Finally...

...Got everything (well, almost) done on my To-Do-List. 

Chirstmas cards assembled...check

Mailed tomorrow...hopefully check

Bills paid... check

Money in the account...amazingly  check

Ben's Xmas Package to Iraq...mailed

Onesie Order... Finished and mailed

Front of house clean...check (the babes were AMAZING)

My room/bathroom clean...Not check...ok there's the almost everything done

I have my house clean, my hair freshly done and my eyebrows waxed all in the same week???? I feel like a new woman. And on Monday my dear friend Crystal is going to bleach my teeth and give me a spray tan for Christmas because she said I deserve to feel fabulous. Oh man, will I feel fabulous!

Oh Santa!

Will we ever get a good one? 

Im beginning to seriously doubt it. I spent like a week trying to pump Liv up for this years encounter with the jolly fat man. We watched shows and talked about it everyday. She was determined that she was not going to cry and she was going to be a big kid "Like Calliou Mom". I didn't even worry about Toby but I guess I should have because the second I put him on Santa's lap he began to wail. He didn't (and wouldn't) look at Santa the entire time. He just knew I wasn't holding him anymore and for this reason alone, he was pissed! So Liv stuck true to her word. No crying but wouldn't crack anything remotely resembling a smile the entire shoot no matter how many times we yelled at her, made stupid sounds, and asked her to say cheese. She had this same straight face until she got off his lap. SO ANNOYING. So I had to step in, with no make up on, and take one for the team. But really, who wants a picture of the kids, AND THEIR MOM, with Santa. And $20...come on. What a rip. 

Im glad we are forced to think about Jesus more this Christmas Season. If this is what Christmas was really all about, I would be going crazy. I'm just so glad we are all in the same boat. Times are tuff and it is really making me focus on the true meaning for this special day. The day my Savior was born. Thank God for that. 

I wish they could take pictures with baby Jesus. It would be so much less scary than taking a picture with a fat man with a huge beard. I know they would smile for that one. 

Love this

This is what I strive to be. And most of the time I feel as though I'm there:

So Jesus says, “I will quiet you with My love” (Zephaniah 3:17). A woman of true beauty is a woman who in the depths of her soul is at rest; trusting God because she has come to know Him to be worthy of her trust. She exudes a sense of calm; a sense of rest; and invites those around her to rest as well. She speaks comfort; that all is well; that all will be well. A woman of true beauty offers others the grace to be and the room to become. In her presence, one can release the tight sigh that so often grips our hearts, and breathe in the truth that God loves us and he is good.

Love/Hate Relationships

I've got 3 right now:

1. Tub O' Cookies 

 

I love how easy it is to just make two cookies after lunch

I hate how I never make just 2

2. Christmas decorations 

I Love how they make me feel when I look at them

I hate thinking about how much time it took to put them up and how many times I am going to have to tell those little fingers to keep off!

3. This Little Man Child

I Love this smile

I hate the high pitched screams that come (no joke) two seconds after a smile. I am really paying my easy going baby who just sat there for literally five months. 

Toby final started hugging me, (which no one could prepare my heart for that moment...it almost burst with love and joy) but he also started these screaming fits that make me lose hearing in both ears. He is getting those K9 teeth, both of them at once and it is killing both of us. He is so grumpy and so I am so grumpy. I just have to remember this is just a phase and this is not his personality. (hopefully) Keep us in your prayers!