Merry Christmas to All!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! We certainly are.

We started the festivities on Sunday afternoon having Christmas with Wes's Mom, Charlie Pops, Sharon and Mark (these are the people who are fostering Madi and Matthew), Savannah, Madison, and Matthew! GrandJudy always does Christmas up right...my kids all had at least 10 gifts (or more!) to open.




Unfortunately, the pleasantries were missed by one broken-hearted little girl who came home from church complaining of a headache, went straight to her bed and fell asleep. When she awoke 2 hours later, it was to purge her stomach of all it's contents!! My Abbee girl spent the entire day in her bed sleeping and purging! She did have me sneak her an occational present when she wasn't feeling too nauseous!


On Tuesday, of course, we added little Gluteous Maximus "Max" to our family and we couldn't have asked for more excited children. They LOVE LOVE LOVE their new pet. Emma said, "I'm so excited, I feel like I need to cry!" This was festivity in itself as we all fought over who was going to get acquainted with our new friend first.

Finally, Christmas Eve rolled around and the excitement was palpable! My kids were on their very best behavior (Ahem)...ok, after a morning of CONSTANT bickering, I threatened to cancel Christmas and lock them all in their rooms...suddenly, a new spirit arose in each one...a spirit of cooperation and compatibility and eagerness to get along! Believe me, this change of attitude could not have come one moment too soon. I was ready to KILL them all...or at least mangle them horribly!

Once we had our "come to Jesus" meeting, we settled in for what proved to be the perfect Christmas eve! Sarah, Jordan, and I did some baking. Then, I had a craft for everyone to work on together. Everyone picked which piece of the nativity they wanted to make, then the crafting began!!




Sarah gave Mary and Joseph a little "bling!" And, baby Jesus is slightly jaundous but we're sending them home with a bili blanket and feel like he'll fully recover in a couple of days!

Once our CUTEST NATIVITY EVER was complete, we used it to tell the story of the greatest gift ever given. Each kid gave their versions of it (Emma was a little confused as to where Egypt fit into it all!) and then we read the story from the Bible.

After dinner, we continued our Christmas Eve tradition: opening new pajamas! Everyone looked dashing in their new duds! Once we took a few cute pics, we snuggled up to watch The Polar Express. It was over around 10:00 and the kids were nestled all snug in their beds by 10:30...asleep by 10:31!

The kids actually slept until around 7:30 this morning (with the exception of Max who apparently finds 6:30 his limit at holding his morning "makings!"). Santa didn't disappoint as everyone got exactly what they asked for!




The quote of the day (so far) is from none other than John Wesley who was overheard saying (in a low and somewhat whiney tone), "Aw, I wish I coulda got an iphone cuz ever-body else in my class gots one!"

Nothing like gratitude to make the heart full and the soul satisfied!

So, that's a recap of the Christmas celebrations here! Not that we're finished...we have my family starting tomorrow! I hope you have had a moment to pause and give thanks to the giver of all good gifts. May the rest of your day be filled with all of the joy and hope that Christmas brings! Merry Christmas to all...
...and to all a goodnight! Or at least a good nap!!

Apparently...I'm having some sort of mid-life crisis!

For starters, I asked Wes to get me this for Christmas...


My favorite chiropractor, Dr. Todd, has informed me several times over the last several months that running was not doing my back any favors. (He didn't have the heart to tell me that I'm much too heavy and old to run because the impact is destroying my skeletal system!) He suggested I bike (blah!) or do the elliptical machine. Obviously, I opted for the latter and my sweet sweet hubby bought me an industrial (size and strength) elliptical so that I could work out without being in extreme pain when I finished! I have used it everyday since and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! The only bummer is that my Nike+ ipod gadget doesn't work with it..so no fun competitions to keep me motivated.


Secondly...after years of taking a THERE IS NO WAY IN %$&* WE ARE HAVING AN INSIDE DOG stance, Wes and I drove over an hour (one way) today in order to bring this home for Christmas...


This was not a choice that came easily. I searched Craig's list, the paper, the local shelters and researched more dog breeds than I care to think about trying to find the PERFECT addition to our family and can I just say a non-barking, kid-friendly, easily house broken, first-time obedient, non-aggressive, non-nervous, low-maintenance, smell-free dog is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!! And, believe me, I looked! I even unwittingly took the kids to pick a pup from a litter of PIT BULLS thinking we were getting some beautiful mixed breed dog! (Don't judge me unless you know all of the dog breeds that are considered "pit bulls!") But, today, we finally made the decision. And, I think it was a GREAT one! This gorgeous boy is Max!!

P.S. Any and all housebreaking tips are welcome! He's already "made himself at home" if you know what I mean!

Happy Birthday Wes!

In honor of Wes' big day, here are a few of the many reasons I love him (in no particular order)!
1. He thought he was a year older than he actually is today...what a great birthday present, to realize you're a year younger than you thought you were!!
2. He puts up with all kinds of smack from my family...and usually does it with a big cheesy grin on his face!
3. He thinks before speaking.
4. He is the most generous person I know...which is saying a lot because he is also the biggest tight-wad I know! But when there is someone with a need, he doesn't even hesitate; he figures out a way he can help and then helps.
5. His idea of a hunting trip is grocery shopping at Albertsons and baggin' some serious ketchup on a 10 for 10 deal!
6. He treats our daughters the way my Daddy treated me.
7. He can fix ANYTHING...another way he is just like my dad.
8. He has some seriously gorgeous dimples.
9. He knows that when I'm sick, the best thing he can do for me is take the kids far far away...and he always does just that!
10. There are no pretenses with Wes. He is what he is and is unashamedly so.
11. He offers me perspective in the moments I need it the most.
12. He took me to Hawaii! (among other great places!!)
13. He likes my hair au natural...which in English means he likes it in a form that is reminiscent of 1985...think perm with lots of crunchy mousse...only, with me, it's not a perm! He's the only one who likes my hair this way; but, I like the way he's in love with a style decade that I am praying stays buried forever!
14. He considers others better than himself. He really does.
15. He makes friends with misfits and sees the good in people.
16. He gives the BEST back rubs.
17. He has elf ears.
18. He laughs when I impersonate him!
19. He knows that Dr. Pepper and chocolate will right almost any wrong.
20. He chooses his restaurant options based on happy hour prices!
21. His laugh. It's funny.
22. He needs to know details. (ok, I'm lying...this one actually drives me crazy!)
23. He is a DARN GOOD COOK. slow. but, good!
24. He has made chopping vegetables an art form.
25. He makes us breakfast on Saturday mornings.
26. He is a great dad.
27. He handles bedtime.
28. He never meets a stranger.
29. He wears earplugs everywhere. He once put them in his ears at church during the music. I. wanted. to. die. (But, you gotta love it!)
30. He makes me a better me...except for the days he drives me crazy...but we'll save that list for another post!!

So, happy birthday Wesley. Thanks for sharing life with me through the good, the bad, and the ugly! I love you.

Seriously?

JW: (to Luke) I almost took some drugs on Saturday...some really bad drugs.

Me: (slightly horrified) What are you talking about? What bad drugs?

JW: (with a crinkled up nose that equals his "thinking" face) Um, like maybe sniffing markers or something?

Me: Where did you get an idea like sniffing markers?

JW: (same "thinking face as before) From maybe Mrs. Bowen or something? (I am assuming that here he means Mrs. Boden the assistant principle; however, he is totally making this up as he goes along, so he could mean anyone!)

Luke: I smelled some markers before. They smelled really good!

You are an obsession...

These are some other cute pages I made at scrapblog.com! I'm going to scrap the whole trip and then have the pages bound in a book! I'll let you know the results...because you totally care!

Thanks to Leigh...

I have a new obsession...



This site IS SO FUN and easy to use! And there is no mess to clean up when you are finished!

Trip of a Lifetime

In case you were worried, we didn't decide to move to Hawaii. We've been home for a couple of weeks now! We did, however, have a fabulous time! The pictures don't begin to do justice to the beauty and breathtaking sights we saw, but I'll share a few of them anyway! This is the view from the plane leaving Oahu and heading to Molaka'i

This is definitely one of the prettiest beaches on the island (it's actually Hawaii's longest sandy beach). Unfortunately, it's apparently deadly riptide season there and this beach had warnings EVERYWHERE not to get into the water! Not to worry...the kids stood at the edge and waited for the biggest waves I have ever seen to crash onto shore!


This picture was taken from 1500 ft. elevation!! Within 20 minutes, you could go from the beach to the mountains!! And you could see the ocean from the huge sea cliffs! It was magnificent. I would just stand there and try and take it in.

This is JW after the first afternoon at the beach. He literally had sand from the top of his head to the bottom of his toes!



This is the beach where we snorkeled. It was covered with coral reefs and you could literally see tons of fish from about 3 ft. off shore! Wes took a pretty good gash to his knee on the last afternoon and you could see the blood just streaming from it! The rest of the trip he was fondly referred to as "Shark Bait!!"






And just a couple of more favorites...