Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes . . .

It's sooooo quiet in here. Silent. Eerie. Except for the soft chuffing of my dog, Bella, as she hefts her weight into a different position behind my chair. And the distant whine of a police siren. Hmmm . . . and the clickety clack of my keys. And of course, there is the racket inside my own head: A million thoughts running a thousand miles an hour and yet drowned out by David Bowie's voice echoing inside my brain, singing 'Turn and Face the Strange - Changes . . . Ch-ch-ch-changes!'.

That's right folks, things they are a-changin around here. A lot. Where to start?

RILEY - In my search for the answer to 'What am I gonna do with Riley next year?', I happily found a solution at a church where both little ones used to attend Mothers Day Out (a hundred years ago before I went back to work and then came back home, etc.) and where Riley and I also attend a Moms group twice a month. This church offers a 3 day program called 'Transitional Kindergarten' which will be perfect next fall for my late-fall-birthday-munchkin-who-will-be-almost-six-when-he-goes-to-big-school-finally. It's more academically intensive than a traditional Pre-K and aligned with our districts curriculum so he should be very well prepared when he does finally get to follow his brothers into the world of academia. Technically I think he's supposed to be 5 by Sept. 1st for this program too, but they seem to be overlooking that detail for us. I guess that is the advantage of a private school, and knowing people. And, well, it doesn't hurt that when Riley was just 6 weeks old he played the starring role of 'Baby Jesus' in the 4 night production of the huge church choir Christmas pageant production at this particular church. Celebrity will really get you somewhere if you let it! LOL!

Anyway, during this process we wanted to make sure that Riley was going to be ready for the 'more' of the T-K program. I am sure it will be fine, but if he went in today, he would be very overwhelmed. We talked alot about the differences between the 4's class which is regular Pre-K and this one. So then I asked the most loaded question ever . . 'What if . . .?' and landed Riley in an open spot for Pre-K for the spring semester so there is no question of his readiness in the fall for T-K. And that sounds really wonderful and like I am a prepared and thoughtful mother with Riley's cognitive preparedness being my biggest concern. But here's the truth of the matter - this kid is BORED! He needs out of the house a little bit. So, today Riley started Pre-K for 2 days a week. He'll be going on Monday and Wednesday each week (Wed/Fri this week because of our start date) with the possible expansion to 3 days a week next month depending on a few different circumstances. Hence - the QUIET! Well, quiet except for the pounding of my Boxer's entire body against the back door to let me know he's ready to come back inside because a simple scratch on the door is just not sufficient and one must surely need to announce their presence by running at full speed across the entire yard and then hurtling into glass to get mom's attention. Other than that - quiet.

When people hear that I am putting Riley into school now, in February, I get asked 2 questions.

First - Why didn't you start him in the fall?

Lot's of reasons. Selfishly, I wanted Riley to myself a little bit because the time we've had alone has been pretty limited over the years. He's probably my last baby and I wanted to enjoy having a little munchkin home with me for as long as I could get away with it. I might have done it for a one-day-a-week program, but those aren't offered at this age. Frugally, this kid is home for another whole year and that's a lot of preschool to pay for (even with Scott's work reimbursement program which ensures that we don't pay for very much of this whole process) when I am home all day anyway. Again, might have done it for the one day thing, but not available. And Peevishly, I was kinda annoyed because Riley was only a few weeks shy of turning four at the beginning of the semester, but no one would consider putting him in anything other than a 3 year old class or starting him there and moving him up at the semester break after he turned 4 or anything. Waiting until now, when he is 4 seems to have turned the tide (at least at some of the schools) and enabled him to go in the 4 year old class. Granted, he'll be the youngest one in there, but he is also the youngest child and 'knows' more at this age than either of the other two did.

I left him happily figuring out the center system and choosing between gluing pretzel sticks down on outlines of big P little p or tracing and coloring the letter P at another table. He did try and hide in my leg for about 20 seconds while we got settled in, but that was entirely for my benefit. This munchkin was super pumped! I kissed him and he turned to the enrichment and challenges immediately. The thing he was most excited about was that I bought him a lunch box and he got to take his lunch to school like his brothers. He also thought it was pretty cool that he was taking a paint shirt to school and that he gets to go to the library every week to borrow a book like Scooter does.

Second Question - Heather, what are you going to do with all that time? Friend - you are looking at it. Haha! Just kidding, although I can see already that this is going faster without having to stop and fill a milk cup, find a toy or change the input mode on a tv. Honestly, I don't know yet! It is going to be nice to get stuff done faster, but it will also be strange and even though I have more time on my hands with no kids, my daily schedule will actually be abbreviated. Riley goes from 9-2 and when he's with me my 'available' time is really 8-2:45. For today, though, it's blogging then running an errand (place doesn't open until 10) and then running off to work for a while. Plus laundry and prepping dinner. Not too different from when Riley is home really. I am looking forward to having time to better prep my grocery coupon shopping without having to ignore my kids for 2 hours to do it. Also, shopping at multiple stores to get better deals will be easier without having to load and unload a kid in the process. And there are also some changes for me in the works for the fall, but we'll get to all that later.

TYLER - Where did the childhood part of this life run off to? Ach! Tyler's Junior High acceptance letter came home with him yesterday. He did not get his first choice of schools, but his second. (Insert a private grumble for me here because it's the furthest from home of the three options, not FAR, but further) Now, let me be clear - it's a Magnet school with an emphasis in Math, Science & Leadership and it's the top rated Junior High in the district. This is the second choice, the runner up, right? But, it wasn't his first choice which is also a Magnet and the one where his Orchestra teacher works and his Art teacher and most of his friends are going there. Although - I don't think Tyler cares that his friends will be there so much as he doesn't get why everyone else he knows got their first choice of school and he didn't. And honestly, the friend of his that I like the most and think is the best influence on him will be at the same school as Tyler. This makes me feel good even though I know that there are any number of new and improved bad influences awaiting him at any Junior High he may attend. Anyway, per Tyler's request I have put a call into the placement office to find out 'why' and if there is a possibility of change. I don't expect to get a call back since he did actually choose this school as a possibility and they have much bigger issues to deal with. I am working with Tyler on the idea of acceptance and thought my parents (who we met for ice cream to soothe feelings last night) and I had made some headway. Right up until Tyler told me this morning that he was going to talk to the Orchestra teacher (who adores him) and see if she could 'pull some strings' for him.

Okay - this would annoy me, but honestly that is really the lesson he learned this week at Enterprise City. EC is this cool thing that all 6th graders in our district get to do each year. They get assigned jobs, salaries, bosses and rules. They have to keep a checkbook, get a paycheck and make deposits and write checks/get cash and complete certain tasks and purchases without getting overdrawn. They have to take out business loans and make enough money to pay them back and hopefully have a profit afterwards. I was a volunteer and I couldn't believe how fast the day went. Teach kids the free enterprise system, supply and demand, etc. is the goal. My son was an attorney who spent his day being hired to argue friends cases in front of a judge to lower fines issued by police officers for walking on a green square in the middle of the room that was the town 'grass'. Here's the lesson these kids learned - it's not what you know, it's who you know. One of Tyler's best friends was a judge and he always did better on his cases with that judge than the other one and he had a better record than the other attorney who didn't know either judge well. Our kids got an extension on their first loan payment due because one of Tyler's buddies was the bank president. When the fines were lowered to a point that hiring a lawyer was a pointless endeavor, the 'Accountant' in his office went to talk to her best friend, the Mayor, to get them raised again and help with their supply/demand problem. So why wouldn't Tyler think that it was a good idea to ask someone to grease a squeaky wheel? He just learned that lesson big time on Monday.

Pause for inundation of photos. Tyler's friends, the judge and bank president, are in here too as well as some good ones of Tyler arguing cases and one of all the kids in our office trying to figure out how to balance their checkbook, fill out deposit slips and endorse their paychecks. The whole thing was just amazing to see come together. I am very glad I got to be there. It also didn't hurt that the Judge's father is a friend and was the official photographer for the day. City Hall was 2 doors down from us with the bank across the hall. Our boys dominated the 1000+ photos he took. Oh - and the tie was Tyler's idea. He made Scotty teach him how to tie it himself and then practiced over and over and over again the night before. He told me his Uncle Matthew had taught him once that if you do something 3 times it becomes part of your short term memory and if you do it 7 times it becomes part of your long term memory and he did not want to forget how to tie a tie. That's good because Scott leaves for work before the rest of us get up and I could not have helped him since I don't have a clue . . .













Tyler's also heard a lot lately about how hard/bad/miserable/tortuous Junior High can be. He's getting it from everywhere, including teachers. I have been guilty of this myself, even indicating to him that the key to surviving the next two years was to keep his head down and get through it. When he told me I made it sound like a war zone I had a parenting reality check. Ooops. Okay, so really it's just there are so many changes going on at this time - physically, emotionally, socially, academically - it's hard for everyone, but you'll be fine sweetie and there are also some really good times to be had and you get to become even more of your own person! Yay! Note to self: Limit the number of middle school horror stories you tell around the house to bare minimum. Do not let your own horrific memories overshadow your child's experiences. Right. Ch-ch-ch-changes.

And SCOOTER - please don't let this be a jinx, but guess what????? Scooter is walking into school on his own! Without being pushed, pulled or cajoled or anything! I kinda used the 'Riley's going to school soon and I don't have time for this kinda stuff' as the first prod. Then I got lucky and while I was trying to put my foot down, Mrs. Crump had door duty last week. When she realized what I was doing on Monday afternoon, she told Scooter that I was no longer allowed to step off of the grass/dirt and onto the concrete anymore. (We were parking alongside the school and walking up the grassy slope from the side to the door.) This really stressed him out, but the next morning I refused to step off of the mud and onto the concrete and I just lifted him over onto the steps and Mrs. Crump grabbed him and took it from there. Wednesday morning it was pouring rain for the second day in a row. I announced that we absolutely could not walk through all that mud to get to the door and pulled into the school drop off circle. This, of course, has been the goal all along. I want to eventually not have to get out of the car myself, but we work in baby steps with Scooter so I parked along the left hand 'parking' side and walked him across past the 'drive-thru' side and up to the steps. Well, really we ran because it was raining still. I stopped at the bottom of the steps and refused to go up. Scooter wouldn't go up, so I lifted him to the top step, Mrs. C grabbed his arm and I turned and left. Thursday morning I told him it was still muddy and we were doing it again. This time, when we got to the base of the stairs, he went up while holding my finger, but I stayed down. When he discovered this, he tried to turn around and come back to me, but Mrs. C. said 'No, Scott, we had a deal remember?' and he turned and walked inside. I never heard what the deal was as my son told me later he only went in because it was rainy.

So Friday morning arrived and it was sunny and dry, but it was also 'Popcorn Friday' - the first of the year for Scooter. He kept asking me to give him his quarter for popcorn, but I put him off until I parked in the circle. Then I told him I would give him his quarter at the door. We walked to the stairs, he held my fingers until he got to the top and I handed him his quarter, told him to not lose it and put it in his pocket and he turned and walked inside. All weekend I told him how excited about that whole experience I was. But there was a weekend in between Friday and Monday and Mrs. C. isn't on door duty this week. But I was a busy mom on Monday, going to EC with Tyler and so in my busyness I convinced him we had to keep this up and he went in like a dream. Yesterday, Riley watched us do it again with absolutely no prodding. When I got back in the car I asked Riley if he saw that (he's always distressed by Scooter's behavior) and he said 'Yessss! He did it!'. This morning Scooter kept telling me I had three drop offs and that was a lot and he did it again. Mrs. Crump happened by just after he walked over the threshold and had a good laugh over my little celebration dance in the middle of the walkway.

Wow - it only took five months and some rain. Isn't it sad that this was the first time all year we had enough rain to make the grass muddy? If it had rained last fall maybe we wouldn't have had this problem for so long. Anyway, I know Scooter will be fine now because he knows he can do it. I will give him a couple weeks of this phase and then start backing off the letting-go-of-my-hand point. The curb is only 25 feet from the door, but I know the hardest thing will be getting out of the car by himself. We'll get there eventually though.

Okay - that's it for now, and let me tell you that's enough! I'm tired, honey, and it's early. Maybe my first day of no-kid-ness should include a nap. Doubtful though.

Enjoy your day and God Bless!

January Lull or Jamaican Reward?

There's always a lull in January, right? Wrong. January is turning out to be a lot busier than I expected. I always think of January as being the slowest month of the year. It's usually cold and filled with boringness and recuperating from the holidays. It's the month we use to EASE into the new year and everything else we need to do. Instead of calm nothingness, when I glance at my calendar right now I am gripped with anxiety over details I might be missing or meetings and phone calls I might be forgetting. It's so full, and it's only January!

What happened? I'll tell you what happened - Life! Instead of just one child in school, I now have two. For some reason Tyler's science project (see past posts on how much I dread and hate this project) had an abbreviated due date schedule so the whole thing had to be approved, planned, written, executed and then made ready for presentation in less than 2 weeks. His REACH independent research project that is due in April and not normally assigned until late February or early March is already in mid-research stage and requiring some extra time. Tyler is playing basketball and the first game was Saturday so weekly games & practices are added to our once a week swimming lesson schedule.

There's more, of course. I won't go into all the details right now, but let's just say that the junior high selection/application/program application/pre-AP/everything under the sun information meeting & application process (they have to apply for like EVERYTHING) is more involved than I went through to get into college. Seriously. And it's all happening RIGHT NOW. There is even an interview process in here! The good news is I think there might be a short lull between all the acceptance (hopefully not denials) dates and the actual enrollment/schedule selection process in late spring during which he will take his STAARS (or STARS or STARRS or whatever) tests. For those of you not living in the great Lone Star State - this is our new standardized test which is replacing TEKS which replaced TAKS which replaced TASP and way back in the day when I went to school it was SRA??? I think it was TASP in high school, but we didn't have as many levels in elementary school so who knows.

Tyler is great at taking tests so new format/old format doesn't make much difference to him. Content doesn't make a big deal of difference either. He just lets it roll right off of his back - usually. Until the other day when he came home alarmed. Because his teachers and principal were alarmed. And rightly so. . .

. . .Once upon a time I had an absolute hissy fit when I realized that my fourth grader was never going to get further instruction on how to write in cursive than the 6 week session he got in 2nd grade. When I called the school to find out why this was being let go I was told that the state of Texas didn't require it because we live in the information age and these kids were not going to write anything anyway, they were only going to type. Ahem. Further research revealed that the TAKS or TEKS or whatever required only that the writing section be 'legible' and print/cursive didn't matter. I also learned from teachers in the family that how much emphasis got put on handwriting had to do with how important it was to the school's principal. Our principal didn't care. I could write an entire blog about my problems with all of this, but let me sum up: My son cannot sign his own name, my son cannot read my handwriting so I must still print for him and he turns 12 in a couple of months, we are raising an entire generation that will not be able to read a primary history source and will have to take handwriting as a foreign language in college, and if it's all about the keyboarding then why haven't they spent more than 20 minutes once every 6 days teaching my kid how to type (those are the tech days and they do all the tech then, not just typing) so that his only two options are printing and hunt-peck???? . . .

I decided I would teach him, but his interest level was below zero so it wasn't a successful venture. Now, though, word has come down that although printing will be 'accepted' on the STARS test - cursive is preferred once a child reaches a certain level and points may be deducted, etc. I don't know if it's true or not, but it has the teachers and the principal freaked out and more importantly it has Tyler freaked out. He doesn't want to lose points for something aesthetic. So now his interest level has peaked. Since I refuse to have children graduating from high school that can't write, I am very pleased. I am also frustrated because in his minimal spare time I have to help him master this skill by April. Seriously though - won't they want cursive in JH & HS? It will be much faster for taking notes, which is what I keep telling him.

I am totally freaked out that Tyler is going to Junior High next year, but it's NEXT YEAR, so where is my year to prepare myself mentally? It was only a whopping 2 months because all this info started coming home in late October. I am totally overwhelmed and so not ready for the next stage. The next stage is going to be crazy and hectic and I don't know what. It looks like I will have 3 kids at 3 different schools next year. That's 3 different drop offs and pick ups before anything else gets thrown in the mix. Can you say taxi mom?

Which brings me to the rest of the stuff filling up my calendar. I have Scooter's first parent-teacher conference on Thursday and he is supposed to be reevaluated on the Autism spectrum again next month (since that's the only scale the state has for him with Sensory issues). Tyler has another concert next week and on the 30th I get to spend an entire day as a chaperone for 'Enterprise City'. Tyler has decided to run for Mayor of Enterprise City and has to have a speech ready by Friday. I have 2 meetings this week to explore Pre-K options for Riley in the fall and somehow I have inherited the job of 'care group leader' at one of my moms groups (please pray for me that I will be better at passive listening and not such an agressive active listener, something I am always working on and struggling with!). Oh and there's a pre-AP information meeting next week. And I am working on filing my very first homeowners claim that just might lead to a new roof and possibly some paint on my very orange house.

In the midst of all of this chaos I took Riley for a speech evaluation with the district, but he is starting to correct some of his articulation issues on his own. We have a list of things to work on and then if it isn't better by April I should bring him back to get him enrolled in their 'small talk' program next fall. I've been working and running and trying to fit everything in, including the house. I painted the insides of doorways that currently have no trim, caulked a bunch of doorways and windows in my house, painted the mantle (still needs one last coat) and then slapped some shiny black paint on both my front and back doors for a contrast to all the white and very light grey. Wow, it looks different, but soooo cool. And it's January so I will be doing a lot more bookkeeping and tax prep work for the next couple of months.

Shew! I am tired and it's only half way through the month. Maybe February will be slower. Hopefully it will at least have a little more structure as I have finally implemented a chore chart system for the kids. I never could get my head around how this could work with such different levels of ability, but I solved it by making most of the little guys lists about personal responsibility (clothes, teeth, bed, toys) but each kid has a daily task. They are pumped about it right now because it's new, but I already had to make changes. I had feeding the dogs as a rotating chore, but when it was Scooter's turn we had to completely shift gears. Somehow I forgot that he can't stand the smell of dog food and does a really good job of avoiding it most of the time. Forcing him to dig into a barrel of the stuff 3 times per week could probably be considered torture in his case. I doubt things are going to slow down though now that the two little ones are asking about spring soccer leagues and maybe baseball this summer. I better find some energy fast because if the rest of the year is anything like January is turning out to be, I am going to need it. And some coffee. And some wine. And maybe a trip to Jamaica. Just sayin . . .

Happy New Year . . .

Another new year. Tyler was born in early April of 2000 so basically I have had pretty tame New Year's celebrations for this entire century. I think I made it to midnight that year, but I haven't made it every year since. I am totally okay with that since I had my share of stupid, crazy New Year's celebrations when I was young, single and well, stupid. There is something about the last night of the year that makes us think we are invincible and anything can happen, at least when we are in our twenties. I certainly had some fun and memorable times for the holiday, but I also had some weird and uncomfortable ones that even now make my stomach hurt to think about them. I am so glad that I don't ever have to go back to that stage of my life! Shew!

This year, Scott and I spent the evening grilling steaks for ourselves, sipping our drinks and watching the 'Bourne' trilogy on Blu-Ray. Tyler was with his dad and we let the two little ones play until they dropped, both no later than 10:30. We made it to midnight (although at 8:30, it was doubtful for me, but a good movie will often give me a second wind), but we also kind of missed it. At one point we said '5 more minutes' and then there must have been a good Matt Damon action sequence, because the next thing I knew it was 12:04 and we were going 'Oh - we missed it, Happy New Year Sweetie' and exchanging our kisses. Scott only made it about 20 minutes through the 3rd movie, but since I am still taking a med that has a time release at night, I was good to go for the whole thing and stumbled to bed around 2 a.m. Overall it was a great New Year and I was so glad that we weren't going anywhere.

Just like when we were younger and we thought that New Year's Eve held so much potential, there is something about being in your 30's and having a family that turns New Year's Day and those that follow into an opportunity to 'fix' or 'improve' so much about our lives. We aren't big on New Years Resolutions around here, but we do tend to get organized, clean out some of our 'baggage' and think about what needs improvement. We usually set a few goals for the year for our family financially and spiritually, but nothing firm or unchangeable since we know from experience that things change in an instant. I am pretty big on not making any big promises to myself that I am sure to break, but I do spend some serious time thinking about things I would like to do just a little bit better. So, after I did some coupon shopping on Sunday I implemented a new savings tracker I had found on-line and downloaded so that I could keep better track this year of both what I spend on essentials and food and also what I save. I saved a lot of money last year, but I don't know exactly how much (just a ballpark) and I want to do even better this year and KNOW it! We watched a lot of football, organized and cleaned up a few things and waited for Tyler to come home.

Tyler left on Christmas Day at noon for a week with his dad and we really missed him. Christmas, by the way, had been fabulous. And HECTIC! But, really really wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve day at my mothers with my brother and his family. We hadn't been there long when Jocelyn followed her Grandpa without his knowledge and pulled his coffee off of a ledge and all over her. Luckily it wasn't scalding and she wasn't hurt badly, but it was hot and she was not happy. Mom remembered that flour was supposed to take the sting out and keep burns from blistering so we just plopped that baby in some flour.





She was fine, obviously, and she turned the flour into an adventure that had us all giggling. When we opened presents, my kids were pretty pumped up about their gifts from their Grandparents and Uncle, but Tyler's reaction to his big gift took the cake.



He was pretty happy with the Kindle he got, but when I explained to him that he wasn't just holding a Kindle, but a Kindle Fire and that his Grandparents had just given him a Tablet of his own. This was the reaction we got:



That evening we went to the Hensel Christmas Eve get together and the next morning the kids were pretty excited about their gifts under the tree.



And after they had opened all the goodies they found in the living room, they found a note from Santa telling them to take a peek in the garage where we found 3 brand new (and in 2 cases, much bigger) bikes for 3 little boys. It wasn't long before we were all outside checking them out. Luckily, Santa had also given them each a new helmet which I insisted had to be for a good reason, so I better always see them on heads!






After Tyler left for the week we went to Scott's mothers house to celebrate with his family too. Overall, my kids were more than spoiled in their own eyes, but I felt like Christmas was at just the right level. Bargain hunting throughout the year had ensured that I could spend more time putting thought into a few really great things for the kids and that they still felt like they had 'tons' to open. And even though the play room is well stocked for the year, I didn't feel like they got so much from everyone that they couldn't wrap their heads around it or that something wouldn't get played with. Everything has been special to them and enjoyed so far.


Exhausted from the holiday, I hibernated most of the week. I cleaned and did laundry and let the kids play with their new things and didn't leave my house until Thursday. I ventured out briefly that day to get 2 or 3 coupon deals and buy dog food. And then on Friday I actually put makeup on again and loaded up the kids to go to the hospital to see new baby Caitlyn who was not even 24 hours old yet. This is one of my best friends, Mandy's second daughter. We are so glad that she is here and healthy. She is really, really petite and so adorable. Scooter talks about her a lot when we aren't around her, but won't go near her or speak when we are visiting. Riley, however, is fascinated and can't get close enough. We went to their house last night also so that Scott & Tyler could meet our new friend.








In the midst of taking down Christmas decorations and cleaning out last years files to prepare for the new year's documents I am so happy with the sounds filling my home. Tyler's return was met with excitement by the little ones and relief by his mamma. I always sleep better when everyone is under one roof. Scott left to watch his Cowboys at his cousins house just after Tyler got home, but the boys played well together for hours. After playing Transformers and Cars and who knows what else, Tyler got out a new lego set he had opened Christmas morning and let his brothers help him do the construction. This was a first as in the past this was Tyler's territory alone. Tyler built the plane and Scooter built the little maintenance vehicle that went with it. Riley helped find pieces and occasionally was still enough to help Tyler place a few pieces.








And then a little later, Scooter decided to show off his brand new Wii skills to his big brother. Tyler had tried teaching him Wii Sports before Christmas, but when Scooter got a little frustrated and wanted a break, Tyler had wondered if he was ready. I told him that there were 3 year olds I knew with better video gaming skills than me so he shouldn't worry. Last Friday night Scooter had insisted that he got to cash-in on a promised sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's house all by himself. Riley was really stressed out about this because he didn't think his dad and I would play with him and he would be bored. Silly kid. Anyway, for something different we moved the Wii back out to the living room and taught Riley how to bowl, sort of. When Scooter came home we played with him as well and within 5 minutes of his second go-round, he was on his way to being a pro. Riley likes to play, but he gets distracted easily and doesn't often finish a game. Anyway, Scooter & Tyler played, then all 3 of them played, then I joined in and then I sent the little guys to bed and beat Tyler at Wii Sports golf a couple times. It was fun.




Tyler & Scooter go back to school tomorrow. Part of me is ready for the return to routine even while the sane part of my brain rebels at the thought of the alarm going off in the morning. The neighborhood kids have been here just about every day playing with my kids new stuff and making it impossible to keep things picked up. I am kind of ready for Riley and I to have some quiet time. I still have to take down Christmas and work on the files in the office before I can get back to work on the house, but I am ready. And even though my new 2012 calendar is already filling up with swimming and basketball and appointments, I have no BIG plans for the next couple of months. I am looking forward to some calm, some quiet and some normal before I have to start figuring out how to celebrate 2 kids birthdays and what we are doing for Easter this spring.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope yours began as pleasantly as ours did and that you find peace, contentment and satisfaction in 2012!

Thanks and God Bless!

A Christmastime Update . . .

Stockings are hung, presents are wrapped, cookies are baked, floor is - well, passably clean. All is in readiness for the big day, or days in our case. The Barrow family is ready for Christmas.

Last week was a flurry of insanity, but since I was fueled by daily doses of a steroid to help me feel better - I literally took on the role of Energizer Bunny. Riley helped me mix up, roll out and shape dough for almost every cookie I baked. He was also a trooper helping me do mom's grocery shopping for our massive cookie party and switching out laundry and making beds. In the evenings when his patience had come to an end and he had some cranky or stubborn moments, I urged Scott to give him some leeway. He had earned leniency as far as I was concerned.

In the midst of our last week of school there was a holiday orchestra concert, basketball practice, two last swim lessons for the fall session and Scooter's Winter Party to attend. Teacher gifts started leaving our house on Tuesday for Tyler's REACH class and wrapped up on Friday with Tyler having to haul 4 gifts with him to school. The homemade options were a big hit with all the teachers, especially his male instructor. That had been a hard choice for us since we had never sent a teacher gift for a guy before, but I think we hit a home run. More on what we gave will come after Christmas - there are still aunts and uncles who haven't opened their precious homemade presents yet.

On Friday night, I left all my boys at home and drove to mom's house for party prep. Asheley and Perry had arrived from Austin with their dog, Kozmo, and my niece, Jocelyn, in tow. I hadn't seen Perry and Kozmo in almost 2 years except for an occasional glimpse on Asheley and my video chats. Kozmo attacked me immediately in all his small but furious furriness and then I got to hug Perry which was long overdue! We ordered pizza and chatted and laughed and prepped food, tables and dessert platters for the next morning. I called it quits sometime before ten and headed home to my sleeping family.

Scott had to work on Saturday so I was on my own with all 3 boys for the cookie party, but we managed to get up and ready and out the door on time. We swooped in and started setting up the rest of the decorating tables and putting out the food that was baking for our guests. The cookie party keeps growing and at one point that day I looked up and realized there was more than one person this year that I didn't know in attendance. That's fine - the more the merrier. It was a little tight for walking around this year, prompting a friend to recommend renting a hall for the gig next year. Santa made a second appearance this year and all the kids took a break from slathering cookies with frosting and sprinkles to sit on his lap and get a goodie bag. Last year Scooter sat and Riley wouldn't, this year it was reversed. Tyler spent the entire party playing with one of my friend's sons (the family we got Brewer from), Jacob, and asked for a goodie bag later.

Conveniently, I took my last steroid Saturday morning which got me through the chaos of the party and the major clean up we were left with, but once it was all over and I didn't have another boost to keep me going I started to experience the very expected crash. All the prep and work caught up with me. Mom and I found spots in recliners and put on a favorite movie, 'Little Women', to chill out to and sob to because, as mom said, 'we deserve it'. Tyler kept popping in and wondering why in the world we would want to watch a movie just to cry to it, but dad and Perry just told him it was a girl thing and to go with it. Scott arrived after work to find me laying in a chair under a blanket with Jocelyn snoozing in my lap and me crying happily to a sappy chick flick.

After dinner, we had a small Christmas with Perry, Asheley and Tara. The boys were excited about opening a few gifts from Austin and a couple from Grandma and Grandpa. The early gifting worked out so well and has kept the kids from going too crazy this week. Grandma and Grandpa gave all my kids the Star Wars full series on Blue Ray so Riley has watched a minimum of one Star Wars movie per day since then. Not like we didn't have the movies, but the DVD's were in rough shape and I have to admit the quality viewed on my big tv is pretty impressive. The boys are also enjoying their new spy gear binoculars and walkie-talkies. Tyler got his own cribbage board and is learning to play with all of us. Tyler spent the night at Grandma's house and laughed so hard he cried at his Uncle Perry's jokes. It was so nice they got a good chunk of time to reconnect. Scott and I took the little ones home to crash and get ready for church the next morning.

Sunday afternoon found me napping on the couch. This was a welcome respite since I had barely slept the week before, finding myself writing the PTA newsletter at 3 a.m. or washing dishes at the witching hour. Crazy Prednisone. Late in the afternoon we piled in the van and headed to Rowlett to spend some time with Uncle Greg & his family. We had a really fun evening eating pizza and cookies and playing a new movie trivia game that Greg had bought. Tyler and Valya wanted to keep playing, but after 3 rounds (a win each by mom, Greg & I) it was time to move on. We exchanged a few small gifts and really just enjoyed being together. I told Greg we would have to have another game night soon, but even he said we might have to work on how competitive we can be (Greg & I, that is!).

I was extremely surprised on Monday morning when my husband took a sick day from work. In six years of marriage, I think he has only taken one other day off because he wasn't feeling well. He had a stomach bug and I kept him isolated from everyone else while he healed and then disinfected the whole house. The last thing I need is everyone else sick this week, but so far we seem to have escaped the bug. Monday afternoon I attacked the play room with a vengeance. I cleaned, purged, organized and scrubbed. I was not only looking to have things neat and trimmed down before Santa arrives, but also to prepare for the eventual work that will be done in this room. After the holidays I will be back to work on the house and once my mantle is painted and base boards are in the living room I will begin the process of turning the play room into a pre-teen/teen room for Tyler. He has been very patient, sharing the massive front room with his brothers this year, but it is time for him to have his own special space - hopefully in time for him to start Junior High next fall.

Our Austin visitors headed back home on Sunday, but they left our precious Jocelyn here for a visit. How fun has it been to have her to ourselves! She stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, totally wearing them out, but I went out to help dad with her care on Tuesday and Wednesday. She is so sweet! She takes time to warm up, like my Scooter, but this week I really got to bond with her more. It's kind of freaky to me sometimes when she gives me a look just like her daddy, but I totally love it. Every once in a while she will run into your arms and when you pick her up she will snuggle into your neck and reach around to pat your shoulder. Her parents got in from Austin last night and Tyler chose to spend the night at Grandma's again - this time to have alone time with Uncle Matthew.

This week has been busy, but much more subdued than last week. I am thoroughly enjoying sleeping through the night again and I really love not having an alarm clock waking me up. Scott is off today since he worked on Saturday and as of now is still asleep, but that will change as soon as I finish writing. I have to do the regular grocery shopping today as well as grabbing the things we need to contribute to meals and get-togethers for the weekend. Then, we'll head to Rowlett on the just-opened-yesterday Tollway! I think this is going to cut a good ten minutes from my commute to mom's house and I am super pumped up about it! We'll hang out with family today and then Scott has to work again tomorrow.

The Christmas plan for us is chaotic as usual, but I think it should work out okay. We are attending Christmas Eve candle light services a night early at our church so as to leave room in the sanctuary for visitors on the actual day and also to give us more room for our schedule on Saturday. Scott's sister will drive in from Austin on Friday as well and I am sure we will see her that night at some point. On Christmas Eve we will have Christmas at my mom's house mid day with Matthew, Tara and the baby and then in the evening we will head to Scott's aunt's house for the annual Hensel party. On Sunday, we will send Tyler off mid-day to his dad and his other family for their Christmas together and a full week with his little brother and sister. Brian has the whole week off and is looking forward to time with all 3 kids together. We will spend the afternoon and evening with Scott's family for dinner and gifts and just plain fun.

One of my bestest friends is due to have her baby soon and if she doesn't deliver by next Thursday, she will be induced. Can't wait to hold the new little one. Another dear friend is coming in on Wednesday from New Mexico to spend a day with me. I haven't seen her since she moved in June and I can't wait to hug her neck and spend a day just loving on her. A third friend just returned from a 2 week Hawaii vacation that included the Pearl Harbor anniversary celebrations and we'll have lunch one day so I can hear all about it. And all the while there will be no alarm clock! Woohoo!

Technically, I still have to prep my stocking stuffers for something close to 30 kids at Scott's family's massive Christmas Eve celebration and there is another tin of cookies to frost, but the cookies can be done next week - we have plenty to eat for now. Still, we are ready. The kids are playing well together this week and they aren't driving us too crazy waiting for gifts. They are enjoying the culmination of our Jesse tree stories as we move into the Nativity stories and now will happily announce Jesus' birthday as the reason for Christmas.

All this chaos is so worth it. I am so grateful for the season and for it's reason - Jesus. I hope you are all ready to enjoy your families and your Christmas celebrations, whatever they are.

God Bless you all and Merry Christmas!

A little Christmas Joy . . .

I haven't been feeling very well since Thanksgiving so it's been tough for me to keep up the Christmas-hectic pace that I am used to. I am having to let a lot of stuff go, but it hasn't bothered me too much as it just means the season is more simple.

In the midst of sinus headaches and a Texas Trash mini-disaster when I started my baking, I have had a lot of moments of pure joy with my kids. They are warming to the Jesse tree and our short devotional time together. We have to double up a lot when our schedules get the best of us, but the whole experience is making me want to find some other family devotional guide to do throughout the year. It's too much to think about an every night kind of a thing, but maybe we could commit to three times per week. It's something to consider.

Last week, I noticed that Scooter had suddenly stopped asking me to sing certain Christmas carols over and over and was singing them himself. I love listening to him and I finally got him to stand still so I could record this:




It's kind of repetitive and he misses a bunch of words, but I love it. After I stopped taping he said 'wait, I forgot a part' and had me record this:

Okay, the embed didn't work so try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ERlZRPiS4A&feature=g-upl

It's basically just him adding the 'making a list' part for 11 seconds then he's done.

Is there anything sweeter than that? By the way, the red blob on his face is a 'bear' that he got at school. I was kind of confused when he came out the door with red all over him, especially when I didn't see anyone else with a painted face in his class. Turns out it was a reward and he received the privilege of getting his face painted in the cafeteria by some high school kids with other children throughout the school who had been on their best behavior that day. 'I got to go do it because I was quiet and was working hard.' He told me they wanted to make his whole face a bear, but he only wanted one side done. I was shocked that he let a stranger into his personal space and a brush with paint near his face. That certainly has never happened before. I told him I was super proud of his effort to be more brave. He said it just tickled, it didn't hurt.

Since I haven't been feeling good, my sweet Tyler has stepped up quite a bit to help me. He keeps telling me to lay down and get some rest and he'll watch 'the kids'. It's so sweet, but it's usually around the time I need to be doing something for dinner. On Sunday afternoon, he saved me by manning the cookie press machine and squirting out the dough shapes for our favorite spritz cookies. Scooter did the sprinkles and I only had to rotate pans in and out of the oven and cookies to the cooling racks. Last night he offered to make me tea and brought me a steaming cup while I chilled out on the couch. He can be so thoughtful, and I am so grateful for his big, gentle heart. We are enjoying listening to him practice Christmas songs on his violin also in preparation for the winter concert this week. Aunt Asheley got to hear him through the phone the other night and was overwhelmed with his progress. She's anxious to hear it in person this week.

Riley surprised me today too. I sneezed on our way to MC and I suddenly heard 'Bless You Mama' from the backseat. I am pretty sure that was the first time he exhibited that kind of spontaneous concern despite being pretty good about pleases and thank you's on a normal basis. He is super loving and caring, but this is the first real evidence of a thoughtfulness without prompting, at least that I can think of. Anyway, it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. He's very pleased that his daddy finally figured out our tree topper issue last night and there is a lighted star on the tree. He had asked me about it every single day. And now that cookies are in the house, he has been asking me for a 'cookie break'.

Each boy (including Daddy) received a personalized video message from Santa on Friday. They were so cute to watch as they were surprised by Santa's knowledge of their lives. Riley nodded along with everything Santa said and even Tyler's eyes lit up at some of the details Santa knew. That was a fun day! Luckily, everyone was on the 'nice' list so far. Shew! What a relief!

I sure love these guys. I finally got our Christmas card together and printed yesterday so hopefully most of you will get to see their smiling faces in your mailboxes pretty soon and if you don't it's because I don't have your address. We are looking forward to our big annual cookie decorating party this weekend and thanks to some powerful meds, I might just find some energy and get the cookies made in time. I might even be done with everything but wrapping by the time the kids are out of school for their break next week, or at least by Monday or Tuesday. I hope so. I would love to just have a few days to lay around and watch movies with them and play some games. You know, while we munch on cookies and trash!

Hope your holiday preparations are going well and that you are finding time to enjoy those that are most precious in your life!

God Bless!

A few random funnies . . .

After MOPS and work yesterday, Riley cheerfully informed me on the way home that 'Jesus was a Baby'. Two seconds later he asked me WHY Jesus was a baby. I briefly explained in a simple way why Jesus had to be born like everyone else. Riley kept talking and doing quite a bit of free association. Basically he came up with the firm facts that even though his dad and I had been a baby once, we weren't babies when he was a baby because someone had to take care of him and that was our job. That's when the conversation took a turn to the hysterical.

It went something like this:
Riley - Momma, I was borned in your tummy.
Me - Yeah, you grew in my tummy and then you were born.
Riley - I grew in your tummy?
Me - Yes, and you didn't have much room so you kicked me a lot.
Riley - I did??
Me - Yep
Riley - Then I came out. That's becuzzzz I made a hole in your tummy and got out.
Me - Silence, because what exactly do you say to that?
Riley - I made a hole in your tummy to get out and then God fixed it.
Me - Okay
Riley - That's becuzzzzz God can do that.
Me - Yep, God can do just about anything
Riley - Yeah, I made a hole and God fixed it becuzzz he really, really can do that.
Me - Pause to order our lunch
Riley - Momma - I didn't make a whole in your tummy. I really didn't.
Me - No?
Riley - No, that's becuzzz I got out of your tummy from the door.
Me - The door? There's a door to my tummy?
Riley - Yesssss, that's becuzzz all tummies have a door.
Me - And that's how you got out? Through the door?
Riley - Yeah, cuz all tummies have a door, but I had to follow the path.
Me - The path? There was a path? (pause to keep myself from laughing too hard)
Riley - Momma, I follow the path to get out the door.
Me - Were you worried about taking a wrong turn? (Don't think he got that I was smiling and trying not to laugh here)
Riley - Yessss, that's becuzzz I saw all the signs that said Riley and I went that way on the path. The food doesn't go that way.
Me - It doesn't?
Riley - No, the food has a path and I saw all the Riley stuff to go on the path and get out the door.
Me - Ooooohhhhh, so that's how it works.
Riley - Yes. Momma, were you in my tummy too?
Me - No, I was in Grandma's tummy.
Riley - Oh, so you went out Grandma's door.
Me - Uh, yeah.
Riley - That's becuzzzz all the people are babies and go through the door.
Me - Yes, everyone starts out as a baby.
Riley - Like Jesus. He was a baby too. And SANTA!!!! Santa was a baby. (he's watched 'Santa Claus is coming to Town' about 20 times already) And Jesus was a baby.
Me - Everyone was once a baby.
Riley - Yes. That's becuzzzz Jesus is my friend. MOMMA - Jesus is my BEST FRIEND!
Me - That's wonderful Riley, he's my best friend too.


Last night, at bedtime, Scooter decided that playing the 'copy' game was the funniest thing ever. Especially because Riley kept telling him to be quiet and saying 'it's not me, it's him!' which made it sound like Scooter was saying those same things to Riley. The copy game is one of my least favorite and I don't know where Scooter learned it from. I keep trying to explain to Riley that the only way he can stop it is to not say anything at all, but Riley doesn't know how to do that. Scooter tried again this morning on the way to school and the 'Scooter stop saying what I'm saying!' and 'Stop That' comments were escalating pretty quickly. I am kinda hoping that ignoring Scooter will make this go away, but it's doubtful.

We are currently having 2 swim lessons per week to make up for some sick days and we had a lesson yesterday afternoon. The teacher, Ms. Paige, didn't let my kids even think about trying goggles for a long time since they were so apprehensive about going under. She wants to get them over that and also wants them to know that they can swim without in case they were to fall in somewhere. The last two weeks she has let Riley try goggles and even though he often opens his eyes without under water, he kept clenching his eyes closed with the goggles on. He finally got it and thought it was totally 'AWESUMMMMM!' that he could see the ring on the step he was going under to find. We tried with Scooter, but he was apprehensive about something new on his face. Ms. Paige asked for my permission to push him and after I said yes, she calmly worked with him for a while, insisting he look at her eyes while she soothed his fears and stayed firm. She kept telling him that she knew new things made him nervous but they were going to work through it. Five minutes later he wore the goggles a few times, but didn't open his eyes with them. He did seem to like not wiping his eyes off, but would immediately pull the goggles off of his face. He'll get it eventually, he now thinks it's fun to go under whenever he wants, without being prompted. I love Ms. Paige and how much she loves my kids, especially Scooter. Last week she had a young helper who Scooter wouldn't even look at (since he had never seen her before). When she tried to take Scooter for a dip, he refused and Ms. Paige came and got him. She told the assistant 'Scooter is just Scooter, it'll take him a few times before he will want to go to you.' I love that she gets him like so many people don't. When he gets stressed because she pushes him, she then lets him ride on her back through the pool while she works with the other kids and she keeps up a steady calm conversation with him the whole time. He doesn't have time to get shy with her or clam up because she totally gets what makes him tick and keeps working with him.

St. Nick visited our house in the night and Riley and Scooter were pretty excited to find stockings full of candy and 2 toys each this morning. Tyler knew the day was coming and was slightly disappointed with his toy items. I pulled him aside and let him know that St. Nick was having a hard time finding small, inexpensive items for an almost 12 year old that would fit in a stocking. Could he please show some enthusiasm for his brothers sake and remember that this particular event is more about the little kids than pre-teens? He agreed and then actually got super motivated when he opened his CARS themed Pez machine and discovered that the car actually worked. He then helped Scooter and Riley break into theirs and have a couple races to the Christmas tree before we piled into the car for school. I guess there's still a little bit of little boy hiding in there after all.

Riley watches Scooter struggle to go in the door for school every morning. He often asks me about it and says 'Well, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna go in!' This morning when we made the last turn onto the street for school, I heard something wonderful. Riley said 'Scooter, you just gotta say 'I CAN DO IT!' At first I thought they were still talking about the cars on their Pez dispensers, but then he said 'You just gotta walk right in.' How awesome is that? My littlest guy learning how to encourage his brother? Scooter tried to change the subject or didn't hear him and I said, 'Scooter - Riley is trying to encourage you.' Riley said 'Yes! You just say 'I CAN DO IT' like Miss Paige says.' It didn't actually work and I had to push him through the door like usual, but maybe it'll sink in eventually.

Decorating is done, except there is still no topper on the tree and I have to glue-gun some stuff back on to two of my wreaths. All the groceries are bought for baking and projects. Dad lent me 3 of my favorite Christmas albums so that I can sing through all my prep. The Jesse tree is going smoothly and we are starting to get pretty pumped about the holiday. It is just going so fast already. I wanted to sit and think for a second about my kids and who they are before I get bogged down with the rest of this month again!

Hope your holiday prep is moving along smoothly!

Thanks and God Bless!

Where are you Christmas?

Have you seen the new Target commercial? The one where this nice couple is saying goodbye to her parents after Thanksgiving dinner with pumpkin pie still out on the table and then the woman turns around and her entire house is suddenly decorated for Christmas? The lights are on the house before her parents drive off and her husband is offering her some eggnog. That's how the chaos feels, that's how I feel, but I am not managing it well so far this year.

I was sick most of Thanksgiving week and weekend which made it hard to get started on Christmas. I wasn't really ready to start thinking about it, but I immediately had to start planning for how we are going to make all the family gatherings work with Tyler's schedule so we can figure out all the logistics and see everyone. We somehow got all the kids and their cousins in coordinating outfits and my sister-in-law took pictures in front of a tree. They weren't perfect, but they are so cute. Everyone was looking at the camera at the same time more than once which was pretty darn good. Once I get my disc of the sitting I can start doing Cards and get them out. The turkey leftovers were barely in the fridge before we shifted to Christmas preparations.

It's already chaotic. Normally, I thrive on the chaos. Usually I am more than ready to take it all on and get it all done and make Christmas happen. It takes the whole month, but the celebration for us goes on for days and it's so worth it. So what's wrong with me this year?

We did somehow get the tree up and decorated on Sunday, which is the only part of decorating I really get (or want) help with, but until last night that is as far as I got. After cleaning up my living areas again yesterday, I figured it was time to start doing the rest of it. I didn't get very far because of some decoration malfunctions.

The tree topper we used for years (and I never really LOVED) had to be replaced last year, but Garden Ridge had been so picked over I settled on a star that was okay, but not fabulous. The stand it props on the tree with was kind of short and the star wobbled and never really stood up straight all last season. However, I was prepared to use it for a couple years until I found just the right topper. I dug it out last night - no stand. I'm sure I will find it at the bottom of all my other decorations, but right now it's MIA.

As I started pulling out other decorations I realized that I wasn't going to be happy putting nails into my recently painted walls and I drove to CVS while dinner was in the oven to get those removable hangers. While there I saw an Angel tree topper that looked pretty cool and it was on sale so I picked it up too. When I got home I tried to put it on the tree and feed the cord through the center of the already decorated branches (yes, I know we did it backwards but it's been kind of weird so far this year). I ran into a couple of problems.

First, the stand thingy is way too long to make the Angel stable so if I use it, the topper falls over even worse than the star did last year. Second, the cord is too short to reach the plug beneath it. My tree has the outlet between top and middle layers firmly attached to the core and it isn't movable. I tried propping the Angel without using the stand which is possible, but strange looking and the cord isn't long enough anyway. When three ornaments fell off one after another I called it quits and served dinner.

Still no topper. I do have an angel one that doesn't light up, but it's really too big for our tree and I just place it somewhere on it's own for a decoration. I pulled it out to see if it would work anyway and the wings fell off of the back. As I started getting pretty Christmas things out of boxes I found that this was a familiar theme. Evidently, my boxes of decorations did not fare well in the 70+ days of over 100 degree heat this summer. Almost every single thing I got out had one or more pieces fall off. I am really dreading getting out my pretty wreaths and finding out that I am going to have to buy a hot-glue gun to salvage everything.

Determined, I started lining my counter tops with knick-knacks and attacked them with the only glue I had on hand - wood glue. I figured it wouldn't work, but I wasn't driving to CVS for super glue again that evening and it was worth a shot. So far, everything is holding which is a good thing for my sanity because the other problem I am running into is that half of the things that are supposed to light up aren't lighting up.

Every year there are one or two things that just don't make it to the next year and every year I try to add to our family decorations with one or two items, hoping to build our collection to something sustainable for future years. I just can never seem to really get 'ahead' and this year it looks like I am going to fall way behind. I don't want to spend a fortune on decorations in any one year, but my slow and steady building plan isn't working either. I might have to attack the after Christmas sales with a vengeance this year to try and prepare for next year.

Funny thing, some of my favorite and charming decorations are having problems. Do you know what isn't having a problem? The singing Frosty the Snowman. I talked my mom into buying this over 10 years ago at Walmart because it made me giggle. You press his hand and his head starts bobbing and he sings a couple lines of Frosty. It's really cute, until it's not. I love to see Frosty come out of the box every year and I am still happy to see him sing and bob, for the first 10 or 15 times. Then it starts to get annoying. The kids love him and I have only had to replace his batteries once in the last decade. I wouldn't cry to never hear him sing again, but the bobbing head is pretty cool. If he dies someday, it will be okay but he sure is withstanding the test of time. I wish my fiber optic Christmas trains that cost 3 times as much were that hardy!

Ironically, one of my problems has resulted by solving an older problem. I haven't had a mantle to decorate in 3 years which has kept one of my favorite nativity scenes in it's box so that no small child would harm it when it was on too low of a shelf. Their stockings have hung on my sofa table instead of the fireplace. Now, my kids are older and won't break everything in their path and, miracle of miracles, Dad and I got a mantle built!!!! We worked for a couple of days and created this:





(Sorry the pics are kinda blurry) I had wanted to sand and paint this before we decorated, but I have let go of that project for the time being. I am just so grateful that I have a mantle to decorate and will leave it as rough pine until the new year. I want to put my nativity up there and hang the stockings, but my stocking 'hangers' are kind of big and decorative because of what we've done the last couple of years. I am going to have to invest in some low profile stocking hooks so that you can still see Baby Jesus behind them.

There have been a few other road blocks to getting me in the swing of things. Namely, I can't seem to be home long enough to keep everything picked up and I cannot find my Christmas CD's. This is crucial. I really love putting on my favorite CD's and singing through decorating, wrapping and baking. I truly love Amy Grant's first 2 Christmas albums and I will play them over and over, belting out 'Grown Up Christmas Wish' and 'Emmanuel' like I am in concert with her to my children's dismay. I get super emotional and almost cry through the song about Mary because every time I hear it I am overwhelmed with her plight and her strength and how she carried through with what God asked of her. I am sure that all the CD's are together in one place so that I could find them easily this year, but I haven't remembered where that place is yet. The only CD I found was a kids Christmas CD I used as room parent for a gift exchange game when Tyler was in 3rd grade. It's 'jolly', but not really inspiring. I either need to find those CD's or break down and buy them on iTunes for Tyler's iPod and figure out how I can blare that through the house while I am working.

I have to get the decorating done or I am never going to get anything else done. When my house looks like Christmas, I can prepare for Christmas. It makes my whole outlook on the serious amount of shopping and baking I need to do better. How can I roll out 4 batches of cookies if my house doesn't look like the holiday is approaching? For that matter, why do I want to spend money on 6 lbs of sugar and 10 lbs of flour and all the different types of chex cereal for Texas Trash if I can't see the holiday in front of me?

My Black Friday shopping was okay this year, but as far as the kids presents go it wasn't overwhelmingly successful. I had picked up a few things this summer and once I inventory what I actually have for them, the little ones are probably close to being 'done' already. Tyler is a whole other story, but it's really hard to buy for an almost 12 year old. He's not little, but he's also not big and figuring out what he might like is virtually impossible. He's no help either, he keeps looking through catalogs and saying he can't really think of anything.

I know I will feel better about everything if I can complete my shopping and start wrapping presents, but I just don't feel like shopping this year. I am caught between a place of wanting to see the joy on their faces with a mound of gifts to open and knowing that they already have so much and they don't really need a lot. I don't want them to lose sight of what's important about the season and I seem to be more excited about those aspects. That's all good for our souls, but my 4 & 5 year old are still little and are dreaming of what Santa will bring for them underneath the tree.

We are going to be making a lot of gifts ourselves this year so that my kids can participate more and truly get the feeling of GIVING from their hearts with presents that they made with their own little hands. Instead of some of the other charitable things we usually do, we are going to fill 3 shoe boxes with presents to go to needy children in Mexico. They are excited about all of the projects and I hope that everything goes well so they can really experience the joy of giving.

I stretched my creative skills last week and did something that was out of my normal baliwick also. I cut out 28 card stock circles and coordinating symbols that I printed out and even drew and cut out a poster board Christmas tree to hang on my wall. This non-Heather crafting event was an effort for our family to do a 'Jesse Tree' advent calendar this year. So far, we are enjoying it. Each night I read a scheduled verse and tell my kids in a '4-5 year old' version the corresponding Bible story. Each night we talk about how God always had a plan and how each of these stories was part of His plan to bring Jesus to us which is why we celebrate Christmas.

Every night, I get Riley's attention for a whopping 10 seconds unless it's his turn to tape the ornament on the tree. Every night, Scooter asks when we are getting to Jesus. Every night, Tyler either tries to get more from the story or says 'I know how this one ends' and tunes out a little. It's a toss up! The kids take turns taping that night's 'symbol' ornament on the tree. I am not really worried about how much they are absorbing, I just make the effort and hope a teeny bit is seeping in.

We had to double up on stories last night since I had been gone Wednesday evening. Both stories happened to be about Abraham. The first was when God told him to look at the stars and know that his descendents would be just as numerous, the second was when God asked him to sacrifice his son and then stayed his hand after his willingness to obey. Tyler was very interested and so was Scooter, until he heard the name Abraham. When I read the verses, Abram was still used, but when I told the stories I said Abraham. Scooter could not get passed the 'ham' part and had a serious case of the giggles because someone was named 'ham'. It drove Tyler crazy, but it really was silly. I don't think he got the gist of both stories, but he probably will never forget the name Abraham.

I have been really good about setting the DVR to record all of the kids Christmas shows and then sit and watch them with them so far. My favorite one was on last night, 'Santa Claus is coming to Town'. Technology might be awesome, but I still like listening to Fred Astaire narrate that story and Burl Ives narrate Rudolph. My kids don't seem to mind the less than spectacular animation either. I will be watching 'It's A Wonderful Life' and 'The Bishop's Wife' soon too, even if I have to go plant myself at my mom's for an evening to do it. I still love Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant and they just 'speak' Christmas to me in these two old favorites.

I really, really love Christmas and if I could just have my sister here for one night to watch 'White Christmas' with me I would be set. There is nothing like Bing Crosby singing White Christmas to you in that low, sultry voice. There is also nothing like dancing around with the best sister in the world while you both sing 'Sister's' to each other and wish you had those matching blue dresses and fans yourself. I'm so glad she'll be here this year to celebrate with us - we'll definitely have to find time to watch the movie together before she heads back to Austin. It's tradition and we haven't been able to do it together in a few years.

It's all going to work out. I'll get the house decorated somehow and in some way. I'll definitely get some baking done by Christmas. I know if I can find my Christmas music, all will be good. I need to be singing 'Tender Tennessee Christmas' and secretly replace the word Tennessee with 'Texas-y' while I make the Texas Trash. Then I will have something to snack on while I get the rest done, singing all the way. I know that if I can get started, momentum will kick in and I will actually get a lot done in a short time because that's what always happens. Christmas will happen one way or another, even if I have to cut out some of my projects and limit the baking. Christmas will arrive and be celebrated over several days with lots of joy and family and celebration. I know you are out there Christmas - I can't see you clearly yet, but you are in my heart and I know I'll see you soon!

God Bless!