Been a While

Well, I know it has been a while.  This school year has been a whirlwind.  I am teaching Kindergarten this year and have 5 kids that I had last year.  It has been interesting to see the growth over the last year and a half.  In September we had a school fire and we put together a new school in only a weeks time.  The high school was building  a new building that was scheduled to be done a few weeks later, so the construction company put in overtime and had it ready in a week.  As they were moving out of the old building, we were moving in.  It has been quite a year.  We are teaching with virtually no curriculum.  It has been challenging.  Thankfully most of the teacher's guides are online, but that does not help with student books.  The other challenging thing has been the fact that we didn't get to take most of our item from the half of the building that was saved due to smoke damage.  For some teachers it has been harder than others.  I was okay with it, since I didn't have as much, but teachers who had been there 20 plus years and lost everything, well, that was a grieving process.  We are working through it and we will be better for it in the long run.  I am thankful that the fire was on the weekend and no one was hurt.

This past weekend my baby girl turned 13.  I officially have a teenager in the house.  We also have celebrated 10 birthdays with my beautiful girl.  I am so lucky and blessed to have such a beautiful young lady.  I love her so much and know that God placed her with us for a reason.

Christmas is right around the corner and we are counting down the days.  Have you started your shopping yet?  Not one thing has been bought in this house.  Nothing!!  I'm usually almost done by now, but I have no desire to shop.  LOL!  We are going small this year as we have been saving for a substantial trip next year and we don't have as much to put towards it.  The trip though will be a once in a lifetime experience.  I'd tell you where we are going, but it is going to be a surprise for my beautiful girl.  She will not know where we are going until we get there.  LOL!!  That oughta be a fun 2 days in the car.

Well, I guess that is all.  Just wanted to get on and update.  Thanks to those that still read.  I know my posting is very sporadic.  Thanks all and if I don't get back on between now and then, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  :-)

Christmas

How is it that Christmas has become so commercialized?  I love my job, but when we hit a major holiday like this, sometimes I wished I didn't work retail.  UGH!  Even at a Christian book store, the customers are all about the gift.  We will be having a much smaller Christmas at our house this year and in a way I am very glad.  I am tired of the commercialism of the whole world.  Its not about bigger and better items.  Christmas is about family and Jesus and spending time together.  I hope others realize this and spend the season celebrating with family and friends.  On the plus side, we have our Christmas lights up and I absolutely love the glow of the tree lights.  I'll try and post pictures on here soon.

Christmas is Done

I'm so thankful that Christmas is done. I love Christmas, but working retail at Christmas is starting to take its toll. I hate how commercialized it has become. I hate how people act when they wait too long to buy their gifts and what they wanted it now out of stock. It's all nuts. We did Christmas on a smaller scale this year. Anna did still get one larger expensive gift, but overall, Christmas was small and I rather enjoyed it. Smaller is better sometimes. We also didn't have to go crazy spending the money with others. I will likely continue to keep it small. Emphasizing the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus Birthday.

In the same token, I've about had it with my job...period. I don't want to be in charge of so much anymore. I want to go in and work and go home. I want to be able to spend more time with my daughter and concentrate on her schooling. I'm just not quite sure how to go about this and still bring home the money I need to make ends meet in our house. Something, somewhere has got to give. I'm just not sure what or where or how, but something.

As for school, I know we homeschool so we can do things at our own pace, but right now I feel so far behind. I feel like we aren't doing enough to actually call it schooling. We've basically had the entire month of December off, except for about 2-3 days. Things have just been so hectic. Not sure what to do there either, but it is related to work again, so I guess that has to give a bit. We also need a slight change of curriculum, but the one I want to try is costly. I'll have to pray about that one. I'm thinking the change will help us to complete more schooling though.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. So thankful that the holiday is over and that things are starting to get back to normal. But also extremely tired and stressed out over things. Anyhow. I do hope that all of you have a VERY good New Year. I doubt that I will be posting again before then, so there you have it. Take care.

This and That

Wow!! Its November 13th already. I'm not sure where the time has gone. Here is a little bit of randomness for you all to ponder.

Christmas decorations are up. We put up the tree and outside lights yesterday. It looks fun at our house right now. I love Christmas time. Lights are oh so pretty and we really need to leave that tree up all year. I love to look at the memories on our tree. Oh and apparently us hanging Christmas lights outside yesterday made my neighbors want to hang lights this year. Their kids are really all grown, or pretty close. Their youngest is in school at a local college, so they really haven't put anything up, but with us having a "little one" (Sh! Don't tell her I put that) they are probably going to put theirs up too. A little more Christmas spirit to go around.

We have a new manager at the store I work at. He is nice as a person, but absolutely LOUSY as a manager. He has no interest in learning what he needs to know behind the scenes of working or operating the store. All he cares about is customer service and sales number, which are all fine and dandy, BUT, having a store manager not know the inner workings of the company and how to do the daily and weekly paperwork is NOT a good thing. There are two of us there that know more than he does and he is not interested in learning. Sigh! I'm really trying to get along with him, but its trying my patience a whole lot.

Anna's birthday was a huge success. She said it was, "the BEST birthday I ever had!" I am very glad she enjoyed it. Total cost including the gifts we gave her, about $35. I usually spend that on just her cake. I am so glad she enjoyed it. We are thinking of a smaller party next year. We'll see how that goes.

As for Anna, she is doing good too. The PDD diagnosis this year was a shock, but it explains so much. She is behind her peers emotionally and developmentally. She may always be somewhat behind. I have come to understand that she will always understand things different from other kids and not always fully comprehend everything. It only scratches the surface for her. She doesn't see anything beyond what you actually say. If you say its "raining cats and dogs," she will probably always be looking outside for them. Everything in her world is very literal. If I could get everyone to understand that, life would be easier, but it will never be that way. She also copies and says things that she hears others say, even if the timing is not right. She copies me a LOT!! She doesn't always use the words in the correct context though. The word she says a lot right now out of context is "seriously!" LOL! Yes, its cause I say it alot, but her context timing of using it is almost always off. What can I say. She also still does not like loud shrill nosies, but is fine with doing it herself. Again, its the PDD and the sensory part of it. I get it. Most people don't. SIGH!! I guess I'm just rambling now trying to get people to understand my girl. None of this really matters in the long run of things. She will always be my girl and I will always be there to love and care for her. As long or short as I get. She is our gift from God!!

I guess that's all for now. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy next week with your families for Thanksgiving. Take care and I will talk to you all later.

Just right...I think

Well, after this huge debate with Christmas being too much, I have decided that it was just right for this year. We had a great time and I even forgot to wrap some things. It might have looked like a lot, but it was pretty small actually. The dollhouse was a big hit!! Here are some pictures from that fun day.

Reading Christmas Eve:
"Santa's" Milk & Cookie:
All set up Christmas Eve:
Opening Presents:
A Horse from Tangled! Thanks Mom & Dad:

Baby Kahn! A Big hit:

(She has a larger horse that looks just like this one that she named Kahn, so it was a perfect match for that one. She was super excited about it.)

Jeremy's Stash:

Nicole's Stash:

Anna's Stash:

Anna's looks like a lot, but it was really all big stuff. She had a good time and I got some great deals. It was a lot of fun. Would have been more fun for her if I had remember where I hid everything and wrapped it, but oh well. I am sure she didn't mind. It was a lot of fun and I am glad we got those items. Now if only I could clean up everything? Ah well. I promised Jeremy I would leave up the tree till after New Year's Day, but you can bet your buttons that January 2nd it'll all be down. I want my house back. Hope everyone else had a good Christmas too and if I don't get back here before then, Happy New Year to you all. May 2011 be good to you all and may you be blessed!! Take care!

Too much?

Well, it is Christmas again and I always think we get Anna too much. I try to limit it, but its hard, since she is the only one. This year, there are two gifts from Santa and about 5 main ones from us, along with little junk. Is that too much? She has friends who get only two gifts and some that get tons. I feel we are middle of the road in regards to this, but still feel like maybe we over-indulge in the holiday. Not sure yet. Nothing she gets is especially fantastic and this is the most she has gotten in several years, but I still sometimes think that it is too much. UGH!! What a complicated dilemma. I'm not sure. Anyhow, that's what I am thinking right now. Do you think she gets too much, too little or just the right amount? I won't be offended by any answers, just looking for a happy middle ground. Thanks!

Merry Christmas!!

All the fun to be had is in two days. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I will post some of our pics after the holiday. Maybe even by Sunday, but don't hold your breath. LOL!!

Merry Christmas all!! Have a great day with your family!!

Christmas

A little late, but here is our Christmas in pictures and words.

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Listening to the Christmas Story

(The True Meaning of Christmas):

Anna made a card out for Jeremy and I

She was very excited to give it to us!!

Anna got a handmade blanket from my mom.

She was very excited about it:

See!! It HAD to be on her bed for nap time:

Anna with her horse that Santa brought her:

As you can see, we had a nice Christmas. It was small, but good. Anna loved getting the blanket from my mom. She was so excited and absolutely loves to sleep with it on her bed. My grandmother used to make me blankets too and I still have them. Her favorite gift besides that, has got to be her horse. It is a big horse. She still wants a REAL black horse though. LOL!! That faze may never pass. A real live horse is just not in the budget. Sorry kiddo. Anna also got a bunch of clothes (which she really needed), a set of Lego's, a few drawing things, and two books. She was very happy with what she got and she never seemed to notice that we down-sized big time this year. :) I was glad for that. Next year will be much the same. It was nice not going broke for Christmas. Oh and in case you are wondering, I got a watch, a multi-opening picture frame, a CD and Fireproof pre-buy and book. I will get to pick that up on the 27th. YEAH Me!! That was of course from Anna and Jeremy. We had a really good Christmas. Hope you all enjoyed yours as well.

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Oh and I spared you the pictures. We had like 200 plus, just from Christmas Day!! LOL!! You got 5. If you want to see them all, head on over to my husband's blog, I think he has a video. Well, I guess that's all for now. Take care and God Bless.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

That's all for now. I hope you family has a blessed Christmas today and I will be back to share our days blessings later. Remember the reason we celebrate Christmas...not Santa Claus, but Jesus' birth. Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless!!

Good Christmas Pictures?

Well, in an effort to save money, which I doubt we did, we printed our own Christmas pictures this year. I wanted to get just the right picture, so we dressed Anna up in Christmas pajamas and lit the tree lights and tried for every to get the perfect pictures. On the way, there was a lot of this type:

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Are we done yet?

Cheesy Smile! This will work, right?
You want me to do what?

I'm tired of taking pictures!!

Now, don't get me wrong.

we got some cute ones along the way, like these:

But it wasn't quite what I wanted to send out on our Christmas cards, so we kept going. About an hour later, I finally got the picture I wanted:

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Now, isn't that a very cute adorable picture? I love it!! It is so Anna and it suits her and me just fine. I just can't believe we had to take pictures for an hour to get this. Oh well, you do got to admit that it is a good picture. Even I was stunned that it turned out so good. So for those who never got our Christmas card, this was the picture we sent out with it. I loved it and it turned out very cute. Merry Christmas everyone!! (Don't worry, I will post more before then.)

The Nutcracker

On Wednesday night, we had an opportunity to go to Ballet Lubbock's The Nutcracker!! It was a lot of fun and it was the second year for Anna and I to get to go. We get free tickets from Anna's ballet class. This year, Daddy got to go with us. Here are a few pictures from the night-

Standing next to the TALL Nutcracker:

Hiding Behind the Program:

There, that's better:

As you can see, we had a good time. Anna had a new shirt bought with a gift card from a nice store that I never shop at. It was very nice and the perfect color for her. We had a great time and it was a lot of fun. We hope to go next year, but we will have to buy our own tickets. I don't think Anna wants to take Ballet again.

Polar Express

You know, the book, the movie and the fun train ride? We went on Sunday night with Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt and Uncle and three of the cousins! It was great!! Everyone had a great time. There was a reading of the Polar Express book and then we arrived at the "North Pole" and Santa and his elves got on the train. It was so cute and so much fun. We got pictures with the conductor, the elves, Santa, and one of the hostesses, dresses in white and black of course like the movie. It was fun. The kids received a bell from Santa and they had a cookie and a little hot chocolate. It really was a very fun time. I may have a picture or two, so let me get them and I will post more when I get them from my brother, our camera died unfortunately part way through the ride.

I am sure this one speaks for itself:

Waiting to board the train:

On the train with Daddy

(too much going on, getting her to look at me was difficult):

All 4 kids in their pajamas:

The hostesses

(also singers and entertainers):

The Conductor:

As you can see we had a great time. It was so much fun. We hope to go back again next year. I know I would definitely think its worth it now!! The kids looks as we arrived at the North Pole was priceless. I am so glad we had the opportunity to go. Thank you Grandma Renea and Grandpa John!! We LOVED it!!

Christmas Time is Here!

Christmas time is here! Well, it hit our house anyways! Our trees are up, the stocking are up, but I need to find one more matching one for my mom. We are getting the icicle lights out of the storage shed and putting them up outside. (We had no where to put them last year.) The train will be up today sometime and then I was thinking about putting lit Garland on the fence ledge today. We'll see. I love all the things like this for Christmas. I absolutely love to see all the lights. No doubt we had some issues with our tree lights, but I rectified that. Anna got a pink tree several years ago and we put it up yesterday afternoon. Our tree was decorated last night when I got home from work. Here comes some pictures, of course!

Anna's Pink Tree:

Our Tree:

(Needs a different picture, like Anna's, so we can see the lights)

A Quick Family Picture:

The family picture actually wasn't half bad, now if can just coordinate it a bit better and dress up, I will have our Christmas pictures. LOL!! :-)

Lesson Learned, but Why?

Ok, my lesson is learned. My daughter for some reason can not tell me when she is full. She is too busy trying to please and when I said eat all her lunch (because I wasn't thinking clearly and served my 7 year old the same size lunch as myself) she tried to eat it all and made her self sick. Yes, sick. She shoved so much food in her mouth at one time that she physically made her self throw up. She gagged herself. Why can she not just say she is full. UGH! So, after she did that 3 times(small amounts), she was fine the rest of the day. If she would have said she was full, I would have pulled the plate, but she never said anything and is so big on pleasing people. She spent 40 minutes after that playing in the bath tub, then watched a movie and then played fine the rest of the day. We had a pillow fight, she played with her toys, she ate some supper. Everything was fine. Got me. I just wish she would use her words. I talked to her and told her that if she was full, she needed to tell me so we could take care of it. I don't want to have to clean that up again.

After that mess, I relocated a bookshelf, vacuumed up the gross mess where the bookshelf once was and all the dead flies on the window sills. That's what I get for locating shelves in front of the bottom part of my windows. Not sure they are going back there. I also relocated, for the 4th time in 2 months, Anna's toys. We are making room in the living room for our Christmas tree!! It is time ladies and gentlemen for our tree to go up and all our Christmas decorations!! YEAH!! I am so excited about this. I love our tree and I love Christmas lights!! I can't wait to put them up again. This has been a long process in the making. We have rearranged and sold and gave away a bunch of stuff to ensure that our tree could go up. I am so happy!! I will post pictures of it, if I ever get that far!! :-) The good part is now I have the space.

Well, I better go for now. Time to get ready and do school for the day. That is of course AFTER Anna decides to wake up. Have a great week all and God Bless!!

True Meaning of Christmas

Christmas Time already? Well, not quite, but almost. Christmas is like my all time favorite holiday. I love all the lights! I love the music! I love the tree! (After all the work is done) I love spending time with family! I love Christmas in general. What I don't like is how commericalized Christmas has become. Its all about the bigger and better presents. What happened to simplicity. I was reading one of my message boards recently and absolutely loved the idea from one of the ladies on there. I am going to copy and repost a modified version of it here:

We do Santa.. but now only on small scale due to the premise of " naughty list." (Items deleted here to protect her kids) According to Santa and all the songs about him he gives according to how " good " you are. Santa only does stockings at our house. We as our kids parents give our kids Christmas gifts because of Love and Grace.. not because the kids are good. In this we hope to show the gift of love to our kids even when they don't " deserve" it just like God gave us the gift of salvation when we didn't deserve it either. This is a lesson that I had to learn because my son cannot change so I have to change my thinking. I was quite frustrated with my child's (changed) issues around Christmas when I thought about being naughty.. and Santa etc.. and would get upset because he/she really didn't "deserve" to get the big gifts from Santa... but then it came on my heart that I didn't deserve it either and what right did a worldly fictional character have to take away the grace and Love that God already gave him/her.

I know she was referring to her kids, but what I really liked was her take on it all. (Her kids have issues that they can not help. They were born with them.) Santa is okay, but doing just a stocking from him means all the children receive. Kids should receive gifts from their parents. I know we too have gone WAY overboard with this gift giving concept (Santa and us), but I am not liking it now. They come to expect it. We have scaled back for the last few years and we are scaling back again this year. My daughter is going to be surprised when she realizes how scaled back we are going this year. I think the best part of the writers topic is how she relates gift giving to the way God gave us his son Jesus to die on the cross. Now, isn't Jesus really the whole meaning for the season. It shouldn't be about getting, but giving. I hope I can clearly get this through to my daughter. We are scaling back for many reasons, but seriously, I want her to understand the meaning behind Christmas and understand truly that it is about Jesus and family and getting to spend good time together. That's what its all about. It is not all about presents!

Anna's List

Anna has been writing a list of what "she" wants to give everyone for Christmas. Here is her list so far:

Dad: Goofy Shirts
Mom: Flowers
Nanny: Flowers
Grammy: Hershey's Kisses
PaPa Hershey's Kisses
Kendra: Horse
Amber: Horse
Avery: Horse
Andy: Dog

LOL! As you can see, her list is getting long and expensive. VERY expensive. She wants to get the girls all $25 horses. :-) Very cute idea, but not remotely possible. We will of course get people something, but I don't think Anna is understanding the concept of money. I asked her where she was getting the money and she looks at me matter of factly and says "my piggy bank." Now keep in mind we usually just give her pennies. Occasionally she will get nickels and dimes, but not very often. This child probably has less than $4 in her piggy bank. It is too cute to have her make a list for everyone though. It shows that she wants to give gifts and not just receive them. Maybe some things we are teaching her ARE getting through. Now, how do i break it to her that the list is not even remotely possible? That is going to be traumatic. I already told her it probably is not possible, but she tries anyways. Well, I just thought I would share how sweet my little Anna is. She has a kind heart. Hope you all have a good day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Well, seeing as I work all day tomorrow and today is laundry day, I thought I would wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all enjoy your day filled with fun, excitement and laughter. Please do remember the TRUE reason for the season though...JESUS' BIRTH! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Santa Land

Ok, so we spent Sunday night freezing our bottoms off at Santa Land. Why on earth would anyone else stand in line for an hour and a half, in sub freezing temperatures, to see Santa? To keep their children happy and to get that picture to remember for years to come. We stood in line outside with a bunch of other crazy lunatics like myself to get a picture with Santa. Our visit lasted all of 2 minutes, and by then I didn't really want to go and look anything else. I was cold! Thats it, just downright cold!! Here are a few pictures of the evening. Like I said, it was COLD!!

Here is Anna waiting patiently:

That coveted picture, my version(not to bad if I do say so myself):

Pictures with Clifford (I was too cold to do much else by then):

Five minutes after getting in the car, she was like this:

The Nutcracker

Well, I prayed hard yesterday. Anna was looking forward to the ballet, and I was determined to take her. By the time it came to leave, I was showered and dressed and had not thrown up for about 9 hours, so even if I was still achey, I was taking my daughter to the ballet. We went and she had a GREAT time. It was very nicely done and she really liked watching the ballerina's dance. We even got some souvenirs to bring home, although only the small ones as they were rather expensive. Anyhow, here are some pictures from last night.

Waiting for the show to start:

Intermission Time:

Picture with a very tall nutcracker:

As you can see we had a good time. Sorry, no pictures of me. it was a very crowded place and I didn't feel well, remember! LOL! I am very glad I took her though as it is an experience she will never forget.

Tree is up!!

Anna's tree is up! Yes, her pink one that Santa dropped off early last year so he could put something under it in Anna's room. (Actually its the one that Anna fell in love with at Kohl's and really, really wanted it, so we got it for her right before Christmas when it was half off.) She still loves this tree and it is up. Here is a picture:

AND.................Our tree is also up! LOL!! I know, I know!! It is early for us even. We usually wait till the week of Thanksgiving, but we had all the stuff just sitting there in boxes in the middle of the living room, so in order to clear them out and not have to dig them back out, we set up the tree. We still don't have our place decorated all the way yet, all that we did was put up the tree. We still have lights and garland for somewhere and all the fun stuff to go. We love Christmas though and so I thought this was the perfect time to put it up. Anyhow, here is a picture of it. We don't have much room, so it is stuck in a corner very closely followed by our couch on one side and television on the other. We are now very cramped in here, but our tree is up and that was important to us.

Anna's big concern now is, "How is Santa going to get in to the apartment?" We have no chimney and we are downstairs, so she is VERY worried that he will have no way in. I told her we could leave the door unlocked for him , but then she asks if the "bad guys" will get in. (We keep our door locked at all times when we are home.) I don't know what else to say. I have half a mind to "mail Santa a key" with her so that he can get in that night. Do you think she will buy it? LOL! I will try it because anything is worth a shot at this point.

Anyhow, I better go. Two more days till Anna's birthday. We had her party yesterday, but I am waiting on pictures till Wednseday. Have a good week and take care everyone.