...an unusual & crazy christmas.....

This year Christmas was a lot different and a lot crazier than it's been in the past. For one, I've never had six kids to worry about on Christmas morning. That in itself is a feat everyone should try at least once. Just kidding. That is not recommended for those faint of heart. :)

Christmas eve was spent eating homemade deer chili. I even made frito pie for Cordarius to try and he loved it!!! Of course before he tried it I heard alot of "ewww, I don't like that"... but when Becca made her some, he just had to try it. Same thing with carrots the other night in the roast.

Anyways, then we had alot of begging to please let me open at least one gift. And I remained strong in my response of NO, they must all be opened on christmas morning. The children weren't too happy with my response on this.

We made cookies for Santa even though I think we sampled the majority of those cookies. We left the tree lit and sent the children off to bed because we all know Santa doesn't come until all good little kids are asleep.

So with the children off to bed, Santa had to tackle the task of getting all the gifts around the tree. Now for those of you who have been in my house, my living room is very cramped. Not much room at all. And just imagine, there was an equal amount of gifts for each child, gifts for myself, gifts for the hubby, and gifts for the children's mother. There were ALOT!!! More than I've seen in a while for just one family. But between Santa and HER helper, Elf Becca, all the presents AND the stockings made it under the tree or nearby at least. Then Santa was off to sleep to pray that the children waited until the sun came up before they decided to get up.

Well, luckily they did wait til the sun came up. Cordarius was the first one up besides Addison. We made it to the living room and the expression on his face said it all. "Wow! Santa sure did bring alot of stuff last night... is that one mine??" were the first words out of his mouth. We sat on the couch together and fed little Addison waiting to see who the next one up would be. Amazingly, they all stayed asleep. Cordarius was getting antsy so I told him to go next door and tell his momma to come open presents. He goes out on the porch and screams at the top of his lungs, "momma, santa claus came..." I think this woke up the rest of the house because one by one they started piling out of their respective beds.

I had planned to open gifts in an orderly fashion. Okay, so no one warned me that this is near impossible to do. We made it through the first few gifts okay and then Emily became amused with one of her gifts and refused to open any more. So we had to go around her. There was paper everywhere, people trying to hold onto their own gifts, some of us trying to open gifts for Addison, trying to see what everyone got. It was a complete and utter mad house!!! And of course the smaller kids wanted every single toy they received out of the box right then. Not happening. Do you know how much of that stuff made noise???? Way too early in the morning for Momma Bear! So we picked a couple and let them go with that. And wouldn't you know it, somewhere in all that mess was Batman hiding out.
He visited with us for a while until he tired out. And there were trucks to play with, dolls that cried, Blake and his XBox (he holed up in his room for 2 days afterwards), Becca and her cell phone with unlimited text (not sure if she's quit texting yet), clothes, candy, coloring books, you name it, we probably had it there. After the children were through opening their gifts and satisfied it was time for me to see what kind of goodies I had. I received a beautiful vase/candle holder from the hubby, some what nots, and some bath stuff. Not too shabby.



After all the gift giving was over, it was time to tackle dinner. The hubby's baby sister, her fiance, and their three kids came over to eat with us. We had the usual turkey, ham, dressing, and all the side items. It was delicious but after all that cooking my appetite just wasn't there. Oh well, lots of leftovers. It was a nice dinner but with 9 kids there at the time I think my house was wanting a rest.
So all company left and the rest of us laid down for a well deserved nap.

All in all, it was a good christmas. Very hectic and crazy. But I was with family and that's what matters most. To wake up and be able to spend such a blessed day with my beautiful children and this year we had the best gift of all....

Ms. Addison


And now we bid adieu to 2008 and look forward to the year to come and the many blessings it will bring. So long!

the crazy cat

So, several months ago on my way home, I "found" a cat. In short, I brought the cat home and in order to keep my hubby from complaining, I told him I found the cat on the side of the road.


My husband is not a big fan of cats but for some reason he has become attached to Princess Lily (thanks to my sister for the great name). As have both of my kids. She was welcomed into the family by all, even though it took Charlie (the pekingnese) several days to warm up to her. After all, she was treading on his territory.


She quickly made herself at home and chose to sleep in Becca's room. Well, not to long ago, she gets into horse wormer. If you've never seen a cat on horse wormer then consider yourself lucky. It's like crack to a cat or weed or something. Her pupils became very dilated and she just laid around. The next day I called the vet and he said it should wear off. Well, it took like a week or so to finally wear off. I still think she has flashbacks kinda like people do with LSD. And now she is back to her normal annoying self except she is starting to get fatter. Maybe that was the weed like effect that gave her the munchies.

...the stupid things we do....

So, last night I get the wonderful idea to give myself a pedicure... ha ha ha. I should've thought long and hard about that one because now the big toe on my left foot is in pain. I cut the toenail back wayyyyyy to far. This is one of the times I wish I could kick my own butt.

missing christmas cheer

It's Christmas Eve and I know I should be spreading joy and cheer and good spirits but there's a part of me that's lost. I miss my family!!! I don't do well not being with them for the holidays!!! And this year it's just us and all the kids and their momma... we are staying home and no one is coming over.

I want so badly to see my sister!!! I knew that the older we got and when we had our own families it would be harder to be together on the holidays. But my sister has always been there for me and I've always been there for her. Her and I are it!! And not being with her is killing me! I want her to share in the joy of Addison's first christmas. To see Blake's face light up when he gets his Xbox. To deal with Becca since they act so much alike... lol. I miss her!



Then there's Alexis and Shawn. I've missed out on too many Christmases and other holidays. These are MY niece and nephew and I should've been there more for them to grow up. They know that I love them but I'm scared that they think I might not care enough. And it's not that. Trust me, if I could convince my hubby to move to Houston, I'd be there in a second. Imagine being able to have cookouts with my family and my sisters. That's how it should be. Anyways, I tend to get sidetracked. I know that my niece and nephew are going to have a great Christmas and I hope they remember how much their Lala loves them!!!!



And to the Tingles in Texas... I miss ya'll too. Especially my Balie Boo. As spoiled rotten as she is, and I had no hand in that!!! ;) I hope they have a wonderful Christmas and hope to see them soon!



And to each of you a very Merry Christmas! May God watch over you and yours and may you all have a Wonderful New Year! Be safe!

....'tis the season....

okay, so I know that I should be working instead of sitting here reminiscing of Christmases gone by... but it's freezing outside and motivation is hard to come by...

I have years of Christmas memories inbedded in my brain... some good, some not so... I remember the real trees that we used to have when I was younger. I used to think, oh wow, such a pretty tree. Now I would think they were a monstrosity. But Mom tried hard to make them the best she could. She would load it down with lights, garland and of course, silver icicle strands. Those things take forever to clean up.

I remember laying on the floor with my sister just to watch Frosty or Rudolph and Charlie Brown. Then off to bed we would go and I'd be forced to sing Away in the Manger just so she'd shut up.

I remember the anticipation of Christmas morning and wanting so bad to know what was under the tree. I don't ever remember being disappointed. Whether it be a small stuffed animal or the blue bikes with banana seats we got one year.

Then you grow up, now my memories of Christmas are filled with the joy on my children's face as they receive the gift they wanted so bad and the laughter of everyone being together. the memories of my own Christmas tree and helping decorate. Memories of my babies at momma's helping her decorate her house and tree.

I thought that those memories would soon be fading and then the Lord brought us Addison so as my own baby girl grows up and new beginning starts with our new angel baby.

I hope that each of you has as many wonderful Christmas memories as I do and here's looking forward to another 35 years full of more!

My wishes go out to each of you for a Blessed Christmas.

And to my brother, I still love you and even though you can't be with us this Christmas, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Feliz Navidad!

QC Christmas Party!!

So today we had our annual QC Christmas Party and fried fish... I know not your typical Christmas dinner but still, I work with a bunch of outdoorsy guys. And heck, it keeps me from having to make anything. It turned out really well. We did our gift exchange... I got a gift certificate to Chili's!! My favorite place to eat. Now just finding time to go. Maybe I'll take my hubby to eat tomorrow night if we can talk Becca into keeping the kids for a couple of hours.


I also got some candles, some Warm Vanilla Sugar bath and body works that smells soooo good, and a Keith Urban greatest hits cd!!! My favorite gift by far!! Was never a big fan of his until I saw him in concert! He is such a talented performer and rocked the show!!


Hoping all this will help me to find a bit of Christmas spirit. Need to finish decorating the tree and then put all the kids in front of it and get at least one picture. Keep your fingers crossed that I can pull it off!!!

Well, outta here til next week! Have a safe weekend!!!

Mi Vida Loca

Let's see... what's been going on since the last two months??? I am the proud mother of a new baby girl that was born on October 15th... no, for those of you wondering, I did not give birth. I, however, am adopting this precious angel. Ms. Addy. She has been a welcome addition to our family.

A month later, due to unforeseen emergency circumstances, I also took in my husband's two nephews (age 5 and 3) and his niece (age 2). So now I have six, count them, six children in my house. So you can imagine my life has been turned upside down. I took off the first week to get everyone settled in. I also cried alot during that week. This is only supposed to be a temporary situation and I will keep you all updated on this. Boy, was I ever glad to get back to work. With everyone in school and daycare and me back to work things seemed to be settling down.

Then Addison gets sick. We go to the dr for a visit and end up being admitted to the hospital with bronchitis, RSV, vomiting, diarrhea, high fever and a UTI. After four days we were finally allowed to go home. She is doing much better now and will have to have some tests run but we are praying that everything is okay.

Christmas has snuck up on us way too fast with everything else going on. I finally put a tree up, the little one because I just don't have time to fool with the big one. Got the lights on and that's where the story ends... lol... still no decorations. I suppose we will try to do that this weekend. Who knows.

Anyways, not much more going on than that.. .but hey, isn't that enough for anyone. Just taking each day as it comes and doing more praying than I've ever done in my life. It seems to help. And all this and no medication.... yea me!!!

Until next time.......