Happy Birthday to Me

I had a terrific birthday yesterday. Of course, it started off with the usual Sunday morning run-around-getting-everyone-ready-for-church thing, but church was good once we got there. Then we came home and my birthday started for real. I asked for clothes. It's been a while since I went shopping for myself and I needed some new things. Richard went berserk shopping for me. See below....

The black scarf at the top of the couch is actually a shawl. It will be perfect sitting on the Arctic-cold stand at church. There is also another scarf (black and white above the black skirt) which is thicker and cuddly. Also a pair of black leather gloves. I can't believe he spent that kind of money on gloves, but they'll last forever if I don't lose one. The purple blouse surprised, but I think it'll go well with the skirt. The green shirt is a favorite already. Richard has trouble buying me anything that's not green. LOL Oh, and there's a silvery sweater with some fake bling around the neckline. I'm not real sure about it, but I'll try it on and see how it goes.

James picked out this sweater. He insisted that I had to have it. Unfortunately, it's missing a button. So, I'm going to take it back and hope against hope that they have another one just like it. I really like it. It's a good cool weather sweater--or again for the chapel.

I love this skirt. The belt is cool and it has piping on the sides that gives it some interest. Sorry about the lovely picture of the floor. Guess I could edit my photos before posting, but...nah.

Never in my life would I have picked these sweaters. I haven't done blouses in years, but these aren't real. I guess they're the newer version of dickies? I love the color of the blue sweater. The blouse has a ruffle down the front, but I'll give it a whirl and see how it looks. Richard really liked the print, so again...I'll give it a try. It's amazing what others think will look good on you and you just never know until you try it on.

This is my favorite. A wool coat. I've needed a new coat for ages. This one isn't too thick (I have a bulky one for those really, really cold days. All two of them here in North Texas.) I would've been ecstatic if this were my only present. I think Richard spent just about every cent of his bonus money on my birthday. Now I can save up for some shoes! :-)

All in all, it was a great birthday. I was treated like a queen all day. Waited on hand and foot--steak for dinner, the boys played nicely (mostly) and didn't "bother" me. I basically sat on my bum all afternoon. The only really bad part of the day was watching the Cowboys pretend to play football. Good grief, I think *I* could throw better to my left than Romo did!

I am blessed with a great family who loves me and takes care of me. It may sound cliche, but that right there really is the best gift of all.

A Great Christmas Day

At 6:00 am on Christmas morning, there's a light knock on our bedroom door. Two precious little boys, wearing the new pajamas they'd opened on Christmas Eve, were standing there--oh so excited! "Mom! You've gotta come out here! You gotta see! There's presents under the little tree. And they're NOT WRAPPED! Come on! You gotta see!" All of this said in an excited whisper. They were trying so hard to be quiet, but they could hardly contain themselves. It was exactly what Christmas morning is supposed to be about. What a great way to start the day.
John got a Guitar Hero guitar. He was pretty ecstatic about it. Notice the amazingly cool pjs too.

James got the IPOD he was wishing for. It's a shuffle because let's face it--a 9 yo doesn't need 450 songs. This particular 9 yo doesn't even *know* 450 songs. Only problem--the shuffle is tiny. And James doesn't hold on to things very well. But it was his greatest wish and Santa provided. Apparently Santa trusts him more than his parents do, but we'll keep working on that. ;-)

I have no idea what's in this box. Chris was a Scrooge most of the day. Santa was tempted to fly back and retrieve the presents given. For now, I'm going to chalk it up to being 15 and believing that there is absolutely not a single cool person living in this house. But it's getting tiring.

It was a grand day all around. The younger boys played their games while waiting for Chris to get up. Once all the presents were unwrapped, it was a quick and easy clean-up. All boys younger than 21 were upstairs playing new games. Richard and I were left to relax for a little while in the quiet of the downstairs. Have I mentioned how much I love having an upstairs game room? Should I mention it again? I love it!

This was how the rest of the day was spent--or at least the rest of the morning. I was on my computer too--playing my new Diner Dash game. Yes, I could spend hours on that game. I have no idea why--but it intrigues me. We all did manage to get showered and dressed before the grandparents came for dinner. There was more opening of presents and some very yummy dinner--turkey, GF dressing, GF sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls. Kinda like Thanksgiving, but that's what I grew up with so it's what we did.

The day after Christmas has been spent in relative quiet. Richard had to return the TV that Santa brought (from the Walmart Black Friday sale.) The speakers were crackling and popping. WM didn't have the same model in stock so Richard, in a fit of practicality and fiscal-mindedness, had it put on a gift card and will wait to see what pops up. He'd already taken the big TV upstairs for the boys to use, so now we have their little TV downstairs. But really...if that's the worst thing that happens this year, I have no complaints. Other than that...we're just playing our new games, not watching our new TV, and listening to the quiet. It's wonderful.

I hope all two of you who read this blog had a very merry Christmas and will have a great new year.

Just About Ready

Picture below are the homemade goodies. James helped make this batch of fudge. Then the gingerbread house. Unfortunately (as per the usual for me) the finished product picture is posted before the putting-it-together picture. Someday I'm going to remember the pics go in backward from how I put them in.

Richard took care of the "glue," and the boys did the decorating. I was in charge of pictures and morale.

So now we have cookies, sausage balls and fudge. And our first-ever gingerbread house, thanks to our Secret Santa.

Still some wrapping to do. Richard swears he'll do it, but I'm getting antsy and he's not doing it. Deep breath. Relax. Overall, this has been the easiest Christmas we've had in a very long time. I'm loving it. Merry Christmas everyone!

Sunday Afternoons and Other Musings

I just love Sunday afternoons. Sunday mornings--not so much. But Sunday afternoons--wonderful. Football on TV. It's cold today, so we've got a fire going. I'm in my comfy clothes, sitting in a chair by the fire and just relaxing. I baked some cookies. (Don't get excited--they certainly weren't homemade. They're the break-apart kind. But I don't care. That's about as domestic as I get.) The boys are running around upstairs, but they aren't fighting so I'm not saying anything. It'll quiet down in a bit. Days like this are few and far between, so I'm especially grateful when they come around.

Christmas is this week. Really? This week? Shopping is just about done. *My* shopping is done. Richard just needs to take James out tomorrow. I want to make more fudge. And we're going to have a real Christmas dinner again. For the past several years, we've ordered a deli tray and just snacked all day. But I kinda miss the idea of a real dinner and the boys are old enough now to get out the Christmas plates and make it an occassion. And I think my in-laws will be here. That's the plan anyway.

So...I'll spend the rest of the evening figuring out dinner and just enjoying the relative stillness of the house. With three boys, stillness is certainly relative, but overall it's a very nice afternoon/evening. Tomorrow...I'll get back on the horse and start wrapping presents. But that's tomorrow.

Why I Teach

Ok...so this isn't really why I teach, but it's a nice perk. For those who may not know, I teach elementary music. That means that I have every child in the school at least one day a week. Grade kindergarten through 5. 50 minutes each class. There are days when I want to pull out my hair. And then there are days like the last few. Throughout this past week, children have been coming to me, bags in hand, to give me Christmas presents. And hugs and smiles. Some were just little hand-made cards. Much of it was food--yummy food. Snickerdoodles, brownies, fudge. Warm, fuzzy socks, hand lotion. And gift card--two to Starbucks (yay for caramel apple cider) and one to Chick-Fil-A. Woo hoo!

But, of course, the best presents are the smiles and hugs that I get each and every morning. How many other jobs are there (besides "Mom") where you start each day with friendly "Good morning"s and sweet hugs. And after the cold front moves in tonight, I'll be using those fuzzy socks for sure. And the Starbucks cards. And eating Snickerdoodles. Ahhhh.

It's Looking Like Christmas

Just so you know...picture captions are underneath each picture. You can thank Mrs. Hackbarth, my high school newspaper and yearbook teacher, for that. The caption goes below the picture. (Or to the right, but I centered my pics, so there ya go.)

This is our den--with the fireplace and tree. This tree has all of our cutesy ornaments--ones the boys made, presents from students, and all of the ornament exchange ones. It's a fun tree. Richard put the garland and lights around the fireplace. We're still waiting to put the stockings up. Hopefully, before Christmas Eve.

The cutesy tree in the den.

The pieces on top of the easel are all from either my mother or my grandmother. The china doll on the right isn't really a Christmas decoration, but I didn't want to move it because it's the one safe place in the house

This is the front room tree. This is the first year we've had two trees. This one is the more formal tree--a bit taller and only glass ornaments on it. It's very relaxing to sit in this room and looks pretty from the window.

When you walk in our front door, this is the first thing you see. We always have the picture hanging there, but the little nativity seemed a really good Christmas addition, along with the garland and lights. The front room is directly left of this, so it's a nice, peaceful entrance.

So...this is our Christmas house. It feels good to have it all up. There are more decorations, but I got tired of taking pictures. :-)

Caroling

I took a group of 40 4th and 5th grade choir students caroling today. We went to two retirement centers and then out to eat lunch at CiCi's. It was a fabulous trip this time. The kids sang very well and behaved amazingly well. Even at CiCi's. Janet and I were pleasantly surprised. We got quite a few compliments from people at both centers and the restaurant. One guy even came up and asked if it would be appropriate to email our principal to tell her what a nice group of young kids we had. Wow!

In thinking about it, I realized that I don't have many, if any really, of the "popular" kids in choir this year. So there's no one who's really spending all their time trying to impress everyone else. It was a great day. This should be a good choir year.