Christmas.

We needed a little Christmas and we got it. It was lovely. We spent Christmas eve at my in-laws, all of Tony's family was there. We played the game, is it called white elephant or Chinese Christmas? Anyway, Tony and I made it home with an exercise ball and a neck pillow. It was so much fun, we busted up laughing for over an hour. My sides were hurting after. Tony and I stayed up way too late on Christmas eve and were not feeling so good for it Christmas day but it was nice and relaxing. We stayed home with the kids all day and my Mom drove up in the morning to be with us [the best Christmas gift of all] for part of the day. It was nice. Sarah is the funniest hula-hooper of all time and I will share the video later, she thanks Auntie Renee for that. I thank Auntie Renee [and my Mom too] for dark chocolate. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

I told Tony that I only wanted one thing for Christmas, and I ended up with three. The thing I told him is personal and handmade [written] and he surprised me with earrings [lovely ones too] and a power tool. The electric screwdriver I mentioned months ago that I would like to have...he remembered. I love it too, it's already charging up for it's big debut!

I hope yours was merry and and warm and fun and delicious too!

The Dance.

This song was playing in my head this morning when I woke up. Then my Mom called to give me the news about Grandpa. He passed away quietly this morning with his family close by. I pray that he is feeling our Father's love and comfort this morning. I hope all those who loved him can somehow find peace and comfort as well.

A Little Joy!

Last night Emily and Sarah were in a Christmas play at the church. It was so much fun and pretty good too! Before the big show, I was playing with the different styles for video and this one was so cute I just had to share.

That little video sort of goes along with the western theme of the play. My still pictures weren't too good for some reason. In the second video Sarah is a little Shepard in the front, second from the right, and when I pan to the far left, Emily is on the very end. The little girl singing solo in the middle has incredible talent!

Our Christmas tree is as decorated as it is ever going to be, with the exception of any more goodies the kids can find to lay on it. It is missing lots of the little glass balls because we now have hardwood floor. The chances of a ball falling and breaking have increased tremendously, ergo fewer breakable balls! Two years ago, a friend gave six hand decorated glass balls to us. Each one with our name on it. As of last week there are three. Tony's and mine survived, and Emily's too. Wyatt was a little anxious to decorate and I found the broken ones pushed up against the tree skirt, half hidden. He felt bad, oh well, at least he didn't cut himself!

I'm here sipping hot tea with cold fingers and I'm throwing out Christmas cyber joy to you! I hope your feeling it! I'm getting there.

Ben and Florence.

If you have a little extra space in your heart right now, Ben and Florence could use an extra prayer. Today, I'm praying for their peace and comfort.

















Jim is traveling this week to be with them. They are in their 90's, have been married for 75 years and have two sons Jim and Bob. Though they are technically my step-grandparents, they have been a steadfast part of my life as long as I can remember. Grandma was always so wonderful at sending cards and letters and never once made me feel as if I was not her real granddaughter. They live in Michigan and we weren't blessed with a lot of time with them but they were somehow always so close to us in spirit. I remember how Grandma used to get a kick out of telling funny jokes and playing UNO with us. As a kid I remember bragging to my friends that my Grandparents took disco dance lessons! In their sixties no less! The thing I remember most about the time I spent around Grandpa is the sturdy smile that accompanied his laugh.
Nice memories. I have this photo so that my children can know them a little bit too, their great-grandparents.

A little prayer for Jim too. Be safe and Godspeed.

Odds and Bits.

'Odds and Bits' is what Kal [my favorite non-family person blog] uses from time to time to title her posts and I hear it in my head when I am posting miscellaneous things like today. Incidentally, Kal posts to her blog every day but Sunday and has not posted since Wednesday. She is expecting her first baby any moment, it's probably happened already. There is great anticipation with her blog readers as you can see by the amount of comments, I can't wait to see her next post!

I finished my Christmas cards today. I apologize to you for boring you with yet another vision of our San Diego family picture on the beach. Most of the people on my list have never seen my blog so the photo may be brand new to them, you however, have been blasted with the images again and again. So, sorry about that my friends, but I'm just taking a little bit more mileage from that wonderful photo session we had in August!

Has this ever happened to you? These are two pieces of mail I received recently that still had the postage stamp intact. Is it stealing if you pick them off and use them again?



I love this because it is Wyatt's first animal picture. My kids very often ask me "what animal do you want me to draw for you Mommy?" My usual and predictable answer "a giraffe please." Just look at it's sweet face and handsome giraffe body! LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. IT!



Sarah was chosen to be the "Queso Grande" in her class this week. The Big Cheese. We sent photos to class and she wrote in a journal of the adventures she had with the rat that came home from school with her for the week. She was so happy with that rat. [Don't pay any attention to our half decorated Christmas tree in the picture! We will get to it this weekend, I hope!]



This is a cute letter Sarah wrote to her best friend Ella. At first she was asking me how to spell everything and later gave up. I like it that way, it is so much cuter, and so much more real. She's only six and the spelling will come later! Plus, I think she does well for not yet having any instruction in English. That's right, kudos to my little sweetie(s)...she is bilingual, biliterate, and if I may say proudly, bicultural. I think learning culture and language at such a young age is one of the greatest gifts Tony and I are giving our children and I am darn proud of that! Lucky little ones indeed!



Hope your weekend is warm and lovely and full of soulful Christmas tradition.

Santaphobia.

So this was our 10th year waiting in the Santa line at the mall. It's not my favorite way to spend an hour but once you start something like this and it becomes a "tradition" you know you can't stop. Want proof? Here you go...

At home she fears no Santa. At the mall, in the flesh, nothing but pure two-year old terror. You can see the distress on her face.

So, we had to make a choice, three out of four in the annual Santa pic, or...the whole family.
I guess you could say I enjoy digitally embellishing the photos myself, maybe a little too much!

This made me laugh so much that it hurt, look what happened while we were waiting in the Santa line. The kids were hilarious. When Santa asked them what they would like for Christmas they all reacted differently. Eva screamed and ran toward the exit. Emily giggled herself silly and could barely get words out. Sarah rolled her eyes from side to side and then whispered to Santa. Wyatt shrugged his shoulders a bit and just kept petting Santa's fur above his belt, Santa kept looking at the fur that was being petted as if no child had ever been so intrigued by his belly mass of fur. Then something magical happened. Santa Claus asked, "and you Mom, what would you like for Christmas?" With a tear in my eye, I replied, "just a nice reliable babysitter would be nice once in a while!"

Just kidding! What I really said was something vague and unquantifiable. I said "more of the same." That's it. That's what came out of my mouth when the big man asked me what I wanted. Just think, I could have had anything and I missed my big red opportunity! What the heck was I thinking?

Honestly, I do know what I was thinking. I was thinking, no more than what I already have. Certainly, my life is [sweet, but] NOWHERE near perfect, however, I find it hard to ask for more than what I have already been blessed with. That's why the same just sounds right to me.

True. My heart wanted to tell him "for the whole world please Santa, more peace, more joy, and more love."

Oh help! I would love a little less of one thing. Less fussing and fighting from these four marvelous little people! The fussing and fighting is not the part that is a blessing! I know Santa is not going to help me with that one, it has to be me.

I know, I better not pout, I better not cry, I've gotta run!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like...

Home. That's it, there it is, I like it. I like how it turned out. I just printed photos from my printer at home and used two boxes of frame sets that I found at [surprise] Costco. Love it. Love it. Love it. It makes my home feel more homey and cozy and warm and filled up. Little by little, it has taken me almost ten years but I am finally making this place feel like some [really cool] people really live here!


We have our undecorated tree standing bare in the living room, just waiting for the right moment to bring it to life. The right moment will occur as soon as we get a few hours free to decorate it all together. During the week, things get pretty hectic so it may have to stand there like that until Friday night or Saturday, poor little 9 foot guy. Don't feel sorry for him though, he has been with us since 1999 so he is used to us treating him this way and we'll give him his dignity back in a few days.

Sharing another Wyattism from last night. During the day this kid can be loud, wreckless, daring, rowdy as heck and downright defiant. However, he becomes extremely affectionate as bedtime nears and my little man is sometimes quite profound.

Momma, I love you too much
Momma, I love you around the world...to a million
Momma, I love you to the end of the numbers
At the end of the numbers is all scribbley
I just love you too much.

Told you.

'Lil Scooter Girl.

Just took this video this morning, love it.