Christmas 2009

Pictures to come later!!! I received a new Canon Powershot for my xmas gift (picked out and ordered off amazon by yours truely). I love it so far, but have to figure out downloading. I have lots of xmas shots to post.

Recap:
Dec 23: Stepdaughter arrives from Texas and stepson from Iowa. First time in so long that we have all been together with all the kids for the holidays. And first time they have been here for xmas. They settle into the basment.

Dec 24: xmas eve at my side, my parents house. Not too big of a group: my family, my brother and neice, my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my one cousin. I don't see my cousin often so that was a nice surprise that she was there. We watched the kids open presents and had prime rib, wine, and lots of desserts. Drove home in the snow and got the cookies out for santa. Jenna wrote him a note. Kids in bed before 11 so that was good in my opinion. They were very excited!

Dec 25: xmas day, snowed in! The kids didn't wake up until 7:30 and 8:00 so that was later than I expected. They took turns unwrapping presents and we played all day in our PJ's. My parents came over and we had chili for a late lunch. Very relaxing day. No stress, no travel, no worry. Brian spent much of the day shoveling and snowblowing. It was a winter wonderland!

Dec 27: stepkids went home :( Quiet in the house. Played in the snow with the kids, built a fort, sled down the hill in the back. Another day at home. Getting stir crazy.

Dec 28: taking down xmas stuff. Trees still up though. Will tackle that later. Went out shopping a bit. Got a few xmas items for next year. Feel some relief it is over but also sad it is over. You know how that is. The kids have lots of fun new stuff to play with. I have to work Thur, fri, and Sat. Bummer but so nice to have this long break.

Merry Christmas. Another great one for us, lots of fun memories!

2009 Annual Christmas Photo

~Work~

Work is one of those things. Most have to do it. Not all enjoy it. I was a stay at home mom for 6 years. It is hard for me to work now. I admit it. I would rather be home. I went to school to start a new career and I have to say I still don't love going to work. I don't hate it. Some days are good, some days not so good. I don't get excited to go. I wish I were one of those people who had a passion for their work. I maybe still have to find that passion in life and make a living at it. I don't know. I just know I'm not there. I like helping people. I like being there for someone in need. I just don't feel that I am where I'm supposed to be, if that makes any sense. I work this weekend, all weekend. Working gets health insurance for my family. That part helps. Knowing I am doing that for my family. But being away from them 9 hours a day all weekend is hard. Very hard.

So Full

Do you ever feel so full of love for your kids that you just don't know how to describe it? That you want to kiss them and hug them and hold them all day and tell them how important they are, how special they each are, how you love them more than they will ever know? I feel that way today and can't even put it to words. That they are my life, what is the most important things to me and always will be. That even when I get mad that I love them more than life itself. That if they ever hurt they will have a soft place with me? I feel like the years are passing so quickly, that they are growing so fast. I know all mothers feel this way. It is an amazing thing, this thing we call life. I love these 2 like I never thought possible.

Funny kids

Bret and Jenna get an allowance and can it can increase or decrease depending on what they do, their attitude, how helpful and nice they are etc. They get a blue chip for "good" stuff which = $1 and a red chip for "not so good stuff" which is minus $1. So, anyway, they both got a blue chip for doing their homework today, and Jenna got an extra for being helpful to Bret when he asked for something. Bret then says "I should get a blue chip for all the suffering I have at school." He then proceeded to say "well, it is fun sometimes but a lot of work."

Jenna has been taking a long time to walk the few blocks home from school lately. I asked her yesterday why she has been taking such a long time and she said "well mom, I have to stop and eat a lot of snow."

My kids, they make me smile every day!!!

Early AM

The kids are still nestled snug in the beds, and they will soon be out in the frigid MN cold going to school. The snow is here to stay. I shoveled the driveway as best as I could on my own yesterday. My husband is gone for work so I'm on my own until Friday. The kitchen is a mess, the house needs picked up, I have to workout, I'm tired, but I'm happy to just be alive and healthy today. That is all that matters. Family, health, waking up to the bright beautiful snow today. Very blessed!

The 12 Days of Christmas

Actually, 11 days left and counting. The kids wake up every morning and open their advent calendar door for the day, eating their little chocolate first thing, even before breakfast! The are so excited for Christmas. I am sad that one day it won't hold this same magic for them, but right now it is so fun to see their excitement. I have most of my cards sent, most of my presents wrapped, tree up and decorated since after thanksgiving, lights up, and we are all set. I am so excited that I have xmas off this year, and after working this weekend I will have until new years eve off from work. I am determined to NOT stress this year, to enjoy my family, to "go with the flow" without any expectations. To just be in the moment. I want to treasure these moments with my children. Create memories for them to hold onto.

Tonight after brushing teeth, I told them "meet me by the Christmas tree" and we sat under the tree and read "The 12 Days of Christmas". We have the super cool pop up book and the kids love it. Each year we try to read a lot of Christmas books in the days leading up to the big day. We were all singing the song and having fun. My husband is out of town for work, so it is just the kids and I this week. It is hard for me when he is gone, because I get overtired from not sleeping well and having to do all the house and kids stuff. My goal is to get through the week without getting too crabby and just trying to have fun with the kids in the evenings. I think we succeeded tonight.

Do not cave into the pressure!!!

The new, hot toy this year is the Zhu Zhu pet hamster. A pretty silly toy from the looks of it, but could be something fun for the right kid. My daughter, age 7, loves animals. She has a few of those Fur Real pets and really likes those. Her number one request from Santa this year was a big realistic robotic cat named LuLu (Fur Real). I found it on sale, and Santa will be bringing her LuLu, much to my dismay. This cat kind of creeps me out. Anyway, these new hot Zhu Zhu's look right up her alley, and for $8.99 I decided to try to find out. I have not mentioned them much to her because I know they are really hard to find in the stores. Anyway, every so often I'll check online or at the store to see if I can get lucky. No such luck. I want to tell everyone who is buying these silly toys for $40, $50, or more, to STOP!!!! This is the reason that no one else can get these toys for their kids. The ebay'ers and craigslisters are stalking the stores, stalking the online sites, and buying them all out before anyone else can get them. They are then marking up the prices by 400% or more and trying to sell them (and succeeding) to all the stupid people willing to pay this much for a TOY. HAMSTER. A tiny, not even so cute, robotic hamster. People GET REAL!!! This is a toy!!! Not even a really amazing one at that. STOP paying $50 for these things, then we could all get them. Does it not make sense? If everyone stops buying them for these ridiculous prices, then there would be no need for the childless 60 yr old male to buy 100 of them off the shelf and try to mark them up to make a fast buck. It frustrates me to no end. Get a grip people.

Hello Stranger!

I found my blog again. I really want to document out lives, and I've been so bad about blogging. I am not sure if a paper journal would work better, or if I should try this again. I'll see what I can do! Things are back in full swing in our home with the kids in school, sports, piano, etc. Bret is in 4th grade, he is getting so big and grown up. He is so independent. He is at the point where it is no longer cool to have your mom walk to you into school or anything. He did ask me to come to lunch last week so there is still that. I love to see them grow, but sometimes it really is hard!!! Jenna is in 2nd grade and still is ok being seen with me. She loves school, they both do really. Jenna really likes it, Bret doesn't like the homework but still is all ready to go each morning. Bret will actually leave the house 15 min before he has to so he can socialize at the corner. He speeds off on his scooter every morning. Soon enough it will be too cold and snowy so I guess they should enjoy walking while they can. Jenna likes to dilly dally in the mornings but she gets there just in time. Here is our week:
Mondays: Church school, football practice
Tues: gymnastics, football game
Wed: piano lessons for both kids
Thur: football practice or game
Fri-Sun off for now but once wrestling starts that all changes.
I now work 3 days per week.
What my kids are into:
Bret: football and baseball cards, playing with friends (laser tag outside, kickball, football, riding bikes), video games (DS and Wii), Gormiti action figures, collects erasers this year!!!
Jenna: American Girl dolls (got her first one this past b-day, Chrissa), loves stuffed animals, playing house and restaurant with her friends, drawing, coloring, playing office
Ok, that is a start at an update. Hope to have more to come!!!!!!

Should I stay or should I go?

Well, hi there! I am debating whether to continue my blog. For many reasons, I am unable to post regularly. I don't have much to say, I'm busy, I am on facebook, I just don't feel inspired. Not sure what it is. I started out trying to do this as a record of my life and my kids. If I could keep doing that, or start doing that I should say, I'd love to keep it open. I want to write down the things I know I'll eventually forget. I love the "idea" of blogging. However, loving and doing are different right? So, for now I'm just keeping it open and trying to be more on top of writing. If I fail, I may have to stop. I am on facebook and keep up with that, but that isn't really a record of my life. It is just little snippits here and there. Anyway.... on to the big updates:

Jenna:
Jenna is 6 1/2 and full of energy. Jenna is an all or nothing kind of kid. She is very enthusiatic and knows what she wants. She started piano lessons and had her first recital last week. So cute! She had only had about 3 lessons so it was great she got up there by herself and played. She played a cute little song called "beep, beep". She wore a fancy dress and we got her a "good luck" balloon and some roses for luck. I played as a kid and it was so fun to see my daughter up there playing. I want to get Bret started in piano once wrestling slows down. Since we have a piano I want both kids to at least try it.
Jenna loves first grade. She is very social and has many best friends. She enjoys reading and attempts to read chapter books. She wants so much to do things that bigger kids do. I'm in no hurry for her to grow up!! She loves to sing and dance. She loves to draw and write. She likes to play restaurant and with her baby dolls. She has so many baby dolls, her favorites being her "Baby Alive" ones. She uses the money she saves up to buy dolls usually. She tries to keep her room clean, and to her, that means little piles of things all over. She has her own way of setting up her spaces and she loves her stuff. She says that her favorite place is her room.
Jenna loves her brother but they fight a lot lately. She wants to play with him but they tend to argue and both have strong personalities. I really want them to get along and we are working on it!!! When they do play nice, Jenna will come to me and say "Bret is playing with me nicely!" and she is overjoyed. She really does look up to him.

Bret:
Bret turned 9 a few weeks ago. 9!! So old and I can't believe it!!! He had his party just how he planned it. Here at the house with his 5 close friends, playing laser tag in the basement and wii. He had it all planned in his head and stuck to what he wanted despite us trying to urge him to have it elsewhere (You know how parties at the house are such a mess!) They rotated playing laser tag and Wii and all the kids really seemed to love it. I find that 9 year old boys are really pretty well behaved. They listen (for the most part) and didn't destroy anything. We had Bret's favorite dessert, chocolate chip cookies with ice cream on top. I set up a sundae bar and had lots of fun toppings and they all made their own sundae. We also had cupcakes but the boys all wanted just ice cream. Bret admitted that when people sing to him "it is hard not to smile". So cute! He also brought donuts to school, this is kind of a tradition for him also. It is one of his favorite treats and he requests them each year for his b-day treat at snack time. He loves video games and we have had to really limit his time. Now, they are for weekends only. He seems to lose focus on school work if he gets to play during the week. He is doing well in school, but always was thinking of when he could play his games. So, this has worked better. He also likes to build and play bionicles and just spent his birthday money on amazon for some new ones. He asks me daily if they shippped and is patiently awaiting their arrival.
He is getting towards the end of wrestling season and we have the big state tournament March 13-15. We go to a hotel and have fun with the other families. The boys have such a good time hanging out. Bret loves to play with friends and hang out with other kids. He is my strong willed child and once he gets an idea in his head it sticks. He tends to try to boss the rest of us around, and will probably be a leader of something someday. He says he is going to develop video games as an adult. He also really enjoys working with special ed kids at school. A least 4 teachers have approached me about how good he is with these kids and how patient. It makes me so proud. I know some kids are scared or nervous around other kids that are "different" than them, but Bret helps them and loves to get to know them.

Me:
Working 3-4 days per week, it is going pretty well. Some days better than others. It is a long learning process. I'm grateful to have a job as nurses are not having an easy time lately. There have been layoffs around here and no jobs really out there. There are lots of hiring freezes. I never thought nursing would be like this!!! I am exercising 3-4 times per week at the YMCA. I joined a few weeks ago and love it. I have not changed my eating like I should so that is the next part!! I also spend time reading, cleaning/fixing up the house, volunteering at the kids school, and driving the kids around. I am going on a girls night tomorrow at the MOA. Can't wait. It's been quite the week with my husband out of town for work, big snowstorm yesterday, and just lots to do!!!!

That is life right now!!!!