Christmas Gifts

This is a demo of how beautiful JuJu's belly dancing costume is.
I wish you could hear the jingle of all the coins on her dress.
Demonstrating how the arm should be positioned for optimum noise level.
The frenzy of gift opening.
And there will always be music at our house. Warren is showing Jamie how to play a harmonica. Can you belly dance to a harmonica??
A wonderful Christmas was had at our home. Hope yours was just as good.

Christmas Shoes

I love red.
I love shoes.
Red shoes make me happy , and they make Jamie and Olvia happy too.
Today we finished up our shopping with the girls. I took them to the dollar store and let them pick anything they wanted for the people on their lists. It was very interesting seeing what they chose for everyone.
Then Olivia asked if her and Jamie could have red shoes. Their mother said it was a big waste , but I did receive her permission before we made our purchase.
How , may I ask you can red shoes be a waste? Olivia wore them during lunch while she was totally naked because she stripped down while going to the bathroom. They wore them in the car and during cartoons. However they did remove them for nap if I agreed to place them on the dresser where they could see them. That does not seem like a waste to me.

Our tree is a little tired because it has been dressed and redressed several times. It is happy though because it is so loved and admired.

Go out and buy yourself some red shoes and redecorate your tree, it will give you great joy.

Ahh, the wonder of Christmas through a child's eyes.

quote

There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it behooves all of us not to talk about the rest of us.

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

I woke up to beautiful snow this morning. The drive to work was fine with clear roads. I always like snow for Christmas, so I hope we get some fresh stuff for Christmas eve and day.
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Not because of the gifts but because of the spirit of it all. Even people who don't celebrate the fact that it's the birth of Jesus still seem to have a tender , loving, giving nature this time of year. They are more willing to be forgiving and kind. Compassion abounds when it is truly forgotten at all other times.
My youngest will not be home for Christmas as he now has a new extended family that want them to spend holidays with them also. I understand but I also have an empty spot that I refuse to fill up with carmel corn. My other sweet kids and grand kids will be home and we will have a great time.
My parents have been gone for many years but Christmas always causes me to miss them and wish they were here to see all my kids and gran kids . To share in the making of new memories and to recall old ones. Such is the circle of life.
Enjoy the season and spend as much time with friends and family as you can.Have a Merry Christmas.

FORGIVE ME PLEASE

I know that it's been awhile and I have no excuses. I guess I'm just not as efficient as I used to be . Anyway a lot of time has gone by and a lot of things have happened.
Thanksgiving for us started the Tuesday before and ended the Sunday after. We also squeezed in our family Christmas party on the Saturday after , because Joe and Kelsey will not be home for Christmas.
So as I was throwing the turkey carcass out the back door I was draggin the Christmas tree in the front. Had it up decorated and presents under it in less than 12 hours after turkey day. Wow , I feel almost as pushy as a retailer.
Then on Monday the 26Th the Billy Joel concert , good but not as good as James Taylor. Can you tell I'm somewhat prejudiced? Work , appointments and then sick on Friday , Saturday, but today I think I will live. I tested my strength by going to the Mall after church to Christmas shop. I did manage to have lunch with my future daughter-in-law Casey, by 3 pairs of jeans and a sweater for myself before I became too weak and tired to purchase any gifts....WHEW..
That's okay because I plan on devoting all of Wednesday to marathon shopping. So heads up kids if you don't give me ideas you will get whatever my wild imagination can conjure up.
I am still working on retrieving costaween pictures and I also have some great pictures of arm and leg wrestling at our Christmas party. By the way Melissa flipped me like an IHop pancake. I did flip Joe but then he wised up and was undefeated until his Dad whipped him .
You may be a red neck if the girls arm and leg wrestle at the family Christmas party. We had played wii on Thanksgiving and I think the boxing is what got us all fired up for some real contact sports. Although I must say Sarah was quite entertaining wii boxing Jimmy. I will post the short video if I can and you all can vote if the best boxers were Joe and Jimmy or Jimmy and Sarah. They all were quite a sight. Thanks a lot for bringing your wii Gabe ,we really enjoyed it. Hey I noticed you did not participate in the wrestling matches. Whats the matter, not geeky enough for you?
Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and enjoy the coming Holiday also. Read Sarahs blog and take heed. Just enjoy. One of the holiday traditions I really enjoyed was Gene would take all the kids hooky bobbin behind his truck. The kids had a blast and the parents got free babysitting for the afternoon. It was the most fun though when we had snow.