year!

Take a minute to enjoy this letter to Santa.

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle In the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family..

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa..

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Wacky News Wednesday

I know I should have posted my weird news for the day but frankly I wasn't feeling it.  Instead I've decided to give you a glimpse into my schedule.  I'm always fascinated to read what other people do during the day so I thought I would share mine.

Just a disclaimer - Tuesday's are by far my craziest day and the day I get the least amount of sleep. All days aren't like this -

4:30 A.M. Went to bed

6:30 Alarm goes off and I'm thinking it's way too early! But, I get Rooster up and get  him ready.

7:05 It is snowing and the roads look horrible. It's too cold and wet for Rooster to walk so I drive him to the bus stop.

7:20 Back home. It's my night to cook dinner. Put the red beans together and in the crockpot. (Hint: Red beans do not stay red in the crockpot. They turn some funky colors!)

7:40 Get Tater up and ready for school.

8:15  Not my week to drive! Send Tater out the door for carpool.

8:15 - 9:00 Read the paper, think I've really got to stop staying up so late! Kind of wishing I drink coffee - settle for a Pepsi instead

9:00-10:15 Get ready and pick up the house.

10:15 Head over to Tater's school to read with the kids in his class.

11:30 Sit with Tater while he eats. I love to listen to the kids chat while they eat. They were really proud that they got to sit at the 3rd grade table and made sure to point it out to the third graders when they came in.

12:00 Stop in the office - touch base with the Principal and Secretary. Collect the volunteer logs. (I keep track of how many hours are volunteered at the school)

12:30 Decide I want to make corn bread with the red beans but I don't have eggs so it's off to the store.

1:00 Home and I'm way too tired to function. Take a little nap.

3:00 Alarm goes off - Rooster gets home - we catch up on his day

3:30 Tater gets home. Let him watch his half hour of T.V. and have a snack while I do the mad dash to get dinner done.

4:00 Start homework

5:00 Deliver dinner to my exchange buddies

6:00-8:00 Dinner, homework, kids in shower, clean up dinner

8:00 Kids in bed

8:00-9:00 Finish cleaning up the kitchen and little messes around the house

9:00 Log into ChaCha and work while visiting my blog roll and forums

4:30 Off to bed to start all over again!

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A little extra baggage

I decided that it is about time to loose the extra weight I've been packing around since Tater was born. I ordered some workout DVDs (just ordered haven't used) and have been working on trying to eat better. My problem is I usually forget to eat during the day and don't have anything until dinner. I keep putting it off until after the holdays because I think I would be setting myself up for disappointment if I got serious now. 

Well I've got myself another excuse to use now. It's gotten so cold here. This weekend our high should be 20 degrees with a low of -7. Now that is cold.  So, I'm thinking I should skip even the best diet pill for now and hold on to that extra padding until it warms up a bit. 

There you go - a look inside my rationale (or lack of) about losing weight.

In all seriousness, look forward to my new blog starting in January where I'll write about my progress in getting healthy. I figure if I blog about it I'll have a sense of accountability that may give me the push I need.

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Grrr...

We had a surprise party planned for one of our good friends on Saturday and planned to take the kids out caroling after.  My good friend Kacy decorated a trailer with lights and hay and I made CD the kids could sing to.

The boys had been passing around a stomach bug the week before and each of them got it one day apart. When I didn't have it on Friday, I figured I was in the clear and did a little happy dance because I managed to dodge being sick for once.

Saturday morning I woke feeling a little queasy (yeah, you see where this is going) and by noon the bug had taken up residence in it's new host and I'm pretty sure he brought some friends. I consider myself pretty tough when it comes to dealing with sickness and pain.  After all I had Tater without the help of an epidural, (Okay it WAS NOT my choice - anesthesiologist went to dinner at the wrong time but still Au natural nonetheless and I'm going to count it) but this stomach bug was ruthless and I finally had to admit that I was sick and wouldn't be able to go. 

I gave Twitch the camera and asked him to please take pictures. At least I could live vicariously through the pics. Here's what I got....

 

 

One of my best girls and her hubby (who is pretty cool too)

A total of 3 pictures!  I'm hearing that Twitch was a little busy singing Blue Christmas over and over and over again and the camera was forgotten.  

The kids had a really good time despite it being so cold. I'm thinking this should be added to our list of Christmas traditions.

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The tween years

Twitch has joked (at least I think he is joking) that for Rooster's 18th birthday he is getting luggage for his birthday present. I've never thought it was really funny until we reached the tween period.  People keep telling me that kids lose their mind around 12 years old and if we're lucky get it back around 18 - Ain't that the truth! 

Rooster's cell phone starts going off the minute he walks in the door from school and he is texting for 2-3 hours straight. I finally asked him to put it on vibrate because I couldn't stand to hear the bell anymore.  I've also gotten a few emails from his teachers saying that he is talking a lot in class and not doing his work.  I talked to the counsler about it and all I got was that he can guarantee he isn't the only one talking.  Is this supposed to make me happier? 

I know this is an important time for him to find new friends and work on his social skills but honestly I would love to have 1/4 of the attention spent on friends spent on school work. 

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Hanging in there

 

 G.G. and the boys

We were able to get my Grandma into the rehab facility on Wednesday and things are going so much better.  The staff at the facility she is in now is really great with her and with all of us.  She was there 3 months ago so they all remember her and told her that while they were sad she had to come back, they were excited to see her again.  I honestly cannot believe the lack of care she received at the nursing home, my heart breaks for the patients that are there long term and don't have family to fight for them.  Next week, I'll be writing a letter to the director outlining all of the problems we experienced.  

G.G. is slowly getting her strength back. She's hasn't been eating well because she's been so nauseous but did a little better today.  She will have to stay at the facility for quite a few weeks but she'll be able to come home for Christmas and New Year's.  

Her strength and tenacity amaze me. This is the 3rd time, in a year, we thought we were losing her and she surprised us by bouncing back.  I am so lucky to have such a strong woman as a role model!

Thank you to my blogging buddies for the kind comments left and the emails sent, it honestly meant so much! 

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Missing In Action

I've been MIA for a few days at least from the blogging world.

My Grandma was taken to the hospital where we found out that she has pneumonia and congestive heart failure.  She has been unable to go home but the rehab center didn't have an opening so we had to place her in a nursing home until an opening comes up at the rehab center (should be tomorrow). 

The nursing home has been a complete nightmare and I can't wait until we can get her out. We wanted to take her home and care for her full time until the rehab center opened up but Medicare wouldn't let that happen if they were going to pay for the center.  So she sits in a horrible facility but someone has been with her round the clock to make sure she is ok.  We had to bring her food to her because they couldn't guarantee she wouldn't get gluten in her food. 

I'm rambling - it's been stressful but I'll be back in a couple of days when she gets settled in. 

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Spoiled Hubby

Twitch has gotten a bit spoiled lately.  He managed to find a really good deal on a huge big screen T.V. and we got him a surround sound home theater system to go along with it.  He seems to think our family room is now his home theater room and the boys really like the idea. 

I thought it would be a really fun idea to get him some Christmas gifts to enhance his theater experience. Maybe a popcorn machine or some home theater sconces to decorate the place. The only thing is he may get a little too into it and start selling tickets!

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You may not be a hunter when.....

Wacky News Wednesday (Just a little late)

In Missouri, Randy Goodman shot a 240 lb. defenseless deer while hunting.  Goodman thought the 9 point buck was dead but the deer sprang to life and attacked him with his antlers and legs, in what Goodman called "15 seconds of hell".

The deer ran off and died after being shot two more times by Goodman, who had to be treated at the hospital for a concussion, bruises and a scalp lac.

Might want to think about giving up the hunt at some point.

This isn't the same guy (at least I don't think so) but here's a video of a deer getting a little revenge on a hunter.

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Fruit Trees

I would love to have a fruit tree growing in my backyard. Who wouldn't love to be able to walk out the door and pick fresh fruit?  We plant a vegetable garden every year but I've never attempted to plant a fruit tree. 

I would really love to have a few Persimmon trees in our backyard.  They are actually the favorite fruit of the orient and a Japanese persimmon tree can produce 100 pounds of fruit in the fifth year.  Okay we would never eat that much fruit but imagine how grateful the food banks would be around here if I could donate that much food!

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Holiday Gifts for Soldiers

Last year for Christmas, instead of giving neighbor gifts we decided to make a donation to our local Veteran's hospital in the name of our neighbors. We gave each neighbor a copy of a poem and let them know we made a donation in their name. We got such a great response from everyone and it was a great experience for the boys.

Unfortunately, there will be some soldiers who get nothing this holiday season. If it's within your means I would like to suggest sending a care package to a soldier.  There are many websites out there that you can check. A couple of them are;
Soldier's Angels lists many different ways to help.
American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes - you can download a free holiday card to send to a soldier.

If you're willing to send the package on your own I would recommend this site Any Soldier
Over the summer we did a drive to collect items to send to Iraq and Afghanistan and used this site to find out what was needed and where to send. This site will list a name to send it to and you can read emails from the soldiers to find out exactly what is needed.

Happy Holidays!

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The lights aren't on and somebody is home

We built our house about twelve years ago and about a month after we moved in the lights in our family room started burning through light bulbs. Each one of the light fixtures hold four bulbs and we go through at least two bulbs a week.  We have been putting it up with it for way too long and I hate to think how much we have spent on light bulbs. 

I finally called our friend, who is an electrician, and asked him to come over and take a look. He stopped by over the weekend and said that we need to replace both of the lights. I'm kind of excited to get some new lighting. I've changed the look of our family room since we moved it so it will be nice to have the lights match the decor.

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