Sometimes they actually listen!

One thing Dave and I do with Aaron before he goes to bed is devotions. We have several different books and methods we use depending on how tired Aaron is, what mood he's in, and how tired we are :) We read the story/verse to him and then ask whatever questions are on the bottom of the page, plus sometimes we throw in our own. Sometimes I wonder if he really understands what we read to him and tell him since he usually answers our questions about the story with "Um, I don't know" or, "I have no clue!" He can be such a punk sometimes!

Well, this morning after Sunday School, his teacher, Mr. Tom, came over and said, "I have to tell you something. You know how in the movies they always show the Three Wise Men at the stable with baby Jesus, but actually they went to Josephs house instead. Todays's lesson was on the three Wise Men and I was explaining to the kids that Herod was trying to kill Jesus and an Angel warned Joseph in a dream to not go home. I asked if they knew where Joseph took Mary and Jesus and Aaron said 'Egypt!' I couldn't believe it!" I have to say, I was surprised too! I told Tom I guess Dave must have read it one night with Aaron and Aaron then told me that yes, he and Daddy had in fact discussed it. How funny! It was such a great thing to hear! As a parent, one of my biggest goals and concerns (not worries, but I can't think of a better word to use) is that my children truly understand who God is, what He has done for them, that they make Him their personal Saviour at an early age and they walk closely with Him. How wonderful to know that what we say, do and expose him to is sinking in a little! He has been asking questions lately like, where does Jesus live? and it is thrilling to my heart to think that each day Aaron gets closer to the truth! Please pray for him, that he will understand more and more each day and that very soon he would make that life changing decision, and then also please pray for Dave and me as we try to teach, instruct and inform him as best we can.

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Taking an idea from another blog I read, here are some of my favorite things about Christmas time.

~ Lots of baking!
~ Shrimp on Christmas Eve and my parents
~ Watching my children open gifts and seeing their expressions of sheer joy!
~ Spending all day in my pj's
~ Having Davey home ALL DAY!!!!
~ Mommom's monkey cake (which I am soooo missing this year!)
~ Going to 34th street
~ Watching Christmas movies- A Christmas Story, White Christmas, Christmas Vacation and Elf.
~ Shoping for the perfect gift for someone
~ Getting a gift that you are totally not expecting
~ Family Get-Togethers (Brunch with Dave's side and dinner with mine)
~Christmas music
~ More opportunities to discuss with Aaron that gifts and Santa are nice and fun, but that Jesus is the true reason for celebration
~ Christmas Programs, concerts, etc... (Debbie, I'm looking forward to next year! :p)
~ Feeling that if only for just one day, there really could be peace on earth!

Merry Christmas!

The title pretty much sums it up, but I also hope you each have a wonderful day with family and friends and remembering that Jesus is the true reason for the season!

My Awesome Helper

I just need to tell you all how awesome Aaron has been through all this sickness! Today I have zero energy and he has been such a great help! Any time I ask/tell him to do something his standard answer has been "Oh, sure!" I love it! He was eating dinner and I said "I'll go into the living room to get your gatorade" and he said, "Oh no mom, I'll do it, I really don't mind!" It was very cute :) He is just so willing to help me clean, pick stuff up, keep an eye on Belle, etc... I think he's done more around here tonight than Dave and I together, but he's the one who has the most energy, so I'm thankful someone's around to help! (Not to say that Dave hasn't tried to or been helpful, he has, but he is fighting something too and adding that with the fact that he got no sleep last night, he and I make one pitiful pair of energy-less parents tonight).

I told Aaron that after we are all better I'll take him some where special as a thank you for being so awesome the last two days. About an hour later he goes, "Mom, you forgot my surprise! You know, the one when I was putting my spoon away?" it took me a minute to figure it out but I did and explained that we'll go out after we're all better. Thankfully he understood and is ok with it :)

Sickness

I am totally bummed that we are sick right now! (Although, I can't think of a time or reason I would be happy about it...) Belle started Monday night during dinner so I had to miss the Ornament Exchange with the ladies from my church that evening. In Dave's defense, he did tell me I could still go and he would be happy to take care of her, I needed to get some gatorade for her and just felt bad leaving him with her.

Then Tuesday, around 4am, I woke up to a "mommy, I threw up" and had to clean Aaron's bed, put the sheets and all in the wash and get him cleaned up. He wanted to sleep on our floor which was fine with me due to the layout of our house. Dave got up and went to work after having a very interrupted nights sleep and I stayed inside all day, trying to clean and get laundry done in hopes of de-germing my house. Belle acted perfectly fine and seemed to have even more energy than usual but Aaron was pitiful and laid around all day, watching movies and "indulging" in the BRAT diet. Yum. Belle was, of course, on the BRAT diet and I was even careful of what I ate just in case they were so kind as to share their germs. Belle seemed fine all day and after I gave Aaron some chewable tylenol for his headache and fever, he perked up and I was quite optimistic about their prognosis. My parents, brother and his family and my family were all supposed to go to Valley View Farms (one of the traditions my father doesn't want to let go) but we had to skip. Obviously.

As soon as Belle threw up Monday evening I started to feel sick and figured it was all mental (ok, Sara, I know you will have something to say about that). I felt good yesterday and was even planning on getting on the treadmill for a while but as soon as I got down from putting Aaron into bed my stomach felt like someone had just flipped a switch and I felt icky, to say the least. I will spare you all the details, but neither Dave or I slept since I was sick and Belle apparently had a relapse. He had to wash her sheets and go check on her numerous times since I was unable to even walk to her room. Poor guy! He was so exhausted when he went to work today! Dave worked so hard to help me, I don't know what I would do without him!

As of now, Aaron seems ok but is still on the brat diet, Belle threw up right before her nap this afternoon and she and I are basically on an all liquid diet for the next 24 hours. I am thankful that we are all sick now instead of at Christmas, but I am supposed to go away Monday and Tuesday and am hoping that the kids are better by then, Dave does NOT get sick at all and that I am better soon too. It would be nice to have the extra time at home to get some things done, but I don't have much energy and certainly don't want to get my Christmas baking done now. Plus I have a ton of laundry to do and de-germing on top of the million other things I need to do before 4pm Sunday if I am going to go away. Blehhhhh.

I'm sure I won't blog too much between now and Christmas, so if I don't post anything new until then, I hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas! I know ours will be the best yet as we have Belle with us this year and each child makes this holiday a little more special.

The Best Laid Plans Continues...

Dave ran out to get the gifts needed while I made him a sandwich and had Aaron take a short nap on the couch. Dave got back and ate, then we got the wrapping supplies together, wrapped the gifts, woke Aaron up and brought him into the kitchen to sign the cards. Well, Aaron decided he was too tired to go and at the same time Mom "happened" to call with a question. (I think she was secretly hoping something would have changed since the last time we talked). I talked to mom and Dave told me to go ahead to the mall, so off I went! We got our shopping done, came home (after mom missed the exit for Target because she was talking on her cell phone-again, the best laid plans...) and then it was dealing with the Christmas decorations all night. Dave wanted me to go to WalMart to get a few supplies to fix the lights for the tree but I made him go with me since I really didn't know what he would really need. Bob and Alicia were supposed to come over and watch the game but Bob got a last minute ticket for free so it was just Alicia, (which was just as nice as having her and Bob!) and all day was not what I thought it was going to be. My tree is still un-decorated since Dave is still working on the lights, no other decoratins are out and I called out from work since I am fighting a cold or something and it is too stinkin cold to go anywhere today! Hopefully once the kids are in bed for naps I can finish up my laundry, do the bills (blechhh) and get the house cleaned (again) so I can decorate tonight.

I don't care if I get nothing else done today, I'm going to bed early tonight!

But you know what they say....

The Best Laid Plans

I still have yet to get my Christmas decorations put up, so I set aside time yesterday to do just that! We had breakfast with my Aunt and cousin at Cracker Barrel (Yummy!) then were coming home to clean and decorate. I had a committment to go to at 2pm but figured I wouldn't be too long and it gave Dave time to get the tree up and the lights on while the kids napped. Well, that party got postponed so I was quite happy to have more time at home to get a few extra things done around the house. Yeah right! Dave did get the tree up, we ran a few errands to look at prices and get ideas for outside Christmas decorations but since I have been fighting a cold and other issues, I just wasn't really up for doing all that I originally planned. Shocking!

I stayed home from church today since I am (again) fighting a cold and Belle's teething cold has turned into a full-fledged cold complete with green gunk and red eyes. I actually got a decent amount of laundry done before she woke up, but as soon as that girl gets out of the crib it is almost impossible to get much else done without her "helping" in a not so helpful way. I was folding laundry on my bed and she was playing in the playroom, when she decided to come in and join me. No problem, she usually finds a few things to occupy herself and seemed to not notice the nice, clean, folded pile of laundry next to where I was standing. Wonderful! I seriously thought I might actually get a whole load of laundry folded while she was awake. Not so fast! She grins at me, crawls over to the bed and as she is getting more and more excited, she stands up and grabs as much clothing as her little hand can hold and laughingly pulls it all onto the floor. Needless to say, I quit folding laundry then and we went and played for a while. I have Aaron all to myself a few times a day, but I rarely have time where it is just me and Belle, so I was able to enjoy some play time with her. We played, laughed, cuddled and had a marvelous cold, winter morning at home.

I had planned for Dave to get the lights on the tree today while the kids napped (Aaron really needs one since the game doesn't start till 8pm tonight and will skip a nap tomorrow since I work) and I have the house work almost done except for a few things (like vaccuming which I will do after we decorate the tree- why vaccum before?) and I made a pretty good size dent in the laundry this morning so I was feeling pretty good. I figured I'd hop on the treadmill, get showered, go to the mall with mom for a quick trip (she called and asked me to go with her....twist my arm to go to the mall, right?!- especially since I have a Victorias Secret gift card to use... :0) and then get back and have time to cuddle with Dave before the kids got up, then decorate the tree, clean up and be ready for friends to come over for the game tonight. Yeah.

My sinuses were driving me crazy so I was re-thinking the treadmill and considering skipping straight to the shower for some much needed relief from the pressure. I figured I could do that, go to the mall if that helped, then get back to do the rest of my planned afternoon activities. Then the phone rang. Aaron was invited to a friends party at Chuck E Cheeses at 3pm, it was 1:40. So, I called mom, told her the mall was a no go since Dave would take Aaron to the party, Dave dashed out to buy gifts and Aaron ate his lunch and is now sleeping till it is time to go. I threw together a sandwich for Dave and now have to go hunt down wrapping paper for the gifts, get the boys out the door and I guess then I will get to my cleaning, laundry and decorating. No relaxing afternoon with Dave or shopping at the mall. Bummer. I am glad that I get some time at home with no one around. Hopefully I will concentrate on being productive instead of wasting time doing silly things such as blogging... :)

Happy Sunday to you all!

Countdown to Christmas!

Yippie Skippie! Just 20 more days till Christmas! (I know, Sara, just 30 more days...bleh...)

Toolbox!

Aaron and Alyssa were playing nicely in the playroom this morning when my sweet little Belle decided she wanted to be part of their party and crawled in the room. She did something that Aaron found annoying (I couldn't see from where I was in the living room) and he said to her, "You toolbox!" to which Alyssa replied, "Oooooohh, you said a bad word!" It was too funny and I had to laugh at that since I had recently used that word in my FB status this morning. Ah, children. At least he's gotten out of the habit of yelling at drivers on the road and calling them morons... :p

Thanksgiving

Well, I hope you all had as lovely a Thanksgiving as I did! Mine was nice and relaxing and was filled with plenty of yummy food, wonderful family, and lots of laughs. :)

Dave's nephew, Kyle, spent Tuesday night with us and had a great time wrestling on the floor with Dave and Aaron and just goofing off as one of the boys. When he woke up Wednesday am he asked for chocolate chip pancakes, which is what he ate for breakfast last time he spent the night. He and Aaron stocked up on their morning ration of sugar then played it off while I got the house straightened, made sure Belle stayed out of trouble, etc..., blah, blah, blah..... Then after lunch (while Belle was safely confined to her crib for naptime :)) the boys made cupcakes for the holiday. They had a great time and made a huge mess, but I was able to overlook it (which is hard for me to do since I am OCD with things like that) and they were looking forward to serving them to the rest of their cousins at our Thanksgiving get-together on Saturday for the Casamento Clan. (I will post pictures later, once I download them).

Then Wednesday evening we went to our church for the Thanksgiving Eve Service. It was so nice! It was very informal, we sat in the Fellowship Hall and drank tea and coffee while eating cookies, and shared how/what God has blessed us with in the past year. I am so very thankful for the people in my church. They are so open and honest! A refreshing change! We attend a small church but God has done big things in it and through it and the people who attend there as well. Most were moved to tears at some point or another. We have a former drug/alcohol addict, a man who was in a terrible accident a few years ago and is paralyzed, people with children who are unmarried and have children, people who are imperfect, sick people, those in constant pain, jobless, etc... and through it all they are able to praise God for what He has done and how He has gotten them through the last year. It was very uplifting and wonderful!

Thursday morning we woke up and my dear hubby made a delicious breakfast of Peach Cobbler before I had to make the dishes I was assigned to take to my Aunt's house for dinner. (Mashed potatoes and corn- wow. Notice the excitement? ) I had made several desserts on Wednesday to take over so those were all ready to go and the potatoes and corn didn't take too long so it was pretty nice, but still, they are boring dishes. Anyway, we packed everything up and went to my aunts with her family, my parents and my brother and his family. Usually all my famikly from the Eastern Shore is over too but since they couldn't make it this year it was much quieter and roomier. :) We ate and laughed all day! Belle enjoyed her first Thanksgiving and all the food that comes with it. She filled her growing belly and then took a nice long nap which meant that I could relax with the family for most of the day. Eddie was telling us about his neighbors, work stories, etc... and it was great to be able to spend time with him and Jenn since they've been quite busy with moving lately. Let me take a minute to explain something about my mom. When we tell jokes or something, if she doesn't get it, she gets this look that comes over her face like "whhhaaat?" or if it is something "risque" or whatever, her eyes get really big, the eyebrows go up, and she sucks all the air out of the room with her gasp as she opens her mouth really wide! It is quite funny and when it takes a minute for her to get a joke, we can actually count back from 3 until she gets it. Well, needless to say that with Ed, Jenn, me and Dave in the room that happened a few times that day. I think the best time was when Ed was saying how "unfortunate looking" his neighbor is and then mentioned that the neighbor has a child. Jenn's response was "Well, he obviously got some play" and as we all laughed we could watch Mom's reaction go from "What?" to "!!!" in 3 seconds. It was quite funny! I think we laughed harder at mom's reaction than the actual line, but both were pretty funny! We came home later that evening and my cousin Brittany came over to spend the night and go shopping with me and Sara for Black Friday. My favorite friday! :)

We got to Starbucks at 4:15 and were at Old Navy by 4:45am. Oh, yes, be jealous, I was one to get a free mp3 player! Suckas! After a fun spree at ON, we moved on to Marley Station Mall where we hit up Victorias Secret, (woohoo!) Bath and Body Works, New York and Co, and the smelly bathroom in JC Penneys since I had a bladder with an apparent hole in it that day. Then it was off to Bob Evans for breakfast with a nice older waitress who made fun of herself and was quite funny. Then I convinced Sara and Britt to go to Target where I was able to finish Belle's Christmas shopping and get a few other misellaneous things. Once we were done there, we decided to stop by and visit my Dad at work. We stood outside talking to him while Brittany got back into the car to sleep since she was so tired. (Dad thought it was funny that the youngest one in the group and the only one with no kids, was the most tired!) I took Brittany back to my house where she took a nice nap while I spent some time with Dave and the kids before Belle went to bed and then Dave took Aaron out to run a few errands. I tried to take a nap but was not very successful. I only got about 45 minutes I think, but it was enough to get through till the end of the evening. I made a yummy chicken and broccoli wreath for dinner, went to youth group and then totally crashed after the kids went to bed. Whew! It was a realxing but BUSY time!

Saturday was busy too, I had a morning meeting, food to make, nieces over to spend the night and then a family dinner at Dave's parents house with his brothers and their families. By the time we got home Saturday night I was sooooooo ready for peace and quiet!

I was hoping to rest up a bit on Sunday but that never really happened and then the next thing I knew, it was Monday morning and it was up early to meet the family for breakfast and the Christmas tree cutting! Woohoo! We had a great time and I am hoping to get the tree up tonight. I love it when it is dark out and the only light on in the house is the tree. I tried to bribe Dave by saying if he gets the tree up tonight I'll make chocolate chip cookies. Mmmmmmm, yummy!

Happy Thursday to you all!