Christmas 2010

So it is December 30th and I am finally getting around to posting Christmas memories for this year. I am behind. Go figure.

K was so excited for Christmas. This is really the first year that he has understood from beginning to end what is going on. Miss Allison at his preschool gave him a picture of a tree and some foam stickers as an advent calendar. So we had the countdown each day that caused some excitement. The week before Christmas he had his school party. Miss Allison had the kids draw names and he couldn't have been more excited to give his little gift to his friend. It was so sweet to watch how excited he got. Then a couple of days before Christmas, he said that he wanted to get something for Daddy, T, Grandma, and Uncle D. I suggested that he might want to get a present for D too if he was going to do that. He sighed and said okay. He picked out the presents he wanted for each person (which just happened to be things he wanted for himself...Reese's PB Cups, etc.)and was so excited to wrap them and put them under the tree.

Christmas morning came and excitement reigned.

We were blessed to have good friends and family that helped us this year and because of them our kids had a marvelous Christmas! We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the people we know and of people we don't know. We are blessed!

December 2nd, 2010

Okay, so the baking season has started at our house. We've got the first family party coming up on Saturday. One of the traditions is to exchange goodie boxes. So my mom and I are doing a few things each and then splitting the batches. Baking season is a fun time for me in usual circumstances. However, things have gotten a little more complicated since I gave birth 6 weeks ago to T. Since D and T are so close in age, I'm a little overwhelmed. So the plan is to just bust out the breads and candies tomorrow while B is home from work. Then Saturday can be dedicated to cookies.

Not only do we have the party this weekend, but T's blessing is this weekend. I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I've got to do the baking this weekend, plus make as much as I can of the dinner ahead of time. That way no one will have to wait too long for food after church is over. *big sigh* I am overwhelmed, but I thrive on stuff like this. I do much better all around when I am busy, busy, busy. To the point of insanity busy.

Today was preschool day for K. Apparently he got in a fight (again) with a little friend there. I talked with his teacher and she said they just feed off of each other. Today it was K's fault. He just walked up and knocked over this kids blocks. Next thing they were rollling on the floor. Ugh, I just do not know what to do with that child.

To end on a positive note, B's last day at Walmart is tomorrow. *HUGE sigh* He will be home in the evenings for the month of December. Then it is school. It will be nice to have him home for a little while.

Mama's Holiday Wish List

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
My honest wish is for B to get a job that pays the bills. This last year has been hard with him losing his job and (thankfully) getting a new one that doesn't pay enough for us and the boys.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
Well, we are just getting into the tradition end of things with our little ones (K, our oldest, is just 3) but we wait for Grandma to come to the house, then we read the Christmas story and let the little ones loose!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
Hmmm...I think I would ask for a Shelby Mustang. I'm a car girl and have always loved the Shelby. Even though I wasn't born yet, I still haven't forgiven my dad for selling his. I'm sure that even in the womb I was horrified when he did that!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
We have a tradition that every year we perform acts of service as a Christmas gift for my mom. It makes us focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place and is the thing that we remember about the holidays.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
My family wasn't a big gaming family. The only one I remember us even trying was Chutes and Ladders. Games just didn't work for us. But once I married B (who comes from a big gaming family) our favorite games have been Settlers of Cataan, Ticket to Ride, and anything Mario related!

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
We always opened one present on Christmas Eve. It was always pajamas. Even though we knew what it was going to be, it was still exciting to open that gift.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
Hmmm...that's hard. I like being home for Christmas. I suppose that if we were to go somewhere, I would pick a warm cabin in the mountains with all of our favorite people.

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

Definitely Active 2 for the Wii, Xbox 360 with Kinect, and Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure (Always got to keep the 3 year old in mind).