I feel like such a bad, bad blogger.

Surely it’s been over a week since I last sat at the computer?!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are ready to face the New Year!! I had to laugh at my friend Kelli because she asked her readers a question and I thought for sure I was the only one with selfish, self-centered, ungrateful kids. This is what she asked,

“Please tell me I’m not the only one who have kids that have already broken a new Christmas toy and have uttered the words “I’m bored.”

No, Kelli, you most definitely are NOT the only one with kids like that. It makes me sad, and angry, and frustrated, and confused. I mean, where have we gone wrong? I certainly can tell you that our children have WAYYYYYYYY more than we ever had at this age. It was completely un-heard-of to eat fast food regularly when I was growing up. McDonald’s was a very special place that we only drove thru when we were going on REALLY long road trips and sandwiches simply wouldn’t last in the cooler without getting soggy. And when I say REALLY long road trips, I’m not talking about 5 or 6 hours in the car! My grandparents were ALWAYS a 12-15 hours away, and flying was not an option. There were no Starbucks Coffee shops on every corner, kids played OUTSIDE most of the year, and you only got new toys at Christmas and on your birthday…and even then, it was SOME new toys, not an entirely new TOYBOX full of toys.

I have to admit, our family did awesome this year. We have really stressed our feelings about the boys receiving too much at Christmas and everyone really has listened. This year, the boys got a FEW toys each and the family was given several new games and movies. When I got home from Christmas, I reorganized our game closet and, being the list QUEEN that I am, I took inventory so I could keep a running list of what games we have. The grand total….twenty-six games! I am beyond excited. My boys have hardly sat in front of the television for more than 10 minutes since Christmas.

Well, this is not what I intended this post to become, but, too late now.

I will say that I’ve finally gotten the wind back in my sails and I am beginning to recognize my old house again. I simply did not have time or motivation to get things back in order after the foster children left. We had the last week of school, Christmas shopping, cars to be repaired, family to visit, cookies to bake, blah, blah, blah……but FINALLY, I’ve had this entire week to stay home and CLEAN, do laundry, reorganize, make bags for Goodwill (I imagine this is the BEST time of the year to shop at Goodwill!).

My dad had surgery on his neck this past Monday, so the kids and I are about to load up (after a much needed shower) and spend the day taking care of him.

Double date with the Baileys on Saturday….VERY EXCITED!!

Diet starts Monday.

haha.

~audrey

Years ago my brother-in-law started calling the day before Christmas Eve, Christmas Adam….because Adam came before Eve. haha.

So, today is Christmas Adam and I’m scurrying around with my to-do lists and unwrapped presents and a pile of laundry that doesn’t appear to be getting smaller no matter how many loads I do!

I got a very exciting phone call a few hours ago, as I was waxing my chin, lip, under my chin, basically half my face eyebrows. It was my mother-in-law and she was calling to see if she could pick up the boys and take them for the rest of the day and into the evening….um, YES!!! I think I heard angels singing as I began to realize how much I’d be able to get done in a short amount of time if my house was EMPTY! Oh how nice it will be to leave town tomorrow and know that my house will be clean and there won’t be ANY piles of laundry waiting for me when I get back. I think Josh and I may even have to plan a little date night tonight. I’m SO excited!

I don’t have a clue what we’ll do, but it will be fun and relaxing no matter what it is! Unfortunately, if we decide to actually GO somewhere, we will be spending a lot of time in the car because traffic at night is INSANE right now with less than 48 hours left to shop!

Are you familiar with Dave Ramsey? He has a show on the Fox Business Channel and is the author and creator of the Total Money Makeover, where he encourages readers to get out of debt, pay cash for everything and be a ’slave to no man’. Anyways, he has challenged his readers/watchers to not create New Year’s resolutions, but rather create a list of goals for the coming year. Attainable, beneficial goals in the following areas: career, financial, spiritual, intellectual, physical, and family. Over the next week, I’m going to create my goals for each of those catagories and I will post them on New Year’s Day.

At breakfast this morning, Owen said (with a mouthful of eggs and grits) “happy kwimmus (Christmas) Mommy!” He’s so darn cute.

Happy Kwimmus everyone!
Less that 48 hours until Christmas!!

~audrey

Of course we’ve all heard of, and some have experienced first hand, the Terrible Two’s.  It’s like someone whispers in your sweet little 24 month old’s ear,

“okay little buddy, you just turned two, time to let it rip!  you’ve got at least 12 months to go buck wild and get into anything and everything you can.  hurry up and get started! …oh, and you should add a little attitude too!”

SSOOOoooo…Ashley and I have had two, two year olds this year and it’s been loads of fun, lots of laughs, and definitely never a dull moment.  Today alone, Jonathan and Owen gave me more than enough material to make a great post on our adventures with two, two year olds.

First there was this:

I opened the fridge to put some groceries away and I found five cars on top of the turkey lunchmeat.  See, Joshua and Jesse both got a new ‘color shifter’ hot wheels car.  The kind that change color if you dip them in cold water (or put them in the fridge for a little bit).  I guess Owen had seen them do this before and thought that surely ALL hot wheels change color if you store them in the fridge…hence the refrigerated hot wheels.  He was disappointed when I made him take all of them out and explained that HIS hot wheels would not change color. 

After lunch, I decided to make some coffee.  I figured Owen and Jonathan would get a kick out of me squirting some whipped cream in their mouths, so I called them into the kitchen.  I squirted just a little in both of their mouths and watched them giggle and enjoy their little treat….until I turned back around as I heard Ashley gasp…Jonathan decided he didn’t want his whipped cream, but figured Owen would like it, so he spit his out (sort of in the shape of an egg), gave it to Owen, and Owen gladly accepted and put it in his mouth…BARF!!!  If only they could share their toys as well as they share spit, germs, and other gross bodily fluids.

Ashley and I were finally relaxing in the living room, each holding a twin while the bigger kids played outside.  We could hear Owen and Jonathan playing well together in one of the bedrooms, so we weren’t concerned.  I got up to check on them a few minutes later and I found Jonathan STANDING on top of the chest of drawers in the guest room!!  I gasped and said very sternly, “JONATHAN, GET DOWN!”  With not an ounce of fear, he looked up at me with a huge Curious George smile and HURLED himself onto the nearest bed.  Ironically, Jonathan probably gets hurt the least out of all six of the bigger kids.  How he manages that; I’ll never know.

We had a blast with the Baileys and the Grahams today.  We had lunch together, the kids played outside, and they each made a hand print ornament (three days before Christmas).  Here are Joshua, Jesse, and Owen’s finished products:

I’ve had a few people ask how my arm is doing (thank you for asking!), so here is a picture from today:

My arm is 90% better!  All the swelling is gone and I couldn’t drain anything else out of it by Saturday.  The center is still red and peeling and there is still a small knot under the skin, but I’m pretty sure the infection is over and gone.  That was a strange experience that I hope to never repeat.  yuck.

 Merry Christmas everyone!!  I know I’ll be writing that again over the next three or four days, but I just had to say it.  I feel like I’m finally getting into the Christmas spirit…with only four days left to enjoy it.  oh well.  such is life.

~audrey