Christmas

All I wanted for Christmas was my husband. Santa didn't bring him. But, my parents were here for a week. Christmas went way too fast this year. That's good in a way, but it is my absolute favorite time of year. I love everything about Christmas. I had to go pick up some stuff from my friend's garage Christmas Eve. As I drove over there I was crying. It was really hard not to have TJ around for Christmas. We were apart our very first Christmas as newlyweds in 1997, because of a deployment. This is only our 2nd Christmas we have spent apart - and it was the kids' first away from Daddy. We enjoyed the week with my parents a lot. I put both of them to work. It seems like there is still so much to do in the house! Here is a picture of Christmas Eve after the kids opened their pajamas from Daddy and Mommy:

Before the kids woke up:

Tyler ate a lot of chocolate that morning:

Brena putting on a little too much make up:

The true meaning of Christmas

I get to talk to TJ a lot, it's wonderful. If you would have told me 12 years ago (when TJ was on his first deployment in 1997) that I would be talking to/seeing my husband on a computer on his deployment 12 years from then (in El Salvador for heaven's sake!!) - I would have thought you were nuts! But, we do. We use Skype and our webcams, and we talk A LOT. In fact, I don't get much else done around here because we talk so much.

Yesterday during one of our many conversations I asked him what he had been doing. He casually mentioned he had gone to an orphanage. This is so totally my husband - he never, ever will brag about himself or bring any kind of attention to anything good he has done. He is a very humble, modest guy. I asked him what he did at the orphanage. He said some of his squadron had gone there and delivered Christmas presents to the orphans. This touched my heart in a big way. Here are some pictures (that I had to cajole him to get from another guy who took them):

The Orphanage. Tin roof, no a/c in very hot weather. It is hard to imagine people live like this! TJ said a tin roof is a good house, some people just live in the bushes.

He said there were "lots of cuties there." He was right:

My husband doing something he does well: playing sports!

The part that broke my heart was that they didn't have enough presents for all the kids. I guess there were kids visiting from other orphanages. So, there were more kids there than they thought there would be. TJ said they will be going back when they celebrate Three Kings Day in January, to deliver more presents.

Basketball

Tyler loves to shoot hoops. He has been begging for a basketball hoop for about 3 months now. We just weren't able to find the time to go get one when TJ was here because of all the other stuff that had to get done. Then, I couldn't get one by myself, because I didn't know how I would load/unload it, etc. My parents are here visiting for Christmas, so I knew it was the time to get Tyler his hoop. I have such fond memories of shooting hoops out in my front yard when I was younger. I hope Tyler will have good memories too. I know when TJ comes home, they will have a blast with it. I have been out there playing with him and I have forgotten how fun it is to just shoot around.

Goodwill

Not the Christmas type of Goodwill, but the store! There is a Goodwill right by Brena's preschool. Sometimes when I've got a few minutes to spare I pop in there to check things out. Well, I TOTALLY scored the other day. Check this out:

1 practically new princess scooter and 2 pairs of BRAND NEW shoes! The white pair even lights up :) $1.99 for each thing! I couldn't believe my good luck - and that they were Brena's size too!

I know I keep promising pictures of the new house, sorry about that. I do hope to get to that soon. But, hey - here's a picture of the floor for ya'll! I hope to get better about blogging!

Halloween - finally!

Yes, I realize it is December 2, and I am just now posting Halloween pictures. That's just how I roll now. Here is a little synopsis of how our Halloween went. Brenalee begged to be a witch for Halloween. I kept trying to convince her to just wear one of her many princess dresses. I am all about making things as simple as possible nowadays. Tyler, a boy after my own heart says "I'll just wear my karate uniform Mom." Sweet. So, I find a witch costume for $5 and make Brena super happy that she can be a witch. Mind you, it wasn't all fun and games trying to find a witch costume that was cute, and for the amount of $ I was willing to spend. But, being the bargain shopper I am, I found it. So, we get to our friends' house to go trick-or-treating. Guess what the 3 other little girls are wearing?? Yep, you guessed it, their princess dresses. So, here's Brena's face when she sees them in their princess costumes:

She is throwing a complete fit because she can't be a princess. I, of course, am exacerbated by her and tell her she is a witch, not a princess (meaning costumes of course!). Of course the other Moms feel bad for her and tell her she can wear one of the girls other princess dresses. I am not one to give into my kids. I don't want spoiled brats on my hands. But, she did get her way. But only after I made her smile and be happy for a couple of pictures in her witch costume:

Now, she's finally happy in the princess dress - and I'm out $5. Girls!