Christmas Week

We made it through Christmas week with flying colors! The boys and I had an amazing Christmas!

As you can see, they are all smiles in their new Christmas pajamas (every year "Santa", a.k.a. Grandma, buys every person in the entire family a new pair of pj's that are opened on Christmas Eve).

Gary, Khonda, Makenna, Brock, Joelle & Dawson were able to come stay with us for Christmas. I had all four boys in Drew's room, the girls in Nick's room, and G&K in the office. It was cozy and lots of fun. My boys were in heaven having all of their cousins here to play with.

The only thing hard on all of us was missing Deb and Bren and their families. That was the one big hole in Christmas this year.

Marilyn, who was "adopted" by our family, joined us for all of the Christmas festivities as well. My mom calls her her best friend. I'm glad they have each other!

My dad, of course, was never without his grin... sometimes mischievious (something Nick inherited!), sometimes just there because he was happy to have his family around him.

Don, who was "adopted" into our family long, long ago on Maui, is now living with my parents temporarily and so was of course included in all of our Christmas activities. It was like deja vu from high school having him here.

And look, even Grandma has a smile on her face. The two of them were funny though. We open gifts one person, one present at a time. Neither of them could wait their turn and so they both just tore into their presents at once. They were worse than kids!

Michael was also here for all of our Christmas festivities and that made it even more special for me. The boys and I also joined his family's Christmas fesitivities on Christmas Eve Day. We love his family and felt very special being included.

Every year our family has a birthday cake for Jesus and all of the grandkids get to blow out the candles. This year Khonda and Makenna made the cake. We all sang Happy Birthday and then the kids all blew.

On Christmas Eve the kids also left out milk & cookies for Santa, along with a note. Santa, of course, loved the cookies and left a reply for them that they found in the morning.

It was an awesome Christmas for all of us.

The boys are with Matt all this week and it is a little strange having an empty house. But I am using the time to clean and to write. I am also anticipating two or three different calls for job interviews. AND I was contacted by an engaged couple who want me to coordinate their wedding this summer!! We are setting up a time to meet and sign contracts this week. Woo hoo!

Michael and I were able to celebrate the New Year together. After stuffing ourselves with a big roast dinner, we did some visits back and forth between my parents' house and his parents' best friends' house where there was a party. Then he and I sat and made lists of our own "Life Goals", things we want to do and accomplish before we die. And we prayed together yesterday to start our new year.

God is good. So, so good.

Three Days til Christmas!

Last night Michael & I went to see "National Treasure" at the old Cameo Theater in Newberg. It was fun; it's such a mom & pop theater. Instead of watching those trivia questions most theaters play prior to starting the movie, we watced old, silent home movies of when the Drive-In was being built in Newberg. It was back in the 50's or so and you had to guess what you were watching. Pretty funny. Then the ads they played for asking you to stay quiet, encouraging you to go to the snack bar, etc., were very, very old ads. I thought it was kinda cool. There was even an ad encouraging you to go to church on Sunday.

Yesterday Drew had his preschool Christmas performance. It was very short (two songs... one they sang to, one they danced to), but so incredibly cute! And my mom, my grandma and I were so proud of Drew. He sang loud, was the only one doing the motions, and then... and here's my proudest moment... my boy who had to inherit my non-rhythmic genes was dancing his little heart out! He kept his eyes on his teacher the whole time and was the only child doing all of the moves. Way to go!! The teacher had the whole thing videotaped and is posting it on something similar to YouTube. As soon as she sends us parents the link, I will post it on here in case you want to watch.

The boys are at Matt's this weekend, so I have had a chance to get a lot done. I also got to just hang out with my cousin Tammy, her daughter Amanda and her mom Arlene and watch a movie. And no, it wasn't even a chick flick yesterday. Believe it or not, we watched "Blades of Glory".

One of the most exciting things I was able to do yesterday was to turn in an application for a position as Birth Parent Counselor with a local Christian adoption agency. Finally something I can get excited about! I will hear about an interview after the 1st. I was also notified of an opening in Mac for a state Case Manager position, handling TANF (welfare) cases. That is one of those social work jobs I DO NOT want to do; however, I am going to go ahead and follow it through. It has to be up to God to open and close doors, not me.

On that note, it is time for me to frantically finish cleaning the house before Gary & Khonda and the kids arrive!

Preschool Party

Yesterday Drew had his Christmas party at preschool. All of the kids got to make their own gingerbread houses. So cute! Drew was very excited to come home and share it with Nick. After lunch they devoured the poor little house. At least I got a picture while it was still standing!

I have this problem though.... I'm hoping that one of you moms read this in enough time to give me a suggestion. One of the little girls in Drew's class brought a present for each child. Drew got a Matchbox car. As a parent, I don't want to get caught up in that whole thing of being obligated for the next several years to buy presents for each child in each of my boys' classes, or having my boys being invited to a million and one birthday parties each year. However, the little girl who brought these gifts is just the sweetest, sweetest little girl. Really sweet. And so is her mom. So I'm torn. When Drew goes to school tomorrow, should he have a little gift for her? But wouldn't that obligate us to buy one for everyone then? If I had the money, I would probably just do it. But I don't. So what then? I want Drew to at least give her a thank you card. But is that enough? I want him to understand the importance of giving. And this sweet little girl and her mom gave from the heart. I don't want her to go without anything. That just tears me up inside!

So what do I do? Give a gift? Give a card? Or just let go of my guilt?

Christmas Countdown

This morning I got to go meet with a lady who just started doing weddings on their property. They are right on the river and it's absolutely gorgeous. Even though it's winter and there are no leaves on the trees and no flowers blooming, I was easily able to visualize what it would be like in spring and summer. And the owner just could not have been nicer!

My need for an income is still a major prayer request. I did apply (again) for a state social worker job here in town. However, it turned out that there was no actual opening; they were simply wanting to add to their pool of qualified applicants so that they are ready when a job opening does arise.

My attorney offered me a part-time job (which would be fabulous!). I am still playing phone tag with her, so I don't yet know where that will end up going.

I also got a lead tonight on a possible housecleaning job.

I'm still following up on anything and everything!

But I really, really, really want to get my business up and going. I'm praying that God will provide the clients. The Portland Bridal show is only a couple weeks after Christmas. Perhaps some lead will come from that.

Marshmallow Roast

Yesterday the boys and I went up to Michael's for several hours. He had built a bonfire (a.k.a. burning trash) so that we could all roast marshmallows. The boys were having a great time... even though I'm the only one who actually ate any marshmallows because the boys' all ended up falling off in the fire. Or ended up all over their hands, on their clothes, and in their hair. Especially Nick's.





OK, I'll admit it; I'm the one to blame. I showed them my way of roasting marshmallows (which is simply to catch them on fire) and all of a sudden catching them on fire was way more fun than eating them. Michael tried to teach them the "right way" to brown them, but to no avail. Of course he also taught them how to throw sawdust on the fire to make a "mini-explosion". After that demonstration, roasting marshmallows quickly became old news and the boys became covered in sawdust as they excitedly followed suit.

Later we went on a walk around the property and the boys got to throw rocks in the quarry (or as Drew calls it, the "giant hole"). Then homemade cheeseburgers, games, a movie, and chasing the boys around the house with Michael's remote controlled truck.




Tonight I am concentrating on getting all of our Christmas cards addressed and ready to go out in tomorrow's mail. The pic of the 3 of us isn't the best, but that's okay. I love getting everyone's cards, pictures and letters every Christmas, so I'm hoping others feel the same about ours.

Awesome Christmas Sites

OK, what is up with Blogspot today??? It completely erased the picture from my new devotional website (http://devotionalgems.blogspot.com), it won't let me add a picture to this post, and when I changed the pic up at the top of this page, it used only the middle of the picture. I just don't have time to figure out these kinds of problems today!

If you're anything like me, you tire of the frustration of what to get as Christmas gifts. I like to find something creative. This year I stumbled upon some really awesome websites with unique gifts. Even though it is probably too late for you to use them this year, they're worth bookmarking for future use... Christmas, b-days, whatever. So here they are!!

Photo Rubik's Cube (www.personalizationmall.com) ... This is the genuine Rubik's cube, but you can personalize the pictures on all six sides. Pretty cool!

Soap Cards (www.soapcard.com) ... You can choose the shape, scent and color of the soap. You can then personalize each bar of transluscent soap with your own message. It's great!

Personalized Songs (www.instasong.com/Instasong/) ... This is a really awesome site. You can choose any kind of song: romantic, funny, holiday, special occasion, etc. Once you purchase the song(s), it is emailed to the recipient. They are very cheap (only $4.95 per song) and I was blown away when I tried it out (you can try it for free without obligation to purchase). The song was really good, and the voice was very professional. I was impressed and will definitely use this site in the future!

Unique and Creative Gifts (www.findgift.com) ... This site has it all. They have compiled every creative gift they could possibly find and then categorized it all for you. This site is so amazingly good that even the ads on the bottom of the page are great!

So there you have it. Merry Christmas to you. :)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Yesterday after church the boys and I went with Michael to Craig & Vickie's house (his parents) for lunch. Afterward Michael hitched the little trailer to the four-wheeler and the four of us went around the property in search of a tree. I was all prepared with my camera and excited about the pictures I would take... until I realized that the batteries were dead. Just my luck!

We found this awesome tree. It didn't look quite that monstrous out in the open. Luckily, with only a loveseat and small chair in the living room, it's a perfect fit this year.

After some pruning, and an hour and a half of hanging lights (with my mom's help!), this is what it looks like so far. Beautiful!! I haven't yet had a chance to get any ornaments up, but I'm working on it.

The days that preceded this yesterday were peppered with some not-so-good moments interspersed with the fun ones. For instance, there was a HUGE error on the part of the Yellow Pages with my advertising. In TWO phone books. I am still waiting to hear how they are going to compensate me on that one... Also, Drew was found to have a severe inner ear infection. However, after a couple days on antibiotics, he's doing great.

On a more fun note... well, everything else this weekend was great fun! I have a good life in spite of the financial stresses.

And on that note, here is a prayer request... today I got a lead on a bride who is interested in finding a wedding planner. Yipee! I have emailed her and am anxiously awaiting a reply. Will keep you posted.

Bye Bye...

Well, it's time to say goodbye around here...

... to booster chairs
... to sippy cups
... and, unfortunately, to naps.

Nick is growing up. I'm not sad about any of it except for the naps. I think that speaks for itself. If we could just say goodbye to the diapers, I think that would more than make up for losing the naps.

Shattered and Sidetracked

On Saturday Nick decided to play with the tree in Drew's room and ended up shattering the ornament from Drew's first Christmas. I was so sad... although I should have expected it. After all, I was the dumb new mom who thought it would be cool to get a very fragile, personalized ornament for Drew that first year. What was I thinking??

The boys do each have a personalized ornament from every year, so I am going to have to replace that ornament with one not so fragile. Drew will never have to know that it wasn't the original, right?

I had planned to have my new women's devotional interactive blog up and running today. I had big plans for the first day! However, the new "Grand Opening" is now slated for next Monday. The reasons for that?.... Well, first, I had decided to try out WordPress instead of Blogspot... no real reason, just wanted to try something new. That was my first mistake. WordPress is so different and so limiting and so frustrating that I finally just scrapped the whole blog site last night and started from scratch on Blogspot. At least I know what I'm doing with that one. But starting over takes time, and there is one issue in particular that I can't figure out for the life of me. I just get overly impatient when it's something technical. And I mean overly impatient. So Michael's going to help me get the one last step figured out and then I will be up and running. I'm so excited! I have high hopes and big dreams for women connecting with each other on the site...

Fun with Flowers

Today I got to play floral assistant. Michael's aunt, Valerie, is a florist and had both a large wedding and a university event she needed to make arrangements for. Because there was so much to do, she needed help getting everything done in time. My mom was already scheduled to watch the boys anyway, so I rearranged my schedule and got to have a very fun morning while also making a little money. On Tuesday I will visit the vendors I had planned to see today. All in all, it was a very good trade-off. I got to spend some "girl time" with other women, and I learned a few new things. Pretty cool.

It's very cold tonight... might possibly be snow on the ground when we wake up in the morning!

Doin' Business

Today was a good day because I was able to get out and do some "business" for my business. I needed that after my hour and a half at the dentist this morning (to be followed by two more extensive appointments with them at the end of the month... yikes!).

I first went to a B&B where I had an appointment with the lady who coordinates weddings there. But she stood me up. Luckily someone found the owner for me, a brusque elderly man who showed me around. Let's just say that I wasn't very impressed with the site, the location, or the fact that I had been stood up.

From there I went and delivered a gift basket I had made from Michael & his dad. The reaction from the recipient was so much fun. I loved being able to do that!

While there I got a call back from one of numerous messages I had left yesterday at wedding sites around the area. This couple has a large parcel of land out in the country, near a lake, where they do weddings. I didn't get to see the actual site yet, but I did go meet with the couple where they were working at the wine bar in the Spruce Goose museum. They were a kick! She poured me a complimentary glass of wine and I took a couple sips to be polite. I must say, it actually wasn't all that bad. Anyway, we really hit it off. The lady, Beret, would like to link up with me and work very closely together. Woo-hoo! :) And she gave me quite a few referrals. That was an extremely successful visit! Beret and I even have plans for a large event. I don't want to say anything more about it yet, but she put me in touch with the person who could help us make it happen. I meet with her on Tuesday.

I just know that one (or more) of these contacts is going to pay off at some point...

Kitchen Haircuts

About a month ago I was talked into trying to cut the boys' hair myself. Surprisingly, the whole haircut kit was only about 2 or 3 dollars more than one round of haircuts for them at Great Clips.

Since Michael did the honors the first time around, today was my first official try. I didn't do so bad, if I do say so myself. And, like Great Clips, I gave the boys each a piece of candy when they were done!

Things I Hate

... rubber bands. I realize that it wouldn't be environmentally friendly to deliver newspapers in plastic on days that it's dry, but can't they come up with a way to bundle them where you wouldn't be afraid of getting hurt every time you unrolled a paper?

... those plastic gizmos that connect the sales tags to new clothing. Not all of them; just the ones that have one end actually sewn into the clothing itself so that forever and ever you have this little prickly annoyance that you can't get at. Now whose brilliant idea was that?

... forgetting really funny things that my kids do or say. Like tonight, for instance. We were talking about the nativity set that's above the piano and Drew wanted to know how old Jesus is. Without getting too theological on him, I tried explaining that Jesus doesn't have an age but that when He came to earth as a baby it was over 2000 years ago. Drew wanted to know how long 2000 years was. I told him it was a very, very, very long time. He looked at me and said in all seriousness, "So did you get to see Him as a baby?"

Congratulations, Drew, for finally making me feel like I am old after all!

Things I Love

... opening the back door yesterday morning to my two smiling boys... who I swear grew in the week they were gone!

... having the sound of laughter (loud though it may be) back in the house.

... helping the boys decorate the little Christmas trees that go in each of their bedrooms.

... seeing the faces of my boys as they dream sweet dreams tucked safely in their beds.

... having my own little hey-dey in Fashion Bug on Friday as I spent the $120 birthday gift card sent to me by my dear friend and her mom.

... raking leaves yesterday with my boys in the cool, crisp fall air (which is going to turn downright cold later this week).

... having an awesome Thanksgiving Day with Michael and his family.

... being blessed with all of you!

Performances and Parties

Drew had his first preschool performance of the year on Friday. It was so incredibly cute! All of the students were dressed up as ducks for part of the song/gymnastics routine that they did. They also played handbells and did a dance. Unfortunately Drew seems to have inherited my dance moves (i.e., he can't dance worth beans). I still have high hopes for my boys.... that unlike their mother, they will learn to have rhythm!

On Sunday Michael and Tammy threw me a birthday party. It was a lot of fun! I am now (as of Monday) officially the big 4-0. Wow. It's a little humorous since I don't feel anywhere near that age.

Although I am without my boys this week, I am doing well and keeping very busy. I miss them a lot but talk to them often. They are having a great time with their grandparents going to Sea World and Disneyland.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have much to be thankful for...