Women Go Crazy for a Sharp Dressed Man

Yes, ZZTop said, er, sang it best; women DO go crazy for a sharp dressed man especially when he is 2 years old and batting his super enormously long eyelashes at them while wearing his styling duds. Aren is a charmer; he has been since day one. He won't talk to men until he feels it is safe but, put him in the company of a pretty young lady (especially blondes. Yes, he all ready seems to have a preference.) and he comes to life. He bats his lashes, he coos, he grins and he tells them all about his drum or love of drumming. Mothers lock up your daughters and, just to be on the safe side, stay indoors yourself! I have created a monster-a handsome, handsome monster.

Look upon this picture only if you dare...






















Or, how about this one? He's adding just a touch of flaire in this photo...

New Tradition

Today, we began a new tradition for Christmas. The three kids and I (Cherish, Hallie and Aren) went to the store and they each bought a book that they would enjoy reading to give to the children's ward at our hospital. Rush wrapped them with the help of the giver and we will be taking them to the hospital probably tomorrow or perhaps later this afternoon. We will see how we all manage our time this afternoon. They are very, very excited to do this and are so pleased that they were able to do this.

I thought of this the other day when I was fuming over having to work on Christmas Day and then thought about all the kids who will have to be "Stuck" in the hospital this day and all through the year. I then thought what is Christmas supposed to be? Is it supposed to be about us spending all our money to buy more stuff from StuffMart for our kids or should we be instilling values into our kids as to what Christmas really is? Should we not give of ourselves to show others love? The kids embraced this idea with so much vigor and enthusiasm that I wish I would have thought of it years before.

So, here is to the beginning of a tradition and to the start of more selfless things our family can do during the Christmas season and all through the year to help people and to just bless them, if even in just a small way.

A star, a star...

Every year Rush's school sends home a cardboard star for us to cut out and decorate to hang from the school's hallway ceilings. You can decorate it with whatever you want, however you want; it just needs to be a family star and have your last name on it...

This year we had 2 of them making one so I didn't really know how we would go about it.
Ah ha... Each kid got their own side to do. The finished product this year...

Hallie's side...

Rush's side...

Aren is always thrilled when we go to get Hallie and he sees their star hanging from the ceiling. They did a good job but I will tell you those confetti lights did NOT want to stay on there. We had to use a lot of glue as you can tell to get them to stay on. I wonder what we will do next year...

Run, run as fast as you can! You can't get me; I'm the ginger....ah never mind

Last year, we started a family activity of decorating a gingerbread house. Last year, Jenn and I assembled this house; last year, Jenn and I had technical difficulties and put the chimney on upside down and other small set backs...walls not wanting to stay together blah blah blah. This year Jenn and I carried on the tradition of having gingerbread technical difficulties. We did put the chimney on properly but it kept sliding on us and we eventually got it to stay. The icing didn't want to stay in the bag and kept popping out the top and getting me extremely sticky and irritated but I kept having fun. So we decorated it. It looks better than last years and it didn't take too long this year before Aren began to dig into the decorations and wreck the beautiful walk way that Cherish and I made. It is so much fun but I am glad I only have this to do once a year....

Always makes me smile...

Can't






drink





eggnog




without




thinking




of




this or ...

My Turn

It is my turn to feel like the failure of the month. I have been feeling guilty lately and it has been getting worse and worse. I feel like I am not there for my kids; I feel like I am not being a "mom". Obviously, I am a mom but I feel like I am not BEING a mom. I am always working, the odd night I get off it seems there are plans that do not include the kids and off I go galavanting when I should be at home with my children. I honestly can't tell you the last time Hallie and Aren were bathed. I am not here to do it and it just doesn't seem to get done. When my son wants something he goes to his sister, not to me. Why? I am never here and that is who he has to go to as a mother figure. How big of a failure is that?!?

I tried talking to my husband about how I am feeling and he dismissed my feelings right away without much consideration to why I was feeling this way. I told him I needed a day job so I could be home with the kids when they are here to need me (this way band concerts will not be overlooked, baths will not be overlooked, homework notes will not be thrown out without a second glance...). His response, "Then I guess I may as well fall off the face of the Earth because I am never there either." I don't know why his response to conversations of this or similar nature all wind up with him needing to fall off the face of the earth or dying or what have you. Perhaps I just need a little support not him turning it into a "I don't deserve to live" party and I am called over-sensitive...

After his comment, I simply hung up on him. I didn't know what to say; I could not react in any type of manner to him other than just hanging up the phone. I know that wasn't the best thing to do but my brain could not come up with an appropriate response.

So here I sit with tears streaming down my face, wondering why in the heck I am typing this on here for the world to see (and I know my husband will be irrate with me if he ever reads this and sees this post but I need an outlet) and wondering can be done to change this and wondering how I pray about this properly. I need a day job so I can be with my kids that is all I know at this point. Other than that I am at my wit's end, the rope just doesn't go any farther...

Traditions

I grew up on a farm surrounded by trees and every year we went out into the pasture as a family (and by that I mean mom, dad, kids, horses, cats and dog...the animals just followed us, they were, after all, part of the family) and picked our Christmas tree. The tree then sat in our tub to thaw and was decorated on Christmas Eve. I remember us putting those construction paper garlands on our tree. We also had an inflatable Santa that Mom always put up just under the tree that always fell over. We put our stockings, which were Dad's wool socks on the end of our bed and were sent to bed. I don't know about my brother but I am pretty sure it was the same for him, my sister and I would lay in bed wide awake with anticipation about what was going to be in our sock bound and determined we were going to stay awake so we could look as soon as Mom and Dad placed them back on our beds full. I don't think that ever happened.

I remember, as a little girl, being excited about Santa and what cookies he would choose to eat off the plate we left for him (I don't celebrate Santa Claus now but it is still a fond memory I have). It was hard not to believe as a child because we had a strange occurance at our house every year. Every Christmas morning we had to have breakfast, do chores and go get Grandma and Grandpa from up the hill before we could open our presents and every year when we went to the barn there were strange tracks on the barn roof that weren't there (or that noticable) when we went to bed. We were told it was reindeer tracks, hard to argue that.

The tree was down on New Years Day and that is still a tradition we have here but I am trying to find some traditions I can do with my kids...that do not involve Santa. We have certain foods that we eat every Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, we watch the Touched By an Angel Christmas Epidsode with Randy Travis in it every year but I would really like some other traditions. Anybody have any ideas for me...?

And Here is My 7

Seven things to do before I die:

1. go to Norway, Ireland and so many more but those are the 2 biggies
2. become a nurse
3. get back into shape
4. learn to knit
5. get out of debt
6. see my children become successful people (and I don't mean socially successful...I mean well-rounded successful)
7. finsih my family tree book

Seven things to do before I die (when I was a not-so-idealsitic teenager):

1. marry any member of Motley Crue (except Mick Mars), Jon Bon Jovi, Axl Rose, Slash, any member of Poison or Steve Tyler (I know, I know...don't judge me)
2. own a Harley
3. get a tattoo (or several)
4. be adopted by Alice Cooper and/or Ozzy Osborne (man am I ever glad that had no hope of ever coming true)
5. go to Norway
6. join a bike gang
7. become famous for my dark poetry

Seven things I cannot do:

1. swim
2. remember most of the French I learned
3. remember to water my plants
4. enjoy coffee
5. sit through any type of performance without crying because I am so proud of the work everyone did to pull it off...like kids' dance recitals, Christmas concerts, Kids' Christmas programs oh, and let's not forget Broadway North Musicals...)
6. drive behind someone going slightly less than the speed limit
7. sit through most movies without crying for one reason or another


Seven things that attract me to my spouse:

1. his attempt to be the tough, macho guy which we all can see through so clearly
2. the way he looks in a blue dress shirt
3. the way he reminds me when I am not behaving the way I "should"
4. the way he gets up with our son in the middle of the night
5. the way he tries to not let me catch him crying during a movie
6. the way he strokes my face when I am upset and makes me feel safe
7. his biceps

Seven things I say most often:

1. Would you like cheesetoast or twist bread instead of garlic toast?
2. For sure
3. I'll be right there.
4. Aren, I am not telling you again...(leave that cat alone)
5. Thumb in the thumbhole, fingers all together. This is the song we sing in mitten weather...(but only in the winter which is 9 months of the year)
6. Go ask your father
7. So, anyways...(this one was Dixie's but I think I say this a lot too)

Seven books I love:

1. God's Leading Lady
2. any true crime story
3. Lord of the Flies
4. Simple Faith
5. The Chrysalids
6. Romeo and Juliet or MacBeth
7. The Monster at the End of This Book

Seven movies I would watch over and over again:

1. Titanic (I know...it just makes me dig into my imagination)
2. Legends of the Fall
3. Old Yeller
4. The Breakfast Club
5. Grease
6. The Lord of the Rings trilogy
7. Finding Nemo

Seven people I want to join in too: (NOTE: If you don't have a spouse, make it seven things that you think will attract you/ that you admire/ notice in the opposite sex, or a potential mate)

DustyClodfelter
Dominique
Tanya
Candice
Christy
Paula
I ran out of people...

Can Someone Say "eery"?

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant.Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive.You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

My Son is a Mouse

I am just in the middle of preparing lunch for myself, Hallie and Aren. I left the room for a minute to grab the phone and came back to find Aren take HUGE mouthfuls of cheese out of the block. After weasling the cheese away from him and trying not to laugh while giving him heck, I told Bill (who was teh one that called) what Aren had just done.

He laughed and told me that there was something he had forgotten to tell me, something Aren had done awhile ago and it had slipped his mind. Aren had stolen the huge block of cheese, ran to his room and Bill found him sitting on his bed eating this incredibly big piece of cheese (you know the one you get at Superstore for $22?).

I think that is too hilarious. My family has always loved hard cheese. My brother, my sister and I would go up to grandma's house after school for an after-school snack of hard cheese and crackers, fill up and be too full for supper. She used to tease us about being mice and I think, perhaps, I have a mouse of my own. Cherish and Hallie love cheese too but so far in their lives they have not taken it upon themselves to eat the entire block of cheese. (Am I ever glad he didn't succeed at that venture....can someone say blocked up...)

Dream Come True

Tonight Hallie and I went to Cinderella (the musical). This was her birthday present from me and there was a promise of getting to meet Cinderella that I didn't know if it would come true or not. I didn't promise her but I mean there was a glimmer of a possibility that the meeting could be arranged.

Well, after the show, we got our coats, said "hello" to an old co-worker of mine (who Hallie remembers from the Saskatchewan fireworks as the guy who made her the balloon animal) and went to leave (since we didn't get to talk to Devon to see about meeting Cinderella). (Boy, am I ever rambling!) Anywho, lo and behold out of the corner of my eye, I spot Cinderella...wah hoo!!! Hallie and I went over, got her picture taken and her autograph and Hallie's dreams came true!

She also got Prince Charming's autograph but he wasn't in costume so she didn't get her picture taken with him.

Anyway, so I can go and get her tucked into bed (it has been a long night), here is the picture of Hallie and Cinderella...

Poor Little Monkey

Today I had to break Hallie's heart...but I did it for her own good. She is really sick, crouping cough, raw throat, slight fever, big black eyes...

I am keeping her home from school today.

Heartbreak sets in.

Tears fall from her eyes while she manages to squeak out poor pathetic little cries.

"What if all mine friends are havin' fun right now...?"

"What if I am supposed to be the leader today...?"

I tried reasoning with her, telling her this will make it so she doesn't get really, really sick and need to go to the hospital where she would have to miss a whole lot of school. Unfortunately there is no reasoning with a sick, heartbroken girl (especially when she is only 5...or younger) and that only made her cry harder saying that she didn't want to miss that much school or be in the hospital...

I would like to thank her teacher who is obvioulsy making Hallie's kindergarten experience an absolutely wonderful and joyous time. However, if the crying keeps up today I may want to strangle said teacher (but only out of love and appreciation for how much she has made my daughter love her.)

Happy Birthday, Baby

Dear Hallie,
Today you turned 5 years old. 5 years old!!!? It is so hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I first looked into your beautiful blue eyes and heard your first breath of air. It seems like only yesterday that I was craddling you in my arms listening to your gentle coos and feeling your soft warm breath on my cheek as you slept on me. It seems like only yesterday that I found myself crying when I looked at you and realized how completely overwhelmed I was, once more, that my heart could be this full of love.

Today as I look at you I see a beautiful, smart, kind hearted young girl who has turned into all and so much more than I ever could have imagined in those first few minutes of your life. Today I see a gentle spirit whose heart breaks when someone else is hurting. Today, I still find myself crying when I look at you and realize how I am still so completely overwhelmed with how full of love my heart is for you.

Hallie, I am so proud of who you are and of the person you are becoming. You have such a compassionate and loving heart. I admire your strength for you don't give up but seem to strive to improve. In one year you have made such a huge improvement in your speaking and you have done so with determination and with grace. It was just a short time ago that you could not speak at all and you overcame that obsticle with so much grace, never feeling sorry for yourself and never being angry.

Happy birthday, Baby. I hope your day is special and I hope it brings you good memories. I am so compeletly proud of you and so completely in love with you. You are my beautiful little Jellybean.

Vandersluys vs Vandersluys

This right here and here, people, is why I love my friends so much. There really is never a dull moment, even in the normalcy of life...never a dull moment.

Now, just to keep up with the legal aspect, I would like to clarify that the order of appearance on my blog does not in any way represent favoritism or attempt to imply any bias. The order they appear on my blog has only to do with the order they were posted. Any further comments on this matter may be made in the presence of my lawyer...

I will add, against my lawyers better judgement, that it is a pity that their marriage has come to this terrible bitter custody battle over the eggnog... Can't we all just get along?!?!? (wink!)

Talk about breaking your heart

Hallie and I had a brief yet heartbreaking conversation just a few minutes ago. You can read about it over here. It really makes my heart feel...heavy is the only word I can think of but it is not the most accurate. It hurts that she is hurting so much and missing her brother so much. I also dread how she is going to react when she finds out that Jenn is graduating this year and may be moving out sooner than later. How much can a poor little heart take...?

It's a Boy!!! It's a Boy!!! It's a Boy!!!

Obviously I don't need to say it again but...it's a boy! Mom and baby are both doing well. We don't know his name yet because they want to tell people when they are both together and Brenda was still in the recovery room. We also don't know how big the little guy is. Mom and Dad held onto him as long as they could and then Shane went to Bill's office to tell him the news. Bill fed our poor friend as he hadn't had anything to eat since last night so his mind was on other things...like his sandwich.

Anyway, a big old congratulations goes out to these wonderful friends of ours!!! I am so excited!!! I am also so relieved for you that it was a boy and now you don't have to worry about Bill nicknaming a girl Charlie for no reason other than the fact that he thinks it sounds cool.

Hallie has been busy packing up all of her toys so that she can give them all to the baby because she knows he doesn't have a stuffed puppy and she knows he doesn't have a doll and she knows he doesn't have crayons or a coloring book....

Anxious...

While shopping at Wal Mart this morning, I got a call on my cell. I had a twinge of nervousness because the only ones who know this number are the hospital and Bill. I didn't think Bill would be calling me as I had just talked to him so that means...my first solo shift at the hospital. However, when I answered the phone I was surprised to hear a familiar voice, my friend, Dixie. As it turns out, prayer is needed. Other friends of ours, Shane and Brenda, are having a baby and she started having pains yesterday (baby is due the 24th). In the hospital she wasn't progressing. Having had a c-section before there was fear of rupturing or hemorraging; the doctors were gently leaning towards them having a c-section but were giving them an hour to see how things went.

I got off the phone with Bill moments ago for an update and he said that Brenda was in surgery as we were speaking and that the baby was probably all ready here. He just hadn't found that part out yet. So please pray for things to turn out all right for both mom and baby. Please pray for emotional strength for her as she was really really hoping to not have to go through a c-section again.

So, I am anxious. I am anxious to know if they are well. I am anxious to know if it is a boy or a girl. I am anxious to know what his/her name is and I am anxious to be able to go see my dear friend.

Getting into the Spirit

Today we started, let me stress "started", to decorate our house for the joyous winter/Christmas season. We have our lights up outside and some on the inside of a window (living room). We still need to do the lights in the dining room window. We have some pine garland on our bookshelf with cranberries and pinecones scattered throughout it and we purchased some candles with cranberry decorations for around the candle holders. I also have sugar cookie scented wax blocks for the oil burner candles. Does it ever smell yummy in our house tonight. A few other purchases...both of the Griswold adventures, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", and "The Charlie Brown Christmas" on DVD. I am still looking for "The Little Drummer Boy" on DVD and the "Nutcracker Prince" (animated and not). So here are some pictures of our house at about halfway through outside decorations.

The kids are so-o excited...

Enjoying my Job

Okay so today was day number two of working in Housekeeping at the hospital and I am enjoying my job thus far. I worked in the E.R. yesteday and I have to admit that it really made me realize where my heart is as far as becoming a nurse. I was chomping at the bit when I was there cleaning floors and beds wishing that I were taking care of the patients. Today I wasn't anywhere exciting but it was still all right. It sounds like tomorrow I will be in and out of E.R. again. Being in the hospital only fuels the fire about becoming an LPN. I need to get the lead out and start really working on that math....

They're shutting us down!!

I just got an email that myblogspot is shutting down at the end of this month. We will no longer be able to access our posts so I just finished copying and pasting mine. I don't know if there is anywhere else we can go or what...but this is the end of here.......
Goodbye everyone...goodbye....