Yes indeed :)

I think we had a pretty darn good Christmas :D There were of course a few moments of kids squabbling, and questions of "where are the rest of the presents", but all in all it was merry. Hope yours was too :D

Broken :/

Eight years we've had this lamp... A hand me down from Phil's parents.... It finally went and got broken... Knocked off our night stand... It lit so many books for me to read, it will be missed...

Her furniture

Sissy likes to take all of the furniture out of her doll house and line it up where ever she happens to be playing, or she will line it up next to her while she is watching tv. So silly, she even tried to lay down on the little doll bed, lol!

Oh Sissy :)

Little Sis wanted to sleep in the doll house (her "castle" she calls it) Christmas night.
I'm mean and wouldn't let her, lol!

Merry Christmas Card :D

SHEPHERDS STOOD WATCH

by Rose Graves

Three shepherds stood upon a hill,

standing guard, the night so still.

Dim and quiet the sky was clear

Calm with not a thing to fear.

Thoughts of wonder filled their minds

as a star burst forth, bright it shined.

Not long did they sit in awe

for an angel is soon  what they saw.

Words of comfort he spoke to them,

of a baby born in Bethlehem.

An event that would define a miracle,

and illuminate all things spiritual.

Those shepherds wouldn’t waste any time,

Leaving their sheep to travel through grit and grime.

So to bear witness that the son of God,

‘twas born on earth, weary roads to trod.

He’d change the world sharing hope and peace,

the Savior’s come and joy will increase.

Christ the Lord, born that night.

A Gift for man of wondrous Light.

Thanks!

Do you know what?

I am so lucky!

I am so blessed!

I am so thankful!

What about?

Babysitters :D

This last year I have been to the doctor more times than I can count.

I am just so very very very grateful for everyone who has helped make my appointments easier to attend by watching my kids.

First and foremost there is Auntie Stephanie, my sister in law.

Have I told you how amazing Stephanie is?

She is so good with kids!

My kids love her!

She has so willingly watched after my kids more times than I can count.

I am so grateful to her.

She is the best!

Really and truly THE BEST!!!

I have so many other people to be thankful for,

for watching my kids when Stephanie couldn't.

My Mom

and Mom in law,

my sweet sisters,
my cool brothers,

my neat-o brother in laws,

my wonderful neighbors and friends.

I am surrounded by awesome people.

And I am thankful :D

And Lyon says...

"Mom, can we go to China sometime?"

It is what it is....

Today I want to ask a question, here it is:

Does pretty much everyone walk around feeling like shit all the time?

Or is there a select group of people that do?

Or maybe there is a select group of people that don't?

Why do I ask?

I pretty much walk around feeling shitty. 

All. 

Of. 

The. 

Time!

Something always hurts,

either my back,

my neck,

my knees,

my ankles,

my belly,

my head,

my shoulders,

my bum,

my chest,

my side,

my hips

or my feet.

Sometimes the pain is muscular,

and sometimes is is deeply internal.

Sometimes everything or a few things at the same time.

Along with something always hurting,

I always feel some form of internal physical debate.

I feel dizzy,

nauseated,

lightheaded,

sleepy,

my face gets all flushed and hot,

I can't seem to do anything without feeling at least one or all of these things.

I get sores in my mouth,

sores in my nose,

my hearing seems to be failing,

my sense of smell seems to be increasing,

etc, etc, etc...

To add insult to injury,

almost every single night I am hit with a gas attack.

My stomach bloats up and I cannot stop burping.

I sit up, I burp, I lay back down, fill back up with air,

sit up again and burp again.

Sometimes the bloating hurts so bad I am certain my stomach is going to explode.

Sometimes it is so violent I end up throwing up.

The list goes on and on.

This sort of thing has been the case for as long as I can remember.

As far back as I can remember.

I feel like I am a pretty healthy person,

most of the time.

I have my Dr Pepper cycles,

I have my McDonald cravings,

but these take place in between vegetables, grains, fruits, water, etc...

I take multi vitamins,

I exercise at least three times a week,

I keep moving all day long,

rarely spending a day on the couch watching tv.

In fact I hardly even watch tv,

just a movie or show in the evening before bed.

I sleep,

I eat,

I breathe.

But I feel shitty.

So back to my question.

Does everyone feel this way?

Or is it just me?

I've had a bajillion blood tests and medical mumbojumbo done,

to see if I have something medically wrong with me.

For the most part everything checks out just fine.

So what is the deal?

I mean is this just part of human trial?

I mean I can deal with it if it is.

I can take the pain and junk,

I'll try hard to not complain,

I just want to know if I'm supposed to just suck it up, 

or not.

Aw, Lyon :(

The poor kid looks like he's abused... 

 First Bear knocked a chair over on him and it hit him in the face, 

then later the same day Phil accidentally elbowed him in the face. 

 Both incidents were total accidents, 

but according to Lyon it was on purpose and Daddy and Bear didn't care that he got hurt.

It's hard to see the bruise on his forehead,

I bet it hurts :(

And Lyon/Fenix says...

I had them in the bath and they discovered they could make themselves "beards" with the bubbles. 

Lyon says to me,

"Mom I look like Santa."

Then Fenix tells me,
"Mom i'm a fish... Mom I'm a mermaid... 
Aaaaaa! I'm floating away!"

And Fenix says...

"Yeah mom, I like you."

PRE-SCHOOL!!!!

Well I did it!

I signed Lyon up for pre-school. 

 I was hesitant to do so because I know that I can teach him myself like I taught Bear. 

 But I haven't been doing it.

 I have been to out of my mind to do most of the things I say I'm going to....

So I talked myself into professional help with pre-school. 

 I talked with my neighbor for suggestions, and she told me about a great pre-school. 

 So I some how found the courage to call the teacher, Mrs. Amber.

(I know that really shouldn't be so hard, but for me it is) 

She is so sweet and fun. 

 Lyon was soooooo excited to start. 

His first day I walked him to school, he rode his bike. 

 It was absolutely freezing cold, but we walked anyway. 

 It took forever, but we did finally make it. 

 Lyon ran right in with hardly a pause to let me take a picture of him. 

 I'm so relieved that he liked it so much. 

 I was worried he wouldn't want to go w/o me. 

 He doesn't like going places, 

most of the time he throws a fit when it's time to go anywhere because he just wants 

"to stay home with mommy"

But he was happy to go to school!

Fenix wanted to go too, she wanted to go with her Lyon. 

 She'd brought her own back pack and was hustling after him. 

 Poor girl started bawling when I stopped her and told her she didn't get to go yet. 

 She cried most of the way home. 

 Such silly kids, 

Lyon did the same thing when we dropped Bear off for kindergarten, lol!

Forgotten...

Well I am pretty sure my brain is no longer completely intact.

I keep forgetting things.

Things that I really shouldn't be forgetting...

I know that at some point or another forgetfulness happens to everyone,

but the level at which it has been happening to me is getting to be concerning to me, lol!

I forgot who I was writing a check out to today and wrote it out to the wrong person.

I keep forgetting about appointments I've made.

I often can't quite remember events, or if a certain event even happened, or if I just dreamed it.

I keep remembering stories that I've heard,

but I cannot seem to remember why the story was told or who told it.

This story for example:

"It's like when you buy a new car.

You never noticed that particular make of vehicle on the road before you bought it.

But now that you have it, it seems you see the same make of car everywhere you go."

I remember hearing this story,

but I cannot remember who told it or what they were using it as an example for...

I also can't remember if someone actually told me this story or if they told it to someone else,

or maybe it was part of a dream....

I often cannot remember what I've eaten during the day,

I can't remember what I wore yesterday,

If there were an investigation of some sort or another and detectives were at my door asking me where I was last Thursday at 6:30pm, they'd get a blank stare from me.

Of course, can anyone really remember stuff like that?

So far I can still remember my name,

my husbands name,

my children's names,

and where I live.

Though a few weeks ago I did get lost while out for a run.....

And sometimes it takes me a minute to spit out the right name for the child I am referring to.

And if you are my friend chances are pretty good that I have called you the wrong name too,

or completely drawn a blank when trying to say your name.

Now I'm wondering if I've written this post before but forgot...

I can't remember most of the stuff I write, lol!

Now I'm wondering what else I've forgotten...

Maybe my brain is just working to forget all the crappy stuff from this year,

and only remember the good stuff...

If that be the case I'll take it :)

Activity central...

I am almost always busy at my house.

I wish I was busy doing something interesting,

but I'm usually just busy cleaning.

And that is a really sucky kind of busy.

This week I've been trying really really hard to take time out of my busy cleaning day to spend time with Lyon and Fenix.

Bear is at school, 

and they get really bored after an hour of 

alternating between pestering and playing with each other.

So on Monday when they begged me to do school time with them, I took a deep breath in told them okay.

When we do school time I have a kid stand on a balance board 

(which is why they love school time so much) 

and then go through flashcards of numbers, letters, shapes, colors, etc...

It's been a while since the last time we did this,

and I was completely and totally shocked at how well 

Lyon and Fenix know their letters, numbers, shapes, and colors.

Last week Lyon surprised me and wrote his name on a chalk board.

Fenix draws circles on everything.

What the heck!

When did my children learn these things?

How did I miss that they are getting so smart?

I don't know the answers.

But I'm not complaining, lol!

It makes me want to do school time more often with them so I don't miss out on seeing them learn more, and it makes me want to put Lyon in pre-school that much more so he can learn that much more :D