Merry Christmas?

It has a question mark because I am not sure I can get away with that title a week after the holiday. 

Life has been....life.

Getting ready for Christmas is hectic.

Christmas is hectic.

Having family from out of town after Christmas makes life hectic.

I'm sure if you and I were having a face to face conversation, we could go round and round about who's life is more hectic.  Everyone's life is hectic during this time of year.
 It's just....life.

So, no apologies from me or excuses why I haven't posted. We'll just pick up where we left off, mkay?

About 2 weeks before Christmas, I was in a great Christmas mood. We were broke, didn't have all our shopping done, the house was trashed and I was behind in just about everything. But, my heart was merry. And bright. I knew it would all work out, it always does.

But, when the 24th came, I suddenly got depressed. I don't know if it was hormones. Or the fact we were still broke, didn't have our shopping done, the house was still trashed and I was still behind in everything. It just all of the sudden bothered me.

But, Christmas morning, I had recovered. Despite the fact Santa was unable to find the Ninja/Yoda/Power Ranger suit Jeven asked Santa for at the last minute.  And if you don't think I looked, think again.

We managed to surprise the kids with a couple of cool gifts.  A hamster for Josie (this is an entire blog post in itself), a video game for Jayce, a light saber (asked for at the last minute) for Jarrett and a remote control helicopter for Jeven, who upon opening it declared "Well, this sucks. I didn't ask for this" which made me laugh and broke my heart at the same time.  He's 4, an age where, really? Getting presents is the best thing ever and hiding his disappointment at not getting the Ninja/Yoda/Power Ranger suit was difficult. But, greed is the last thing we want our children to develop. So, a quick lecture of saying "Thank you" for the thought was needed then we proceeded with our festivities.

These last few weeks have held many actual blog-able things. Here's a long and probably boring quick run down with visual aids.

Jarrett and Josie Santa. 

Yes, that's only half of my children.

Here's the other half:

That would be Jeven, hiding behind "too old to sit on Santa's lap", Jayce

 

 

His 2nd monstrous goose egg of the week. We've considered a helmet. Seriously.

 

 

 

 

 

We managed to surprise the kids with a Wii this year!  Instead of wrapping it up and handing it to them, we made a little scavenger hunt and they ran through the house following the clues.  The last one said something like "...look where dinner is made." Jayce, always looking for a beating laugh said "Great! Now we have to go to McDonalds". 

The Wii. In the oven. 

If I would have been on the ball, this would have been our Christmas card. 

I hope you all had a Merry, Merry Christmas, with no question mark! 

Birthday Interview

My oldest "baby" recently three weeks ago turned 12.

Twelve. That's pre-adolescent, in case you weren't aware.


That also makes me old. In case I wasn't aware. 

Although he is much too old and mature for baby-like interviews, I like to annoy him. So...without further ado here's Jayce's 12th birthday interview:

Mom:  You've been 12 for a little while now, how do you like it?

Jayce:  Good. I don't know, Mom. Why do I have to do this?

Mom: Because I said so. Now, what was your favorite part of your birthday?

Jayce:  Probably when I had my friends  over and we stayed up all night playing video games. 

Mom: Being a grown up is not that far in the future. What are your plans?  

Jayce: To not be homeless. 

Mom:  Okay...  

Jayce:  And, uh, to get out of the house as fast as possible. 

Mom:  You are the oldest of four children. What do you like the best? 

Jayce:  I can beat them up. 

Mom:  The least? 

Jayce:  That I get in trouble if I beat them up. 

Mom:  What was your favorite gift this birthday/Christmas?

Jayce:  The cash. Or the video game. Or the Wii was cool too. 

Mom:  Anything else you'd like the blog world to know?

Jayce:  No. Don't interview me again. Ever. 

There it is. Not very exciting but.... at least he stayed in the same room with me while I asked the questions. 

Jayce is a great young man. His father and I are very proud.  We look forward to seeing the fine young man he is sure to become.  

                

"Not Me" Monday

I've been wanting to post for so long, have posts in my head, just haven't made them appear on here. Yet. 
So, one way to get a post posted is to steal ideas from another blogger. Thanks Karey!

I did not let Jarrett eat a candy cane for breakfast this morning.

I did not throw away one of Josie's socks because she stepped in gum at Chuck E Cheese last night and I really didn't want to try and wash it.

I did not give the boys a shower last night and dried them off with a hand towel because we have no clean bath towels in the house. Anywhere. 

I did not mark an Art lesson complete for Jayce, even though he did not do the weaving project the lesson asked for.

I did not steal from the kids' treat bowl and put the treat in my husband's lunch this morning because I had nothing else to give him for lunch.

I did not open the movie cabinet and tell Jeven "watch any movie you want, as long as you leave me alone for about an hour ."

I did not purposefully leave the clean dishes in the dishwasher all weekend knowing that they would all get used eventually.



I do hope you all are having a great Monday!  (If that's even possible)

Christmas Decorating Gone Wrong

My oldest child's birthday is the 9th.  I swore, way back when he was just a wee lad, that we would not decorate for the Holidays until AFTER his birthday. You know, to give him his special "time" and all.

However, over the years, I have found that if we wait until after the 9th, things just sort of "explode" schedule wise and I end up not decorating until the late teens of the month. That just isn't enough time to enjoy the Christmas knick-knacks I have!

So, I asked Jayce if it would be ok if we put out the decorations BEFORE his birthday but waited to get the tree until after.  He thought that was acceptable.
Actually, his exact words were "I don't really care, Mom!  What's to eat?"

Our boxes of decorations are stored in the "attic". Our "attic" is actually a storage area overhead in the garage.  
Our garage is not insulated or air conditioned.  It gets very cold in the winter and very warm in the summer.

A snowflake candle stand.  All it's missing is the pretty, glittery, blue candle that fits perfectly on it.

Oh!  There it is! It seems to have shape-shifted during the summer months! 

That's ok!  I will use a child's black church sock to prop it up!  Good as new!

And, here is a picture of the sock donator.  Giving the funny candle rabbit ears.

Updating

Yeah, been gone for awhile.  I've put off posting because I have a lot of "negative" thoughts going on right now.  I'm afraid it will spill over to my blog.  And, although this is MY space to say what I want, I hate to be negative.  I have too much to be positive about.  But, unfortunately, the negative seems to be stronger, in this war going on in my brain.

So, I thought I'd do a little "Thankful list". 'Tis the season and all.

I hate doing dishes.  I am thankful for the food we have to eat, that dirties up those dishes. And the water that's constantly running to clean them. 

I am forever cleaning house.  I am thankful for the house we have.  For the roof that's over our heads. For the little people ( and the larger people that live here too) that mess it up. Every. Single. Minute. Of. Every. Single.Day.

I have so much going on, it's hard to think straight. I am thankful for my friends and family that want and need me. For the obligations that someone has trusted me enough to assign to me.

We are so financially challenged right now.  I am thankful that because we're poor, we can appreciate the little things. I don't  think a meal from McDonalds would be a thing to celebrate, if it wasn't such a treat these days.

My husband REALLY hates his job.  I am thankful he has a job to hate.  Seriously.

 I don't have enough time to blog.  I am thankful that when I finally take a 30 min. break from school and housework, that my blog is still here. And, although I haven't posted in quite some time, I haven't lost any followers. Not that followers are the reason I blog, but it's still nice.

My kids are fighting ALL. THE. TIME.  I am thankful I have 4 kids that are healthy enough to give each other a run for their money.  The fights can get physical and they are sometimes really quite the show.  Maybe future UFC Champions? 

I hate being a woman.  I am thankful I am a woman, or else I wouldn't have the kids that fight. ALL THE.TIME. I wouldn't be able to justify the rare treat of a bubble bath, with a good book.  I suppose if I was a man, I could still do that. But, it'd be weird.

That's it for now. 
I hope to be back soon with posts about how my "baby" boy is turning 12 and his voice is changing and I see a shadow above his upper lip. 
About how happy I am to be a stay at home mom. And, I'm sure my kids will do something worth posting about.  Chances are good. Even if it's about how they fight. ALL. THE. TIME.