Merry Christmas!- It's a long one sorry!

Christmas is always such an emotional time for me. (More so than normal, haha)  For some reason, this Christmas season is when I really 'got it', grasped what all really happened in the Christmas story. I think being a mom really put things into perspective. We watched a video at church that showed the excitement of the wise men as they CELEBRATED the birth of the new born King!  It also showed Mary placing baby Jesus into the manger, that tiny little baby just laying there in a manger...with hay...where nasty, stinky animals eat. (no, i am not a fan of animals) :)  That baby is our Savior. I wouldn't let Lucy Jane lay in that for anything.....but it was good enough for our Lord. 
I think about 33 years later....Mary watching Jesus hang on the cross in pain, bleeding, hurting...and to die for US. He had never done anything wrong, never sinned, never even had a bad thought...and she knew that...but she watched him hurting for us. My heart breaks when Lucy Jane is hurt or sick or upset. Could I watch her die for the sin of others? I have a hard time even forgiving others who have done me wrong...much less GIVE my child so that they may live eternally in Heaven???

My prayer is that from now on I focus on the reality of the Christmas story. It is about celebrating the birth of Christ, but also his death and resurrection. I don't know about you...but when you 'get it' it changes the way you look at Christmas. I wish it didn't take me 26 years for it to sink in. 
Our Christmas Weekend
I love traditions, I love making memories, and I love spending time with family.  This year is seems that every tradition Rich or I had always done went away.  We both had certain things that we do every year, and because of everyone's schedules on both sides of the family everything changed.  On Friday (Elve's Eve)  we had Rich's parents, sister, and the kiddos over to exchange presents and enjoy a meal together. 

Normally on Elve's Eve (ever since I was a little kid) we make and decorate cookies!  This is the night Santa's elves fly around to check on the boys and girls to make sure they are still being good!  Lucy Jane had been sick and was still not up to par, so she slept through opening presents. :(  Rich's parents stayed the night with us and got up and had breakfast ready the next morning!  Patti made her famous breakfast caserole!

Saturday, (Christmas Eve) we had Christmas dinner at our house with Rich's extended family.  We always enjoy getting to spend time with his cousins, aunt, and Grandparents.  I had never been responsible for half of a Christmas meal before so I was a little nervous!  (I found the deviled eggs in the fridge yesterday that I had made and was supposed to serve) Whoops! We ate dinner, opened a few presents, and enjoyed watching the kiddos play!  I really wish Christmas could be less commercial and more about spending quality time with your family.  I always say, Christmas is the time I love and hate the most.  I love it for many obvious reasons, but I can't stand the stress and tension that comes with the planning.  (And you know me...I start feeling the stress in January for the following year) Not anymore. This was my last Christmas to stress.  PROMISE.

Rich and I had staged our Santa visit and exchanged our gifts late the night before, so when Lucy Jane woke up it was ALL ABOUT HER!  She loved her goodies!  We went to church Christmas morning, had lunch at Brent and Leslie's (Rich's cousin) and then headed down to my parents! 

Our traditional Breakfast for supper was on Christmas night with my dad's side of the family, and then Monday (day after) was when we celebrated with my family!  This was the most relaxed, laid back day ever!  We hardly took any pictures, we lounged around in our lazy clothes, and loved every minute of it!  My mom had prepared yummy food and her decor was so cute!  She always does such a great job decorating!  My favorite gift was a new sewing machine!  I can't wait to start doing a few projects!  Here are just a few random pictures, something happened on my camera and it will not load half of them :(

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Slumber Party and Santa Claus!!!

What a fun night!  Our niece Maggie had a few of her friends over for a Slumber Party at our house!  There were 4 girls who were ready to have a good time! When I picked them up from school, their giggles immediately filled the car!  Lucy Jane was in heaven!  She went from 19 months to 13 years old very quickly!  She mimicked everything they did and said!  It was pretty cute!  The girls went upstairs to get dressed for the evening! (Fix hair, apply make-up, you know get all frilly)  I had made plans for us to all go eat at the food court in the mall and let the girls walk around and look at the stores!  I was going to take Lucy Jane to get her picture made with Santa while they shopped! 

When the girls came down the stairs I noticed Lucy Jane had on GREEN eye shadow and mascara!  I about died!  Needless to say.....you can see it in her Santa picture!  Memories...right?!  We had already been to the mall to meet Santa in hopes that the picture event wouldn't be so traumatic! It's not the best...but I've definetely seen worse!  

 Her shoes were off and on all night, and we had already lost the bow several times!  (She kept pulling out her rubber band)  


We came back to the house and the girls got into their pj's and played hide and seek!  They included Lucy Jane which was super sweet! Now, I tend to be the party pooper when it comes to getting wild and crazy.....but my husband is NOT.  He had the great idea to go and toilet paper someones house........!  Yes, he is a 33-year old grown man!  (Do you feel sorry for me?!)  If he is going to do something...he will do it right!  SO....he took the girls to Wal-Mart and bought them toilet paper, markers, poster boards, and a sweet card to leave behind for their poor victim! Here is the finished product!  

This is just a picture from the side....Rich deleted the other ones!  This was taken the next day when they were there helping clean up!  Never heard of that before!   They all had a blast! 

Terrific Tuesday!

I love days where I get to enjoy being at home!  I've been feeling a little crafty lately...I think that comes with staying home, the weather being cold, and my addiction to Pinterest!  It is so hard to see cute ideas and not recreate things for your home!  I even conned Rich into helping out last night with a couple projects! 

We have a picture in our house made out of unique letters that I spent way to much at Hobby Lobby to have it framed and matted!  I found a link on Pinterest where you can view all the letters to make your very own "cost efficient" picture!  I wanted something bright for Lucy Jane's playroom and something more calm for our kitchen!  I printed out the pictures yesterday, painted the frames and boards last night, and put the pieces together today.  I am by no means a "handy-woman", but I found my way around Home Depot and found just what I needed!  I did have to ask the lady who obviously had food stuck in her teeth because she dug in her mouth the entire time I was there saleslady to cut the board for me.  Actually, not to be mean, but the lady didn't have top teeth and she was eating the crumbs she found in her mouth.  I almost walked out, but I really wanted to complete this project!  Ewww, I'm sick thinking about this moment! 

I was going to paint these frames white....but after being so ready to get out of Home Depot (refer to previous paragraph for reason), I accidently grabbed clear paint.  It had a white cap!  I decided to use Chalkboard paint because I had it and it was black! Improvising...story of my life!  Rich stepped in and helped with this part!  Here is the finished project!  Before gluing so not perfectly straight. (Don't judge)  I did a couple more crafts, but they are Christmas presents, so I can't post pictures yet!  

I will have to say my absolute favorite part of my day was seeing my car SPARKLING clean!  No, I didn't do it!  I said I wouldn't let Lucy Jane eat in the car...it's disguisting!  Well......I cave and she eats things from frosted animal crackers, pretzels, even grapes on occasion!  So, you can only imagine what my car looked like!  I wish I would have taken a before picture! One of Rich's pet peeves is a dirty car....looking at his truck you would never know that though! they did a leather treatment and scrubbed EVERYTHING....I can't remember the last time I saw her carseat without a mound of crumbs underneath!



I have to post one more picture of Lucy Jane and Luke!  This morning she was playing in her play kitchen and cooking up a big meal!  She was feeding Luke fake bacon!  I caught them coming down the stairs together!  She makes me smile!  My sweet baby girl is 19 months old today!  This happened Waaaay to fast!

 

He's Baaaaaccckkk!

When I say, "He's BACK", I am talking about Luke!  Our precious, sweet, HUGE horse dog!  Rich and I got Luke when he was 5 weeks old.  He is a chocolate lab....abnormally large chocalate lab!  He weighs in around 145lbs!  We had him when we first got married and we loved him soooo much......and then I had Lucy Jane!  I immediately changed my mind about having this animal in the house with such a small baby!  After lots of griping on my part, Rich finally agreed to get rid of the dog! Yay!!!! I have never been happier! 

WELL, I know this story sounds too good to be true and it is!  About a week ago, the people that had taken Luke called out of the blue and said they couldn't keep him anymore and wanted to give us the chance to have him back!  (Lucky Us, right?) I was furious.  I have a new house that I don't want dog hair, dog slobber, dog food, or anything related to a dog in.  Rich talked me into just 'trying' it out for a bit and see how it goes.  Ugh! We are 1 week in.....and here is how it is going! 

She is putting stickers on him here!

Needless to say, I think Luke is here to stay! :)

A Few Days with Tee Tee

Lucy Jane was supposed to call my sister, "Auntie". HOWEVER we should have known...she has a mind of her own! My dad was going by "Poppy", until out of the blue she started calling him "Bubba". Well....Haley now goes by Tee Tee! Sometimes it sounds like 'Titty'...okay a lot of the times it does BUT hopefully with time Tee Tee will come out more clearly!! Haley sure hopes so anyway! Haha

Josh and Haley live in OKC...so we have to plan time to spend with them. I am not a fan of living so far apart, but we make the best of it!

Rich invited Josh to go on an awesome duck hunting trip with him for a few days...so Josh dropped Tee Tee off here!!! Soo excited! LJ loves having her around! Tonight we all went to dinner and then sent them on their way...(and we hit up the mall)! Then we went to my niece, Maggie's cheer exhibition! She did a great job, and she looked so grown up!

Tomorrow, Haley and I are going to enjoy running around for a few hours while Lucy Jane goes to Kid's Day Out! So excited to spend some time with her! Here are a few pictures from tonight! So glad to have a few days just us girls! Wish Nana was here, too!!!

Love Days Like These...

The weather was in the 30's all day....which means perfect weather to stay bundled up!  :)  Since we moved to NWA, I have looked forward to snowy days at home.  Well, Fort Smith got a 'dusting' and we didn't see any flurries.  I was a little disappointed; however, the freezing cold weather was perfect for a warm bowl of chili and a fire in the fireplace!  :)  Lucy Jane took a late afternoon nap, so when Rich got home he made a pot of coffee and started a fire!  I read my magazine and he watched t.v.  We all took baths early and played around the house in our pajamas! Extremely thankful for my family on days like this!