Christmas Week

Life is busy, especially the week of Christmas. I'm sure that everyone feels like time is passing faster then they can keep up. I sure do!!

A friend of mine lost her father last week from a massive heart attack. It's always difficult to lose loved ones, especially when it was not expected. As she shared a little with me earlier today, I thought about what we take for granted and how we need to cherish the time we have now. It's so easy to get caught up in the hubbub of kid's games, piano lessons, school, and every other activity out there.

I love my family. I'm thankful that I have a job in this difficult time when so many are struggling without one. How fortunate I am that we are healthy and have a nice home that is safe and warm. Thank you Lord, for the blessings that you have poured out on me and my family.

Family Jenga!

Our family has always been into games. Hubby and I try to set aside nights to play with the kids. Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, Sorry!, Jenga, Connect 4, Checkers...and the list goes on.

Bubby is concentrating while trying to set daddy up to fail!
Daddy's turn

Little Miss is the mouthy one...harassing everyone while talking about what a wonderful player she is.

I so didn't want to put this picture of myself...but here I am.

Little Miss says "Whoever loses has to give me some lovin'". I was the first to take it down and the second game Bubby lost. So she looks at him and says, "Give me some sugar!". And yes, he was grossed out at the thought of that!
My kids are silly!

I feel blessed!

What a relaxing day this has been! The whole family did nothing productive...and it was wonderful! How nice to not have to be anywhere, ignore the outside world, and just hang out together. All four of us laid down for naps (three of us took them...Little Miss has never been much on naps). Saturdays like this are, unfortunately, few and far between. I feel blessed!

Where did she go?

Earlier this evening the whole family went on a walk. Fall is here...we all had to go get our jackets on before we left the house and surprisingly, no one was wearing flip flops. I was watching my six year old daughter hop, skip and jump her way down the sidewalk...for a few moments I was utterly captivated by her complete innocence. Happiness radiated from her and it struck me that for now she is free of all the "stuff" that bogs the rest of us down. At that moment, she was consumed by the joy of being outside and the pleasure of having her mommy, daddy and bubby all together. The sound of her laughter touched my heart.

After our walk and after dinner I started feeling a bit reminiscent and started looking through old photos. This little dark eyed, curly headed girl is me. I imagine I was around two years old when this picture was taken but there is no way of knowing for sure. I look at this photo and I realize that at one time I had that complete innocence of a child as well--I was utterly happy and content.

It hit me. My Joy is going to go through the trials of life. She will get beat up and beat down at times, but hopefully, will come out fighting. But for now...for now...she's my little girl. I still get to protect, nourish, guide, discipline, and teach her to become a strong woman. A woman that will learn to dance in the rain and make lemonade when life gives her lemons.

The Hubby

So...
One 12 hour shift down, one to go! Too bad there's HIPAA and all that confidentiality stuff or I'd have some interesting stories about work today!

My hubby was at home all day with the kids. I called him on my way home just to visit and I ask the question, "What did you do today?". (There really was no expectation intended...I was asking what he and the kids did today). He starts telling me that he folded the rest of the towels, put them away. He also did one load of laundry, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. After that he cooked one pound of ground chuck and put it in the fridge. So, I'm thinking to myself "Wow! This is sweet!". When I walk in the house there are dirty dishes all over the kitchen counter. Two towels were laid in the middle of the living room floor where he let the kids have a "picnic" and watch I-Carley during dinner, and the towels were put away...but plenty of other stuff was all over the place. The other five pounds of hamburger still needed to be cooked.

I know that he did more today then a lot of men do and what I didn't write in the first paragraph is the rest of the day he played with the kids. He's a wonderful daddy in that he always makes times for our two little ones. It is not uncommon to see him playing Transformers, Star Wars, or with Legos. I've seen him play Barbies and I've watched him get his fingernails painted after having makeup put on his face.

I wrote in a previous post that he was out of town this last week. Jared and Joy were missing their daddy soooo much. Jared wrote a letter welcoming his daddy home. It's just too darn sweet and I have to share it! He is really a fantastic daddy...as this little note shows!












I also wanted to share something I do which has been so helpful when cooking and made things so much faster! I was talking about six pounds of ground meat earlier. I buy it in bulk, cut up an onion and then cook it all in a skillet. I buy quart size freezer bags as well as gallon size freezer bags. I divide the cooked meat in approximately one pound portions and put them in the quart size bags. I then place all of them in a gallon size bag and place them in the freezer. When I want to make spaghetti, chili, or any dish that takes cooked hamburger it's ready to go! Saves time and it's easy!