Monday, December 29, 2008

Just when you think you have it all figured out.....

So....as I was commenting on the pictures in the posts below....I described one as "Pseudo Christmas". Now, I know most of you may have never heard of the holiday called Pseudo Christmas. Right now you are scratching your head and squinting your eyes thinking about it.....what is this Pseudo Christmas of which she speaks???? "Oh my....do I need to run out and buy another gift?????"



Rest easy.....no need to panic, no need to rush out to the nearest 99% off sale to get just the perfect gift. "Pseudo Christmas" is an exclusive holiday we've claimed for ourselves!



You see....in this wonderful thing we call life, most of us find our one. We find that one, we take our 2 lives and make them 1, we begin to live our lives as a combo rather than a single. Right? Well.....sometimes the unthinkable happens, sometimes happily ever after becomes "what the heck happened???" And unfortunately.....there's more than just the original 2 that take the fall-out......



I've married a wonderful man. A man who is like the Phoenix. You know....the beautiful bird that rises from the ashes.



My dear husband .... I met him after the fall-out. He had met his 1 and they had made 3 amazing sons. But life took it's messed up, sideways, backwards directions and he ended up a single Dad that desperately wanted to turn those ashes into beauty.





When a marriage breaks up....certain things are lost. Things change. Traditions are tainted. My sweet husband decided he would not let that destruction take over. He was going to take charge. No, things wouldn't be exactly the same. Really....can Santa visit 2 houses for the same children??? But doesn't Santa only come on Christmas Eve??? Absolutely not! Santa, you see, knows to go to Moms house. BUT "Pseudo Psanta", well, he comes to Dads house. The children know....Pseudo Psanta is really Dad. The treats left aren't cookies and milk....but pretzels and soda. Out of the destruction rises a new joy. Something new, something fun, something that is totally their own. Instead of letting the bad take over.....my Brian let the new begin.





I find it spectacularly amazing! In my humble opinion, it takes a very special person to put aside all that had to be put aside......to build something so new. Yes, to some it's simple....they dismiss it. But when you really think about it...... that Pseudo Christmas and that Pseudo Psanta.... they laugh in the face of disaster and say.... "We're not gonna take it!"





So.....those pictures were of our Pseudo Christmas. The boys stay for almost a week during the Christmas break. We laugh, we eat, we play games, we watch movies. And on Pseudo Christmas Eve we put the kids to bed early, we pull out all the presents and wrap them up with brightly colored paper and bows and we carefully arrange the gifts under the tree. Brian "booby traps" the doors to their rooms..........so when they try to sneak out to peak at the gifts we KNOW. Of course..now, we literally have to wake them up for Pseudo Christmas morning! :-)




Yes, our children are "too old" to believe in Santa.....well, except for Zachery. But thankfully, they will NEVER be too old to believe in Pseudo Psanta!!

Merry Merry Christmas

A few more pictures of Christmas celebrations......




My Dad, Wayne, and Step-Mom, Claudine

The boys on "Psuedo-Christmas" morning....
Nick, Mike, Zachery and Robbie
all having fun opening gifts






Zachery playing with his new
"computer", a gift from Nana & Grandpa.
Do ya think he'll leave our real one alone now?????





Zachery "helping" Dylan.....he couldn't get it that not every present was for him!









Merry Christmas!

This Christmas has been very full and very busy! Full of fun, full of memories and full of love! Here are a few pictures of our family celebrations.....

(bear with me as I figure out how to best post and comment on the pictures and make it all "blog-beautiful"....I'm still new at this! ;-) )






A semi-family pic....missing a brother, Bobby & a sister, Carrie....but this is Norman, Doug & Me.....GOSH....we look alike, don't we??????




Me & my Dad, Wayne.


Me with my beautiful Mom, Faye.




What a sweet picture of the boys....almost all of them!
Dylan(16), Mike(21), Nick(14), Robbie(19) and my nephew Hunter(16)

Sunday, December 28, 2008









I'm so proud of my Dylan! We had a family service at church today. The children & teenagers attended and participated in the whole service. Dylan played in the worship band quitar section! He loved it and Mom is very proud!

Friday, December 12, 2008

I've had it.....I'm firing my maid!

This is quite frustrating. I certainly did not want it to come to this, but she has really gotten behind in her duties lately. Really, I like her a lot. She's funny, loves her family and friends, a great gal all in all. But sometimes reality just stares you right in the face....like this morning when I woke up and looked at the ceiling fan in my bedroom. The dust! The fan blades are covered in dust. And then I take a real hard look around the rest of the place....piles of laundry--I've asked her countless times to keep up the laundry daily!.....fingerprints on all the windows---I'm not too strict about this, I'm fine with her only doing that about once a month, and she STILL can't do it!!??!!....the mail is piled up on the counter---can't she just throw out the junk mail and file the bills? ugh!!!!.....Zachery's toys are everywhere---really, how hard is it to pick up a few thousand little toys!.....And the dishes??? You guessed it, the sink is STILL full, it never seems empty actually! Is it too much to ask to run the dishwasher twice a day instead of once??....AND, I'm just too embarrassed to tell you about the bathrooms!

Don't think I'm a slave driver....I have talked with her about this many times....almost daily in fact. But she can't seem to keep up! Something must be done.

Well....now that I read over what I wrote....maybe I'm being a little too hard on her. It is a lot of work.....I don't know where I'd find anyone else who would be willing to do all that,,,,,especially for free!

Here's to FAITH that a clean house really.doesn't.matter in the end, HOPE that I will someday not stress out over it, and the LOVE that propels me to try to make this house a HOME!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Conversations with a 2 year old

My sons are funny! Dylan has developed quite a wit and he makes me laugh all.the.time.

Zachery, well, he just cracks me up constantly.

Our conversation yesterday: We were leaving the Goodwill store, he was buckled in the carseat and I was climbing in the drivers seat....

Zach: "goin' Mommy?"
Mommy: "We're going to have lunch Zach and then go to the library."
Z: "Yay, lunch! Yay, library!"
M: "Are you excited about that Zach?"
Z: "Yes, Mommy, hold my wallet Mommy"
A puzzled look crosses mommy's face, zach doesn't have a wallet. So I glance back in the rearview mirror and see Zach holding a "pretend" wallet in his hand. Okay, that's just cute!
M: "I'm driving Zachery, you hold your wallet right now."
Z: "OK Mommy, put Zach pocket."
I glance back again and see he's putting the pretend wallet in the zippered pocket of his jeans.
Z: "wallet, pocket, close it"
I'm giggling now because of the little narration he's giving himself about zipping up that wallet in his pocket.
M: "Zachery, you are a funny boy. You make Mommy laugh."
Z: very matter-of-factly says.... "I know"

I burst into laughter again....oh yeah, he knows, right?!