Life as a Leach

I'm going to attempt to recap the year in one blog post.  Wish me luck! In January, Caleb turned two and we celebrated with a cars/trucks party.  We had lots of fun playing and even ate a fun bulldozer cake that Julie made!  Matt went to Snow Camp with the youth group for a long weekend and just about froze to death.  They liked it so much that they're going back this year! February and March brought more youth group ski trips for Matt and lots of snow!  In fact, we had a really late, unexpected snow storm in March that kept us out of school for several days.  It was a nice break, even if we did have to make it up at the end of the year!  Caleb didn't overly enjoy the snow, so he basically chose the cry the entire time while we required him to have fun. On April 3rd, Matt and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  Matt's schedule forced us to wait until May to go away for the weekend, but we had a great time in the Northe...

*  I most certainly didn't give my child a lollipop to pacify him when he was distraught over getting a new "big" bed and losing his toddler bed.  I teach my child that disappointment is a fact of life and would never give him a treat to distract him while I took the toddler bed out of his room. *  In all of the craziness of the holidays, I didn't forget about a 9 a.m. chiropractor's appointment this morning.  I always write my appointments down! *  Matt didn't tell Caleb that he would get a lollipop if he was good for the dentist.  He didn't suggest to Caleb that the dentist might give him said lollipop for a treat!  Matt certainly realizes that the dentist wouldn't give sugary treats to his patients! *  When Caleb realized that he had to pedal his new tracto r that Santa brought him, he didn't say that he wanted Santa to take it back and bring him a tractor that he didn't have to pedal.  When he saw the box downstairs that Matt hadn...

Tonight is Christmas Eve.  All of the presents are wrapped and put under the tree, Caleb's big presents have been set up, the songs have been sung, the boy is asleep, and I am here taking a quiet moment to write a thoughtful blog post while Matt is stil at church.  All is well....except... ...Except that it could be really easy for my thoughts to revert back to an issue that struggles to consume me at times.  That's not what Christmas is about.  In case you haven't heard, it's supposed to be a celebration of the birth of Christ, who was sent here to save us from our sins!  SO, tonight I am choosing to be thankful for everything I do have instead of lamenting over what I don't.  Here goes: I am incredibly thankful for the gift God gave me just 2 weeks after Christmas 3 years ago.  That little boy gives me more joy than I could have imagined possible.  I love him with every ounce of my being---as is proven by the tears streaming down my fa...

The highly anticipated results of our Christmas lights prizes: Well....this was the first year that our picks for BOTH most creative and prettiest weren't home!! We didn't want to leave the award on the door step without explanation, so we went to our second choice house for most creative--on Calvert Blvd. Then, we went to the second choice for prettiest--not there. We went to the third choice--not there. We finally went to our fourth choice and someone came to the door! This house was in King's Creek II and was very tasteful with a cross on the top...just not actually the prettiest. However, his reaction was totally worth it. This guy--named Harry Trueman, I might add---was so ridiculously excited! He couldn't wait to tell his wife and daughter when they got home. It was really cute, and we never let on that he was actually our 4th choice! :) Our actual first choice for prettiest was in Cherry Lane Farms off of Maraschino.  The first choice for most creative ...

I love the smells of Christmas!  Here are some of my favorites: *  The spicy candles *  Gingerbread cookies *  Bread *  The smell of the air when it snows What are yours???

I'm pretty sure that will be a question I'll have in the future, because I'm thinking we created a memory today.  We're having a ridiculously big snow storm (blizzard, actually--it's official!) that is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.  It started around 8 p.m. last night and has snowed continuously all day.  The weather is saying it won't end until tomorrow morning...craziness! Anyway, it's way too windy and deep to go outside and play.  Plus, Caleb hates snow.  Feel free to admire these pitiful shots taken during last year's snow storm! Since we couldn't go out in the snow, I brought the snow in to us. When I first asked Caleb if he wanted to build a snowman, his instant reply was, "NO!"  Then I told him I'd bring snow inside, and his reaction was, "But Momma, it's going to make the house a mess!"  I assured him that I would keep it neat! I got a bucket and filled it with snow off of our porch, then la...

It's amazing how one $7 size XL black coat can make such a difference in a little boy's day. I noticed that one of my students was coming to school without a coat.  When I asked him about it, he said the only one he has was his grandfather's and it hangs down past his knees.  Having had all three of his sisters, I am familiar with this family's circumstances and knew they couldn't afford to buy him one. At Walmart that night, I stopped in the boy's clothing section and noticed that some of their coats were on clearance.  For $7, I picked up an XL black coat that I knew would keep him warm. The next day, I pulled him aside and asked if he would like to have it.  The glimmer in that boy's eyes said it all, and he nodded.  I handed it to him and said that it was his! Well, did this boy have a fabulous day!  He did all of his work, participated in class, and even did his homework for one of the few times this quarter!  In fact, he didn't have a pie...

....I wanna be sedated! That's pretty much how I'm feeling this week because it's just a tad bit crazy here right now.  However, I am maintaining control--for the most part--and trying to manage my time wisely to keep from going over the edge.  So...that doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.  I will tell you that Caleb had a fabulous time at Dutch Wonderland with the love of his life.  They held hands pretty much whenever they were in the car, shared toys very nicely, and even had a pretend tea party at the farm house!  It was all very cute!! I promise, there are many pictures to come....let's just say that I forgot to turn off Sports Mode!  I just need to get through this weekend and I'll load them.  Until then, enjoy this quick story: We went to visit "our" calves that we fed over the summer.  We knew the numbers and found them fairly quickly.  The one we named Lucy Long-Tongue reached out its loooooong tongue to lick Cale...

Tomorrow, we'll be heading up to Lancaster for the weekend with our friends Jenn and Steven...and Caleb's girlfriend Emma!  We're going to Dutch Wonderland for their Winter Wonderland activities, AND we're staying at the same fabulous farm we were at this summer!  Caleb is beyond excited to show the love of his life the farm and amusement park. So, we're off to spend some quality time with our son's future in-laws!  I'm definitely going to need to take some frame-worthy pictures of the two of them for the wedding table!  :)

Tonight, I was giving Becky her pill and told her to sit.  Matt was washing a pan and asked me what I said.  Naturally, I replied, "I said sit." So what does my husband do? He sits, of course. He walks to the kitchen table, pulls out the chair, and sits. When I just kind of look at him, his next statement is, "Now what?" And he had no idea why I was laughing. Poor guy! But I got a good laugh out of it!

We went to Homestead Gardens the day after Thanksgiving to see the big train display that they do each year.  The decorations are all really nice and Caleb loved looking at the train.  His favorite was the "chocolate train" (the Hershey's train).  The Hospice Festival of Trees was that weekend as well, so we headed there on Saturday with Amy, Owen, and Sara.  We got some nice pictures of the three of them in their Christmas outfits and a few cute ones of Caleb as well. While walking around the craft show at the Festival of Trees, Caleb spotted Santa all lonesome sitting in his chair.  He gasped and exclaimed, "Santa!"  After we asked if he would like to sit on his lap and tell him what Caleb wanted for Christmas, he ran and jumped on his lap with barely any hesitation!  What did he tell old Santa he wanted?  The Handy Manny work bench and a tractor, of course!