Merry Christmas!

Nothing beats Christmas Eve as a parent! I love it! :) We've had a fun-filled day with friends, good food and fun times! And now, for my favorite part...I love finishing up the wrapping and getting everything in place! The excitement of Christmas is always so magical! Though not quite the giddy anticipation of years past...it's the preparing and excitement of seeing my own sweet kiddos so excited that they can barely sleep! I love it!!!

So, here's to wishing all of you a very merry Christmas! I hope your day is wonderful as we truly celebrate the most special miracle of all!

Mom??? Mom who???

Yesterday I was helping out in Ethan's nursery class. I thought this would be a great thing since he has been a bit hesitant about going lately. Honestly, he is so beyond tired by the time nursery time rolls around on Sundays, that he is beside himself and really doesn't want to be there. I'm hoping that our new 8:30 am schedule in January will solve this problem...but who knows...maybe I just have wussy kids!

So anyway, I'm in nursery with him for the entire 2 hours this week and still the poor boy is standing at the door crying and wanting to leave! Seriously, doesn't he know that I'm right there? And then I hear what he is actually saying in between his heart-wrenching sobs. 'Dad. Dad." When I scoop him up and explain that Daddy is in class and won't be back for a little bit, he walks back to the door and starts a new chant..."Woody, Woody. Dad. Woody." Ahhhh, my poor boy is obsessed with cowboy Woody from Toy Story! He watched a bit with Garrett this week and is completely smitten! Anytime the TV is on...he is chanting "Woody...Woody!" Except that it sounds more like "Wooey...Wooey!"

But seriously...Dad and Woody??? I'm standing right there?!?! Don't I amount to any sort of comfort for the poor boy! Does he really have to resort to fictional computer-generated characters to ease his troubles??? :) Ahhhh...the joys of motherhood are endless!

Out of the blue...

Picture this:

Garrett is just getting home from school. We're sitting in the kitchen getting a snack...and this is how the conversation progresses...

G - Hey Mom?

Me - Yeah?

G - Do you have Kaitlyn's phone number?

Me - (completely dumbfounded!!!!) Um...Kaitlyn in your class??? Nope, I don't have her number.

G - Oh......Okay.......We should get it sometime.

Me - Uh...okay. Good idea. Why do you want to call Kaitlyn? (he's never asked to call ANYONE before...let alone a GIRL!!!)

G - Uh, I don't know. I just do.

Me - Oh...okay. (again...not much to say as I am still picking my jaw up off the counter!)

G - Mom? You know what...Kaitlyn never has anything healthy in her lunch. She only has treats!

Me - Hmmm...that's interesting. (while I am secretly wondering if he is going to try and convince me that I am the only mother out there who insists that her boy eats some sort of fruit or veggi with his noon meal??? I don't think so!!!)

G - (now deep in thought) I wonder what she's going to bring tomorrow?

So, I've completely convinced myself that he was only concerned for her health...that is the only reason my little boy is in any way interested in calling a girl. Either that or he was going to try and have her bring a second pop tart for him too! Hardly likely...but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Never mind the fact that this little girl is adorable! AAAHHHH...my life is over! I don't know if I'll be able to handle the rest of motherhood...I think I may have only been cut out for the 0 to 5 year old stages! Age 6 just might push me over the edge...how am I ever going to handle the teenage years?!?!

Maybe I can keep the girlfriends at bay if I keep posting goofy pictures on the blog...like this one, when he was running full speed towards me after a little face painting at the children's museum! I'll have to see what I can dig up next!!!

Brrrr...

Is it wrong to love two men?!?!? Well of course it is...but honestly, LOVE is the only word that can describe how I feel about our friendly CenterPoint worker who knocked on our door last night at 11:30 pm responding to our call about the gas being out. I LOVE THAT GUY!!! How could you not???

Great night for the gas-line to go out...coldest night of the year...snow coming down...our house temperature already dropping degree by degree before our very eyes and the whole neighborhood's gas pressure being touch-and-go!!! Poor Steve was going crazy trying to figure out our furnace...our fireplace...anything that would provide some heat since he knows I am absolutely the biggest baby in the world when it comes to being cold!!! So needless to say, I love you too, honey...you are amazing and truly the only love in my life!!! :)

A big THANK YOU Mr. CenterPoint for all your help...and for not neglecting us after reporting that our gas would be out until the morning. Thank you for coming back and ringing our doorbell once again at midnight to have us try lighting things up again and for climbing up our attic ladder to get heat pumping to our freezing house! :) And most importantly, for being cheerful about it! I can't think of too many people who would be honestly happy to be tromping around in the snow trying to solve an entire sub-division's gas-line mystery on a cold December night! So thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

A Christmas Miracle

Will wonders never cease??? This is what we got to enjoy last night!

We saw a few flakes and bundled up as fast as we could to enjoy our magical winter weather -aka a few snowflakes mixed in with freezing rain! Little did we know it would turn into a real snow and last all night long!

I made Steve go outside with me around midnight to take pictures! And surprise, surprise...this was my favorite shot! I am including a lame one of me that he got while I was in the middle of a crazy pose...just so I can claim that I am fair in my blog picture posting goofiness...equal opportunity...that's what we're all about! :)

And one more...sorry to bore you! But I had to post a picture of our Christmas lights. Yes...we've only done one level...but this is a good start for us since I had to BEG and PLEAD for the lights at all. Steve...while being the most un-scroogey person I know, thinks holiday decorations are ridiculous when put up on a green lawn and a roof-top completely devoid of snow! Okay, so he's not really too anti-lights, and I didn't have to beg too much for those...but those big blow up snowmen or Santa's...that's another story! And to be honest, the night that we did put up our lights...Garrett and I managed to break quite a few bulbs between the two of us...so I need to go buy some replacements anyway before anyone is going to be climbing up on the roof...so really it's my partly my fault that we're only halfway to our full lighting capacity!!! Regardless, maybe it's possible to get our house decorated since we proved last night that a white Christmas just might be possible here in Texas!

Angels among us...

I have a dear sweet friend who lost her little girl yesterday. My heart is aching for them. My faith is strengthened as I watch their family handle such tragedy and heartache with such amazing grace. I thank them for their faith, their eloquence, their kindness and their love that they managed to share with anyone who tried help them during this experience. Whenever I was able to be of any service to this sweet family, I left their home feeling as though I had been in the midst of angels and that I was the one being served...not the other way around as I had intended it. I am grateful for the knowledge I have of our Heavenly Father's plan. I am grateful to know that families can be forever and that this amazing family will be together again. I am grateful to hug my own sweet boys a little tighter and watch them as they grow one day older. I am grateful for the sweet comfort the spirit provides at times such as these when you feel as though you've been turned inside out. I am grateful to be able to pour my heart out in prayer and know, with a surety, that my Father in Heaven hears me. I am grateful to see that faith and knowledge sprout in my young children and I pray that they will hold to that faith with all their might. I am grateful to have known sweet Sarah...she touched our family in a special way with her sweet smile, her love of baby Ethan as she would find him every Sunday and rock his carseat and talk to him, and by her amazing courage and faith through this experience.

Literal Stockings

Well, I guess that's what their name implies!!!