Merry Christmas 2008!

Our family tradition for Christmas Day is that I get to see if Santa came and then the girls get to come downstairs. The girls were so excited, even the night before you could hear the excitement in their voice. Thats probably the best part of the holiday for me!

Wow, I guess those Santa Claus payments I made, really paid off. Allison got a laptop and a new cell phone, while Lauren got a new flat screen television and an IPOD. WOW! I guess Santa has my girls on the 'nice' list!

They tore into the presents under the tree. Clothes, clothes, gift cards, jackets, Webkinz, the list goes on. I think all in all they had a great day!

I think this year my mom get the kudos for the presents. My kids do always, but this year my mom kind of hit it. I got 2 magazine subscriptions that I wanted, a gift card for clothes, and a GPS for the car. The magazine subscriptions really meant more than anything. I didn't tell anyone else I wanted them, but I end up getting them at the store every month and read them cover to cover. My kids got me an Archivers gift card, stuff from Bath & Body Works and a Lowe's gift card. All that was on my list. Yeah! I got a Wii Fit from Chris and a fireplace set (which I needed). I also got a cargo bag for the top of the car for when we travel. Not sure when the next trip will be but I guess we will have more than enough room.

I told the girls that next year, we are going to do the picture Christmas list. I'm already working on mine! Hope everyone has a great Christmas holiday!

Christmas Eve

I was up and out at 0600 headed to Honey Baked Ham which opened at 0700. The girls were at their fathers and, originally, they were coming home later in the day, but due to his change in plans he now was dropping them off at 0945. I had made plans of what I was going to do today, being that I had most of the day to myself. So since plans were changed, I knew I had to get out and get done what I needed without the kids in order to complete everything.

As I pulled into the Dunkin Donuts parking lot beside Honey Baked Ham, it was a site. There was a tent set up in front of the store. You still entered through the regular entrance but they had roped off the path in which you needed to travel. In the middle of the line there was the lovely employee with a tray of smoked turkey pieces to sample and a bargain with a small smoked turkey breast. Of course, I had to get one. I proceeded up to the counter, gave them my order number and headed out to the check out tent. Very quick and efficient.

Next I headed to Target at North Hills. Wasn't sure if they were open yet, but it sure was nice shopping with very few people in the store. I got in and out fairly quickly.

I needed a Barnes & Noble gift card and called the Crabtree location to see what time they opened. 0800 was the answer I got. It was 0750 so I knew that by the time I got over to Glenwood Avenue it would be 0800. Yeah. I was getting too much accomplished.
I still needed to head to Kroger to shop, pick up 2 gallons of sweet tea from McDonalds, drop stuff off at the post office and who knows what else. It all went well, and I made it home around 1000.

The girls got home and showed me the presents from their Daddy and Santa. Then we pretty much baked all day. Cakes, cookies, shrimp dip, cheese balls. Pretty much everything you can think of. I did realize that there aren't enough sugar cookies in the world that will make Chris & Allison happy.

A little more Father of the Year drama

It continues..... the award obviously wasn't enough...so maybe a new title? Anyways, every year Rod has gotten off at noon on Christmas Eve. He gets the girls the night of the 23rd and they have their Christmas with him on Christmas Eve. The girls had mentioned that he wasn't getting off until 7pm. So I decided to text him, to make sure that he was getting off at noon. Here's how that conversation went:



Me: Do you get off at noon tomm?

FOYT (father of the year): Ill be dropping the kids off on my way to work @ 945am tomorrow morning so I guess it doesn't matter what time I get off.

Me: They said they were going to open presents tonight and tomorrow, but they thought you got off at 7 but I said you got off at noon. They don't have to come home that early.

FOYT: I have to work until 3 and then I am driving to WV.

Me: Ok didn't know.

Me: When are you planning on going to Greensboro?

FOYT: Whenever its convenient to take the kids.

FOYT: I was going to ask about taking the kids to WV but I was pretty sure they wouldn't be excited about going and its way more important to eat dinner with Patsy, Dres and Kim than it would be to see great grandparents, grandparents, uncles and cousins.

Me: No I think it would be important for the kids to wake up here with Santa stuff on Christmas. I knew nothing about you going to Charleston until now. I don't think they look at it like you do. Neither is bad. We are having Christmas dinner here and doing the exchange at Kim's midday.

FOYT: I didn't say it was bad, and I figure the kids would rather stay with you than drive six hours with me and I didn't know I was going until two days ago, thats another reason I didn't ask. Of course the biggest reason is because you believe that you are the only important person intheir life and I am down a ways on the list.

Me: Whatever. Put yourself in their shoes. And I didn't mean to imply that you knew you were going to Charleston months ago.

FOYT: I am putting myself in their shoes. They don't care about spening time with my side of the family and maybe one day they will regret it and maybe they won't. I really don't care anymore.

Me: They went to dad's one year and woke up there on Christmas and they both hated it. I asked them and neither want to go for Christmas. I don't know how you think you are thinking in their shoes. I'm not sure you would have liked spending time with distant relatives and not being at home. As always if it's not what Rod wants, its wrong.

FOYT: I will try to refrain from using vulgar language but I understand what the kids are feeling and can sympathize with it, my point is that they have no encouragement from you to respect and cherish the face that they have so many relatives still around that could be gone next Christmas and that works for your side as well as mine.

Me: Yes I do. More than you know, realize, or will EVER give me credit for.

FOYT: It would be neat for me to be able to take the kids and in a little more than 24 hours let them see Faye, Pearl, Mom, Randy, Dad, Debbie, Jeff, Glenda, Greg's family and all the other cousins that will be around-but I understand the kids hesistation about being away.



Is it me? Am I the ONLY one on this planet that thinks he it totally ridiculous? And just like I said to him....if it's not his way then it must be wrong. I get sooooo tired of dealing with crap like this, which is almost on a 'everytime' basis. I do think the girls need to see their relatives. I don't think a major holiday is the best time when plans had been made. He knew that he was getting the girls and having Christmas with them on Christmas Eve. I didn't make him go to WV. He could have spent more time with them and then gone to WV. The girls are also on a year-round schedule, so they have 4 months off a year. He could take a long weekend and go to WV and visit. There are many other options.

So can you see how wonderful my day has been?

Happy Birthday to my mom!

Yes, today is my mom's birthday. Every year I forget if its the 22nd or the 23rd. My mom was born on December 22 and my dad on February 23. But every year at this time, I have to call my sister to remind me which is which. This year I remembered WITHOUT calling my sister. Yeah for me! There is hope! I got this picture before her and Brianna took off to head back home. As cold as it was this morning, it felt like Charleston I'm sure.

I always love taking pictures with Brianna. I love her and Parker to death. I hope one day I am in the position to see her every day!

Guitar Hero and Gingerbread Houses....holiday memories!

What more getting into the Christmas spirit that Guitar Hero? My niece and my mom came down for the weekend. Briann & Allison were battling it out. I can't make it much past Slow Ride by Foghat, where as Allison is unlocking songs, battling Slash and winning $$. Something is wrong with this picture.

I alsways love it when Brianna and Parker come to visit. parker had a hockey tournament in Roanoke so he couldn't come this time. He did win his game 10-6 I think on Saturday and he scored his first goal and won the game 4-0 on Sunday. Not too bad for a 5-7 year old group. We had fun here through. We baked cookies, played, made gingerbread houses, which was an event in itself. We walked the dogs, cleaned the house, did some Christmas shopping and listened to Christmas music.
We had to prepare the icing and then put the sides and front and back of the house together. The girls put them together and then had to hold them for about 10 minutes before they could let go. I don't think they knew this part. ha ha

Lauren got to do a Gingerbread Tree. She wasn't too happy about it at first, because the houses were bigger, but after she saw how difficult and how long it was going to be, the tree tured out to be the perfect thing.
After the sides dried for about an hour, the next was the roof top. Allison, Luaren & Brianna loved licking the icing as much as caking it on. The roof tops were going to take 2-3 hours to set.

Even with all the icing packs and all the candy to place on the gingerbread house, it was too much. We had a ton of candy between the 2 houses and the tree. It looked more like a candy store than a gingerbread house.

Allisons finished house is below. I had already put Briannas in her box to take home, and didn't want to attempt taking it out so I didn't have a finished photo for Briannas.

Throughout the process of placing the candy on Briannas roof top, she would drop one every couple of minutes. I was round so I would hear it hit the floor and roll, and it became a joke. After fnishing and we were cleaning up, Brianna dropped the dish of 200 candies on the floor. I laughed from the other room as I knew what hit the floor. It was like small beads rolling everywhere in the dining room. I laughed this morning when I told Brianna that I would be finding those candies everywhere until I sold this house. Im sure some rolled under the china cabinet as well as the buffet.

I wouldn't trade this time for anything. I love all of us being together. I hope one day that we are closer and that they live here. It would be wonderful!

Father of the Year goes to.....

You guessed it! Every day that goes by that I do not have to talk to Rod is a great day. And then every day that I do have to hear his voice, it proves to me why he deserves this award. Allison had multiple dentist visits last week to prepare her mouth for orthodontics next February. We had an appointment on Monday for a filling and 2 teeth extracted. The girls were at their dads on Sunday and he proceeded to tell Allison what they were going to do to her, including sticking a big needle in her mouth. Needless to say, when the girls got home and told me I wasn't too happy. I also wasn't too happy when Monday rolled around and it took me 30 minutes to get Allison calmed down in the dentist chair. Afterward, he texted me and asked 'is it over yet'. I replied, 'yes, thanks for scaring her to death, it only took us 30 minutes to calm her down'. He replies. 'i was being honest'. Lets see, is there such thing as being a father? Am I lying because I DIDNT tell her that they were going to stick a needle in her mouth? Was the dentist lying when she told her that they needed to use some orange juice spray to put her tooth to sleep? I guess we are a liars because we didn't tell?

Which leads me to the 2nd incidence in a week. Nothing suprising there, huh? I took a package to Rod to mail out UPS on Tuesday, Allison happened to be in the car and she asked him "what did you get me for Christmas". His reply 'nothing..... Grandma Shoda sent me some money so we will go shopping after Christmas and get you whatever you dont get'. HELLO? After Christmas? Thats not Christmas! And he tells this to a 12 year old who goes home and tells her 10 year old sister. Merry freakin Christmas Rod! I really tried to think that he was joking but the bigger part of me knew he isnt. He gets the kids on Christmas Eve, he has known for the better part of the year that the girls would have their Christmas with him on the 24th. And now 'nothing'. Im sure his divorced parents never pulled that one. Mine didn't. Santa came to my mom's and my dad's.

Sitting down to write this today, I initally thought I only had the 2 instances but low and behold he adds another that I can add to the list. I had gotten a 28 bottle wine celler a few months back that was clearanced 75% off. Its over a $200 cabinet and I looked and looked for other ones. The price was too good to believe. I had mentioned it to Rod so that if he got out and looked he may be able to find one for a Christmas present or birthday present of some sort. Again, too goodof a price to bypass. So today he calls and asked if I had sold it and also if he could skip the child support payment this month because he had bills to pay. I said 'no' which started him on his normal 60 second rant of how 'its all about you' and 'this is the season for giving'. And many other pleasant remarks that I am sure you can figure out. Well, I guess you can take it up with the North Carolina Child Support Office, if you feel as if they are wronging you. The last time I checked I dont calculate child support. As of January 2008 you actually pay $150 a month LESS than what you should, but does he ever remember that? Maybe thats because he wears his anal sphincter on his face.....his mouth!

So remember all you Raleigh people...if you should see this man walking the streets, congratulate him, shake his hand and remind him why he is the Father of the Year!

Lauren's Christmas Chorus Concert...

Thursday night Lauren had her Chorus Concert. She had a speaking part that she had to learn, last minute. We practiced and practiced, only to have her remember one line during practice that morning. But during the concert, she was perfect. They started on time at 1900 and sang for a little more than 30 minutes. They sounded so good and I kind of thought was it must be like to keep that many 5th graders together and learning everything without total chaos breaking out. Teachers in general don't get paid enough, but wow!

Below is Trevor. Trevor Blalock that is. No, not related to the other Blalocks, you know, Kim, Jordan & Chase. Trevor is the 5th grade heart throb at Timber Drive Elementary. According to Lauren "everyone loves Trevor". So, of course, I had to get a picture of him. He is on the opposite side of the group picture but he also had a instrumental part.

Below is Laurens speaking part. We headed to Logans afterward for dinner with Kim. That would be Kim Blalock. But not Trevor's mom. ha ha. Enjoy!

Jordans 9th Birthday at Kanki!

Jordan turned 9 years old and picked Kanki for the birthday dinner. I think there was a total of 23 of us there. Jordan spent the first 20-30 minutes opening presents and cards. Carolyn was in town so she went with us. I had never been there before so it was surely going to be interesting..but hey, it was Jordans birthday!

Mimi and Lauren. I had a blast watching Lauren as the Chef (or whatever they call it in Japan) prepared our food. Lauren was also entertaining using her chopsticks.
He flipped rice, once actually getting into Laurens mouth. Allison didn't want to play and neither did I, so Lauren was our scapgoat! She didn't mind. The Chef made a volcano, a flaming one and one that smoked and moved across the grill.

There was so much food and it was awesome and entertaining watching him prepare our food. The steak was awesome and Carolyn said it was the nicest Kanki she has been in. We had a blast and its always great doing dinner with Chris' family. I think all in all Jordan had a pretty good birthday and alot of love.

What are we up to?

Hope everyone gets a laugh like I did... hope you enjoy!

It is definately beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Every year we head to Pop n' Son Christmas Tree Farm off of Hwy 50. I have gone every year since before the girls were born. They have remote lots throughout Raleigh but they aren't as fun as the farm. There is a different section every year that is ready to be 'official' Christmas trees. They also cut some and have them in a different section. The girls love going. And their trees are beautiful.

Allison came with us even though she had a fever. The girls love going row by row to find the perfect one. Each one they seem to pick out is perfect until they see the next one that is perfect. Its kind of funny! Its all part of the holidays.
After looking through many trees we found the one we wanted. I don't think I have ever had a artificial tree. Guess there's something about a real tree and that smell in your house around the holidays that make it more special.

Black Friday shopping with 4 kids.....

Black Friday....we like all other idiots, went out shopping. Kim, Chris & I headed out WITH 4 kids! What were we thinking? ha ha. We actually had a blast. And actually found a parking space, without running too many people over. We hit several shops at the outlet center, then headed to Broadway at the Beach. We even made it to a bar on the beach to eat lunch. The kids really enjoyed that one. Seeing the dolphins in the ocean wasn't too bad either.

When we got to Broadway at the Beach, we hit a store called the Stupid Factory. Kim & I laughed at almost every shirt we saw in the store. Just when we calmed down from laughing at one, we would find another. The whole trip was worth this one store. Below are some of the shirts. I think I need some for work.
Perfect weather......

More to follow ......

Happy Turkey Day!

Here is the entrance to Kingston Plantation. We are staying at the Margate Tower. We had reservations 2 towers over for Thanksgiving Dinner. We were a party of around 21 I think. The buffet was awesome and they had everything from Tom Turkey to Prime Rib. Tons of desserts and the best sweet tea.

Here is Chris and Chase (Chris' nephew). Its hard to get Chase to smile or participate in pictures...so if goofing off works..then I guess we go with it.

Kim and Chase (note again, goofing off works) Can you see where he gets it from?

The face that the girls are actually smiling all in one picture is a miracle. Usually one of the girls is either sticking their tongue out or crossing their eyes. So I was pretty amazed at this picture. We all had a great Thanksgiving Dinner.
I love this picture of Chase and Chris. Sort of goofing off, but it turned out rather well anyways.

We took the girls out on the beach to walk the pier, but realized we didn't have as much time as we thought. We ran into Patsy and took this picture. Do you recognize the Madonna glasses? You should have seen the people with envy in their eyes. We all know you want them!

I had to leave my mark. I was here! 2008.

Lauren and me. I love this picture. Especially with seeing the water behind us. The weather was great, especially in November.

Took tons of pictures with the family. Took several of me and the girls. We really are having a blast.
Not too bad for my camera. The little one I always keep on me. So this may actually be a Christmas card. Or maybe a big canvas print on my wall.

Thanksgiving at the beach....Kingston Plantation

Thanksgiving week, we were off to North Myrtle Beach. After, of course, Lauren's Thanksgiving Tea. Everyone else had already arrived but we got there later that night. The weather was going to be nice the entire time we were there. Yeah!

Here's the view from our balcony. Gorgeous isn't it? The view was amazing and the sun was shining. The girls were excited from the time we left the house.
Chris & I on our balcony. It was a much needed restful vacation. Even if we had a condo full of kids and crazy family members (from Chris' side, of course), we had a blast!

Drew & Patsy! Drew took a break from cooking breakfast to pose with his mom. No wonder Kennedy didn't know where her swimsuit was. I think it looks cuter on Kennedy!

Thank You Tea-Timber Drive Elementary

A few years ago, I figured out what a Thank You Tea was. Sarah had picked me when she was in the 5th grade of someone she was 'thankful' for. Lauren had asked me about 2 months ago if Chris was off on November 24th. I said no, he works Monday-Friday! Lauren said "I have this Thank you u tea" I immediately interrupted and said "And you picked Chris?" She said yes.

The kids have to pick someone they are thankful for and write an essay as to why they picked that person. I didn't know what Lauren was going to say. I told Lauren she would have to ask Chris if he could come, but we couldn't tell him why. This ought to be fun. Lauren did ask Chris and he said he would come, but not without some hesitation.

A couple of weeks later Lauren brought her essay home and read it to me. It gave me chill bumps. I couldn't believe my 10 year old daughter had written such a wonderful essay. I told Lauren we couldn't tell Chris anything. I had also called Chris' mom, Patsy to ask her if she could come. I wanted her to hear what Lauren had written and thought about her son. I was so proud of her. I didn't tell Chris that I had asked Patsy to come, but I knew sooner or later he would find out.

Here is her original copy of her essay:

After all the kids read theirs, Lauren's was clearly one of the best written ones. And Im not saying that because Lauren is my daughter, hers was clearly stated, she didn't repeat herself numerous times and was a page long.

Here is a picture of Chris and Lauren after all the essay's were read:
Here's a video clip of Lauren reading her essay: