Beautiful Day

Although a part of me is really homesick for the white winters we had in Germany for the last five years, another part of me is really enjoying the mild winter we're having here in North Carolina. We were finally able to enjoy the weather today for the first time in a couple of weeks. Everybody in our household has been sick for the past couple of weeks except me (::knock on wood::). I really feel bad for all of them, too, because P. took 2 weeks of vacation so he could have some time off while the kids were out of school, but none of us have really been able to enjoy it because they've been sick and I've been working constantly.

One of P.'s aunts (one of his mom's sisters) has been visiting for the past couple of days. She lives in West Virginia and decided to come down here while her husband and son were deer hunting. We drove up there last night and had dinner with them, and the kids are spending the weekend. We went back up today because there's a Classic Car place in Lillington that my father-in-law was wanting to take the kids to. Well, since the weather was so nice, we of course decided to ride the bikes up there. The weather was perfect for it, and we had a beautiful ride. By the time we got up there, had lunch, and drove up to Lillington, though, the shop was closed. They close at 2 on Saturdays. Oh well. Maybe next time. My mother-in-law is wanting a new car (really needs a new car) so we stopped at the Ford place so she could show us the Lincoln she wants. It's a nice car, but the price is a bit too high for them. He has a friend that may be able to get them a better price on one, so we'll see.

After that we stopped and looked at the progress they've made on their plantation house. It's coming along nicely. They'll have a really nice retirement home once they're finished. It was starting to get dark, so P. and I decided we'd better head on back to Hope Mills before the temperature dropped too much. Even after the sun went down, though, it wasn't too cold. I don't mind riding when it's chilly as long as it's not really windy, and as long as I am layered enough. Today I made sure I wore enough layers, and I didn't get cold at all on the way home. It's supposed to be raining for the next couple of days, and then P. goes back to work, so I'm not sure when we'll be able to ride again. I can't wait until we can start riding with the kids. I want to start out riding just around the neighborhood so I can get used to having somebody on the back and so they can learn how to ride on the back safely. We have to get a sissy bar for P.'s bike, though, before either of them can ride with him. Hopefully we'll be able to do that soon.

I wonder if we're really going to have much cold weather this winter. Here it is almost January, and the 10-day forecast on my Weather Channel Desktop says the temps are supposed to be in the 60s all week, even getting up to 71 on Friday the 5th. Gotta love the South!

Wow...

After hearing about Saddam Hussein's sentence, I believed that it would be upheld and carried out, but I really didn't expect it to happen so quickly. I guess I thought the appeal process would take longer than it did. So I was pretty surprised when I found out that he would be executed no later than Sunday. I was even more surprised when I got up this morning and learned that the sentence had been carried out and he had died just after 10 p.m. EST.

I've always been a believer in the death penalty, but I honestly feel relief about this. I know that the Iraqis still have a really long way to go, but I think that this process (trial, sentencing, carrying out of the sentence) was a big step for them.

New Old Toy

Last year the kids got a PlayStation 2 for Christmas. Ever since we moved into this house, it's been sitting in its box up in my bedroom. Yesterday I finally brought it downstairs, unpacked it, and reconnected it to the TV in the family room. J. got a new PS2 game from my sister and her husband for Christmas this year and has been dying to try it. So we turned it on and let them play a little while yesterday. A. gets frustrated with it really easily, so we make her take a break from it when she starts whining.

Today I went in to work at Fort Bragg. I hadn't been in to the hospital since last Wednesday. I ended up only being there for a couple of hours today. I got finished with what I needed to do, and told the lady I work with that I was going to work from home for the rest of the day. Besides, P. wasn't feeling well and was still trying to rest when I left post. I also told her that if I didn't hear from her this week, I wouldn't be back out there. There's no point in my driving all the way out there (about a 25-30 minute drive) when there's nothing for me to do. I'm going to be working from home all next week, too, because the kids don't go back to school until the 9th of January, and P. goes back to work next week.

Anyway, so I got home from post, and the kids wanted to play the PS2. Since J. got to play his new game yesterday, I let A. pick what she wanted to play first today. She chose Robots, and they played that for a while. Then they got tired of that, and by that time P. had gotten up and come downstairs. So he played it for a while. After I made him stop, J. wanted to play a car racing game, DT Racer, that he got last year. I had so much fun watching them play that game. A.'s not really good at games where she has to steer a car while also having to concentrate on the accelerator and brake. The steering on that game is really sensitive, too, so she kept running into the walls. Well, at the end of each round, J. would do a Replay and they would watch the race again. We all really got a kick out of that. You could see J.'s car take off down the track, and A.'s car would be ricocheting off the walls. I laughed so hard I cried.

I've been doing some thinking the last few days about my job situation. I know I don't want to stay with the company I currently work for. I'm going to be resigning from this job in February or March. I interviewed for a job on post last Wednesday. My dilemma will come if I'm offered that position, because I'm really starting to think that I want to take a break from it all. I want to spend more time with my kids while they're young, and then I can also have the time to do the things I want to do and take better care of myself, too. We'll see. Yes, we'll have to tighten things up, but it will really be worth it if we're all happier.

Our Christmas

I'm going to try to describe our Christmas without getting too long-winded. It may be a little difficult, though, since we really kind of celebrated for three days. It's funny that I enjoy blogging as much as I do considering the fact that I HATED writing in high school (AP English was a pain)! Oh well...people change, even me...lol.

I also have a few pictures to share. It may seem like there are a lot here, but they really only scratch the surface of all the ones that we took.

I've already talked about our celebration with my family, so here are some pictures from Saturday.


A. with Santa Claus. This year she's acted pretty shy around him, although I'm not really sure why. We all know better, especially Santa!










J. with Santa. He was kind of quiet at first, too, but definitely managed to ask for his helmet!



And here's my baby niece with Santa. Of course she didn't cry this year, but we'll see how she reacts next year. Maybe she won't be scared of him, though, neither of my kids was.












Here's A. with her Barbie Guitar my sister and her husband got her. Doesn't she look like a little rock star?












Sunday P. and I spent the day cleaning the house and trying to get ready for Christmas. We put the kids to work cleaning their rooms, and we cleaned up downstairs. They decided they didn't really want to be on their best behavior, but after Mommy made a phone call to Santa to make sure he was aware of their antics (which of course he was), they straightened up. I made sure they heard me when I made the "phone call" and P. was in the kitchen trying to keep from bursting out laughing. He said he didn't know how I kept from keeping a straight face. Oh well, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, right? I made a trip to the grocery store to get a few last minute things I needed for cookies. We had some cookie mix, but I insist on making certain ones from scratch. After we finished getting our cleaning done, the kids came down and helped me make chocolate chip cookies. I have to say, these were the best chocolate chip cookies that have ever come out of my kitchen. Must have been my little helpers! J. very carefully read the ingredient list and the instructions for us. I measured out the ingredients and the kids helped combine them and mix everything. Then they helped me scoop them onto the baking pans...well, the first couple of batches anyway. In the middle of baking cookies, we let them open the one traditional Christmas Eve gift. J. opened up a model Ferrari (bringing back memories of our trip to the Ferrari Museum in Italy), and Daddy helped him put it together. He's not quite old enough yet for a really complex one, so it didn't take too terribly long. We had been using the NORAD Santa Tracker to keep tabs on Santa all day, and about 9:30 we found out he had entered Florida. We decided that Uncle Robbie better be in bed, and I told them they'd better get in bed, too, since it wouldn't take Santa long to make his way to NC. So we put out the two chocolate chip cookies and half glass of milk that Santa had specifically asked them for, and they were off to bed.

After they went to bed, I made some Chocolate Drop Cookies (also called No-Bake Chocolate Cookies), and P. made some sugar cookies. Then we got ready for Christmas. We didn't have as much as we do sometimes, but we got the kids things they had specifically asked for and we knew they would appreciate. It's really pretty easy to make them happy at the age they are now, and I know I need to appreciate that while it lasts.

We had stressed to them the importance of waking us up before they came downstairs on Christmas morning. About 7:30 I heard one of them moving around in my room. A. had tiptoed in, and come around to my side of the bed (which is the farthest from the door). She leaned over me (I guess to see if I was awake), then started to tiptoe out. I asked what she was doing sneaking around in my room. It's a good thing I'm a much lighter sleeper than I was when I was younger. So P. and I came downstairs and got the cameras ready and started the coffee (very crucial) and told them to come on downstairs.




Here are the helmets Santa brought them so they can ride the motorcycles with Mommy and Daddy.









J. was so excited about his helmet. That was just about the first thing he noticed. He tackled it and rolled around on the floor with it...LOL!! He's such a goofy kid.


They had a good time opening their presents here at home. One thing they got that J. has been talking about wanting to see for a while now, is a set of tickets to a Monster Truck show here in Fayetteville. He was pretty excited about that. I love the fact that they're not at the age yet that how much they get is what they focus on.

After we had our Christmas here, we packed up and headed for P.'s parents' house to have Christmas with them. When we got there, we walked into the living room to put the gifts we had brought under the tree. Well, we could barely get into the room, much less find room under the tree to put anything else. P.'s dad said, "Can we say overkill?" LOL...ya think?? So we visited with his parents and his brother and sister-in-law while we waited for his sister to get there. When she arrived, we started the gift exchange there. The kids got way too much, as usual, but they had a great time.


A little play tent that A. got. J. got one too. They wanted so badly to open them up while we were there, but we told them they had to wait. We haven't been able to pull them out here yet, either. Don't know where we'll set it up...there's no room in their bedrooms for them.





She got a newborn Cabbage Patch. She was just tickled. She got a highchair and other accessories for her, too. It was pretty funny listening to her and J. arguing over whether he was the daddy or not. I settled that one pretty quickly, though. Nope, J.'s the uncle...lol.







J. got yet another model car. This one was a Mustang like his Papa's, only a different color.






He got most of the cars from the movie "Cars" in matchbox size. He's only missing a couple, so he can almost reenact the movie, which I think he already knows by heart.

Here's the desk he got from his Nana and Papa. He's been wanting one, so he was pretty happy about it. A. got a little vanity and shelf for her room.

As you can tell, we had a pretty great Christmas. P. got lots of tools, which is something he always wants. Hopefully he'll find time to use them sometime...maybe after this assignment though. He got me a beautiful Harley-Davidson zipup sweater, and a hoodie. He also got me a docking station for my iPod so I can play it here at home. My mom got me an FM receiver so I can play it in my car. I told him I'll get lots more use out of it now than I have up to this point because I've never really been one to be able to listen to something with earphones. They irritate me too much. I got him a pair of jeans and a nice shirt for him to open on Christmas, and then told him about the things I had for him that hadn't worked out like I had planned.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. Don't know yet what we're going to do for New Year's, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! We're just about finished getting set up here tonight and will hopefully soon be going to bed. I know the kids will be up bright and early in the morning.

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with my family. We went to my sister's house and spent the afternoon. She and her husband cooked a wonderful dinner of pork tenderloins, baked potatoes and green beans. They figured everybody else was going to be having ham and turkey with all the "fixins" so they decided to do something different. It was delicious! For dessert we had a choice between Turtle Pie or Key Lime Pie. Everything was wonderful!

After dinner, we got a surprise visit from Santa Claus! The kids were very excited, although they figured out right away that it wasn't the "real" Santa. A. all of a sudden decided she was going to be bashful. The one thing she did ask for, though was that darn toy video camera which reminded us just how much she has her heart set on it. Even though they got a digital camera that also will record video clips, she wants a toy that actually is shaped like a video camera (like Uncle Robbie's) that she can pretend to record video with. Thank goodness I finally found something that I hope will do.

I'll share pictures after Christmas. Tomorrow we're doing our Christmas here at home and then going up to P.'s parents' house to spend Christmas with them. I'm glad we're close for a couple of years so we can spend holidays with the family without it being a huge hassle.

Merry Christmas!!

Track Santa

This is a really neat website. Those of you with kids should check it out. My kids are really getting a kick out of it. We're checking it periodically throughout the day to see where Santa is. It's really cute.

Norad Tracks Santa

It brings back memories of when I was a kid. We used to watch the news on Christmas Eve to see if there had been a Rudolph Sighting. There would be somebody out with a news camera and there would be a clip of Rudolph's glowing red nose. I got so excited about that every year.

Anyway, this is just a really cute thing for the kids to watch. Merry Christmas!!

Finally!!

I never dreamed that something so seemingly simple as a "toy video camera" would be so elusive!

I've been looking everywhere I could think of for this thing that my 6 year-old daughter asked Santa for, and haven't been able to find it. Tonight I decided to go to Toys 'R Us, which I have been avoiding. But I figured at this point I didn't really have a choice. So I got there, looked around the store, and finally asked someone. She told me that if they had anything like that it would be with their "Chat Now" products, which are in the electronics section. What? Why would a TOY video camera be in the electronics section? Well, I walked over there anyway, and found nothing. I went over to the mall because there used to be a Kaybee Toy Store there, but it's gone now. It's probably been gone for a while, but then, so have I.

So I come back to Hope Mills to check the Walmart one more time. Instead of wasting a lot of time searching the toy department, I decided to go ahead and ask somebody right away. The lady I asked took me over to where the toy video camera I asked for should be. But they were out. There were toy digital cameras (according to her, but they are actually functional) but no video cameras. I looked down and saw part of what looked like a little pink video camera. Could it be? So I grabbed it, and it's actually a Barbie book that also comes with a video camera and little discs that she can use to project images onto her wall. I decided that would probably be something A. would really enjoy. She would enjoy being able to project images, and she can also pretend to make video. The lady helping me asked me "but does it record?" I told her that it doesn't have to record. A. just wanted something she can play pretend with.

I'm just so glad I finally found that darn toy video camera. A. really has her heart set on it and has asked Santa for it twice. Finally something has worked out.

Frustrated

I have been reminded over the last few days just how much we're still trying to adjust to being back in the States. We're trying to finish getting ready for Christmas, but it's amazing how different it is here. The biggest difference? Finances. I've already blogged a couple of times about my job frustrations. I haven't talked about the other cut we've taken. I had always heard that you could really make money overseas, but didn't really realize how true it was until we came home. I know that's not the most important thing, but it's an adjustment we're still having to make. Hopefully P.'s promotion will come soon and alleviate some of that. And I also hope that my job interview on Wednesday went well. It would be nice to have another job to move to instead of quitting altogether. Regardless, though, I definitely think I'm finished with this company. It's ridiculous.

So both the kids asked for helmets so they could ride with us when we go out on the motorcycles. That will be really nice for us, too, since we'll no longer have to worry about waiting till somebody has the kids before we can go riding. P. does need a sissy bar for his bike, but that's not a very difficult thing to get.

So...the reason for my frustration? The kids' Christmas presents are taken care of. I have made arrangements with Santa so that he'll bring their helmets. He's had trouble finding the toy video camera that A. asked for, but I have a couple more places to go this weekend to try to help him out. J. asked for a little work desk for his room to do his homework. Santa won't be giving him that because he knows that Nana and Papa have already taken care of that. They're getting plenty of other stuff, but my plans for their leather jackets for riding with us have not worked out. That's what my mother-in-law wanted to get them, and we found some nice ones that were priced reasonably. However, I found out today that they're on backorder probably until after the New Year. I guess I'll give them an IOU.

None of my plans for P. have worked out like I planned either. He wanted a different (louder) set of pipes for his bike. I ordered them through a friend who does customization and other work on motorcycles. He's had them now since the beginning of December. We've been trying to wait until as close to Christmas as possible to put them on. Unfortunately, he had a family emergency...his wife was in a bad car accident. So he's out of town so he can be by her side while she needs him. I just pray that she recovers soon.

I also ordered a jacket that he's been wanting. It's on hold at a local shop. Unfortunately, I can't get it for him by Christmas like I had planned. I know he'll understand but I'm still really frustrated.

Yesterday we were out finishing up some Christmas shopping for our extended family. I also had a hair appointment, and decided that it was time for a real change. I had my hair cut quite a bit shorter than it has been for a long time. Hopefully we'll get some decent pictures this weekend and I can share a couple. Tomorrow we're spending the afternoon and evening with my family and will be celebrating Christmas with them then. Monday we're spending the day with P.'s family. His brother and sister-in-law will be there that day, and are leaving the next day to visit her family in NY.

Despite the frustrations of the last couple of days I think we'll have a great Christmas. I'll try to plan better for next year (I say that every year)...

Update

Sunday was P. and my annivesary. We've been married 12 years. Sometimes I can't believe it's been that long, but sometimes it seems like a lot longer! Nah...it's been a great twelve years, and I look forward to the next twelve ahead. Since our anniversary fell on Sunday and his folks had the kids on Saturday we decided to have our time together that day. The weather was perfect, so we went out on the bikes. We rode for a while and did a little window shopping. We went to lunch (late lunch/early supper), and rode some more. Although the weather was beautiful, the days are still fairly short and it was getting chilly when we came home. He got me a really cute pair of earrings. They're the Harley-Davidson bar & shield with a teeny topaz stone which just happens to be just about the same color as my bike. Yes, I know I've been asked for a picture of me on it but I never think to take a picture when we go out to ride. I got him a new helmet (they call it a "skid lid"), which is what he asked for. I don't like it because I don't think it provides enough protection, but he has a peanut head and it's what he wanted, so it's what he got.

P. and the kids have been sick all week. I guess it's a touch of the flu or something. I think the kids picked it up from the in-laws since they've been up there so much over the last few weeks. P.'s mom and sister were both sick a couple of weeks ago. It's interesting how it hits everybody differently. The kids are all congested in the head and chest. P.'s problem is all in his stomach. I told all of them they can stay away from me. I feel so bad for my babies though. Nobody should have to spend their Christmas vacation being sick. P.'s on leave, so I guess I kind of feel bad for him too.

On the job situation...I had an interview today. I can't make a judgment on how it went. They pretty much had a form with standard questions they were asking. If anything hurts me, it will be the fact that my strengths are in outpatient coding and this is an inpatient coding position. If it's meant to be, I'll get it, and I know that. Regardless what happens with this position, though, I think I've made the decision to quit my current job after P. gets promoted. I decided that I'm really too young to be working this hard and having nothing to show for it. And my kids are too young for me to be working the hours I'm working. It breaks my heart to have to tell them that I have to work when they want to do fun things. It's just not worth it. I think the kicker was about 4:00 this morning when I was finishing up a particular project after working all night. I'm done.

So wish me luck that the panel was impressed enough by my interview today to choose me for the position. I hope my Executive Order preference (meaning that I held a job overseas while there with my sponsor and therefore have preference since I've returned to the States) helps me out. I don't expect to be hired on preference alone. I firmly believe that preference should be considered AFTER qualifications. If someone is better qualified than I am, then they should definitely hire that person. But if I am equally qualified as another person and my preference bumps me up, then I won't feel guilty about that either.

That's about all that's going on in our household right now. Hopefully things will start to look up.

Hmmmm...

My graphic looked quite a bit bigger when I uploaded it. I'll have to see what I can do to find a better one.

Birthday Boy

Today is my husband's birthday. He turned 35 today. The day started out pretty normally. I got up, got the kids ready and off to school. He got up and we both got ready and went to work. I called him on my home from work, and apparently one of the regular updates their computers get contained a virus, so he was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the afternoon (gotta love technology). So he came home and we went to do a little Christmas shopping. Then the kids and I took him out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Yummy! It was J.'s choice, by the way. Then we went to Walmart to get a couple of things that A. needed for her class party tomorrow. Each of us took a kiddo and went separate directions. We let each of the kids pick out a Christmas present for each other.

We had a nice afternoon, and a nice evening. It was significantly less stressful than most we've had for the last several months. The kids get out of school two hours early tomorrow for their Christmas break. They're out for three weeks! They're really looking forward to it, and so are we.

P. and I have an anniversary this weekend. More to come about that later...

New Photos

We've been needing to have family photos done for a while. The last time we had any made was three years ago when we were home for Christmas. That year we went over to Walmart and had some made. They were the best ones we'd had done in a while. We had some done a couple of times while we were in Germany, but I was never happy with them and they were really way too expensive.

P.'s mom wanted us all to get together to have picture of the whole family made. We had done that one year when they came to visit us in Texas for Christmas. It had been my daughter's first Christmas, and they came out really good. We just hadn't had the whole family on that side together in a while. She decided to just use their digital cameras and take some casual pictures there at the church. We got some that were really quite good.

Here are the four of us. I'm happy because we actually got some while P. was smiling. Getting him to smile for pictures isn't always easy.

Now just the two of us...
Just the ladies. P.'s sister, his brother's wife, me, his mom, with A. in front. I'm actually quite happy with the way this one came out. I like the angle and the Black/White effect.

Just the guys. His brother, his dad holding J., and P.

Here's one with the whole family.

I'm glad we had these done. Now I'll have pictures to send with Christmas cards!

Visit With Santa

Yesterday after the kids got out of school, I decided to take them to the mall to visit Santa. They had been asking me all week to go, so were pretty excited when I told them. He was set up in the Food Court, and since that's the entrance we usually use, A. saw him as soon as we walked through the doors. She started jumping up and down and squealing, so it was nice to be able to take care of that right away. The line was short, thank goodness.

They were so funny when they got up there to talk to him. I'm sure they each had quite a long list of things memorized that they planned to ask him for. Well, he told them to tell him two things each they wanted him to bring them. I guess they had trouble deciding which two were most important.

After we visited Santa, we went to ride the Christmas train and hear the Bear Choir. They each got a cute little bear with a little candy cane after riding the train, so they were tickled about that. We visited the Hallmark store and got Daddy birthday cards since his birthday is next week, so we got a new George Strait Christmas CD to listen to in the car. The kids enjoyed that because they looked at all the ornaments and other Christmas decorations they had out. When they were telling their dad about it they talked about the "Christmas store." Before we left they got to ride the Carousel. That's a ritual pretty much every time we go. We had a nice time. Here's a picture:

Fed Up

I swear if I could afford to, I'd just quit my job right now. I wrote almost three months ago about my frustration with my job situation. Well, things haven't gotten any better. I'm having to work practically constantly to make the same amount of money I was making in Germany, and I'm supposed to be making more. Plus the no benefits issue. This means, of course, that I don't have the time that I'd like to have to spend with my family and doing the things I'd like to do.

The worst thing is that they're asking us to work even more now. We're each supposed to audit a minimum of 400 records a week, more if possible. Since I go to the hospital for about 5 hours a day to do other things, I usually have a goal of auditing 50 a day when I get home. Even that means I'm working more than 8 hours a day. The computer system we use to do our auditing is so slow that it takes seemingly forever to pull up a single record. Then with the data entry and saving the records, it takes longer. And forget it if there's any kind of error. Then it takes twice as long. So just to do my minimum goal, I usually work quite late at night. I'm exhausted and it really caught up with me this evening. I'm going to end up making myself sick from exhaustion, and it's just not worth it. I'm seriously considering quitting after the first of the year, maybe after P. gets promoted. We still don't know for sure yet when that's going to be...we're waiting for his sequence number to come up. We're both figuring it will probably be February.

I did apply for two GS jobs on post. I found out this week that I have been referred for one of them, but haven't heard about the other one yet. Although it would probably mean a cut in pay, I'll get all my benefits back, plus I'll have a set schedule. That outweighs net pay any day. The hiring process with the GS system can just take so long sometimes, so I don't know when I'll know anything for sure. Hopefully I'll at least get called for an interview pretty soon.

Oh well...enough complaining. Back to work...

Reunion

My brother has been in town for the last few days. This has been the first time I've seen him in over four years, so it was nice. The last time we were all together was when my "baby" sister (the one who just had the baby) got married back in 2002. I can't believe it's been so long.

He arrived Sunday evening, and my mom and her boyfriend picked him up from the airport. I think after he arrived, they got some dinner, and then came over to visit with us for a little while. I was glad they came over because the kids were anxious to see him (although they were kind of shy around him since it had been so long) and with my work schedule (or should I say lack thereof since I work pretty much constantly), I didn't know when I'd be able to visit with him again on this trip since he only planned to be here for four days. We had already eaten supper, and I warmed up some Gluhwein that we brought home from Germany to share. Everybody got to try a little bit. I really wish I'd brought more. Maybe I can find some at the Class Six on post.

My mom called me yesterday because my brother wanted to get together with everybody for dinner. I figured P. wouldn't be able to join us because his Battalion Commander and Command Sergeant Major are here this week, so he's working even later than usual. But I told her that the kids and I would plan to be there, regardless. We got together tonight at my sister's tonight for dinner. My mom fixed two pot roasts, and they had pinto beans, turnip greens, corn, and cornbread. She really outdid herself. I was right...P wasn't able to join us, but I brought him some leftovers. We had a nice evening, and Rob took a family picture that I will share as soon as I get a copy of it (HINT, HINT...I know he reads my blog). It was nice to have the family together again. The last time, when my sister got married, was before my dad died. Even though my mom has a great guy that makes her happy, I did miss having my dad with us.

New Ornament

I know I wrote a post back in July about the group of women I've been corresponding mostly online with for several years. I have met several of them in person, and we had a Girls' Weekend in Nashville the end of July.

We have become really close over the years, and usually send each other Christmas cards every year. Sometimes we do a Secret Santa exchange. This year we participated in an ornament exchange. Those of us who wanted to participate signed up, one of the ladies was responsible for assigning us our secret pal, and then we're responsible for making sure our pal gets her ornament. My ornament came today.

I got home right before the kids did, so was opening the box right after they came in the house. When I opened the shipping box, there was a wrapped package in there. The kids had already gone downstairs. When I unwrapped the package, I guess I must have squealed before I started laughing. The kids came running downstairs to see what the excitement was about. My ornament pal had found the perfect Christmas ornament for me.

Isn't he cute? Before I got it out of the box, J. noticed it said "Try Me" and had a button. I pushed the button and he sings "Born to be Wild" with the sound of the engine revving. I absolutely love it!

Getting Into the Spirit

We finally got most of our Christmas decorations up this weekend. I say finally because we usually put them up Thanksgiving weekend, but have been so busy this year we didn't qute make it. We're finally almost finished decorating now though.

My kids decided yesterday that my husband and I are "cool." Three years ago, when we were home from Germany for Christmas, my mom wanted a pre-lit Christmas tree. My dad was always responsible for stringing the lights on the tree, and since he died that year, she wanted something that she thought would be easier. So P. and I set out to find her the perfect tree. It wasn't easy. So many of the prelit trees we saw that year were kind of sad looking otherwise. She likes really full trees, and she like the kind that have the more bluish-colored needles instead of the bright green ones. She and I have very similar tastes, so I knew exactly what she would be looking for. Most of the ones we found were kind of skinny and they were all the bright green. Finally I found the perfect one at Lowes and we bought it and brought it home for her. My husband and my sister's husband put the tree up and it was absolutely gorgeous that year.

Why am I telling you this story? Well it turned out that a prelit tree wasn't easier for my mom after all. My mom's small, and this tree is 7 1/2 fee tall, and far too heavy for her to put up by herself. Even now that she's with her boyfriend, he has serious back problems and can't really wrestle with it either. So when we got home from Germany, she told us that if we wanted the tree we were welcome to it. Since I wanted to find one for us anyway, I said of course I wanted it. So P. put it up in the formal living room, and the kids decorated it. It is absolutely beautiful!

Now...the reason my kids think we're cool? We still have our old artificial tree that we've been putting up since J. was a baby. P. wanted to put up a smaller tree in the family room so we could have a tree to enjoy when we're in here since this is where we spend most of our time. So he put that one up in here but didn't use all the branches. It's a full tree too, and would be too big for the limited amount of space we have. I was a little doubtful, but it looks really nice. The kids came downstairs after their bath, saw that there was a second Christmas tree up, and A. proclaimed "Wow, you guys are cool!"

I found the cutest decoration for my front door at Walmart yesterday. I needed a new wreath, but we found some really cute ones that have little characters. One had snowmen, one had Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the other one had a little puppy. At first glance I thought they were cute, but still had my heart set on a big, pretty wreath. When I got closer to them though, I changed my mind. They have motion sensors and sing! So then I decided that would be just the perfect thing. Then I just had to decide which one I wanted. The snowmen sing "Winter Wonderland," Santa and Mrs. Claus sing "Home for the Holidays," and the puppy sings parts of various songs like "Deck the Halls," "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and one more that I can't think of off the top of my head. I then had to decide between the snowmen and the puppy. Santa and Mrs. Claus were cute, but I wanted something more upbeat. I ultimately decided on the puppy because the snowmen sing an entire verse and chorus of their song, which I really thought was too long. So we put him on the door, and I really get a giggle every time I open the door. My mom and her boyfriend came over yesterday afternoon to pick up their dishes from Thanksgiving. She reached up to "pet" the dog on my door and he started singing and really startled her. She was cracking up when I got to the door to let them in.

All in all we had a pretty good weekend here, especially yesterday. Now I just need to get the kids to go through their toys and decide which ones they want to donate. I told them they need to do that if they want to get any more for Christmas. They just have too much, and there are so many who really don't have much at all.