Christmas blessings!

We've had a great Christmas break so far, especially given the fact that we haven't had any extra money to do "Christmas" the way we used to do it. Careful budgeting has meant no Christmas presents, no tree, no special holiday treats, no time to rest . . . or at least that was what it was supposed to be. Instead, God blessed us anyway.

One of the Sunday School classes from our church gave us a Publix gift card to buy a pre-cooked holiday Christmas dinner. So we got some wonderful food and invited a family (whose father/husband is off in Iraq) to join us in eating in on Christmas Eve. It was a lovely time. It was also handy in that we scrubbed the house relatively clean because company was coming. Keith even cleaned off the tops of the kitchen cabinets which had been cluttery for literally YEARS! This made me very happy!

Then, Christmas morning, we opened up gifts. We had gifts from our a group in our own Sunday School class, gifts from an organization that works in conjunction with Keva's school, and gifts from Keri Lynn who makes enough money from babysitting to feed a third world country. On top of that, Kathleen and Kylie got some extra-special gifts from Erin's family -- I'll post pictures soon and you can see for yourselves.

One of the volunteers that delivered the gifts from Keva's school also came with nice "gently" used clothing for all of us, plus a whole box of meat that kept our grocery bill down considerably! We've seriously enjoyed pork chops, ground beef and chicken breasts. And turkey. We got a turkey from the church for Thanksgiving, a turkey breast from our Sunday School class group, and a turkey from the lady who brought us the other meat. This has made Keith obsessively happy!

I was heartily surprised by a gift from Keith -- a camera to replace the camera that was stolen this summer in California. I have taken a hundred pictures at least already and will post pictures on the blog and on Facebook ad naseum as soon as Keith gets the camera software going on the computer.

Late into Christmas Day, one of the men from our church came by with a gift card for Wal-Mart. Keith nearly immediately marched Kristofer on down to buy him a Sunday suit, belts, dress shoes, etc. Kristofer used to be the "orphan" child on Sundays, but now he's looking might fine! And Keith just doesn't understand why women actually enjoy shopping for clothes!

Oh, and I can't forget last Sunday when I was sitting in our Sunday School class. Someone sitting next to me says, "Here, have this gift card for Kroger. I had this deal where I could get $30 at a time onto the card for free, but I hate going to Kroger." I said, Great!" (thinking it was about $30). Well, then, she goes on to say, "I get a little compulsive about this kind of stuff -- there's $330 on it.) Gulp. All I could say was, "Wow! Thanks!"

So much to be thankful for. Not the least of which is that I am back on the job again in January when school starts up again. I got the subbing job extended at least through January. The steady pay through December was VERY helpful. It's going to be a bit of a stretch going through the nearly three weeks of Christmas break, but all of the above blessings have made it a lot easier!

Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings and for Your servants who bless in such incredible ways! We are humbled.

Straight No Chaser - Sitcom Medley

Have I watched too much TV over the course of my life? YES! That's why this is so fun to watch!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

Is it Monday?

I'm not sure which end is up these days. Is it Monday? I think it is because I went to work today. I've been working at a local middle school for the past few weeks and enjoying the steady hours very much. It's just nice to go to the same place every day and interact with the same people! This stint is done by Thursday when school lets out for Christmas break, and then hopefully I'll find something through the holidays. I haven't been looking very hard because of everything going on with the kids' schedules.

Just this weekend, I went to a jewelry party on Friday night, cleaned house Saturday day, then Keith and I went to our Sunday School Christmas party Saturday night, church Sunday morning followed by the high school choir fundraiser luncheon (in which I helped with cooking and cleaning), then the Christmas cantata Saturday night (involving Keri Lynn, Kristofer and Kathleen), then a choir covered dish dinner to finish off the weekend.

It's not surprising that I've now got a raging headache that just doesn't want to go away. I'm not getting enough sleep. But I'm going to take care of that right away! We've just finished dinner. I'm about to put Keva down. Keith has just left with the three cantata kids for their second and final performance tonight. The rest of us are going to bed! Whoo-hoo! I'm so excited! I'm just not a party girl, I guess!

Good night, everybody!

Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious!

onetimeblind - I'm Here

Move over Thanksgiving, it's Christmas time!

I am now employed, at least for the month of December, at the middle school where I worked for several weeks telling stories to Eli. Remember Eli and his froggy stories? I was so pleased to see him on Monday when I went in to work. I'll be working in that class until school lets out December 18. If I had gotten that job at Target, I wouldn't have been able to work steadily as a sub for the month. Fewer hours. Higher pay. And the joy of working with special kids. Not bad!

Today, I'm supposed to be at work as well, but Kylie got me up late last night complaining of a bad ear ache. She had been bopped in the head by a boy who had run into her during PE, and I think it must have exacerbated her ear infection. Her doctor told her that he hated to tell her this, but it wasn't the boy who had caused the ear infection, but that she should stay away from boys anyway.

Then, we went through McDonald's drive-thru and got ourselves a "we're sick" lunch, and then made our way over to go vote in the Chambliss/Martin run-off. Hopefully, by the end of the evening, we'll have one more Republican back in the senate.

One of the really great things about not having a TV is that we've missed a ton of political ads. We get them on the radio, still, but I sure don't miss them on the TV! If people don't know who to vote for by now, then my opinion is that they should STAY HOME! Argh!

Keith put the lights up on our house this weekend. Actually, most of them were already up from last year, but he added a few that were still down in the basement and put them around the garage and then put additional lights inside in the windows. Christmas lights are so cheery! We don't have any of our Christmas decorations up yet. That is still waiting for a quick all-out group effort to clean up the house a bit more. No one wants dust and Kody hair around when putting up Christmas decorations, or at least I don't want dust and Kody hair around!

Yesterday, going back to work/school after a full week Thanksgiving holiday was HARD! The alarm did indeed come very early. But I figured I'd just work through the day, trudge back home, get groceries (that I had put off over the weekend), pick up some Little Cesar's pizzas for dinner, and then crawl into bed.

But, nooooooo-ooooooooo . . . .

I did trudge back home, as planned, and even sat in the van working on the grocery list, when one of the kids spotted me and came running over, "Mom, Mom, Konner has his Christmas play tonight! Can Dominik come?"

"What?"

"The Christmas play, it's TONIGHT!" This from Kade who is all about the drama of everything.

"But I thought it was in a few weeks!"

Sure enough, I was wrong. I had missed the date of the Christmas play all together. Fortunately, I had already put aside Konner's black pants and blue shirt that he needed to be a toy soldier. (Kade was a toy soldier last year, too, in his First Grade Christmas Play.) I ironed his clothes, fussed about trying to decide if I had enough time to cut his hair (because he looks like an orphan), and then finally decided that watering down his hair would have to suffice. I talked to Dominik's mother and before we knew it, we were off. Keri Lynn, Kristofer, and Keva all stayed home, not wanting to go run off to see Konner in a play that Kade was in just last year! Keith was not going to be home in time either! Oh, the sorrows of being the baby of a family of seven! Konner didn't seem to mind, though, because he had a group to join him in his stage adventures.

We did end up picking up Little Cesar's pizza on the way to the program. Three of them. I figured there'd be plenty for lunches for tomorrow that way. Boy, was I wrong. Somehow, between me and five kids, 2 1/2 pizzas were consumed. And I only ate two pieces!

We got there, bellies temporarily assuaged, and found seats and sat through another First Grade production. Do I sound a little jaded? It's because I am! I had contemplated bringing a crochet project, but then I thought it might look a little tacky crocheting while other parents avidly videotaped their kids on stage. I did bring my camera, of course, but more to blog about it than to capture the memories!

Konner did fine, though. His toy soldier hat kept falling into his face and he really needed a belt for his black pants -- a fact that I didn't know until he was up on stage. He sang and he blew his trumpet at the appropriate song, and all went well. Whew!

Then, we went home. I offered the last few measly pieces of pizza to Kristofer and Keri Lynn, and then went to bed! Today, I get to catch up on some business since I'm home with Kylie. Kylie does indeed have an ear infection and is ready for her round of antibiotics that I'll get when I go get groceries later on this afternoon. Or at least that's the plan. : )