Coming to an end

2012 is almost over.

Christmas was wonderful. I am so blessed to have my little family. The kids got way too much but loved it all. I would say they are spoiled but I know I've contributed to that. Haha.

New Years is a few days away and I've already made my resolutions. 1. Start running again. 2. Lose weight and eat less JUNK. 3. Juicing??? 4. Have fun with my babies. I don't usually do these because I never stick to them but I'm determined this time. Wish me luck!!!

What are your resolutions??

Santa's Lap

All the cousins were together last Friday and had an opportunity to sit on Santa's lap. Of course, Santa ended up being a girl - which did NOT fool all the kids.

I'm talking about Olivia of course.

We did get a cute picture of Joyce and Alton with all the present grand kids. There's one more coming in May!

Newtown

Friday was one of the worst days in America.

 

It was one of the worst days for me.

 

Evil is in this world folks - and the more we try to take God out of it, the more Evil will prevail.  I don't know what the answer is to what happened on Friday at that school.  Tougher gun laws?  Maybe.  But I think it goes deeper than that. 

 

Our country needs to address mental illness.  And the lack of help or treatment many people with mental illness face.  That, in my opinion, is the true issue here.  That young man had made his mind up on what he was going to do.  Whether it be with guns, knives, or a bomb - he was going out in a big way.  Our society has to do something. 

 

I got home Friday and I hugged and kissed my babies.  Cooper let me as usual - O was hesitant but I think she saw the tears in my eyes and knew it was important.  They don't know much about what happened and I plan on keeping it that way. 

 

I cried.  Alone, in the shower, away from the kids and Al, I cried.  No, I take that back.  I weeped.  Weeped for the mothers and fathers who have lost their whole world.  Weeped because I know it could be my town.  I'm thankful it wasn't and I pray a school shooting is something I never face.  As a parent, you want to think school is the safest place other than home you can send your kids.  Now we know that's not the case.

 

Pray for the families and community of Newtown, CT.  Pray for the family of the shooter.  Pray that there won't be a copy cat.  Pray that if your child/children go to school, they stay safe.  Pray for the teachers that protect our kids. Pray for the little ones that don't understand their friend is gone.   Pray for the parents that found today to be the most difficult day to drop their kids off at school.  I know it was hard for me.  Just Pray.  

They are my nightmare!

Snowflake and Sneeky.

 

The two elves in our house.  One belongs to Olivia and one belongs to Cooper. 

 

 I hate them.

 

I'm lazy people.  I'll be honest about that.  I'm not fond of the elf on the shelf because I have to come up with some clever scenario every night.  EVERY night.  For TWO kids. 

 

Have I mentioned I hate them?  O looks on YouTube and shows me all the cool things other people are doing with them.  I think she's trying to drop me hints.  I give her an A for effort but she'll learn that Mommy is just too lazy for Snowflake to do really cool stuff. 

 

I'm not heartless though folks.  Their damn little elves are moving each night.  I'm being as creative as I can with the least amount of effort.  So far it's a win for me.  Of course, I have 14 more nights of this.  That makes me want to cry.  

Memories

One of my fondest memories about my grandparents is their ceramic Christmas tree.  It probably sat about 12 inches tall and plugged into the wall.  They never put up a fake or real tree, they simply put the ceramic tree on one of their tables and stuck it in front of the living room window.

 

I thought they were the coolest.  I'm not sure why I thought that tree was so neat, but I did.  After my grandparents passed away, the tree disappeared.  There's no telling what happened to that tree - I hope someone got it at the yard sale my aunt had and taken wonderful care of it.

 

So, I stumbled across some on eBay one day and knew I had to have one.  You wouldn't believe how much these things are going for on eBay!  It's unreal!  I looked for a good week, always getting outbid on one.  I finally WON a 19 inch vintage ceramic Christmas tree a few weeks ago.  That eBay notification was probably the best one I've ever received. 

 

I've put the tree together and displayed out in the living room.  It immediately brought back all those wonderful memories of my Granny and PawPaw Hill.  I love it.  The kids love it.  They are happy I found one too.  It looks old timey.  I can't wait to make memories with it with the kids and future grand kids. 

 

 

It's the best Christmas gift I could have ever given myself.  :)  

It's December.....

And the kittens are at home under the tree. Where will the presents go?