Renewal of Christmas Joy

Remember when you were a kid and Christmas seemed exciting, mysterious and just about the most wonderful time of year? Yea..... as you get older and some real life smacks you in the face this can change. My Christmas experiences changed into a whirlwind of spending, rushing, white-knuckling few weeks that inevitably ended in a huge let down. I would spend boatloads of money on buying up everything the kids just HAD to have (and never played with), making plans to do a billion things all at the same time, procrastinating Christmas wrapping until I found myself with 2 boatloads of things to wrap on Christmas eve. Dealing with the loss of loved ones (miss you Mom and Eli) that should be with you during this most family oriented of all the holidays. Planning all these fun things for the kids to do that I just never quite got to....you get the idea. Needless to say Christmas just kind of lost its zing. Until this year. Here is how it started...I offered to host Christmas Eve. When I decided to do this i found it so exciting a prospect that I wanted to enjoy it. The only way I could think to avoid the stress that can bring was to be organized. I made a list of everything that needed to be done then broke it down into a few things a day from then until Christmas eve! Here are the side-effects of that decision : I am not overwhelmed, I feel proud of my accomplishments, I am done with shopping and wrapping, my house is getting uber organized, I am getting much more holiday activities done (more about that in my next post) and best of all? I am giggly, joyfully, can't sleep excited about Christmas! I feel like a kid again! There is just something about cooking for people that not only makes me happy about that but energizes me for all things Christmas! Oh cooking, thank-you once again for all the happiness you bring me!

On a side-note...about all those presents your kids just have to have? DON'T DO IT! I cannot tell you how much happier Christmas can be when you spend the money on a family oriented gift and family holiday activities! I feel good knowing that without a shadow of a doubt our gift will get much, much use and if you feel the itch to do some holiday shopping? Do it but drop it in the Toys For Tots box on your way out of the store! Why should those presents sit in the corners of your house where your kids never got to them or only played with them once, when there are kids out there that would truly appreciate them :)

Thankful

We are going to be out of town for Thanksgiving this year , so I wanted to go ahead and do a post about gratitude, a little early.

I am thankful for my connection to spirit. Spirituality is my riches. I have learned to recognize it and since then all things are more alive. Every time Carter runs through the house laughing like a hyena and I am sure he looks brighter than his surroundings, I know spirit is with me. Every time Trent and Donovan and I are rolling with laughter at some inside joke, I know spirit is with me. Every time Dan comes home, hugs me and I actually feel a little happy zip through my body, I know spirit is with me.

I am thankful for my Husband. Before Dan I was a different person. I was sadder, my light was duller and I was treading water just trying not to drowned. In the house that is me , Dan is the support beams. Sometimes I wonder how one person can be so awesome and how on earth he ended up loving me! When we met my belief in soul mates was cemented.

I am thankful for my children. They are adorable to look at and teach me so much. Trent has taught me a lot about patience and unconditional love. Donovan has taught me the power of positive thought and the blessing of miracles. Carter has taught me about the healing powers of love and what tenacity can accomplish. They are each so different and I fiercely love them all.

I am thankful for the time I had with my Mom. She taught me way too much to list here, but she enriched my life and I love and miss her greatly.

I am thankful for my Dad. My Dad gives a lot. He gives to me, my brother, his other family members, his neighbors...everyone. He shares his time by doing repairs, he shares his money, he shares his excess food, he even shares his home by giving people a place to live. On top of all this he taught me some of the lessons that enriched my life the most. He taught me there are good men out there and to take a chance to find one. He taught me that no amount of bad that has touched your life has to define it or you.

I am thankful for my mother-in-law (yes, you read that right...not all of them are bad!) Here is a woman who not only lights up a room and makes every child who meets her love her, but she also raised 3 kids that turned out awesome! As a mom I appreciate this accomplishment and I appreciate that she admits she wasn't perfect. Somehow that gives me hope knowing you can turn out some awesome kids with out being the perfect housekeeper, therapist, chef etc.... Plus she is just a really nice,loving, genuine human being.

I am thankful for Nancy and Jamie. I met Nancy and her awesome daughter Jamie when Jamie and I were like 3 and 2. These are the people that we spend Easter, 4Th of July, Thanksgiving (except this year!) and Christmas with. We may not be blood related but this IS my family. Jamie is my best friend and Nancy my surrogate mother.

There are many, many other people I am thankful for but my bruised tailbone says no more sitting so I will have to cut it short. For everyone and everything that blesses and enriches my life , Thank-You!

Happy Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween. We went to Papa Dave's and Nancy's and met up with the Bonk-Lotts and ate some Halloween themed food and did some trick or treating. We also went to the Allen Park Halloween celebration! It was great fun and I hope you enjoy the pictures. The rest are on my facebook page if interested.

A Budding Photographer

Carter asked me if he could take pictures of me. Even though I hate getting my picture taken I figured it was good that he was showing interested in photography and I should suck it up and let him take the pictures. Turns out I had nothing to worry about! I present to you Carter's Pictures of me.
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Musta been blind after so many flashes to the face, lol!

A Boy and His Dog

Couponing Success

I have been reconnecting with coupons lately! I got super organized this week and headed out on Sunday and Monday to snap up some deals. I did a grocery shop where I stacked coupons with sales and ended up shaving 50 bucks off our grocery trip! I also got some early Christmas shopping done when I got a bargain on Tag Books (the tag system is a electronic pen that works with the tag books to play stories, interact with the pages and play games). The Tag books retail for 13.99 and Toys 'r' us had them on sale for buy 2 get one free, plus I had a coupon for "spend 25 dollars get 5 dollars off, also I had 5 'r us bucks and 3 manufacturer coupons from Tag that took $4 off each book so it was $5.98 plus tax total for 3 books that I put away for Christmas! Other freebies/under .25 cents deals I scored were 2 things of butter, 2 things of eye shadow, eyeliner, laundry detergent, lip balm, and toothpaste. I also passed up a "get 3 free packs of huggies"money maker deal (a money maker deal is where you actually end up MAKING money on your purchase) up cause I thought it would throw me back into baby mode again :) So I am very happy about all my savings lately and just thought I'd share!

The First Day of School

It is time for a new school year. I don't get as excited about this as some Moms I know but I do appreciate the "new start/clean slate" feel it brings. I also love the routine that comes along with a new school year. My boys are always scattered to the winds during the summer. They spend a couple of days at Papa's house, a few with their uncle, a few with the other Papa, squeeze in some days with their Dad and a wee bit of time with Aunts. I next to never see them both at the same time and the bedtime/shower/chores routines are out the window! During the school year, though, they are at home for 2 weeks, then a weekend at Dad's: rinse and repeat. We have normalcy, togetherness and schedules.

The boys also seemed to be ready to go back to school. Donovan said he had a good first day, liked his teacher and even had a kid from our block in his class. Trent was ready to go back and teased me that he was already working his teachers nerves...when I told him he better be working to make them love him he replied "How can they not love me when there's all this "(jazz fingers next to the face). To which I responded (as always) with "I see......". :)

Carter and I even got into the school spirit and packed him a lunch, put it into his backpack with some school supplies and played school. We set up a desk in his room by the chalkboard . I taught him some letter sounds and numbers. Then we ate the lunch together and cleaned up!

So here's to a new school year! May it be full of learning or at least good behavior :)