its official.  dave and michelle are leaving town on friday :) 

we are sooo thankful for everyone who is helping with our kids!! this will be our first night alone in 2 years :)

i sure love these guys but i am definitely looking forward to a little time away :)

these are the kinda things that start happening when daddy has to work 60 hour weeks..... 

he would have been such a cute little girl :)

finger painting with chocolate pudding and sprinkles :)

baby KJ had to spend a couple nights in the hospital this past weekend :( 

he had pneumonia, but he is home now and doing much better.  we kept the other kids saturday and sunday so LaKisha could spend the night in the hospital with the baby.  

we brought them to church with us, which went really well.  

tyden's sunday school class happened to have a pizza party planned for that day, so we sent cornell and cody with tyden.  and on the way home from church cody said, "that was AWESOME! can we go to your church again NEXT sunday??" :)

so the last week of school before christmas is always a busy one- the kids have "secret santa," where they draw names and secretly do something special for the kid they draw every day.  and they have their big christmas program to set up and practice for.  and then a party on the last day.
and sadly, THIS is how tyden and shaeya are spending their week-

super sick.  they are so bummed.  and tekoa is home today too with red, puffy, crusty eyes.  tis the season.
i'm just praying they are better for their program tomorrow!! i have to go with or without them, cause i'm leading music and singing with a group of moms. sure can't think of anything i'd rather do for my birthday- especially if my kids aren't even there.....haha :)
and don't worry, i'm still running around, coming up with secret santa gifts and making sure they get to the school so no one is left out....sigh........

we are having dave's family and LaKisha and her kids over on Christmas Eve so we thought we'd spruce the place up a bit :)  the kids are LOVING it.

and now- 

i'm not usually a big fan of poems, but i read this one this afternoon and it made me cry- 

so i thought i'd pass it on-

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38,

When 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gates.

Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.

They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

"This is heaven." declared a small boy. "We're spending

Christmas at God's house.

"When what to their wondering eyes did appear

But Jesus, their Savior; the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.

Then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

And in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring.

Those children all flew into the arms of their King,

And as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,

One small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

As if He could read all the questions she had,

He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."

Then He looked down on earth, the world far below.

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe.

Then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,

"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"

"May this country be delivered from the hands of fools."

"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

Then He and the children stood up without a sound.

"Come now my children, let Me show you around."

Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran,

All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,

"In the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

December 12 today.  feels like i have been living in Christmas mode for much longer than 12 days.
but it should all be pretty smooth sailing from here on out.
the gifts are bought and wrapped and mailed.
the stockings are hung- and one of them was re-hung (on a broken stocking hanger) after a minor incident with a 2 year old boy's lack of impulse control.....
Christmas cards are taken care of (so sorry i didn't mail any out this year- just handed out a few- but you can see it here on the blog!)
the ingredients are bought for the neighborhood Christmas Eve cookie exchange.
songs have been practiced- ok a little more practice is needed yet- for a couple Christmas performances.
the toy room has been de-cluttered and re-organized- THAT was a 4 hour process- and old toys have been donated.

i've gotten the 3 older kids off to school, wren is sitting on the couch with an ipad, and i'm typing and tossing a football to neiko at the same time.
so i'm enjoying a semi-quiet moment with my computer and a peppermint vanilla coffee (which has almost been obliterated by the football a few times, but hey, i'm ok with living on the edge.)

my 3 main goals for the day are simply these-
*love my husband and kiddos- and show it- no matter what.
*grab a load of food from midwest food bank and store it here to be organized and delivered to needy families for Christmas.
*find someone (or multiple someones) who would like to earn another jewel in their crown by babysitting 5 perfectly behaved, very sweet and loving children so that dave and i can leave town for a night for my birthday.  next weekend.

i know, i set very high goals for today.
but you just never know.....with God all things are possible.....:)

so the kids and i set our tree up the other night while dave put up some trim in the mudroom.

the kids all helped and we had a great time.

then, once the tree was finished, we turned off the lights and sat on the couch to admire our work. 

i got out my guitar and we sang a few songs, and then i told the kids we needed to talk about Christmas.  

i said, "now you guys know that Christmas is not all about....."

and tyden and shaeya both quickly said, "the PRESENTS."

and i said, "that's right. tekoa, can you tell us what Christmas is really about?"

she looked at me and said, "yep! santa and his sleigh!"  

oh kids are good at keeping you humble, aren't they? just when you think you're maybe doing an ok job of teaching them about what's important in life.....

but oh how i love that girl.  her smile.....

but while i'm thinking of her smile.....i think i've mentioned that she is getting a bit vain.

and i think she's had a few too many people comment on her dimples lately.  it's getting a bit out of hand.....

"hey mommy, do you want to see my dimples?" as she flashes me a big smile. "mommy do you love me because i have dimples?" 

and i've heard that she has been known to tell people that her mommy loves her because she has dimples.  and then i've got shaeya asking me if she has dimples.....

so if you all could work with me and just NOT ever mention dimples ever again that would be much appreciated! :)

she wet the bed yesterday morning.  i mean soaked.  it was like nothing i've ever seen before.  her clothes were completely drenched from top to bottom.  so she wrapped herself up in a blanket to hide it from tyden and shaeya and came downstairs to discretely tell me.

she came to my bedside and whispered, "mommy i need a bath...." :)

does anyone else have someone pee or poop EVERY DAY?? it just seems so EXCESSIVE.  the wet beds, the leaky pull ups, the random accidents, the "i almost made it to the toilet but not quite".....

the other day neiko happened to poop in his underwear.  and i didn't realize it.  i took him into the bathroom, took off his undies, lifted him onto the toilet, and stepped right in the poop.

it squished all in between my toes.

i must have made a big enough deal about my poopy foot, because the next day when i put him on the toilet he said, "noooooo poop mommy's foot, okay? no poop mommy's foot." :)

speaking of neiko, he and i are enjoying a quiet morning to ourselves this morning.  dave took the other kids out to my parent's house at the lake very early this morning so he could help my dad out with a few things.  and i'm here taking the morning to shop online, wrap presents, and bake some goodies for a Christmas party tonight.  and obviously getting a lot done, right? ;)

poor neiko is LOST without anyone to tease :) 

i sure wish the kid would sit and watch tv for once. :)  he doesn't sit.  ever.

but it is fun to have him to myself for a little.  

grandma and grandpa k babysat for us last night while i sang at weaver ridge (more on that in a bit) and when neiko woke up this morning he was yelling, "graaaaaaandma! graaaaaaaaaandma!!" 

so cute.

i went and picked him up out of his crib and sat with him on the couch while he was still a little sleepy.  i asked him if he was a good boy for grandma and grandpa.  

he said "yep! eat roni (macaroni).......bonk head.....owie.....fall down....stairs.....owie cheek......

and he pointed to his cheek.

I LOVE IT.  he is talking so much.  i kissed his cheek, and he said, "thank you, mommy."

so sweet.  and then he was done.  ready to start 100 mph :)

so my performance last night......teehee......they had no microphone stand.  

i was trying not to stress through dinner about the mic problem, but any of you who sing will know that the mic really does kinda make or break the sound quality of your voice.  and they wanted me to use a lapel mic that was popping and crackling as they used it to talk during dinner.....ahhhhh....i'm not a diva by any means but i was really not sure about trying to use it.....but i did.....and about 20 seconds into my first song it made a super loud high pitched sound :) and so we stopped and switched to a hand held mic with the mc holding it over my shoulder for me.  sooooooo funny.  the good thing was that it made us all laugh and broke the ice, and we were able to crack some jokes about it.  

i just gotta laugh though, cause it's always something.....but i had a lot of fun singing my songs and sharing a little from my heart....and then afterwards dave and i took advantage of our freedom and did some Christmas shopping.  

and we made some progress!   and then got some ice cream :)

well, i guess i've procrastinated long enough......time to get to that shopping/wrapping/baking......i've only got 2 more hours of quiet.....:)