Christmas Review & No Coffee Monday

Most Christmases we are rushed to do this and that, go here and there, a whirlwind of activities that leave us exhausted and wondering where the time flew, not this year!  Christmas Eve day, we spent the day as a family just  relaxing and watching movies.  Jeremy has the day off, which in itself, was a true blessing. 

That evening we went to our Church’s Christmas Eve Candle Light service.  It was just what I needed to set the mood for the best Christmas ever!  The pastor said a simple statement that I am sure will last a life time with me.  “It’s not about the gifts under the tree, but the Gift that was on the tree.”

Christmas Eve was a very windy day and on our way home from a friends house, tummies full of chili (thanks Pam),  the wind was blowing wildly.  Just about home, Joey said, “wouldn’t it be bad if a tree was down on our driveway where we could not get home?”  Five minutes later, driving down our driveway, a tree was down.  I wish that kid could of said, “Wouldn’t be great if we won the lottery”!  HA!

To this, all I can say, I am glad to be the only girl in the family!  I got to sit in the truck with my foot on the brake and take pictures while they did all the hard work!

Christmas was great and one of the big gifts this year was a Xbox 360, so that consumed our Christmas day, between the boys playing and Jeremy trying to figure out how to get Netfilx hooked up to it (and working), we pretty much camped out in our PJ’s on the couch in front of the TV all weekend.

 

Oh, and Santa got me a Super Mario Bros. Wii  game, so I was a super happy girl!!  Here is the view from our weekend….

 

Could not get any better if we tried…Well that was until the weekend ended and I woke up to a no coffee Monday!  Wow, what a rude awakening to a new week!

Do You See What I See?

Last night I walked into the living room and Higgins was sleeping.  Tucked under his neck was a poinsettia from my Christmas tree. 

The poinsettias from the tree keep disappearing and I thought the cat was getting them for Higgins, but the cat was not in yesterday to steal them off the tree….hmm…

So I woke Higgins up to give him a good talking to about eating the flowers off the tree….

But with a cute little face like this…I just could not do it!!     It must of been a left over flower from that cat!!

It’s Ba-humbug Day

The scrooge in me could not pass this one up! Yes, this is the Christmas season. Yes, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Yes, the fruit cake cookies have been made (and ate). Yes, I have been filled with all the wonders and blessings that this time of year bring. But…can I have just one day?

BA-Humbug!!

There, I feel better!!

Now for y’all that are shaking your heads out there, this is an official day, and according to Wellcats, this day allows everyone preparing for Christmas to vent their frustrations. Twelve ba-humbugs allowed, today only. Who am I to pass up this glorious event?

I am pretty sure there are those out there that never have those moments of frustration with all the craziness this time of year brings. For those out there like me…today you can vent your frustration without shame. But only 12 ba-humbugs and only for today. Real scrooges put a damper on the the Christmas season!

Favorite Christmas Ornament

Christmas time is my favorite season of the year. I get plain ‘ol giddy when it comes time to decorate our home! There is something about the lights on the Christmas tree and decorations that makes me smile!! Today I would like to share with you my favorite Christmas Ornament.

It’s not much, a little red glass ball and another smaller peach ball that makes Santa's head. The white on the hat and Santa's beard has yellowed over the years. It no longer hangs on the tree, but stands on the table next to our Christmas tree. This ornament was mine as a child and it brings back special memories.

Memories of sleepless Christmas Eve nights awaiting the excitement of Christmas morning and the surprises that would be under the tree. Stockings filled with oranges, apples, nuts and other unknown treasure ready to be explored. Listening to Christmas music being played while we ate a huge Christmas feast.

This past Sunday our Children preformed their Christmas musical and on the screen pictures of children were flashed that accepted Jesus into their hearts this past year. This Christmas would be their very first Christmas! I had never thought of that before. The excitement that Christmas brings me each year is nothing compared to the excitement of spending your very first Christmas as a Christian and having received the ultimate gift. Now that is something to be giddy about!!

ISWYS - Christmas Edition

First I would like to thank Linda over at 2nd Cup Of Coffee for hosting this carnival. Because of her, my diet now starts today instead of the projected start date of January 5, 2009. My chins, arms and gut says it all....again, thanks Linda!

Next, I will apologize one million times. After uploading the video, my mouth and words do not seem to be acting as one. I am praying that it is my computer and that you will have not problems, but if that is not the case, I will not be offended, if you you have to turn away and not watch. Fortunately, most of my video is not of me, so that helps a lot!!

Last, but certainly not least, I am in the pursuit of finding a good camera, lighting and general HELP for my next performance. Today, I will start running ads in the local paper. I just feel deep down if I had the proper camera, lighting and touch up guy, I would first and foremost look 100 pound slimmer, which of course is my main goal!!

After you are done watching, scoot over to Linda's and watch the countless others that joined in on today's fun!!

Have a great day!!

Oh Happy Day!!

Happy Dance!!

Join me for the Happy Dance!!So why are we doing the happy dance??Lookie what I got for Christmas!!!

Yep, that is a Professional 600 Series Kitchen Aid Mixer!!

What a wonderful gift from Hubby's parents!!



Yep, there has been a whole lot of happy dancing going on around here!

And that folks is a big

WOO TO THE HOO!!

Merry Christmas Y'all

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Excitement

Finally, my Christmas shopping is complete. It was a frightful day outside weather wise, but not very frightful crowd wise, which made my day so much easier. Today's traffic was actually better than most days in the great city of Murfreesboro and the stores were like a Monday morning!! NICE!!!

I woke Hubby up at 6am this morning and were on the road before 7am. There was no one around, which was a great sight for my blood shot eyes!! The only thing that would of made today better was if Starbucks had peppermint flavoring for my all time favorite Peppermint Mocha Latte, (yes, we had time for Starbucks!!) could you believe that this time of the season they were out!! The NERVE!!!

Joey is so excited about Santa's arrival that he has tortured himself into trying to fall asleep at 5:30pm!! Hahahaha! Poor baby....he is so excited and still at this hour, wide awake. He's been trying to fall asleep now for three hours!!

Well, I just wanted to check in and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas Eve!!

A Day Late & A Christmas Present Short!

Yesterday driving into work, this was the temperature.....I know, for all y'all northerners that are laughing because you were 86 degree in the NEGATIVE, and here I complain about it being 9 degrees!! Anyhoo's there it is, 9 degrees, and of course when it drops below freezing I have no water, and when I have water, I am plain just grumpy!!

Which leads me to no Christmas presents!! Ughh! I listened to some of y'all and went yesterday to get a present or two and not wait until the last minute. The first store I stopped at made me mad so I left, and after that I just went home!! So I NEED TO GO CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!! UUGHHHHHH!!

Sorry, I am having a moment! I need to get over myself and get my butt in gear and shop!! Tomorrow is the day, the LAST day, and I will survive.....I hope!!

Weekend Review

Now granted, I think my Higgins is the most beautiful CHI-uauaha in the entire world, but I think after you see him and his fine driving skills that he possesses, you have to agree that not only is he a fine dog, but a very smart one too! I am sure Hollywood will be hot to hire my Higgins!! He he!

Several times Higgins wanted to take over driving, but to his dismay I had to remove him from the wheel. Hubby needed a bathroom break, so here is Higgins on high alert at the rest area.

Besides our quick trip out of state and back, it has just been a dag-gum busy week, and for the life of me, I have nothing to show for my busyiness!! No Christmas present that have been wrapped, because it is hard to wrap presents that you have not PURCHASED yet!! Ughh!! Why have I not been Christmas shopping yet? Well I was going to go Christmas shopping, but I get so irate at irritating people that I simply just give up and leave! Plus, I have not an idea where to start. It is not a good thing!

I did decide that I am going to wait until Wednesday. For those shaking their heads in utter disbelief, wait for my reasoning.....(I think this is a great time for bullets!!)

• It's Christmas Eve and most folks should be done by now
• It's Christmas Eve and most folks I am hoping are traveling to their Christmas destination and not out shopping like me
• The sales should be great
• Hubby has the day off so he can go
• There is no need to worry about hiding presents from the kids

So what happens if all of Tennessee is shopping on Christmas Eve, just like me?? I might just shoot myself!

The issues with shopping at the last minute, you ask? Well I need to be spot on, because there is no coming back the next day to find that perfect gift...because there will be no more days to find that perfect gift! Ughhhhhh, I am stressed!!!

Okay, I have worn myself out talking about Christmas shopping, I am crazy and I am totally sure I will regret this day for the rest of my life!!

So, let me tell you about the wonderful "here's you sign" moment!! Our church does this beautiful drive-thru live nativity each year. When you pull into out circular drive at church you will see host of angels dancing and celebrating the birth of the Messiah. After the angels there are the shepherds tending to their flocks. A little ways beyond that is the manger with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. Of course there is the donkey that carried Mary all the way to Bethlehem and a few farm animals giving up their space for the special baby and His family. After you round the corner, you are greeted by the three Wisemen with their camels.

It is so moving that the hair on your arms are raised as your travel through. I would love to show you the beautiful pictures of our Living Nativity, but I dropped my camera on the way outand for some odd reason could not get it to take pictures. Go figure!

So where is the "here's your sign" moment I was talking about? Well after it was all over and we were cleaning up, someone brought me a memory card that was found on the floor of the church. I told them I would find out who the card belonged to, so off on the great quest to find that person.

I asked the first person if they had a digital camera so I could put the card into it and see if we could recognized anyone. They did not have a camera, so I went to about three people and no luck, no one had a camera. I finally ended up in the hospitality room where there was a large crowd gathered (food, enough said) and lucky me found someone with a camera, so in we popped the card and started looking at the pictures. She told me that it was just a few of the Wisemen and Shepherds getting ready. I looked through the pictures with her and the first one was of a cat. Wow, I thought to myself, that looks just like my cat, how odd! After a few more click of pictures, I realized it was my memory card!! UGHHHHH!!

Enough said, I wear my sign with pride!!!!

Birthdays, Reindeers & Sweets, OH MY!

BIRTHDAYS

Today is Hubby's Birthday!! Yippee!!

It was a little bit of a hectic day. Jeremy works 2nd shift so he did not crawl into bed until around 1 am last night. Now that I am working and the older boys are in high school, it makes an adventurous day of festivities. So this morning DJ made his dad chocolate muffins, and then we woke him up at 6:30am to open presents!

After that Hubby went back to bed and we were off to work and school. The boys had mid-terms so they got out of school early today so we all met at Olive Garden for lunch! Busy, busy day, but we do what we have to do to squeeze in time for celebrations!! Of course I forgot my camera so no pictures of all the fun!

REINDEER'S

My dear BFF Greg sent me these wonderful little critters!! The reindeer's are made from Christmas lights and they have a pin on the back where you can wear them!! Greg, oh how exciting it is to receive something soooo cute, and I want you to know that I am going to pay one forward!

Since I am surrounded by a house full of boys, and I am sure that I would never get one of my teenagers to wear one of these, I am taking the other to work to give to Connie! She is the other Ministry Assistant at my work and everyday she wears a different Christmas pin, and I am excited to share in my wealth!! We will match! So Greg, thanks so much! If I can remember I am going to take my camera to work and hopefully I will remember to snap a picture!!

SWEETS & TREATS

Instead of making a cake for Hubby's birthday, I made his favorite.....magic cookie bars! By the looks of this picture, you can tell that we like the middle for some odd reason!!

Yesterday, Hubby had a Christmas party at work and while playing the Dirty Santa game, he stole a towering box of chocolates. Goodness, my butt is growing by the second this season!!

Now this is special!! Remember how we got Higgins?? If you did not read my blog back then, Bradley went to volunteer his time at a dog rescue shelter. He got a little confused and although he did clean out cages, weed-eated and did other chores around the shelter, he gave way more than his time, he took Higgins off their hands! Of course at the time I was not a happy camper about having another dog to invade my house, but now......OH MY GOODNESS......I love my Higgies!!!

Anyhoo, the lady that runs the shelter, made my Higgies homemade dog treats! She sent a whole bag for him to share with others! They are cute little bones and hearts and you would think they are made from steak or something, because they love them!! So at least my butt is not the only one expanding around this house, the dogs are packing it on too!!

Well to my dismay, while I was typing my post and telling you how wonderful Higgins is, he decided to go outside to do his nightly constitution and also roll around in horse poo, so now I have to give him a bath! UGHH!

What Is Wrong With This Tree??

Our Living Room Christmas Tree

Do you see anything wrong with it?

Exhibit A

Now take a closer look......

Another look from this angle.....


One final look....

I wonder who could be stealing all the flowers and ornaments
from the bottom of my Christmas tree?

Exhibit B

It has been a constant battle this year. Higgins is worse than a two year old!! If he was not so cute and if I did not love him so much, I might of killed him already!!

Exiting the court room....

Look what I got in the mail today!! Katie made this beautiful plate Christmas clock for me and I am so excited!

I need to find the most perfect place to hang it! Thanks so much Katie!! I love it!

12 Days Of Christmas!

I just posted this on our ladies blog at church, but I thought I would share this with everyone on my blog also! It is so true for this time of the year, and with all the craziness that comes, we tend to forget the real Reason for this wonderful Season!

Just a little funny to brighten your day!

Through A Child's Eyes

Christmas through a child's eyes. I wish I could go back and look through Joey's 10 year old eyes and see the magic of Christmas. As an adult I think sometimes we forget through the hustle and madness that this time of year brings that children really have it way more together than us adults. I think I will steal Greg's theory on people that inhabit this earth with us "I believe that there are morons among us", well Greg I am right there with you!

I started putting up Christmas decorations around our home, a little bit this week. I usually put a tree up in every room, but this year decided not to. I have been a little slow getting things ship shape and maybe even a little slower in getting those beautiful decorations up. Each year after Thanksgiving, the turkey is not even cold and we start yanking out all the Christmas decorations and start going hog wild. Not this year. Things are different, the excitement not as great. So instead of the usual gusto there seems to be a fizz.

NOT ANYMORE!! Starting this past weekend, we are back to ourselves with the magic of Christmas!! It takes an event to snap our adult butts into gear, and I got the snap a few days ago.

The most important thing about Christmas is the fact that our Lord sent His Son to save us from our sins. Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Everlasting. That is the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Our home celebrates the birth of our Savior, but we also celebrate the magic of Santa. Of course our teenagers do not share in the magic anymore, but Joey, oh how his eyes dance at the possibility of Santa fitting his big 'ol rump down our chimney! He loves the fact the he can not fall asleep on Christmas Eve night for the excitement of what Santa will bring. The fun of baking cookies and setting out baby carrots for the reindeer's and a tall glass of egg nog along with the special cookies that he worked so hard on! The excitement of counting down the days before Christmas and wishing for that special gift!

I found our chalk board slate that has a Santa on it last week. Each day you erase the day and fill in another on the countdown. Of course that is Joey's job and each morning he does not skip a beat. His excitement spills over when he tells others it's this many days until Christmas, and at times we have to remind him that you have told us this 15 times already, but you know what, I can remember the days that I was just like him.

My point here? You know me by now and at times I seem to ramble but there are those that just do not think. It's not their fault....I guess, they forget that words hurt little ones and sometimes it squashes that excitement! Like I said, not anymore, we are excited that there are 17 days left before Christmas!!

So celebrate Christmas through a child's eyes this year, you will be amazed of what we have forgotten as we have turned into adults! We have forgotten the excitement, or at least some have.....

Have a great & blessed day!