3 days left

Are you kidding me?! Where has the time gone? I feel like I am on a never ending hamster wheel. LOL I was happy to take time out today to go to Alex's preschool party and Allison's 2nd grade party.  Being in the classrooms helping actually ignites the urge to go back to school to become a teacher's aide. Why not a teacher some ask. For one, I am too old to be going to school for that long since I will not be able to go to school full time yet. For another, I want to work in schools with kids, but not necessarily the stress that comes with being a teacher. I am so happy that my kids have been BLESSED with wonderful teachers and this year's teachers are proving that fact.  Allison's looks up to her teacher this year unlike any other teacher she has ever had. I am constantly hearing about Mrs M.  and it is something I enjoy hearing. I love knowing in my heart that my kids are being taken care of  as well if not better at school as they are at home.  Please make sure you take the time to thank your child's teacher. It doesn't need to be a gift, just a note or email saying that you appreciate what they do for your child goes a long way.

I missed a picture of Elvis. It was nothing exciting, he was laying in a door handle. Maybe I can talk him into recreating the scene?  Anyway, here is a new picture of him. I am not sure who is going to miss him more come Christmas morning, me or the kids. LOL

Hanging from our hallway light

The countdown has begun

The kids are counting down for Christmas to be here and I am for Christmas to be over. LOL My Birthday is also right around the corner, but I am not going to acknowledge this year. I am kind of freaking out that I am moving further into my 30s. Most of the gifts are bought and wrapped, the cards are sent out, house decorated, and just a handful of things left to do. Clean the house, make cookies and 2 quilts. Oh and did I mention that 98% of my household is sick? Yep, that is about right. Christmas and  my birthday usually means someone is sick. The one year I got barf all down my back, fun fun! I of course need to update the antics of Elvis.

Catching Dinner

Sleeping in the tree and he brought letters from Santa

Dinner anyone? 

Hanging out in our little village by the Elf Dorm

He stayed here for two days. 

I think he wanted to go swimming. 

Hanging off the fan in the kitchen

A new Quilt and more Elvis

So I decided to make a quilt for my dad using my mom's jeans. I hope he likes it and more important uses it. LOL

I only used 4 squares of denim on top.

The top with a corner of the back folded over

Close Up

The Back

The back with the front folded back.

Now for some new Elvis antics..

Someone got into the toothpaste.

Special morning message.

Uh-oh someone got stuck outside in the wreath,

Let me in!

Ok, that is a bit spooky....

It is cold out here!! 

Elvis is becoming quite mischevious

Imagine the surprise when the kids came downstairs to discover that he had toilet papered our tree! He was caught red handed when he found himself stuck in the empty toilet paper roll. 

Caught! 

Looks like he likes coffee too! 

Let's go for a drive! 

My Son

I wanted to tell you a little about Nicholas, my second child and first born son. He has been a struggle since the moment of conception, but that has not stopped me from loving him.

My son can't sit still during a 20 minute dinner, yet can play for hours with Legos.
My son is imaginative and can build amazing things, yet 2nd grade math gets him down.
My son can be the most loving person, yet breaks my heart on a daily basis.
My son is extremely smart, yet continuously calls himself stupid.
My son is loving to his 2 year old sister, yet can throw a tantrum that can put her to shame.
My son loves to please people, yet is constantly fighting against us.
My son likes playing "boy stuff" with his brother, yet terrorizes that same brother by threatening to run away.
My son is a great person, yet hates himself.
My son is a never ending ball of energy and thinking, yet likes to sit with me and watch our favorite show, Ghost Hunters.
My son knows what to do to make his baby cousin smile.
My son gives the best hugs and is always getting out of bed for one more.
My son loves when I cook one of his favorite foods and acts as if he had never eaten something so good before.
My son adores his dad and wants to be just like him.
My son is sensitive and gets his feelings hurt easily.
My son is 8.
My son has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
My son has Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
My son will always be my first baby boy, the one I had dreamed of even if he drives me crazy.

I have been having so much fun!

Hiding Elvis the Elf for my kids to find every morning has brought me an excitement for Christmas that I had been lacking this year.  He has gotten in to a bit of mischief and they kids thought it was great. I figured I would show you his latest exploits. (He decided to draw all over our family pictures with a red dry erase marker, but I will not be posting those pictures.)

Looks like he's got a girlfriend.

Making sure the Carbon Monoxide detector is working.

Holding onto the fan remote. 

I guess he drinks coffee too!

Just hanging around. hehe

We had Lauren's annual review for her speech services and she has made some progress, but will still need speech therapy. She will also be getting physical therapy every other week due to some lower trunk weakness. It isn't anything serious, but I am all about being proactive. If my kids need something, I will fight until they get it. I have been having a great time watching my gorgeous, happy niece who is also recently became my Goddaughter. I was surprised and honored to be picked. The kids adore her and miss her when she is gone. I think we may need to set up a visitation schedule during the summer when her Daddy is off of his work for the summer. LOL

I wonder where Elvis will end up tonight..........

Elvis is in the House!

That is Elvis our adopted Elf on a Shelf. He arrived last year and it has been great finding him every morning after he has reported into Santa.  Here are pictures of his recent places.

He decided to hang out by the kids papers

Checking out what we've been up to this year.

Chilling in my stocking. The kids are convinced this means Santa won't bring me anything.

Joining the Nutcracker Army

Peeking through the kitchen opening.

Part of our Family tree

Driving Diego's Jeep

Enjoying my wooden shoe

Trying to call St. Nick. (Yes the photo is flipped, this  picture would not cooperate.) 

It could always be worse......

That is true, it could always be worse. However, that does not make what someone is going through at the moment insignificant. Many people don't realize that by just uttering that phrase you could make someone who is going through something tough feel worse. Why are we not allowed to moan, complain, cry, get angry, etc about our problems? Yes there are worse things, yes there are people worse off, but that does not make our problems go away. So the next time someone you know is going through something,  don't automatically say that phrase.  Sometimes people just need to know that you care no matter how trivial you feel their problem is.

Another quilt

I had a baby shower for friends and wanted to make them something special for their special little boy. So off to the fabric store I went. I found a few things that I liked and then discovered a monkey fabric on a blue teal background. It was so cute and perfect. (I later found out that it was actually the theme for the nursery, I had not known because I never looked at the registry.) So I got some coordinating solid teal fabric, a light yellow striped fabric and off I went. I was quite happy with how it turned out. I have such a hard time getting the sizes right, so this turned out quite large, but at least it was a little on the big size than small, right?

3 coordinating burp rags. 

I thought about you yesterday......

Who am I kidding? I think about you every day, multiple times a day for that matter. For the most part I think of good times, the love you had for us and how much you loved your grandkids. I think about the food you made, how you were always there if I needed to talk. (Let's face it, that was a lot of times.) I still to this day, 2 years, 7 months and 12 days later go to call and tell you something. I just recently changed the names on phone to Dad because every time Mom calling would pop up a little hole would be punctured in my heart.  There are days that the memories of your final days are first and foremost in my mind and even I can't stop them, so I  don't. I see you as clear as if it was happening again laying in that bed dying and praying to God for some sort of miracle that never came.  That last day where the light had just gone out of you, my world stopped spinning. I was forever changed. It is still too hard to imagine a world where you don't exist. There are days that I regret the kids not coming to see you at the hospital, or your home or at the funeral home to say goodbye, but I quickly push these aside. I do NOT want my kids to remember their Grandmother like that. It is so hard for me to forget it and I would never want to put that kind of pain on such little kids.  I did what you asked, your last "command" as my Mom to not bring the kids to see you like that. As always, you were more wise than anyone I know.  I recently went to a baby shower for a beautiful baby boy and the pain of you being gone was there. It drove with me to the shower and sat with me while I tried to have a good conversation with the other guests. It was not that I was sad about the shower, rather the fact that you could not share in the joy. You would have known most of the people there since you grew up with them. I am no longer just Holly that is all grown up, I am Holly, Ida's daughter and then comes the look of sadness for me because they know you are gone.  I am so happy that I got to have such a great mom and that we had such a great bond. I feel so bad for those friends who can't connect with their moms the way we did. I just pray that I am as good as a mom as you were and that I can have the same relationship with my daughters.

No truer words were spoken as these;


It's so curious:  one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief.  But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses.  ~Colette

Chocolate Coated Popcorn

I admit, when I first found this recipe I was a bit thrown off, but let me tell you it is the best sweet and salty mix ever! So I decided to share this super easy recipe.

First off all the ingredients
2 packages microwave popcorn popped and all the kernels  removed(you wouldn't want to bite down on one of those babies)

I just used cheap butter flavored popcorn.

1 package of candy melts, any color.

I used Wilton's Orange Candy melts. 

Another coordinating color of candy melts. 

I used Wilton's Dark Chocolate to stick with the Halloween theme.

I only used about a cup of it. 

Assorted Sprinkles. I could not find my Halloween Sprinkles, so I just used some Wilton Rainbow Chip sprinkles. 

Now the Directions.

Place the popcorn in a large bowl.  Melt the bag of candy melts according to the directions. (The best way I found is to do it in the microwave according to the directions.) Pour melted candy over the popcorn and mix well. Your hands work the best, Allison had a great time doing this part!  Spread mixture onto two cookie sheets lined with wax or parchment paper.  Melt the other candy melts and drizzle all over the popcorn. Sprinkle on what ever sprinkles you want to use at this point also. Let set until firm, about 30 minutes. Place into a bowl and serve. It can be stored in ziploc bags for 2 days. 

Nice and melted

Getting ready to mix up.

I used a squeeze bottle to drizzle the melted candy, but a baggie  would work fine.

Yummy!