Happy 2011!

As usual I have had good intentions for weeks. It's long past time to update this blog!!! Christmas was great! Same story as always--I was going to be totally organized and get all of my shopping done early so I could just relax and enjoy EVERYTHING! Not to be....but not for lack of trying. I was a little crazed right up until Christmas Eve, but all in all it was a great time. We were so thrilled to have Nana and Poppi here and were sad when they had to go home. I think they're probably just now recovering. Nana from the baking, crafting, nail painting and other miscellaneous "girl stuff," and Poppi as usual from the home improvement projects! Nothing major this year...well that's the story every year but no home improvement project is ever just a quick thing. I vowed that I would not spend one more dime on this house except for new carpeting, you can bet I'm sticking to it!! Now that I've said that something major is probably going to happen that will cost me a fortune, but I digress. Back to Christmas....We did our traditional Monday after Thanksgiving trip to see Santa. Generally we are the only people in line with maybe one other family which works out GREAT! However, when we arrived at the mall this year I noticed about 15 people in line and I was a little puzzled, and as we got closer I noticed that approx. 14 of those 15 people had dogs with them. Now seriously I love dogs, but let me just say.....DOGS and KIDS are not the same!! Why does your doggie need to see Santa?? I frankly just don't get it, futhermore I did balk a little when they handed me a release form that I had to sign in case one of those dogs bit my kid---WHAT THE HECK???? I have to say Santa was a really good sport and watching the photographers try and get the dogs to look at the camera was really something that causes one to shake her head---at least I did and a little eye rolling too. S. for all her excitement about seeing Santa was not about to sit on his lap. O. had no hesitation--she is the social butterfly. T. just wanted to make sure he got his list to the big man although he was not happy when I informed him that Santa would not be bringing him an electric scooter--what's the point?? Seriously, I thought you rode a scooter for exercise--did I miss something?

Christmas Eve was our fun, traditional soup and salad--I LOVE this tradition! There was a little contention about who would play Mary this year. Joseph was a no brainer. S. finally conceded to let O. play Mary and she would be the angel. Scott played the donkey, the sheep and the shepherd and let me say--he did a bang up job! We did miss Uncle Scott playing the donkey because he does it so well (hee, hee--we love you Uncle Scott!!!) Of course I forgot to grab the camera because I was busy moving the cast around to their places and trying to keep the angel happy---which is a bit of a task--maybe S. playing an angel is a bit of an oxymoron...hmmm hadn't thought about that until just now.

Santa's elves were busy on Christmas Eve. I broke it to the two male elves gently that the dollhouse that I had bought the girls required quite a bit of assembly and then I snuck off into the other room to wrap the remaining gifts!!! The kids fell asleep initially and then were awake most of the night--I have no idea what happened but every time I checked on them someone was awake. Finally I just went to bed. The good news is that they didn't get up until 8ish which made me pleased as punch.

Everyone got just what they wanted---MIRACLE! S. had her heart set on a Barbie Scooter and by some miracle this is just the one that was on sale at Toys R Us--Santa must have been there on black Friday which is a whole other story! O. got a "hairdo doll" I don't know what it's called but I had one when I was a kid and she loved it, but I think she was most thrilled about the dollhouse that she and S. got. T. got a TV for his room---much better than an electric scooter--well that's my opinion. But seriously he was thrilled.



Now on to the new year and lots of changes! Scott has officially taken office although he won't be sworn in until February 7th. Between his regular job, his UNLV job, his coaching job and now his legislative job he's spread a little thin. Me...well just the same old stuff wondering if I will ever get organized or if I will always feel like I'm running in circles. I feel so blessed to have such a great husband who is willing to work so hard for very little pay but makes such a huge difference in the lives of kids and now hopefully he'll have a positive impact on our state. He spends any time he has with the kids and tries to take them with him as often as he can. My kids are awesome---they each have such unique gifts and talents and they're all at an age where they enjoy playing together. T. is such a good sport to think of games his sisters can play with him--he's been coaching them through Monopoly and balloon volleyball lately--It thrills me to see how much they love each other. Oh yes, we do have our fair share of fighting and hurt feelings but that comes with the territory. Our extended family is AWESOME--we are just so blessed and are looking forward to lots of new adventures in 2011!