I am a little late in
getting this post done, but better late than never. The busyness from Christmas just continued
into after Christmas as I have been trying to purge, clean, put away, and
organize. We let things slide during
Christmas week and I paid for it afterwards.
The kids and I have cleaned, purged, and organized our rooms to include
some of their new presents. I have also
done most of the other rooms/cabinets/closets around the house which left us
with several bags of trash, some stuff to sell on swap shop, and some bags to
take to the thrift store. I still have
my biggest job left though and that is the basement which includes the office
(my wrapping room), the play room (and all the new toys), and the storage (where
I have just thrown stuff after the twins’ party and anything else that I wasn’t
sure where to put it yet). But I need to
get this post done so I can quickly put my blog book together and order it
before my coupon expires J.
When I last posted Molly
had come over to help watch the kids while I wrapped. She also helped wrap some presents. It was all awesome and I was so grateful for
her help. I had a few late, late nights
(my mom and I actually exchanged some late night texts while we were getting
stuff ready) but it would have been more without Molly’s help. So a big thank you Molly! She also picked up Jackson and Ellie from
school on day and took them to WalMart so they could buy our Christmas
presents. Jackson had been asking us
what we wanted and really wanted to get us something. He got Andrew the Duck Dynasty Christmas cd and
a pearl bracelet and earring set for me.
Ellie got Andrew Duck Dynasty chapstick and got me pink nail
polish. Well Jackson thought he had more
money than he actually did and didn’t have enough to pay Molly back. I told him I would just give her the extra
money but then he started tearing up because he was upset that I would actually
by buying my gift when he wanted to. It
was sad, but so sweet. We decided that
he could do jobs for people to earn the money and things were better. Andrew paid him to help put up fence and I
paid him to do some different chores around the house. He was able to earn enough over the next few
days to pay Molly back. Wednesday night
I had a nice night with some small group ladies at our cookie exchange. I came back with an awesome bunch of cookies
(this awesome bunch of cookies will take part in one of my stories later).
Over the next couple of
days I got to help out with Lincoln and Ellie’s Christmas parties and then the
kids were out for Christmas break on Friday.
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| Ellie's book from her Writing Class that she dedicated to Miles and Bennett |
Sara and her family got into town on Friday. And they announced with their present to my parents that they are expecting their third in July-yay! We spent a lot of the weekend over at my parents
hanging out with them which was nice. My
birthday was Sunday. The kids gave me a
Duck Dynasty cup that is supposed to be like Si’s. They were pretty excited about it. And Andrew surprised me with a camera that Lissy
has been wanting him to get me. It is
kind of like a compact DSLR. It was a
fun surprise and I totally didn’t expect it.
Lissy was ready to give lessons when we got over to my parents later
that day. And my parents made me an
awesome birthday dinner-fried chicken and a red velvet cake. I am so spoiled. Then it was time for the kids’ surprise-Santa
coming to visit. Lincoln loved it and
was very comfortable with him as was Brady.
My older two, along with Bella, actually didn’t want much to do with
him. I think Jackson thought he was too
old and the girls were just being silly.
Owen was good with Santa as long as he got candy. Miles and Bennett didn’t like Santa at all
though. I think their pictures and our attempt
at a group picture are hilarious. The
kids and I spent the night at my parents’ house that night and it was a little
rough. Lincoln and the twins slept with
me in the basement and I think the twins had a little too much tea. While it took Bennett a little while to
settle down, Miles was even crazier. He took
his pjs off twice and was running around in his pack-n-play until almost 2 in
the morning. It was a long night.
Sara’s crew headed home on
Monday and my kids got to start break off with a bang by going to the
dentist. Luckily we walked away without
any cavities, but Lincoln was not good at all.
He has been before and did fine.
But for some reason, he was not fine this time. He was okay until they started actually cleaning
his teeth and then he freaked out and starting crying and coughing. It took a little longer than normal but they
cleaned all of his teeth. I think
between that and some other not-so-nice behavior, he was a little worried about
Santa leaving him presents. So you would
randomly hear him shout out, “I love you Santa!” It was pretty funny.
We spent most of the week
hanging out at my parents as different people were coming into town. While it is a little chaotic for us (trying
to get laundry and other things done without being around that much) my parents
just kept going and going, working selflessly to provide a great Christmas time
for all of us. We had all sorts of
delicious meals and snacks, along with keeping the kids entertained. Monday night I had our kids do their gift
exchange and I think they were all pleased with their gifts. They also got to open their Christmas pjs as
did us older “kids”. Yes, my parents
still get us Christmas pjs.
We actually spent most of
the day at home on Christmas Eve. The
kids went out to the ranch in the morning with Andrew and got to spend some
time with Granny. I had a bad mom moment
that morning. I had to run something
over the Leah’s house by 11 that morning and I was hoping Andrew would be home
with the kids by then so Jackson could take it for me. Plus it was super cold outside. Well they weren’t home in time, so I turned
on Thomas for the twins, bundled up and headed a few houses down the
street. Leah and I talked for a bit and
then I headed home. But I came home to
the front door being locked. I guess one
of the twins turned the deadbolt. And
everything else was locked up. I kept
knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell to no avail. Bennett was on the couch and would just smile
at me while drinking his milk. So I
decided to see, if by chance, the side garage door was open. As I was walking away I could hear little
footsteps so I went back to the door and Bennett was standing there. But I could not convince him to open the door. Then Miles walks around the corner holding a
cookie and a knife. I guess he used a
bar stool to get up on the counter to get a cookie that was sitting next to the
butcher block. He was trying to stab the
cookie with the knife while I watched through the side window. I rang the doorbell, banged on the door, and
shook the door and finally Miles unlocked the dead bolt. Thankfully everyone was okay-phew. When the others got home, I had our modified
versions of ginger bread houses for them to make. We also played a card game and got stuff
ready for Santa to come that night.
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| Tracking Santa with the NORAD Santa Tracker |
Our
church schedule was different this year.
Midnight Mass in Edina was moved to the Community Center since the
church was still being repaired after the fire. And there was no service at Andrew’s parents’
church since the pastor was out of town.
So we ended up going with my family to a 7pm service at Mary
Immaculate. It was just our family, my
parents, Lissy, Molly, Caroline, and Jared.
Then afterwards, we had a late dinner at my parents’ house. It was a change from tradition, but it was
still nice. Before we left, Andy and
Kaitlin and their families made it over.
But we had to head home and get to bed so Santa could come. I wasn’t sure how the kids would do since we
are used to going to bed so late on Christmas Eve, but they fell asleep pretty
quickly. It was actually around 10:30
before they got to bed anyways. My night
was a little later than expected but only because I was trying to figure out
the settings on my camera to get the picture I wanted of the tree. It is always fun seeing it all come together
though and anticipating the kids’ excitement the next morning.
After we finished up at our house, we headed to my parents for even more fun. They were ready for us when we got there and the kids’ busted through the doors to see what was there for them. The most exciting gift of the morning was a trip to Disney World to the five oldest grandkids from my parents. They are able to get some awesome discounts with Molly working there this semester. Molly made the cutest video to announce it to the kids. We didn’t get the overly excited response at first, but when it finally sunk it they were pretty excited. It should be a fun trip with some very brave grandparents.
We spent some time at home
during the afternoon and headed back to my parents that evening for the oh so
delicious Christmas meal and our family gift exchange.
We did Christmas with
Andrew’s family that Friday after Annie and Brad got into town. Andrew’s Uncle Buzz and his daughters joined
us as well for dinner and opening gifts.
We got to hang out and visit while the kids played with their new
toys. Then we came home for a little
over an hour, then picked up some soda and pizza, and headed back out to
Matthew and Kristin’s to see more of their house and enjoy dinner
together.
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| Canvas I made for Ainsley's Christmas present |
Amanda and her family got
into town on Friday too and we got to spend time with them over the
weekend. Andrew even got to spend a
decent amount of time at home over the break.
He stays so busy between his two “full-time” jobs at the office and the
ranch that is nice to have him home for a bit.
The older three and I got to go to a movie one day while Andrew watched
the twins while they napped. I got to
see Saving Mr. Banks (great movie) while Lissy took some of the grandkids to
see Walking With Dinosaurs and Molly and Caroline took others to Frozen. I also took the older three to Pizza Hut for
lunch one day so Jackson and Ellie could use their Book It coupons. The kids have also been playing with their
friends over break and getting to see what they got for Christmas. Jackson has also been awesome about helping
me out. Christmas can get a little
overwhelming for me at times with all the responsibilities and different things
I want to do. Jackson sometimes picked
up on how I was feeling and would ask me if there was anything he could do to
help me out-I love that boy. A couple
days ago I took down our indoor Christmas decorations and yesterday Jackson
helped me take down the outside decorations.
Although the Holy Family, Santa, and the lights will be stuck outside
until things thaw a bit. I was also
planning on shoveling the driveway.
There was only one side that needed to be shoveled and I told Jackson if
he did it he wouldn’t owe me the $10 he previously did. (Side note-my Grandpa Mike and Karen were so
generous as to send all of us gift cards for Christmas. Ellie used hers to buy a Ripstik. Jackson used his to buy a game for the Wii
but it was $10 over what his gift card was, so he was going to pay me back). Well he did shovel it but said he wasn't expecting to be paid for it-I did it anyways :-).
And I almost forgot about
our New Year’s Eve celebration. We were
invited to my parents’ now annual AJ’s & PJs party. We ate an early dinner at AJ’s which was
delicious as always. It was a good that
we had early reservations because it got very busy as we were finishing
up. We ran by home and changed into our
pjs and then headed over to my parents.
Andrew stayed with us for a while and thought about staying the night
too, but finally gave up and headed home.
The kids all stayed strong though and made it all the way to midnight,
even the twins. We played some Uno and
Facetimed with some of their cousins.
Then my dad lit some fireworks to ring in the New Year. Luckily, the twins were in a different room
this time and I think they had a calmer night.
Maybe it was because they didn’t go to bed until after 12:30. Ellie slept with me and she was excited to
snuggle-that girl loves to snuggle while I am not much of a snuggler. I usually put a pillow between us if we are
sleeping in the same bed since she has been known to kick. So she requested to snuggle first and then
put the pillow between us when it was time to sleep. Sweet, funny girl.
So there it is. It is still hard to believe Christmas has
come and gone. As I mentioned before, it
was a little overwhelming for me but it is still a very special time. And though it can be easy to get caught up in
the other aspects of Christmas, it is always important to reflect on the real
reason for Christmas-the birth of our Savior.
It has become even more important every year as more people are trying
to remove/ignore that reason. It makes
me sad that so many choose to ignore it and just celebrate Christmas as a time
to give gifts and visit with family and friends. I love all of that too, but there would be no
celebration without the first gift of Christmas and I’m not going to let that
go. So I choose not to say “Happy
Holidays” but to say “Merry Christmas”.
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
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