It's Christmas Time Ya'll!

Christmas time always brings up those sentimental feelings for me. No matter what I do the water works start when the big day is right around the corner. I think it hits me because I spend the 2 months prior running around like a crazy person and don’t give myself time to really take in the season which is… stupid and something I should really work on. As kids, having a split family meant spending our Christmas Eve & Christmas Day running around like crazy people. Running from one house to the next open presents, thank you thank you, love you, a buh bye, and on to the next. I think it took us a few days after to actually see what we got and have a chance to decide what our favorites were. As a kid it was awesome and totally worth the sugar filled crazy day hang over. The older I got the more I swore I would NEVER do that to my kids. We are going to stay home all day hang out and really enjoy the day damn it! So what did I do? Married a guy who not only has a split family himself but 2 kids from a previous marriage which means we have to share them too. Needless to say, we do not get to stay home and enjoy the day …. Damn it. Lucky for me, I no longer see it that way. How lucky are we to have so many people that want to see us on Christmas that we are run ragged trying to make it to all of them? How lucky are we that our kids get to have the craziness and love that we were both shown by our families on this amazing day? No, it isn’t always smiles, laughing, and singing Christmas songs the whole day. I will admit that some parts are filled with smiling through gritted teeth because the kids asked for more presents from someone, watching the time (because we are on a schedule people! Chop! Chop!), and Mal having the shakes from too much coffee but wishing it was beer. Hey I might actually sing the Christmas songs, if that was acceptable. To me it is perfect because I know our kids will look back and will have gathered so many amazing memories that they will turn into giant boobs like I do this time of year! Every year on Christmas morning you could count on 2 things happening… like clockwork. 1. My big brother was always the first one up, and the first one to inspect the “loot”. I am pretty sure to this day he is the first one up and likely the most excited about being up that early too. 2. My dad ALWAYS took his sweet time getting up and moving to open presents (jump to now and understanding it may have been because he was up all night putting toys together… sorry dad.). He had to get dressed……. make coffee………… get his glasses on……………and on and on! At the time…. this seemed like eternity and was absolute torture! My mom and dad always made sure Christmas was special for us; they have both always worked their butts off to do so. Not only do they spoil us but have always taught us that Christmas is not about the gifts, it’s about being with your family and showing others the love we have to give. They have taught me that a gift you have put thought in to means more than a gift that you put money into. One of my absolute favorite things I have ever gotten was a wooden box painted white, with unicorn stickers, and if you don’t like unicorns…. get out. I didn’t know at the time but my dad had made it and they told us that it was a “special box”. Everything that we wanted to keep safe or was special to us could go in that box. I remember thinking it was special then and even more special now. I am pretty sure all 3 of us still have them too, my brothers minus the unicorn stickers… I think. I also remember getting bunk beds one year , this was the year that I knew for sure that Santa was…. The man! It seriously blew my mind … how the hell did he get the bunk beds in the living room?! How are we going to get them in our room?! Are we going to have to move our bedroom to the living room?! But… how?.... that sneaky son of a….. One memory that always comes back to me is spending time with my Grandma Red who made Christmas the super bowl of all holidays. Walking into their house on Christmas was a kid’s paradise; it took all you had not to dive into the piles of presents that covered every flat surface as far as you could see. She not only spoiled us rotten but she always got us EXACTLY what we wanted, even if that meant grandpa going in and out of 10 stores with her waiting in the truck during the holiday rush. The presents were not even the best part; it was her face when she saw your reaction to what they got you. I loved every second of it and am so lucky she passed the joy of giving on to me. Even though she is not here physically to share Christmas with us, I know that she is with me when I get that big stupid “open it! open it!” smile on my face. Going to my dad’s on Christmas was always kind of hard for me, being a mama’s girl is rough, ok? They always tried to make it so special for all of us and ALWAYS succeeded! Growing up my brothers always liked the Dallas Cowboys and I liked the San Francisco 49ers. For no other reason than my older, cooler, sister liked them. I knew nothing about football… check that…. I KNOW NOTHING about football. It was an added bonus to irritate our brothers by liking the rival team. One year the girls got 49ers coats and the boys got Cowboy’s coats, all of them had our names embroidered on them. Ya… that’s right… picture that pack of bad asses! I don’t think I ever felt cooler in my life! In fact I bet that thing still fits me… I will keep you posted on that. I always loved that they would get a few things for my little sister every year (who was not theirs). I am sure for her it was a little rough having us leave for a few and come home with more gifts. That little gesture always meant a lot to me and is something we get to do for our kids little sister now. Kind of like saying, “Hey, we are a giant weird family and you’re in it too so just accept it”. So as crazy as Christmas gets, and as much as I would like to sit home in my pj’s, eat candy, and watch Christmas Vacation on repeat none of these memories or lessons would have ever been made if we had a “stay at home” Christmas. My goal this year on this crazy holiday that is in 2.5 days is to be present so I can see the memories being made. Merry Christmas!

Buh Bye Kindergarten

Oakley had her last day of Kindergarten today! Something about having these kids in my life has made me a sentimental boob and its turning into a real problem. Oakley was more than ready to start school at the beginning of the year the questions alone about how the whole school business works was enough to make your head pop off. We were so excited that she would have something that was all her own and something she could focus her crazy amount of energy on and it did. She is such a smart kid that it all seemed to come easy to her, little did we know how much work it would take on our part too. I know,forgive my ignorance, but holy crap! I swear she was bringing home 10 papers a day (most of them I am still not sure what to keep and what to get rid of), 5 books, and a packet of homework! I think by the last month of school we finally got a routine down for everything that had to be done every night, her teacher is probably super impressed with us.... eerrrr not. She has come so far and its amazing to me what she has learned and the information she is has retained. So here is 5 things Oakley loved about Kindergarten. 1. Recess (that's my girl!) 2. Lincoln (Since day one this kid has been a main topic of discussion, I think someones got a crush!) 3. Mrs. Young (Her teacher has been amazing. Seeing her with all of those crazy kids really made me grateful... that I never became a teacher. lol) 4. Math (This kid has killed it with math this year!) 5. Going to the Dinosaur Park. (Casey was able to go with her on this field trip and she couldn't wait to tell everyone that her daddy was going with her! I'm going to hold on to the whole "not embarrassed of your parents" thing as long as I can because I know one day that's all gonna change.) Cant wait to see what 1st grade brings for her!

all gonna change.)

The first

When I was about 10 years old I opened a box with a bunch of special stuff from my childhood, school stuff, baby blanket, pictures etc. that my mom had saved. In that box there was a journal talking about my first steps, first words, good days, bad days, and all the cool stuff that comes along with growing up. I think that is why I constantly have this urge to write things down, or take note of something so the memory of it doesn't slip away. The past few years of my life has changed me in so many ways that I feel like if I don't start "taking note" I may not lose the memory but my view might change, SOOOO this is my attempt at yet another blog... I really want to talk about everything but mainly focus on what has changed or is happening in my life being a wife, a step mom, a woman, and an almost 30 year old ... whatever that means. So hold on to your shorts, cuz its gonna get weird.