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My Bloggy MoJo Is Seriously In Need Of Help

Ok, it's been 6 whole days since I've posted anything. I'm sorry. I know there's some things I need to post about (BooMama's Tour of Homes, Siesta Ornament Exchange) but I just can't get into it. And my camera batteries are dead, which makes a photo blog tour rather difficult. I don't think you all want to read me describe my Christmas decorations or the FABULOUSLY WONDERFUL SMELLING pine cone ornament that Kerry sent me, so I'll wait until my camera is alive and running again until I post about those things.

In the meantime, I'll let you know a few of the zillion things we've been up to. I apologize for the boring day to day stuff, but hopefully we'll all look back and laugh at these busy days.....

1. The Great Christmas Tree Crash of 2008.
A few nights ago, I was in the kitchen when I heard a crash then a muffled yell from the den. I looked to find Spencer, who was sitting in the chair, which was now completely covered by a fallen Christmas Tree. He was frantically trying to keep from being buried alive while, at the same time, desperately taking off the nice fragile ornaments and laying them down carefully. And some people say men can't multitask. I beg to differ. I grabbed the tree, which weighs about 736 pounds and tried to lift it off of him. I managed to lift it about 2 inches - just enough for him to slide out and pick it back up. All of this being done while trying to keep 3 barefoot curious girls from coming over to investigate. Because nothing would've made the night better that a trip to the ER for glass removal and stitches in 6 little feet. Oh, the memories. I have no idea why it crashed, which is exactly why I predict that it will happen again. I'll keep you posted.

2. Ny Nephew, Jay's, 3rd Birthday Party
I know a lot of you have cute, adorable members of your family, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that my nephew is the cutest kid on the planet. Here's proof.


See. Told ya. My silly brother-in-law and sister-in-law insist on raising him as an Alabama fan, which immediately causes him to lose 5 cool points, but he's still way over a million. And to top it off, the kid is obsessed with old school Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. Not the new stuff - the old cartoons and comic books. I totally love him to pieces. And his baby brother, Jack, will make his grand entrance into the world sometime in April, which means there will be another perfect nephew added to my family. I. Can't. Wait.

3. Mary Emma's 2nd Grade Christmas Party
The 2nd graders at Mary Emma's school have a HUGE themed Christmas Party . The theme is the Grinch and the entire 2nd Grade hall is decorated like Who-ville. They are supposed to dress like people from Who-ville, which, of course, means Mary Emma will be dressing like Cindy Lou Who. Google her. The hairstyle alone means that we'll be up before the sun Friday morning getting the hair ready. I will definitely be posting pictures of this blessed event. Stay tuned.

4. The Trips
Spencer travels quite often with his company. I travel about once a year (not including short trips to parents' houses, beach vacay in the summer..) and love it. LOVE. IT. Traveling makes me happy. But being a SAHM of 3 kids, it's a logistical nightmare to make it happen. However, in the next 3-4 weeks, I will be traveling 3 times.
This weekend, Spencer and I are traveling to Jackson, MS, for Spencer's best friend's wedding. He's the best man and is really honored to be such a special part of it. It's our 11th wedding anniversary, also, so a weekend away from the kids will be really nice.
The following weekend, we are heading to Atlanta for my father-in-law's 60th birthday. My inlaws, Spencer's brother & his wife (Jay's mom & dad), and Spencer & I are going to spend a few days over there to celebrate.
Then, on Jan 5-16, Spencer is traveling to San Diego for business. Yes, you read that right - 11 days with 3 kids and no break. Mercy. However, he surprised me a couple of weeks ago with plane tickets out there - I will be going the 8-12 to hang out in San Diego - I've never been there and cannot wait. Also, rock on, Sky Miles account, for free first class tickets. What? What? Holler. I think I'll sit criss-cross-applesauce the entire flight just because the seats are big enough to do so.

So let the insane holiday craziness continue. Let my camera batteries charge so I can take pictures of my house and my ornaments.

But most importantly, let me remember Who this season is about. Let me focus my mind and heart and direct my children's hearts toward the Baby Boy. Let it be about Him. Not places, things, parties, and decorations. Let us remember that it's not all about us. Let us remember the proclamation of the Angels - "Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14

We Have A Chance Of "Hydrangeas" Tomorrow.

Once again, snow is predicted for my area tomorrow and tomorrow night.

You know how I feel about that.

The meteorologists are treading on thin ice, my friends.

We'll see.....

I Think She Should Become a Lawyer.

Last night Mary Emma didn't do something that I had asked her twice to do. Nothing big, but definitely one of those "nip it in the bud now or it's going to get worse later" kind of moments. Anyway, I told her that because of it, she was grounded from TV today. When she then pitched a fit about being grounded, she was grounded from TV for another day. Needless to say, the fit stopped.

So this morning, TV restriction commenced. When she fussed (but not too hard because she didn't want the punishment to continue into Tuesday) and didn't get anywhere with it, she changed her strategy.

Welcome to "Mary Emma's Attempt To Get The TV Turned Back On."

Argument #1
"Mommy, Zooboomafoo is on. We are learning about animal habitats in school, so I think Mrs. Story (her teacher) would want me to watch it. I can learn about giraffes, zebras, and monkeys and talk about them in school tomorrow."
Status: Fail.

Argument #2
"Mommy, I don't think I want to be a vet anymore (she has wanted to be a vet for several years now, but today, the desire completely left her). I want to be a Movie Maker, now. So I think I should watch TV so I can get ideas on what movies I'd like to make. I can also watch really closely and see if I can understand how the show was made. Watching TV today will help me become a movie maker."
Status: Fail.

However, I'd like to publicly give her props for trying. I think law school might be something she should think about.

You know, after she finishes the 2nd Grade.

Let It Snow...Please?!

Earlier this week, the weather people predicted that we were going to get some snow. I mistakenly had on the evening news when my 7 year old was in the room and she heard the word "snow". She went absolutely crazy - which in turn made the little 2 girls equally crazy. They were all running around the house cheering for the "snow" that we were "supposed to get during the night."

Guess what?

We got nothing. Nada. Not a flurry. Not a piece of ice. Just wet, cold rain.

Now, let's be honest. It's cruel to tease a child in ALABAMA with snow. I've only seen snow about 10 times in my life (excluding ski trips, etc. to places like Colorado where it's supposed to snow), so it even makes me excited. I have an ongoing promise with Mary Emma - if it snows during the night, even on a school night, and I see it, I will wake her up and we'll go outside and play.

So far, we haven't been through the torture of had the privilege of playing in the snow at 2 AM.

I think that in places like Alabama (and any other of the tropical states), the weather people should be required to refrain from mentioning snow until they see a flurry with their very own eyes. The possibility of snow should have its own code word that you don't get to know until you are an adult. If the weather people here had mentioned a possibility of...say..."hydrangeas," my kids would've never run around like they were jacked up on caffeine, and my 7 year old would've slept with her blinds closed so she didn't wake up every 3 1/2 minutes to check for snow.

So take note, weather people, snow prediction is a serious, serious business. Especially down here in Alabama. Shape up, please.

Christmas With Kids

I can't even believe that Christmas is around the corner. Literally. Wow.

2008, you have been a fast little buggar!

And we are yet at another speed bump in the road called "How Much Is Santa Allowed To Bring For Christmas?"

Because the economy was better in the past, and because we were a lot more stupid in the past (can I get a raise of hands of those who were stupid about gift buying for their kids? Anyone?) we Santa has brought entirely too much. On several occasions, the sheer amount of new toys has brought about some twitching and abandoning new toys to play with comfortable old ones, and we have (on more that one occasion) given away toys that have only been played with once or never.

We were so stupid.

Thanks to Ye Olde Economy (which was "officially" reported to be in a recession yesterday....um, yeah, thanks for the update genius economists...I kinda got that on my own), and due in part to us being a little less stupid this year, we have set pretty defined limits on Santa.

I mean, he's a jolly old soul and a merry old man, but he needs BOUNDARIES, people.

This year, the kids are allowed to make their lists for Santa. Mary Emma literally sits in front of the TV and writes down every single thing that comes on every single commercial. Her list is pages long. Tait and Camille are too little to make lists, but Tait is understanding "Santa" for the first time this year. She's 3. Anyway, their lists can have 246 items on them, but Santa chooses the 5 gifts that HE thinks they would love and play with the most. Only 5. They still get to ask for stuff, but they are also still surprised on Christmas morning. They also get one gift from Spencer and I, and one gift from the other 2 sisters. That will make 7 total on Christmas morning. We can also control the budget on these gifts. Mary Emma's list contains some EXPENSIVE stuff that Santa is choosing not to bring this year.

I have to tell you about Tait's "list". She technically doesn't have a list, but she has asked for 2 things. 1. a vacuum 2. a brown baby. A "brown baby" is an African-American baby doll. Now, before any of you get all riled up, this is as innocent and non-racial as can be. A couple of months ago, the girls went to "Family Fun Day" at my dad's church (he's the pastor). They had a bunch of games and you won prizes with each game. At the end of the day, and because the girls were the pastor's grandkids, church members gave them a bunch of leftover prizes. AKA, jackpot for the kids. Most of them were little prizes like temporary tattos, pencils, but one lady gave them the last 3 baby dolls. 2 were Caucasian, 1 was African-American. Tait and Camille got the Caucasian dolls and Mary Emma got the African-American one. Tait absolutely LOVES that doll. She confiscated it from Mary Emma. You can generally find it hidden under the covers in her bed. She calls it "Mary Emma's Brown Baby". Now, remember, she's 3, knows NOTHING about race, and is learning her colors. To her, it's a brown baby and she adores it. So she has asked Santa for her own Brown Baby. The vacuum? No idea where that came from. But every store around here is sold out of play vacuums. Wonderful.

As for grandparents. Lord have mercy. Their only "requirement" is to not overshadow Santa. And for my mom, no toys that require additional rooms to be built onto the house. And I'm not even kidding. Love ya, mom.

I'm curious as to how you handle Christmas. Do you limit Santa or is it a free-for-all? Do you spend equal amounts on each kid? I have a hard time with that because older kids obviously have more expensive toys. I'm sure they'll get to an age where I can spend equal amounts on each of them, but I'm not there yet.

Let me know what you do - I'm interested.

And much less stupid. :)

I Need Africa: Part 2

I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME

I talked a little last week about Mocha Club's campaign. Well, today is Dec 1 and you can find out how you can help.....

Keep reading.....

Barrett, the brain/super amazing guy behind Mocha Club wrote this....

When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. “I am needed here,” I think. “They have so little, and I have so much.” It’s true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in the people. It’s a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day. [read more]

Watch this "I Need Africa" video....

Check it out. Think about it. Pray about it. Is it something you want to be onboard with?

I do.