sad tree

We put the tree up on Thanksgiving day (my loving hubby's b-day) while my dear hubby was out shooting at the range; the one thing he 'asked' to have for his birthday ;-) Since then, A has knocked it over twice. 'Course she was excessively apologetic, and in tears both times. The first time, i went ahead and used wood-glue, braces, and duck-tape to fix back the top, which had broken right at the juncture. It wasn't perfect; but it was workable. Now,... i think i'll just leave it. Maybe it'll make her think twice next time she goes near it to play with the ornaments; seeing the 'sad' tree that it is. ('course A looks pretty sad herself when you zoom in the image... poor girl; just traumatized.)

Maybe next year we'll get a real tree rather than resurrecting the hand-me-down, missing 3-branches, artificial tree we've used the last 6 years :-)

Hair Cut...

So, I had decided against getting a haircut until later on - maybe after spring when it started warming up.

However,... it was time to get new glasses (it being 3 years since i'd had my eyes checked - and having to re-tighten the screws on my glasses everyday now just to keep the lenses in the glasses!) So, i got new glasses this past week, and went for a more drastic 'look' than i normally go for. With doing such a change in glasses, it just seemed to beg for a hair-cut to go along with. And there just 'happened' to be a haircut place in the same shopping area as the glasses; so i just did it!

Not the best pic in the world; but let me know what you think!

Thanksgiving Weekend...

We had a wonderful time with family this weekend, - my loving hubby's birthday was thursday, and he chose to have Jambalaya for his birthday meal, and pumpkin pie rather than cake; how's that for a non-standard thanksgiving day meal.

On Friday, we got together with family up in Winchester - and had an awesome meal and great time hanging out with extended family. That evening, we headed over to church, and had the privilege of watching my brother baptize his sons; and then enjoy more festivities afterwards (compete with picachu pinata ;-)

Saturday, we enjoyed spending time with my brother's family - and they even volunteered to watch ALL the kids for us so we could go get some 'couple' time. WOW!! It was heaven! The munchkins LOVED spending time with the cousins, and they played tons of games together: card games, a little twister, and just a 'tad' bit of nintendo-type stuff tossed in.

ER!

So, i got one of those phone calls that you dread...

Just before noon, the school called, your child has had an accident.

A was climbing on the dome shaped jungle gym, hanging from her knees - and lost her grip due to wearing gloves, landing directly on her head. By the time i picked her up, at least 20-25 minutes after the fact, she was still in tears - and complaining of major back pain. She has a fairly high tolerance to pain compared to some of the other kids, so, E, C, and I took her to the ER. We were the only ones there, so we got right in; although it still took a while to see an actual doctor. We spent a total of an hour and a half there from start to finish - April finally stopped crying midway through "The Three Bears," and we saw the doctor right after starting "Cinderella." The Doctor checked her out, and said she looked like she just strained it, but took x-rays just to be on the safe side. They came to get her for x-rays at the end of "Cinderella," and when she got back, we started into primary, and christmas songs.

MAN! It can be tiring entertaining munchkins in an ER!! Luckily we made it out with only one mis-hap; popping the ice bag (now more water than ice due to C's handling) on the matress. But i'm happy that we managed not to disturb the other patrons too much in our story-telling and song-singing; although they might not have been too happy to be regaled by christmas songs before it's even thanksgiving ;-) Anyway, A's doing better, x-rays came out fine, and she's likely to only be sore for a couple of days. It's been a couple of years since i'd been in ER with the kids - i hope it's at least a couple more until i have to go again! (The extra kids are MUCH easier to handle in that situation when they're just a little older!)

to cut or not to cut...

So, my standard practice is to get my hair cut every two years. I get it cut fairly short - above the shoulders and below the ears, and then let it grow for two years, after which i donate it all to locks of love (getting the free hair cut for donating ;-) I'm ambivalent myself - i like it both short and long. My hubby says he likes it both short and long.(although he loves it long when i actually take time to 'DO' my hair) When it's this length though, I rarely go through the effort of wearing it down and making it look nice; most of the time i just put it up in a clip.

My loving hubby was still out of town with the kids on sunday, so i actually took time to curl the ends and wear it down for church. I had my daughter take a pic of me when they got home(a little fuzzy, but not bad for a 6-yr old),... and now i'm polling,... do i cut, or not? what do YOU think?

I'm almost thinking any longer than this is just over-kill.

Or maybe i'll keep the length and wear it down for winter, then chop it all off in the spring.

I used to be indecisive, now i'm just not sure ;-)

TOFW - happy days!

I got to have a heavenly weekend - hubby took off work friday, he watched the kids, and i got to go to Time out for Women friday and saturday down in TN with some family and friends. SOOO nice!!! I didn't get any pics as i'd forgotten the camera - but listened to some awesome speakers, was moved by some intense music, was entertained by wonderful performers, and laughed 'til my sides hurt with friends and family. I bought myself some christmas presents, and feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle life again. I wish i could bottle up this feeling and send it to everyone i know!!

Breakfast in Bed...

I've been fighting off a sore throat the past couple of days; today it finally caught up with me, and i ended up ditching on church. C has also been fighting something off - up late night coughing, and running a 103 fever to boot.

Well, D overheard me talking about C feeling sick to my counselors when i was arranging for primary stuff to be covered. So he decided she'd feel better if he gave her breakfast in bed. (Never mind that she spent most of last night in MY bed ;-) Anyway,... D made her a tray of C's favorite 'breakfast' foods - apple juice, poptarts, cashews, yogurt cereal, and little smokies. Then he topped it all off by letting her listen to his second-hand, newly-acquired portable CD player. He can be awesomely thoughtful sometimes!

Voting day fun!

6:00AM - hubby woke me up.

6:05AM - tossed kids in van.

6:15AM - stood in line out in the parking lot in order to get into the school GYM where we vote. MUCH higher turnout this year!!

6:25AM - lots of strange looks at us; two kids in bunny suits with one in stroller, and 2 older, very bleary-eyed kids trying to talk about the candidates INSIDE the voting area. *doh!*

6:30AM - Vote.

6:45AM - kids and i back home; hubby to work.

7:00AM - BREAKFAST - had D make pancakes, A make scrambled eggs, E make toast, and C help us by throwing a tantrum on the floor ;-)

7:30AM - let kids veg. watching TVshack.