Not out of the woods

Famous Last Words.

I got my one Christmas wish,

we all felt at least mostly well for Christmas,
and two bonus days (Saturday and Sunday).
I woke up Monday feeling sort of yucky and by that night I felt like I had swallowed sand paper.

I finally gave in and the "husbird" took me to the doctors yesterday.
I have Strep Throat.
No wonder I have been feeling so awful.
No wonder I couldn't lift my head off my pillow.
No wonder I have white knuckles every time I swallow.
So much for all the projects and fun I had planned.
Getting better is now my job.
Hallelujah for antibiotics!

Thank goodness for my gem of a "husbird"
who has been holding down the fort while I've been laid up in bed.
He did put a pink hat on my baby boy for some snow fun,
but I can forgive him for that.
That's the least I can do.

Christmas Day

(picture of "A" at a family party a week ago)

We've had a wonderful Christmas.
I hope you have too.
Fortunately the sickies are doing better, not out of the woods, but better.

(gifts for all the grandchildren (14 of them) from my parents)

We've been having fun getting toys out of their packages, having nerf wars, playing Uno, watching "Santa Clause 2", playing Zingo, and watching "The Nativity."
We've been in our jammies all day long and loved every minute of it.

We feel extremely grateful for the birth of our Savior on this Christmas Day!

One Christmas Wish

You're probably thinking my one Christmas wish has to do with a laundry fairy waving her magic wand, so all the clean laundry is instantly put away.

Although that would be nice that's not it.
This picture is just to show what hasn't been getting done at my house.
The picture below is a hint for what I've been doing instead.
Look closely.
I've been dealing with unhappy, sick "nestlings."
Not Fun.
Christmas this year is going to be different than years past,
because I have accomplished next to nothing lately.
No baking, very little shopping, no gift wrapping--call me a scrooge.
It's hard to get much done carrying a 30 pound baby around.
Sadly, I just don't feel much of the Christmas spirit,
instead I'm feeling the spirit of runny noses and constant needs.
Two of my four kids are sick and "C" just told me she feels weird.
Not another one.
They're dropping like flies.
Sorry to complain, just keeping it real this holiday season.
It feels more like a sick season to me, not much holiday going on around here.

One silver lining is that my dear mom relieved me of my sickly duties last night so I could go do some shopping and out to dinner
with the "husbird", our employees, and their wives.
It was a lovely evening getting to meet and know their wives, getting to eat and speak with no interruptions, and not having to wipe anyone's nose except my own.
Pure joy!
Here's to snot free, healthy, cry free days.
Cheers!

Christmas Card Picture Outtakes

One task that I dread every year is taking a family picture for our Christmas card.
It is almost impossible to get a picture

with everyone looking at the camera,with everyones eyes opened,with everyone smiling

(especially the one year old)

and last but not least,
with everyone's tongues in their mouths.

After much struggle with this chore we decided to only take a picture of the whole family every other year and this is the year of just the "nestlings." Yea!
I know this will get easier as the "nestlings" get older or
at least I hope it will,
but for now it's an ordeal to say the least.

After many attempts and some tears shed we finally got a somewhat acceptable
Christmas card photo,
which I'll post in a future post.

Going Gray

I've had a week lacking in color. It's been sort of gray.

First of all I've had a terrible, miserable cold and if you know how it is to be a mom you know it doesn't matter if you're sick, you have to carry on as if you're not. Laundry still had to be done, dinners still had to be made, and many, many more things.

The skies have been gray which didn't help my mood.

I've had to work on preparing a lesson for church all week instead of getting ready for Christmas. My tree still doesn't have one ornament on it.

Last and worst of all I found a gray hair on my head, okay a few gray hairs. Yikes! I know I should count my blessings because I never knew my dad with any other color of hair. His hair went completely gray in his twenties. I kind of prepared myself for the worst and thought I would go gray young too. I have been celebrating every year I haven't found any gray hair, but no more. I guess it's the thought of getting older that scares me more than the gray hair, after all I am a hairstylist and can color it. I just have to face the fact that I'm no spring chicken anymore. Darn reality!

These things being said, I know there could be worse things in life,but thanks for listening.

New Christmas Tradition

We have a new member in our family.

I'd like to introduce you to "Billy."He's cute isn't he? In an elfy kind of way.
He's going to live with us for the month of December.
He does wonders to curb bad behavior.
Just two words is all it takes,
"Billy's watching."
Amazing what those words do to change the actions of the "nestlings."
He's secretly a gift for the "husbird" and I.
Shhh don't tell.
Here he is hanging out with my white pitchers, but tonight he'll fly back to the North Pole and tell Santa if the "nestlings" have been naughty or nice and then reappear in the morning somewhere new.

Maybe you already have an elf that lives at your house, but if you don't and you want one, go to your nearest book store or Hallmark (where I bought mine w/a 20% off coupon) and get the book pictured above, it comes with the elf.
I wish we had started this tradition years ago.