And, the letdown...

And, the letdown. . .

Does anyone else feel this huge letdown after Christmas is over? I mean, there is this great, huge, l o n g leadup, and then it's over (snap!), just like that. I think I enjoy the anticipation of it more than the actual day. I love the Christmas season. I do not like seeing my friends stressed, but for me, I just refuse to get that way. Okay, I did for about a day when it was looking like we couldn't get the kids anything, but usually I'm not like that. I just love the spirit of the season, the feeling in the air, the lights, and songs on the radio. Getting cards in the mail, and getting to put my snowman collection out. It's like with the dinner. I cooked on Christmas day from around 8 AM until about 1:30 or 2 PM, when we ate. It takes so long to cook this huge dinner, and we're finished and I'm packing it all away within a half hour of finishing. It's just so... anti-climactic.

So anyway, the party on Wednesday went okay. It actually did not stop raining and we had to leave early due to things getting icy. I did not want to get stuck in a ditch in 30 degree (and dropping) weather, with four kids. There was already ice on the trees and grass as we went through town, and our porch was slushy when we got here. By Thursday morning, oh yeah, there was ice everywhere, with a thin layer of snow on top. Some of it is actually, amazingly, still out there. So, I can officially say that Christmas 2004 was a white one! :-)

I am in the organizing mood today! I cleaned the house up (except for my bedroom, which gets a whole day to itself), and even organized the cabinet in my laundry room. Before the end of the week, I am going to clean out my closet. I am purging - we simply do not have room to keep clothes we don't wear, junk we don't use, things we don't need. So it's all going. If I can sell it, I will. If not, off to Goodwill it goes. I'm going to organize Darrell's tools for him - he can never find a damn thing because he has about, oh, 3,000 places he sets stuff when he's finished. I'm going to try to work out some sort of system for tools he uses a lot, etc. Of course, him putting them back where they go is entirely up to him. But I'll put him a system in place. If he doesn't follow it, I don't want to hear the standard bitching when he can't find (insert tool here). I want to get all of this finished before New Year's Eve. I don't know why exactly, I just want to have everything in order by the new year.

The kids had a wonderful Christmas Day. I wish we had gotten Hunter something else besides a Gameboy, though. Since we got them the GameCube from Santa, he's barely touched his GB. Of course, when we bought the GB, we didn't know we were going to buy a GC for all of them. Oh well, he'll have the GB when he gets tired of MarioKart (that's the only game they have right now), and he can use it in the van on trips and such. Mackenzie loved, loved, loved her Easy Bake Oven. She had to make a little cake as soon as all the present opening was finished. And Shelby got 5 dolls for Christmas. Combined with the ones she already had, she doesn't know which one to put in her stroller first. LOL If I had known so many people would get her dolls, we would have just gotten her more accessories to go with them. For her birthday, I think we'll get her some, maybe a doll carseat, and some diapers. Those are two things that she loves to use of Maggie's. I don't let her use the diapers - too expensive. But everytime I go to put Maggie in her seat, a doll is buckled up in there. Ha!

I must hit the hay now. I just realized it's midnight! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and I hope 2005 holds lots of good things for you. :o)

We Three Things:
For Kim..

Three names you go by: Mom, Paula, Momma

Three screennames you have: paula46, pkeeton, pmkeeton (How creative I am!)

Three things you like about yourself: sense of humor, giving nature, ability to look at a situation from different perspectives

Three things you hate/dislike about yourself: my intense dislike of confrontation. Not that being confrontational is a good thing, but I have a hard time speaking up even when it's warranted. Also, my lack of patience and my weight.

Three parts of your heritage: Spanish, Native American, and Scottish

Three things that scare you: something happening to my kids or husband, dying slowly and painfully, and tornados

Three of your everyday essentials: the internet, Diet Dr. Pepper, squishy, kissy cheeks

Three things you are wearing right now: t-shirt, pajama pants, bra

Three of your favorite bands/artists at the moment: Maroon 5, Sara Evans, Montgomery Gentry

Three of your favorite songs at present: Suds in the Bucket, Mr. Mom, Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)

Three things you want to try in the next 12 months: photography, sewing, scrapbooking

Three things you want in a relationship (love is a given) : trust, laughter, friendship

Two truths and a lie: I speak three languages, I lost my virginity at 13, I was in the color guard in high school

Three physical things about the opposite (or same) sex that appeals to you: hands, butt, face

Three things you just can't do: sing, dance, almost anything involving coordination

Three of your favorite hobbies: surfing the net, reading, and decorating

Three things you want to do really badly right now: Build onto the house, win the lottery, build onto the house (I really want that badly)

Three careers you're considering: Hmm. Mommy, teacher, office management

Three places you want to go on vacation: France, Australia, Canada

Three kids names: Drew, Hannah, Sylvia

Three things you want to do before you die: take a real vacation, build onto the house, not be poor. Poor sucks ass.

Three people who have to take this quiz now or die a slow orgasmic death: Hell, do I know anyone who hasn't taken it by now?

Fun with Family...
So, who all is trying to deal with their families with the holiday fast approaching? I'm lucky, in that I don't have the familial problems that some do. And it helps that we don't go anywhere on Christmas, so there are no arguments about whose house we are going to, and how long we are going to stay at any one place. Most of my mom's family is going to my great-aunt's house in Dyersburg on Christmas day, my mom included. So we had a dinner at my mom's last Saturday and exchanged gifts then. She got Hunter a race track and made him a pair of pajamas. For Kenzie was a Polly Pocket set and a handmade poncho. Shelby got the most - a baby doll, poncho, robe, and quilt (the last three things were made by my mom). She made Maggie a quilt as well, and Darrell a pair of lounging/pajama pants. And she made me a quilt also. The lady that Mom was working for gave Kenzie a porcelian doll, and Hunter $10.

Tonight (12/22) is my family Christmas party. We're going to my great-grandparents house for it. We started doing a party last year, since a lot of times we all don't make it together for Christmas day. This way, we can visit and see each other, regardless of our Christmas plans. This year, we are bringing a generic, same sex gift, that way everyone that comes gets a gift. The kids are not exchanging gifts, my Granny has something planned for them. I have a tart burner to give from me, and we bought a cologne gift set to give from Darrell. I wonder how many of the men are going to get cologne. LOL

Darrell's family doesn't do anything like that. We never get together on his side of the family. Even if you do try to make it on the actual holiday to have dinner, everyone eats as they come in and then they leave. We went up on Thanksgiving by noon, and no one was there. But when everyone is there anyway, it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Our families are definitely polar opposites. My kids are loud like me. :D

It is 10:10 AM and Shelby is still asleep. I don't believe this. Usually 9 is the latest she'll sleep in. Mackenzie is at my mom's, she spent the night last night, and Maggie is napping, so it's just me and Hunter. Darrell is working today. Hunter is finally eating some breakfast, we played Go-fish for a while this morning, and he had to feed the dog. It's raining today, although the temperature is supposed to drop and turn to snow sometime this evening or tonight. We're forecasted for "up to 1"" LOL I figure the rain will be gone by the time the temps drop, that's how it usually goes. I don't ever remember seeing a white Christmas, and I don't expect for it to happen this year either. Our Christmas Eve and Day temps are only in the low 20s though (highs), so if it did snow, we might keep it around until Christmas. Maybe. It flurried the other day, but just for a bit and of course nothing stuck.

Well, I should go do laundry before the girls wake up...

Back in the swing of things...
Okay, it's me again. To update from my last post in July -- I never did get a baby shower. Which was fine by me. Really. The bastard still hasn't gone to trial, either, but he didn't make bail. He can rot in jail forever as far as I'm concerned. I am not pregnant anymore (Hee!), and I passed the three hour GTT. And I didn't get that diaper bag, it went for way more than I was willing to give for a bag.

The kids are finishing up school this week. Tomorrow is a full day, Hunter has his Christmas party. We made cupcakes tonight. I made them, then Hunter frosted them and decorated them with green sugar. I have to take them up there for the party tomorrow. I'm having Mom watch Shelby since Darrell is working tomorrow. I don't know if I could manage to carry Maggie, cupcakes, and keep up with Shelby all on my own. I should probably take the Snugli for Maggie - I hope I don't forget it.

It's cold! Yesterday it was only about 33­° for the high, and it was 19° when I walked the kids to the school bus this morning. We put a blanket out in Princess' dog house, and Darrell put a heat lamp in there too. She did alright, although her water was frozen in the bowl this morning. It finally feels like winter anyway! Last Thursday was our town's Christmas parade, and it was cold then too, but not as bad. I bundled Maggie up in her snowsuit and put a blanket over her, and she stayed toasty through the whole thing. I've never had a teeny baby in the winter before, I had all the other kids at the very tail-end of winter (for our area anyway).

Well, I could probably ramble on for a while about nothing in particular, but I won't bore you. :) I do want to say though, I got a Christmas card from my SIL the other day, and my brother has been shipped back out to Iraq, so please keep him and all the military people in your thoughts this holiday season.

So, I'm back. Geez, it's been a long time since I've made an entry. I didn't realize it had been that long! A lot has went on since July. The kids started school, I had a baby, holidays, Darrell's been sick. I kept meaning to come post an update and then I'd think of all the things I had to update and it would just overwhelm me and I'd put it off again. Plus, I'm just not much of a writer, and I feel like my entries are boring as hell. Heh. It's been so long that I put in the wrong username to sign into my account. I thought they had deleted me. Haha!

I'm going to try to start posting regularly again. Maybe just a couple of times a week - it's not like I lead such an exciting life to post everyday. :)

I'll end with the most exciting thing that's happened all year: the birth of Margaret Emily, AKA Maggie. Born September 7, 2004 at 11:23 A.M., weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces - 20 inches long.