Over For Another Year

Well, Christmas is done for another year. I finished putting away all the Christmas decorations and have gotten the house back to normal. As much as I love to decorate for Christmas, I also love getting the house back to normal again. We did have a good Christmas. I think everyone was happy with their presents. Chris got an Xbox 360 and I think he has played it almost constantly. Katie got an Ipod and now has a permanent growth coming out of her year. Mike got a new TV for the bedroom with a great HD picture. I got an Ipod touch. The first one I got didn't work properly and I had to take it back. That is such a bummer to not have your gift work properly. We also got Rock Band for the Wii, and the guitar stopped working after the first night. Now we've got to send it back and get it replace. At least we still have the drums:) We were able to spend time with family and friends and had some really nice days.

In the midst of all the Christmas activities, Katie is playing in a Christmas basket ball tournament. They have played 4 games now and are so far undefeated. They have one more pool game to then see if they make it to the semi-fianl game. They have really been playing well and will hopefully take home a trophy!! The bad part about it is they are playing at Pope and Walton - not a close by school.

I'm looking forward to another week of no schedules. I did finally order some New Year's cards to get out, since I never got the Christmas cards done:) Happy New Year.

Times are Changing

It has really hit me over the past few days of how my kids are growing up. In many ways I love the ages my kids are right now. It has really been very freeing for me, being able to do some things I haven't been able to do for a long time. It is really nice to know I can leave the house for and hour or two and not have to worry about what I need to do with the kids. With Chris driving it has been a lot easier not having to pick him up after every wrestling practice or get him to school at 7:00 am on days he has a match. Katie is also becoming much more independent and responsible which I wasn't sure I'd ever see:)

But as Christmas time has come and I see all the "kid stuff" around, it has made me miss having little kids at Christmas time. It has made me wonder where the time has gone. Christmas is really taking on a new look this year. No more Santa and all the trappings that go along with that. The requests for gifts are changing too, which has been different for me too.

It has made me think about what I have been teaching my children over the years. Have I done enough? Have I done the right things? Have the mistakes I made harming them? All of these thoughts have gone through my mind the last several days. I just pray that I have instilled values and morals in my children that will help them make wise choices in the years ahead. I pray that I will continue to be a Godly example for them to follow. As all these questions run through my mind, one of them will do something that helps reassure me they are on the right path and moving in the right direction.

So, I guess we all need to enjoy each day with our children. I can vouch that it goes by quicker than you think.

Merry Christmas!!

Busyness Abounds

Okay, I'm not even sure I spelled that right, but if you change the y to i and add the ending, it is business which is not the word I wanted. Oh, well. This week has definitely been busy. It started off with me having no voice, which is not a good thing this time of year. Katie had a bb game on Monday night, which was a close loss. They are now 4-4 for the season, which isn't too bad. She has really come along way in her playing. She is finally learning to play a little more aggressive.

On Tuesday night I had a Christmas Party. It was with a group of ladies that play Bunco together. I am not a regular, but a subsitute. They still invited me to their party anyway. We had drawn names to exchange gifts. I get halfway to the restaurant and realize I forgot my gift! I felt so bad and everyone had a great time giving me grief. I will get the gift delivered some how.

Wednesday is church night. I had a meeting and then planned to go to Chris' wrestling match. They ended up starting early and they were wrestling over at Spraybery, so I just decided to stay at church. He won again. He is undefeated for the season so far, and has won every match by a pin or forfiet.

Today is Mike's birthday. A few weeks ago when I asked him what he wanted, he said a year's worth of massages. Well, I can't afford that on my part-time salary, but I did think I could at least fork out the money for one massage. So, I told him he had to be home by 5:15. He wasn't sure what he was in for. I had an appointment for a couple's massage at 5:30. Once we got there he wasn't so sure about the whole thing, but when we were finished he was ready to sign us up for a couple's massage every week!! After that we went out to dinner and then to Target. I think I came up with a very nice birthday evening.

Tomorrow is Friday and no relief is in sight. I am taking a group of girls from church to help at the Operation Christmas Child Warehouse. Chris will be wrestling in a tournament starting tomorrow night and lasting most of Sat. Church on Sunday morning, Katie plays bb Sun. afternoon and then our small group is meeting Sunday night. Does it ever end!!??

Enjoy your weekend:)

What a Day!

Well, today has been quite a day. Our Ladies' Ministry was going around the area doing different service projects today and then we came together tonight to eat dinner and share about the different experiences. I was supposed to go to a children's home and do some painting. I was on my way to church this morning to meet the other lady I would be working with when I hit a dog. It was crossing the street and then turned back right into the path of my car. I felt really bad, but there was nothing I could do. When I got to the church I took a look at my car and my front bumber was split and coming off at one side. That made me feel even worse. At that point there was nothing to do except head on to the children's home.

When we got there it was if they didn't even expect us. They had to get everything out for us to use. It was really a sad place, and I realized how blessed I have been and that it is only because of God's grace that I haven't had to be in a situation like that myself. Because there were only two of us, we only got 1 room painted. It took 2 coats to cover the room, which was very time consuming. Again I felt bad that we didn't get any more done.

After returning back to the church I had just enough time to get to East Paulding to see Chris wrestle his last match of the day. I get over to the practice gym and am standing just inside waiting for his match to start. After arriving, I got a call from Sara who was supposed to go with us today, but didn't get to. She was calling to see how things went. We talked for a while and then this man sitting in front of where I was standing turned around and said "Am I going to have to listen to you talk on the phone the whole time there is a match?" At first I thought maybe he was kidding, but quickly realized he was serious. I walked away and finished my conversation, telling Sara what this guy just said. She was dumbfounded too. Okay, I try not to use my phone in certain places where it might disturb others - a restaurant, the movies, the doctor's office, church - but in a crowded gym where people are talking, cheering and clapping??? I just didn't get it. And then, on top of that, Chris didn't even wrestle. He won by forfeit. By this time I'm thinking maybe I should have just stayed in bed today!!

I did finally make it to the dinner tonight and heard some great stories of all the ministries that were helped today by our women. I think the repeating theme was that we are truly blessed and need to continually thank God for how He provides for us each day. It is so easy to take the things we have for granted until we see others without so much. May we all in this Christmas Season remember the gift God sent to us, and look for ways to share His love with others.

I Did It

I did it!! I changed my background all by myself. It still amazes me how computer illeterate I am. I almost asked Chris for help, but I was determined to do it myself. I'm sure he could have done it in half the time:)

Well, we all survived our first day back at school after the break. Actually everyone was very cooperative this morning and got up without too much prompting. I'm sure that may get worse as the week goes on. I must say staying home for the break made today a little easier. It was nice having all the Christmas decorations already up. I also have most of my Christmas shopping done and even have presents wrapped and under the tree!!

I was finally able to play some tennis again tonight. It has been more than a week and I was having some withdrawals. So, I went out and faced the cold. For a while I was the only one. Then another brave soul made it out too. It really wasn't so bad except for the snow flurries:)

I'm in the process of getting my Christmas cards done. I have about half of them addressed so far. I now need to work on the picture that will go inside. At this age it is difficult to get my two to cooperate for a picture. The past few years we had pictures made on the cruise and were able to use one of those. Hopefully by the end of the week I can figure out something.