HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday Dear Sa-am,
Happy Birthday to you!!

Well, I'm officially old enough to have given birth to a PRE-TEEN!! Ahh...those adolescent years. It's a good thing we love him so much!! Don't worry, we love him enough to make it through the next 10 years without killing him ~ LOL. To my oldest boy, you gave my life meaning when it had none. You brought me a step away from self-destruction, though I didn't know it at them time, and a step closer to everything that matters, love, family, GOD...thank you for changing my life for the better. I U!!!!!

Am I Coming or Going??

Whew...that was a wild ride! No pics today...just words.
We had a wonderful Christmas. After we had a nap that is! Liam was up yesterday at 3am, yup, you read that right. 3am!!! We made him get in bed between us and held him off for another hour. At 4am Sam and Mason were up too! So we threw our hands in the air and started the coffee pot. Silly me, I set it to self-start at 6am...as if! The boys very rudely woke up our princess and ran to the tree. Maggie stumbled out and I'm pretty sure the only reason she didn't get downright nasty with them was presents!! Steve was amazed that all that exitement was generated by one gift. You see, in our house Santa only brings one gift per child (plus stockings of course). It is usually the best gift...that jerk Santa gets all the glory! Yea, right...seems like even Santa gets trumped most years by Grandma Debby and Pawpaw James but that's a whole nother story. The older boys got several new games in all and various other stuff. Liam had a Bakugan year and Maggie got a new Barbie set and an Easy Bake Oven! Which Liam insisted on helping her with. Geez, I think maybe I should have gotten him an Easy Bake Oven too!!
This year from Santa Sam and Mason both received games they requested and Liam and Maggie both got new MP3 players. They suddenly talk really loud...
I got a new Kitchen Aid Mixer...the mac-daddy actually! It's awesome (thank you Dad)!! Jon got me lots of heartfelt stuff that I really wanted (my yearly Sierra Club Engagement Calendar and the new Hillsong CD) and I also got new sheets ~ 5oo thread count baby, from Mom. But, that was later.
After presents Jon took his nap shift while I straightened up and lounged on the couch. When he got up I took my nap, Maggie slept with me. My princess is the only child I have who recognizes the value of sleep!! After we got up, I used my new mixer to prepare cheesy potatoes. Then we went to Bobby's house.
For supper yesterday we bad smoked brisket, baked beans, cole slaw, cheesy potatoes and rolls...unconventional I know but it was DELICIOUS!! Good job Bobby on that brisket. Later we opened gifts and mom made Sam's day. You see, for his combo Christmas/Birthday gift he asked for a Nano. He REALLY wanted the new iPod Touch, but that was out of his price range. So, after a cruel amount of torture he was allowed to open his gift and it was...drumroll, please...an iPod Touch. He was so very pleased. He had to call Austin immediately. News like that begs to be shared with your best friend!! Austin got one too, so they basked in the glow together on the phone!
This part always stinks...it's over. I'm not ready for it to be over. I refuse to take down the decorations yet. The sun has actually been out quite a little bit over the past few days, but I know as soon as I take everything down it will go away...not to be seen again for months!! SO, I'm stalling. And to all of you who thought I put things up too early and would be tired of them by now...well. Just shows how much you know, huh! lol.
Today Jon has to take Mason back to his Mom's house. So, he'll be kind of down this afternoon and evening. I'm at work. Not so bad...the kids have been out of school for a week already. I consider work a break of sorts! It's time to start getting ready for Sam's birthday. Mom and James will be in town for a week. I think in a few days she will accompany me to bargain hunt for some clothes for Sam. Yes, he's at the age where he actually WANTS clothes as a gift...provided they are the RIGHT clothes. Well, that's enough of my vapid nothingness for now...
Suffice to say...Christmas was awesome for us, we're not letting it go yet!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It really isn't Christmas Eve without Maude and Poppy, so although it's a poor imitation...here they are under the mistletoe!!

PPPlllllleeeeeeaaaaaassseeee!! Daddy, can't I just open this one gift?!?

Liam is eagerly tracking Santa today, he's currently in Indonesia!

Maggie changed the calendar today, she was excited that this year she got to add baby Jesus! This is the advent calendar that Anne got them last year. I wanted to make sure before the season is over that I got a pic of it in here. They've all really enjoyed it for the last two years and I'm sure many years to come!

Obviously, Sam is excited...

But not as excited as Mason...

Jon will be home from work soon. We have to make cookies this afternoon for Santa. Every year I buy the already made ones in a package because Maggie and Liam want to "make" them. So we'll do that then go to church at 9pm. Oh the anticipation is killing me. Merry Merry Christmas everybody!! I love you!!!

Thank You Poppy!!

Ok ~ so I know you're disappointed that they didn't have to wait longer. I always let them open their gifts from Poppy and Grannie Annie on the last day/night before Mason comes over for the holidays. That was Monday night. So...here they are opening...Sam was particularly happy that his wasn't actually Strawberry Cereal Bars. I felt the need to disguise it. I mean I know he only asked you for one thing and he had a pretty good idea what it was...but I don't want to just give it away!!

He is currently in his room playing said game...I have hardly seen him for days!
This year I wrapped everything in brown packaging paper with twine and I attached a scripture to each gift. It was simple and looked pretty under the tree and I thought it was an effective means of keeping us centered on Christ this Christmas!

Liam was probably the most excited. He's SO EASY to pump up!!!

I never told you, BTW, that his present was almost no surprise. The nimrods at JCPenney delivered it just like you see it in this picture! That's the shipping label on the corner. I was so mad at them I could've spit and lucky for me Liam dawdle's when he's getting out of the van!

Maggie felt spoiled because she had 2 to open and she LOVED both of them!!

She's so relieved that her baby won't be cold when she takes her out anymore!!

...and she absolutely LOVES the stroller too. I have to admit it's pretty darn cute!! I'm very quickly getting tired of it being all over the house though!! lol.

We love you Dad and Anne ~ Thank you VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

The Garrett Family Christmas

Well Sunday we spent Christmas with the Garrett clan. We even had Spencer for the afternoon ~ very rare indeed. It was fun. the kids had a blast. Well ok...at least Liam did. He got to see Trey which is always a special treat if you ask him.

They didn't have to wait NEARLY long enough to open the gifts if you ask me. God love 'em, the Garrett's have not yet mastered the fine art of TORTURING the kids with the gifts. They don't understand the pure unadulterated joy the parents can get out of teasing, taunting and withholding the presents until the childrens' anticipation is at a feverish pitch. So...they only had to wait about 2 hours after we got there before they were ripping paper.
I know the look on Liam's face is unpleasant but darnit this pic is the only one where we were all looking at my camera. There were three people snapping foto's and well...this is it.

Here is my dear hubby and his family. Again. Kay did not smile in the only pic where everyone was looking at me. Something about that bottom left corner. Well, only 2 more days. I wish time would slow down. We all know Christmas day will FLY BY!! If there's one thing I've learned about Christmas it's that the anticipation is DEFINITELY the BEST part!! I just have to squeeze every drop of joy and fun and love and family out of the next few days. I love you all!!!

Do You Remember????

1.The hard candy Maude ALWAYS had at Christmastime?
2.That pillow she kept for Bobby to suck on?
3.The year I had to take my new record player with me to Grandma and Grandpa's house?
4.Helping Grandma decorate the tree? She'd just sit on the couch and we'd clamor around her to get decorations...
5.How excited we used to get when Linda and Dave were coming for Christmas?
6.Watching Meet Me in St. Louis on Christmas Eve at Maude's house?
7.Waiting FOREVER for Mom to get there?
8.That stupid hat Dad used...yes, you remember...if it falls to the right you can open a present. Nah, I was just kidding!!
9. The year Steve was SO SICK, he even has a red nose in the pictures! He got a stuffed R2-D2.
10. Tracy coming home with us on Thanksgiving to help us decorate our Christmas tree.
11. The year I got a Cabbage Patch Kid, Wow, Santa rocked the house that year!!!
Thanks Mom and Dad, Christmas will ALWAYS BE A SPECIAL TIME TO ME and it's because it always has been. I love you!! and I miss you terribly!!

What's Up?

No pics today. I'm actually bored to tears at work right now. Let's see how are we and what are we up to?... I'm doing very well despite the dreary weather. Actually, for about 15 collective minutes the sun peeked through the clouds today and it was GLORIOUS!! I miss the sun...really...a LOT!! I told Jon the other day that I don't want to take down the christmas tree and lights, assorted villages, etc. until the sun comes back to stay. Somehow the christmas lights make the dreary bearable. I'm ok with it, because you can see the christmas lights better when it's dark. BUT, when Christmas is over LOOK OUT. I'm going to get real crabby real quick!!!!
Sam is doing better in school...holding my breath... he has an A, a couple B's and the rest are C's. He's hangin in there, which is getting kind of hard for all of us. The child has at least 2 1/2 hours of homework EVERY NIGHT and I guess now I understand why he was shirking some of it. No I'm not condoning it, I just understand. Homework has been all he has time for lately. We are all HAPPY to have winter break come.
Liam is doing well too. He has an A in science, 2 B's and a C in reading. He is working very hard to keep his grades up and I do believe he is as proud of himself as I am of him. He just radiates every time I praise him for his grades lately.
Maggie of course in doing very well in school too. She was the first child in her class to quit bringing home book 'n bags this year. One less thing she has to do every week, not that she minded. But, she reads constantly on her own, whe really didn't need an assignment for it. She was devastated twice this week. She had a Christmas Concert scheduled for Tuesday night, which was postponed until Thursday night due to bad roads. Mind you, we did not know it was postponed until she was already dressed with her hair done and very EXCITED. Then, to add insult to injury they cancelled the concert last night due to , yup you guessed it, bad roads!! She was DEVASTATED!!!!
Today was to be the kids last day before Christmas...unfortunately, the roads really were bad and school was cancelled too! Fortunately, Katie was able to keep them for me while I worked today...Thanks Katie!!!
Jon is doing well too. We have Christmas with the Garrett clan on Sunday, so I'll be sure to post pics of that. I love and miss you all more at Christmastime than ever. I've been thinking about Maude & Poppy and Grandma and even Grandpa a lot lately. It's just something about Christmas...it's nostalgic if nothing else...

15 Days and Counting...

Ok, Ok... I did it. Thank You Liam! He nagged and pushed and prodded last night until I gave in and went downstairs to walk on the treadmill. I was initially a bit irate with him, but afterwards hugged him and said thank you for taking good care of Mommy! I had that yucky whole oat oatmeal for breakfast...I will henceforth refer to said "oatmeal" as gruel. And, for lunch, a nice healthy salad! Don't be too proud, it's all because I have every intention of eating greasy pepperoni pizza for supper. BUT, I promise I will walk tonight as well! :)

Today I have the pleasure of babysitting Cash. We are currently having some down time! He ate chips and christmas cookies 'til his eyes fell closed. I guess I probably should feed him some real food after he wakes up!! It's so fun spoiling them when they're not yours though!!! He's been real good so far, he even helped me with putting the laundry in the dryer. And he's only made a couple messes. He's even left the nativity alone. I only had to tell him no once...smart boy!!

I got one of the two remaining gifts done...one more to go and I even know what I'm gettin. I just have to go back to Mt Vernon. Only 15 days to go!!!!!!!!!! I love you and miss you all!!

Thank you Grandma Debby!!

The kids really appreciated their care package. Sam was not at all amused that he got to pick first this time though! Not really sure what Maggie's problem was here. She was mad at her brothers for some unfounded reason.

She promptly got her dolls all dressed up when she got her dress, which is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS btw. She and I (and Kay, who was here when we opened it) LOVE it!! She's really eager to wear it to her Christmas concert next week.

Kay and Rod stopped by to visit yesterday. It is always good to have them here. We had pork loin and sauercraut for supper with mashed potatoes. Oh my, it was good!!
Today I have to do payroll from home. I'm hoping to get my butt downstairs too. I did really well excercising every day last week, right up until Friday...and I haven't gone down since. Which I KNOW is ridiculous...I feel so much better when I do it. Oh well, hopefully, I'll make it down there today. I love you all!!

Busy Weekend...

Well, ok, maybe just a busy Saturday. The only "events" I had to attend this year were the annual Garrett cookie bake and my work Christmas party. Doesn't it just figure that they would be scheduled on the same day. It made for a stressful, but fun 24 hours! Friday night I stayed up until Midnight getting all my cookies ready. Usually I make them there, but between drive time and me leaving early I thought we'd be better off if I got there with mine already done. Which worked out very well. The Garrett cookie bake is girls only. Maggie was very excited and was a big help this year. We helped with cookies until 2:30pm...then we had to run. Or drive, home from Springfield. Of course it snowed, the roads weren't terrible, but I didn't really ENJOY the drive home either. Then we got ready, took the kids and dropped them off with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Jeff (Cindy & Wayne were there as well) and went to my work party in Lewis Center. Which was too funny. The food was very good and Santa even showed up!! We didn't stay late, I was tired!! Sunday, we went to church and then I vegged on the couch for the whole rest of the day! This morning I went in to the school to read with some of the kids in Maggie's class. After that I went to Wal-Mart and I am pleased to report that I only need to buy 2 more gifts and I will be DONE. Which does not mean I'll stop shopping...it just means I'll be done with what I need to buy. From here on out it's what I WANT to buy!! Last night George C Scott's A Christmas Carol was on AMC. That is my FAVORITE version. I watched most of it before I pooped out. Tonight we're popping popcorn and watching Charlie Brown's christmas show. I love you all and you're all on my mind. My loved ones are never far from my thoughts this time of year. I miss you all!!!

Not the Gumdrop Buttons!!

This morning the kids built the gingerbread house kit Kay got for them. Austin spent the night last night, so he was able to help. I think they had a lot of fun putting it all together!
The boys constructed our little edible abode...

Maggie waited patiently for them to get things put together so she and Liam could decorate...

Trust me, when you have three young boys working on your gingerbread house, the gingerbread WILL take a dump. It's unavoidable. I probably never should have given them those whoppers!! lol~

Liam added a few finishing touches and WAALAA!!!




They were extremely proud, actually Austin remarked that this could well be the ugliest gingerbread house he'd ever seen, but they had fun, so who cares!??!

Things here are settling down now after the holiday. Jon went back to work today. The kids are obviously still home...first day of deer gun season here in Morrow Co.! So, as of right now, Austin has gone home...Liam and Maggie are watching Maggie and the Ferocious Beast while Sam is at the table working on the last of his homework. He got most of it done Saturday, but saved one paper to do this afternoon. I plan on making meatloaf and mashed potatoes for supper tonight. The house is straightened...I figure I'll clean tomorrow while the kids are at school. As soon as Sam is done with his homework the kids and I are heading downstairs to work out. wooo ~ hooo... the kids have really been on me about it lately. I have gone down to walk on the treadmill every other day for the last week. I know I need to do better, but I'm working on it. I love you all!!!!