The Best Gift

Uncle Chris and Aunt Demetria got Hunter, Noelle, and Eleenah one of the prize winning gifts of this Christmas Season. It is a shark tent. When they gave it to them, Uncle Chris and Aunt Demetria put it together, and we all questioned how long it would last. So far so good! The shark tent has been a permanant fixture in Hunter's room, and the three of them spend alot of time in it. And when they are not in it, Rags will diappear in there to chew on a bone. Tonight is the first night I have actually let them sleep in it. Hunter and Noelle were so excited. They got out their sleeping bags and jumped in. Not to mention they went to bed a hour and a half early just so they could go ahead and start their "campout". I went in and checked on them, and they are both out. LeeLee is upset though. She misses Noelle in her room and she really wanted to stay in the tent with them.

My Aubie Mural

One thing I've learned is that it is easy to look at peoples blogs and read about all the wonderful things that are going on in the lives of the writer. And I too, tend to write when it has been a good day, or I have a cute moment to share. But, I do want to make it clear that life isn't always easy, and we are not always smiling like we are in the pictures that I post. Sometimes life is crazy, and we charge through the day and the goal for the day is, just to make it through. Lately, I have had one sick child, one fussy child, and one child who has made it known that she isn't getting enough attention. Hunter has had a fever virus for about a week. Eleenah has decided that now is the time to throw some all out temper tantrums. These are complete with body slamming the walls and sliding down them, then spinning circles on the floor while she screams, "BAM, BAM" at me. Rest assured, if you here Elee say bam, bam, you had best get out of the way. Now, for those of you who know Eleenah, you wouldn't believe that my happy go lucky daughter would behave like this, but I have had a few lucky friends this week who have been over and have been able to witness it first hand. And, being the supportive friends that they are, they laughed. Needless to say, when it is happening, I don't think it's to funny. Also, Eleenah has figured out how to push Hunter's buttons. So, I have become a full time referee. And in the midst of temper tantrums and fevers, there is my precious Noelle. She has gotten the short end of the stick. She is continually keeping me on track, and helping me out. She has been slighted with my time, and she has let me know it. So, tomorrow, she and I are going to sit down and finally plan her birthday party (her birthday was Dec. 6th). With the start of my photography business, and the rush of Christmas Card orders, her birthday got put on hold. In fact, I feel like my entire life was put on hold for two months as I worked to build my business. We did have a successful Christmas Season, and I am thankful for that, but I know now what I can do to make things run smoother next year. I'm writing this not so you will feel bad for me, as I wouldn't trade my life for anyone elses. But, I am writing just so you all know that I am a real person with real life circumstances. I don't want my blog to paint a picture of some perfect family. And, all this will explain why it took me five weeks to finish this Aubie mural on the wall in the playroom. It only took a total of 6 hours. But, it took me five weeks to find the six hours. I am pleased with how it turned out. I've already had several requests to paint more for other people. I guess, I can add that to my list of things to do in my spare time, but for now, I think I'll stick to photography.

Hunter's First Shave

For Christmas, Santa brought Hunter a shaving kit complete with a plastic razor and some foaming body wash. Paul, being the awesome dad that he is, helped Hunter shave. It was so cute. Hunter thought he was such a big boy.

A visit from the Papa Santa

This year, my dad has been growing out his beard for Christmas. So, when he arrived Christmas morning, it was great because he looked just liked Santa. All he is missing is a big red Santa suit. Eleenah actually warmed up to him, she has been avoiding him since he started growing out his beard. Enjoy the pictures!

Christmas Morning

Noelle with Kathleen and her matching pajamas Hunter and his new Spiderman bike Noelle appeared in our room at 2:30 am. I thought we were going to kill her. She stated that she was going to wait on Hunter before she went in the den. So from 2:30 til 5:45, she pounced on Paul's back and tossed around in our bed with sheer anxiety. At one point she announced that she was going to go wait on the steps for Hunter because she was scared she wouldn't be able to hear him coming. I quickly told her that we heard her coming and that she wasn't going anywhere. When Hunter finally got up, it was so fun watching them. Hunter ran in the den and froze. He didn't even see the bike that Santa had left for him. Noelle had to show him, then she quickly went and embraced her Kathleen doll. You may wonder where LeeLee is, you guessed it, she was still peacefully sleeping. She finally joined us around 9 am.

Preparing for Santa

This year the kids were so excited about Santa coming. I tried with all my heart to put the emphasis on Christ, but somehow, they would quickly start thinking of Santa. Once we came home from our Christmas Eve service at church, they were ready to go to bed. However, they first put out reindeer food in the front yard, so Santa's reindeer would know to stop here. Then when they came in they were quick to leave out a glass of milk and cookies for Santa along with some cards for him. Paul and I just smiled at them watching all their excitement.

OH MY, HE FLIES

Okay, you are probably asking yourself why Rags is dressed up in a cape and Halloween is already over. Well, there is a very good explanation for it. We learned today that Rags should also be known as Rags the wonder dog. Let me set the stage for you, the kids and I are in the front yard playing. We had just gone out to say good-bye to our sweet adopted college student DJ, when we decided to hang outside for awhile since the weather was so beautiful. Paul decided that he would go in and change the timer on our Christmas tree that sits in our front window. The only way to get to the window is to go through one of the windows in the kids rooms. Once Paul got out on the roof, he saw that the gutters needed cleaning, so he began working on that. Then Rags appears in the window and looks out at Paul. We see him too, but then he disappears. He appears again, then again he disappears. At this point, I thought we ought to go get him so he could come out and play with us. We started to head for the door when, surprise, Rags jumps out Noelle's window. I must say, it looked like a movie star stunt dog jumping out of a burning building. But unfortunately he didn't stop. He ran straight down the roof and when he hit the gutter, he jumped off. The actual flight or fall (whichever way you want to look at it) was beautiful. But the landing on the other hand was awful. He landed head first on our concrete sidewalk. After his face took most of the fall, his shoulder slammed into the concrete as well. Then he did a roll, and then the yelping started. I ran to him quickly and tried to calm him. He had blood all over his face and legs. And to make matters worse he was trying to lose consciousness. I kept blowing on him trying to keep him awake. All the while Noelle is screaming, "Is he going to die?" which of course if freaking Hunter out. Paul quickly made it outside and ran and got the car. Luckily, we live just a few short miles from one of the top Vet Schools in the Nation, so we headed there. With every minute that passed he seemed to be doing better. We had determined that the source of the blood was his chin which he had landed on. When we got there he was seen immediately by the nicest team of vets and vet students who determined after looking him over that they couldn't believe he had jumped off the roof and landed on concrete. We are so thankful and feel so blessed that Rags made it through this. He is Hunter's best buddy, and we can't imagine our lives without Rags. If you're in the neighborhood and want to stop by and see the splatter marks on our side walk where he landed, we will be happy to show them to you. So, I'll end this with some words of wisdom, when you go out a window onto your roof, close it behind you so your dog won't be tempted to see if they can fly. Rags was a graceful flying machine, with a really bad landing. But we are determined to tame his wonder dog qualities!