Family at Heart

Okay, this post is purely for my enjoyment and the absolute bliss that I feel when I get things off my “to do” list.  Here’s what has been accomplished since Christmas…before you start reading my impressive list, please note that I am still on antibiotics for strep, so anything that I have done is that much more impressive

1.  Inspection sticker for my car and cleaned the inside of the car really well.  I’m pretty picky with my car so this was way overdue.  My oil change will be right on time the first or second week of January, at which time I will have the outside washed.

2.  Shampooed my stairs and upstairs landing.  I did this one today.  The master bedroom, master bath, and media room will be completed before the end of the week.  I also set up a second litter box for my lazy, fat, 12-year-old cat who sometimes decides he just can’t make the walk into the laundry room to use the other litter box.  We’ll see how this goes.

3.  Tree is taken down and carpet is shampooed where it sat.  Can you tell that I just got a new carpet cleaner?

4.  A’s dentist appointment is scheduled.

5.  January calendar is finished.

6.  I took advantage of Walgreens’ offer of 10-cent prints and have already printed my Christmas pictures.  I am already prepared to do scrap night next month.

7.  I made 4 DVD’s of Christmas for my family and us.  They are completely copied and ready to go.

8.  I cleaned out the downstairs closet and laundry room.  I also just swept out the garage and got all that garbage ready to be picked up tomorrow.

9.  I took lots of stuff to Goodwill in time to write off some $$ on our taxes for this year.

10.  I’ve taken care of a few very important business matters for Hubby.  (lease agreement, fax, etc. etc.)

I have a few more things on my list like cleaning out our closet and of course, finishing the carpets.  But tomorrow we are babysitting for a friend and running at least one errand.  Because of my nagging conscience, I will probably still get those things finished before A goes back to school on Monday.  But I think it will feel great to start 2009 with the feeling of being caught up, organized, and ready for some fun with A

I mentioned what A had gotten me for Christmas in a previous post, but I wanted to put some pictures on the blog.  She is so happy to see me wear the bracelet and is thrilled that I have put my “I Love You” statue on my desk.  Thank you sweetie for my wonderful, thoughtful, sweet, precious, cherished gifts.   And even though I love them, you are still the best gift that I’ve ever gotten

I’m so glad that we had such a Merry Christmas together with Daddy.  I love you both!

This the box the bracelet came in.  The bracelet says Love, Mother, Forever.  I heart it!

Okay, my baby is really in a hurry to grow up on me.  As I was brushing her teeth tonight, I noticed that she has two new teeth coming in behind her farthest teeth on the bottom, one on each side.  I did some research and these are her permanent six-year molars.  The article said that some kids could be a year early or behind, but she’s not turning five until June!  These teeth don’t take the place of any of her existing teeth, just add to the number that she has.  She was so excited to know she had new teeth coming in.  She thinks her little teeth are just  going to start falling out now.  And for all I know, she might be right.  I just want her to stay like this for a bit longer.  I have stopped mourning for her babyhood.  I just love the stage that we’re in right now.  All of the new experiences are just amazing.  New teeth will just add to our growing list.  At first, I was leaning on being a little sad, but I’ve changed my mind and am instead going to be excited for one more thing that I get to share with my little girl.   I’ll be calling the dentist on Monday to do a follow-up just to be sure everything is cool.  I can’t believe what a big girl we have now

Well I am happy to say that I am feeling quite a bit better today.  I made a pretty good dinner although I didn’t do as big of a spread as I did for Thanksgiving.  A ate some turkey, so I was pretty happy with that.  We spent the day just watching A play with her toys, much of the time playing right alongside her.  She had a fantastic Christmas, getting everything from the Hello Kitty stuffed fuzzy that she had been longing for to a very nice light-up keyboard that she can really learn with.  She got everything in between too – a dollhouse, magnetic dress-up dolls (which she had been envying every time we were at C’s house), some art stuff like play-doh and a Hello Kitty school kit which she promptly put in her backpack so she could take it to school with her in January.  The kid has been on cloud 9!

Hubby and I did pretty well too.  He got a new motorcycle helmet with some gadgets which is so up his alley.  A and I got him some blu-ray movies, also up his alley.  She had picked out a couple of gifts for him on her own – a socket set and a planner to keep him organized.  She wrapped those herself in her beloved Wall-e paper.  That is a very high compliment Daddy.  I had already gotten some wonderful things from some friends.  M got me a friendship necklace that I will cherish always, some nail polish, and some bath products.  M had given me a 2009 planner and some bath products as well.  Then I had gotten some candy and ornaments and other really thoughtful gifts from several of the mommas from playgroup.  Let’s just say that anything that I get for Christmas is icing because I have everything that I want or need.  Hubby and A really made me feel loved and special this year though.  Hubby got me a great new laptop (on which I am now blogging in the comfort of my bed as he sleeps next to me).  A got me a little “I Love You” statue and a mother bracelet.  I will forever cherish them.  She also filled out a card just for me.  It will never leave my possession.

So enough about all the presents, I want to talk about the part of my holiday that really mattered most…

I watched my husband and little girl eagerly lick the spoon and bowl after I had made the pudding for our pie this morning.

I watched my little girl finish putting the final cotton ball on her Santa advent calendar that we had started in playgroup.

I had the pleasure of listening to my four-year-old play O Christmas Tree on her new keyboard and to sing Happy Birthday to our cat.

I got to sit and make a bead necklace with her last night and to play with her new dollhouse with her.  I got to be the mom figurine and she was the little girl!

I got to watch her excitement as she listened to a personalized message from Santa on the computer.  She was so amazed that he was talking directly to her.  Thanks for the link M!

She was also very appreciative of the thank you note from Santa under the tree this morning.  He was thanking her for the wonderful picture she had given him here on Tuesday morning.

I got to watch Hubby and A put a wide variety of things onto slides and view them on her new microscope.  They really wanted to find some moving bacteria to look at.  Hubby tried getting it from a couple of places in the house, but to no avail.  He then said that we must have the cleanest house ever.  That sweet man!

I got to sit and make a  play-doh scene with my little girl today.  We used cookie cutters and the cool letter stamps that came with the set.  I was set to reuse the play-doh, but Hubby said we should keep it intact.  He took over playing with her when I was ready to finish making dinner.

Late this evening before our leftovers, we took a walk down to the park where we swung, played chase, hide-and-seek (we later played this inside too), and the new favorite game all about favorites.  I will explain that one later.

All in all, a perfect holiday with my family.  I am thankful for my husband, my little girl, the life that we have together, our extended family and our wonderful friends.  Nothing else could possibly be on my list.  I hope everyone had a blessed time with the ones they love.  It is truly the best gift on earth.

This is the doll from Ma G.

The dollhouse!!!!!

Cool Play-doh kit!

Littlest Pet Shop!  How did you know Ma Ev?

This is a Best Friends shirt just like the one we got Z.  They both loved them.

Color by number set from Ma Ev.  She also sent lots of clothes and a cool jacket

Magnetic dress-up dolls…

Mo figurine from Wall-e…

The long-waited for Hello Kitty fuzzy…

and the Hello Kitty school set.  A big hit with A

Keyboard time…

Now time to play with some stuff…

This microscope that Daddy found is really cool.

This is just precious and tells me exactly what it feels like to be a kid.  I love it!

A loves this keyboard.  Great find Daddy!

Love that new Play-doh set!

My two greatest gifts!

The thank you note from Santa

A’s completed Santa.  She loved counting down the days with this.  A definite tradition for us.

This playdate was so fun!  Hubby was here since he’s taking some time off.  YAY!  He was my photographer for the event and my movie starter later in the morning.  Almost all of the kiddos came in their pajamas, and some of the mommas too.  I was in sweats and loving how warm and comfy I was.  We served donuts, milk, apple juice, and coffee for mommas and kiddos.  The kiddos colored a picture to give to Santa if they hadn’t remembered to bring something for him.  Then the kiddos played Reindeer, Reindeer, Rudolph in the living room floor.  They had a lot of fun just with that.  Then Santa came.  He read a story to the mesmerized little things.  It was so sweet to watch them hang onto his every word.  They proudly gave him what they had made or brought.  He got a combination of colored and drawn pictures and candy canes.  In turn, he gave them each a little baggie with two pieces of candy and a little Christmas puzzle.  It was last-minute on my part, but they loved that he had brought them something.  After Santa left, we all headed up to the media room to watch the Polar Express.  Some people had to leave early.  M and I had made out thank you notes from Santa for the pictures and/or candy canes.  Our thoughts were to have the note for the kiddos under their tree on Christmas morning, but several mommas gave it to them immediately.  I still have A’s.  I’ll give it to her tomorrow.  Thanks everyone for coming.  We had a great time.  And thanks for bringing your coffee pot M.   I’m glad now that we did that judging by how popular it was

A getting her treat from Santa

Well, I have frickin’ strep again.  I have been very down about it and have endured at least three days with a nagging sore throat about which I was in total denial.  I thought that since it wasn’t really getting any worse, that maybe it would get better on its own.  I know better than that.  We hosted the last playdate of the year here yesterday morning.  We served apple juice, milk, and coffee and donuts.  The kiddos had a little thing to give Santa during his visit.  It went really great.  We followed up all of that fun with the Polar Express in the media room.  I was feeling okay overall until a bit later in the day.  I was just really weak and the throat was going downhill fast.  I pretty much laid on the couch for the rest of the day.  Bad sign for me to just lay.  It’s just not my nature.  So this morning, I gave in and went back to the doctor.  He took one look and said, “Yep, strep again.”  He was going to give me the same antibiotic as before but I asked him to change it.  I suspect that it never fully killed everything in my throat the first time around.  So he gave me another antibiotic and was confident that I would be feeling better in time to enjoy some of my Christmas.  So I came back home, took my medicine, and lay on the couch some more.  I had pretty much given up any hope of preparing the Christmas dinner for tomorrow that I had envisioned.  So I was planning on going to the store, even though Hubby begged me to let him go, to get some spaghetti stuff and call it done.  But I insisted on going just because it felt like this thing was beating me and ruining my Christmas.  No way!  I did start out with the spaghetti stuff in my cart, but quickly went to look at the turkeys   So I got everything for my dinner tomorrow, come hell or high water, we will be eating turkey.  This stupid strep stuff ruined my extended Thanksgiving weekend and I’m not about to let it ruin Christmas too.  So I will be taking my second dose of medicine in just a bit, followed by Nyquil, followed by a bubble bath.  And hopefully, hopefully, fingers really crossed here, I will feel much better in the morning.  Why oh why didn’t they just snag these stupid tonsils out of my throat when I was a kid?

Last Saturday, we got together with Mr. T and his family for the annual company party.  We don’t currently have any employees, so it is just us.  We went to a restaurant that serves family-style.  We decided on three entrees and some bread and everyone was served from those dishes.  It was really tasty and completely new to me since I’d never been to any restaurant like that.  A had perfect behavior the entire evening.  She was so happy to wear her new dress, tights, and shoes too.  We ended the evening with a movie here in the media room.  We watched Horton Hears a Who.  We all had fun.  We are so thankful for the partnership that has grown between both families and for the state of the business right now.  Here’s to another great year with only bigger and brighter things to come

Even though Hubby is officially on holiday vacation, he did have a dinner commitment this evening.  So A and I headed to Moonie’s for dinner.  The veggie burger is awesome!  Anway, after we ate and she played with their vast supply of blocks, and of course after we picked up all 300 of them, I took A for a little surprise.  We went to see the tree that is lit up near the post office.  I had heard that it was very pretty and that a sleigh was set up underneath it for pictures.  She loved it and was all too happy to pose.  We also saw some very pretty lights as we drove home, and we stopped at the house just up the street from us and tuned our radio in to watch their synchronized light show.  So even though we missed Daddy, we had a very memorable evening and it’s even blog-and scrapbook-worthy

A very nice lady offered to take this picture of A and me.

I am literally floating on air right now because our playgroup Christmas party that we had for the kiddos this afternoon was nothing short of perfect.  K, M, and M hosted for us and we so appreciated it.  We had a potluck and the food and goodies were fabulous.  Everyone brought what they were supposed to bring.  The kiddos behaved like angels considering that all 28 of them were stuck indoors together.  We had a fantastic visit from Santa, during which he gave a present to each child.  Miraculously, he already had names on each present.  How does he do it?  The kiddos were beyond excited to see Santa.  I must say, although I may be a little prejudiced (and there is a huge hint in there), that this was the best Santa that I have personally ever seen!  He stuck around for a few group pictures with the kiddos.  They were so happy.  Then after Santa left, the kiddos got to do an ornament exchange.  A got a Coca Cola ornament with Santa on it.  She loved it.  There was also a bit of chocolate candy in the gift bag.  Cool!  We cleaned up just a bit and then decided it was time to do some caroling in K’s neighborhood.  A helped me give out the bell bracelets that some of us mommas had made and off we went.  The kiddos sang at probably five different houses.  They only sang Jingle Bells, but they did a great job with it and they would have sang it all night.  It really couldn’t have gone any better.  I was telling M about something one of the moms had said right after the Halloween carnival that we had.  She said that we probably wouldn’t be able to top it.  Both M and I felt that we topped it this evening and we couldn’t be happier about it.

M’s room is awesome!

Hello Santa!!!

This is a group of excited kiddos

A’s gift happened to be the first one out of the bag.  She was so happy!

It was an art set.  She treasures it more because Santa gave it to her.

I got with several of the other moms and put together a thank you/gift basket for M.  She was totally shocked and totally deserving of the goodies.  I got several thank you gifts as well and was touched by the thoughtfulness of some great friends.

A with her ornament…

Time for caroling…

Last night A had her Christmas program at school.  She was so excited.  They had been practicing quite a bit for it.  We invited M, B, and Z to come along and watch with us.  We were so glad they were able to come.  A looked absolutely stunning in her new dress, tights, and shoes.  She and I had such a good time going shopping for that new outfit.  She literally couldn’t wait to wear it.  She looked so grown up all dressed up.  I sat teary-eyed through some of the performance because I know how fleeting this time is.  We got lots of pictures though and I videoed the entire thing.  She sang beautifully and I can say that because we could actually hear her    She also did her sign language songs.  She was very into the whole performance.  She also kept saying hi to Z and waving at him.  It was beyond sweet.  And then there were the blown kisses and the I Love You’s for Mom and Dad, something to cherish for all time.  To say we were proud is really an understatement.  We had a cookie afterwards and then came home (at A’s request) to have a bite to eat and watch Wall-e.  Perfect evening with my family

A and Daddy before we left for the program.

The sweet wave as she was walking in.

Hi Z!

This is one of A’s favorite school friends.

A blown kiss.

Jingle Bells!!!!!

She’s doing the baby sign and singing about Baby Jesus.

A and one of her fans after her fabulous performance…

This is Ms. V – A’s Spanish teacher.

And this is our beloved Ms. A, the school’s director.  She made us promise to keep her up to date on A once she leaves the school for kindergarten.  A loves her and we’ll all miss her terribly.  We promise to keep in touch!