Christmas Cards

OK- Hold on while I brag. My Christmas cards are done, they are in the mail- oh yeah they are done. So here is why they are done the week after Thanksgiving. On Monday I woke up with no voice, I could barely squeak out my morning commands to the kids. No voice means no talking on the phone- I ignored it all day long, I had to. So I decided to turn off the computer for the day. Amazing- When you "unplug" yourself what you can accomplish. If your at home and your house is a mess and laundry not done chances are you are too "plugged in" I can attest to this as I am now living proof. This is what I did on Monday- brace yourself-the list is extensive
Every stitch of laundry- Done- including sheets.
Every stray item back in its place.
3 bathrooms cleaned
Christmas cards, designed online, sent to print, picked up, addresses on 100 envelopes, made return labels, wrote brief letter, printed, stuffed and licked all envelopes.
Whole house dusted, vacuumed,
Christmas gifts wrapped,
Wrong sized clothing removed from closets(My closet was quite a project because of my ever changing size)
And the list goes on and on and on
Try it- completely unplug yourself for one whole day- I dare you!

Who is this boy?

I hope you guessed Kevin. I FINALLY figured out how to scan pictures. I am a little slow with technology... Now I can actually show pictures like this I am very excited to show the world how much fun Kevin and I use to be. People often wonder if we have always been as boring as we are now. The answer is No! NOW I can prove it!!!!!

BUSTED

Oh no! My mom found my junk drawer today!
Today- Gabe got busted! I discovered THE DRAWER. After I envisioned a life of hoarding for him, I asked for an explanation. You see, I know people do have "junk drawers" but I- really do not. If I have objects in a drawer, you will also find a organizer of some sort to make my junk look pretty.
Gabe's response " It's all my things I want by me." It will be OK for me, as soon as we "organize" it.

Black Friday

I survived my 2nd "Black Friday"! I have to tell you-Black Friday does strange things to people. It can turn sweet looking elderly ladies into cart wielding lunatics. It can cause dads, who normally have good judgement to cram their sleeping child on the mental grate UNDER the shopping cart as they gently place their gigantic plasma TV IN the cart and it can cause 3 crazy ladies to think that it is perfectly OK to wake up at 3 AM to go shopping!!!!!! I survived and was able to check some things off my list. I then came home and whined the whole day about how tired I was. I even fell asleep in Gabe's bed while we were writing on his white board- that was a nice mothering moment!

And We're Off!!!!!!

Here we go. The wrestling season has officially started. We all survived the first tournament.

Pray For Mr. G

Last weekend was such a mix of emotions, it has taken me this whole week just to process them. One thing I have confirmed this weekend is that a mothers intuition is strong-mothers are strong. Somehow God has given us the ability to feel what our children feel, to sense danger and to act- even when we just want to curl up in a ball and cry.To go on day after day, even when we are facing things larger than we feel we can handle. Thankfully God knows and when we pray he hears us and helps. This little guy and his family need our prayers because they are facing some uncertainties. This adorable guy- Mr. G has a very important test Friday at the Mayo Clinic. An MRI-and what started out as a routine doctors appointment has really caused this family's life to screech to a halt. Partly because of an observant doctor, but mostly because of a mothers intuition to push forward. Doctor to plastic surgeon, back to doctor, to specialty clinic, and on to Mayo(wow-is that ever familiar!) All because of a cyst which is actually not huge or noticeable it is just not in a good place. At first it appeared to be a dermoid cyst- BUT- if these appear mid line between the eyes which his does the possibility of encephalocele becomes greater. Encephalocele is "a neural tube defect characterized by the presence of brain tissue and membranes outside the skull. Usually they are dramatic but occasionally a small encephalocele in the forehead region can go undetected ( I did not notice his right away). The prognosis depends on the type of brain tissue involved. This is why tomorrow is important for Mr. G and his family. Please pray for him, his mom, dad, 2 big sisters, and his extended family.
God be with you during your test Mr. G!

Ben is 9

Ben turned 9 on Friday. He had a great day, really he had a great weekend. Ben is very sure that the first snowfall of the year on his birthday was a present from God!- So Sweet this big boy of ours!

Candy Sold- Flag Pulled

2 major accomplishments in our household
#1- The Halloween candy has left the house. Normally after the boys go to bed on Halloween night, Kevin and I have a candy party on the patio. It includes all of the candy that we can never have in our house because of Ben's allergy. This year we were just too darn tired. We bagged it in ziplocks and sold it to the boys' dentist today. At $2.00 a pound, they made a lot of money AND no candy in the house!!!!
#2 Ben had a flag football game last night. He pulled his first flag to prevent a touchdown. He was very proud of himself. Last night, Kevin and I realized how awesome Ben (and Gabe's) coach is- Thanks Chris! He is so patient, and always positive with the boys.