The Best Gift Ever!

This Christmas I received a gift that literally brought tears to me eyes!  It was the most amazing and thoughtful gift ever.  To this I owe a HUGE thanks toErick, Tressa, Chelsea and Ericka!!

If you had read this blog any at all you will know that earlier this year I lost all of my data on my computer when my hard drive crashed which caused me to lose about 3000 pictures.  I was completely devastated at all of the special memories that I had recorded that I could no longer get back but the most important was the birth of my son Parker.  He will be 1 years old in four days and I didn't have any pics of his arrival to complete our family.  My brother-in-law took lots of pics on that day and so I have been trying to get them from him.  He brought his camera over to my house one day so that I could download them but for some reason his camera takes a funky SD card and for some reason I couldn't get it to work.  He was then going to bring me the cord to his camera so that we could do it that way.

Almost five months later and I still didn't have any pics.  On Christmas Day I opened a photobook that had been speciall created for me by my brother-in-laws family that consisted of all the wonderful pics from that special day!!  I literally cried when I opened it.  I was so shocked that someone took the time to realize the importance that those pictures were to me.  It was something that could have been lost forever but thanks to my extended family they made sure that didn't happen.  Please forgive me; the pics didn't turn out well.  They even left room for me to journal so that I could personalize it the way that I want. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH ERICK, TRESSA, CHELSEA, and ERICKA!!  There couldn't have been a better gift.

Mary Did You Know?!

This is by far one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time.  This is an amazing video and I pray that it helps everyone remember what the meaning of this season is all about.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

Tis the Season!!

I have got to get in the Christmas spirit considering it is the week of Christmas.  Here are some pics to help...

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

To Regift Or Not To Regift - what do you think?

I am meeting so many wonderful people through Blogland that have the same interests and desires as I.  I absolutely love it.  I am beginning to realize that my chaotic, unorganized life is somewhat normal. 

In light of the season I thought it would be fun to start a discussion.  To regift or not to regift.  Have you ever regifted?  Have you ever caught someone regifting something that you gave them?  What have you regifted or WOULD LIKE to regift?  What gifts have you received that you absolutely have no idea why you received it?

This post is simply to encourage comments and discussions.  I don't want anyone feelings hurt in this process so please don't name names.  This is supposed to be a light-hearted discussion and I hope that you enjoy.

I can't wait to read all of your comments!!

Merry Christmas or Bah Humbug!??

It's the most wonderful time of the year...there will be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near......WAIT!!!  Back up just a minute!

Hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near?!?!?  Not in my family!!  This doesn't seem to be the year that this is the scene for our Merry Christmas.  I am sure that by now we have all come to the realization that no one's family is normal.  So how do you, and I in particular, deal with those idiosyncrasies at this time of the year.  I've decided that "Normal" is a relative term.  Do I sit and let this raw emotions control how I will celebrate with my immediate family that means the most to me or am I supposed to be a "big girl" and move on in life.  It's pretty hard to move on in life when you feel as if you've been ambushed and don't know where things went wrong and you have no way of fixing them.  Sometimes people want things to be the way they are no matter what the outcome.

So I am trying to apply the following things and know that this is a constant struggle for me EVERYDAY.  I am not perfect in anyone's eyes and I have never claimed to be.  So this is how I will be TRYING to deal with these issues.

1.  I need to normalize my expectations.  I need to realize that our family is messed up, but so is everyone else's.  Mixed feelings, resentment, and emotional baggage are typical issues of all families.

2.  Accept my lot.  Extended families idiosyncrasies aren't intended to make my life miserable even though it may feel that way.  Even though I may disagree, I need to have compassion.  Acceptance takes friction away, or at least most of it.

3.  Practice proven coping techniques.  I can't pick my relatives and I can't change them either.  The only thing I can control is my reaction to behaviors that drive me crazy.  The more I pick up that rope, the more I fuel a situation.  There are times I want to YANK that rope so hard and prove that someone else is wrong but it doesn't work.  It only makes things harder.

4.  Avoid embarassment.  The less I say the better.  Someone else's actions are not a reflection of me.  

5.  Help myself through humor.  If I wasn't laughing most times I would be crying.  Silent humor is a great tension release that helps me feel adult and powerful rather than trapped and powerless.

There you have it.  What I consider to be CRAP and almost impossible to accomplish.  Even though I know it may be the hardest thing to do, I know that this is best thing for the situation.  I am sure through this process I am going to learn a lot of things about myself and most importantly to stop worrying about what others think or feel.  It is very important to take others' feelings and emotions into consideration but when it comes to the expense of your own you have to pray and do what God tells you.  I just have to know in my heart that the things I am doing are right with me and God.  That is ultimately who I have to answer to and no one else.

Pray for me in this situation and hope that this is a Merry Christmas with or without loved ones.

"There are better things ahead than any we leave behind"

I have a dear friend who writes The Sweet Life and I read whenever she posts.  She has lots of recipes, crafty projects and overall goodness.  After reading her post today I sent her a comment expressing how much I enjoyed reading her posts.  I received an email from her stating her gratitude and at the bottom of her email was this quote by C.S. Lewis.  "There are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

I feel that as I go through like I learn more and more that things happen for a reason.  I beleive that I was meant to see this quote on this particular day.  I have been going through some extended family issues and understanding how to deal with it can be a challenge.

So where do I go from here?  I must continue doing what I feel in my heart is right and not let any outside influences affect me or my actions.  This can be very hard to do when you are deeply invested in a particular situation, and trying to remove your feelings out of it can almost be impossible.

I must have faith that every road that we are on is the one that God intended for us to be on and truly beleive that "there are better things ahead than any we leave behind."

Thanks Alisa for the encouragement I needed today!

The Comeback of the Apron!

I LOVE aprons!!

I have a weakness for them and I want to own several to match special occasions, holidays, seasons, etc.  Aprons seemed to be so much a thing of the past but they seem to making a comback in today's society.  I made my first apron a few years ago because I was tired of ruining my shirts while cooking, baking, and cleaning.  The original purpose of the apron is what inspired me but it has since evolved into another way to express myself.

I plan to expand my apron wardrobe in the next year so that I have an apron for everything.  I do tend to prefer the full body aprons simply beucase I am messy and I need something over my shirt.

Searching to the land of Blogosphere I have come across some absolutely amazing designs and creations for aprons.  I don't know where to start.  My original idea was to make another one of my own but there are just too MANY cute ones out there that I might just have to buy one from a fellow crafty blogger and help their addiction as well. 

Here is a pic of an apron design that I absolutely love.  I love the coordinating colors also.  $30 just seems a little steep for my budget.

Maybe I can just leave some OBVIOUS hints to my husband since it is the holiday season.  If you are looking for apron inspiration you will not find a shortage on the web.  A great site to browse is http://www.girlyaprons.com/index.html

Elf on the Shelf - Nicholas

This is something that I had never heard of before but after Brian's cousin in the Ozarks started it for her children, Brian's mom bought one so that we could start the tradition here.

Nicholas (this is what we named our elf) comes around Thanksgiving time and stays until Christmas Eve where he goes to the North Pole until next year.  You place the elf on a shelf, mantel, in the tree, where ever you think of so that he can watch over your children.  Every night the elf goes to the North Pole and reports the days findings to Santa Claus.  Then when the children wake up the next morning the elf has taken residence in another spot to keep an eye on them for the day.  There is a book that goes along with it so that the kids know exactly what to do.

There is only one rule: children can not touch the elf.  This will make him lose all of his magic.  Now I must say that when we got this and James knew he couldn't touch it, it devastated him.  He cried so hard because he didn't think that he could resist and he didn't want to be the reason for the magic being gone.  We assured him that all would be well and the elf just has to make sure that he is in good hiding places that are well out of reach.

I have to admit that this is neat for the little ones.  James might be getting a bit old and next year we might not be able to pull it off but it will be a lot of fun when Parker and heaven forbid grandkids come around!

Ramblings...

**Today is a snow day and the kids are home from school.  James had a friend come and play and this is not turning out to be the quiet day that I had planned.  Maybe I can sneak in a nice bath this evening but I doubt it.  Everyone has tried out my new bath but me.

**I am blessed to have the wonderful home that I do BUT having a hill for a driveway makes getting into the garage a booger!  I didn't succeed last night after many attempts so my car was left out in the cold.  I am going to have to buy stock in rock salt so that I can park inside on nasty days like these.

**The other day I was cleaning the garage to make room for my car and I noticed mouse droppings on some of our furniture.  I haven't bought any mousetraps yet.  Today my son goes to the garage to get his boots on and they found the little rat inside of the dog food bag.  That would have scared me to death but my children want to adopt him as a pet now.  I guess I shouldn't take them to the store with me when I buy the mouse traps.

There you have it, the reason for my moodiness lately.  Hopefully tomorrow will turn out better.

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend.  It seems I haven't posted in forever but it just seems that the month of December seems to fly by in a wink.

Friday night Alysia was in the Madrigal Feast with her choir.  The entertainment for the night was wonderful and it was well worth the $15 ticket.  This is a big production that the high school puts on every year and I am sure that it is one that I will be attending for the next few years.  The yummy food consisted of wassail, DELICIOUS homemade whole wheat bread, ham, almondine green beans, fried potatoes, and spiced apples.  The dessert was a strawberry tart.  From what I ate of my meal it was yummy.  My daughter didn't get to eat before hand though so she kept coming up to the table as she was serving and getting bites of food for her and her friends.  The choir teacher's eye caughter her once but she survived the evening on little food and lots of singing.  Her friends were glad I was there too to share the food.

Saturday I spent the day cleaning the house and runnign some errands and then had the company of Ashley and Brenna that evening.  Brenna brought over a gingerbread train for them to do and I bought a gingerbread house.  There were a lot of laughs for sure.  The train ended up crooked somehow and my chimney kept falling off my roof no matter how much icing I used to try to get it to stay.

Today I spent the day cleaning up from the mess we made last night and then did some more Christmas shopping and clothes shopping for our Christmas card pics.  It is my goal to get the pics of the family done this week so that I can get the cards done and in the mail.  I'm just trying to decide on the best spot to take them.  We are going to take them at our new house and I am deciding on the front porch, although I need it to look a little more Christmasy or in front of the tree.  We may do both and see which turns out best. 

It looks like this week will prove to be busy like the past few.  We have a birthday party to plan for a 15 year old and all of the other obligations that seem to pop up during this month.  Somewhere in there I'll get some baking done.

Happy Holidays!

This Is The Only Wire Hanger Allowed In My House, Seriously

I am sure that all of you know the famous Ms. Crawford  thanks to "Mommy Dearest".  Call me a little crazy but I have to admit that I really liked that show when I was little.  Maybe I see a little of her crazy in my when I don't take my little white pill :)  To this day I DESPISE wire hangers and my daughter never understood why until she watched that movie.

Anyways,  I found this Eddie Ross wreath thanks to a friend of mine's blog and I have to make it.  I think it is adorable and seems so easy to make.  Go to http://www.eddieross.com/eddie_ross/2008/12/no-wire-hangers-well-maybe-just-one.html for the instructions

I am going to go to the local Dollar Store tomorrow and attempt to make one.  I will post a pic of mine when I am done.  I only hope it turns out like this pic!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

This has been one long day.  We bought a 12', yes a 12' Christmas tree last night from Hobby Lobby.  They only had one left and it was the display so that is the one that we got.  We brought it home and got it up and there were some electrical issues with it and not all of the lights would work.  I'm not kidding when I say there were about 50 that were sporadically burnt out.  So we decided, after a lot of contemplation to take it back and get another smaller one.  There was another one that we really liked but the kids and dad REALLY wanted a BIG tree.  So this is the tree that we ended up with and I have to say that I couldn't be happier.  This picture does not do the tree justice!  It is absolutely beautiful and it isn't even decorated yet.  It has real looking snow on it with berries and pine cones.  I absolutely love it!!!  I can't wait for Santa to visit!!

Lollipop Lollipop!

I couldn't resist posting these photos of Parker trying out his very first sucker!  I was very cautious with this with him being in his high chair with me RIGHT beside him.  He absolutely loved it!!  Parker doesn't eat candy so this was his first taste of heaven!  My oldest son eats too much candy and so I have made it a point to limit what Parker has.  It's hard to break once they are addicted.  None the less a lollipop every now and then never hurt anybody!!

Thankfulness - My Cup Runneth Over

WOW - our family has had an amazing, crazy, busy two weeks.  First we started with the selling of our home and our move into our new ABSOLUTELY, FANTASTICAL, WONDERFUL home!  Can you tell I love it?  Brian has said soooo many times how comfortable he is in our new surroundings.  After having him fight a move out of Kansas City and into Tonganoxie for a long time, those comments are very accepted by me.  I am relieved that he is as happy as the rest of us.  First off my drive to take the kids to school couldn't be any easier.  We are only two minutes from the schools.  No more driving for 20 minutes each way.  I will have so much more time to do other things during the day.  We are so thankful that God blessed the selling of our other home and the purchase of the new one.  I don't think the process could have been any smoother.

Our daughter Alysia has been practicing her little tush off for the Beauty and the Beast play at school.  They have been practicing for 6 weeks sometimes until 10 or 10:30 at night, almost every night of the week.  I even think James was beginning to miss her although he wouldn't admit it.  This past weekend all of the kids' hard work paid off in four performances.  I must say that the kids of Tonganoxie High School are a very talented bunch.  I give kudos to the drama department for putting on such wonderful plays and also to the students!  They put in hard work but had a blast putting it all together.  Alysia is sad to know that she will not get to hang out with her new "family" after school anymore.

My hubby has had an amazing week to say the least.  He has been reunited with his long lost daughter whom he has never met and is 16 years old.  She pursued looking for him and his family and succeeded. Needless to say Brian has been on cloud nine.  He has waited for this day for so long and it seems Brenna has too.  I am soooo thankful that they finally got to meet and pray that their relationship continues to grow.  She seems like an amazing young woman and I can't wait to meet her also.

Parker is a little fire ball that is always on the go.  He is so close to walking I know it will be any day.  He has been such a happy baby lately and I love how he can make himself laugh.  The other day when he was playing by himself, he would fall back and hit his head on a pillow and crack up.  It was one of those moments though where I didn't get my camera quick enough.  Hearing him laugh brings a HUGE smile to my face.  I can't wait to see his personality emerge as he grows into who he will become in the next year or two.  They change so much during this time and I can't wait to cherish each moment as it comes.

Poor James through all of this has been fighting sicknesses.  When we moved he had a fever of around 102 for about three nights straight.  Crazy thing; it was only at night.  During the day he was completely fine and there were no other symptoms.  Then that got better and then he started having to use his inhaler because his asthma started acting up.  He hasn't had complications with that for a couple of years so that caused some concerns.  A trip to the Dr. showed that he was fine though.  Then when the kids were out of school last Friday, poor James was home vomiting all day long.  He laid on the couch and didn't do anything for 2 1/2 days.  I didn't know my cannon ball could sit that long and sleep so much so I knew that he was really sick.  He missed school yesterday and I think enjoyed hanging out with Mom and Dad that this morning he tried to pull the old "my throat still hurts" line.  Needless to say he is on the mend and back at school hanging with his buddies as we speak.

There you have it; an update since I haven't been on in a couple of weeks. The next few weeks will prove to be more exciting as we move through the holiday season.  Brian and I will be having Thanksgiving at our house this year with the family and I can't wait!

Need Some Extra Christmas Money?!

I get a lot of people that ask me about what kind of work I do out of my home, therefore I have posted the links on here to direct you to some of the work at home sites that may or may not be hiring.  I have been doing transcription for about three years now and I love it.  There is no medical transcription that I do but if you have experience in that field then there will be more demand for your services.  It provides a little of the extra income I want or more that I may needed depending on the situation.  I can work as little or as much as I want.  It truly has been a blessing for me and I encourage you to check it out if it is something that you may be interested in.

Each of the links to the right that lists work at home sites are legitimate.  They have all been researched and I have applied for many of them myself.  My advice would be to apply to as many as you can.  When you start getting calls or emails back you can see what fits your schedule the best and decide who to contract with.

Best of luck and if I can answer any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.