Christmas Clothes

Here are some clothes Grandma and Grandpa Eldredge sent the kids. Oh, and they sent a really cool hat for Sean too.

Clarification

I feel the need to clarify something. A few posts ago I spoke about some things going on in my parent's home. Like I have said before, this is my form of a journal, which isn't always meant for the world to see. I do not feel I said anything terribly wrong or bad, and if anything, it really made me look bad. The point of it was to poke fun at our situation right now and my reaction(s) to it. Apparently my mom took offense to it, and by that, some other family members as well. I want to make clear, without a doubt, that Sean and I are extemely grateful for my parents letting us stay with them. I know it isn't easy for either of us, but I think moreso for them. We have expressed this many times, but I think becuase we are all still in the middle of it, it gets forgotten. I want all who read this to know that we are grateful for them, love them, and will hopefully do this for anyone in our family or friends who would need such a huge favor done.

Santa's Presents

Here are my kids with their Santa gifts. They sure loved them. This is the first year that they absoluely loved it all. It made me so happy to see them so happy:)

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Here are the pics after Santa came to our house last night, but before the kids got up this morning. Grace got a HUGE stuffed doggie that she absolutely adores. Matthew got a Thomas Train Set that he has not stopped playing with yet. And Benjamen got a spy set with his own binoculars, walkie-talkies, rope, multi-tool set, compass, gloves and camo outfit, and the coolest thing, night vision goggles.

A Continuation

Just adding to my last post...My dad just told Sean that we need to spank our kids.
Enough Said.

Funny Story Involving Our Families' Issues:)

So I know that most people have "issues" within their family, whether blood or extended, but over the last 20 years or so I have come to determine most families don't have to deal with the issues of my family. When you think of the word 'mother', you think nurturing and loving and do whatever for you kind of thing. So over the last 30 years or so my mother and her mother(my g-mother) have formed that sort of relationship. They are to the point that they go to each other for everything and talk all the time and depend on each other to lift each other up when they are angry or down. You think, well that is great, good for them. The only problem is, they do this at the expense of everyone else in their family, namely my mother's children. You see, my mother and g-mother like to gossip, and not just about the town's folk, but about their own flesh and blood. Since living with my mother, I have spoken to her a couple of times about this and told her it really isn't the best thing to do. I have even gone so far as to say maybe that is why none of your kids want to come and visit you or offer to pay for a cruise for you or whatever else. My hope in talking with her is that she would discover she is doing no one any favors by being mean, and just hurting herself and relationships.
OK, so that last paragraph was an intro to why I am REALLY blogging tonight:) So we have family in town, which is always good to see. Well last night my family(hubby and kids) went to a Christmas Party we were invited to, and when we came home, the rest of my family(parents, 2 brothers and their families) were just getting home themselves. Well I find out that they had just gone to visit my g-ma, and while there, just out of the blue, my mom starts raggin on me, IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. She starts saying this lie about how I called her all nasty saying I was going to clean up some food she left on the counters. (side note)--My mom tends to bend the truth, even so much as to make it a complete lie.--Well it wasn't true what she was saying, but yes, I did put the food away to make room to fix dinner. Anyway, now this is the good part, when I heard about this, I started taking all her food out of the cupboards and off the shelves to put it back on the counter so she could put it away herself(I know lame, but whatever). There was a pile of oranges she had laying around, so I had put them in a bowl earlier, so I just started dumping them out. CLASSIC, I know:) but I didn't say I was being mature about it.
Anyway, that is the end of my story, but I thought it was a pretty funny one and I wanted to make you all laugh. So if you too have a classic story to tell about the issues in your family, please share them so we can all laugh and know all families have "issues"

My Journal Entry

I must admit, that once I started bloggin, I put my journal away, and apparently for good. I wanted to pull it out the other day to write in it, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere. You see, there are some things thta I think should still be put in a journal, just so the whole world doesn't read it. Anyway, so I am going to post something that I would rather put in my journal simply for my posterity's sake, and not for the world's knowledge, but since I can't find my journal, and since I very strongly need to write this down before it goes out of my head, I will share it here.
This past week I received a new calling in church. Now for those of you reading this that aren't members of my church, please feel free to ask me about anything you read here and don't quite get. I will be using terms that probably won't make a lot of sense, and I would love to explain them to you in more detail. So back to this calling... I got a call Wed night to meet with the Bishop later that night. I knew what it entailed becuase I didn't think I had done anything wrong:) But I also kinda wished he would have just called me. You see here, members have to be pretty dard committed to the church. I live 45 minutes away from our church building, so to be making extra trips each week is a little burdonsome and time consuming. But back to my story... So I went up there and saw another lady saying that I was probably going to be moving up with my Nursery kids to be teaching Sunbeams next year, becuase she, the current Sunbeam teacher, would be moving up with her kids to teach them next year. So i thought I knew what I would be doing.
Well we get in there and he says that they are reorganizing the YW, so I got excited! I have worked with the YW before, and I love it. But he continues on to call me to be the YW President. My mouth dropped open, my eyes got all bug-eyed and my heart sank to my stomache. Oh, and I started crying. Then I felt a little silly cause I thought I must have looked a littlelike Miss America when she wins, but I couldn't help it.
I am always willing to serve. I find great joy in serving, and I have always desired to serve as a President of an organization, I even thought it would be cool. But over the past few days I have grown leaps and bounds in my testimony. It has nothing to do with me. I am actually nobody, I am just a body to fill in so Heavenly Father can continue on with whatever he needs for these girls at this time. At first I was so scared about how it all worked with picking counselors and all. I felt, and still do a little, quite a bit inadequate. It is an overwhelming feeling, but also surreal. I am still trying to take it all in. I have never been the President of an organization, and haven't even been in a Presidency before(well I was in college, but I had someone to hold my hand the whole time then). It really has been quite a bit for me to digest and get through, but I have to tell you, Heavenly Father is real! I have felt His power in my life and my testimony in Him and how His church runs has strengthened to a level I have been striving for for a long time. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve His beautiful daughters, His strong and faithful daughters. I am grateful that I have been forced to rely on my Father in Heaven in a way I never have before in my life. I know this will help me for the rest of my life.
Now I want to remind you all reading that this was simply for the sake of my kids. So they can read this later in life and see what it was like when mommy got this calling and all the things she felt and went through, and maybe it will help them in some way with their callings. Thanks for allowing me to share this with the rest of you.

OK, a little obsessed:)

OK, so my parent's washing machine kinda broke last week, so we decided we would go out and buy a washer and dryer. I have been wanting one of these front-loading machines since they came out, but they are quite pricey. We found this set on sale for a great deal through HOme Depot, so we decided to go ahead and get them. Now I posted earlier this week about how I like quality things and am willing to spend the money for good things. This was definately the case! We could have purchased a different brand and type of washer/dryer for a fraction of what these cost, but we know these will last us and are good quality and energy efficient, another plus. So we had them delivered today and I started my first load in them. I litterally knelt next to the washing machine forlike 10 minutes or something just watching it work:) I am a little crazy, I know.

A Cute Pic

Here is another picture from our Ward Christmas Party. I think it is a cute one of Sean, Grace and I.

Texas Weather

You have got to love the weather down here! Yesterday we were 85 degrees. I kid you not. It felt like it was the middle of the summer with the sun blazing down on us and the clear hot sky. BUT THEN...
We went inside for a nap, woke up maybe 2 hours later, went outside to a very windy, dark clouded sky and chilly temps!! By last night we had a cold front move in and it was supposed to get down to 31degrees. And get this, just 40 miles from here, IT SNOWED. Now not like snow up north or anything, I don't it actually stuck. But for there to be snow down here is amazing.
I just can't get over the fact that we had a 50+ degree change in the course of 1 day. Crazy weather we have here:)

Not Worth the Money

Okay. I love purchasing quality items. I have found over the years, there usually is something to spending a little more to get name brand items, especially in certain places and with certain things. Anyway, over the last couple of months I have been not enjoying using saran wrap becuase it doesn't seem to work on half the items I need it on. I have seen commercials on this Glad Press'n Seal product, and I think I even have a friend who loves it. So I thought I would try it out. So of course the first place I buy it is at SAMS, where you get everything in bulk. I thought to myself it will be worth it cause it is only a few more dollars here than I would spend at the grocery store, and I am getting way more. Plus, it is name brand and it will work. I was wrong! This stuff works even less than saran wrap. I am totally not happy with it and will not be buying it again(although I do seem to have enough to last me another couple of months:)

But there is something out there that I will put a plug in for. It is aluminum foil sheets. They come in a few different sizes, but I like the size that is 12X10. It is big enough to cover most dishes. I use two sheets to cover a 9X13 pan. Anyway, it is so handy. It comes already cut up for you and you just pull one out at a time, kind of like a kleenex box. Hope this helps some of you out there!

Funny Poses

Grace LOVES posing for the camera. She says 'cheese' and everything:). These are a few pics from last night. Then there is one from Matthew. He fell asleep listening to his radio in his room:).

Our Church Christmas Party

We had our Church Christmas Party last night. It was a fun party. Benjamen went to sit on Santa's lap, but Matthew and Grace werent' so sure about it. It was nice. I love Christmas time and all the good things that come along with it. I am grateful for what our Lord and Savior did for each one of us. May we all try to be more Christ-like and loving to all we see.

Santa Came To Town

Santa came yesterday to my mom's baby store. We made sure to take the kids over and have them sit on his lap. It was a fun experience. Grace wasn't quite sure what to think, but she did good. I think she might have been a little confused hearing Grandpa's voice in a dressed suit:)

Making Some Progress

I have a friend who is a personal trainer, and she put together a little program for me to do at the gym. Twice a week I run for an hour on the elliptical, and then 3 days I run for half an hour and do a grouping of weights for 3 sets. Anyway, it is exciting to see how many calories I am burning. Today I burned 683 calories and ran exactly 5 miles. Now I have run more miles in the past, and I am sure there are a lot of you out there who burn more calories than that, but it is exciting to me to see the numbers:)

My Best Friends!!

I have 2 of the best friends in the whole wide world!! I miss them and all my other friends soooooo much. Sometimes I wonder what my problem is. I have friends here, but it takes me a while I guess to make really good friends. Maybe it takes me a while to feel a strong bond, I don't know. But anyway, my friends Liz and Sarah(sisters by the way) sent me a little birthday package. Sarah made me the soundtrack to the movie Twilight. And I love it. Liz made me these cute shoes. Yes, she MADE them. They are way cute. Thanks you guys!!!

Texas Wildlife

I have forgotten how much wildlife there is in Texas, and how it all comes out at night. There is TONS of roadkill all over the highways and roadways. I have seen lots of neat things, but within the last week I saw an armadillo crossing the road, and just the other night there was a possum hanging out in one of my parent's trees. Here are a few pics of it. Hope you can see it in the dark.

Attempting at Picture Taking

Tonight we were trying to get a good pic of our kids to put in our Christmas Cards this year. Here are a few of the ones we will NOT be using. Needless to say, we didn't get a pose I was very happy with, but it will have to do becuase I don't think the kids could stand any more!

Recognition

Just recently Sean got an award at work. It really isn't allll that big of a deal, other than the fact that it is nice getting noticed for all your hard work and efforts.

My Funny Girl

I just had to post this pic. Grace loves putting on my glasses, and she looks soooooo funny:)

Twilight

Friday night was the big night of FUN!!!! My friends and I went out to dinner and then stood in line for half an hour or more to watch the long awaited movie Twilight. We had a great time hanging out together. One of my friends had on an I Love Edward shirt. The rest of us were too timid to wear one, so I was glad at least one of us wore one. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the film. It was extremely low-budget, and you could tell. The makeup job was also awful. But I loved the film just the same, just because of what it was:) I cannot wait to see it again, and to see the next one.

$1.55 a gallon

Can you believe that? Sean paid that yesterday. WooHoo

Sean's Holiday Party

Sean's company just had its big holiday party this past Saturday. It was a lot of fun!! Sean hurt his back earlier in the week and that prevented him from being able to walk very well, so we didn't get any dancing in on the dancefloor, but we still had lots of fun none-the-less.
We got there at 6:30 for drinks and appetizers. His company gave everyone 4 drink tickets, which were used by everyone, except us I think, to get alcaholic drinks. Thank goodness they had a few sodas, so we had something to drink:) But that alone cost the company tons of money. Then we had the nicest buffet meal!! The mashed potatos were my favorite I would have to say. They were literally silky tasting. I have no idea how they got them that way, but they were delicious. After dinner, they had a "casino night" where they gave each guest there $2000 in Booz Allen bucks to go and play with. Sean and I don't gamble, so we thought our boys would have fun playing with this "money", so we brought it home for them. Their door prizes were all great, too bad we didn't win any! They gave away gift cards to Starbucks, Olive Garden, Best Buy, $50 to the movie theater, $200 to a spa, a 37-inch TV, and a couple other things. I am hoping next year to score something:)
Anyway, it was a fancy night, so I did my best to fancy myself up. I love seeing people all dressed up and it was a lot of fun to meet Sean's co-workers!

Thank You Power

We read this book last month for our book club. It is such a good book! I recommend it to anyone who wants to be uplifted. It is about being grateful for what we have and are given in this life. It was so encouraging to me. When you read this book, you are reminded that there are lots of people out there who remain positive and uplifting even when things don't always go their way. It was a great book for me to read. It made me concious of all the good things people do for me and for others on a daily basis.

OOOPPS!

So I love music! I can listen to it all day long. I can appreciate just about any kind of music as well, so that helps my reputoire(sp?) be diversified. Anyway, I just turned on my blog to listen to the music while I was doing something else, and realized something I think is hilarious. I added a few new songs to my playlist the other day. They are current songs, and songs I love hearing on the radio! Much to my funny suprise, the second song on my playlist has a bad word in it at the beginning of it:) I never knew that cause they can't play that word on the radio. So please excuse the language of taht song:) If you get offended by that stuff, just skip that song.

I Feel My Kid's Pain

Yesterday I had my annual exam, and while I was there I got my flu shot as well as a tetanus shot. MAN!! Now I know how my kids feel when they get theirs. I was pleasantly suprised to not even feel the needles go into my arm, but once they pumped in the vaccination, my arm hurt. It hurt all day yesterday and still hurts pretty bad today! Now I need to make sure and be careful when my kids get their shots to not touch them in the general vacinity of their shot:)

Simple Pleasures

Tonight Matthew and I went on a date. We like to take our kids on dates ideally once or twice a week, but realistically we haven't done that even in a month's time. But I told my boys last week they could each go on a date with me this week. They get to choose where we go and what we do. Matthew just wanted to go to the store and walk around and then he finally decided on a sling-shot air plane(99cents) and a horse ride outside the store(50cents). So all in all, our date cost a whopping $1.50, but the smile on his face was priceless! I really felt something swelling in my chest as I looked over at him and he was so happy just doing what he wanted to do and doing it with me. Gotta love those simple pleasures we get in life!

1st Family Camping Trip

This past weekend we went camping for my birthday. This was the first time we have gone as a whole family. Sean has taken the boys before and they have camped many times in the backyard, but this was Grace's first time and our first time as a family. This was also my first time since I was 14 or 15.
I was happily suprised by how much I enjoyed it!! It was sooo nice to spend time with the kids without all their toys and the tv and the phone and the computer and the...
Now of course I forgot the camera, so I don't have any happy moments to post, but we will bring it next time. The only down side to going was that it got freezing cold that night and luckily we camped close to our house so that at 12:30am Sean could take a frozen Matthew adn Grace back home to sleep in their warm beds. We are fortunate to have weather that allows us to be able to camp basically all year. Right now the temps are still in the upper 70's and lower 80's during the day and in the 60's at night(except that one night we went and it got down to 41).

AirFest 2008

This past weekend we went to an air show at Lackland Air Force Base. It was really neat! It was free to the public with free parking, so we loved that. They were showcasing planes from the different branches of military and then a lot of stunt things going on. We were watching this one plane, I think Sean said it was an F-16. He was flying intensly fast and doing some awesome tricks. The only downside to it was that is was almost deafeningly loud! Grace was screaming, and I had both her ears covered as much as I could. Matthew was also crying because it was so loud to him as well. But I have to say, it was quite amazing. The announcer was explaining one of the tricks the pilot was doing and he said the plane was making a turn at 9G's. That is pretty intense!! We plan on going to this every year.