Ornaments

Right before my computer crashed (my little sister bought a laptop because she is moving to Africa in March and she graciously gave us her desktop computer to use) I started working on this entry. I'm not sure I got all the pictures on here I wanted to, but you get the idea.

Each year Jason buys the kids a really nice ornament (more on that in another entry). I, on the other hand, try to get them a character ornament. I like to get something that goes along with their interests that particular year. I write the year and initial somewhere hidden on the ornament and hope to let the kids take what they want (my tree will be naked at that time) when they start their own homes.

For example, I think each child has gotten Elmo their first year:

Or another Sesame Street Favorite their second year:For the one year we had cable there were some Nickelodeon Characters:Of course, with four boys, we have a lot of Star Wars:

And Super Heroes:Mac was ecstatic last year to get Thomas, but couldn't understand why he couldn't play with it (can you tell he hung it?): And no Christmas is complete without the Grinch, right?:
Of course, Mollee's are easy to spot (pink, pink, and pink):And the ones that Grandma J made:While we are talking about homemade, here is a gem I made in 3rd grade. I remember making it and being so proud of it. Jason got a hold of it when we first got married and insists that it is on our tree each year:And I've got all my giraffes:I also think the 'Smores' collection is cute, I have a couple:...but was so excited to find this one for the kids to give Jason a few years ago: And there is our Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head:

And this is the one I look forward to each year. Jason isn't a gift giver or much for surprises. One of our first Christmases together I told him, "You must at least get me an ornament". I like Tigger so he got me this one and as I went to hang it on the tree, there was a white gold, aquamarine/diamond ring on Tigger's tail. It was a wonderful surprise that I hold dear. This is just a small taste of our tree. We have many other Star Wars, Bob the Builder, pink ones, etc. It is fun to look back on the memories of opening the ornaments and why each one got the one they did on a certain year.

Crashing!

My computer is crashing! It is so frustrating! Yesterday it finally seemed like it was going to be ok and was working, but started to act up while I was online (like just randomly rebooting while I was in the middle of something). This morning it is working so I'm blogging/complaining about it before it dies again.

Everything is gone! All my pictures! All my Quicken for three companies and our personal account! (Unfortunately, this year I actually kept up with it and was up to date - but I don't know how to back it up - I know, I know - I actually am not as computer illiterate as I sound! You have to send it to the DVD burner and then go to another program and burn it, I have been waiting for Jason to confirm I was doing it correctly, and it never got done). All my music! EVERYTHING!

I've a "call" in to a friend that is a computer genius (as my Dad put it) to tell me if he thinks there is any chance to find these things, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

I was working on another Christmas decor blog to bore you with, but we'll just have to see how the computer is acting this afternoon to see if I get a chance to do it.

Moral of the Story: Back up your computer files! Especially your pictures and your finances!

Putting up the Christmas Tree...no matter what!

(sorry this is long, bear with me - it is for the family history book)

It is our tradition to put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. I know my mother never worried about it, but for me, I am done with pumpkins and turkeys and ready to move on to Christmas. There have been years that it hasn't happened, especially 2000 and 2001 when I had a less-than-one-month-old to exhaust and unmotivated me. If I'm going to put the effort into decorating, I want to enjoy it for five or so weeks, not just one or two weeks.

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, I had a migraine and severe vertigo so I was drugged up and a little 'on edge' (so I was told).

This morning, I decided I needed to get out of the house and I decided to venture out into the Black Friday abyss. I went to Target and the lines looked eternal, but really they went quickly and I only waited about 35 minutes (if that sounds terrible, you should have seen how long the lines were, I was expecting much longer). I told Jason I was only going to be gone an hour-and-a-half and I was already past that time frame, but I decided to go to Kohl's also, hoping to complete my shopping (which I did for the most part). I waited in line at Kohl's for an hour and ten minutes. Insane, I know!

Anyway, it had been a long morning - no complaints though, I had fun (at Kohl's I was in front of and behind very fun, animated ladies in line that made the time pass very quickly).

I brought home Wendy's for a late lunch, which, hopefully, made up for my tardiness. The kids knew we were going to do the tree and they were very ready to get started.

After lunch I went out to get all the packages out of the van only to notice a 'drawing' in the back door of the van. And I mean, in the back door - literally. Apparently, some time in the past week, Tavis had gotten a sharp rock and etched some drawings into the paint of the door. This began my blood curdling, but Daddy was still home (he was heading to play indoor hockey) so he got to handle it.

After that, Tavis wasn't interested in putting up the tree. He went out to ride his bike, while Mollee, Daegan and Capps helped put up the tree - I was in no mood to deal with mopey so I let him go.

Obviously, we have a fake tree. Here I am nailing down the tree base so that it doesn't 'accidentally get knocked over' at some point during the season. If you have carpet you don't ever see the nail holes afterwards.

I love the idea of a real tree, but I don't want it to die before Christmas and I'm a little nervous about my allergies. I usually put the tree together and get the lights on before the kids get involved, but this year I just let them at it. They matched up the rows of branches while I did the lights - they actually did a great job and are hired for next year (unless I get a pre-lit tree that I'm always dreaming about).

After building the tree and hanging the lights I decided to wait for Daddy to do the ornaments after dinner - the kids all have their own box of ornaments that they get to put on the tree each year and I try to make a big deal out of it. I let the kids play outside for awhile, but Mac came in with a stinky diaper and soaking wet from some water he had found to play with - and no one knew anything about it! Everyone came in and I made hot cocoa as a treat (why do I do these things to myself?). Mac got chocolate milk in a mug instead, which was a good thing because it ended up in his lap.

And here is pitiful Mac when the chocolate was gone.

I had to take a time-out away from the children to de-stress, but I then decided (maybe in hopes of a early bedtime?) that everybody needed a bath and pjs before Daddy got home and before dinner. Mac and Capps went first, but Tavis and Daegan (the older boys) somehow managed to make a pool of the bathroom floor, and I don't mean a few splashes on the floor. Again (by the grace of God) Daddy got home right about that time and got to deal with it.

We had PB&J or soup for dinner (mommy was in no state-of-mind to cook). Then we decorated the tree and the house! The kids are funny because certain decorations have to go in the same spot every year, which is fine by me for now. No matter how much stress they can cause me in one day, I love for them to be involved in these traditions. That is one reason why most of our ornaments are on the bottom half of the tree - and I leave it like that (unless the vacuum accidently knocks it off and I decide to put it somewhere else).Mac always wants to say "cheese" and then as soon as you snap it he yells, "let me see" - the world of digital.And for some reason, Capps was insistent upon getting a picture with this ornament (his 'Baby's first Christmas' ornament).Here is the tree decorated with lights and ornaments, tomorrow it will magically get covered with icicles.It has been a long day and it is getting late. The kids were in bed by 7:45 (my plan worked) and, instead of getting to bed early myself, I'm sitting in front of blog world.

Thanksgiving Crafts

For some reason (because I love them, right?) I got involved in a craft with the kids on Wednesday. It was really because they didn't have school and needed an activity. I had some Thanksgiving foam items (which I love) left from a project I did with Tavis' class last year.

I am always amused at the predictability of the outcome.

Someone recently mentioned taking pictures of their childs artwork (or scanning it if possible) and keeping a digital copy of it, rather than having tons of pictures around. My OCD/anti-clutter self is curious how this could work...

Mollee's is the typical 'little girl' card (I think she actually made a couple):

Tavis' is all about Native American symbols - that is what they are studying right now in school so he is always wanting me to guess what different symbols mean (he would be so disappointed I could name all these, but I do see fish, river, deer and mountains):

Daegan's is 'Daeganesque' (this is bullets shooting turkeys):

Capps' is highly detailed:

Mac's is 'excitement with a marker' (that unfortunately ended in a spanking because he colored all of the counter, his hands and his shirt when mommy left the room - with foam markers, the only downfall of this craft):

I'm thankful that....

Sorry Camille for stealing from you:

• Jason loves me (and my family)!
• I got my 4-mile treadmilling in before we headed out (since I wasn't able to participate in the 5k) - did you know that at the average Thanksgiving meal one will eat 5,000 calories?
• My mother can handle big crowds in her home, at some point in the day there were 16 adults and 21 kids (all but one child was age 9 or younger).
• All the girls/ladies were able to bring various parts of the meal so mom wasn't overwhelmed.
• I didn't keep my calorie log.
• Someone else took pictures because I didn't take any - UGH! (still waiting to see what others got).
• The cousins all played well together (sometimes they are too much like siblings, if you know what I mean).
• There were no ER trips for stitches.
• It didn't rain and even though it was cold, the kids got to enjoy outside (football game with the Uncles and Grandpa, walk in the woods, lots of gun fights, etc.).
• Mary brought awesome sweet potatoes!
• We didn't have to travel and, after an exhausting day, we got to collapse into our own bed.

And:

• We have a roof over our heads and food on our table - every day.
• The Lord is faithful!

Third Grade Thanksgiving Feast

Today Mollee's class had a Thanksgiving Feast. All the mom's sent in various Thanksgiving dishes and the kids got to eat in their classroom (instead of lunchroom). The kids were encouraged to dress in Pilgrim or Native American attire. If you can see Mrs. Wilson at the front of the classroom, she was a Pilgrim.
Mollee was also a pilgrim (with a floral apron)I know you can't see it, in hindsight I should have taken a picture, but on each desk is a 'candy turkey'. They were adorable. They were made with a mini-Reeses cup upside down on the bottom, one layer of oreo, a hersey kiss and candy corn, with icing to 'glue' it all together. Anyway this isn't exactly it, but you get the idea.

To fight it, or not to fight it!

None of my kids took a pacifier, and Capps is my only thumb sucker. He is now 5 1/2 and it is time (or past time) to work on him trying to stop - right? Of course, it is also time to get my almost-3-year-old potty trained, but I'm not there yet either. UGH! The pediatrician says it is the dentist's call and the dentist said we'll talk about it next time, which should be about now but I haven't made that appointment yet.

In theory, Capps only sucks his thumb at night - really it is only when he is holding his frog. For the past couple years, I don't think I've ever seen him sucking his thumb, except when I check in on the boys before I go to bed. Usually, if he is sucking his thumb during the day I can link it to something he is stressed about. I just encourage him to put his frog back on his bed, but clearly, sometimes, he just needs it and 'Momma ain't going to fight it'.

My first step has been to just talk about it. And we have been talking about it lately, which I don't know if that has put more stress on him or not, but this morning he was so proud because he had "lost" his frog in the night and stated that he didn't even try to find it, he just tried to sleep without frog and without sucking his thumb. I asked him why he thought he sucked his thumb and he clearly said, "Because if I don't suck my thumb at night I think too much".

My mind runs a mile-a-minute at night, so if I could turn it off by sucking my thumb maybe I should do the same?

And now, for my sake of memories *sniff*sniff*

11-months old and hanging out in his crib with Frog:

Age 2 - jumping on Mommy's bed with frog (before the head shaving began, when he truly had 'monkey hair'):Age 2 1/2 - Frog joins us at breakfast:

So, I know it is time, but I don't look forward to fighting it, that is his comfort - how can I take that away?