Stressful...

This time of year is always stressful because we are off our routine schedule. One of our children requires a great deal of structure, and without school, it upsets it all. I am dreaming of school starting...not to get rid of the kids, but to have some peace in our lives. I love being with the kids, but it is better when things are normal and not out of sinc. I am not one of those moms who wishes to get rid of her children, but it is very difficult for one of our children to float around with no structure.

Christmas is over...

I am always sad this time of year, after the magic of Christmas has passed. We are keeping up the tree until New Year (maybe), and on Saturday, we still have Christmas with Jeff's brothers and their wives and our Nephew. I know we are all looking forward to that time with them. The kids seemed to have a good Christmas, and only one thing was damaged, but it is an easy fix. Bethanie got a vanity (white with a swivel mirror on it, and the mirror part was damaged but the store they got it from (my parents) will change out the mirror for us. I did find out that Bethanie had asked Santa Claus for some Hello Kitty pj's. I didn't know this, so I told her next time I went to Salina, I would get her some material like the Tinker Bell material and make her some Hello Kitty pj's. I know that they had some because I saw it there the other day when I purchased the labels. She was happy about that. We told Matthew that we couldn't find any Transformers anywhere, which we really couldn't, but hoped that Santa could, and he did. He must have shopped early or something (grin) and I know that Matthew had sighed a huge sigh of relief!

Jeff is at work today, and he really treated me to a nice Christmas. He is such a good man, and I just love `him to pieces! He is so hard working, and just tries to make everything go smoothly for everyone. He has put in a lot of long hours at work, and we miss him terribly, but we are so thankful that he HAS a job to support us, and that he is still young (well, kinda) and that he is physically able to work. I am so grateful to have him in my life, to see him be a father to our children, and I just really feel blessed.

New Years is just around the corner, and Madison is sitting here telling me "Hi". She is such a smart little girl, and I just get quite a thrill out of her. I am totally enjoying motherhood, but don't get me wrong, it isn't easy most of the time!!! :O)

I have given birth...

To the most kind and thoughtful child in the universe. Bethanie is and has always been my feel good child. She lives for other people, to make them feel better about things, she lives to bring joy and happiness to others, and truthfully, she would give you the food off her plate to feed you if she thought you were hungry. A couple of weeks ago, she had her dance recital. This was her second one, and our tradition has been, thus far, to give her 2 red roses. This makes her feel so special and loved! But I didnt realize just how much until a couple days ago when she told me she wanted to buy me some Christmas flowers and a Christmas balloon. I was all, OK, you have to talk to your dad about it, and he will take you to the flower store on Monday. How can you possibly say no to this??? So she bought me a pretty Christmas balloon and these winter roses (Poinsettia's). They are just LOVERLY and I am so thankful for this child being so selfless, and thinking of me. She really made me feel very loved and special as a mother which I must say doesnt happen often enough! LOL!

So Matthew is having a very hard time falling asleep. He is going to be a bear tomorrow afternoon, I can tell....

Today at White Grands, Bethanie got twin Baby Alive dolls. One is a girl the other is a boy. Well, these are the wets and giggles Baby Alives. After feeding the girl, she fed the boy, and well....he pee'd his diaper full. So as she was changing him, she noticed that being the boy baby that it was, she says, "LOOK, IT HAS A PEANUT!!!". ROFLOL! She was surprised (and so was I) that it was sort of anatomically correct. Not gross or anything, it was innocent, but her reaction was CLASSIC, and it was so funny! OK, so maybe you had to be there....

So here is a picture of the PJ's I made the kids (Bethie-Beth calls them PB&J's). Bethanie and Matthew's turned out PERFECTLY fit, but sadly, Madisons draped her body. She will probably be in them for 2 more years. I was disappointed by how big they were on her, but they are still pretty and they LOVED that they matched. There was a small war (the first one) of sibling rivalry today between the girls over those Baby Alive dollies. Madison loves them too. Matthew is really excited about Christmas. I hope he has a good one, all that he hopes for! This is the same wish I have for all my children/family.

First day of winter/Christmas break...

Today, while dad was at work, the four of us busied ourselves by doing Christmas activities! I wanted to share some of my Christmassy pictures because I know that after Christmas, things will be kind of crazy!

This is our Christmas tree for this year. We ended up with a new one because it is pre lit and our other was very old. I love this tree, it is very pretty. I like a lot of lights on the tree, and lots of decorations.

This was beginning phase of our cookies. This job seemed to drag on all day long, but the decorating part was quite fun (and delicious)!

This was our largest endeavor of the day. We made home made gingerbread men/cookies, and then we decorated a few of them.....Some of them are already in our tummies, sad to say, but they were sure delicious!

Bethie-Beth is just SOOOOO excited for Christmas, to the point she screams with excitement! It is so much fun to see the kids so excited and happy!

Here is Santa's littlest helper. It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get a picture of her that isn't blurry because she is constantly on the move!!!

Here is Matthew hamming it up for the camera. Isn't this such a nice picture of him? He is such a handsome guy!

Bethanie was bored today while we waited for the cookie dough to chill. She was very eager to make those cookies! Silly girl asked and asked ALL DAY LONG to make them, and she couldn't wait so she went outside in her new snow suit and found a place in the yard to sled. She had a blast, especially when I went outside and gave her a push or two!

There she goes down the hill in the back of the yard!

I sure am having a fun time with the kids this Christmas. I really loved making their pajama's for Christmas eve, spending this extra time with them doing things like the cookies, sledding and taking goofey and cheesy pictures of them in front of the tree!

Where is time going?

I cant believe that it is already THURSDAY!!! Christmas is just 5 days away, and I AM NOT READY!!! I have been so busy finishing up the PJ's that I am making for the kids. I think I am almost finished. Madison's is going to be quite big on her, but she is so small, that I couldn't find a matching pattern close enough, so, they will just be big. LOL! I found some really cute iron on garment tags to put on the back of the PJ's so the kids can tell what is the back side of them. They say, "Made with love from Mom". They are so CUTE!

Yesterday Jeff and I went to Salina and pretty much finished our Christmas shopping. Now we just need to wrap stuff and get it ready. I AM SO EXCITED!!

Saturday, the "PLAN" is to make homemade gingerbread cookies with the kids while Jeff is at work. He may pull off another 16 hour shift. We are planning on tomorrow evening on going to Beloit to Chautauqua Park (did I just murder the spelling of that or what???) to look at the park full of Christmas lights. The kids are excited about it. Sunday, we MIGHT go to Salina to look at lights there, I am not sure.

So, my hands are frozen, I need to start supper and that's where I am at for the day!

Accomplishments...

I feel as though I have accomplished a ton of stuff today that I REALLY needed to do. Right after I dropped the kids off at school, I went to my parents house (which is 30 miles away). After getting there, I made them breakfast, and immediately there after, started sewing PJ's for the kids for Christmas. I have had Matthew's made for some time, but I just had to hem them, but Bethanie and Madison's needed to be started. My mom pinned the pattern on for me and cut it out for me over the weekend (which was a HUGE help) and then I went right to work sewing. I had so much fun doing this! Sadly, I didn't get to start on Miss Madison's yet because the pattern wasn't small enough, so tomorrow when we get some of our Christmas shopping done, I will look for a pattern that will fit her. I am completely finished with the two older kids now, so all I have to do is make PJ's for Madison (and hers will match Bethanie's because I am using the same fabric but may not have the same style, depends on the kind of pattern I can find in her size). The girls fabric is a satin pink Tinker Bell fabric with a flannel backing on it. It is PRECIOUS! They are two piece PJ's (or PB&J's as Bethie-Beth calls them). Matthew's is flannel bottoms that are very colorful and are a super hero theme (no specific one like spiderman) but it is really cute, and he will have a white T-shirt for the top. I am really excited about how these turned out, now I just hope they will fit!