The Obligatory Christmas Post

Christmas was....meh. Isaac woke us up early, standing next to our bed and breathing heavy with excitement. "Mom. Dad. I'm awake." "Dude, ok....now go to your room." (The 'dude' is there because that's how I talk when I get woken up at oh-my-god-o'clock and I'm scared into conciousness.) "But...I'm awake." "Yeah...I can see that. Now go to your room. I'll be up in a minute."

15 minutes later I woke up again and stumbled into the bathroom. I could hear Ike and Lylli in their room whispering and then I hear Lylli say: "What...is that snow?" Then, I kid you not, I can hear both of them shooting out of their beds and Isaac's feet hitting the floor as he runs...then a thud when he hits the window. He HIT THE WINDOW! Then crazy yells "It SNOWED!!!" Yes, there were three exclamations marks...really.

This is the first year since I was a kid that we've had a white Christmas (I just typed Christ 3 times to capitalize the 'c'....see how much I love you people?) and I'm really glad that the kids will have at least one to remember. Of course, for the rest of the day I had to hear Lylli ask me if she could play in the snow. All. Freakin'. Day.

The roads weren't as bad as I thought they'd be, but since we had to drive on a couple 'back roads' to get to the fam's house we thought maybe we wouldn't make it to both get-togethers. We got to our honorary family's house and had 'breakfast for lunch'...OMG I was so stuffed on bacon, buscuits, gravy, sausage, and pancakes (made with 7up)...and decided that maybe we should try to make it out to see my bro and SIL. So, we loaded up and headed out...and almost went off the road on a patch of ice not even a half-mile from the previous house. UGH.
Anyway, we made it there safely, stayed for an hour and watched our daughter open a never-ending backpack filled with princess-themed goodness.
On the way back we DID go off the road. Sean is an expert at ice patches and handled it well...until I noticed the little tree we were heading for and I started chanting "No tree. No, no tree." Like it was about to pee on the carpet...sheesh. Sean swerved in time and we stopped safely in some stranger's front yard. Awesome.

All in all? Great Christmas...I just wish we hadn't spent so much time in the van. We decided on the way home that from now on we are limiting it to only one family get-together a day. We missed the best of both houses and it kinda sucked.

I shall leave you with photos of my kids geekin' out over their presents.




Ok, so you see how big the box is...now look at the GUN!!! Its huge, almost as tall as Lylli. It's actually 2 guns in one, which is great for when their dad and I have war with each other after the kids go to bed...Ahem.



This next one: Lylli was loading it and Sean told her to make sure nothing was in there. Something about him wanting to get a pic of her making a goofy face so he could title it "Girls Just Don't Understand"....he is such a sexist pig, lol. We do too understand. BTW, Sean...I totally pwned you earlier when we were shooting targets. I got more than you did....so NEENER!!!

THIS was Christmas :)

Wow, what an amazing day we had yesterday. I thought I'd throw in a few photos before I get the rest downloaded.
First - my son LOVES him some moon sand :)

Lylli got some new jeans from K-mart (thank God for a great Clearance sale. She needed these SO bad...and she is just adorable in them :))

My babies together by the tree.

After we opened presents we went to our extended Framily's house (friends/family). This is a shot of Lylli with bows in her hair. I hadn't done this in a while and I am so glad I did...isn't she just a doll??


Then, after we went there we drove out to my brother's house to see him and his family. He got out his guitar and played for us a bit. Then Becky, a friend of the family since I was a kid, showed up. Totally inappropriate Christmas conversation followed and we laughed until we all nearly peed on the couch due to our old age.

My sis and her new Fiance!!! Jeff arrived and even more (worse?) inappropriate conversation came around. I haven't laughed that hard in a while :)

Keys to Christmas

My family was given a great gift today and as I rode with Jennifer to acquire it, I commented that I felt as if I'd been given keys to the city. Today I recieved my own Christmas miracle.

Part of my not being around lately was a deep sadness that I didn't want to talk about. I was afraid that if I sat down and thought about truly blogging my life I would only end up with a 'poor me' post and, frankly, there have been enopugh of those. BUT, since the circimstances have changed I'd like to tell you all about it.
I will not deny that times are hard for most of America (and other parts of the world, I know)...but when its something you are personally dealing with it can seem that you are alone in you pain.

For two months I've hoped that Christmas wouldn't be as depressing as it looked. Bills were barely being paid, food barely kept in the cabinets. The kids desperately needed warm coats.
I looked at December's money/bill ratio and I plummeted with the fact that we would not have money to buy any presents at all for Christmas. Now, I know that Christmas is not all about presents. I've tried to relay that to my kids - despite what all of the shows on tv this time of year are telling them.
I asked Isaac - "If you only got one thing for Christmas...what would you want?" He said, "I'd really like that ATV game for playstation...but if you didn't have enough money for that I'd take a bike." That moment broke my heart a little. I should never have to hear my child think that way.
I've fought with myself over telling Isaac the truth about Santa. I just don't want him waking up on Christmas morning thinking that he'd been bad or that Santa didn't care about him - under those circumstances I'd rather him be mad at me.
This is the first year for Lylli to truly be excited about the holiday. She understands Santa - thanks to Disney channel and their never ending supply of Christmas themed episodes.

When I knew that there was no way to give them something on Christmas morning I contacted Toys for Tots. I had remembered one year, when I was about 12, that I went with my father to a party where I was given a cute purse and a few other things. We'd had a rough year and my father did what he could to provide a good christmas - now I understand.
So, 2 weeks ago I realized that its ok to ask for help. I knew that there were kids out there in far worse circumstances who deserved it - but I also know my circumstances and my children and that they deserve to be able to go to school when it resumes and join in the conversation when other kids are talking about what they got for Christmas.
Finally, yesterday a Sgt e-mailed me back and then called us. He asked no questions - just gave me the directions to the warehouse and said to come as quickly as I could.
I expected a present each - just one thing for them to open. I nearly cried when the cute guy in uniform told me I could pick out 3 presents each. He asked no question other than how old the kids were and pointed me to the right piles with a smile on his face.

Its funny - I felt greedy looking at those gifts. I kept looking at the smallest things I could find - had it not been for Jenn being with me I probably would have left with a few cars and a few ponies, lol.
We are so blessed.

I don't know whether the men watching over the toys fully understand what they are doing - what they are offering to these families. I pray they do.
I pray that every family that donated this year fully understands. Yes, they are giving kids presents on Christmas...but they are giving parents hope. I'm excited to put the tree up now - to decorate the house.
I get to feel like I provided something to my kids - and that is a big deal. But I know that I have not done this on my own. Thank you to the family(s) in or around Springfield, MO who bought the puppy with the cute pink carrier, the Crayola light-up color pad, the dinosaur moon sand, the helicopter, the fuzzy pink and plastic phone and the Barbie tea set.

This year, I KNOW there is a Santa. He isn't the Santa that I grew up with - no, he's Virginia's Santa. He exists in the people who have and choose to give. Thank you.

And thank you to the Marines for giving those people a chance to help.

Nearly done :)

Well, our Christmas shopping is nearly done. Sean still needs to buy something for Chad but everyone else is well taken care of this year.

Sean and I went to Springfield tonight to do some final shopping and he mentioned that he went to a camera store in S-town and looked at getting me the 50mm that I want. Stupid people told him it was $100.00. Everywhere else I've seen it the price has been 50-60. I'm glad he didn't buy it.
As we were heading over to Best Buy to look for something for Chad he told me he was unsure of what he should get me. He revealed that his plans with our income tax money next year are to buy me the camera stuff I want so he didn't want to buy me anything like that from my list. (Which excited me no end...Now I have something special to think about.) He also told me that something he'd been thinking about would not get here in time and he really wanted me to be able to open something special on Christmas. The gift he wanted to get me?
For years now I have wanted some land in Scotland. Instead of explaining it..you can click here. He is even talking about spending $1000 and getting me a larger plot. Yeah...I started to cry. I haven't talked about it a lot on here, which surprises me greatly, but my second passion in life is my Scottish heritage. It must come up in conversation at least once a day...I breathe it people. So, this would be a big deal. A HUGE deal.
I will not be getting this for Christmas, but I'm fairly certain that it is now a very serious possibility. (I'm wondering if body-snatchers or pod-people have taken over my husbands body....seriously....)

But..........I did get a present tonight. Now, I won't be able to open it until Christmas and that means that you all will have to wait to find out what it is. Yeah, I know, I suck. I am incredibly, super excited about it though.