Excitement - and not necessarily the fun kind . . .

This weekend was pretty exhausting . . .

My dear 8-year old daughter who was just a little bit sleepy on Thursday night, woke up with a fever, coughing, and wheezing so much I could hear her from across the room on Friday morning. SCARY.

I went to work while hubby took her to the ER - he later called me to tell me they were keeping her overnight for observation because she had pneumonia.

It was so scary to see my beautiful daughter looking so little in that big hospital bed, but she took it all in stride. All 3 of her nurses commented on what a polite and sweet girl she was. Mommy got to spend the night in the room on a very (NOT) comfortable cot. Neither of us slept much - but it was a bonding experience. She apologized for keeping me awake with her coughing and I apologized for keeping her awake with my snoring.

Sunday I declared it stay at home in our pajamas day and we vegged out and watched movies all day long. It was nice. And we all had naps. I love naps.

She is doing better - but I'm still being overprotective and not sure I'm ready for her to have outside recess at school. Luckily - her fall break is this weekend, so she only has 2 more days of school. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off as well so we can all have family time.

All the kids are looking forward to Trick or Treating, they've had their costumes for almost a month. Me . . . I love this time of year - and even though my aunt would be upset with me for jumping the gun . . . I started listening to Christmas music today . . . I can't help it!!!

Well - this post jumped around quite a bit - but I wanted to catch up . . . AGAIN. I'll be back soon to post pictures of the kids in their costumes.

Have a great week!!

Mother's Day Picture

I know - I'm late in posting this, but it's been hectic.

This Mother's Day was wonderful. Hunkahubby and kids made me breakfast in bed and got me cards. My son had made me a special one in school, it was very sweet. We got up, went to church and then went out to Applebee's for lunch. I then got to take an extra-long nap before Hunkahubby had to go to work.

It was a pretty great day - and now that it is over, I have to plan for Hunkahubby's special days that are coming up (Father's Day in June, Birthday in July). Heh. I love to plan things for other people . . .

And even though it has been a hectic and "off" week - I did have some good news this week.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend!

My UN-wicked Stepmother

A lot of people today are posting blogs about their relationships with their mothers - and I decided it was time to post about the unsung hero of a stepmother.

Granted, I was in college when my parents got divorced. I was in my twenties when Dad married my SuperStepMom. Getting a StepMom wasn't as traumatic as it might have been if I were younger. But I don't think I could have been anymore blessed than what I am.

Let me tell you a little bit about SuperStepMom. Her first husband died when her three boys were quite young. She fearlessly raised those boys on her own - never thinking about herself the entire time. Those boys were her world - and they knew it then and they especially know it now. You can tell from the respect they show her, what a great job she did with each of them. Only when her youngest son was close to graduating from high school, did she even consider taking time for herself and falling in love again.

My Dad was so lucky that she chose to love him. :-) And I am lucky as well. My Daddy deserved to be loved - and my SuperStepMom deserved someone to love her. It was (and is) a perfect fit!

One of my favorite stories was after she and Dad started dating: we went to the store and she wanted to buy me an outfit. She had never had a "girl" to buy clothes for . . . but me, in my "tomboy" stage, went right for the men's flannel shirts. ::sighs:: Sorry SuperStepMom - I'll take some girly clothes now!!

My SuperStepMom has always been there to talk to and give me advice - or kick me in the butt when I was feeling sorry for myself for no reason. They allowed me to crash on their couch during the college years, brought me groceries during the 'financially unstable' years, and loved me even when I was a major pain in the butt. I would not have made it where I am today without the support of Dad and SuperStepMom.

When I got married, my husband also felt very accepted into the family - much in part to SuperStepMom and her support of us.

When we decided to adopt - SuperGRANDMA emerged and my children think she is the GREATEST. She is becoming the Grandma to them that my Grandma was to me. This Christmas, she even made homemade chicken and dumplings WITH the kids. That was so touching to me, and brought back so many great memories. I am so thankful that my kids will have someone like SuperGRANDMA to do these things with.So today - on Mother's Day, I am saying thank you to one of the Greatest Women in the World. You raised three boys, you then married one of the orneriest men on the planet (and do a great job of keeping up with his humor) and you willingly took on his family as well. And although many StepMoms don't get portrayed in the best of manners - I have nothing but accolades for my SuperStepMom.

So thanks. Thanks for taking a chance on love. On Dad. On all of us.

We Love You!!

Easter Pictures

I had to upload the rest of our Easter Pictures and thought I would share some more here . . .

THE DYEING OF THE EASTER EGGS

DID THE EASTER BUNNY COME???

THE HUNT

And what did the Easter Bunny bring me???

He let me spend another day with my beautiful HunkaHubby, a true Renaissance man.

How was your Easter?

We had a very relaxing day. This is us before we went to church (AT THE EARLY SERVICE, 8:30 AM - were we NUTS?)

I came home after (rest of the family stayed for kid activities at 9:45), hid eggs, did some laundry and waited patiently for my family to get home.

We had a nice dinner, a nice LOOONG nap, and then had leftovers from lunch for dinner!

We then watched August Rush before bed. I highly recommend you check it out.

Happy Monday!

Why do YOU celebrate Valentine's Day?

The History channel website has an informative piece on the subject of Valentine's Day and it's origins. I read through it and I'm not really sure which story I buy into. I just know that it is nice to have a holiday that is entirely dedicated to LOVE.

That being said, I do feel that it has been commercialized a little too much. I mean - my kids have to give Valentines to everyone in their class - so by the time they are old enough to actually HAVE a real Valentine - the gesture will most likely have lost some of it's magic.

"According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)" (from History)

Wow - one billion Valentine cards. That is a lot. That's a lot of love.

But do you see it?

When you look around - do you see a billion Valentine cards worth of love?

I'm sure that if you focus on the violence and the apathy and the negative things going on today - you won't be able to see that much love.

However, today - I am choosing to focus on the love that I do see:

The old couple holding hands as they walk down the sidewalk . . .

The man who pulls over to help a stranded person on the side of the road . . .

The unconditional loving smile of a child . . .

and a Grace that forgives even when we feel unforgiveable . . .

And of course . . . fuzzy kitties loving on each other . . .

So I am choosing to delight in the love that I see this day. By trying to make someone's day brighter, by smiling at the cranky salesperson at Wal-mart, and by giving my husband tons and tons of Valentine's kisses.

How are YOU going to celebrate this day of love?

The catch up Blog

Okay - so I've been bad about updating . . . again.

I have to say that being done with school is a really big relief (until I start getting those bills . . .). I feel like I have a lot more time to be creative. I've been baking a lot and doing crafty things with the kids.

The 13th was my birthday and I spent it with my hubby and kids. Hunkahubby made me a chocolate cake with caramel icing (Grandma's recipe). It was yummy. They also got me lots of cool gifts - one of which, I have to share with you here . . .



Yes - I got a Cabbage Patch Kid. But not just any Cabbage Patch Kid. A special edition that also has a CARE BEAR inside. Yes - I admit that I am a child of the 80s and I was very excited when I opened this present. :-) It's staying in the box.

My honey also made me one of my favorite meals - steak with cheese and mushrooms and MASHED TATERS. Woohoo!!! I got to have lima beans too which was a big sacrifice, because he doesn't like them and I do. I have a wonderful husband.

My kids and I also made Christmas cookies the other night. It was a lot of fun and I finally learned to step back after giving them icing instructions and just let them create - they did a surprisingly good job. Here is some of their "work":



They had a blast. We already saved 3 cookies for Santa. :-)

Today my Dad and brother and families are coming to our house for Christmas. We have never had Christmas at our house and I am excited. I will post some pictures later. We got my Dad a rather large gift - and I actually wrapped it. Should be a fun day.

I'll end this post with this quote:

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.'"

-Jeff Foxworthy

Christmas Lights

Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas? Well, I already showed you the inside of our house. Now I want to show you what I WISH the outside of our house looked like.

I love Christmas Lights. When I was little, we used to drive around for hours looking at Christmas lights. Now, I make my kids suffer through it.

With all the computerized options these, days - people come up with some pretty cool things. So here is a list of the top ten computerized Christmas Displays and the beginning of a dream for my house at Christmas someday . . . (don't tell my husband, he's terrified I'll make him into a Griswald.)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I wanted to post some pictures of our house at Christmas. We love Christmas and my husband loves to decorate for Christmas, so I thought I'd share some pictures here.













In other news . . . I am DONE with my Masters Degree!! Finally!!! Now I have no excuse for not updating my blog, eh?

Thanksgiving

Okay - so I'm a tad late to post about Thanksgiving, but I've been pretty busy.

I just wanted to tell a little bit about our holiday this year. I felt like my Grandma came to visit me, in a way. I got obsessed with baking and I made chocolate and peanut butter fudge, and THREE different pies (pumpkin, sugar cream, and pecan). I had my successes and failures with it - but it was really fun and I enjoyed it. (If I could just keep from EATING the stuff I make - that would be good.)



Hunkahubby made everything else - turkey, ham, candied yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and really yummy stuffing. Now - here's the catch . . . no one extra came to our house for Thanksgiving! It was just the five of us. But we have had leftover heaven since then! :-)

It was really nice to have just us for Thanksgiving. We took time to go around the table and tell what we were thankful for. Angelina said she was thankful for Daddy's hugs. It was precious.

When I was little, we always had Thanksgiving with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle and their girls. Grandma, my Mom, and Aunt would cook up a storm and we always had tons of food. We also had a lot of fun and laughter. One of my favorite parts was when the family stood around the kitchen, held hands, and prayed - thanking God for the many blessings He had given us in the past year. There is a part of me that misses those big family gatherings - but also a part of me that knows it would never be the same without Grandma there.

The holidays always make me miss her more. Another thing we almost always did on Thanksgiving was watch the movie, White Christmas. I think we all still know every word and every song by heart. So - we watched that with our children this year. (My husband's family had the same tradition of watching that movie.) At the end of the movie, I could have sworn I heard my Grandma singing along on the high harmony parts when they sing, "may your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be white." I started crying and couldn't stop. I haven't had a crying episode like that in a while - but it was probably good for me.

So, I just want to say that I'm thankful for many things. I am thankful for family and good friends. I am thankful for health and employment. I am thankful for God and his goodness and love. And I am thankful for precious memories of Thanksgivings past and a Grandma who will always be in my heart (and in the mirror, if I look close enough.) ;-)

I hope that all of you took the time to remember the things that you are thankful for. Have a wonderful evening.