Things I want to do in the New Year

I want to start a list of things I want to do in 2009. It will not be a list to add pressure, so much as to attempt at least some of the things. It is a list that is not concrete or complete from the start. And it is not listed in order of importance, but just as things came to mind.

1) Memorize more Scripture.
2) Write a set of lessons on the Tabernacle for my SS Class.
3) Clean my room.
4) Clean the den.
5) Clean the basement. (I see a trend...)
6) Make home-made marshmallows - I found variations: pumpkin, strawberry, cinnamon
7) Pick our own fruit and veggies at local farms - or at least buy some at the farmers' market
8) Keep working on my new craft to make some money.
9) Take my kids to the Pittsburgh Zoo.
10) Go away for a couple days with my husband.
11) Take the kids to the Wilds in Ohio - an African animal park
12) Lose weight.
13) Read 4 books.
14) Get more organized - get back to using my organizer notebook
15) Be a better wife.

I think that's a pretty good start. I just feel that having goals is important.

Christmas Morning

Just thought I'd share a couple pictures with you.

This is Christmas morning at our home.

This is Christmas morning at my in-laws' home.

I'm so glad it's over.

I have not been in the mood for Christmas this year. I don't know exactly why; I've thought about why, but nothing jumps out at me. But here are some strong contenders:

1) We have no snow.
2) I'm homesick, but I don't have a home to be sick for. And if I start thinking about the holidays parent-less, I can't function.
3) I figured I'd get less-than-exciting gifts, and I was right.
4) We cut back on spending this year - that one actually has pros and cons. In the end, I think I cut back. :o{
5) I never did get to spend a day baking for all the elderly neighbors. I might still do it. Next week. Maybe.
6) I kept thinking of all the things I wanted to get done, and feeling pressured and guilty.
7) I KNEW that my in-laws were going to go overboard and I would be left trying to fit the mountain of toys in my house. And they did.
8) A guy from college is in the last stages of ALS, and he and his family have weighed heavily on my heart. I remember our last Christmas with Dad, and it was not an easy time for any of us.
9) I spent a majority of my free time finishing up a craft I sold to my therapist. That was a first - me, walking out with a check from her.

I tried to fake it for my kids' sake and even for DH's sake. I baked half a batch of sugar cookies that never got frosted. DH and son put up the Christmas tree. I let the kids decorate it; the bottom branches looked...like a 3 year old decorated them. DH rearranged them and added the glass balls Christmas Eve.

I went shopping Christmas Eve Day - that was nuts. I needed to get some stocking stuffers for all of us, and I wanted to get another gift for Baby. I don't keep track of what I spend on each kid to the penny, but I try to keep it somewhat fair. I don't think they would care so much now, even though Little Boy thought she had more packages under the tree than he did. But I do not want them to look back somewhere in the future and wonder why Little Boy got a new steam engine, and Baby got a plastic set of kitchen appliances - a fraction of the cost.

Christmas Day. DH and Little Boy got up, then me, then Baby. The kids were so excited. It was nice to see that. They opened the gifts in their stockings, and we ate breakfast. I figured that way, we could have some family time before DH's parents and sister came over. Last year they came before we finished breakfast. The kids finished breakfast, opened all their gifts from us and were playing with their things when SIL called. "When are you guys coming down?" DH told her the kids had just finished opening all their gifts. She tried to hurry us, but I said the kids needed some time to actually enjoy their stuff. So we went down a half hour later. I just knew there was a mountain of stuff next door and I guess I wanted my kids to enjoy some normalcy before we went.

We got there, and his parents and his sister had already exchanged gifts and she had loaded her things into her vehicle. I can't help but feel a bit suspicious. His parents had told us that we were NOT to buy them gifts. We got Granddad a nerf gun to play with Little Boy, and we got
Grandma more memory for her computer. Apparently, my SIL bought DH's parents some big gifts. I cannot figure out what on earth is going on.

DH got an iPod Touch, a fancy wrench, an expensive surge protector, and a game. I got a new crock pot (I asked for), a small baking dish, a dish for baking monkey bread, and a wipe-off calendar for the fridge. I guess it bothers me that there is such a big discrepancy in what they spent on us. And I would bet my SIL got way more than DH.

I know stuff isn't important. And I did get what I asked for. I got the crock pot from IL's and DH got me the two Narnia movies. He also got me two refills for my Xyron. And my Christmas flower arrangement 2 weeks ago. And I know he loves me and does so much around the house. Way more than he should have to. And like Anna reminded me, not everyone has the same love languages.

Is it possible to have all of them? I feel overly needy, or greedy. And guilty. And fat. BLAH!

Little Boy in action

Things that made me smile - another one

Baby and Little Boy have been especially intrigued with the names of Santa's reindeer. Baby likes to say, "Dash away, dash away, dash away all!" Many times she forgets the "all" on the end and just keeps repeating "dash away".

DH has been singing Rudolph, and Baby laughs; when he gets to the "most famous reindeer of all" part, he puts in Little Boy's name.

The kids were playing in the living room and Little Boy ran to his room. Baby looked at me and said, "I'm 'Splitzen'!" And ran to see Brother, leaving Mommy in the living room laughing out loud.

Things that made me smile

Baby decided she did not want to be a lamb for the Christmas program. I asked her what she wanted to be. She wanted to be a giraffe. Hmm. Could have been a highlight.

Little Boy hollered from the other room: "Ouch! Mommy! I stubbed my toe on those groceries! But it didn't hurt because I have a strong toe knuckle."

I told Baby the other night that we were going to go to Walmart after we finished eating our dinner out. She looked at me, clasped her hands, and said, "Oh Mommy. I am so pleased!"

I was trying on frames today, looking for a new pair of glasses. I asked Baby what she thought about the pair I picked. "Mommy, you look great!" The lady asked her if she wanted a job.

2008 Anatomy of a Christmas Card Picture

Monkey Poop Coffee

Ok - that is the most ridiculous, disgusting thing I could ever imagine.

Not only is it appalling, it is apparently quite exclusive. $5 a cup. Beans that went THROUGH a monkey! Carefully selected, undigested, supposedly washed. Yum. Grind 'em up and steep 'em in boiling water.

I'm so glad I'm poor.

OH YEAH! The way I got onto that topic? Baby walked into the living room tonight with a dish and announced, "Oh no! There's squirrel poop in my coffee!" DH told me that it wasn't as far-fetched as one might think, and then told me about the monkey poop coffee. Eww.

Icy Day

Everything is covered in a coat of snow and ice this morning. Thankfully, the driveway and road seem to be clear enough.

Little Boy slept next door last night. He'll be home in a couple minutes, and then the noise level will raise considerably. We had a quiet evening with Baby last night. I think she enjoyed getting all our attention.

My new nephew was born early this morning! I am so glad he's here, and he's healthy, and cuter than anything! I had hoped he'd wait so his Mamma could get her list done, but the things on that list can wait!

It's a good day; ice and all.

Rememer this pic?

This is the same view today:

Little Boy is excited!

What is up with barfing?

So Baby was sitting on the couch this morning whining. She wanted her cup and something to eat. I got her a breakfast bar, and went to fix Little Boy a bowl of cereal. She started hollering that she barfed. I checked on her and she had spit up a lot of phlegm on her blankie. I got her a clean blankie, and went back into the kitchen. She repeated. I got her another blankie, and went back to her room to look for an old cloth didie for her to hold. She repeated, only this time she got off the couch and hit the floor, the coffee table, her knit hat, her stuffed kitten. Granted, it was mostly water and some yellowy-green gunk, but .... the smell. That's what always gets me the worst.

So she's in the tub and Little Boy is cruising around.

My kids have barfed more in the last month or so than they have their whole little lives. What is up with THAT!

Another kind of moon

So my daughter and I are home tonight while the guys are next door. She was being silly and pulled down her pants and didie. When I asked her what she was doing, she turned around so I could see her little heinie and she laughed!

Ok - I laughed the first time, but then I told her it wasn't funny anymore. Apparently, she has decided it still is.

Full moon and high blood pressure

I know the full moon was last Friday, but I'm feeling like it could have been today! Here are some pictures DH took from our front porch at the moon coming up over the mountain across the road.















Here is a picture of the most pathetic donkey you will ever see.


I had 4 pieces of brown felt and 35 minutes. Good thing I called to ask. At 6 pm I was told Little Boy was going to be a donkey in the Christmas program that started at 7 pm. Practice started at 6:15 pm. I grabbed stuff and ran out of the house. Needless to say, my blood pressure was up. And sadly, his horrible little costume was NOT the worst part of the program. The married couple heading it up were given way more than they were capable of handling.

So glad Grandma and Granddad were able to get out and see how great the program was. (ROLLING EYES!)

Ladies' Christmas party and our Friday night

So, Thursday, I ran around like a mad-woman, fixing food up to the last minute, washing my hair, getting ready and changing clothes, dressing Baby, and the ladies showed up a couple minutes after 7. All 6 of them. I know of at least one person (who reads this blog) who told me she was coming who didn't show up. What happened? She wasn't afraid of the rain at 40 degrees, was she?

We visited a bit, had a devotional, had our jingle gift exchange, ate and ate and ate, and then exchanged cookies. And soon after, the ladies left, and Baby and I were here alone. And I was basically left a cripple.

My house was beautifully clean, until you looked in MY room. That's where I stashed all the stuff I didn't know what to do with, or didn't have time to deal with. Oh well. I was ahead of the game this year. Instead of ending up with a pile of stuff, I used banker's boxes. That way, each box was from an area. When I need to find something, I find the box from that area and I can easily find what I want.

I told my husband that one of these years I would get our house clean for real. But it won't be for the ladies' Christmas party. I am not hosting it next year. DH told me good, b/c he wasn't going to let me, anyway.

Friday was a total recuperation day. I wasn't able to get off the couch until about 12:30 to fix the kids some lunch. After that I puttered around. Friday for supper we went to Denny's. It is nice to take the kids out to eat now that they can behave in public. We came home and DH and I had pies from McDs and the kids had vanilla shakes from there. Little Boy told us he had really eaten too much, and his belly hurt. I gave him some gas drops; I thought that would help.

About midnight, he came into our room. We had just gotten into bed and turned off the light. He was soaked from his belly to his knees. We found clean jammies and changed his bedding. DH put him in the shower and about 4o minutes later, we had him tucked back into bed. As I was tucking him in, there was a niggling thought that he didn't look like he was completely well.

A little before 2, I heard him get up and go into the bathroom to pee and he got a little drink. About 5 minutes later, he was standing in our doorway - he had barfed in his bed. So DH and I got up. I took the boy, DH took the bed. How thankful I am for a husband who will do that! I got my son's clothes off, got him sprayed off in the shower and ran him a bath. We left him in there until we got things taken care of in his room.

We finally got him back into bed, armed with a barf bag and clear, practiced instructions on how to use it. And I got into bed. DH stayed up; he waited for hot water and got a shower, and then came back to bed. I hope he wasn't resentful that I was asleep and VERY likely snoring my head off.

Today, we've made Little Boy stay calm and as inactive as you can keep a 5 year old boy. We think he ate something that didn't agree with him, or he just ate too much. But we don't want to chance it. His face looked overly flushed. He thought maybe he should stay home and not go to the Christmas program tomorrow evening. "I might barf while I'm singing, Mommy."

Good try, huh?

Pictures

Can I just go to sleep?

I cannot get myself in the mood for Christmas. I would really love to just crawl into bed, go to sleep, and wake up in January. How's that for Scrooge-y? I don't feel like decorating, shopping, baking ... nothing. If I didn't have kids, I don't think I'd bother. I don't know why I'm feeling this way, either.

But I know I'd feel guilty forever, so I guess we'll just have to do something.

Bah humbug.

I can walk?

We spent the morning cleaning Baby's room. I had to make room for the toys in the living room. Everything is in there now. While we were working, Baby said, "I have blood!" I looked over at her, and there was a miniscule speck of blood where a tiny scab had been. We went into the bathroom and I blotted the blood. As I was putting a band-aid on her, she asked, "I can walk?"

And I thought I was dramatic.

We took down the crib

Baby's last nap in her crib.

It was a big day here. We took down the crib. It's been in that room for 5 1/2 years now, and I cried. We're done with having babies, and that's a good thing, but I sure miss having an infant, in theory, anyway.

I straightened things up, put a vinyl sheet and a new mattress pad on the bed, and re-made the bed with Baby's cute bedding.

She was so excited to sleep in it. I'm watching her on our TV monitor - she's been in there for awhile now. I've had to go in twice and DH went in once so far. She's in there talking and singing, so it may take awhile for her to go to sleep.

At least I'm still changing didies for a couple more days. I guess that should be incentive to embrace this stage a bit more.

Glad THAT's over!

So as we were walking out the door today, the hospital called. The dentist had a cancellation, and Little Boy was moved up. So when we got there we didn't have to wait so long.

He did NOT like the idea of taking off his clothes, especially to put on a GOWN. He didn't want to take off his shoes, and he did NOT want to get up on "that bed." DH and I eventually had to "help" him. And when it was time to drink the sleepy syrup, he balked. He did not want to go to sleep! We finally got him calmed down and he drank it. Within a couple minutes, he started smiling like a goofball, and had a difficult time keeping his head up and his eyes straight. DH and I were trying to not laugh at him, but when we did, he didn't seem to mind. I had brought along some little activity things for him to do and he was attempting to color a picture with markers. It was funny.

They moved him over closer to the OR, and the dentist came out to talk to us. The nurses were talking to him, trying to keep him occupied. One nurse asked him, "(his name)? Is that the name you go by? (his name)?" He shook his head no. I asked him what he wanted to be called.

He leaned forward, with a funny smile on his face, and his head tilted down so he was looking at my out of the tops of his eyes, and said, "Mr. (our last name)." DH and I were about to roll on the floor. It was like he was a funny drunk. When we told the nurses, dentist and anesthesiologist, we were all laughing. And so was Little Boy. He kissed us good-bye, and they wheeled him away. I kept trying to think of how funny he was, and not think about where he was going and what they were going to do to him.

We heard him coming when they brought him out to recovery. He was NOT happy anymore. He wanted them to take those silver teeth out! And he wanted to finish coloring his picture for the nurse! And he wanted that IV out of his arm, the heart monitor patches off, the blood pressure clip OFF his toe, and he wanted to get rid of the gown! We gave in on all counts, and then for about 45 minutes tried to convince him to take a nap. I finally got onto the gurney with him - quite the sight - and he fell asleep. Once I was sure he was sleeping, I got off of there.

Aunt Cathy stopped by when he woke up. He was much sweeter, but still a bit dopey. We stopped and ate supper at Denny's and came home. We had a great seat to watch the town Christmas parade where we were stuck in traffic. We got home, got Baby from G&Gs (another whole story about HER day!), and put them in bed. All by 8:30 pm.

And as I was writing this, our pastor called to see how things had gone, and to let us know they were stopping by tomorrow about noon to give Little Boy a little gift. Very thoughtful and nice, but my house isn't company ready. I'll have to give it a swipe in the morning. I don't have the energy to do anything right now.

Dental Day

This was taken in the morning, before we left.

Today Little Boy goes in for his dental work. I felt so bad giving him a couple ounces of apple juice for breakfast. When I told him that was all he'd get for the morning, he was so pitiful. "But what if I get hungry?" I told him he will get hungry, but reminded him how he gagged getting his x-rays, and that the dentist doesn't want him to throw up when he's getting his teeth fixed. He understood that, but while he was playing in the tub, I went into the kitchen, closed the door and guiltily ate my bowl of Cheerios.

He has to be at the hospital at 11:30, is supposed to go in for surgery at 1:30 which should take a couple hours, and then he'll be in recovery for a couple hours. So, basically, we'll be there all day. DH worked 16 hours yesterday/today. I'm sure he'll be great company today. (rolling eyes)

He just asked me if he could go to G&G's when we get home before his nap. Boy is he off.

N is for Nest

Little Boy is working on the letter N right now. N is for nest, and we are learning from nests that our Father provides good things for us. Today, he made a nest from brown clay, and Mommy added a white bird and 3 white eggs at his request. Baby was mollified by playing with play-doh.

Then Little Boy was invited to help Grandma decorate the tree. Baby was appeased by making a couple ornaments for presents for G & G. Little Boy ate lunch with G&G. Baby was pacified by going to Bessie's shop for ice cream. She was not happy to learn that LB was napping next door, but resigned herself to munching on her "Chickie Nuggets". When she woke up and learned that he was still there, she was not a happy camper. She just asked where he was, and I told her he went to eat dinner with G&G and she cried. I keep reminding her that she will get to spend time there tomorrow while LB is at the hospital getting his teeth fixed. And I bought her a Sleeping Beauty bottle of bubble bath, but she is not happy that I told her she could take it with her next door tomorrow and G&G could give her a bath. She wants a bubble bath "right nooooooooowwwwwww."

Poor little baby.