*Beau and Leah full of giggles after their "Nap"
We had a wonderul (well, mostly) Thanksgiving dinner. I say mostly since, I had planned the day to include a nap for the little ones BEFORE we left for my Grandma's house, allowing for me to finish cooking, and get ready myself. I did get done what I had planned, the girls had some TV time without B&L taking it over with movie demands. But, as quiet as they were, they DID NOT NAP! I was so mad. I know that when Beau, especially, does not take a nap, he is a terribly mouthy, rude little thing. I was dreading taking him along. I love that boy, but I become so embarassed by his behaviour when he is over tired. And, he said some things I cringed at. I knew he would. Made me so mad, but it was out! I mean, how can I control what he says when he is like this. I have absolutely NO idea what he plans to say, or thinks about, so by the time it comes out of his mouth, it's too late! Sorry Grandma!
Dinner was great, all the kids ate well. And, my Grandpa, who hardly eats anything, actually ate all of his BIG plate of food my Grandma made for him. That made me happy. My Grandpa is getting older, he is having trouble walking around, a big fall risk and he is a very tall man. He has a walker, but he refuses to use it. He still has quite a bit of wit about him, and I'm sure it is partially a pride thing. I see this with a lot of elderly men, as a nurse. They are very proud. Debilitation, physical decline, illness...it often hurts their pride to be placed in a position of being unable to care for themselves as they did before. And, no matter if I were to say to him how important it is to use that walker, I saw him stumbling, he would still refuse.
It is really sad to see your grandparents declining. My Grandpa has alwasy been a very soft spoken man, a very talented man. He was a singer, played, and still does sometimes play, guitar very well. He had a band when he was younger. My kids have always enjoyed listening to him play guitar for them when they were small. Mostly Grace, and Drew remember this. Beau and Leah came along after he stopped playing so much, although, Beau would love it too for sure.
As we were saying grace before dinner, Beau kept giggling. Do any of your children do this? I am bad, I do not say prayers with my kids for every meal, and I really need to get back to taking them to church. I have failed at this. I have gone sporadically, but not regularly as I should, they need it. I need it. I would love for my little ones to be able to recite The Lords Prayer on their own. So precious are they, that HE hath given to me. I Thank the Lord everyday for my children. My Family. I am very blessed, and today, not more than any other, I Thank God for all I have.
Most years, I join that horrendous crowd of extremely rude, and greedy shoppers waiting in line for Target, Fred Meyer, Kmart, or Toys R Us to open up. All the while, freezing my butt off, and wishing I was still in bed. This year, however, I'm not gonna do it! My bed is a much more desirable place to be at 4am anyway. We are totally downsizing Christmas this year as well. I purchased a fake tree last year after my breakdown over all the clean up I ended up doing BY MYSELF, after taking the tree out BY MYSELF!
I swore I would never be vaccuming up 2 rooms full of fallen pine needles ever again! Each kid has one 'gotta have it' request, and that's the only thing they will recieve. We are in no hurry to get those items either. So, this black friday, you will find me in my nice warm bed, sleeping while all you other MAD people are freezing your butts off waiting in line for an hour or more, then being pushed around by other MAD shoppers on a mission with their little notepads and pens in hand, cussing at random persons to get out of their way, then standing in line for an hour yet again to check out. No, I won't miss it, not one bit!
Read more...
This year has been so odd for me. I just am not in the spirit. If being in the spirit means, eager to shop, bake, decorate. I do have the tree up, but there are so many more things to drag out from the attic to decorate. Honestly, I don't even want to drag it all out. I think a tree is good enough, isn't it? Well, the stocking's too.
