to you and yours

May your days be merry and bright…

too soon

So I may have confused some folks with my last post.  Yes, I work very hard to have peace in our home this time of year.  Yes, sometimes it works.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that it is all happy smiling faces all the time though.  For instance, yesterday I may or may not have made certain children of mine take presents out from under the tree and give them back to me.  They may or may not be able to earn them back. The jury is still out.

Now that is some Christmas spirit for you.

White Christmas

When I was young everyday of December was Christmas. Who am I kidding? It still is, just a little different. I am not making snow forts or worrying if I had done something to keep Santa from stopping at my house. Instead I am hanging up trimmings, shopping, baking, and hoping to bring the excitement of Christmas into our home for my children.

Playing in the snow as a child I realized there was a quiet at Christmas as well. I can remember being all bundled up in 5-7 layers and walking carefully down the stairs to go outside to play in freshly fallen snow. As I walked outside a stillness would hit. Often I would just sit in the snow and listen to the quiet that surrounded me in this new white world. A peaceful, incomparable calm.

We don’t have white Christmases in Arizona and my children will probably never feel the “snowy quiet” that I did each year. When they do experience snow it is full of squeals and screams as it is such a novelty. I have had to find another means of bringing the quiet.

We bake a lot this time of year. Each batch of cookies, caramels, or homemade peanut butter balls we make together reminds me of childhood days when the counter tops were filled with more treats that any one person should eat. Each time the doorbell rang it was some sort of goodie from a neighbor. For my children I hope that each batch of treats reminds them there is someone out there that will be happy because we thought of them. Maybe as we stir and roll a little quiet will come to them.

No snowy scenes out our window, but quietly inside we bake.

old

A few weeks back I was able to go on a dairy farm field trip with Luke. On said farm they also teach horse riding lessons. The kids were gathered around a bunch of animals and a farm worker began to tell the children about two horses.

A really old horse lives to be about 25. REALLY old. One of the horses there for the kids to pet was 24 and he had to be retired from riding lessons because he would randomly fall asleep. The other horse was SUPER old. He was 31 and a half. Luke turned around with his gorgeous blue eyes giant sized and said, “Mom, you are going to die, you are almost 32!!”

Also a few weeks back I was asked if a 19 year old friend of mine was my daughter. I will skip the unpleasantries that followed. I may or may not have told the woman I was going to punch her.

It is true. I am 32 today. I am another year older and if I were a horse, I would surely be going to die at any minute.

Somehow in my old age I still managed to bust a move with the kids at a wedding, I can work out a mean running man. I still like to play Super Marios Bros with Jesse and the kids. I still laugh at silly things like certain bodily functions that my boys are obsessed with. I STILL can’t sit still in church. Oh, and I can’t stand the idea of elastic waist pants. (just something that I have refused to fall into as I age. Seriously, where do women find those things?!)

I am another year older. I am thankful for those years and I plan on outliving the oldest horse in the world. I still feel like a young filly after all.

lights

Remember my last post when I said i was waiting for Jesse to hang lights? Well he did. Sort of. He ran out of some and then didn’t have cords and has since been working 14+hours days so I have not seen him much to bug him about getting them done. I wouldn’t really bug him now would I?

Anywhooo…I decided it was time for me to take matters into my own hands. While putting some lights in the bushes, hanging wreaths and ornaments in my orange trees, I also managed to re-do the lights. I only had to climb on the roof 3 times. It was only one area of the roof, it just took a little work to get it all under control.

See the arrow, that is where I had to get to. (This photo is very old, don’t mind the truck we no longer own.)

Now, imagine the wreaths on the windows and under the carriage lights, big red ornaments on the trees, and my house lit up somewhat expertly and you will have a better idea of what the finished product is. Do you know how hard it is to take a decent photo of Christmas lights on a house? Sheesh!

it’s up

The new additions to this…

Polka dots are the best.

The front door. I have never posted this one and every year I think I need to tweak something. That ginormo 8+ foot front door is kinda hard to work with. This may be the year…

Now, if I could just get Jesse to help me put the lights up on the house and hang the wreaths. Ha.

the trot…

Last year we had a little family race for Thanksgiving. This year Jesse was not really up to participating in the running but the kids and I had a fun little run. Luke and I ran about 1/2 a mile. Isabel ran about a mile or so, and Max had to run 1 1/2 miles. They all started at the same time and it was fun to watch. Luke beat Max around on the first 1/2 mile and Max ended up beating Isabel with his mile and a half. Isabel was none too thrilled to be running! The dog ran the entire distance a few times and needless to say, he slept the rest of the day. Great way to start a day, I think I may need to run a bit more however.

Here are the boys just as Luke was passing Max and finishing his portion. Apparently we should have Luke run a bit further…
…oh that these kids may need some better shoes to run in!

Isabel finishing her run.

This last one is just a happy picture of bikes. It makes me smile anyway.

let it begin

What a great week.  I love Birthdays.  Birthdays make me feel like I am 5 years old again with all the anticipation and excitement.  I love Thanksgiving.  It is a lot of work to do all by yourself.  Especially for a family of 5 that eats in about 13 minutes.  It’s the spirit of giving thanks that is so great to me.  Pain in the rear or not.  Let’s get right down to it though.  Part of this week being the 2nd best week of the year must mean that I can put up CHRISTMAS decorations. Jesse hates them up on his birthday and Thanksgiving.  Those days are over baby.  The madness has begun.

Jesse James

Jesse’s birthday is today.

I have read posts others write about their husbands and have often thought about what I would say about Jesse.  I think it is obvious that I am enamored with him, though I don’t blog about of all his amazing qualities very often.  So here I sit with every intention to pour out my heart about Jesse and his perfection.  And here I sit thinking there is nothing I can say that would do him the justice he deserves.  There is nothing I can say that could make people know him like I know him.

Jesse wouldn’t want me to make a huge deal out of him, so I guess I will make it short and sweet and know that if nobody understands or appreciates it, he and I will.

Jesse makes me laugh when I am so mad laughing is the last thing I want to do.  He is thankful for everything I do, even when I do nothing.  I can look to him at the end of a hard day and he will pick up with the kids where I left off and not even skip a beat.  He wants to give us the world and at the same time teach his kids how to give it back to everyone around them.  His kids are pretty sure he hung the moon and taught the sun to shine.  I am too.

I could shout it from the rooftops and broadcast it to the world, but really it doesn’t matter if anyone else knows it as long as Jesse knows I love him.  Happy 35 Jesse.

sugar and spice…

and everything nice, that’s what little girls are made of…  I think my sugar and spice has been been replaced by the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead.  When she is good she is very, very good, and when she is bad she is…well, you understand right?

This picture was taken on Christmas 6 years ago.  Isabel in all her sweetness.  Of course she was sassy even then, but the sass was different.

In the past few months my little girl has slipped through my fingers and become a young lady.  I know this started to happen 10+ years ago, but her growing up has never been more evident.  I am learning to let go.  She will hate me for posting this and yet I am doing it anyway.  She hates me part of each day as it is, we will be ok.  We have gone from hair being only a pain when attempting to de-tangle, to an accessory she is learning to care for and style.  Makeup has become more and more enticing.  Bras are no longer something that will be needed someday and are intriguing.  Bras are a necessity.  Oh and the moods.  ALL over the place people.

I can no longer protect my little girl from everything.  I can not even protect her from herself.  That sounds scary but the fact of the matter is, My little girl is making decisions for herself more and more and sometimes they are not the decisions I would make for her.  I can’t make her do things, I can’t organize her life for her.  My encouragement and gentle reminders are annoyances to her so I have to step back.  Step back from the little things and pray with all my heart that she will carry her testimony strong as she learns to be the “big girl” she is becoming.

Isabel is a good girl and I am sure I will look back at this 5th grade drama and laugh or long for this kind of drama.  I am hoping that she will have learned a thing or two along the way.  I know I am learning right along with her.