Almost time to be Grandma Christmas!

We had a fun time celebrating Tatianna's birthday on Saturday. She was pretty excited, I hear well into the night! All of the cousins are pretty wild when they get together and make lots of noise for the poor people downstairs from Rob and Brianna. She showed her totally girliness when she opened up new clothes from Aunt Mariah (go figure!).

Today I just need to make refreshments for Family Home Evening with the University 1 kids. We are tying quilts for the Giving Tree, an organization that helps families get back onto their feet. They have 4 homes and are in the process of acquiring one more. One home is even designated for single dads raising kids on their own. Getting to know them has really added to my holiday joy this year.

Starting tomorrow I am devoting myself to my own family & decorating my home. I can't let my paganisms go completely, Jon wouldn't have anything to grumble about! That does seem to be our holiday tradition ... I go overboard, get stressed, he gets dragged into it trying to remind me that it is CHRISTmas ... great fun. Then on Christmas Eve we kiss and make up, sleep in on Christmas morning ... oops, did I really just admit that? I can hardly wait! I actually have my plans made! I may even have most of my supplies already, hope so!

This cake just looks like my house right now!

She's Home!

Arianna is home and doing well. I hear she is quite the little entertainer when getting groggy. Daddy says that she is gradually looking better, other than looking like she went a round with Holyoak! Jon had a friend that had crossed eyes that were never able to be corrected. Sweetest lady in the world, but was always so selfconscious about her appearance. So glad that they can help it now.

Hope she is up to her baby sister's b'day party tomorrow. Tatianna will be two on Sunday!

P.S. I talked to her tonight. Kind of funny. She usually gets on the phone and you just say yerah, really? Wow! Cool! cause she can talk for twenty minutes without talking a breath. Tonight she just sat there and didn't even answer questions. Think she might have been pretty groggy still. I didn't realize they were going to work on both eyes. She asked for her glasses afterwards, put them on, looked around and took them off. She won't be refitted for about 6 weeks. Hope it doesn't give her too much trouble. She is farsighted so close up stuff might give some problems.

Your Prayers Would Be Appreciated

Yes, I am a worrier. Since my mom died, it has been my official assignment to be the "family worrier" and Jon says that I do an excellent job.

Arianna will be having surgery tomorrow to try to straighten her right eye. It has been crossed since she was tiny. They have tried patching it, drops, and glasses. Nothing has corrected it so far.

Your prayers for her and the surgeon would be very appreciated.

Thanks!

I Feel Good ... da-da-da-da-da-da - dat - dah!

Last night I got another call from my little benefactress, the lady who gave me the check last week. She and I met outside of Wal-mart (where else?) and she gave me a whole bunch of fabrics and said to let her know if I was short on anything. such a cute lady. She is from Sweden and loves to reach out to others. It makes Christmas for her. When this project and all of my Christmas projects are done, we plan to look into the Newborn-in-Need program. I hear it is a good one for those of us who are just too cheap to let go of anything larger than a 3" square.

I am so grateful for those around us who set the proper tone for this special time of year! It keeps me reminded of "the reason for the season", important for those with a short attention span ... what was I doing?!?!!?

The "Little Things" that Really Count

I spent today watching my girls (Arianna & Tati) and came home through the middle of town to make a couple of stops. Not that I am anti-social, but YUCK ... Hate the traffic! Anyway, I was a little frazzled with the drive and as I was driving down our street, I got to thinking about when I could get Jon in the mood to put up with all my paganisms for the holidays, when I could get the lights up to greet us as we come home each evening, wondered if that poor star I found last year would still work after spending the whole year dangling from what was the top of the pine tree a year ago, blah, blah, blah.

As I came around the last curve before my house, I had the most wonderful surprise. My "Lone Pine Tree" was lit up, and down. Now, I can hardly wait to build a new manger to place under for the down light to shine on.

Jon came out looking so pleased with himself, as well he should. He really does not like all the fuss we crazy women make over turning Christmas into a production instead of enjoying the sweet peace of the Gift given to all mankind years ago.

I am appreciating the way we have scaled back on the giving stuff that is not of a spiritual nature and the time and energy my family is putting into creating memories instead. The star and manger were a new tradition that I started last year. It got mixed reviews from the family, but when I had the grandkids spread the straw to prepare the manger for Baby Jesus, I won!

The circumstances bringing this change about have been a little rough for all of us, but I do love my children and grandchildren and the wonderful attitude they are growing through this experience. Though I don't know if I can take any credit for these qualities, I am afraid I do feel some pride and gratitude that I can call myself their mother.

How to Know When You Are Getting Older

Today Jon and I slept in!! At least until some rude guy knocked on the door to serve some papers on a certain daughter for speeding and getting photographed doing it. It was so nice. Then we dug out some leftovers for breakfast, big surprise, plopped down in front of the TV to watch news while we ate.

Poor Jon has lived around me and Mariah so long that he has turned into a passive people watcher. You know, where you look them over and critique them and how they dress, mannerisms, what kind of impression they are trying to create. We were evaluating the FOX news people. One guy was taking himself so seriously. I thought he was super nerdy guy in college and someone had cut his hair a little fuller to make his ears look less HUGE ( I can say that, BIG ear lady here has that right!), put a suit with shoulder pads and tie on him and said look like you know what your talking about. Then Jon made some crack about he just probably got out of Harvard I was getting old and so anyone under 40 looked young to me. Hum-m-m-m-m, I thought the guy was probably near 40. So, does that make me old?

Anyway, he sure stuck his foot in his mouth, can you imagine making the mistake of telling the mouth she is old, I will enjoy this one ... and may even invite at least Mariah to help me with a little appropriate revenge!

We Need To Remember ...

For days now, I have been trying to round up materials for making quilts to contribute to the Giving Tree. It has been pretty discouraging. Fists are closed due to the economy and the uncertainty that most are feeling right now.

While in a fabric store on the east side, my last hope, a lady waiting in line listened in while I was explaining what and why I needed. She started asking more questions and finally said that she would like to help. It seems that she has gathered fabrics that she contributes to her church and would like for me to take them for this project. I gave her my name and phone numbers and went back to look in their 99 cent section. She found me, and gave me a check to cash and use however I needed it. It seems that years ago when she was desparate, somone gave her a car that help her get back on her feet and she has tried to pass the kindness on ever since. What a wonderful example and reminder to me of lessons learned and forgotten. We are the Savior's hands. He needs us to bring about his work. My heart is full and my strength renewed. I came home and thought of a new source where I can get batting scraps. I am so grateful for her kind gesture.