Lowe Quality Christmas

We had a great time at my mom and dad's house. All my siblings were there at one point or another. Jamie and her family didn't get there until Friday afternoon and we left Saturday morning, so there was a little overlap. When they arrived they doubled the number of grandkids, which increased the noise level exponentially!

My niece Cate fell in love with our little dog Belle. She carried her everywhere and would sit and hold her for hours. If any other dog would wrestle with her, Cate would take great offense on her behalf and tattle to someone about it.

Another cute picture is one of my brother Matthew and Curtis reading the paper. It is just too cute not to post. Curtis loves to read the comics whenever he can get his hands on them. Luckily Grandma's newspaper had them.

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas. It was great to be with all my siblings, their spouses, and children. It doesn't happen often enough. I wish we all lived nearer to each other.

More Christmas

We returned home from Utah on Saturday and found that it had been very windy in our absence. The newspaper said that there were 60+ mile and hour winds. We found that the canopy on our travel trailer was broken as well as the top of our back fence. Fun.

We hadn't opened our Christmas presents here yet, so we did that on Saturday night. It was fun to watch the kids be so excited, even though the big stuff had already been opened. Mostly clothes, books and a couple of movies.

Now tonight it is New Year's Eve and another year is over. I hope we all have a wonderful new year full of happiness, love and kindness.

Christmas continues...

We had a very full Christmas season. We left on Christmas Eve morning for Toquerville, Utah to stay with my parents. We had an uneventful trip. Which is the best kind. Before we left, we opened up a couple of presents. The kids got a Wii and Mike got a bike.

Christmas Eve was lots of fun. We went over to my brother Matthew and his wife Emily's house for our Christmas Eve festivities. Every person,including the children were supposed to bring something for a "potluck" dinner. So it was fun, and very eclectic. My children chose to bring Funyons and Cheeze its, if that gives you any idea of the offerings. After dinner we had a Christmas program about the birth of Christ and the children performed. It was lovely. Then we opened up our new Christmas jammies.

The next morning we opened presents and generally sat around as the weather was horrible! It poured all day and was very cold and windy. I felt bad that the dogs had to go out periodically. There were so many dogs there. Our two, Christy's two, Maury's one, David and Jenna's 2 and my Mom and Dad's dog. There was definitely a pack going on. Our little Bichon, Belle thought she was tough and tried to take on my parent's Rottweiler. It is a good thing Charlie is a sweet dog and doesn't know she is a Rottweiler.

Alyssa received a new big girl bike from Santa and Curtis a new fancy Bionicle. We left a letter for Santa, telling where we would be. I guess he found us.

To be continued.....

The Christmas season so far....

We have had a wonderful Christmas season so far. We have been lucky enough to spend time with people we love, eat good things, and bake.

On Saturday we got to go to Lake Elsinore to spend the day with Mike's extended Buma family. We left at 9:30ish and did some last minute Christmas shopping before heading over to my in-laws to get a map, since we lost our old one. We then left for Lake Elsinore, making a detour in the middle to eat some lunch, so we didn't arrive starving. We had a great time catching up with relatives. Curtis enjoyed Great-Uncle Mark and the Wii that was set up. Many relatives informed us that if we didn't get that boy a Wii we were going to disappoint him. At one point Uncle Mark brought him to me and told him to tell me what he wanted more than anything! A Wii says the small, pleading boy. Uncle Mark asked him if he had been good enough to deserve one and I got a yes, accompanied by pleading eyes.

Alyssa enjoyed playing the Wii a little, but mostly just being with her big girl cousins. She loves them all so much. They are always so good to her, treating her like she is just one of the girls. I love those girls so much. They are such marvelous girls. They helped her play the Wii driving game, even though she just crashed over and over again.

Mike and I just enjoyed talking to everyone. Mike's Grandma made the kids beautiful crocheted blankets. I guess she has made them for all the Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren. She has really bad rheumatoid arthritis and I know doing that wasn't easy for her. Those blankets will be very special to the kids. She is a wonderful lady, always so happy and cheerful. The kids were also spoiled by the Aunts and Uncles with fun new toys.

Sunday afternoon we went to Mike's parents' house for our family Christmas, because Garry and Margurite were here. (It was so great to see them 2 days in a row!) Walt was sick, he looked like he felt horrible. At one point he needed to go lay down, but I am sure wasn't able to sleep because of all the noisy grandchildren. Curtis and Alyssa were again spoiled by their aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

On Wednesday we leave for my parents' house, where my children will once again be spoiled by loving granparents, aunts and uncles.

Another Snow Day

Yesterday (December 18th) we had our second snow day. This one was nice, because Mike didn't have to go to work either. I baked more cookies, did some laundry, Mike took the kids on a jeep ride, and then we took the 4 wheel drive truck to town to do some grocery shopping and pick up Starbuck's gift cards for the kids' teachers to go along with all the cookies I had baked them. While at Starbuck's I ran into my principal and his family. I asked if he thought we would have school tomorrow (today). He assured me that we would, because the district wouldn't let us have yet another day off.

The alarm went off at 6:25 this morning a.nd Mike and I lay there listening to the radio assure us that all schools in the district were open, except for Landers (my old school) hadn't been assessed yet. So I got up and into the shower. Mike wasn't going to work today as we only have one 4 wheel drive vehicle and he would drive us to school, run some errands and then pick us up at the end of the day. We were all ready to go, the last thing I had to do was put my shoes on.

The phone rang and it was our friend Candy. Her daughter is in my class. She told me that the High School was closed and did we know if Yucca Mesa El was open. Mike told her he'd check and then his cell phone rang. It was the secretary from the District asking him if he could come in to work, since the schools on the west end of our district were closed and he didn't have to take his wife and kids to school. I still didn't believe it, so turned on the radio and darned if it was true. Apparently they couldn't get buses out of the bus yard, due to all the ice. Maybe they should have checked that first thing this morning.

So here I sit typing with my little dog Belle sitting next to me on the couch, bored out of my gourd. My kids are hating life, since they have to clean their rooms before they can do anything fun. I can't go anywhere and enjoy this day off, because my car would get stuck.

Snow, Snow, and more Snow!

I know I already posted today, but we never get snow, and if we do, not this much! This first picture was taken about 7:30 or 8:00 this morning.

This is a little later at about 10:00 or so.

This next one is around 11:30 or so.

This is about 2:30 this afternoon. It is now almost 5:oo and it is still snowing. Christy said she went outside and measured the accumulated snow on her picnic table and it was 11 inches deep. So, I guess we have a lot of snow. This is more snow than I have ever seen in my life. The kids have enjoyed playing in it. Belle doesn't really seem to like it. Rory seems to love it. I went out one time and she had some snow on top of her nose. It reminded me of Katie and Copy when I was a kid.

This is tonight at 5:00 and it is still snowing. Wish us luck on getting anywhere tomorrow.

Curtis

I love this kid! He is so awesome. I can't say enough nice things about him. Let me tell you about a little experience I had with him last night. I put him to bed at 9:00 and about 9:30 he came to me crying and said, "Mom I don't want to die." I guess Belle peed on his floor and because he didn't want his Dad to get mad at Belle, he cleaned it up himself. I guess he didn't wash his hands and accidentally put his hand in his mouth and got Chem Dry carpet cleaning solution in his mouth. He had been spitting up and imagining himself dying for awhile before he came to me. I had him wash his hands and brush his teeth again and reassured him that he wasn't going to die. He got back in bed, still kind of crying and said, "Mom thanks for telling me what to do. I really appreciate it." I told him no problem, that's my job.

He is just a wonderful kid. So thoughtful, caring and kind. He genuinely wants to do the right thing. I am not saying he's perfect, but maybe pretty close!

Alyssa's Christmas Program

Tonight we got to go back to the school to watch Alyssa's Christmas program. She wanted to wear her red dress to the program and she instructed me that she didn't want a pony tail. She wanted me to curl her hair. So I did. I made her wear tights with her dress, because it was so cold tonight. While she was getting dressed, she told me, "I don't think Mrs. Bowers likes tights." "Oh really?" I answered. "Yes, I don't think she likes tights." I told her that when we got to school I would ask. I told her teacher what she said, and Mrs. Bowers just laughed and laughed and said she didn't know what in the world had given her that idea. Who knows what goes through the mind of a kindergartner.

Her class sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and recited two poems. She did such a great job. She was very animated and we could hear her voice clear and sweet. We were really proud of her. About midway through her performance tonight I remembered my camera takes video. It is a little dark, but I will post it. (O.K. I can't get it to post, maybe I can get it to post tomorrow at school, using the schools's fast internet.) You can see her on the left side of it. I will also post a picture. It was lots of fun. I also will post some pictures of her after we got home by the Christmas tree.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow

It was really cold this morning when I got up. I turned on the shower and climbed back in bed, to wait for it to get warm. After a couple of minutes I knew it was warm and I had to hoist my behind out of bed and get in that shower before I fell back asleep. After the nice warm shower I hurried into some clothes and roused my kids. It was so cold in the house, even though Mike had turned on the pellet stove. (He's so good to us!) I realized that sweat shirt jackets were not going to do it. I searched and searched for both the kids' jackets and it occured to me that they were probably still out in the trailer. As I walked out there I realized it was snowing. Nothing was really sticking, but it was snowing. I found the jackets and returned to the house.

By the time we left the snow was sticking. I was wishing that I could just stay home with a good book and curl up on the couch by the pellet stove, but no, I had to go to work. I got to school and realized that it would be inclement weather. Not knowing what that meant at this school, I asked and found out that it meant pretty much not leaving my classroom all day. The duty guards came and spelled me for a couple of minutes to use the facilities.

These are the intrepid souls in my class who braved it to come to school today. I had four students who were absent today. Then 3 more went home early. We don't do snow well here in the desert.

It snowed all day today until at 2:30ish, it started raining slush.

Alyssa

My daughter is very complex. Her smile can light up a room and her frown can bring the clouds. She has a zeal for life and experiencing new things. She loves Kindergarten and loves to learn. The other day her teacher told me that she wished she could clone her, because she is so sweet, kind, and well-behaved. I kept wondering if she was talking about my Alyssa. The one I know who screams at her brother for breathing or the one who bursts into tears because she was told to clean her room. Then I think about the Alyssa who sings sweetly and hugs me around my neck and says, "I love you Mama." What can I say, she is my baby girl and I love her.

Awards, Baths, and Christmas trees

The month of December was been a very busy one for our family. It seems that we are always going. The kids and I are looking forward to two weeks off after this next busy week. We have Winter/Christmas programs at school on Tuesday and Thursday. Alyssa will sing Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer and recite the poem "Eight Little Reindeer" with her class. My class will be performing on Thursday night. Last year it was so crazy they decided to split it up and have the Kinders and 1st graders on one night and any other classes who perform do so on another night. I don't think Curtis' class will be performing.

Curtis recieved two awards on Friday. One was the Outstanding reader award. He is reading over 130 something words a minute with no mistakes. The other was an Outstanding Effort award. Luckily his award assembly was during my prep period and I was able to run over. We are really proud of him and all his efforts.

We bought our Christmas tree this year at Home Depot, rather than drive all the way down to the Christmas tree farm. We were short on time and decided to take a look at the trees at Home Depot, Tuesday night after going to our nephew Joel's 2nd birthday party. They had some really pretty ones and so we decided to get one there. We saved the trip down to Yucaipa and probably about $25. The kids were upset that we weren't following our family tradition, but we told them that sometimes we have to create new traditions. (Not that I really want a trip to Home Depot, being part of a new family tradition.) We decorated our Christmas tree on Thursday night and here are the results. I think it looks beautiful!

I took the dogs to the groomer today. They were both so dirty and Belle was matted. I try to brush her all the time, but she cries and makes it difficult. I realize I need to be the boss, but her cries her pitiful. Anyway, she got a really close haircut. She looks really cute, but it is so cold outside that I put her cute t-shirt that Maury got for her on. The groomer also put these cute Christmas bandanas on the dogs after they were groomed. Here is one final picture of Belle, before I post our first and hopefully not only post.