LEARNING THE JOYS OF GIVING

Elijah is growing up no matter how hard I try to keep him as my baby boy! Sad but true! At least he is a nice, obedient, loving and thoughtful boy....for the time being! Don't get me wrong he has his ornery streak but overall he is a very good kid. At high school aka elementary school they had a mini store set up so the students could buy Christmas gifts for their family and friends. Little nick knacks, FINE jewelry and toys for them to spend their own money on if so desired. Well first he bought me a ring for Christmas but absolutely couldn't stand it anymore and gave it to me for my birthday......it is one precious gem I tell you!

He then bought me a couple of other gifts and a couple for Daddy for Christmas. He then decided his Meme and Papa needed gifts JUST from him.

He bought Meme a beautiful 5kt "yellow diamond" ring which she just loves!

Conveniently Elijah bought Papa a car that he will be able to play with when he is at their house!

I am very proud of my little man for still being his thoughtful little self and for wanting to spend the money on others instead of buying toys for himself. The look on his face watching them unwrap their presents was priceless for me. He even wrapped them himself. I am proud of my boy and he was so full of pride and excitement it was cute. It makes me think I AM doing SOMETHING right!!

ISN'T SANTA SUPPOSED TO BE JOLLY?

I seriously love Santa and the whole leaving cookies and milk that I get to eat - hehe- and leaving reindeer food out so I love to take the boys every year to see Santa and take a picture. They are only young once and don't seem to believe for very long! Actually before I get into my story I don't completely understand parents not doing the whole Santa deal. I know people who tell there children from the start that Santa is not real. HELLO this kind of makes it harder for those of us who let our children believe! There are a few kids in Elijah's class who are non-believers and they have made him ask me MANY difficult Santa questions this year which I DO NOT LIKE BECAUSE HE IS TOO YOUNG TO STOP BELIEVING! However me and my dad are very good and have reassured his faith!! I just don't get not letting them believe while they are young it is part of the fun of Christmas and it won't hurt them, I promise! Elijah wrote Santa several letters this year - two wish lists and countless questionnaires. One letter went like this: Dear Santa, I want a Ben 10 game. How do you fly your reindeer? Do you run into planes? How do you give presents to everyone in one night?......................it went on and on apparently his teacher helped him write it since he couldn't possibly have done it all on his own.....thanks Mrs. Wolters! ANYWAY Saturday I took the boys to see Santa and he was there however the line was closed so they could shut down for Santa to eat and go feed the reindeer! Not fitting into my schedule Santa! Think it is diet time because I have soooo much to do today and this does not help me out! SO needless to say we did not make the Santa trip again on Saturday and instead went Sunday late morning. Just my luck there was a line - a long long line full of crying children! Everytime I have been to the mall lately there was NO line but of course I didn't have my children with me - what are the odds?! Isaiah has the serious Santaphobia that many small children get but we had high hopes this year since I have really played up the whole Santa picture trip! I promised him some M&Ms, Pop (he thinks carbonated flavored water is pop - yippee!), and he could even open one present if he sat on Santa's lap to take a picture! Sad I know but you all know you've used bribery since it is part of parenting 911!!! He was soooo excited and ready to go until we get into the line - you know the long line of children tired of waiting in the line to sit on the lap of a stranger to take a picture for mommy - gotta love it! He would not let me put him down for more than a couple of minutes without throwing an end of the world screaming fit and Martez took the stroller out of the car to load our presents to take over to my mom's house. Needless to say I thought I would need to ask Santa for a new arm since I thought it would fall off at ANY minute! No matter how miserable the two of us were and I was almost at the leaving point, I couldn't leave because I helped Elijah write a new wish list and questionnaire to Santa and he was too excited for words! He just kept watching him in awe. Well it was our turn and Isaiah is past the point of no return he's saying "I wanna go home, I don't want canny! Pease momma pease!". Elijah walked up and handed Santa his list and they chatted for a moment then do do do do........Isaiah joined the picture and WOW that boy has some lungs!! Cracked me up though once I got past the embarrassment! Santa is saying "No kicking, no kicking! Don't kick me!" while attempting to hold Isaiah's legs down! "STOP KICKING!" Santa needs a new job because the real Santa wouldn't act like that. Well then I notice the photographer really trying to catch Isaiah's attention with a stuffed animal.......SERIOUSLY.... you expect to calm him down with that......that was funny! I tell her just take the picture I don't care if he is screaming because he won't stop and I'll just show him how he acted when he is older WHEN OUT OF THE BLUE SANTA SAYS "GOD JUST PLEASE TAKE THE PICTURE!" Oh hell no.....security to Santa's little house of horrors! Just kidding! All I have to say is you shouldn't take a job as a Santa in a mall if you can't cope with crying children because that is PART OF YOUR JOB! Children will cry at some point during the whole sitting on Santa's lap experience but they get over it and move on while their mom's have the token "crying on Santa's lap" picture for the scrapbook. Mine qualifies more as a "screaming, reaching for anyone while kicking a not so jolly but still smiling Santa" picture of Isaiah while Elijah smiles on! Elijah really said that night after his bath "I've been thinkin' mom Santa was really not nice to Isaiah! Do you think he put him on the naughty list? Is he still going to bring him presents?" How sweet is he! You know he was probably worried about that all day. If he only realized Isaiah pretty much stays on the naughty list - HA HA - seriously though he does!

MAJOR CASE OF ROAD RAGE

As if my road rage wasn't bad enough when the power was out and I figured out who in Tulsa and BA actually understands the concept of A 4WAY STOP yesterday was BAD! For those of you who do not know me I have road rage - at least I admit it - now move on! The road rage has calmed considerably since now I ride with a two year old and five year old. I don't have a problem with cussing or flipping the bird since that would be inappropriate I will just follow you and say my peace which I haven't done in a long time. I will also say driving a big SUV has helped to - now I don't care as much because I think people get intimidated and are less likely to piss me off since now I can just run them over! However there are still the few of them that try to act as if they didn't see me - SERIOUSLY - how could you miss me! Well yesterday I took the boys to the mall to see Santa which was not a jolly experience for me anyway then this woman gets mad at me at a for way stop because of HER inability to understand the word STOP! It was clearly my turn since she hadn't even stopped yet but for some reason she decides to honk continuously for several minutes while flipping the bird to my car full of kids! B I could just run her over however I then decide after her persistant ignorance to follow her through the mall parking lot to have a friendly little chat! Well I follow her to her little parking space and basically tell her that it was not my fault she is to ignorant to understand the concept of a 4way stop and she really should reconsider how she acts since 1-it's Christmas, 2- I could have just hit her and plowed her tiny little butt down, 3 - I could've of been a crazy-gun-toting-just listened to my screaming child and a not so jolly Santa for an hour-driving a big car with road rage momma, and 4 - my kids are in the car so it was really not nice of her to flip them the bird....... I went on and on and she looked so scared and shocked and her silence felt great but not as great as her apology to me and them my kids - gotta love it! Not so sure which was a worse influence her idiot behavior and flipping me off for NO reason or my kids seeing me follow her and have a "little chat" - outside of the car so at least they didn't hear me. I must say though trying to explain the "bird" is much harder then telling them I had to correct her for her behavior. THEN I take all the kids home for Martez to tend to while I go to work. On my way to work I get seriously cut off then the person waves to me like I let them over 1 foot in front of me ONLY to come to an immediate stop so they could turn into Wal-mart real fast. As my breaks squeal and my horn is honking and not so nicities are spewing I realize I SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET OUT OF THE CAR AND OUT OF HOLIDAY TRAFFIC BEFORE I KILL SOMEONE!! Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe and please SMART driving night!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment (that they're it - and to read your blog). You can't tag the person who tagged you. Since you can't tag me back, let me know with a response or comment when you've posted your blog so I can read your answers.

1. I love home decorating! I love it so much I have six different bathroom sets for the main bathroom. This includes rugs, curtain, pics, trash cans......I could go on and on. Hey it is one room in the house that you can redo rather cheap and switch out often! Love it! I wish I could do it more like have different bedroom furniture and decorations....dream on baby! I would love to go to design school if only just to learn new things and the method to my madness!

2. I am a great multi-tasker! At work I can be doing ten different things at once and while everyone else looks at me while I am crazy I have it all under control! Although I hate to file....ugh...I have a mound of filing right now if anyone has free time!!

3. I have learned to enjoy yardwork since buying our own home a few years back! I never thought I would ever say that!! I never mowed a lawn or weedeated until I was 29 years old! My parents would never let me and then both of my brothers owned lawncare/landscaping businesses so I didn't have to. Well I learned how and rather enjoy it.....wait maybe I don't necessarily enjoy it but I like my yard to look nice especially the edge which is why only I am allowed to use the weedeater! Picky yes but the yard looks good and there is nothing like flowers and a crisp deep edge to create curb appeal!

4. I love pictures! Of course if you are on my friends list then you probably already know this by the many slideshows I create!! I used to scrapbook when Elijah was a baby but only got up to his first birthday done. So.....now almost five years and another kid turned two later I am playing catch up! Thanks Shandolynne! She asked me if I scrapbooked one day and I said "Past or present?". I have been playing catch up ever since...ugh! I must say it is fun to look at their baby pictures because they are just so darn cute and I am actually doing rather well with the catch up game. After three months I only have part of this year left ....don't knock it...I was behind almost five years on Elijah and had nothing done for Isaiah who is 2 so I am proud of myself. I am mainly proud I stuck with it for this long especially since it has taken over our dining room table and I hate clutter!@!!! Elijah asked the other day if we were ever going to eat at the "family table" again----my answer was "yes one day soon but you will appreciate these books when you are older!" So that is my goal to finish in hopefully the next 6weeks since I have to order pictures again and that is going to take some time to order then sort!

5. I hate it when people butcher the English language!! It drives me insane! I constantly correct people and catch myself in disgust when I do it! I hate it when people say "These ones or those ones" Come on people it is "these" or "those" or "this one"!!!! Get it straight!! It especially drives me nuts how kids talk today have you watched their shorthand on the computer "mii" = me, "da" = the, and "dur" = their intelligence level!!! Maybe it is just me but I believe "me" is less to type than "mii"!!! Helllllloooooo!! I was watching Opray one day and she said something I think today's kids should hear ------ "When an African American child speaks proper English in front of his/her peers he/she is teased for talking "WHITE". Speaking proper English should not be considered talking "WHITE" but should be considered speaking like an intelligent American. Why is it considered "WHITE" to speak proper English? By saying that are we calling the Caucasian community more intelligent than the minorities in America! How can we expect the Hispanic community or immigrants of another nation to learn English so we can understand them when we can't even teach the American children to speak it properly let alone read and write it!!" Right on Oprah I loved it, thank you, although I think it goes for everyone now just minorities because I know plenty of white people who butcher English too!

6. I hate that people can't understand racism goes both ways and that is all I am going to say on that subject because I don't even want to get started!!!! Trust me you don't want me to get started either I've experienced it from those who would be the first ones to call someone else prejudice or racists! Did that make sense? Oh well done with that one!!

7. I like laundry! Weird I know! But I pride myself on stain removal! My children do not own clothes with stains it only takes a minute to treat the clothes before they go into the washer!!

8. I love my car! Sad and materialistic I know but I do! I also love DVR! I know, I know!

9. I am always late and I am and always have been an insomniac!!

10. Just a random fact many of you won't already know - I have something called RAD! OK Mel stop laughing!!! Sad but true! Nothing too serious but it causes me to gag easily mainly in the winter months! Ok maybe I shouldn't tell this one cause I can hear you all going "What? Freak!" Anyway it is mainly in the mornings if it is cold or getting out of the shower if I am cold but ESPECIALLY in the winter on a cold and windy day....those cold rushes of air get to me and I gag! STOP LAUGHING!
11. I AM HAPPY!
Guess my 10 random things are done....oh well .....I tag Melanie, Genevieve, Shandolynne, Beckie, Heather G, Christy, Janelle, Valerie, Tammy, Jessie

I LOVE ELECTRICITY!

MY POWER IS ON AND I LOVE ELECTRICITY AND THE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WORKING SO IT IS NOW BACK ON!!!!!!! Power has officially been restored to my home and I couldn't be happier!!! I never appreciated electricity like I do now! I guess I never realized how much of our world is run by electricity. I also thought that we would still have heat since our gas was on but I obviously forgot that the blower needs electricity. Our house was freezing almost below 50 which on a fall day 50 doesn't seem so bad but when your house is fifty degrees and the wood floors give you goosebumps you begin to appreciate 60s and 70s a whole lot more!! Along with no heat there were no lights, no refrigerator, no TV, no heat or light for Elijah's lizard, no computer, no microwave, no stove or oven, no Wal-mart, no Quik Trip, no McDonalds, no cool mist humidifiers (Elijah was sick!), NO MYSPACE (NO I am not addicted! lol), no blow dryer, no CHI straightener, no plug in air fresheners for the home and the list could go and on and on forever. But I must say I appreciate it more now and am totally taking advantage of it! Sad but true I have almost every light on in my house but for tonight I DON'T CARE! It totally sucked! Elijah got croup and I could not find a doctor or minor emergency clinic open until yesterday so he just had to suffer for three days in our cold house, poor thing! I called the ER but they said it was at least a 10 hour wait IF no major emergencies came in first. Well I decided not take him to the ER to suffer for 10 hours and catch only God knows what from all the other sickos! Isaiah is sick too however all the doctor seems to tell me is he has a virus. We were running out of firewood and would not have had enough to make it through tonight if our power was out again. We were only out about 2 days but I suffered enough and have all the compassion in the world for those Oklahomans still without electricity. It was such a shock and I was brought to tears I don't know how many times just thinking how long this could last and the devastation to sooooooooooooo many trees and lives in our area. It is weird to not be able to go to the closest gas station to get gas because they are either closed or out of gas! We take for granted being able to run to Wal-mart or Quik Trip at the drop of a hat for whatever we want and don't think twice until that ability is lost. We take for granted just putting wood to burn a fire just because until we have no more wood to burn and it is the only source of heat for our family. We take for granted lights to do everything until we walk into every room flipping light switches out of habit then feel stupid afterwards since we know the power is out! We don't realize we don't have flashlights or candles until it is the only source of light in which to read children's book to our cabin fever kids and get nothing accomplished but a headache from eyestrain and by then more candles are impossible to find. I love stoplights by the way and didn't realize it until today it took me 55 minutes to go 4.5 miles because all the lights were out and the idiots drivers can't comprehend when it is there turn at a 4 way stop! Man that seriously sucked and my road rage was almost off the charts! I never appreciated my job until I have been unable to escape my children long enough to earn money to buy them food. (My job still is without power by the way and as of today we were told by PSO it will probably not be on until Tuesday!) I have a whole new respect for electricity and the people who work for us to have that luxury! I also now realize why people went to bed so early in the olden days......there was no TV, no computer, and no light to read in besides the fact they were bored out of there minds and they needed to escape the nagging children. Oh I have to tell you all this......Elijah is 5 and Isaiah is 2 and they are hard to entertain for days in the cold dark house!! I read countless children's books by candlelight, played with every toy they own, sang every song we know, named every word we know that began with certain letters, played memory, Candyland, Checkers (hehe), Leapster games and tried to teach Isaiah how to play Connect Four BUT HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN ELECTRICITY TO A 2YR OLD AND A 5YR OLD? Elijah kept saying: lets go to Meme's - no electricity, lets go to Wal-mart - no electricity, lets go to Aunt Karen's - no electricity, lets go to Toys R Us - no electricity and the list goes on and on. Finally when Isaiah would ask me to turn on the lights I would say they were broke and then he would reply with "Need baaaaweees". When he wanted to watch Elmo on the "BV", I would say it's broke and he would reply "Need baaaaweees"! Then he wanted to go the the store to buy "baaaaaweees" because our house was "bwoke"! I was so wishing buying batteries would've fixed the problem! If only that would've worked baby then momma would've gladly bought them......if the store was open!!

THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER....NOT IN MY EYES

Well I finally decided to break out the winter clothes and pack up the summer clothes. I have three plastic rolling stackable bins in our closet so we can store them under our hanging neatly and out of the way! In my mind the boxes should remain moth and spider free but no such luck. I took down all the summer clothes, folded them and stacked them on the closet floor so I could take out the winter clothes and hang them up. Well I sit on the floor, pull out the bin and begin sorting when out of the corner of my eye I see what to most would appear to be an itsy bitsy spider.....not to me. In my eyes I see a spider looking at me as the murderer of all its forespiders and their evil spawn so I jump around searching for something to kill with and scream for fear it will hide and I will not be able to finish trading out the seasonal clothes. I successfully kill the spider before it hides and anxiously complete the switch. Why is a woman my size so afraid of the itsy bitsy spider? Hell if I know I just am ok....seriously frightened!! So afterwards I am sorting through a mound of papers and carry them to put in the trash, set them on the counter and out crawls a spider. Needless to say I was done cleaning for the week!

GLOBETROTTERS

We've been patiently waiting for the boys to old enough to enjoy the Globetrotters and Dad got some free tickets so they are magical old enough now! We also took Dejuan and Terrell, Martez's mother's adopted children who are her brother's kids. Catch all of that, good. They had an absolute blast and so did we. Isaiah was just obsessing over Globie the team mascot that he called Glowie. For some queer reason my pictures are not cooperating and they won't move so excuse the mess while I continue to work with them...............

these dang things aren't moving

LOOKIE HERE SHANDOLYNNE I FOUND YOU THE PERFECT MAN - BIG EASY. BIG LIKE YOU WANT HIM AND EASY...WELL!














On our way out "Glowie" was in the hallway and Isaiah flipped so we stopped so they could take picture!