Rejected

Crash and Burn from Susan Bice on Vimeo.

My friend sent me this and it was titled "Crash and Burn." I took my time opening it because I thought it was one of those forwarded forwarded forwarded and forwarded things. What a treat when I saw what it was. It was like Christmas in a video.

I have to add this...M and I just watched this post together and when it came to the end, he hid his face in my arm and then took off running!

Moments

Christmas Eve and I just got the best present of all...and it didn't cost a penny. Let me set this up...My husband's family always opened their presents on Christmas Eve. My family only opened one present on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning. My husband's tradition won out...which as a woman is not a bad thing. I have on make up, my hair is brushed, and the kids don't wake up at 5 a.m. looking for their presents from Santa.

Tonight, we went to dinner and I met the family right after playing Santa. We had a long wait, the kids were tired and hungry and I believe you can fill in the blanks.

We went home and found Santa had arrived, presents were opened, joy was everywhere, the new kitty was introduced to the much beloved dog, Marley. (Marley's stuffing is about to fall out but is very loved. I will have to share the picture I took this morning of Marley sleeping) H fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. M is talking away and asked me if I knew what his favorite present was...I went down the list, drums? Shuttle plalyset? Leapster Star Wars game? No, no and no. I asked what his favorite present was...and here is my gift...his answer was "you."

Christmas Eve Eve

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. H is questioning the existence of Santa, not sure if he is real and very scared he is and she is on his naughty list. M is asking me if he is going to get coal in his stocking...he is very worried he will get coal like his dad did last year. I explained it was actually black licorice and that I put it in there...I think he would rather have the coal than the black licorice.

The presents are wrapped, the stocking stuffers purchased, the kids and me have rung bells for the Salvation Army, Roo helped me wrap presents for the area's Crisis Line and M helped work the Salvation Army Angel Tree Collection.

The kids sung some beautiful songs at church on Sunday. H sang a solo part and was right on pitch. The girl does like to perform...her sister was highly annoyed that H kept playing with her hair during the performance. Sadly, I think this is a genetic trait handed from girl to girl. Roo does it and I remember doing it.

Roo attended M's Christmas Party and the fire alarm went off and the Fire Department responded...I have a feeling M will always remember his Kindergarten Christmas Party. I think Roo will remember this as the day she failed to hand her phone number out to the cute firemen...Come to think of it, she may still be kicking herself for not giving her number to the cute AT&T guy at the mall the other night while we were wrapping presents...hmmm.

All in all, a nice time of the year for memories and remembering our Lord and Savior's birth.

The Spirit of Christmas

Last night I was blessed to volunteer at the Salvation Army's Angel Tree at our local mall. My 7 year old was at dance class and my 5 year old had to accompany me since big sister and dad were working. I told him to pack some toys so he wouldn't be bored (he ignored this and brought one very small library book on butterflies that I knew wasn't going to last five minutes into my 2 hour shift. I thought I could delay his boredom by stopping at Chick Fil A and getting him a milkshake. We arrived to the designated spot and entered chaos. Bags were overflowing the are where the volunteers were signing out angels and bikes were everywhere. Fortunately, for me, an experienced volunteer arrived and knew everything needed to be moved to the back of the vacant store so the bags could be easily loaded by the Salvation Army Pick Up Team/Truck. I started moving bags and bikes and my little guy asked if he could help. I told him sure, I was positive he would get bored after a few minutes but that little guy never stopped moving bags and bikes with me...I walked with the bags, he ran. Once we got the bags moved he would stand by the people dropping off more bags and bags and he would run them over to the pickup area. M learned all about the Spirit of Giving when he saw what people were donating for children, special needs, and Senior Centers. We saw people fill more than one bag and attach a bike with it...there wasn't a miserly bag to be found. One couple in their eighties adopted 32 angels and the trucks had to go pick up the gifts since they couldn't bring them to the mall collection center. The bags filled their small home. A teacher adopted 6 angels and we know teachers do not make a lot of money but this act of giving made them feel blessed. By the end of my 2 hour shift, I saw so much giving that I decided the world wasn't such a bad place after all. People aren't all bad like you would believe after one viewing of the evening news or one reading of the morning newspaper. There really are more good people than evil people, they just don't make the evening news....and M and myself saw more Christmas in one 2 hour shift than we probably will see for the rest of this Christmas Season. The Spirit of Giving is real, it just doesn't make the evening news too often.

So So Tired

My favorite holiday has come and gone...it is already December. I am soooo soooo tired. I am not doing a very good job getting ready for Christmas, I turned the decorating duties over to the kids, and most of the decorations went back into storage. A tree, some Santas, a mantel swag, a wreath and we're done. I wrapped some presents but still need to get ribbon to decorate them. I have the kids' Christmas presents done but not extended family. My dad would be so ashamed...he was was always finished by August.

My days are filled with chauffeur duties, appointments, and laundry...grocery shopping and cleaning the floors. I feel like I have run marathons for days...I just want to sleep. I wonder if it has anything to do with my being a few years short of half a century old and I have a 5 and a 7 year old? Or, if it is just life and dealing with the ups and downs that wear you out...the rollercoaster of life. I remember when I was in 8th grade and my dad took me to Magic Mountain...my girlfriend and I rode the Revolution Rollercoaster 13 times in a row...ah youth, ready to face any obstacle, ride any rollercoaster, climb any mountain...now, I would look for a quiet bench under a shade tree so I could take a really long nap. It is 8:19 pm and I am ready to go to Zzzzzzzz......zzzz....zzzzz