Thank God for grandparents

We sent the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's for a while today so that we could get some Christmas shopping done today.  I'm happy to say that we are almost finished with the kids.  It's been a little tough this year.  Especially for the boys.  They are kind of in that in between stage where they are still little boys, but want to play with big boy toys so badly. 

We went to Toys R Us tonight and I did manage to get that "one thing" I wanted to get the most for them.  They will each have their very own remote controlled car made just for rough little boys.

Eden is proving to be much harder.  She wants the same thing that every one else wants of course.  ZuZu Pets have become the bane of my existance.  My mom managed to score me one of the actual pets, but so far we haven't had any luck getting any of the accessories that go with it.  Wish us luck in finding at least one before time runs out.

It's a short post tonight, and I'll be posting pictures and possibly video from the boys Christmas program tomorrow night.

What's up?

I'm gonna go ahead and put this out there. I'm just gonna lay it out for everyone to see. Ready for it?? Here it comes.... I'm a comment junky and I'm starvin' here people. So please, drop a few lines and let me know that you're out there watching. M'kay. Thanks. BTW. Love ya!

Now for the goods.

Have I ever mentioned that I really REALLY hate daylight savings time. I mean, I really HATE it!! It's dark when I roll out of bed, the sun is right in my eyes the ENTIRE way to work and I'm to short for the sun visor to be of any help and as if all of this weren't enough, if I leave work late, (and I do most days because I'm not real good at just picking up my things and heading out right at 5) it's already dark enough when I get home that the lights have to be on in the house. I really don't like it. It causes some depression issues for me every year.

So, with all of that said, I had to go pick Eden and the boys up from mom's tonight and this is the spectacular sunset that I caught just before it was to late.

When I shot the picture, I wasn't really paying any attention to anything but the pinks and purples and ever so slightly orange hues of the sky and then I came home and posted this picture to the Serendipity site and it hit me right in the face, just like a sucker punch, that most of the landscape in this picture no longer belongs to a "Smith".

Along with this realization it has occurred to me that Grandma has been gone for four years now. My twins were still growing inside of me when she passed and I remember my mom calling to say that she was slipping away. Sometimes I forget that she's gone and I can't believe it's been four years and that can still happen. Right now, I'm really missing her.

Here's one with some of mom's Christmas decorations and the house in it. I love the lighting and the "skeleton" of the trees.

My kids love this corner of mom's decorations. When we left the house tonight Eden pointed out that it looks like Polar Exp.ress with the small train and the big Christmas tree. I love it that my kids have that bright shining imagination in them, after Eden said that both boys could totally see the same thing. It's so cool to see how their minds work.


I'll try to post some more Gatlinburg pictures tomorrow. For now, here's a few that Louise took while we were at the IHOP.

Boy, you guys weren't kidding about Casey and pictures were you?

In Casey's defense. I kinda love this one of her. She looks so sweet and innocent. I also really love this shot of your mom. It makes me want to be with you guys right now. I've always loved her smile!

Gatlinburg '09

Sorry it's taken me so long. Unfortunately I'm not overly impressed with most of the pictures that I took while I was with Aunt Sally and the girls. Here's what I've got that turned out "ok".

Here's Momica's peacock.

Here is the one I took during the service. Very blurry. Sorry.

Here's a picture of Linda I took for Amy the stalker. ;o) It's the only one that wasn't so blurry you couldn't even make out who it's supposed to be.

Aunt Becky after the service, talking with a couple of ladies who I think were thanking her for a great weekend. I love her energy. I can tell she's Uncle Mike's sister. :o)

Not sure what happened here but part in focus, part not. I'm hoping I can get a picture like this with all six sisters in just a few weeks, in perfect focus of course. :o) Love you guys! Can't wait for you to get here!!!

A whole couch full of SUPERSTARS! (Including Jess)

Cool light streaks that Michael took from the "front porch" of the hotel we stayed in. I love that he caught the AAA sign in the corner and the lighting on the landscaping.

I'm not sure what Casey is doing here, but she looks like she's dancing.



Oh how I love these little heads! (Well, little boy heads anyway, Tyler's got a big melon.)

and this one's. I love how shiny her hair is.

Every trip to Gatlinburg requires a stop at the Ripley's Aquarium. All of my kids love it. In this picture Eden, Erin, Tyler, Mom, Me, Jennifer, Allen and Nathan.


Here's me and the boys under the puffer fish tank. It's tough for me to get in there, and it's really hot in there, but the pictures are really cute!

I have more, I'll try to post them tomorrow and on face.book when I get the time but it's getting late, I'm tired and I have to get my shower tonight since the boys need a bath before school in the morning and I don't want to get up at 6 when I can shower tonight and get up around 6:45.

Good night.

Whew. Glad this days almost over!

Today was a crummy day. It was over cast and it rained all day, not the drops of rain, but that nasty sh!t that just makes everything wet and an umbrella is useless against.

We're crazy busy at work right now too. I'm not complaining, because, you know, it pays the bills, but holy cow. I thought things were supposed to slow down a little around the holidays. So...between all the things that I need to get done at work and all the things (including Christmas shopping) I need to get done at home, it's just a wonderfully stressful life. "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

Isn't it amazing that I went my entire childhood without seeing the classic Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life? I just watched it for the very first time last year by looking it up on You.Tube and watching it in 13 "episodes". All because my boss, (who I can't say enough nice things about, He's wonderful and I throw this in here because Thanksgiving was just a few days ago and along with my family he's one of the many things I'm so very thankful for.) walked into the office around this time last year and said "Good morning you wonderful old Building & Loan" and I had no clue what he was talking about and the conversation went a little like this.

Mickey: "Good morning you wonderful old Building & Loan!!!"

Me: "Ummm... Good morning???"

Mickey: (with a HUGE grin on his face) "You know, from It's a Wonderful Life!?!"

Me: (with a confused expression) "Oh...I see."

Mickey: "What? You've never seen that movie?"

Me: "Ummm. No. I guess not. Is that the one that talks about the "For every bell that rings, and angel gets it's wings" one?"

Mickey: "Yeah!!! That's the one!"

Me: "Yeah, I've never seen that one. We always watch A Christmas Story. You know, "You'll shoot your eye out".

Mickey: "Yeah, I know that one. I can't believe you've never seen It's a Wonderful Life. That's your "assignment". Don't come back to work until you've seen that movie. It's a requirement for this job."

Of course at this point I'd only been working for him for 2 1/2 months, and I knew he was kidding about the "assignment" thing, but I like to make the boss happy, so I came home and looked it up on You.Tube and watched it. While I didn't think it was as good as Miracle on 34th Street. I did like it, and it was pretty good.

So, retelling that little story just made my day a little better. I guess I'm just really stressed right now. There is just so much to do to get ready for Christmas and it's a sprint to the finish and I love to see my kids happy on Christmas day and then all that excitement spills out and we're left with the after Christmas blahs until the weather breaks in the spring. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer.

The boys have their Christmas program coming up this weekend. They are having a pitch in dinner at the church where the preschool is located and the children of Promise Academy are going to provide the after dinner entertainment. I really can't wait. I know that they will be so cute! They have been singing little bits and pieces of their songs while we ride in the car or when they are playing in the living room. It's adorable!

Eden's program will be at school next week. She seems to really enjoy choir and singing. I used to love choir too. I hope that once she gets a little older she will want to be in choir as one of her elective corses. She really has a pretty voice and I would love to see her "concerts". She's also quite the performer. A few years ago we did a demo for TKD and she stood in front of no less than 100 people and told them what Tae Kwon Do means. Loud and clear and didn't miss a beat! I always had terrible stage fright. I'd get nervous and sweaty and butterflies in my stomach.

Well. I guess I've rambled long enough. Here's hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

Here's a picture of my monkeys right after their haircut a few weeks ago.

Random thoughts running rampant.

I was talking with Amy on facebook yesterday and she asked me if I had posted any of the Gatlinburg pictures yet. The answer was no, and unfortunately it remains no. Most of the pictures I took were on the RAW setting in the camera which means I have to convert them to jpgs before they can be posted in my blog. I promise, I'll work on it and try to have them up by the end of the week.

While I was talking with her, I mentioned that I wanted to try to have a post a day for at least a month and so here I am giving it a shot.

Michael and I took the kids to the mall tonight and let them play at the "Kids Stay you Play". It's basically a babysitting service right there in the mall. It was $15.00 for all three kids to stay for 1 hour and play while Mike and I shopped for an elliptical machine. That's right! Exercise equipment. I know...I know. But here's the deal. I'm not happy with myself right now. I'm uncomfortable, I'm always tired, (which could have something to do with 4 year olds that have never slept through the night) I don't like the way I look and I've got 2 pairs of jeans that fit. I refuse to go out and buy more. So we're looking for a good elliptical because I have bad knees and they are supposed to be better for you than tread mills.

I wonder how everyone else is doing with their Christmas shopping as well. I have an idea of what I want to get for Mom and my MIL. I've got a few things for the kids so far. That's about it. Last year was the last year for shopping with the kids with us. They are WAY to observant now and they don't miss a thing.

Congratulations to Amy and Chad!!! I bet you guys are just so pumped to be moving in to your new home. I can't wait to come and visit you guys. I'm going to talk to Michael and see if we can't make it down in the spring when we can do what Mom and Aunt Sally used to do and we can say "Hey guys, why don't you go outside and play for a little while?" Which are possibly the most despised words ever uttered by all moms.

Sorry this post is so random, I'll try to have more organized thoughts over the next few weeks, and pictures.