Christmas Innocence

I was just noticing how children affect the holidays. Not in a bad way mind you, In a good way. And in a way that makes you think and smile.How their faces light up when you get them something that you don't think they'll like that you just grab off the shelf last minute for a stocking stuffer, and they're like ohhh coool! Or like take for instance, when we go looking at the Christmas lights,like last year we must have went every DAY to look at this one setup of Christmas lights all the way until after New Years until they were gone. We had to convince Thomas they were gone and done with until next year.. Now its Brendans turn with the Balloons- Hes GOTTA have them up before bed so he can see them ... and the Christmas tree- we found he LOVES the ornaments. Especially the glass ones unfortunately.. The tree started out so nice , but now ended up half bald on the bottom, as all the glass ornaments one by one have made their way to the top half of the Christmas tree. It looks so awkward, but makes you smile too when you look at it. Because if it wasn't for the innocence of kids with such fascinations and spirit and loves for little things like Christmas balls and balloons and lights, and little things that warm the heart, what would life be like without it?

Once Bitten

Today Thomas was hanging out with his friends down the street riding innocently on his new scooter he got for Christmas having a good old time scooting up and down the sidewalk with his friend Chase when he came across the neighbor hood Chihuahuas. These things mind you I cannot STAND! they bark at anyone who go near their house, go 50 feet across the street in front of their house {which is where the sidewalk is}see anyone in their line of sight they bark their heads off , there's a a little girl down the street who is PETRIFIED to pass the house they are so mean - she always asks if they're tied up. Thomas a couple times has walked her to her house after school she's so afraid of them. Anyway, Thomas was riding his scooter, and the owner was walking the 3 Chihuahuas-Pebbles,and I don't know the other two- I'll just say Cheech & Chong for now.. Thomas went to pass, and all 3 of them rounded on him and attacked him! Well he was never so scared in his life! All I heard was him screaming OWWW! MOOMMEEEE!! They bit me!!! I was in awe- you'd think there was a piece of meat strapped to his leg they way they went at him! Thankfully they didn't do that much damage to him that he got out of there as soon as they rounded on him , but still! WTF??! Can't kids play on the sidewalk anymore without having to worry about getting attacked by little ratdogs with attitudes? He wasn't going fast on his scooter- I could see if they felt threatened- like they were gonna get run over, he slowed down , because he was afraid of them and told the owner " excuse me" and the owner- he just smiled and said " sorry" and kept walking .. that was the lamest apology I've ever seen buddy! Don't even ask if he's ok or not! Jackass! I'm tellin ya -this neighborhoods goin to pot! My cars gets broken into and my cellphone gets stolen , my gas gets siphoned, { Tom's car anyway} people leave their dog waste in my trash can & mailbox, my kid gets bit by dogs n the owner could care less ... Nice neighborhood! Anyway, he wont let me touch the area yet, but it looks ok. I gave it Johnson's wound wash immediately a couple times -who knows what germs those dogs got? I gave it a band aid, so far its ok. His spirits are good. We'll check it out in the tub tonite.Those Damn dogs- I hate them! and I'm a dog lover! They're just vicious- those 3 ! They need Cesar Milan in a bad way!

Christmas Eve Mass

Tonight Thomas sang in the Church choir for the Christmas Eve church services. He was so handsome,all dressed up in his good clothes and so sweet! Ma Higdon and I went to the mass to watch him perform. He looked just like a little gentleman, aside from the fact that he had just the slightest touch of stage fright given he kept coming over to me saying " I don't know my songs" , so I was give a piece of paper from his choir director's helper to mark off in his hymnal which songs he would be singing with the corresponding hymns marked on the board on the wall. well I earmarked the pages and showed Thomas the songs as well as the songs on the pages that would go in order so he could see for himself , but he was like "I can't do it" I was like" oh boy" He kept seeing more and more people fill in the church and was getting more and more nervous.. I told him to just take a deep breath and let it out slow , and that he'd be fine. Soon he saw Fathe Joe { he ADORES this Priest and he began to calm down} but soon a whole other problem began - he tried to sing but found he was too short for the microphone and was standing on his tippy toes and was till too short- why someone didn't see this and fix it I donno why.. but soon gave up but still tried to sing here and there anyway.. but got bored at times and started picking his nose! IN CHURCH! In front of A PACKED HOUSE! AAAGGH! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Every time he caught my eye {and I made sure he did believe me} I would mouth Stop it ! that gross! No! and he would mouth back "I can't!" this went on for most of the mass. I don't know what drove me more crazy- the fact that he was picking his nose in public--a packed Church no less, or that I couldn't get to him and make him stop it since he was only 20 feet away! GAHH it was so gross watching him do that and at times look at "his prize"- ewww! I felt so mortified! Other than that, when Thomas finally reached the microphone, he sang very nicely, very sweet . It actually brought tears to my eyes. Once it was cute he raised himself a little too high and sang a word that just echoed too loud into the microphone -LOL it was like hitting a wrong note because hes more of an alto where the rest are close to say sopranos. The teacher was like "not so close'. I thought it was cute and so did everyone else. The mass also had a Nativity play which was also very sweet- this was the rest of his religion class friends. Kids volunteered to either play in the nativity or choir and I think Thomas is getting tired of choir , we shall see . All in all it was a very nice mass but also "interesting" shall we say and we had a nice chat on the way home about it.Hopefully we made a dent Until then, we had some Christmas Eve gifts to open And share our story with Daddy about how our night went. He's 6, I cut him a break- after all, it IS Christmas right? Lesson learned. Let's open some stockings!

What A Day!

Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go right? Today seemed to be my day. I woke up to the alarm, not wanting to get out of bed, finally did, brushed my teeth,got toothpaste on my shirt. Poop. Should'a saw the omen comin' right there.I got dressed and did my usual morning thing- made my berry tea to start things rolling, made Thomas' PB&J lunch, checked the weather, let the dog out and opened Thomas' door to give first call time to get up.He didn't answer, so it was a bit early to wake up Brendan, so I futzed around and made myself some breakfast until I heard Brendan and decided to have HIm wake him up. well, B accidentally hit his groin and he let an almight yell out and from that day on he was injured- his arm was broken-{ even though the 2 aren't connected} and he back talked me , wouldnt eat his breakfast, wouldn't get dressed till 10 min before we had to leave, thankfully Brendan was dressed, fed and ready to go as I anticipated this for some reason.I HATE HATE HATE when he gets like this! WHEN daddy leaves town, he he gets this "I don't have to listen to you " attitude that I want to strangle! so we finally make it out the door after him finaly getting dressed 5 min before we have to leave- he just dilly dallies and wastes time - I had been trying to get him dressed since 6 :55 it was now 7:40! Anyway, the rest of the day I cleaned-bathrooms,- Ew- closets- wee. recliners- sticky foods stuck on them- double eww. and stuff molded to my glass tables from 2 yr olds- double weee that I had to scrape off from my nice manicure- SO FUN!then pick up time- I looked like death and didnt want to show my face! I picked Thomas up and hurried back to the car and got home did some more cleaning ,the dog came in and got my nice clean floor all muddy - GRRR. I'll deal with YOU later.... the boys trashed the house as fast as I picked up after them! C'mon guys! Gimmee a break huh? Then it was dinner time {another fun time here when daddy's not here} I got smart mouthed and yelled at - I told him a thousand times to turn around and eat his dinner {Thomas] what do I get? a big fat loud OKAYYY!! whoah!Oh Hell No! That deserved a smart smack in the back of the head! I said "You dont yell at me! You watch your mouth and tone! I've had it with your smart mouth!" and he was upset and said he was sorry.. but had a look of anger in his eyes- I didn't like hitting him, but he doesn't get hit , and I think its time someone did. Then religion, he had choir first where he ran around like an idiot and didnt listen to sit down, and was all noisy- I said you're in church- not the playground- you have respect- he ran around anyway- UGGHH! Then the icing- as he was in religion, I sat in the parking lot with Brendan and watched a movie - "Mickey's Magical Christmas" on the DVD player- well when it was time to go home, my car wouldn't turn over! CRAP! This day just won't end! I must have drained the battery while watching the movie since I didn't have the car running.DUH. Won't do THAT again! Thankfully two nice men gave my car a jump with some cables that they actually went to look for! I thought that was really nice! I guess the best place to have your car go dead is at a church right ? You're BOUND to get help - no one will let ya go stranded! I was outta there in 30 minutes tops! After all that I just wanted to get home! Maybe have a stiff drink! Since that wasn't availiable, a nice cold coke would do ;) Kids are finally in bed and I can unwind . I'm hitting the sack now.I hope tomorrow will make up for today's chain of one after the other pain in the ass moments! Say Good night, Sleep tight, Hope tomorrow'll be alright!

Pinewood Derby Block

We just had our pack meeting last night where the boys got their Christmas pesents that were their Pinewood Derby cars . Thomas opened his present at home last night and was like "what the"? He was expecting "a car" It was quite funny . This being his first year , he wasnt expecting a block of wood and nails and a wheels to come out of a box at him! I had to explain to him "no, you MAKE your car, and then in April , you have a race to see whose is the fastest and the best". he said "can I paint it?" I "said yeah! you paint it, sand it, put stickers on it, do anything you want to it, thats the beauty of it- everyone's is different"- he liked the sound of that and felt much better than getting a block of wood for Christmas! LOL

Busy Holiday Wrapup

This week sure was a busy one! With Starting off volunteering at Thomas' school as I usually do, then coming home and making an early dinner because we had Boy Scouts Monday evening, then after that it was straight to bed, then Tuesday waking up, getting the kids ready for school as usual , Tom stayed home from work. We were going to try and get in some last minute shopping for relatives {gift cards and packing materials} after or during work while Thomas was at school, {which worked and didn't} Brendan would see stuff he wanted as would Thomas , Tom wanted to get me stuff , but we were all there and we were beter off separate but were shopping for relatives and spent money we shouldn't have- you know the deal!, so we come home, make dinner , get some more cleaning in, let the kids get some play time in,Wednesday, was a half day and even crazier as we had to NOW have ALL the presents BOUGHT,WRAPPED AND PACKED UP that were going to be shipped up north. Thankfully I had been storing boxes in the garage for months any shape and size that looked like they might work, and thankfully they had. THAT saved me a bundle on packing prices! I did my own labeling , and packing, all I had to do was the shipping. We sorted everybody out and boxed them up and taped them securely, labeled the addresses, and off we were to The UPS store. $130.00 in shipping later anyway, OY! Another reason why I SOOO want to move closer to my family! WAHHHH! Next year gift cards all around! They're an awesome family, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have it any other way, and they're worth every penny! I love them to death. Just gift cards are a little lighter on the wallet..;) But now breathing a sigh of relief, I can officially say I am finally done and can relax- I ended the week with a trip to the salon and got my hair and nails done compliments of darling Husband. He said I was starting to look like Carrie from the movie-all I needed was pigs blood dumped on me- Point taken! So I got tips put on, and got my hair highlighted and the split ends chopped off, I must admit the time to myself IN irself was a gift right there being pampered :). As for the being done , I must say maybe not - I got cleaning to do for when company comes to visit for Christmas.. THEN I can relax... Wait then theres cooking, And clean up and the removal of decorations after that.. then theres New Years.. UGH No rest for the weary I guess! ;)

Supper With Santa

Tonight We had a ball at Thomas' school where he had Supper with Santa. Carraba's catered dinner to the school, I believe it was Chicken Marsala, with ziti and a side salad. Really good! They also served cake and soda. The kids also received a free picture with Santa, then got to go outside and play in the snow. I know snow? in Florida? It was a patch of snow from the freezers or some sort where the kids gave a ticket and got to romp around for 5 minutes at a time - no throwing though- after a while it became mush and they "slushed" around but still had a ball! The kids also enjoyed a free train ride on A Thomas the train look alike train ride in the parking lot pickup area . And there was also Christmas shopping the parents and students could enjoy with the Gingerbread shop that was open for a small amount of time. All in All it was a fun filled evening that everyone enjoyed, and after we drove around looking for Christmas lights around town. A nice way to start off the weekend.