Christmas at our House

 

Christmas at our house started last Thursday night.

Pizza for dinner and then a movie.

It's a sleepover with ourselves around the Christmas tree.

We all just wanted to make sure Santa would know how to get down the chimney and around our BIG screen TV which is placed right in front of the fire place.

Just so you know where we stand on the whole Santa thing with our kids, here is what Sarah will inform you..."Some peoples Moms lie about Santa Clause"  Hahahaha  I for sure do not want to be one of those Mom's in her book, you have to understand she says it with real drama coming out of her eyes...as if to say...that is just HORRIBLE!!!!

6:30 am we are awake and ready to open them gifts!

 

I am not so sure if that includes these two.

 

 

 

You know when it is Christmas at our house if you look at the trash, says Valorie ( I am thinking to myself that that must mean it is Christmas all the time here because my trash seems to always be full)

 

Christmas eve. was spent at my parents and Christmas day as well. Sunday was spent relaxing and catching up on sleep!!

 

   Hope each of you reading had a VERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I like what one of my cards read that was sent to us...

MERRY EVERYTHING!

My Evening

So no matter how perfect a parent looks or how well behaved their kids may seem...

every Mother has her moment.

every child has it's moment.

 

tonight after dinner i took all three kids to family dollar to Christmas shop for their cousins. We hadn't more then walked in and two had to peeeeeeeee...like really bad!!!

I already had reminded them to go before we left the house and then forgot to see if they did. Is this my fault or should it be theirs??

 

Well, our Family Dollar does not have a public pot, Why not? I am sure they have one, so why not let us use it?  If that is the way they are then we will leave...what else can they expect?

We did not return either.

Not so much to get back at them for not having a public pot as the fact that i was irritated...

1. at myself for not making sure they all went

                     2. at them for not paying attention and going when i said to

                    3. and yes because they didn't have a public pot. oh and yes, it is ALWAYS dirty in their...everywhere. Why can't they at least sweep the floor??

OK so maybe i am a little over irritated!

 

I had a small grocery list so we just went to do that and pee.All the while me trying to not show any irritation to the kids cause after all it wasn't really their fault remember.

 

All went fairly well until waiting in line Valorie (and her wiggles) bumped into a stand with hundreds of gift cards on it.

They all fell over

plus another stand with some stuff

plus a huge box with a train set in it

this i was secretly hiding to buy for Chadwin.( I know, I know, why get it when he is with and try to hide it? really...come on) but it was on sale and their was only a few left. Oh and plus he has been begging for it every time we go into Weis.

Does all this justify my buying it?

YES YES and do not question me either!!

so a few people bend over to help pick them all up, I must say it was one flimsy stand. And I made sure to let Valorie know it was fine...just an accident. It happens.It is OK

We got out of the store without chadwin seeing me purchase the train set.

Thank-you Valorie for sidetracking him the whole time with the lottery ticket stand! Hahaha ( they love to play with the lottery stand ) and maybe after all their years of pretend purchasing tickets they will win big like our friends from Canada!

 

after getting everyone in the van and groceries loaded Sarah bursts into tears. I hop back to her to find out that Chadwin threw his hat at her which hit her in the eye. He did it because she called him a looser.

"Mom, I am not a looser"

sigh and then sigh again...

what does one say at this point???

If anybody,I am the one feeling like a looser by now.

so once we got on the road to hit another dollar store ( it is all our beautiful little town has...hahah)

i burst into tears

Yes, i confess i did...for once this post is about a day that is very real to many of us but afraid to tell.

I did not scream at the kids but we talked and talked and i cried and cried. All was very quiet while entering home.

Now they are all nicely tucked in bed...with hugs and kisses to last till morning.

As for me...

I am going to make myself an egg sandwich.

Oh and i will make one for my husband who just loves and adores me like i am! Then I will go to bed and plan to wake up and immerse myself in some good quality time with myself,God, and the closet.

 

Today was and is done. I look at it as GOOD. And hope tomorrow will be even GOODER ~ smile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Road Trip

 

 

Today the kids and I are off to visit Grandma who is 93 years old.She lives 2 hours from us so we do not get to see her often.  I am so up for the drive...hot coffee and some Christmas music!!!  and whenever it's just the kids and I... you never know what we will do. Hahaha  I love it!!!

  OK YES  (cause i am sure you are wondering)  we LOVE it when Daddy is with us for a road trip and I am crazy about my man!!!

However after 8 years of being married we have learned our differences, one of which is... he is not much into people.

I am.

and so we make a GREAT match don't you think?

I do

and let me say, if you are married you do your marriage a HUGE favor when you separate yourselves for a night or two once in a while.

like the old saying...absence makes the heart grow fonder

and it is true!

so having went off about all that...i am now anticipating my return before i have even left. Hahahaha 

 

Today i read:

You can achieve more when you think of yourself as someone who makes good things happen - Megan Baker

present wrapping

 

If you need some different

neat

new

ideas for your Christmas wrapping here are a few...

 

brown packaging paper or you can buy it in stores. I picked mine up at Dollar General and wanted the used crackled look so i just scrounged it up before using it.

very inexpensive and crafty looking.

 

A bow somehow just tops it off yet a bit costly when buying them already made. I buy the ribbon and make my own... then hot clue it on the package.

 

 

I LOVE MY SNOWMEN!

 

He is so happy to be out of that tub, for 4 blissful weeks he gets to see light.I would be smiling too.

 

These by far are my favorite ornaments.They get hung up every year no matter the color or theme of the decorations.

Christmas tree

 

 

 

This is the lucky tree that made it home to our house today.

 

 

 

 

We all worked together very well and decided that this one was calling the loudest to be picked.

 

 

 

We enjoyed the wagon ride the most! and the mud...oh my the mud! I was as fascinated as the kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

please come Sarah and take a picture with us!

ok   fine   just stand where you are!

 

 

 

 

December

 

 

My Christmas music has been playing and now tonight we had our first snow!! (just a dusting) but it was white!!

It is dinner time and yet I have to be out in it...oh the bliss of snow!

So I fix the lights out front and just tinker around in the garage...haha and then out come Chadwin and Sarah with their boots and gloves and all.

Is it Christmas now? Chadwin asks. I wanted to shout YES YES it is! but knew that would really confuse him later.

 

 

 

I had myself sooooo much Fun this week, with many different things and I want to share a few with you.

Valorie's school provides this little shopping day for the kids to shop for their parents,friends and such. I decided to help out with it this year and I had so much Fun helping the kids come in and shop for people they love. There really was a beautiful selection and everything was under 5 dollars. It amazed me how each child just seemed to KNOW what Mom would like or what little sister would want. We even helped them wrap their gifts and labeled them all.

I finished early with my cleaning job and I was just in the mood to do some Christmas shopping so instead of heading home I just steered my light blue mini van towards Wal-mart.

Like Chadwin would say...Go,Go push the peddle down Mom. and I did and never returned home till 10:30pm  Hahaha

Oh the FUN when you can get out of the house ALONE!! For me it doesn't take much and I return home so refreshed!

I know this wonderful lady who is no where near my age and somehow we enjoy each others company. I am coming to treasure our times spent together. She calls me this week to invite me to a luncheon and of course i said YES YES! She chuckled and said you know it will be mostly old ladies like myself if you don't mind? I LOVE IT ALREADY

so she takes me to this ladies house who once owned a restaurant in my town and because her cooking was so well liked and missed she decided to open her home once a month and cook for about 20 people.The table was set beautifully and the food was delicious!!

I had such a wonderful time!

Just to enjoy simple beautiful things...

FOOD

WOMEN

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

We each have our own journey...each is unique...each holds value. and though we may not know each other well we have so much in common.

I am BLESSED today! and this Christmas I want to pass that along to you and many others I meet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-Improvement

 

MY reading from Life's little instruction book today was so good!

Mt best is number 210...

COMMIT YOURSELF TO CONSTANT SELF-IMPROVEMENT

 

That would make a good book title eh? You know whether we like it or not the reason one gets mad when being told what to do or is given advice (negatively or positively) is because of pride. If we were constantly committed to self-improvement then we would take ALL comments and suggestions not offensively,not haughtily and definitely not angrily.

There is ALWAYS room to learn and grow, to become more beautiful inside and out.

We ALWAYS have a lesson or test in front of us. No one is exempt.

A special verse to me from the Bible is from Hebrews 3:16.

So let us come boldly to the throne room of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Together

 

TODAY

8 Years of living together

5 years old

5 years ago on November 20th my son was born.

 

 

Valorie's first visit with her brother.

 

 

 

every day you are becoming more independent, more of a man, showing your true colors.

I like this.

yet i have tears as i write and look back at how little you once were.

I am so proud of you. Who you are becoming and most of all I love your humble soft heart.

i will never tire of hearing you say,"Mom, I love you" even tho it happens on average two times a day.

You are the one that has made me have patience.

I pray that no matter how tall you get or no matter wherever you find yourself in life you will always know that there is a spot in my arms for you.

I love you so much my boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 

i want to give you roots, DEEP roots

and then i want to give you wings, STRONG wings

LORD, help me!!!!!

 

 

 

 

some random pictures

 

 

lets get one thing straight...just because you have man features does not mean you are in charge here...haha

  

ok then,if you don't let me be the boss I'll act CRAZY!!!!!

 

 

come on...to make a relationship work you have to meet in the middle.

 

 

 

 

 

already taking an interest in football with Dad!

 

  For his birthday he has been asking to be surprised just like Thomas the tank engine was. I wasn't sure if he could handle that so i had been preparing him for weeks. At 4:30 4 of his friends came over and went to his room while he was in the basement with Dad watching Thomas. I called him up and said that the girls wanted him up in his room.

HE WAS DELIGHTED!

he said "MOM...you did!"

 

It was the funniest thing to see 5 boys enjoy each other...I left them do pretty much what they wanted and walked around with the camera and of course because i didn't want to miss out...hello! 

At one point he saw their gifts they brought and he ran over and his friends went on to give him the gifts they brought each pretty much opening it for him...he did not seem to mind this. So it was more like...i took the time to wrap and get this now let me open it for you and then give it to you...hahaha It was ADORABLE the way they all worked it out together!

 

Thank-you to all you Mothers who left your son's come over and spend a few hours with my boy!!

Give Thanks

 

GIVE THANKS - for it is good

My Party

It is my party and I can laugh if I want to!!!!!

32 years ago today i was born. I am thankful for my life. I have learned over the years that to have a happy JOY-filled content life you need to take the bumps that come your way with a positive outlook.The best part is...we do not need to take them alone.

THANK-YOU to all who have been a Friend to me!

Most of all I am grateful that God is by my side and lives within me guiding me each step of the way!

THANK-YOU God!

The singer below is my very talented cousin-in-law. He sings this song with out a single instrument (other then his mouth...haha)

I LIKE THE WORDS! and wanted to share them with you today.

Follow your heart

I just need to tell you that when I followed my heart the other day TV today I actually got so much done.

(that depends on what you see as worth getting done)

 

 

for me it was:

 

MEGA cleaning of the garage. I had no intention of doing this as you know I was having ME time. From my kitchen window I saw the dog do her job at an inappropriate place so out I flew to catch her in the act. (I am potty training a dog) on my way in to the house,

I thought...man it would be fun to go through all this stuff/junk and make it clean.

and that is what i did!

I worked at it for three hours putting things in their proper place.

and I thought...man it would be nice to just up and run to the hardware store and get a few things to help organize this space

and that is what i did!

 

I stopped to shoot hoops with my son

 

at lunch time 2:00pm i said.."kids, what do you want for lunch today? and they said, PB jelly sandwich."

i thought ...it can't get easier then that.

 

so that is what i made!

Later that day i thought...we as Mothers would make our life a little easier at times if we would just stop dictating our children's every step. It is OK to let them have some say every now and then.It is good to put yourself in their shoes once in a while. See if you like their Mother and the way she treats you.Just put yourself in their place. Many times it is the best place to go to see things that need to be changed in your life for better.

 

From the kids point of view, dinner was not quite as successful.

split pea soup...hahaha

 

I hope my week has inspired you to live a little more following your heart.

Coffee Aroma

Take a deep breath...of coffee's aroma.

 

Did you know that research shows that simply smelling java may be enough to reverse the effects of a poor nights sleep?

 

It also showed that inhaling the scent helped people type faster and more accurately.

 

I am out the door to buy me a coffee/hazelnut candle!

TV today

Today is a day for TV.

let me restate that...

Today is a day for breakfast on the couch with Mickey Mouse Club House,Handy Mandy,Dora...and who knows what's next?? probably Gaba Gaba which hopefully we will have had enough by then and we can turn the TV off very nicely with NO fuss...because I cannot stand to listen to that show, it just gets under my skin...haha

 

I am aloud to make the rules right??

 

In case you are new to my blog I am the Mother of three not a teen running the show.

 

so I am aloud to make the rules right??

well regardless what you say.

 

I AM MAKING THE RULES!

 

I know the weather doesn't seem like a day for the TV but I have been so thirsty for some ME time and I said to myself this morning...

"self, leave your work today,blog and then read something inspirational,write, get into the closet and pray, maybe take the kids to the library.DO WHAT YOUR HEART IS HUNGRY FOR TODAY"

and that sounded good to me

I agreed

 

 

The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves - Anonymous

The Pioneer Woman

  If there is someone i would like to meet, sit and have a cup of coffee with,it would have to be The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/  I love this ladies posts, I get recipes from her blog and for all that she does,I AM INSPIRED to be all that I can be!

Thanks Carolyn for introducing me to her blog!

Friends of Angel

 

 

                       You could say we are now friends...

         

                                      

sarah                                                  chadwin

valorie ( no picture because of school)

 

 

 

but what about how i feel by now…uummmmm

lets just say that i was REALLY upset this morning!( and those words do not do proper justice to how I felt, but I am not one to swear often so that will have to do)

 

I could not find my purse this morning and I sure did remember bringing it out of the van when coming home last night from the in-laws.

So finally i thought i would go look in the van.

I open the door to the garage and my purse is on the floor with my

 

cash

credit cards

coins

coupons

little bible

check book

 

and car registration…(don’t ask why i had that in my purse instead of the car box, probably the same reason you do…haha)

all spread across the floor and chewed on!!!! AAAHHHHHHHHH  scream!!!

I now believe in dog abuse. Although i did nothing but nicely pick everything up and sternly looked her in the blue class eye and said 

 No.  sit.  stay.

 

Tell me what posses pups to do this kind of mean and horrid thing? She should go to jail for this! Is there Dog Jail?? If not lets make one. Is anyone with me?

 

I then remembered setting my purse on top of the stroller in the garage while I helped one of the kids to the house.

 

 

My awesome smashing good sales this week seemed to make up for the frustration with the dog.

Check this out…

 

5 pairs of shoes for $11 and some cents at Kmart

 

A beautiful back-pack for Valorie next year marked $29.99 and bought for $2.97.

Shirts for all the kids at .97 cents a piece from JC Penny’s.

 

 

 

To all you women out there you just got to take the time to read this!

 

Perhaps it’s not personal

 

If there is one thing that women have in common, it’s our sensitive natures. Along with this quality comes a tendency to internalize and impute meaning and motive to the behavior and action of others.Here’s a thought: rather than going with your immediate reaction, consider that, at least some of the time, the things that happen really have nothing to do with you, personally, at all. It just may be that you are trusting the erroneous thoughts and feelings that have warped your perception, rather then admitting to yourself that perhaps it’s not personal. Let me give you a few scenarios that might seem familiar.

You have an acquaintance, every tine you see her, she doesn’t even acknowledge you, in fact she seems to look right past you. You begin to feel uncomfortable, thinking” what’s her problem, anyway?” You start to get mad, as she obviously thinks she’s to good for you. But have you considered the possibilities that could easily explain her apparent standoffishness?

Maybe she’s near sighted.   (That just cracked me up)

Maybe she doesn’t make eye contact because she doesn’t have time to socialize

Maybe she has other things on her mind

Maybe she is thinking the same thing about you

Just maybe, it’s not personal

 

Taking things personally only causes you unnecessary frustration, while leaving other people baffled by your reactions.

 

So the next time you catch yourself annoyed at a person or situation, remember to say to yourself: “Perhaps it’s not personal – and so what if it is!”

-Kristine Carlson

My Cupboard

 

Remember that cupboard i talked about months ago?

 

Well here it is…

 

 

It is only too bad i did not think of taking a before picture! It was a dark brown and I painted it white and then finished it with a black antique glaze.

 

I feel VERY good about this for several reasons…

 

1. my hubby doubted me…hahaha and now loves it and thinks it was a smashing success.

2. I was brave and tried something a bit out of my league.

 

and I LOVE IT!!!!!

 

 

                   

Inner beauty

 

 

Inner beauty is such a POWERFUL thing.

 

One I believe that is recognized just as quickly as the outward beauty. I find it interesting that we spend such little time on caring for our inner beauty but are much more concerned about what people see on the outward

When I think of inner beauty i think of being free from walking daily in things like:

Jealousy

pride

anger

gossip

condemnation

quilt

selfishness.

 

I don’t know about you but for me I want to be a person who shines from the inside out.

I want to be able to take an offense and not get all bent out of shape  from it.

I want to love the unlovable.

I do not want to become angry as soon as someone does me wrong.

I want to smile and mean it.

I want to live life as a friend to life - not afraid of what it could bring me but embracing it with STRENGTH.

 

The clip below I find interesting…you will need to scroll to the bottom and pause the music before you click on it.

Rebecca st james (she)

Why are most all the instructions from the Instruction Book on today's  page about how you eat? 

 

Please tell me you don’t drink low fat milk.

 

I personally hate it.

 

and what with using less salt?

 

I love salt.

 

i don’t have a problem with the red meat one.

 

I like the last one, but sadly when i do that for my own neighborhood i find that the manners are very poor. sigh, sigh

So  i guess i know what i need to do.

make up for it all and just SMILE at every one.

 

Help the elderly when I see them.

 

Be friendly and talk.

 

Attend or plan neighborhood get togethers. 

 

 

 

 

 

dreams come true.

 

 

 

YES, they do. We got a dog!!   AAhhhhhhhh!!  I love boxers ( keep your thoughts on the subject… DOG)

we have been wanting to get a dog because our kids are sooooo scared of them, hoping that they will loosen up a bit when they are around one constantly. Time will tell.

 

 

 

She seems to love Elvin and he seems to enjoy the love although he would not admit to it yet. BUT I KNOW IT. JUST KNOW IT.

 

                   

QUICK….RUN…run to the top of the slide

 

the top of the car

 

or the top of Daddy’s head

 

just get me on higher ground cause I am FREEEKING out!

MOM…help me! Angel is going to get me!! HELP….RUN  

 

 

Angel was her name and she seems anything but that…maybe it is hidden in her and we just need to coax it out?? The kids think that cause she is all over white it matches her…haha

 

WISH ME LUCK! cause now i am potty training a DOG not a child.

She is positively ugly one black eye and one blue and that is why she is so precious and WE WILL love her till she shines like a real angel.

 

 

AND

 

 

 

                          

 

we bought ourselves a 42” high def LCD flat screen TV.   YEAH no kidding, you can only imagine how pumped my husband was when getting the thing set up. This is so vain but really a dream come true…hahaha  and you have to understand that our house is really really small so this seems really really BIG and in our face.

But that is how you want it right??

especially football…yeahh  Go Vick

 

 

AND

 

 

we got a swing set! It just keeps getting better, or so the kids think!

 

 

by now you are thinking…

gee are they making money or what??

 

The TV was on us so if you want to make a charitable contribution you can call and give us your credit card number 

lets just say for the rest, we have good friends and family

 

 

 

So that is some of the exciting stuff happening around the Fisher home.Thanks for stopping by to read!

 

May you find PEACE today in your very special life.

 

Uniquely you.Be you.

 

Today I read:

If you don’t enjoy your own company why would anyone else? Take time to sit alone and quiet your heart before God.

 

 

I find it amazing how many things come up before you when you sit alone with yourself and when we let down our pride. Embrace the things that come up, make a conscious effort to change if necessary.

 

Like yourself. but always become a better you,willing to let the sharp edges be buffed.

 

 

 

The Fisher’s