The 12 days of Christmas... sort of....

As much as I really tried to upload these pictures in order... i messed it up (surprise surprise)
I really did not do well about updating my blogs so I went through my camera and I almost had a little history in pictures of how things went up until the big day... so here we go... a little out of order but isn't that the story of my life!

Just Grinning it up....
Noah had a dentist appt. which I missed and BEGGED them to please see me, they had a really strict policy about no-shows and I am the queen of forgetfullness so if it is not on my calendar, I will forget... heard my voice mail and told them they just HAD to see us, we have been waiting for this dentist to open up his practice for over a year! It is alligator dental and WE LOVE DR. AL! We had already visited another dentist here in Seguin and they told me Noah needed to go to a specialist and I really wanted to keep him here so we waited for Dr. Al, and it was completely worth it AND he didn't need near the work we were first told, they fixed his cavitity in the front (that is why he is showing his smile) he had chipped that tooth and it had turned into a little cavity... AND he has two loose teeth, I mean REALLY loose and I am so nervous, his two permenant teeth are already poking out but Dr. Al said no worries, they will move into their natural place as soon as we lose these two... I see a whole lot of money going into this mouth...


Live Nativity at St. James

It never fails, it will be 75 degrees and sunny and the night of the Live Nativity at church it is freezing! I made cookies and went and hung out with my bestie Cathy...love that BG... It was really nice... and Alice made the best hot chocolate... no farm animals though ... the men were in a meeting (LOL)


Who's the pretty girl.... huh?
Okay, so the day after Christmas we had tickets to go to the dance... yes, me and my honey and a bunch of friends were headed to kick up some dust and dance to La Mafia... That saturday I stayed in my PJ's AALLLLL day, loved it! and i decided late that afternoon to go get my hair cut and nails done which I had not had my nails done in about... humm... 15 years, maybe longer... seriously! (totally regretting spending that money now, just a little because i LOVE THEM) I felt so spoiled, Noah went with me and didnt even nag about the time, so i let him pick the color... We had a blast at the dance... my husband had a nice long visit with Ralph that night but it was still a ton of fun and I can't wait til we can do it again! (This time Jim Bean won't be invited)


Santa Baby...

Okay, I was in tears when my husband got home from work the Tuesday before Christmas, I had taken the whole week off to spend time with Noah and ended up having to help my mother in law with her tamales ... which I don't mind but hadn't planned on and I completely missed the pictures with the pretty Santa at the bank here in town... 3 days til Christmas and no santa picture I felt like a horrible mother... so my wonderful husband loaded us up in the car and we headed to San Antonio to find a Santa... and we did! We took him to North star mall and ran into country kringle on our way to picture time, somehow i didnt get that picture loaded but I was so happy... this was another one of those 'all about me' moments for mommies. I love my husband, he is the best....

Cookie time

Look at these yummy cookies I made... I made peppermint drops, chocolate snowtops, coconut macaroons, sand tarts, toffee chew bars, ranger cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate peanut patties, pecan patties and rocky road candy! Don't ask what got into me!


Carol of the Bells
Just giving a co-worker a new pair of shoe laces just in time for Christmas... funny... oh, and don't worry....he got me back...


39... WOW

Just because it's your birthday doesn't guarantee you get it easy... this was the best picture Johnny got of me and my grouchy son on my bday...and that was after a lot of threats... LOL It was a good birthday and I gave me ton's of kisses later to make up for it....


I told you....

I was a baking fool! Aren't my treatbags cute! I love making bows and doing pretty packages for Christmas....

Happy New Year!!!!!
Let's keep the stars in our eyes and look for good things to come in 2010! God Bless!

Gentle Mary

I have been trying really hard to do an entry every day in honor of my favorite month… and time of the year! Noah had his Christmas program last night, and he was absolutely precious! You can’t really see him well in the picture he is in the center in the red vest… love that boy! Ya, I went to find him an outfit for the program because it had to be just right, and I finally found that set and stayed up til after midnite the night before hemming up the pants. Then yesterday the hunt was on for black dress shoes and black socks…but I found them and he looked adorable. When I was getting him ready for the program, he has his ‘happy place’ for his pants… tucked under his tummy and it made the pants pooch in the front… so I had to bribe my son with a new toy on Saturday to wear the pants over his tummy… I know this sounds crazy, but the point is this… regardless of the fact that this was his Christmas program, this was all about me… Let me explain… All those fits he throws, the crying every morning… the nights staying up with him sick or throwing up, the grouchiness… loss of sleep, frustrations… wanting to hide in a closet because he is making me crazy.. all of those trying moments when you question what exactly you got yourself into… ALL OF THEM … lead up to moments like these, when they look absolutely angelic, up on the stage, singing their hearts out and you feel total and absolute love and pride.. it makes all those hard moments fade away and gives you just enough strength to take the trying times until the next ‘moment’ when you realize it’s all worth it… (including the trip to CiCi’s after the program where he decides to push the red flash soda button so it goes straight into the arm on his new shirt and runs into his clothes… all the way down his back and into his pants… lovely) You forget about the fact that you had to run home after work, take him to get his hair cut, make sure both granny’s remembered you were picking them up at 5:15 to get Noah there on time and get them seated… had to fight for a parking space in the cold and get the granny who can’t see and the granny who is walking with her cane that she decides at this time she needs to their seats so you can get Noah to the line where he needs to be only to lose his BRAND NEW coat in the hustle of not losing them and him in the crowd then proceed to get them seated only to have your husband come in to tell you that they are in the wrong seats which I let him know that the USHER looked at our tickets and brought us too and would he MIND getting them to the right seats while I went to look for the coat (which I did not find) and get Noah to where he needed to be since the only thing he had to do was get himself ready and there … whew… so like I was saying, it was wonderful. So my brother in law had to sit with both the Grandma’s and I told Noah that we would leave right after his performance to go and eat… and the whole time I am wondering how the heck I am going to get these two ladies up and going quick and without too much of a commotion without just picking them up and carrying them out… at that point it didn’t matter anyway, I was still grinning from seeing my cutie… oh, and did I tell you my husband went all the way to the upper level to video the whole performance… and he was so proud… but kinda like he forgot to push the record button… but… we will always have the memories… LOL Johnny took his mom home after we ate and Noah and I went to drop off my mom… I told Noah to be a gentlemen and take mom to the door, he asked what a gentlemen was and I told him it was a man who did nice things for people and was respectful… so he got off the truck, opened the door for her and helped her start down the sidewalk, he starts running to ring the doorbell so my sister can open the door and see’s my sisters mangy cat and hi-tails it back to the truck, jumps in the front seat and slams the door… Mom was only halfway down the sidewalk, and I told Noah… you were supposed to take her all the way in…he rolls down the window and tells my mom… ‘ Mom… you can go the rest of the way because that cat looks scary, I’ll watch you from here’ my cowardly lion… Ha!

Merry Christmas… spread the joy

Tis the season...

Noah’s teacher is working on getting the children to understand the importance of giving this time of year rather than just receiving. Really, this is something that we should all focus on…myself included. It is really hard when my son automatically thinks he will be getting something when we go to the store, as soon as he hears I am going he wants to tag along and THAT equals stress for me because even if I tell him no toy… it is a battle. as soon as we get in the store he starts with ‘no toy right mama’… which leads to ‘can we just go look at them’ which leads to ‘can I just get this one’ which leads to ‘you don’t have to get me one again’ which leads to ‘I have been looking for this one all my life’ which leads to ‘please mama, please please’ which leads to ‘your mean mama, so mean to make a little boy cry’… oh, if I could only get him to understand how very blessed he is, to get almost everything he wants and to have so much love… but they are kids and that is really really hard to understand. You know that saying, if I only knew then what I know now… So how do you get kids to ‘get it’… when you have this little thing that relys on you for everything, whose life is so strongly relying on the decisions you make… I really get stressed about it, because we only get one chance and he is like a mirror of our lives, I catch him saying stuff and cringe when he says something that is all mine…and I really wished he hadn’t heard that. Like when he said the word idiot, not bad but not nice… and then I heard myself say it while I was driving… oops! I don’t always make the right choices, yes, it is easier to go shopping and spend money on crap I don’t need than to write a check and put it in the basket at church. I realize that to teach giving, I must learn to give… freely and whole-heartedly… And not just from the excess… from the best of myself, giving up things I don’t need to do things for others that do need. So, my son has to take a gift for Blue Santa for his class, and I won’t go to just any store to find something that will ‘do’, I am going to march him to his favorite Toy Store and tell him to pick something he knows he would want…because it will make another person very happy too… and we will take it home, wrap it… and give it with all our heart (mine at least, I may have to pry it out of his hands) and I will imagine a smiling kid on Christmas morning that will be just as happy as mine was buying it – until he had to give it away that is…! and maybe, just maybe Santa will sneak an extra one in the basket for a thoughtful boy… (wink wink)

Enjoy life’s simple pleasures, every moment is!

I am thankful today for a thoughtful husband that puts up with a crying boy and rushed wife every morning.

Happy Birthday Jane

Today is my mom's 79th birthday, okay so my sisters and I debate that, they say 78, I say 79... Mom is doing really good, I think we are all missing Ernie a lot, its hard to believe it has been a year already. I had the momonater make chicken mole for mom and she came over and ate... she was really happy and even cleaned the kitchen, I told her not to but...hey, who am I to argue. My Noah is watching Christmas shows and I am going to clean a little bit and hit the sack early, I have been sleeping so good the last few nights it has been HARD to get up in the morning... and tomorrow we have a Spurs game to go to...and Thursday is Noahs christmas program and and and and and... whew... tired...

Peace out my party people....

Pilgrimage

One of the things that can get me to go to San Juan...even in the Summer time is knowing that we will stop in Alice to eat at Dairy Burger... They have THE BEST steak strips in the world... yummy! And even though they are not exactly on my diet plan, when i read their sign... I knew it was the right thing to do! "Give God Praise" I did...with every single bite! This is the roobe actually behind the alter where masses are held at the church, people buy candles to light for their promises and prayers and take them to this room and light them. My husband and son praying and making their petitions...

They sell bottles that you can fill with Holy Water, and this is the large fountain outside the church where people fill their containers of holy water, this Jug is for Aunt Doe...

You can't even imagine the number of candles that are lit at the church on a daily basis, they have people that pull the trays as they are filled when people light them and move them to this room where it is filled with lit candles that remain there until they completely burn... amazing....

It makes you wonder, the hopes, prayers, heartaches, thanks, wishes of all the people that these candles are burning for....

This is the alter at the church...

The advent wreath at the church... the large candles are almost as tall as Noah...

This was the manger scene on display at the gift shop....

Funny... RV Park... not really a light spectacular...

This reminded me of Skids and Mudflap from the transformers movie... mini-cop

The tree at Dairy Burger... I know I know, they didn't have the ones up at the church yet! in my defense... but I though it was really cool that they had this huge live tree in the restaraunt...
God Bless those steak strips!



It was a wonderful weekend, we spent good family time together and I really enjoyed that...

...and hello, the Longhorns won... what more could we ask for!

Go Horns!

Can't get enough of the big guy in Red

Here is something really cute that AT & T is doing for their customers.... I love when big companies like this get in the Christmas spirit...

Good little boys and girls across the country can text their holiday wish-lists to Santa this year, thanks to the bearded man in red and some of his helpers, including AT&T*. AT&T customers who text SANTA to 1224 between now and December 24 will receive an invitation from jolly old St. Nick himself to text back their wish-lists for this holiday season. Thanks to a special agreement between Santa and AT&T, text messages sent to this short code – and the reply text messages from Santa – will be offered at no charge!


Happy Holidays....

Pilgrimage

My Family and I are off to visit San Juan this weekend. The Basilica in San Juan is really beautiful, but I will be the first one to tell you, making the trip down there is something I don't usually enjoy. Honestly I never quite understood WHY people would drive all the way down there, a 5 hour + drive not including stops... the scenery is NOT beautiful, it's not even a nice drive... AND don't even TRY to get me to go in the summertime, it is so dang hot you could cook your meals on the sidewalk...fast! But people always make promises or promisas as my Mom would say to make the trek down there and light a candle for special intentions. We have been meaning to go again since before Ernie passed away, we have made many promises and we need to go... I feel called to go for some reason, something great is going to come, even if it is just the sheer joy of being with my family and feeling peace. Last time we went my 75 year old or so (can't exactly remember when) mom walked on her knees to the front alter...a good distance but this is not uncommon...to see people doing these things in San Juan, it is felt to be a blessed place. It makes me think about the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph all the way to Bethlehem, just to be enrolled. No phones back then, had to make that trek in person. Nine months pregnant on a donkey, I can't even imagine... I cannot complain about the drive thinking about that. Keep my family in your thoughts and prayers as we take this journey and I will post some pics when i get back...

Another opportunity to serve.... pick up a pen, make a difference. God Bless

While making out your Christmas cards this year take a moment and send one to this address. Let a Soldier know you're thinking of them and and thank them.

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, DC 203607-5001

... Have a wonderful weekend!

Let It Snow!!!

This is why I LOVE living in a small town...

The Holiday Light Parade is the beginning of the whole Christmas season...

This float is from Noah's school, they had two....

The art league always does these neat puppet people, you can't see but he would stand up and had huge candy canes that moved his arms and legs...

This was one of the entries for "cowgirls for a cure" they rode their horses all lighted up with fluffy pink boas around there necks...LOVE THEM... until one of the horses pooped near us... yuck... gotta love those pooper scoopers...

Who can't feel there heart ache when you see soldiers in the parade... I wonder where they are from and know they are missing their families... They deserve the best this season and always!

Me and my snuggle bunny waiting for the parade to start...

Watching out for snowflakes today!

Here comes Suzy Snowflake....

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus…underneath the mistletoe last night…

It is cold here finally, I am actually wearing long sleeves and a sweater and NOT sweating… Love It!

We should focus on the reason for this season… and remember always, those that don’t have anything or anyone… and of course count our blessings…

There are always ways to help… AND make a difference… My friend Steph gets the Tootsie Roll award today for being a sweet thing and emailing the following out… and I urge you to copy…then past… then pass along and pay it forward by doing the same..

Cleaning for a Reason
If you know any woman currently undergoing Chemo, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service. http://www.cleaningforareason.org/ Please pass this information on to bless a woman going through treatment. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It’s our job to pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this information along.

I always have these crazy ideas in my head, just wanting to make a difference and serve. Watching the St. Jude commercials or even the adopt a child ones… heartbreaking and heart wrenching. But change starts with each and every one of us…

Count your blessings and most importantly BE a blessing also.

Here is my cutie in his thermals, don’t you just wanna bite him?!

Oh yeah, and the cold weather hits and guess who can’t find her son’s brand new coat… bad bad momma… that’s what I get for being over prepared and buying it in September…

AND today I went to my weight watchers meeting… gained 2.8 lbs…. yup…and worth every dang calorie! of course the receptionist asks me if I was expecting that… and I told her heck ya I was! Duh, big girl…Thanksgiving and tamales… she is lucky I didn’t gain 20! Now at 52.2 lbs total, gotta get back on track so I can eat my way through Christmas… LOL

It's supposed to snow here tomorrow! WOW, and last week we were wearing shorts...

Peace and love in HIM….

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

Today feels like winter! BRRRRRRR...

I am so ready for Christmas, okay, like mentally but ACTUALLY... my house is a wreck and the tree still isn't done and the coldest weather so far and my husband decides tonight he wants to put up lights... My throat feels...ummm... a little scratchy so I will be working on the inside decorations....

I love this time of the year and am TOTALLY in love with the whole Christmas season! Tomorrow is the Holiday Parade downtown and I am so excited, love it! I actually think I am more excited than Noah... who doesn't really understand how much I look forward to this....

Today I am so very thankful for a warm home... (as I type my son is crying on the floor calling me a mean mommy... I left his shirt he wanted at Penneys because I forgot my coupon at home... jeez... how do you get a four year old to understand that they are holding it for me... FIND A HAPPY PLACE...FIND A HAPPY PLACE) okay, ahem, like I was saying... (his cartoon just started again) I am thankful for a warm home filled with LOVE...

I am also thankful for a good husband that went to Wal-mart in the cold to get staples for his staple gun to put up the lights (and I pray he doesnt ask me to help)... and did I mention I hope that is all he gets?

Santa, I have been such a good girl this year, can I pretty please have my house magically spic and span and all the laundrey put away.... is that too much to ask for?

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the one's I used to know, where the tree tops glistened AND CHILDREN LISTENED to hear...sleigh bells in the snow (and their parents).

Peace and love in HIM!

Prayer Request

Being a Christian does not mean life is always easy, it just means that you know that there is always light even in the darkest moments…..

My brother in law is a pain in the butt (sometimes)…but I love him… He is a truly good hearted person... He is going through some really hard times right now and I know the power of prayer, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. If he looks lost, he is…he went to Church with us on Sunday and Father Dennis gave an awesome sermon of course… love that man. I pray that God take hold of his heart… and he learn that he has never been lost to God….

When we went to adoration last night I felt drawn to the bible and picked it up, this is the reading that God placed before me…

My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials.
Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.
Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great.
Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient;
For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation.
Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him.
You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy, turn not away lest you fall.
You who fear the LORD, trust him, and your reward will not be lost.
You who fear the LORD, hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy.
Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?
Compassionate and merciful is the LORD; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble
Sirach 2

God is so good, but we are all human and I am sure even the most faith filled people have moments of fear in their lives... God is never away from us....

Never give up on the people you love, God doesn't give up on us!