Last Christmas celebration of the season...

Today was our last Christmas celebration with the family. It was pleasant and Hubby and I got a chance to play cards with his grandpa. The two of them love to play Cribbage and whenever they get together, that Crib board is usually out. They asked me to join in and play along with them and I agreed to it. I almost won but in the end, Grandpa won. It was a lot of fun!

From left to right:
Boy B (age 6) , Cousin R (age 2) , Cousin E (age 5), Girlie (age 3), Boy A (age 8, nearly 9) holding Boy C (age 2) and then Cousin S (age 7)

We had a fabulous dinner and the kids opened gifts afterward. Boy A was incredibly gracious when he received a present that he had already gotten one of this year. He was super excited about opening gifts and then when he saw that it was the same thing he already had, he said, "Oh cool! Another one!" He then privately asked if we could exchange it. I was surprised at his gift-receipt etiquette. I shouldn't be, because we have talked with him about the proper way to handle certain situations but we haven't discussed this particular thing recently, yet he still displayed kindness and gratefulness for something he had wanted but had already received. I love it!

After everyone had gone home, Hubby, his parents and I all played Pitch. It was Hubby and his mom versus his dad and I. Father-in-law (FIL) and I were doing really well and then towards the end of the game, I missed a MAJOR play and ended up setting us and in the end, we lost the game. Totally my fault, but I distracted and played the wrong card. Oooops. Oh well! Like FIL said earlier in the game, "It's not like we have a lot of money on this game." Love that attitude! It's coming out more and more. He's really starting to get more laid back since he's cut down his hours at work. I really like the new attitude. I liked the old one too, but it was sometimes seriously unpredictable.

I had been starting to have signs of a cold earlier this week with severe sore throat and such. Then that started to subside, but the last two days I have been feeling supremely drained and exhausted. I have a touch of sinus symptoms, but I hope this is the last stage of my not feeling well.

And as for organizing...hmmmm...well, I did organize my candle storage today. I went to a candle party in December and tonight, Hubby's cousin sent her hubby home to grab my and a friend's candle orders. So when I got home, I had to be able to put it away, you know? So that is what I organized. My candle storage. As I sit here typing, I am enjoying the wonder aroma of Partylite's Tuscan Vineyard mini barrel jar (with shade). It's wonderful! I love Partylite and it's one candle that I don't have to worry about having lit with many small children and animals running around. Totally the safest candle out there!


Photo (shown in the Strawberry Rhubarb scent...which I also happened to get - LOL!) is taken from here and this Partylite consultant is actually a blogger as well! How cool is that!

And just a disclaimer here: I am not receiving any benefit or compensation from Partylite by mentioning their candle here, I am just talking about it because I want to.

Organizing fail

Today I really wanted to get some organizing at home done, but it just didn't happen. I got caught up in creating this blog and getting some organizing done as far as posting and getting things set up and ready to go, but in my house, sadly no organizing happened today.

That's okay though, for today. I had a busy day, following a late night. Slept in this morning (until 9 AM!) but stayed in bed until just after 10 AM, because I could hear the goings on in the rest of the house and Hubby had everything under control. So I stayed in bed. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I showered, dressed and then spent time with each of my kiddos. Boy A shared some pictures that he had drawn and I took the time to really look at them and talk with him about the pictures, which I am embarrassed to admit that I don't always do. There are far too many times that he tries to share something with me and I brush it off because I have more "important" things to be doing at that exact moment. It's terrible. But today I didn't do it. Today I looked, I talked and I listened.

Boy B wasn't feeling very well, but he and I spent part of my time today snuggling up on the couch while he watched a movie. I love snuggling with my kiddos! It was a good day for a movie too! It was cold and blustery outside with snow still covering the ground following two recent winter storms that piggy-backed one on top of the other. Makes for cold and yucky weather. Not fun outdoors, but a good day for snuggling up for a movie.

Girlie and I made some beaded necklaces together with a new bead kit that I put together for her as a Christmas present. She loves using the beads and I love the fact that its helping her coordination. She's three and her fine motor dexterity could use a bit of practice to help her get a better grasp on writing more legibly. And no, I did not intend for the pun in the previous sentence (grasp on writing) but I guess it is there. If you got a chuckle out of it, you're welcome. If you missed it completely (like I did) then you're not alone. What can I say? I aim to please.

Boy C and I had fun with his new "game" of counting to three and exploding. Well, he doesn't explode, but he'll count to three and make a sound like an explosion with his mouth and throw his arms up in the air. This whole thing is, of course, followed by a great laugh. I love seeing the world as he sees it, especially since his world kept him so isolated while still being surrounded by the people that love him and care about him. His development has really come a long way in the last six months and it is just so much fun getting to see an actual personality come shining through!

And then I took time that I totally should have spent organizing something and played on Facebook for a bit. Biggest black hole of time that I have in my life but I really do enjoy it and I think that's important too. I just need to be sure not to get sucked in to it for so long. I think I should put a self-imposed half hour limit on it, twice daily. Ideally, I'd like to just have it be half an hour, but I need to make my limit attainable and I think that would do the trick. Half an hour in the morning, half an hour in the evening. Yes, I think that should work quite nicely!

Then Hubby and I left to go cash my first check from my new job and then to drop me off at work. I worked, Hubby picked me up, I came home, spent more time with the kiddos and Hubby, did my evening Facebook session, did the blog thing while I was doing that too, and soon, I'll be heading off to bed!

We have our last family Christmas tomorrow. So far, we've had Hubby's dad's side Christmas, our family Christmas and then Hubby's family Christmas. Tomorrow is Hubby's mom's side Christmas and then we are done. Although we still have presents to give to my mom and little younger brother.

I guess I can't call him my little brother now that he stands a good couple inches taller than me. But then again, I'm 5'4"...and most of our family and friends (who are at least of legal age to drive) are taller than me. I'm kind of used to it at this point. Just not used to calling him my younger brother. He's been my "little brother" for sixteen years. It's not my fault that he had a growth spurt this past fall. (Love you Bub!)

But I suppose...I should probably get off the computer now and head on up to bed. I don't want to miss out on organizing something in my house tomorrow before attending our last Christmas get-together. So without further ado, I bid thee goodnight!