Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

There are some things in life that revert me back to a state of childhood. Little white flakes falling from the sky are one of those things. I love snow. Completely, utterly love it. I love to watch it peacefully falling, love to see the girls playing in it, love how shiny and new it makes everything look. Every year I hope for at least one good snow.

We had some flurries today for the second time this holiday season and it's whet my appetite for more. This morning I was hoisting both Ava and Ella up to the window so they could press their little noses to the cold glass and watch the flakes swirl about. Their excitement was catching...or was it my excitement that was contagious? LOL either way excitement was alive in our home! The snow didn't last long and what little bit of accumulation there was got blown away by the crazy winds. That's ok though, because having a little is better than having none. We will keep hoping for more and maybe, just maybe we'll get a white Christmas this year.

ps The best news is since I've been writing this, more snowflakes have been spotted. I'll take that as a sign that my Christmas snow wish has been heard. ;-)

                                             A pic of the snow in January of this year...

                                        My three big girls have a meeting of the minds...

Ella sampling some snow....

                                                

Can it wait till tomorrow?

Why do I always wait till the last minute to do everything? Oh yes, because I like to procrastinate. Truth be told, I don't actually enjoy it. I just come by it naturally. Yes, it's time to blame the parents. ;-) Seriously though my dad is a master at the art of procrastination. He doesn't have any tattoos, but I envision him with script across his back, bodly declaring, "why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?" and perhaps Thug Life on there somewhere. Hey, if the preacher's getting ink, we might as well go big!

So what have I put off now? The wash(or warsh as it's often pronounced around these parts). Laundry is a necessary evil in my home. With six of us things pile up lickity split. In my meager attempt to keep my tiny laundry room from becoming a laundry landfill I do a load or two a day.  Ahh but life gets in the way some days. I've done one load today, but need to wash whites(most of Olivia's long sleeved uniform shirts are white, not to mention all the socks), but now it's 8:20 and it's not looking promising that it will get done today. Hmph. Oh well, it will still be there TOMORROW. Right? Uh oh. Looks like my dad and I will be booking an appointment for two at the tattoo parlor...whenever we get to it of course.

Play it again, Sam

There are certain movies that I can watch over and over. For example I have watched Sleepless in Seattle three times in the last couple of weeks. Oh how I love that movie! Michael often gets annoyed when I watch my favorites, because I know all of the words and quote along with the movie hehe. There's just something so comforting about curling up on the couch or in bed and watching one of my favorite flicks.

Since tis the season I must say Christmas movies also apply. Hallmark Christmas movies are some of the cheesiest movies known to mankind, but I adore them. There's something so hopeful and joyous about Christmas movies. I'm a sucker for the happy endings where everyone remembers what true love is, or reunites with long lost family, or gets all they want for Christmas, and when all is right with the world again.


A few of my faves...

     

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The song is true, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. Ok so Halloween is actually my most favorite time, but it barely wins out against Christmas. Unfortunately it's easy to get out of the holiday spirit and I found that out once I hit adulthood. When you're a boring old grown up Christmas doesn't quite hold the same appeal. You find yourself missing the good ol days of Christmases long long ago and wishing you could return to waiting for Santa and hoping you'd been good enough to get what you'd been wanting. Instead we find ourselves dealing with moody crowds and griping about how much we have to spend. Bah humbug.


Now here's where the magic came in for me. Once I had a child of my very own, one who believed in the impossible, it all came flooding back. I think this is true for most parents. You watch all the holiday cartoons and tear up when everyone sings around Charlie Brown's little Christmas tree that could. You make lots of yummy goodies, all for the sake of the season of course. You joyfully trim your tree while watching Hallmark Christmas movies and set out the decorations that remain so lovingly packed away for eleven long months. You count down the days till Santa arrives and are pretty sure even you may have heard Santa's sleigh bells on Christmas Eve. Every bit of Christmas is wonderous and all of the little loves of our lives deserve an extra hug for reminding us of the magic...and there's nothing this Harry Potter fan loves more than some magic.

Reflecting on November

Wow, so it's already the last day of November! Where did the days go? It's been a good month in our household. Ava turned five and had a wonderful party, my parents came and spent several days with us, and we had a terrific Thanksgiving.

There's also been some exciting weather..lol and for those of you who know my obsession with weather, you're probably wondering how it took this many blog posts before I was speaking meteorology. We had some sleet on Thanksgiving night that gave us all something to talk about. Then in breaking news, this morning we had some amazing snow flurries. All in November no less. Definitely not our typical southern weather, but I'll take it. All of this is a sure sign that winter is right around the corner.

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone I try and remember to give thanks for all of my blessings each day. God has blessed us with so much. Is it everything we want? No. Is it everything we need right now? You betcha. 

Yes, a good month indeed.

Our birthday girl's fifth celebration

We celebrated Ava's fifth birthday at Chuck E. Cheese last Friday night. The place was packed and we had to wait for 20 minutes for our table, but we didn't let that dampen our mood. The manager was really great about the whole thing and even threw in some extra tokens for our trouble. Our party hostesses were spacey, but they managed to get the job done ok. Gotta cut the newbies some slack I suppose lol. The main thing is Ava had the time of her life. She was the little birthday star and that's what mattered above all else! Turning FIVE is a big milestone and she lived it up.

I can't believe my third baby is five years old. No longer a baby, but a smart big girl who will be starting kindergarten next year. Where do the years go? I'm here day in and out and swear that many days, weeks, months haven't passed. Birthdays don't lie though. They come around once a year for each of us, as a reminder that we've loved, been loved, and experienced 365 more days of life. I look forward to the celebrations, but it's hard for a mom to see her little ones growing up. We still have many years to go before all of our girls are grown and out on their own, but I know time will continue to march as quickly as it has since our first baby girl drew her first breath. I try to remind myself to take some time each day to stop and look around, and take it all in. I want to remember as much of their childhood as I can. I love making silly memories with them and hope to relive them all one day when they have children of their own.

The loss of a dragon

The death of a pet is one of the worst things to go through. They become these little members of your family that you grow to love fiercly and they love you back with such unconditional love. I can understand why some people don't want pets, so they won't have to experience the pain that loss brings. That being said, I'd rather have all the love and joy I can get for the time we're granted.

Our Bearded Dragon, Bindi, died on Tuesday night. It was a normal night and Michael was working. I was sitting in the chair when suddenly this overwhelming need to hold Bindi took over. Now we made sure to hold her almost everyday, because she loved the attention...you wouldn't believe this unless you saw it, but it's true..but this feeling hit me out of left field. I picked her up, held her, and even took a pic on my cell to text to Michael. I let her soak as she did three times a week, but when I went to get her out something was wrong. She was making jerking movements and it suddenly hit me that she was dying. I grabbed her up and was trying anything I could to save her. It's a heartwrenching moment when you're holding your pet while they're slipping away. I'm thankful for the intuitive feeling that sent me to pick her up that night. The whole scenario reminded me of the night we lost Xena, which only worked to intensify the grief.  Even though it was painful to watch Bindi take her last few breaths, I'm glad she wasn't alone.

I never thought I'd grow to love a lizard. It's true though that I did. I loved her and know in her own dragony way that she loved me right back.