Christmas and Beyond

Christmas day was great! The kids slept in until almost 8:30 and then we opened all the gifts from Santa! I am very thankful that we are in a position to provide nice things for our family without worry. We had a great dinner too! A nice ham, which I slow cooked on a low temp a ll day to make it moist and not dry. It was really nice!
Ryan has taken a weeks vacation from work and I have been trying to get the house more organized and in order. I worked on the basement and my bedroom yesterday. I have to work on them some more today and get it organized in a way that if I don't finish, it won't be a mess when I come back to it at a later time. We have a bunch of running around today to do as well. I have to leave here shortly and go to Walmart to pick up some medicine, get to Giant and get baby formula for Gabe and then hit the dry cleaners and pick up a suit for Ryan to wear later today for a job interview. Then I have to come home and gather everyone up and drive up to Ryans work and get his pay check, hit the bank and then home so he can get ready for his interview.
He has an interview today for another retail store chain. It is for a position higher than he has right now and hopefully they hire him and the pay is better than he makes now. Don't get me wrong, his pay now is great. but its always nice to have more money! Especially since we really need a new van and the money to fix the one we have. More money would free up that money we would need.
I have also been busy hitting all the after Christmas sales! Somehow in all our moves, we lost all our Christmas items. I bought what I needed for this year, but went to all the 50% off sales after Christmas and stocked up on more ornaments, garland, lights and yard decorations. All I need to get for next year is a new tree skirt and maybe a few more yard items. The front yard is small so we may only need 1 or 2 things. I was also able to get a beautiful Christmas serving tray and also a 101 piece cookie cutter set for only $4.99! What a great deal!
We've also been continuing the work on the house. Ryan has been working on stripping the paint from the fire place. And I bought a light for the upstairs hallway. I'll post a picture below so you can see it. It's just beautiful!
I think other than all those things, life has been normal as always. We're just looking forward to the new year and all the new things it will bring!

It's Christmas Eve!

Here we are, Christmas eve. The night when it all happens! The kids received email videos from Santa and we've been tracking him on NORAD and clicking on all the places he's visited already. Like Fuji, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, The International Space Station, etc....  Ryan is working today, so I've been home cleaning the house up for our company tonight. I still have some last minute shopping left to do. I know exactly what I need to get and where I need to go. I hope to have it all done in 1 hour. Luckily, the stores are less than 5 mins. from my house and all in the same shopping center! I hope I find what I need so I don;t need to make an unexpected trips anywhere else.
Tomorrow will be awesome! I have my camera all charged and ready for Christmas morning! It'll be nice to have the kids help bake a birthday cake for Jesus tomorrow. It puts the day into perspective for us all. This holiday is a very good one! We have had no problem providing for our family, but we were also blessed to be able to help provide for another family as well.
We adopted a family for Christmas. They have 2 children - a 2 yr old girl and a 10 month old boy.   I mailed out the box priority mail 6 days ago and was so scared they wouldn't get it in time! I got an email this morning from the mom saying she got the box this morning and wrapped all the gifts already! I am so glad we were able to help make another families Christmas a little brighter!
Merry Christmas everyone!

It's almost Christmas!

Christmas is almost here and we are hurrying to get all the stuff done. By 'stuff" I mean the gift and grocery shopping, the cleaning and decorating of the house and trying to complete the living room renovations. Which have taken a bit longer than we had anticipated! We are hoping to have the majority of the work done by Christmas Eve, in time for our holiday guests. Let's pray it happens!

Besides all that, the kids have been busy doing their own thing too. Dylan is getting used to homeschooling again. Hes doing pretty well and luckily I am here to help him when he gets stuck. I'm finding that he is doing much better now than he was when he was in public school. I can tailor the materials to his needs and give him one-on-one attention to be able to grasp ideas that are being taught. Kayleigh and Savannah are both working hard on their own school work as well. Kayleigh is learning to read and spell. Savannah is in the pre-reading stage. Bella is just as cute as can be! Helping mommy out whenever she can. And Gabe, well, hes already teething! How crazy is that! My boy is only 2 months old and is drooling like a champ! I'm sure he won't get any teeth for a while though, but its just to see his advancement!

We are planning on baking cookies for the police and fire dept this holiday. It's easy to forget these important people during this time of year, but they are always a much need resource all year long. And a basket of goodies is the least we can do to thank them for everything they do for us! I think on the 23rd we'll take the goodies over to them.

Well, I'll close this for now. I'll update more later in the week!

The tree is up!

Ryan went out and bought the best Christmas tree last night! I took Kayleigh and Savannah and we went out shopping for some new ornaments. This year, we decided to do a color themed tree. We chose to do blue, white and silver. It turned out really nice! The only problem is keeping Mama Cat away from the ornaments! She has a tendency to bat the Christmas balls off the tree and chase them around the house! LOL
The kids did a wonderful job of decorating the tree! They wanted no help from mom or dad this year! They are doing a good job of not touching the tree too, since its been decorated. I would like to buy a different tree topper though. We bought a big snowflake to go on top, but i want to see if I can get a white or blue angel. The kids are really excited about the holiday this year. They are excited not only about Santa's visit, but also about baking a cake for Jesus and celebrating his birthday! I think they chose a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for this years cake!
We have also made a decision about visiting on Christmas day. We will visit with our friends and family before Christmas day. Ryan and I want the kids to be able to relax, stay in their jammies and play with their toys all day. And not have to worry about going places, getting dressed up and putting their things away for guests. Its a day we decided to take just as a day for our family.

Sunday, Beautiful, Sunday

Well... maybe not "beautiful", its cold and rainy again. But tonight we get and decorate our Christmas tree. My dining room looks great since we were able to move the extra furniture out finally! Savannah and I will go shopping for Christmas ornaments tonight and with the Eagles game on in the background, we'll decorate the tree! :) 
I am also almost done all my Christmas shopping. I hope to have it done by weeks end. And get to my parents (where the gifts are hidden) to wrap them, next week.  I had a mental list of all the things I wanted to get Ryan, but now i can only remember 1 thing. How bad is that? LOL I'm sure I'll remember when I'm out shopping and filled with the holiday spirit!
We are having family over on Christmas Eve as well. My parents and my brother, sister-in-law and nephew. I also invited my Aunt, who is Kayleigh's godmother, and she's getting back to me. Hopefully I can have the renovations to the living room done by then!
We are making really good progress. I'll buy the wood stain and paint for the walls this week and hopefully we can get it all done over the weekend or next Monday. I have a few 'accessory" items, like pictures of the kids etc... to get to hang on the walls, to make the room complete.

JCLU FOREVER-Christian T Shirts for Women

A while ago, I "liked" a page on Facebook called "JCLU FOREVER-Christian T Shirts for Women". They have amazing clothes and great prices too! You should check them out! http://jcluforever.com. Here is a sample of what they carry:

Hello Monday!

Its the start of another week. Its cold, windy, and at times, wet. What a nasty way to start the week. I'll be pretty busy today. I can *hopefully* get Bella in to see the dentist. I noticed some teeth "issues" I am concerned about and want them addressed. I have to fax a million different doctors office request for medical records so my kids can go to a new pediatrician. When did they start charging for records anyway? $15-25 for a records transfer. Thats crazy! It takes all of a minute to put the file in the fax machine and dial the number to send them. Why does that cost so much? So, here we go.
Then I have to call a new energy provider and get some info fixed. Actually my husband needs to do this, but I have to ride his behind to get it done! And then I have to fax or mail a letter of intent to the superintendent in our new school district, about homeschooling Dylan. I have tests to make for him and a profile with assignments and test scores in an online homeschool planner. Thats a job in itself!
And I can't forget to get my weeks worth of school done for my college class. I am currently in my 3rd class. Which is "Leadership for Organizations". I am really struggling with this class for some reason and pray to get at least a C to pass it! I am 1 point below a B right now and tomorrow we begin week 4 out of 5 weeks. So its almost over! Pray I pass!
Ryan is home today and working some more on the house. I'll post more about that in a future blog. But that is basically what I have on the books for today. Oh and don't forget the baths, cooking, cleaning, laundry and dishes that will get done throughout the day as well! But as my aunt always said, "It's better to have your hands full, than empty."

Another year older!

Yesterday was my husband's 35th birthday. it was an nice day. He says he didn't expect any gifts and was surprised when I gave him a bag full of new tools.  I made the dinner of his choosing, which included Caesar salad, baked ziti, sweet Italian sausage, and a loaf of Italian bread.  For dessert we had a cake that was in the shape of a football players head with helmet. 
This is also the first birthday he was able to spend with his sister. She and her husband came over and had birthday dinner and dessert with us. We all had a good time! :)

Unitarian Universalism???

What in the world?? So my son took an online religion test from Belief Net, to see what religion his views were most in line with. And he get Unitarian Universalism. Don't even ask me what it is! I read up on it and its a bunch of NONSENSE! Its basically a "believe whatever you want and everything will be fine" religion. Where did I go wrong? How do I get him back to Christianity? My goodness! I feel horrible!

The tale of the blue bathroom.

So we are buying our current home from my sister-in-law. It is a great home. I've loved it since we've moved in! But there is a lot of work to do. Which is also pretty cool, that way we can do our own thing. We've done a good amount of things so far - cut down 5 trees/bushes out front, put in new lighting in the bathroom and kitchen, started removing the paint from the fireplace, to name a few.  Our biggest accomplishment so far though, is updating the blue bathroom. My sister in law had already ordered the new sink and vanity before we decided to move in. Ryan took out the older blue set and put the beautiful new white set in its place. He hung a large, gold framed mirror over the vanity and just today, added a new white toilet and removed the blue one.  Although outside, the toilet looked more of an off white, when we put it in, it looked fine. The bathroom still needs to be painted a nice champagne color, and have a new shower curtain added, but other than that... it looks great! The blue bathroom is no more!
Now, I do have some friends who have blue toilets and others who want a blue toilet. To those friends, I say, more power to ya! You can come get mine (if the trash man doesn't get to it first!) I am so excited to have it done! Once the walls are painted and the new shower curtain in place, I'll post a picture for all to see!

The holiday season is upon us.

So Thanksgiving just ended and we have started the descent till Christmas. Although this should be the best time of year, most people I find, are very rude. It's hard to go out any place anymore without encountering rude people. Just the other day I was at a home goods store with my husband and children. They were well behaved and there were only 2 other ladies in the store (they were together). As we came to the end of the aisle we were in, we encountered them. And the one lady made such a rude remark about ow she can't shop when other people bring their children along. It's something she never did. What I did and what I WANTED to do, were totally opposite. So I just continued on shopping holding my darlings hands and hoping she realized her comment wasn't going to affect me. This type of thing usually happens everywhere I go. And I have to say, I often get mad about the comments people feel that they are free to make about the size of my family. I get through it by remembering that my children are my blessings from the Lord and many people today do not see children this way. I mean, is 5 children really THAT many?

Now that I have that off my chest LOL, I have to say, preparing for this Christmas is different than any of the recent Christmases I have had. This Christmas, we are home in Pennsylvania. For the past 4 years we lived in Ohio and it was always only us for the holidays. This year, it is different. We have family and friends awaiting our visits and also a new addition to our family.

Our son, Gabriel was born October 8th. So, this will also be the first Christmas I am buying gifts for 5 children. And also the first Christmas in many years I get to buy baby boy gifts! I have done well with budgeting so that the day is a good one for the children when they come down on Christmas morning and also with buying the food for our visitors on Christmas Eve, our family meal on Christmas day and also New Years day. I always get nervous that money will run out between the holidays and the bills, but we always get through it just fine!

This year we will also be doing something more homemade for the children's Godparents. They are each going to make something special for them. This, I feel, will take away the commercial aspect of gift giving for my kids. Not that theres anything wrong with buying gifts from the store, but I want them to take a hands on approach to the loved ones they give to during the holiday season. I think their gifts will be wonderful! I am excited to get them started on them!

I'll close this for now, since I started this thinking I didn't have anything to say LOL! I have more to add about newly homeschooling my 9th grader, moving into a new home and its renovation projects, homeschooling my 4 and 5 year old girls and updates on our new precious addition Gabe!