80?!?

What is wrong with these weathermen?!!? Don't they know it's WINTER?!? Tuesday is supposed to be a high of 82. Sheesh. Nothing aggravates me like not having season-appropriate weather. Of course, no one asked me. Of course, when it's 110 in July, I'll be wishing for this weather. I think the only solution would be to move away from Houston, but that's not happening, so I'll just stick to complaining.

Fondue baby! Just the word makes my jeans feel a little tighter! It should be a lot of fun tonight. We're having 2 appetizer cheese fondues, a main course with tenderloin, lobster & shrimp with dipping sauces, and Snickers and S'mores dessert fondues.... I thought about making a salad, since Brent and I are in charge of the main course, but what, exactly, would be the point in lettuce in the midst of all that?
Every couple got to find a recipe and bring the ingredients for it, along with the 'dippables' (not sure that's a word, but we're making it one on planet Heather for now) . I did buy veggies to cook up if it matters. And I've read somewhere that chocolate is healthy.

Brent's been downloading and consolidating all of the AR spreadsheets he does throughtout the year. This translates to "Let's take a look at where all of our money went, and wonder how it happened." Fun times abound. It's really a tradition I would love to break as it's quite depressing to look at the amount of money that say, has been spent on clothing this year, and yet I still have nothing to wear. Bizarre, really. I guess the only solution would be to buy more next year. That should help.

All in all, it's been a great year. I think I want to make a LO of the year like this one I did for Cameron when he turned 3- I like looking over the past 12 months of highlights, and consolidating it all.
I'd also like to do a LO on resolutions. I didn't do one last year, but I think it's something fun to look back on. I happened to come upon my list I had made last year, and some of them I had totally forgotten about, but some I had stuck to.

One of the big things on my list for 2006 is to let my children be children. I get so stuck on Cameron being a good child and keeping him on the right path, that sometimes I forget to just let him be a three year old, and do the silly things that a 3 year old thinks are hilarious. The obnoxious things that can be annoying if I let myself be annoyed, but if I join in, are pretty fun. I want to stop and ask myself why I'm telling him no- does it serve a purpose, or am I just on autopilot because he's doing something out of the 'norm' of what things are intended for? I remind myself all the time of how much of me is in him- that crazy imagination. It saved me from my life. I want Cameron to use it to enhance his life.
He walked out of his bedroom the other day with his Aquadoodle mat on as a cape, with his trojan hat on his head, his Superman glasses on, and of course the frog boots. He informed me that he was the king and he had come to marry me, his princess. How could I say no to that?


He's also a rock star these days- he got a Karaoke machine for Christmas that he just eats up- loves to see himself on TV. He was singing to Brent in this picture. Already knows to get audience participation to keep thier attention. :P

2006

...is coming up quick. I've been thinking a lot about my family situation and the decisions I've made in regards to all of them. We had lunch with my brothers and sisters (minus Adrienne) and their significant others on Christmas Eve, and had a good time. Not quite comfy, but good. Progress to be made.
Whenever I've made a choice regarding someone, I always think to myself, "If they died tomorrow, would I be okay? Would I feel guilty for the things I've done/said? Would I know without a doubt I tried my hardest?"
With my dad, I'm 150% positive. My ex-stepmother, same. My mom, ugh.... ongoing, but yes, I'm okay. But I wasn't with my siblings, so I feel like now the oppurtunity has presented itself to fix that. It's so easy to not deal with things when they're not a day to day part of your life. But I can't keep doing that. So for the new year, I'm definitely going to (cautiously) move forward with having a relationship with them.


Am I an evil mom if I tell my son that I made him Superman glasses, just so I can get some goofy pictures of him wearing them? It's all in what you call it, you know... do I redeem myself if I take a picture of myself wearing the same goofy glasses?? If not, then oh well. We had fun making them. That, and my 'tiara' that Cam made me. The things we do to occupy our time while Brent slaves away at work.... *sigh*. Poor Megan doesn't know what she's in for! :P

Megan had her FOUR month check up yesterday! Ack! Where has the time gone??! I know I'm getting old- the frequency that I say that comes more and more often these days. That, and 'those kids' or 'kids these days'... anyways, she's growing great, not quite as chunky as some of her buddies, but hey, maybe she'll be lucky and be petite or something. She's in the 65% for height/weight, but next to some of the chunkamonks these days, that's nothing. Hopefully she'll stay friends with all of them through school, so that they can wallop on anyone that picks on her for her.

the after slug...

The holidays are over. I'm bummed. I always hate that Christmas has to come to an end. I love the way people are nicer, things look prettier, and how we're all feeling warm and fuzzy (even if it is 80 here) at Christmas.
I'm considering leaving the tree up all year- I mean, it's a fake, so I don't have to worry about it dying now, and it really adds a special touch to the living room....
We're having a NYE fondue party. Should be fun. Lots of food and alcohol, and a few explosives with some of our closest friends... what could go wrong?!? I still am scouting for recipes- everyone's bringing a fondue pot, and the ingredients for their recipes.
Christmas was good. Lots of cool stuff. We had a nice peaceful time on Christmas Day hanging out at the Keller's, relaxing, doing the CD traditional puzzle and eating leftovers.
Yesterday Brent spent the day playing with his new toy pressure washing the fence and house... (I swear I wonder sometimes about the things he finds 'fun') while I cleaned the inside and organized the enormous mass of toys and gifts we aquired over the weekend.
Today I felt a little like something was missing... Brent had been off for 4 days, and I missed him. He's off for 4 days again for the new year, so that will be nice. It's not neccessarily doing so much together, just knowing he's there that I like.
The fudge needs to get the hell out our house. Every time I walk past it, I feel the obligation to eat a piece of it. That and the Logan Farms ham that one of Brent's customer's got him. Who needs a balanced diet what you've got ham and fudge?!? My hips are expanding as I type, and my poor daughter... well who knows what that translates to when it gets down to her.

A few more...

We got the whole family smiling, eyes open at the camera (except Megan, but she's too little so it doesn't really count) and not killing each other all in the same picture. Definitely a rare shot!

Rebel baby...

I'm so loving this camera...it's SO fast! I can't believe how quick I can snap pictures. And no, I have no idea what else to do with this camera except point, aim and click. But that's working for me so far....

His favorite presents...

Who needs clothing anymore when you have a Trojan hat and frog boots? Gotta love 3 year olds...

Some Christmas Pictures...

Babes

Really can't wait for that Rebel... :) TWO more days!!!

Love love love them...

Brandy is so cool. She gave us some fabulous name signs for the kid's, and gave me an altered book to write all my recipes in. TG- my raggedy recipe accordian file is looking very sad. I started writing in some recipes last night & added ribbon tags along the pages to define sections. SO cute!

Felt accomplished yesterday- I got THREE cards done while Brandy and scrapped! Not much I know, but for me it is, since I still had a 3 1/2 year old (whom I had to call Santa TWICE about yesterday, BTW) and a 4 month old to take care of too. Love that whole calling Santa tactic. When you think about it, that magical aspect of Christmas of believing in Santa is so short. They don't really 'get' Christmas until about 3, and then by 7 or 8, some punk child at school has deflated it all. I saw a really cool book at B&N the other day though (that mad day at the mall) called Santa, are you for real? that I thought did a good job of explaining about the spirit of Christmas and what it means, and how we all have it in us.

The Envelope in the Tree

Loved this. This time of year I get so many of the 'forwards' and such of stories of Christmas....honestly, I don't read half of them. Bad me. And I rarely forward them. It's not that I don't believe or love the stories....anyways, my FIL every year hides a small present in tree for my MIL (always jewelry) and I've always thought it was cute. So the title of this email struck me, and I'm glad I read it. I think it's something I'd like to start in our family.

Subject: Envelope in the Tree
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas _ oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it : overspending... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma _ the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, yhere was a non_league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church.

These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids _ all kids _ and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse.

That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide_eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.

Wow

I'm going through so many thoughts and emotions right now. Tonight was a tough night. We left this evening to go look at Christmas lights, and started getting calls from my sisters back to back. It's been a while since they tried calling me- I think since around Thanksgiving. I finally listened to my vm and Susan had left a message saying they were at our house. Drove an hour and a half up here when I hadn't seen or talked to any of them in a year. I didn't call back. My palms were clammy, and I was feeling totally nauseated. Just the thought of seeing them made my stomach go in knots. We drove around a little longer and then came home. And they were here. My sisters and brothers. All four. And Stephen's fiancee. Part of me wanted Brent to just keep driving.
They all came in and sat. I asked them why they'd came. They said they missed me and wanted to see me. Adrienne started crying and asked why I wouldn't return her phone calls. I couldn't believe it. So I started recapping all the horrible things she had said last year, and done to us. She flipped out and left. The rest of them stayed. It was so ackward at first. There's so much that they will never know, being as young as they were when most of it happened. I tried to explain as best I could why I made the decisions I did, why their mom and my dad aren't a part of my life. I can't believe how much they've grown up. I'm glad they understand now and see a lot of it the way it is. I'm glad they came up. I'm glad they're old enough now to make their own decisions, and we can be a part of each other's lives and I don't have to have Pam or Dad in mine. I can't ever do that again. I have my kids to think about now. I never ever want my kids to feel or experience the things that I did growing up, nor anyone else. I want to know my brothers and sisters, and for my children to know their aunts and uncles. I'm so nervous though. It's such a scary thought to put your heart out on the line. But I know if I didn't take the chance again, I would always wonder and regret. Augh. I can't even type I have such a jumble of different thoughts going through my head.... maybe later I shall make sense of it all....

earlier today had our little holiday party here at the house-. SO fun! SO cute! Got a lot of great pictures of the babies together, and some of the older kids when we could get them to slow down long enough for a picture. Heather got Cameron a star wars laser thingamajig that I'm going to have to hurt her for later...the child is in love with it and it's pretty obnoxious. I'd give it an 8 on a 1-10 scale.
Somehow once again I got suckered by my husband to make something for his office Christmas party and wrap the gift. So I'm waiting for the crab dip now, when I'd love to be in bed. Must ask for raise....speaking of beds, that whole Meg in her crib thing didn't last. She woke up at midnight and then again at 530. Why mess with a good thing when she's sleeping from 8-8 in the bassinet?? So back she went. :)

Her own bed...

sniffle. Megan's in her own bed for the first time tonight. She's been taking naps in there, but this is the first night. The kids' bedrooms are so far away from ours- I keep going to check on her, secretly hoping she'll wake up and cry so that I can put her back in the bassinet in our room. But she's nice and peaceful (I even touched her, and it still didn't work!) so it shall be. It's not so much her sleeping in her bed, it's just another signal that's she's growing and getting older. Yes, that's good. She's growing great and healthy, but part of me just wants to keep her a baby, small enough to cuddle in my arms, and to forever keep that baby smell. *sigh* That and it's a mile it seems from our bedroom to theirs. Thank God for monitors.

I think I might have to go touch her again, just to make sure she's really asleep.

fa la la la....

tis the season! The countdown is on, and my crazy ass went to the mall today! It seems to be my tradition that every year I get all my Christmas shopping done before all the madness starts, and then remember that last little gift I had to get that I can only buy at the mall of course. My luck just seems to work like that. Actually it seems to work like that I would decide to go to the mall when it so happens a car would burn down in the parking lot while I was in the mall, making the bad, awful traffic that much worse to try to get out of there. Not to mention if my children end up with an extra eyeball in the next couple of days, I will know that it was from inhaling fumes from a burning car. That is one terrible smell. Luckily the Toeha (as Cam refers to it) was safe from any explosions that may have occured.
I actually went out on a limb and bought some new jeans today and a couple of shirts.... although both my children have enough clothing to open their own store, I on the other hand seem to rotate my way through the same shirts over and over again. I decided I'm tired of trying to remember every time I get dressed in the morning who saw me in what shirt, and who I might possibly run into that day. And yes, I have been known to wear the same shirt two days in a row if there has not been much activity in, on, or around said shirt. SO I'm turning over a new shopping leaf. Brent will be thrilled.
Had a fun weekend, gone in a flash as all holiday weekends seem to go. Had a good time Friday night at Brent's company party after we transferred to the 'cool' table. Swear my husband knows how to pick the dud table every time. I decided from now on we're going to make sure we're late, but not so late there's no seat left at the cool table. You have to time it perfectly.
Saturday we had a birthday party in the afternoon, and dinner with Rita & Jim Saturday night. It was the first time for the hubbies to meet, but it went great. I had a lot of fun and so did Brent. You never know with guys how those things will go, but they're both salesmen, so they could BS their way through anything I suppose. I got to hear some great stories that only slightly marred Rita's perfect view I had of her. :P It's always great to know that when you meet the right people, you can always make time for another great friend in your life, even if you don't think you can.
Sunday Brent went to the Texans game (and they actually won for the first time!) and I took Cameron & Megan to another birthday party.
We have the Mutual Admiration Society going on right now with Megan & me. Love this stage. Everything she does is adorable and cute, and she laughs at me all the time and always has a smile. Even when I'm feeding her in the car before we go in the mall, simultaneously trying to eat a grilled chicken sandwich, and proceed to drop a tomato on her face. She thought it was hilarious. So did Cameron, who made sure he told his dad as soon as he came home today. I'm keeping an eye on her cheek to make sure she's not allergic to tomatoes...

Done!

With the last of my Christmas shopping! Hallelujah! I've finally got the last of the gifts- those I-really-don't-want-to-give-you-a-gift, but-I-have-to ones are completely out of the way, hurray! Although I could use a few more stocking stuffers for Cameron & Brent, but those don't really count.
Went to Pier 1 today- they had oodles of neat stuff at great prices. Managed to find a present for me (although not really for 'me' so much, since it's for the house, right?) Found these cool circus dominos for Cameron's stocking. They always have neat little toys for kids there- the cool wooden ones. I dig anything that requires no batteries though. I try to make it a point to never buy any toy that requires them for our own children, since everyone else seems to cover that base for us. That's really great to include the first round of batteries, but three hours later, those are dead, and it's time to reload, hence finding an itty bitty screwdriver to unscrew 10 itty bitty screws, only to put in 10 batteries that will last approximately 3 more hours. Fun times.
Gotta start getting ready for the Christmas party soon... although the getting ready entails so much more these days that doesn't really entail getting me ready. Like bathing the kids, getting dinner ready for Cameron, getting bottles ready for Megan, getting all possible things that the grandparents might need ready and accessible, and then jumping in the shower and attempting to get dressed and ready and walk out of the house without any snot or spit up visible on me. Brent gets to come home, change shirts, and be ready to go. Which is fine, but there's nothing more irritating than the traditional, "Why are you so stressed out? We're just having a fun night out!" To which I feel the urge to reply, "Where would you like me to bop you exactly?"
I also have the joy of packing my pump, because by the end of the evening I shall look like Anna Nicole and need to pump on the hour ride home so I don't explode, which is another joy. Brent always gets so paranoid about me pumping in the car, but I figure if some guy gets off on watching a boob get sucked six inches through a tube over and over, and is willing to stare through a tinted window while going 70 miles an hour down the freeway to get a peep at it, then he's earned it by then. I really don't see the attraction, but hey, whatever. Nothing says sexy night out like a breast pump.

the belly laugh

Megan's started laughing now. Not that she didn't before, but now it's a full-on laugh, in the belly, contagious giggle. Love it. She's very ticklish too, so it doesn't take much. Brent got out the camcorder last night and filmed her a little. (Yeah, the camcorder that we still haven't gone through one tape on, and he's had since his first Father's Day- that's how often we use it.) It's one of those sounds you never want to forget. It needs to be copyrighted- total instant pick-me-up. How can you not smile when you hear a baby giggle and laugh?

Crazy...

I feel like I'm eavesdropping on therapy sessions...

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Bumbo!

Love this chair! It's like a mini recliner for babies! SO adorable to see Meg just hanging out all by herself in it!

Boat Parade

It was so fun this year. Went down there with A&F. Cam loved it. They've really grown so much- there was probably about 30 boats total- some looked so fun- from water skiing mannequins to a hot air balloon santa sleigh, very cool. Great tradition.

Ahh... the fake tree has a glitch

and it's driving my husband crazy....lmao. Want to entertain an anal engineer for hours? Make a few bulbs burn out on a fake pre-lit Christmas tree. THAT will do the trick for sure. Does it make me a terrible wife if I just sat there with my glass(es) of wine and watched and laughed? The really terrible part is that they're still not working. Watch me wake up to B having nightmares in the middle of the night over it or something....

Friends...

started out the day realizing that some people who are friends aren't the friends i really want anymore. Have you ever became friends with someone, and wished later you could rewind your friendship, back to a time when you liked them better and didn't know so much? I feel that way now. Sucks.
Cameron and I made sugar cookies today. I know- just what we needed was more sugar in the house. After Wednesday with all the goodies. But we didn't make the sugar cookies on Wednesday and Cam was asking, so we spent the afternoon with the cookie cutters, making a big mess, eating tons of raw, unhealthy dough, and having fun. Oh, and got some cookies out of it. That are...um...really cute after we got done decorating them.
Sabrina and Shaun came over tonight with Madison. What a CHUNK! So cute though. Feel bad for them though- they're going through the whole freak out that seems to happen with most new parents. That "OMG I'm trapped in this life now and can't go out tonight anymore (even thought they wouldn't have gone out anyway, but I guess that's not the point)! More Shaun than Sabrina really- I think it's a guy thing. I think they needed to get out of the house though, so I'm glad they came over tonight. Played some Tripoly & Scrabble (geez, do we sound like old married folk, or what?!?) and drank a few glasses of wine.
Tomorrow should be fun- we have portraits at 10:30 with W & J what fun..... I keep telling myself it's for a good cause, since I know A&F will love it when it's done. But 5 kids and 4 adults walking away with a successful portrait... I think my odds are better at the slots. We shall see. Not to mention the costume change in the middle adds a special element of fun to it all.

Dog Burps

I swear, I've heard her do it a thousand times, and it always makes me laugh.

Got the goodie plates done today. Yeah! Had some help from Brandy and Cameron, with Dylan overseeing (Megan slept through most of it). Going to deliver most of them tomorrow. Cameron put on his Santa costume this evening and took a plate over to the Hamm's. So cute. I love how he likes to play shy. As if!
Anita and I went to the Christmas Tea over at CTK last night as Kathy's guests. It was so neat. Lots of really neat decorated tables, and neat people. A lot of the things that were talked about really got me thinking- the one that sticks out the most was a quote that went along the lines of "Open your house graciously and offer hospitality without grumbling". Geez. After 10 days with my mother, really?!? I wish I could say I did it without grumbling, but I can't. I wish I could say in the future I wouldn't, but I can't do that either. Onto happier notes...
The Kemah Boat Parade is this weekend. Can't wait. I know Cameron will love it. We couldn't go last year because of scheduling conflicts, so I'm really excited to take him this year. Should be a lot of fun.

How is it possible that the child that makes me feel so warm and fuzzy one second can make me want to string him up by his toes the next?!?!

Me as a mom.

Still shocks me now & then. Anita took this picture of us yesterday, and I love it. My happy kids. Me as a mom. Crazy. Who knew I would love it so much. It still scares me quite frequently too though. Gotta love pictures like this though- brings it all back to home base- love & happiness, right?

ooooh Christmas! Love it! It's crazy busy, but I love it! the decorating, the lights, the tree, the presents, traditions...I could go on. My favorite time of year for sure. I've got almost all of the presents done, and all the ones I have are wrapped. Yeah!! Tomorrow we're doing our Christmas baking (just what my hips need right?) to do our tins for everyone.
Anyways, thought I'd jump on the blog bandwagon just to help keep track of life.... so that when I actually get around to scrapping it, I'll have some thoughts from the time...we'll see how it goes. Never was any good at the diary thing- I'm thinking maybe this will go a little better since it's on the computer. Took this picture of the kiddos yesterday- love it. I know I'm biased, but I swear Cameron is the most adorable little boy in the world. And Megan's got the most contagious smile, always ready for anyone.