The Voices Within Me

I can't deny it anymore... the holiday season is over. Yes, I am sentimental... yes, our tree is turned on for one last hurrah but no matter how much I try to hold on, the season is officially past.
We had a nice end to last week, Tim's family all left on Saturday but we made sure to spend as much time together as possible... including a trip to Dairy Queen on Friday nite. Gotta love a family that loves ice cream! :) I participated in the yearly "Girl's Overnighter" at our church right after the Dairy Queen trip and had a nice time with the 14 or so girls that came. It is always fun to spend quality time (if you can call it that- ha! ) with them. We always figure out how to have fun.

We weren't sure what we were going to do New Years but decided to go out to Kurt and Carla's house as we have in years past, and we all had a nice time. The kids enjoyed playing with Walker, Ellie, Jeremiah and Isaac... so much that the first thing Micah asked when he woke up the next day was, "Can we go back to Walker's house today?" The kids actually stayed up until midnight (they had a nap until 6 or so beforehand to prep them) and actually did really well. I thought they would fall asleep on the way home but they were both wide awake, which ended up being perfect b/c they were on the verge of sleep as soon as we got them in and ready for bed. We all enjoyed sleeping in Tuesday and are now trying to get back into a normal routine.

Micah is still off of school until Monday so we have a few days to fill with things though we will be heading to my parent's house on Friday for our Christmas there. My Dad is getting out of rehab (if you missed this before, it was for knee replacement surgery... not drugs or alcohol ;) ) sometime today. He is definitely ready to come home and we are excited to go see him and my Mom. I love giving people their Christmas gifts and I think we chose some fun things this year for everyone so I am anxious for everyone to open everything.

I actually scrapbooked last nite... two pages in fact. I did have a sort of deadline which helps explain why I actually did two in one nite but I will share that later. I haven't gotten to sit and scrap in quite sometime so it was nice to be able to do that and have the sense of accomplishment when i finished. I hope to do a lot more of it this coming year.

New years always bring about a sense of desiring change (at least to me) and though I don't make resolutions, I do always try to have a few things to work on in each area of my life.
Here are a few of my ideas... hopefully they are basic things I can easily weave in without much ado.

*Make weekly menus so I don't have those "what should I have for dinner" moments
*Do something creative at least once a week
*Read a book to the kids at least 5x a week
*Do devotions with the kids every evening (we got the cutest devotional book for preschoolers from Berean for Christmas)
*Grow the business even further than last year

Those are just a few of tons of ideas swirling in my head right now. I think they are all good and attainable so I can't be let down ;) I wish you luck in any changes you are implementing this year as well... here is to a new and better 2008!


(I must share two more Christmasy photos just because I can't let go...)

so I won't even start with the most recent of happenings. Instead, I will go back to last week and slowly work my way forward. Deal? Capiche.

As some of you know, my Dad had a knee replacement last Monday. Things went well, though they discovered he is/ was diabetic. So... now they have to learn to deal with a total lifestyle change... hopefully it won't be too tough. Thankfully they found it now though... who knows how long it could have went undiscovered if he hadn't had surgery. Anyway... back to the knee.
He was supposed to getting out of the hospital on Thursday and then we were going to have Christmas Friday nite/ Saturday morning. Well... that didn't happen. He instead was recommended to go to a rehab hospital for 2 weeks to ensure a smoother recovery. While that completely stunk, I do understand and hope it enables a faster and more complete healing.
So... our Christmas celebration is now moved to January.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Lets see... after that, Tim got sick and didn't go to the Dr. until Christmas Eve. Needless to say, by that time it was a raging sinus infection that is requiring 2 antibiotics. I will spare you other details but lets just say Christmas Eve nite was probably the worst nite of the year... we got about 2 hours of sleep and thought about going to the ER numerous times...

Before all of that though, we went to my SIL's house for their Christmas Eve dinner ( and Italian feast) and then Christmas Eve service at our church. Following that we went to my inlaws for the annual "Nite Before Christmas". It was different this year as Tim moved into the seat of the reader since his Dad passed away this year, but it was still nice to get together.
We didn't get home until really really late (Tim's one sister drove up Christmas Eve so we waited for her...) so it was hard to settle the kids down once we finally did get home.
Thankfully one went to sleep relatively quickly and while Addie held out for quite some time, Tim was able to start assembly on a few things as I kept guard.

CHRISTMAS
Christmas Day. As noted before, we got no sleep. I had finally fallen asleep around 7 am or so and ignored the alarm/ s when they went off. Micah got up, went downstairs (to where Tim was) and was just in total awe. He ran up to my room, practically pulling me out of bed in his excitement and just kept exclaiming how Santa came and there were presents and a kitchen and yadda yadda yadda. I went down with him and then he remembered he didn't get Addie so he ran up to her with the same enthusiasm. She actually got up right away and kept saying, "Oh boy oh boy oh boy" It was classic... I mean seriously... sounds cheesy BUT... moments like that are what makes parenting all worth it. The joy on their faces and just the wonder and excitement they both had made me even feel like a kid again. It was great.

Micah, knowing how to read some basic things now, knew whose gifts were whose so he sorta passed things out and Addie just attempted to open anything within her reach. They were both spoiled rotten... from a Kitchen for both of them to an art desk, an art center for Micah's V-smile, to videos, cars, video games, educational games and more for Micah and Princess stuff, more princess stuff, doll stuff, strawberry shortcake and little pony stuff for Addie... they are definitely blessed with new numerous new items to occupy their time. Tim received a number of new clothes, books and Dvds so he too will be set. His fun gift... I found an replica old fashined popcorn cart so he and the kids can have fun popping their popcorn :)

I received some new sweaters, lots of books (which I think you will be hearing about in the coming year as many of them have to do with creative projects :) ), a waffle maker, a Senseo machine (specialized coffee/ cappuchino thing), a few Dvds, and a Peppermint Mocha set from Starbucks (this might be my favorite!!) I love everything and can't wait to use it all. I honestly could care less about the things I get... I love giving gifts more (as evidenced by the number of gifts!) but it is fun to receive as well.

We almost had a meltdown by Micah... as some of you know, the number one item on his list was the "Iphone" yes, the Apple, $500 IPhone. LOL. As he opened box upon box, he kept saying, "maybe this is the Iphone, maybe this one is... Thankfully, Santa left him a note and explained how you have to be 18 and they wouldn't let Santa get him one since he is only 4. Santa told him how he picked out other fun toys for him instead. It seemed to work...
Another meltdown did ensure however as Tim didn't tape the Noggin show Christmas Eve that Micah had requested and Micah's little heart broke upon realization. We both felt bad but explained that it was hard to record (they just showed all the Noggin characters sleeping) b/c it wasn't a set show but instead lasted all nite. We did have tears over that one but thankfully the new toys seemed to remedy it.

After our home celebration, we went to my inlaws house and had our celebration over there. It was crazy as usual... but with 8 kids 7 and under that is to be expected. Micah and Addie were pooped as they didn't get a nap Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and went to bed late so they were on the crabby end a few times. They lasted until about 7 pm though and then both crashed, Micah in the middle of the floor and Addie in Tim's arms. It was a nice time... different this year with my FIL being gone, but nice nonetheless.

Day After

Now we are upon the Day After. It is all sort depressing, knowing all the prep and such is over. I always start to get depressed b/c I just love Christmas time and now it is over and people are ready to move on :( I guess it is hitting me even more this year b/c I always things of all the things we will go through until the next year and I guess it has hit me how we just never know what each day will bring. Last year I would have never thought we would have lost a family member. It just goes to show...

Addie is actually still sleeping... yes, at near 11 am, but I am letting her go b/c I figure she will miss out on another nap today b/c of family members coming to the inlaws so she might as well sleep now. I guess I should go get ready since people will be arriving there in an hour ;) and we should probably be there as well.


I hope you all had a wonderful, merry Christmas and were able to sit back, relax, and enjoy.
I will share the notes from Micah and Santa with you at a later time... right now I am down to about 1 hour to get me, and both kids (b/c you know how much help a dad is ;) hee hee... esp. one that is playing video games right now!) ready for lunch at my inlaws. Yikes!!

Give us something good to eat...