Tuesday, December 9, 2008

a dreary, soggy day...

Today has been a dreary, soggy day in our little part of the world. As I sit & type this, the rain has been pouring down for over an hour. The forecast is calling for temperatures to start steadily dropping into the evening, so tomorrow's commute to work & school ought to prove interesting.

I've been busy trying to get some things accomplished today. I helped my folk's prep their living room to make room for their Christmas tree & drug the big tub that contained it up from their basement. That felt great on my shoulder that I hurt yesterday morning when I was taking our dog outside. Our back steps were icy & treacherous.. but I held on tight to the hand-rail and was fine. It was once I placed my foot on the sloping driveway that I was up-ended! It happened really fast & all of a sudden I was on my right hip with my arm sorta twisted under me. ;) (no, Grace isn't my middle name!).

Anywho.. back to the holiday prep at my folks house! My ladybug "helped" me put the tree up for them. I already told my little brother than he "gets" to put the lights on it. Lights are not me favorite part of the decorating process anyway & with my arm/shoulder aching.. it would be very not fun. Hopefully we'll get the ornaments on it in the next few days, too. My older brother is coming to town for early Christmas festivities this coming Monday.. so we've got to get busy making my folk's house look Christmas-y! :)

I was also successful in getting my folk's Christmas letter all copied for them. I had typed it for them the other day & they had given me some pretty paper to run it on. Several months ago, I scored a xerox copier & cabinet for FREE from a friend of a friend, so I told them I would just run them this year. They usually get their letter all ready & then take their paper to a local printer to have them run them on the paper they purchased seperately... I told them that I would take care of it at our house this year--and hey! I'm only charging them a nominal fee! ;) Just kidding! They do so very much for us, it's the least that I could do for them.

Well.. I better close my post & get my fireflies & ladybug all ready to go to dinner for our youngest firefly's birthday this evening. He's been super excited about it all day long. :)

Monday, December 8, 2008

happy 5th birthday, firefly!

Today is my youngest firefly's 5th birthday! It truly is hard to believe that it has already been 5 years since we welcomed him into our little family.

My doctor induced me a week ahead of my due date because in the last week of my pregnancy I had gained 3lbs in water! We arrived at the hospital bright and early that Monday morning in 2003 & excitedly awaited his arrival. My doctor had estimated that our firefly would be about 7 1/2 pounds.. I thought to myself, ok.. that is do-able, a nice size.. not too big. (my oldest firefly came into the world at 6lbs 11oz). They started the iv with all the fun drugs & as soon as my doctor broke my water I was ready for that amazing epidural! ;) After my water was broken, it only took about an hour or two for me to know that it was time to deliver my baby. With all of my children I have been fortunate to only have to push for about 1/2 hour at the most to deliver them.

Then, at 1:45pm he made is debut into our lives! I remember thinking to myself when I first saw my son, he is beautiful & he's huge.. how did I deliver a baby that big!?! ;) It was only after they put him the scale & it read, "8lbs 14.1oz" & measured him at 21" tall, that I was even more amazed! I am only 5' 2" tall and although, I am heavier than I'd like to be.. I'm not that big. I still tease my doctor about his 7 1/2 pound prediction for my almost 9lb firefly! ;) (incidentally, he was better with his guess on our ladybug's weight).

I remember those first few days with our firefly like they were yesterday.. the smell of his tiny little head, the look & feel of his tiny hands & feet. And what an amazing boy he has grown to be.. at 5 years old he already has quite the sense of humor, is on the verge of reading on his own, can write letters & numbers like nobody's business... there are so many amazing things about him, I can't list them all in this post. He's a funny little guy who at times struggles to find his place in our family.. he's a "big" kid, but still isn't totally sure that he wants to relinquish the role of "baby" to his little sister. He is very thoughtful & gives me lots of hugs & kisses, too.

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Firefly! Mommy & Daddy are so very proud of you & we love you to the moon & back! :)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

happy weekend

Happy Weekend! ;)

Actually, it's been a roller coaster weekend for our corner of the world. We got a call from my husband's mother on Thursday afternoon saying that her Aunt(whom she had gotten herself appointed as "power of attorney" for about 2 1/2 years ago) was not doing well & not expected to live much longer than 24 hours.

So, Thursday evening we all went to see her for the last time at the nursing home.. she was unresponsive & didn't know that anyone had visited her. She passed away around 12:30am Friday morning.. just a few short hours after we had been there. Aunt Vera was 90 years old and was my husband's Great Aunt.. so, she was a Great-Great Aunt to my fireflies & ladybug. The kids were great & squeezed her hand, told her that they loved her, etc. My ladybug waved to her(Vera's eyes were closed, but it was precious to watch), said "bye-bye" and then she blew her a final kiss. It was as if our ladybug knew or could sense that Vera was getting ready to meet Jesus. How glorious it must have been to wake up in God's presence and not be sick or in pain anymore.

My mother-in-law has always had a knack for being over-dramatic, but she is understandably upset over Aunt Vera's passing. I've been trying to help her with phone calls, etc. over the past couple of days & my husband is going to be one of the pall bearers for the funeral that is going to be this coming Thursday. We all knew that this day would come & with each visit that we paid to Vera at the nursing home, it was more clear that she was slipping away from this life, so we are all at peace with her passing.

Our younger firefly's 5th birthday is Monday!! :) We celebrated with some good friends this evening after going to a children's play and having dinner at Pantera's pizza. I baked him a cake and decorated it with a dinosaur and "happy birthday". He really enjoyed it and our friends gave him a "totally cool" Star Wars action figure. ;) I also baked 3 dozen dinosaur shaped sugar cookies for his birthday. He is taking treats to his Sunday school class tomorrow morning & birthday treats for his preschool class on Monday. Tuesday evening we are all getting together as a family to celebrate his birthday with dinner out at Casa Guillardo--he has a free kid's meal postcard from the birthday club to use! :) Yummy.. I can't wait! ;)

Well, it's getting late & now that I look at the clock, it's actually already technically Sunday morning... so I better get my little self upstairs & tucked into bed! :) Good night & hopefully another post tomorrow(I mean.. later today!).

Thursday, December 4, 2008

happy thursday

Happy Thursday! First, I need to update you on Ladybug's eye.. just a scratch under her eye.. luckily she didn't end up with a big black eye or any other bruising from the encounter with the stocking holder! ;)

Despite all the weather forecasts to the contrary, we merely got a dusting of snow last night. Our yard looks a bit like a big frosted mini-wheat with the grass & leaves poking through the thin blanket of snow. It was pretty to watch it coming down last night & is certainly helping things feel more & more like Christmas.

Today will be busy(as usual).. ladybug & I have Play Pals this morning, then we'll get together with my folks & my youngest firefly for lunch and a few errands. I have some more Christmas gifts to pick up. I am hoping to be able to get another shirt or two for my husband.. the style that he wants was clearanced at one store location(great deal, but they didn't have his size!), so we're going to search for his size at another location today. Hopefully we'll be successful in our endeavor & I can get him a couple to replace the ones that are worn out. :)

Well.. the shower is beckoning me & my youngest firefly & ladybug are busy wathing Diego right now, so I better grab my opportunity for a few minutes of "mommy time" and run with it. ;)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

starting to look a lot like christmas..

Well, it's starting to look a lot like Christmas around our house. My two fireflies & my little ladybug "helped" put our tree up & get the lights on it afterschool yesterday. After wrestling with the lights and repeating "please move back so Mommy can put the pretty lights on" about 10 trillion times.. I was done in for the day. So, this evening we've been decorating the tree with ornaments, a process that is going fairly smoothly considering the ages of my helpers. ;)

Last night was Bunco for me(YEAH!!), so I made sure that my husband and kiddos had what they needed for their turkey burgers & I headed out to meet some of the Bunco girls & carpool to our friend's house that is about a 1/2 hour drive for most of us. As always, it was a refreshing evening of adult conversation.. although almost all of us have at least one kiddo & we end up talking about mommy stuff. It was especially neat last night because my friend Carrie brought her 2 month old daughter with her & my friend Melissa brought her 2 week old son with her. Oh, how precious they are... how quickly they all grow up, too! Kristi, our host, made the most wonderful sandwiches & potato soup for our dinner. Yummy! :) She is going to email all of us the soup recipe.. I can't wait!

Tonight was supposed to be a potluck at our PTO meeting at school.. I hope that it will be successful, but I just couldn't do it tonight. It's been a longish day, it's cold outside & well, I needed/wanted to just be at home & spend time doing Christmas stuff with my kiddos. I want to have lots of wonderful holiday memories with my kiddos.. and I don't want their only memories to be of us always rushing about. The fireflies & my ladybug all enjoy helping make and decorate cookies(& especially eating the cookies!). I look forward to doing things like that with them that I hope will become cherished childhood memories for them in the future.

Well.. the kiddos are beckoning to finish the tree decorations, so I better close this & make sure nothing gets inadvertantly broken. Currently, my younger firefly and my ladybug are totally fascinated with their stockings & are busy jabbering about them. Until... they managed to knock down one of the stocking holders & it cracked my poor little ladybug in the face! :( I am praying(as she holds "get better bear" fresh from the freezer, on her face) that she won't get a big black eye to go along with the scratch that the stocking holder made under her eye on it's way to the floor! There truly is never a dull moment in our household! ;)

P.S. I'll let you know how her little eye looks in the morning!

Monday, December 1, 2008

i'm still here...

Wow! I knew that I had been in a non-blogging slump for quite awhile.. I just realized that it's been almost 2 months since my last entry! Geez! I didn't realize that I'd been hiding out for that long.

I have been in a funk for a long time & just haven't really felt like posting anything. Health issues with my mother-in-law in October & just other "life" stuff have been holding me down on many levels and I haven't felt like posting anything that anyone would really want to read(not that more than say 3 or 4 people even look at this).

Now.. that Christmas season is upon us again. The fireflies & my ladybug are all getting very excited & can hardly wait to help me put the tree up & decorate it after they get home from school today. Traditionally, I put the tree & decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, but this year it's not happening until several days after. That is because the room that our tree goes in has been the playroom(otherwise known as "the pit of despair") and I have spent 3 days(working off & on) picking up 400 trillion Lego & bionicle pieces and chucking tons of broken &/or cheesy kid's meal toys. Yesterday afternoon I got it all done!! :) I also swept & swiffered the entire room in prep for putting up all the decorations & the tree this afternoon.

My Mom & I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving & got some great deals on stuff for most of the folks who are on our list this year. My youngest firefly's birthday is a week from today.. hard to believe he is already going to be 5 years old! Where does the time go?! I was able to get the radio controlled 4 wheeler toy that he wants for his birthday at 50% off, too! :)

I have lots to do to get ready for the big birthday & Christmas, so I better close my comeback post. My goal is to get back in the swing of things and write more on my blog in the days & weeks to come. :)