Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Puter Died

I just wanted everyone to know my computer died last week so that's why I haven't been posting. We still have a computer in Daniels room but it's REALLY slow and I hate using it. So I probably won't be posting as often unless something happens that I just have to tell everyone, at least until we get a new one.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Update on To Go or Not To Go

Thank you all for voting and commenting on whether or not we should let Daniel go to the game. I really appreciate all of the input I received and agree with everyone. Here's what we have decided to do...We told him that we thought he had worked very hard to bring his grades up and we were really proud of him for all his hard work, yet he had not acheived the goal of straight A's. So we asked him to choose another goal that would be a challenge for him yet something he could acheive in order to get to go to the game and he has chosen something that will probably be more of a challenge to him than straight A's. Only time will tell if he acheives his new goal, I'll try to keep you updated. We also encouraged him to try to keep his grades up and not let them get as low as a C again. I believe he will do it! Thanks again!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Deception

OK, I know you have to pick your battles and this probably wouldn't have been a big deal if I had just let it go...now, that being said, let me tell you a story to show you how my 4-year-old thinks.

Last Friday morning I was helping her get ready for school. I brushed her hair and asked if she wanted to wear a hair bow in her hair, she said no. I moved on to brush her sisters hair, asked her sister if she wanted a hair bow, she said yes. Well then the little one decides she wants a hair bow too. So I send them both to the bathroom to pick out hair bows. Now, on Fridays they wear their school spirit shirts which are red with royal blue writing on them. The little one comes back with 2 barrettes, a brown one and a purple one. So I tell her that she can't wear those because not only do they not match each other but they don't match what she is wearing. She proceeds to tell me..."But, I want to." So I tell her she can wear the brown one but not the purple. Then she sees laying in her room some old hair clips that I used to use but now I let them play with them. One is red and one is light blue. See Pic...

So she decides she wants to wear them in her hair. I again tell her no and she starts arguing with me. It is now time to leave so I walk out of the room and tell her father to please take care of it because she listens to him better than she listens to me. So he calls for her, it takes her awhile to come, but she does come out with nothing in her hair, then he just tells her to listen to her mother. I take them all to school.
When I go to pick my little one up after school she has the 2 barrettes in her hair, the brown one and the purple one. So I asked her where they came from. She says, "someone at school gave them to me." I tell her "no they didn't, you had those at home this morning, did you stick them in your pocket and put them on after you got to school?" Reply..."no." Me..."yes you did. Don't lie about it." No answer.
Unfortunately looking back on it I really dropped the ball on the parenting with this one. First of all, I should've let her wear whatever she wanted in her hair, so what if it didn't match, no big deal. Secondly, after the deception I didn't really do anything about it other than tell her not to lie. There were no consequences for her behavior at all, I just let it go. I guess I was feeling guilty about making such a big deal about the hair bows in the first place.
However, I have never in my life heard of a 4-year-old that has this thought process...mom won't let me wear them, I'll just stick 'em in my pocket and put 'em on when I get to school! What 4-year-old thinks like this besides mine? I flashed forward a few years, probably around 5 or 6 years from now, and imagined her sneaking make-up to school and putting it on there. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my struggles in parenting. Am I the only one who has this problem?

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

A Father's Love

My 7-year-old daughter has eczema and very sensitive skin. So therefore she has a VERY low pain tolerance. Well, last Monday when it was time to go to her tumbling class she asked if she could wear her shoes without socks because she had a blister on the bottom of her foot and it hurt. (???what does that have to do with wearing socks???) Anyway, I asked to see this blister. Well, it was actually a splinter in the bottom of her foot and we didn't have time to get it out then or she would've been late for tumbling. So I told her we would get it out later. Of course, after tumbling I'm thinking about getting supper on and getting the girls to bed, so I forgot all about the splinter and she didn't bother reminding me.

Now it's Tuesday night and I had to go to a rehearsal, so that left daddy to make sure the girls got bathed. I guess her foot was hurting her again because somehow daddy found out about it and after looking at it (he said it had pus) decided it had to come out. Well, needless to say, he said there was much screaming & crying. After soaking her foot and trying to get it out with tweezers he finally just used his mouth and sucked it out! I know, gross! Anyway, by the time I got home it was all over! Hallelujah! and they were both fine, not upset at all.

It must've really been hurting her before because Wednesday morning she said, "My foot's all better! I don't have to walk around on my tippy toes any more!" ???You were walking around on your tiptoes? Since when???

Anyway, I figure that must be true love, to suck a splinter out of the bottom of a 7-year-olds foot. Yuck! It's a good thing he was here, 'cause I would've just kept digging at it with the tweezers! :o

To Go or Not To Go

My 12-year-old son has always been very intelligent, ahead of others his age. All the way through school, until last year, he received straight A's. Last year he received A's & B's. Still good, really no complaint, (even though I feel like he doesn't really apply himself or he would get straight A's), but I'm not really pushing it. He's in the Gifted & Talented program (which I could go on and on about in another post, but I'm not going to go there). This year when he received his grades mid-semester he had A's, B's & one C. Now mind you is a HUGE sports fanatic, so to motivate him to bring his grades up by the end of the semester I told him that if he would bring his grades up to straight A's I would get him tickets to a Dallas Mavericks game. Yesterday he received his report card and he did bring all of them up, but not to straight A's. Here are his mid-semester grades and his end of semester grades:

Subject 1 - mid-semester - 86, end of semester - 90
Subject 2 - mid-semester - 74, end of semester - 85
Subject 3 - mid-semester - 87, end of semester - 90
Subject 4 - mid-semester - 91, end of semester - 92
Subject 5 - mid-semester - 81, end of semester - 88

So he received 3 A's & 2 B's. Now I think that is GREAT and he really did try, but some of them were already so low by mid-semester he had a hard time bringing them up to A's. So here is my dilemma...he still wants to go to a Mavs game. Do I stick to my guns and say "no, the deal was all A's" or do I extend the grace I mentioned in yesterdays post and let him go anyway? I'm going to put a poll up and let you, the reader, give your opinion. Of course, feel free to leave comments as well. Thanks!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Deep Thoughts on Perfection

I had been feeling a little guilty that most of my posts had come across as negative or complaining, and I didn't want anyone to have that impression. Then today, as I was reading a devotional magazine, God really used the following article to speak to me and I wanted to share it with you. It was written by Melinda Means and is titled "In Search of Perfection."
One day after a particularly challenging week of parenting. I was relating to a friend some of the week's misadventures and commenting how nice it would be to have naturally compliant children. She looked amused, smiled at me, and said, "They sound normal to me. What are you expecting - perfection?"

Ouch! What a word aptly spoken - and a sorely needed reminder! It is perilous to expect perfection from ourselves and perhaps even more hazardous to expect it from others. Perfectionism is a thief that robs us of victory. Have you ever had these thoughts? You'll never measure up. If you were a good mother/wife/Christian, you'd have it all together. You're a phony. I sure have, but I've begun to recognize them for what they are: lies from the enemy.

Even as God began to prompt me to write on this subject, I could hear Satan whispering, "You think you're some kind of expert?" Amazingly, God uses our brokenness and vulnerability for our good and His glory. In His abundant patience, God has shown me how few things can choke the life out of living like a person possessed by perfectionism.

The older I get, the more I learn to appreciate God's grace and faithfulness to me, yet I still struggle to give genuine grace to others. My kids love to get pizza on Fridays at school, but they know the only way to get it is to eat all their packed lunches throughout the week, and they usually do. One Friday morning, however, my daughter begged me to let her get pizza, even though she knew she really hadn't earned it. Being a wonderful gracious mother, I made an exception. However, I actually made her write down that I had given her "grace" on this day so I could remind her of it the next time she accused me of being unreasonable!

How many times have you said, "Someday, I'm going to write that book, start that Bible study, clean that closet...?" Do you put off projects until you can do them perfectly? God does not expect perfection from His servants (Psalm 103:8-10), but he does require action! Ephesians 2:10 says we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them." Making mistakes is inevitable. Missing God's calling because I'm focused on achieving perfection would be devastating.

I got a wake-up call a few years ago when I wrote our Christmas letter and talked about how much I enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. My husband read my letter and laughed. "It sure doesn't seem like it," he said, a little bemused. I was so offended! Eventually, I had to humbly admit that he was right. I searched to analyze why. It led me right to the room of perfectionism. My impatience and frustration with my shortcomings and everyone else's pretty much sucked all the fun out of my rooms!

Count your blessings. I have found a prayer journal to be a great record and reminder of answered prayer. When I regularly remember God's grace to me, I'm more apt to give it to others. In Deuteronomy 8:2, Moses encourages the Israelites to "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart" (NIV).

Accept that life is messy - and lighten up! Years ago, I remember taking my then 3 -year-old daughter and 10-month-old son to have their Christmas pictures taken. I had found the perfect outfits. Their hair was perfectly styled. I timed it perfectly - right after nap time. Then life got messy. Halfway to the mall, my son spit up on his adorable outfit. Half a tub of baby wipes later, he sparkled. Triumphantly, I lifted him out of his car seat just as he had a diaper blowout of legendary proportions - and now I was out of baby wipes. Wrapping him in a blanket, I headed for the closest bathroom. On the way, my daughter fell, tearing a huge hole in her white tights. Once in the bathroom, I was faced with the reality that it had only hand dryers and not paper towels! With my 3-year-old handing me reams of toilet paper, we finally became presentable (if not fragrant) and actually got the photo taken! I smile every time I see that photo, but I was so upset at the time. How silly! Life would often be boring and joyless if everything went according to our plan.

Ask yourself daily what is most important. Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds and demands of His earthly ministry to spend time with the Father (Matthew 14:22-23). He knew that despite all the legitimate needs vying for His attention, regular time with the Father had to be His top priority. It fueled His ability to prioritize and accomplish everything else God called Him to do in His earthly ministry. God set Jesus' agenda. We should allow Him to set ours as well. Prayerfully make a list of priorities - and consult it often.

Be flexible. A dear friend of mine calls it being "interruptible." Recently, this same friend called me to help out in the nursery one morning while a group of our young moms held Bible study. I had mounds of laundry and a messy house. Every fiber of my being wanted to say no. Yet, I felt led to say yes. I enjoyed it so much that I volunteer every week now! A completed to-do list might bring a measure of satisfaction, but it's a hollow victory if I've missed opportunities to bless and be blessed because I'm unwilling to veer from my agenda.

God wants to meet us in our messes. Ask God to help you view your inadequacies as opportunities for Him to shine. He can use our imperfections to fulfill His perfect plan for our lives.

Then, in like a little post note, the magazine went on to say:
Whether it's expecting perfect behavior from a child or expecting a husband to know our needs without being told, unrealistic expectations can lead to unresolved anger and resentment. The good news is that God is always available and can guide us in examining our attitudes to determine whether we're expecting too much from others or from ourselves. He can work in our willing hearts to replace perfectionism with patience and to match our expectations with our gifts, abilities, and realities.


Ouch! I have to admit that I could really see myself in that article. In my post "The Worst Day of My Life" I mentioned how this child expects perfection from themselves, now I'm beginning to see that they probably get that from me. Like the author of the article my hubby has said to me before that I don't seem happy to be a stay-at-home mom because I'm constantly complaining about something. Yes, it can be frustrating being a stay-at-home mom but it can also be very rewarding at times, and I don't want to pass this negativity on to my children. This is something that I struggle with daily and part of the reason I struggle with it is because I also struggle with spending time in prayer daily. I read my Bible and devotional magazine and maybe say a short prayer then mentally check it off my to-do list. But when do I ever spend quality time in prayer actually having two-way communication with God, not only pouring my heart out to Him but listening to Him as well?

I know this is probably something that most Christians struggle with because this is an area where Satan focuses on attacking us. If he can keep us from having a strong relationship with God, which can only come through prayer, then we become ineffective Christians, we're not filled with God's Spirit, therefore we have no spiritual power, no discernment and no joy. When I don't spend time with God every day I'm more apt to see flaws in others and not exercise grace.

In dealing with my children this is a very fine line, disciplining when needed, encouraging when needed or offering grace when needed. How am I supposed to have the wisdom to know what each child, whose individual needs are different, needs in any particular circumstance if I haven't been filled with God's Spirit that day by spending time with Him.

Here once again it's easy to fall into the trap of expecting perfection from myself in the area of prayer. I have to remember that yes, it is very important to every Christians health, but God also offers me grace when I mess up. God only wants what's best for me, and spending time with Him is always what's best. I also need to remember that He created me for fellowship, He loves me and misses talking to me. No relationship can be healthy without good communication.

Oh, how I want God to break me of my negativity, to use my imperfections to shine for His glory, to grow me and use me through them. How I want to be a good Godly mother, teaching my children not only through words but mainly by example the things of God.

God really spoke to me today through this article and I wanted to share it with you. Maybe it speaks to you too. Thanks for reading my ramblings once again. Love to all of you!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Picture

By the way, I forgot to tell everyone that the new pic behind my header is a pic my dad took up at Lake Tenkiller, Oklahoma in either May 2004 or 2005. Pretty good pic, huh? However, let me know if you like it in the header or not, I can't decide if I should keep it or not.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

"The Worst Day of My Life"

OK, so this phrase..."This is the Woooorst Day of My Life" (imagine it in a whiny voice), has become one of my children's (who shall remain nameless) favorite saying and it is REALLY starting to irritate me! Anytime this child doesn't get their way or has to do something they don't want to do, that is what comes out of their mouth. The other night I heard much crying, lamenting, screaming & "The phrase" for about an hour simply because they did not want to take a shower. They have also started saying "it", crying, etc. and giving me great anguish over having to do their homework. Then tonight I heard the same crying, lamenting, screaming & "The phrase" because they didn't want to go to school tomorrow and have to take a quiz. "I hate school, I don't want to go, I don't want to take that quiz, this is the worst day of my life, I hate my life". (Is this child melodramatic or what? Hmmmm, wonder where they get that from? :) ) This also went on for around an hour tonight. I try to ignore it, which seems to only make it worse. So I finally said, "Every time something doesn't go your way you say "That phrase" and how do you think that makes me feel to hear you say you hate your life"? No Response. I mentioned that their life could be a lot worse and gave a few examples, which they agreed would be worse. I also told them that EVERYONE goes to school at some time in their life and has to take tests. To which they replied "not homeschooler's". To which I replied, "yes they do, they still have to study, do homework and take tests, they just do it at home instead of a school building". This is the second time within the last couple of months that I have gone through this with this child about taking tests. I'm hoping they were just tired and that they don't really have a problem with anxiety about test taking. I'm afraid they may be a perfectionist and that they stress over not getting their school work done perfectly and on time. By the way this child did get all A's on their report card, which is great! I don't think I have said or done anything to put pressure on them for grades, I praise them when they bring home good grades, but have never said that they HAD to bring home A's. Hopefully this is just a stage and we'll get through it, I guess only time will tell.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

More Trouble at School

So after having the preceding posts conversation with the girls about getting in trouble at school, Daniel says, "I got in trouble today too for doing nothing". Nothing? OK, this has got to be good. So I asked, "what happened"? He says that during Rise & Shine, this is their meeting that they have every morning with the whole school, going over announcements, saying the pledges & school creed, etc. He says that the school has said before that you do not have to say the pledges, so during the Pledge of Allegiance he and his friend were just talking but that the teacher standing near them said that they were jumping around and playing". OK, first of all I was in shock that the school told them that they do not have to say the pledge, then I was angry that Daniel was so disrespectful of the flag to not do it AND to talk during it! Anyway, he finishes by telling me that they had to go see the principle and his homeroom teacher had sent a note home that a parent had to sign and send back. So now it's my turn..."OK, so a teacher exaggerated about you and your friend, you were just "talking" during the pledge"? Daniel..."Yes" Me..."OK, I don't care if the teacher exaggerated I am shocked that you would talk during the Pledge of Allegiance, I don't care if they told you that you didn't have to say it, I'm your mother and I'm saying that YOU DO have to say it. People died for that flag to give you the freedoms you have in this country and you WILL respect it and say the pledge. Your dad is really going to be angry about this one. So next time if your friend tries to talk to you during the pledge you better just ignore him, say the pledge, and talk to him afterwards." Daniel..."OK" Oh, the nerve, I thought I had taught him better than that, I was so disappointed in him. Once again a teacher and now a principle too, must think I'm a terrible mother for not teaching my son to respect the flag. AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!

Trouble at School

My son received the new game Rock Band to go with his XBox for Christmas. Now Rock Band is multi-generational, all the adults, family and friends, who have tried it love it and it can be addicting. However, it is rated T for Teen, for some mild inappropriate lyrics. Now mind you Daniel is 12, but my girls are 7 & 4 and of course anything Daniel does the girls want to try, but it is a bit too hard for them. But they like the music, so they'll sit in there and listen while he plays. During the school year we also watch another 7 year old little girl after school 'till her parents get off work. So when school started back last week and she came over for the first time since before Christmas break my kids wanted to show her everything they had gotten for Christmas. So now, thanks to us, she has heard the Rock Band music as well. Weeeellll, today after school in the van on the way home she tells me that she can't sing one of the songs on Rock Band anymore. I'm thinking uh-oh, what have I done. So I asked her which one. It's a song called "Creep" by Radiohead. The chorus lyrics are as follows..."I"m a creep, I'm a weirdo, what the he** am I doing here, I don't belong here...etc.". Now when we sing it we either leave the he** word out or change it to heck. But the lyrics appear on the screen, so I guess she read them. Anyway, I asked her if she had told her mom about it to which she replied "yes". So I asked her what her mom said and she said she couldn't remember. Well by this time we have picked up Daniel and he is getting in on the conversation and he asks her why she told her mom, he's thinking he's the one who looks bad for letting her play his game. She says she told her mom because "we" had gotten in trouble at school yesterday for singing it. To which I replied who's "we"? Well, it was her and Kathryn. So now I want to know why Kathryn didn't tell me about it. Of course, she said she "forgot", which, knowing Kathryn, she probably did. After further questioning it was the teachers aide who heard them singing it and just told them not to sing it anymore. I told them that when Daniel sings it he changes the words, but that it would probably be best if they not sing it at all anymore. So now the teacher's aide and the other little girls mother must think I'm a terrible mother for letting 7 year olds listen to that kind of music. I guess I probably am, I'm sure it's not the first time and it won't be the last that someone thinks I'm a terrible mother. Oh well, such is life.

New Name

OK, so my sister FINALLY read my blog and called me and wanted to know how to vote on the poll. Well, the poll ended yesterday, so I asked her which one she was going to vote for, and she chose Beishline Bylines, which gave that one 2 votes, so I guess that makes that one the winner. Hope you like the new name.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Poll

As you can see the poll to pick the name for our blog was a huge success! :-P Guess we'll just keep what we got.

Correction

Correction to the Back to School post. Durant schools do get 1 day off before spring break, March 7, which means they still have to go for 2 months before getting another break. Yipee for me, sad for them. Last year they got President's day off in February, why the change, what's up with that?

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Earrings

Well, I finally found the Hannah Montana earrings at Wal-Mart to replace the ones from the lost present for Kathryn. So instead of $20 for one pair of earrings I have now spent $40! I'm still hoping the lost present will reappear and we can take them back, but at least Kathryn has her last present and the earrings she so badly wanted.

Back to School Time

I have to admit that when I first saw that the kids would be out of school for almost 3 weeks for Christmas break I was NOT happy. The way the ages of my children are spaced out I have had one at home for almost 12 years and I was definitely ready to have them all in school this year to have some time at home alone to get things done. So it is probably an understatement to say I was very excited for the last one to start school this year. But to have them at home for almost 3 weeks at Christmas, I thought I would go nuts! The first week they were home was pretty bad, they got really bored, a whole week off BEFORE Christmas is too much. However, after Christmas they had their new things to play with and kept themselves entertained very well. I got so used to them being home that when they did go back to school I'll have to admit that I did miss them a little. But what is up with Durant's school calendar this year? It is too weird! Not only did they get almost 3 weeks off but then they went back to school on a Thursday? Back to school for 2 days, then the weekend? I, for one, did not like it, it's really hard to get back in the routine this way. The first day back we were so used to sleeping in that we overslept. I usually get the kids up at 7:00 and I woke up at 7:35! Daniel is supposed to be at school by 7:55 and they all always eat breakfast at school which for Kathryn means she has to be there before 8:00. Needless to say poor Kathryn had to eat a leftover nuked biscuit on the way to school, Daniel was tardy but the girls weren't, Kathryn just missed breakfast. I dropped Daniel off and got the girls to school right after 8:00, (they're not considered tardy till 8:10), so I think we did really good to have just gotten up at 7:35! Anyway now I don't think they get out of school again until spring break, the 3rd week in March! Which is great for me, but it sure is a long time for the teachers and kids to go without a break. Hope they enjoyed Christmas, 'cause March is a long way away.

My Little Thief

Last week, we, being the whole family, went shopping in Sherman. (Sherman is just across the Oklahoma/Texas border, about a 30 minute drive, if any family not from this area are reading this.) Anyway, we went to the Sherman Mall and shopped at Dillards, Bath & Body Works, and walked through a few other stores. We left there and went to Target, then to Wal-Mart. As we are getting out of the van at Wal-Mart Rich notices that Morgan has something in her pants pockets. So he asked her, "What is that?", no answer, so he pulls it out to discover that she has one lip gloss in each pocket, which she lifted from Bath & Body Works. After much chastisement, Rich and I discussed what to do about it. He suggested taking her back and making her pay for them out of the money she received from relatives for Christmas. To which I replied, "but then she still gets to keep them, therefore feeling rewarded." So I suggested that she have to take them back and apologize for taking them, mind you they weren't opened. I told him a story about when I was a kid, probably around Morgans age, I took a Snickers from a store and my dad made me take it back and apologize and I never forgot that feeling of humiliation and shame and I felt like that had taught me my lesson because I never did it again, so Rich agreed. After we finished in Wal-Mart we head back over to the mall. On the way over we tell her what she is going to have to do, needless to say she is not happy about it at all. She starts crying uncontrollably and saying she doesn't want to do it. She said that they would yell at her, which I assured her they would not, but she wasn't buying it. So Rich drops me and Morgan off at the mall and the rest of the family waits in the parking lot. Morgan and I are walking through the mall, her crying uncontrollably and telling me that her stomach hurt, she was so nervous about it. We get to the store and outside of the store I try to give her the lip gloss, I tell her that I would go with her but she was going to have to go give them to the lady that worked there and tell her she was sorry she took them. At first she would not take the gloss from me, I had to force her to take them. We walk into the store, go up to the lady, I turn to Morgan and tell her to give them to her, which she does, and I say to Morgan, "now what do you say?", to which Morgan just stands there still crying uncontrollably. So the lady says, "did you take these?", to which Morgan just nods her head and says "uh-huh". So I tell Morgan again "what do you say?", to which she very quietly replies, "sorry." The lady thanked us for being honest and we left. After which Morgan calmed down. I was hoping that was the end of the story and she had learned her lesson. However, two days later, New Years Eve, we were in Wal-Mart and when we get to the check-out she wants some gum. I tell her no because we were going home to have a ton of snack food for our little New Years Eve gathering. Of course she throws a fit, starts crying, whining, begging, etc., but I stand firm and still say no. The next thing I know, she is picking up a pack and starting toward her pocket!!!! I could not believe it! I told her don't you even think about it, so she put it back. I guess I'm really going to have to keep my eye on her, she's only 4 and I'm already tired, I hope I can stand my ground for another 14 years.

The Case of the Missing Christmas Present

Packing to leave for Christmas we put all of our wrapped presents in a giant bag to take over to Ardmore. We put them all in the bag at home, put the bag in the van, drove straight to my parents house, unloaded everything, took all of the wrapped presents out of the giant bag and put them under my parents Christmas tree. All of this is on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 23rd. As we are finishing opening gifts Christmas morning I realize that one of Kathryn's gifts is missing. Each of our children gets one big gift from Santa and three wrapped gifts from mom and dad. So they all have the same number of gifts to open, but I couldn't find one of Kathryns, and of course she knew about it, what kid doesn't know exactly how many presents they have and what shape they are? Anyway, I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, so I assumed it must've gotten left at home under our tree. However, when we returned home I looked everywhere and still no present. We looked in the van, in the giant bag that held the gifts and now all of the Christmas decorations have been put away, we still have not found that present. Now all season when you would ask Kathryn what she wanted for Christmas she would say a Barbie jeep and earrings. So of course, just my luck, the missing present is the earrings, and not just any earrings mind you, but the all coveted Hannah Montana (echo) earrings. So she knew there was a present missing and I didn't want her to think she didn't get any earrings, so I went ahead and told her what was in the present. Well, since the present still has not appeared I decided I would just buy her another pair, but now I can't find them anywhere. I guess Kathryn has forgotten about it for now because she hasn't asked, so I'm secretly trying to find some Hannah Montana earrings in every store I go in, because eventually she will remember. I'm still hoping the missing present will mysteriously reappear. Weird isn't it?

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Christmas Day

Since Morgan had fallen asleep early the night before, she of course was the first one up, around 6:00, but I think she forgot it was Christmas morning, and I didn't want to wake the other kids until they woke up on their own, so I got up and got a shower, and by the time I got out of the shower the other 2 were up and raring to go. They are not allowed to go into the living area until the adults are in there with the cameras ready to shoot their reaction. Which of course my camera broke a while back and I have not gotten a new one yet, I'm bidding on one on ebay so hopefully I'll have a new one soon. Anyway, I had my little disposable camera and my parents had theirs, so they came out and were very excited at their gifts from "Santa". Daniel got an Xbox and the girls got a Hotwheels motorized Barbie jeep to share. But that didn't last long, they were ready to open their gifts. We go around and take turns opening gifts, youngest to oldest, one at a time, so everyone can see what everyone else got and it makes it last a little longer. Everyone was pleased with their gifts, but I have to tell you Morgan got a toy digital camera, so she took some of her own pics. All season if you asked her what she wanted for Christmas she would say, a Barbie jeep and pink church shoes. So my mom got her these pink sequined princess shoes (think Dorothy's Wizard of Oz shoes, but pink instead of red), and she took a pic of them with her camera. She wore them every day, all day, even outside to play, until a big piece of the sequins came off, which was only 1 week after Christmas. She did get to wear them to church, once, but she didn't get to wear them to school, because by the time school started back she had already torn them up. So now she can only wear them to play in, which today being Saturday, she has had them on, outside, all day today. Rich took the girls to the park this morning then came home and had a picnic in the backyard, she wore them to the park, the picnic and has played outside in them all day, to include climbing the tree in them. She looks pretty funny with her OU sweat suit on and her pink "church" shoes, climbing the tree, wish I had a camera.

Christmas Eve

We had a good Christmas. Besides the Christmas caroling (see previous post), we have another family tradition where on Christmas eve, after we have stuffed ourselves with Christmas dinner, we light all the candles in the house, turn off all the lights, then my dad reads the Christmas story out of Luke 2, then we sing some carols and ask the kids some questions about the Christmas story and let anyone share anything they want about Christmas. So we did that and if you read Rich's Christmas post you've already read how Daniel shared his meaningful Christmas story about running around outside in underwear, anyway, read Rich's blog on underwear to get the full story, as Rich said 12 year old boy stuff. After having the lovely reading of the Christmas story, singing, and interesting conversation, Rich & I took our kids out to see Ardmore's light display, it's one of the best I've ever seen, and really long, we all enjoyed that and Morgan fell asleep on the way back home. Now Daniel & Kathryn know the truth about Santa. I decided when I had children that I would never tell them one way or the other, we would do Santa, but if ever asked I would not lie about it, which goes back to the trauma I felt as a child when I found out that Santa wasn't real and the shock that my parents had lied to me, and if they lied about that, what else have they lied about, I was a sensitive child. :) So Daniel and Kathryn know and Morgan has never asked. After watching the 10 o'clock news it was time for Daniel & Kathryn to go to bed, but even though she knows the truth, Kathryn had to leave cookies out for Santa, then she wanted to take a bite out of some of them, so that Morgan would think Santa had been there, I let her do it, she was really getting into it, which by the way, Morgan never even noticed the next morning. Anyway we got them to bed and Rich & I got everything set for Christmas morning and went to bed.

Christmas Caroling

We went over to Ardmore to spend Christmas with my family, we went on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 23 and came home on Wednesday, Dec. 26. My family has a tradition that we go caroling around my parents neighborhood, just for the fun of it, which by the way as you can imagine Rich just LOVES :), but this year my mom had her annual open house on Sunday, the 23rd and everyone was too tired to go Sunday night. Then we like to have our traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas eve, so we're not in the kitchen all day on Christmas day, so of course nobody wanted to go Christmas eve after stuffing ourselves, so we just didn't go this year. Rich, the kids and I went caroling to a few of our neighbors on Friday, the 21st, and gave them some Christmas tree cookies that the kids and I had made. Only one of the neighbors seemed to care, everyone else looked at us like we were weirdos, which we are, so we're used to it. Anyway, I guess that will suffice for our yearly caroling tradition this year.

Nobody Reads My Blog

Well, I know it has been 2 weeks since I have blogged, and I do have a few things I should blog about, however, it seems that my friend Steph is the only one reading my blog and I can just talk to her and tell her what's going on in my life. I put a poll up on my blog for everyone to vote on the name for the blog and she was the only one who voted, so she must be the only one reading it, and she voted for 2 of the choices, so since she's the only one who voted that didn't really help decide on the name. I guess I'll just keep it what it is. Oh well, maybe I should just blog for myself, for cathartic reasons. Anyway, hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!