The End is Near... THANK GOD!!!

It has been a rough 6 weeks at our house.
Or rather I should say for TeenBoy and SIX.

First SIX breaks his arm in the second to the last play of the last game of the year... 3 days after his 12th birthday.

Then TeenBoy puts his hand through his bedroom window because he missed the lamp shade he was trying to kill...
And then he fell through the attic to the second floor hall- taking out a light fixture and the smoke detector along the way... just missing the stairwell... Thank God - seriously Thanks, he could have been killed!

And then?

Silly us. HeMan Hubby and I went to a Christmas Open House. Or so we thought.
About an hour and half into the party the cell phone rang.

It was SmartGirl.
SIX and TeenBoy were horsing around in the house so she yelled at them.

Did they stop?
Heck No.

They took it outside.
Into the snow.
In t-shirts and shorts.
Without any shoes on.

SIX slipped on a patch of black ice running across the driveway.
He couldn't catch himself... broken hand - remember?
Cracked his chin, took out a hunk of skin to the bone.

The call came in at 9:12pm.We were in the car by 9:26pm for the 45 minute ride home.
He was at the ER by 10:45pm. We left the ER at 1am with 5 sutures in his chin leaving behind a basin full of the asphalt they took out of it.

Do you know what SmartGirl and ManBoy said?

We took too long to get home... what? Found our coats, said goodbye, dislodged the vehicle from the parking mess then drove home, changed clothes, gathered SIX into the car, drove to the ER and checked in a mere hour and a half later???

When they are parents I hope they each have 4 boys... all a year apart... and really good health insurance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Happy Holidays from my family to yours....

May the New Year find all your dreams coming true!

St Jude Gund Collectors Bears

Don't forget to support St Jude's Children's Hospital by purchasing a St Jude's stuffed animal at your local 7-11!

I just love the Great Pumpkin... Oh, Wrong Holiday...

There are 3 days until Christmas. Yep, only 3 more days til the kids whine about the obvious lack of electronic and digital gadgets under the tree... although I did tell them there would be no electronics this year. I even gave up the Wii Active Sports program my dear husband was getting ME for Christmas... because I told the kids NO ELECTRONICS!

So, here I sit in the middle of my bed, surrounded by unfolded laundry, waiting for my bedroom carpet to dry... Because I forgot that the only place to wrap the presents would be in my bedroom, on the floor, on the other side of the bed so the kids can't walk in and "accidently" see what I am wrapping but now I can't because the wrapping paper will get all wet from the carpet and then it will tear and ruin the gifts.

Instead, I am hoping the laundry will fold itself and the carpet will dry in record time and the presents will find a way to get wrapped without me having to do anything to them...

Yup, it is 3 days til Christmas and I am so not ready. But I will be. Seriously, everything will be perfect, or as perfect as I can make it, before the time to rip the pretty paper and bows from the not-electronic gifts comes.

The duck..I am roasting a duck for the first time ever at the request of my 20 year old son...God!I hope it turns out okay but just in case I have a spiral cut ham with pineapple and cinnamon glaze on the menu... Maybe I will roast a chicken too... just in case...
(my duck will look just like this... right?)

And I will stay up late making the dough for the cinnamon buns for Christmas morning and stay up until all the presents are wrapped and arranged, Just So, under the tree to await the smiling, if not exactly awake, faces of my children. Alright already, I will imagine them smiling ... my imagination is really very good you know...

I will attend church service with my husband and children Christmas Eve, then go back for the Candle Light service with my 20 and 25 year old kids. After we sing Silent Night, and extinguish the candles, we will stop at 7-11 for coffee and hot chocolate and this year's St Jude Bear...


and we will be silly and remember Christmases past- the presents, the people and the late -night wrapping sessions with It's a Wonderful Life playing non-stop til 5am!

When we get home I will put everything in place then take quiet time to reflect on this past year's goals and achievements and try to think of some new ones, that may actually be do-able, for next year.

Yes, there are only 3 more days until Christmas... and I can hardly wait!

In 72 hours my least-favorite day of the year will be over and life will go back to normal...
my kids will complain and whine and argue with each other... my husband will work too many hours too many days a week and I will continue to strive for the perfection that I THINK a wife and mother should have... a perfect house, perfect children, perfect husband...

OMG! I just became June Cleaver...

Well... maybe perfect isn't so perfectly wonderful after all... I mean just look what happened to the Beaver... you don't know?... well neither does anyone else... see my point?