The Richest Kids in the World

We had an awesome Christmas. Our children are so spoiled. Leah is going to be quite the diva in her 632 new outfits while Trey will be the most intelligent child in preschool, having watched all of his Baby Einstein DVD's countless times every single day. Once Trey figured out what was going on, and that the presents under the tree were to be opened, he turned into a greedy little bug that had to be put in check a couple of times. When I was around his age, I crept out of my bedroom early Christmas morning and opened every single present under the tree. Ones that I found boring, I just tossed back under the tree muttering, "nope, not mine" without another thought that what I was doing might be wrong. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about that...this year.

Bill's family is visiting us this Christmas which has made it that much more magical for my kids. Trey loves his Oma, Opa & Teresa and talked about them incessantly from Thanksgiving until they came in the front door and they are still the subject of his first conversation in the morning. Not only have my children been loved, spoiled, entertained, and the center of attention of my husband's family, they are now going to be even more spoiled with the addition of a monstrous aluminum contraption in our backyard. Bill and I just happened to mention a while ago that we wanted to get a swingset for Trey. Boom! Wal*Mart, here we come to make that happen. Oh, the magic of grandparents. I can't wait to see Trey's reaction to a park in his very own back yard. I guess I should buy him some good outside clothes because I have a feeling he won't be able to be dragged in until April.

Yet another benefit of having family in town is free babysitting! Woohoo!! Bill and I met some good friends of ours for lunch yesterday. After digging into our brains we figured out that the last time we went out with another couple without a child of any kind was over 3 years ago. THRRREEEEEEE years!!!! Needless to say, it was fantabulous and way too short. We made a decision to hire a babysitter for all four of our children (our two plus our friends' two) and make this happen a bit more often.

Insanity Bound

Wednesday is usually our park day. We didn't go a) because Leah is sick with who-knows-what and sounds like she's ready to hack up a lung while simultaneously making Niagra falls jealous of her tiny nose and b) I still have 987 things left on my To Do list to cross off before Friday. Trey was pretty good at entertaining himself and letting me get some work done. Leah did better than she has the last couple of days. Until... My children must have an internal clock and know what's normal and what's not. Trey was whiny and cried almost from the minute he woke up from his nap until now. He's confined in his room. He freaked out because the chicken nuggets he eats (and there's only ONE kind) were in a bigger bag than usual. My child has issues. For instance, he will only eat Quaker Bites. If I buy him the Kellog's brand, it's a no go because they are in a different package. Fast food? Only Burger King. He refuses to even touch chicken that dares to come from McDonald's or Carl's Jr. Don't even get me started on the chicken from the sit down restaurants.
This evening, Leah has decided to be uber cranky and not want to be anywhere other than on me. I can't blame her, I know she's feeling miserable. Have I mentioned my dishes have not been done in at least 3 days? And then wouldn't you know it, turning my head ever-so-slightly to look at something, I pull a muscle in my neck and can't turn my head at all. How am I supposed to finish those 987 things when I can't move my head??
Let me paint a picture: Trey is screaming incoherently and turning bright red, Leah is crying and coughing at the same time, the cats are meowing and walking right in front of me because they are hungry NOW and I can't move my head. Where is Bill? Practice for the Christmas Eve service. I think Trey's meltdowns are because he only sees his dad as he's headed out the door. These last few months have been swamped with preparation for Christmas productions at the church. Don't get me wrong, I could be a golf widow or worse, but my boy sure is showing that he's missing something. Shouldn't my husband be home for more than 45 minutes a day? I think so.
COME HOME BILL!!!

I Just Do it to Support my Habit

I'm so excited. I just got our new catalog in the mail! Even if I only turn in one show every other month, I still have consultant privileges and that's all that really matters.

Words Cannot Express

What the liberal media won't show you.

Incognito

Apparently, you have to change a setting within blogspot if you want nonmembers to be able to post a comment. Thanks Bill. So, all of you anonymous people out there who are not with blogspot may now comment if you so choose. Be sure to leave your name or I won't know who you are.

Gifts

I was up a bit early with Leah yesterday so I hopped on the computer to check my email and whatnot. At 8:45am, the doorbell rings. "What the heck?" I scurry over and glare through the peephole to notice my next door neighbor. I don't think she's ever come over and I'm curious as to what brings her over so early. I open the door...
"Oh hi! I have something for you." She shuffles away, back to her house. A minute later I hear the distinct sounds of her slippers along the cement and she appears with a ginormous bowl of pasta, zucchini and shrimp.
"Wow!" I say. "Thank you soooo much". This is so unexpected. I rarely talk to her, just the normal neighborly hello when we're out at the same time. Usually our conversations consist of the goings on of Shea's girls since they were and will again be her neighbor when they move back to the area and kick us out of their beautiful home. We talk a little bit about my neighbor's health since she currently has bone cancer. She isn't the type to feel sorry for herself, apparently. She tells me God has healed her from leukemia twice and uterine cancer so this isn't going to be any different. I'm impressed. This woman is at least in her sixties and is on the go constantly. Her yard and home are immaculate and I can barely keep up with my dishes and laundry. What's my problem? She gives me a quick hug and a "Merry Christmas" and is on her way. I bring the dish and card she's placed on top inside. I open the card and, uh oh, there's a check. A check?? Why? What did we do to deserve a check from a neighbor we barely know? The amount? One hundred dollars. Can you believe it??? I was shocked.
"We pledged to our Gracious Lord that we share our blessings to military families. Please accept our meager help and Christmas gifts to your kids" is what she penned inside. You never know when or how, but God continues to bless you through unexpected sources at unexpected times.

Math

Unsupervised preschooler + scissors = scratches in your brand new LCD computer monitor.
Grrrrrr...

Marketing

The other night Trey, Leah and I were hanging out in the family room while Bill was at church practicing for something artistic. The tv was on and we were all just doing our thing. Suddenly, Trey walks over to the Christmas tree and claps his hands twice and says, "It didn't work!" He then proceeds to the light switch which turns the tree lights on and claps again. "It didn't work".

"Trey", I said, "We don't have The Clapper, honey".

Jeepers, Creepers...

Ugh. I remember learning about this when I was a kid, but this is so gross. If you want to see what interesting things are living among us, check this out.

Horseshoes and Sippy Cups

I got up early this morning in order to be productive. I have grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and bill paying to do today. So what do I do? I sit at the computer and add to my blog. Reeeal productive.

It has been so cold these past few days. Though we are cozy and snuggly here at home, I can't rid the thought of horses from my head. Huh? Every time I go on base, we pass the stables. I use the term 'stables' lightly. There are some aluminum looking partitions for the horses to stand under and that's about it. When it gets down to 27 degrees I tend to think they'd be a little cold. Every night as I crawl into my blanket laden bed, I feel so sorry for those dumb equine. Bill, of course, thinks I'm crazy. What can I say? They're Californians too! We're not used to this weather. There was frost on the lawn this morning and the birds sitting on the fence had their feathers puffed out in order to stay warm. One of the best things about this time of year is that we can see snow covered Mt. Baldy from our kitchen and bedroom. It's beautiful and hard to imagine it would take 2 1/2 hours to get there.

Bill has been super busy with an upcoming play at our church. That means that Trey doesn't have his WWE time with daddy which means he acts crazy and pushes his limits with me. Recently he's been planting his things on Leah and then accusing her of taking them. His recent attempt was his cup. Well, when you give anything to a baby who loves to put everything in her mouth, she's going to try it out. That's right. Leah drank from a cup. This may be totally normal for a 5 1/2 month old, but I'm certainly not used to it. I begged, pleaded and bribed Trey to drink from a cup and he didn't until after his first birthday. What gives?