Happy New Year!

image:  http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

Fun Gift

2 of James' mascot friends are getting married this weekend, so we made them a fun gift. Sure, he did all the hard work, but I put the stickers on. So there!

And nope, not gonna fix the orientation...it's early and I haven't had coffee.

It's a Beautiful Day...

Can you hear Bono singing it??

I woke up this morning feeling like myself again.  Although I've totally done Kristi things already, like start 4 different projects and finish only 1, I'm going to take it easy this morning so I don't use up what energy I have before we have to go to Houston later.  (Grandparent Christmas #2 of 4...they're really spread out this year.)  Anyway...I'm so grateful to feel better!  Still have pressure in my ears but I can totally live with that.  Noble and I both have a little bit of a cough hanging on, but nothing like the past week or so.  Hooray!

While I have a list of things I need to do/want to do in my head, I know I need to back up and worry about one thing at a time.  The kids and I definitely need some fresh air--that's at the top of my list!  We have been couch-bound, literally, for a week.  I'm sooooooo tired of kids' TV.  I think they must be, too, as they've turned it off this morning and are playing train instead.  (Fun aside:  this morning they were watching "Sid the Science Kid" and he was thinking about bringing a TV into his room and watching TV all weekend...which of course got vetoed by his parents and then led to a discussion about exercise and healthy choices.  Nobley said, "you can't have TV in your WOOM!"  And Kayci said, "wow--how is he healthy if he wants to watch TV all weekend and eat junk food?"  So even though we've been making like couch potatoes, they kids still GET it.  Phew.  I feel better!)

So...tomorrow is the last day of 2010.  I'm feeling a little conflicted about 2010, but I'll write about that later.  I'm wondering if I'll make a New Year's Resolution this year or not.  I kind of already did through James' 12 Days of Christmas...so I may stick with that.  But it's the time of year when I want to clean up the house, clean out stuff we don't use, organize what's staying...I don't have much to do in the office (we've actually kept it up the whole YEAR...can you believe it??) but my cabinets can use some work.  And there are clothes I need to get rid of, once and for all, and the whole house needs a good cleaning once I put Christmas away.  Oh, I need to put Christmas away.  :)  Lots to do.  Not sure how much will get done in the next few days, but trying not to worry about that.  It'll get done, right?

Are you making a resolution for 2011?  Wanna share?

Inertia

So...I got whatever was going around. My main symptom? Inertia. I simply do not feel like moving. Sigh. I'm kind of just kidding about the symptoms--I went to the doctor and if you know me, it takes a lot to get me there for me. Cough, ears, throat; you name it, it's infected. So very bad when I'd rather be getting the house back under control and putting away Christmas. Sigh louder.

Tomorrow is another day...

Best Birthday Ever!!!

It's been a busy--but great!--few days around here. Mom came up Friday to watch the kids while we had an early birthday date. Now, after a long crazy week, we opted not to sit through the movie we'd planned to see (ehhh reviews) and decided to have a family dinner at our favorite "nicer" restaurant, instead. :). Not what we had planned, but it felt right on Friday. After dinner Grandma and Kayci kicked us out of the house for awhile, so Daddyboy and I enjoyed some Starbucks and time to just walk around and visit. :)

We returned home to fun birthday decorations (they'd obviously been cooking this up all week!) and fell asleep on the couch to "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." All in all, a great day, and exactly the evening I needed after a crazy week. Here's a peek at their hard work:






And the piece de resistance...



What a fun coincidence--it totally matches one of my gifts from Heather!




Saturday morning was awesome--we woke up at 4 (darn internal clocks!) and watched some TV and a movie before facing the busy day. Perfect! Then it was time for birthday donuts and presents...




OH, my!!! I'm still in shock!!! Turns out the whole time I was trying to win one, my Boy was waiting for this one to ship. How awesome is he?? (big thanks also to Mom & Haitham for contributing to this one!!). I don't have words, yet...so excited...so need some time to take it in. :). Oh, the possibilities!

I also have to mention Rachel and Heather, who each put together fun gifts of my favorite things. Thanks, girls--I was so touched by the time & effort you each put into making me smile!!

After breakfast, we were off to College Station for Katie's graduation. I don't have pictures on my phone, but you can see them on facebook. I am so proud of Katie--I couldn't love her more if I tried. She has turned into an amazing young woman, and I can't say enough about her. Her boyfriend is pretty awesome, too, but no pressure, guys. Much love to Katie (and Johnny!) as you start this new chapter. Can't wait to see what's next for you!

After graduation, we were off to Pflugerville for some baking and candy making! We had fun just hanging out with Ronny's family and Grandma. And Ronny made me the BEST red velvet birthday cake--that alone was worth the trip!!

Thanks to all of you who called and texted and emailed and sent messages on facebook and mailed cards...I definitely felt the love. And it was a fantastic birthday all around--I couldn't imagine a better weekend!

We're home today (until we head to Santa's Wonderland)...just sitting her watching thee kids play and being grateful--for them, for their wonderful Daddy, for my family, for you, friends, and for this blessed life I enjoy. I am so thankful!

Souper Math

So...I guesstimated that I had 200 servings of soup (100 of each type). My figuring? 100+ people, many of whom would get seconds. Or thirds. :)

So...100+ people ate. And got seconds.

And we had food out the wazoo...EVERYTHING was left over! It was a good thing, since we were able to provide full meals for about TEN needy families. That feels good! I'm baffled, though, at the math...we had almost 100 cups leftover.

Craziness. It was like the loaves and fishes, man...

Soup Kitchen

Today's the annual Staff Appreciation Luncheon at Kayci's school. I decided to do soup this year to simplify a bit...we'll see. Feeding 100+ people is nervewracking...I think I got it right this year, but we'll see. The cool thing is, we have so many awesome volunteers that ALL I have to do is the soup. :)

After hauling two full carts to the car at HEB...




...I went to WalMart to replace our automatic can opener. Today is not the day for the manual opener.

Soup's on!

Favorite Things

*I was going to post about how I'm feeling...lost, out of sorts, etc. due to a work issue.  But I'm not.  I'm tired of that--aren't you?  So, here we go...

Favorite Things

First, a disclaimer:  it's clip art.  I'm too lazy to get up and take a picture of the sweet sticks in the kitchen.  mmm...sweet sticks.

One of my favorite things about this season--cold weather in general--is peppermint.  I put peppermint in my coffee and hot chocolate...usually I drink a boat load of Candy Cane Lane tea (just not in a tea place this year).  I love, love peppermint.  This year we figured out that if we drop a Bob's Sweet Stick (sugar/peppermint sticks--yum!) into coffee or hot chocolate, it's AWESOME.

Last week we were supposed to load up the kids with pajamas and hot chocolate and go see Christmas lights, but Noble fell asleep before we could get out the door (never, ever happens).  So last night we ran through Starbucks on the way to get Kayci (fun for the whole family!), added our own Sweet Sticks (we'd just happened to restock at the WalMart...I don't always carry them with me, despite how this post sounds), and after gymnastics we drove around and looked at Christmas lights--another one of my favorite things.

On Pecan St., this amazing house had signs that said "tune to 88.1."  So we did--and their lights were timed with the music, like at Disney World!  It was so cool...if you're around, go check it out.  I can't imagine what goes into something like that, but it's impressive.  I'm tempted to go back and put a note in their mailbox thanking them for the show!  :)

There's some randomness, straight from me to you.  Hope your Tuesday's terrific!  (I won't mention that I'm not sure how mine's going to go, or even if I'm driving in today...sigh.  I WILL say that tomorrow is the big PTO luncheon--wish me luck!)

Dear Today,

You are NOT going to be one of THOSE days.

That is all.

--Me

sobering

I'll be 36 this week.

That means...for about 6 months now...I've been closer to 40 than 30.

Yowza.

When the &*$@ did I get OLD?

What I Love About Bitty...

This morning Kayci came in while I was brushing my teeth.

"Guess what! The icicles on the gingerbread house are hard as rocks!"

So I explained that's why we use royal icing...so she asked what makes it royal icing...so I told her I'd look it up.

This is a very normal thing around here. Kayci is so curious to know the WHY behind everything, and that challenges me to learn right along with her. I love that!

And those icicles? Kayci took over the gingerbread house decorating and worked and worked until she figured out how to drizzle and drip just so. I can't even do that!

*btw: royal icing is the traditional fruitcake icing (didn't know that!) which was the traditional wedding cake of royals (got me there, too). :)

Rearview

I started this post on Wednesday...but you can see it got a little out of hand.  When I woke up Wednesday morning, I read a friend's blog post wondering how I do what I do.  To that friend, I say:  not well.  :)  Case in point:  Wednesday.  I thought I had about 30 minutes of purchase order work before Noble and I headed in to work.  5 hours later--seriously--I hit the road solo.  That same sweet friend called and when she heard the stress in my voice, she dropped what she was doing and drove in (when you live out in the country and have to come back into town...it's kind of a big deal, so I appreciated it!) to get Noble so he wouldn't have to be in the car for 3 hours (or more, traffic!) for a 2 hour meeting.  How awesome is she?  That made my week...turning in the purchase orders, though, made my MONTH...that work project has been a thorn in my side for the past couple of weeks and has caused much anguish BUT I hope and pray it will pay off in the long run.  So, Wednesday was a stressful day.

Then there was yesterday--we stayed in town all day!  It was great...Noble and I hung out at home (after a fun trip to WalMart to put together a thank you gift for my friend who won't accept $$ or gifts for babysitting, but I knew she couldn't refuse a gift for her boys) and Alex came over for a while.  The boys and I practiced cutting snowflakes, and it turns out, I suck at it.  Alex is OCD like me (and his Mommy!) so it was stressing him out to be cutting on the living room floor and leaving piles of little paper shapes.  That alone was worth the price of admission, just to make a big mess with a kid who hates messes.  He loosened up and we had fun...but alas, crappy snowflakes.  I had visions of these great snowflake garlands we could make.  Sigh.

Today--well, I'm not sure about today yet.  I need to catch up on my reports...instead of, say, blogging, but other than that, I don't have to do anything but enjoy the day with Noble and get pretty for my Boy's work party tonight.  Not too pretty, don't worry.  It's a jeans year.  But my cardi does have a little sparkle, if that counts.  :)  The kids are excited to hang out with Madeline--they LOVE her.  I love having someone who loves my kids come over and hang with them...she's the only non-family, non-friend babysitter we've ever used.  She IS a friend who feels like family, but we met her through Noble's daycare and so that's what I mean.  You get it.

Oh!  And maybe there are a couple of "little" things I need to accomplish today...the annual Staff Appreciation Luncheon is next Wednesday, and I need to buy...um, everything for that.  And figure out when to make the soup, make the soup.  It'll all come together.  More importantly, tomorrow we'll take Reagan on her 13th birthday scavenger hunt, so I have some things to put together for that.  We'll go to Austin first thing tomorrow for that, then bring Reagan home with us.  It'll be fun!  If you're counting, Reagan turned 13 a month ago--this is just the first weekend both families could clear an overnight for the big birthday weekend.  It's a busy time of year!  :)

Hmm...I think that's it.  Did I mention that I feel SO MUCH BETTER after the stress of Wednesday?  I also realized yesterday that I will have 9 days off right before Christmas...really off, no online work, either.  Can you believe it??  What's even better is that my Boy is off, too--and no school for Bitty.  I can't wait!  Well, I can totally wait, because there's a lot of fun December between now and then and I'm not ready for the holidays to be over, yet.

Sigh--I suppose it's time to say goodbye for now and move on to work for a few minutes.  And I need to figure out what to wear today.  Stinkin' weather.  If I don't "see" you again this weekend (it could be crazy, but fun!), have a great one!

How Does She...

I have a new button on my blog--it's a link to the "how does she..." blog.  Alas, it's not an award...just a useless attempt to win that dang Silhouette machine.  :)

A friend wrote that she reads my blog on the ipad while she's getting ready in the morning--now I feel bad that I didn't write anything today!!  I have to say, doing the whole thankfulness series in November totally got me back in the habit of blogging every day, which I've enjoyed.  I really should NOT be doing this right now as I have work to do (why I'm home and not in district, yet) AND I'm entertaining my poor child with the TV instead of quality Mommy time.  Sigh--some days you just can't do ANY of it well, right?

I do have something to write about today, but it'll have to wait.  I'll answer that question:  how does she?  Chances are, the answer is NOT what you're expecting, sweet friend!

(And thanks, friend, for taking care of my girl today while I work!)

Ahh...

I stayed up a little later than usual last night--it was free Redbox day and I picked up a DVD I was not willing to pay $$ to see...and I had a lot of work stuff on my mind/plate so just wasn't ready for bed.  :)  SATC2 was okay...pleasant surprise!  Anyway,  my Boy let me sleep in this morning.  I woke up to kisses on the nose from the knuckleheads, which was just awesome.  You know when you wake up and you're not sure what day it is?  When I woke up I knew it was late (6:40--very late for me!) and for a few seconds, I thought it was Saturday.  I was like, ahhhh...then I remembered, it was definitely NOT Saturday.  But it's pretty close--I don't have to work in Houston today, so it feels like a holiday!

The kids and I went to the bakery for breakfast (Daddy had to go to work early, so we needed some motivation and distraction), then to Kayci's school to deliver some gifts, visit the book fair, and do a little work for PTO.  Then, after a quick stop to fill my empty gas tank (!) Noble and I got to come HOME.  I've been piddling with laundry and wrapping some gifts, and he's happily playing Cars.  (Wook, Mommy, happy--fwiends!!!)  I love that kid, and he LOVES days at home.  So maybe it's not a Saturday, and we do have a lot to do today, but for now, it feels pretty great to be here.

Hope you have an ahhhhhhmazing day!

I don't know where she gets it...

My first year of teaching was...interesting, in more ways than one.  In a parent meeting once, I brought up a student's potty mouth.  His Dad swung around and said, "I don't know where he gets that sh*% from!"  Um, yeah...

So, last night we were getting ready to wrap up our day by opening books (they each open a wrapped Christmas book every night).  I went into the kids' room for something and was just appalled...trash on the floor, Kayci's desk was a mess...so I called her back and made her clean up her desk before she could unwrap a book.  Not a huge deal, but it needed to be done.

I feel so small, now.  When I woke up this morning, I caught sight of MY desk.  Mind you, the laptop has been plugged in by the couch this whole week...my desk is covered with a couple of gifts that need wrapping, a cardigan that needs hanging, stuff to take to work today, receipts to shred...it's the worst I've seen it in months.

Hmm...I wonder where she gets it.  Guess I'll have to apologize for my hypocrisy this morning.  Sigh.

I blame Lynn...

...for calling & distracting me. When CPS comes to ask me why I a) was drinking a beer and b) spilled said beer while we were decorating the gingerbread house. (it was left over from dinner, okay?)




Oh, and CPS, pay no mind to the carnage. The kids are alright.



And my husband does NOT encourage it. Much.

Brassiere of Doom

It's Sunday morning, and we're hanging out at home (I know, I know, we should go to church since we're actually in town...).  We do have some things to accomplish today before a 1:00 birthday party, so I just took a shower to hopefully start everyone else moving in the direction of dressed and ready to go.  While I was in the shower, I kept hearing a commotion and lots of "to infinity, and beyond!" coming from the kids' room.  (Did I mention that Noble has 2 Buzz Lightyears and his favorite thing to play right now is "I'm Buzz Lightyear...no, I'M Buzz Lightyear!" with Daddy?)  When I got out of the shower, I heard them talking to each other (Buzz and Jessie, that is) about "losing your powers!  Get in there!"  I opened the door to find my 3 kids (the young ones and the Daddyboy one) playing in our curtains--they all looked up, surprised, to see me (hello...it was the shower, not a different city).  

As it turns out, they'd moved into our room to play.  And they were taking turns hiding each other under the...duh, duh, duh...brassiere of doom.  It's apparently a very magical place that strips heroes of their power.

image:  nootka.co.uk

Ahem.  I don't know now if I should wear it, or fear it.

Wots of Snow!

Last night was the annual Lighted Christmas Parade.  It was a lot of fun to ride on Germania's float (James got to ride with us this year!) and see the kids' reactions.  The parade theme was Polar Express, so they turned the float into a train car.  They mounted a "smoke stack" on the top of James' truck to make the engine and somebody also had the BRILLIANT idea to put a snow machine up there.  It was awesome!  When the snow would come down, Noble would stop waving long enough to grab my face and pull me close to say, "wots and WOTS of snow!!"  He was so cute, sitting and waving the whole time...he loved it.  Kayci had a blast, too...I think parades are old hat to her now, but she chose to ride in the parade instead of watch so she must like it at least a little.  :)

It was such a great night...if you're familiar with the Polar Express music, it's very...majestic, for lack of a better word.  To sit there among the lights and the "snow," watching the expressions on the kids' faces on the street when they saw the snow...it was just priceless.  Going to the bakery afterward with friends, seeing friends, enjoying hot chocolate and just visiting...awesome.  James took some great pictures, so I suspect there will be an ipharaon post later with pics.

Lighted parade:  reason #1,406,807 I love living in a small town.  :)

The Sweater

Since we were in the big city, we stopped by Old Navy to exchange a shirt and pick up MORE pants (she is growing so tall!!) for Kayci.  Noble fell asleep, so I stayed in the car with him while Daddy and Kayci ran in.

When we got home last night, I opened up the Old Navy bag and pulled out a pink sweater.  It was a...nice pink sweater, but still, a pink sweater.

image:  www.oldnavy.com

James was smiling from ear to ear, until I said, "whaaaat's this?"  Then he quit smiling..."you wanted a pink sweater!"  

Well, no, I didn't...I tried on an ORANGE sweater last week but then didn't buy the dress or shirt that I wanted the old sweater for since they didn't have the orange sweater, so really, I'm good on sweaters.  But it was a nice thought!  

12 Days

Tomorrow marks 12 days until Christmas vacation, so for each day we put together small gifts (happys, not really gifts) for Kayci's teachers. I'm excited that we were organized enough to do it this year--I'm glad fir my big work deadlines this week because they MADE us get going to get stuff done around here. Silver lining, right? :)

In true Kristi fashion, I forgot to take a picture if today's gift...and it was the best one. Dang it--I'll have to make one for us, I guess. And not that I'm bitter-much!-but a Silhouette would have made this sooooooo much more fun. I'm just sayin'.



--out & about :)