Weekend Wisdom

"Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age."

~Christopher Morley~

A New Year's toast to all of you

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.

Christmas

While looking through the Christmas pictures, I realized that I really sucked at taking them this year! There are VERY few, so I'll just share a couple. We each opened one gift on Christmas Eve - new pj's for everyone. By 7:05 on Christmas morning, all presents (that I was busy wrapping till 11:30 the night before wrapping) had been ripped open and being played with. Other than the awesome colored pencil and crayon rolls that their amazing mother made, the boys' favorite presents were a metal detector for Taylor...

and a new Transformer for Landon.

I got my wish this year, and we were finally able to spend the day at home, just the four of us. There was no fighting about having to get dressed, or leaving the toys at home. We watched Christmas movies, played with toys, had a turkey dinner, I surfed the net and found the REAL Nutcracker (now I just have to remember to order it sometime), munched on cookies and chocolate popcorn, played a few board games, and that was it!

Saturday we went to my parent's house for Christmas with them. Both my brothers were there, so within the first 20 minutes of me being there, they had me on the floor tickling me (whenever we're all together, those two tend to gang up on me - they consider it a tradition)! I used to think that they would outgrow it, but since they're still doing it at 32 and 24, I'm not sure when that will be.

After a delicious meal, we opened gifts. Of all the gifts, my favorites were the 2 new additions to my nutcracker collection, a new wooden spoon (made by my 5th grade math teacher) for my wooden spoon collection, and a new MP3 player. We all sat around playing with the kids and chatting. It was nice to get to know Stefan a little better. He is a foreign exchange student from Germany who is staying with my uncle. Shawn and I decided that we age well compared to most of our former classmates (either that or we're delusional). Since Kelsey knows where all the good thrift stores in KC are, we discussed what he needs to be looking for on my wish list. It was a good day.

Sunday morning I tried sleeping in a little. Then Jeremy informed me that the boys and I needed to leave for a while because we weren't going to have any water for a while. Our hot water heater has been having issues (I can't even get my hair washed before the water turns cold), so he and his dad were going to put in a new one. Back to mom and dad's we went. Kelsey was just leaving to go home, and my SIL had just left to go do some shopping, so we hung out with my parents, Shawn, and his kiddos for the day.

I was trying to get pictures of the kids, but Landon was being a boob, he kept closing his eyes. Looking at this picture, I realized that I don't think I've ever mentioned his eyelashes. They are lllllooooonnnnnggggg and dark. He gets those from his daddy. Taylor has my lashes - while they are long, they're not nearly as dark.

Our plans for today include some much needed cleaning and a little more shopping (I didn't make it to the butcher shop or the book store yesterday) before we meet my mom at the Hastings Museum. I should also start thinking about the new year's resolutions I probably won't keep!

House of Testosterone

I don't have much time this morning, as we are getting ready to head to mom and dad's to watch my niece and nephew (their big sister has an appointment in Omaha, so my brother and SIL stayed at my parent's instead of driving 2 hours home last night, then 5 hours to O and 5 hours back home tonight - mom and dad live 3 hours from Omaha, so about 4 hours of driving are saved).

Anyway...my mom bought me a book that I started reading last night, and it's PERFECT for those of us who are outnumbered by men/boys (they really are the same thing aren't they?).

You can find the book here and here, and the author, Sharon O'Donnell, also has a website/blog called Mom of Boys. I haven't had a chance to really look at that, yet, but am always looking for ways to save my sanity!

With any luck, I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of our Christmas!

Weekend Wisdom

"May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire."

~Irish Blessing~

The Stewart side of my family (my mom's mom's side!), Christmas 1959. Back row: Joe (my great-grandpa's brother) and my Grandpa Southern; Middle row: my Great-Grandma Alice, uncle Tom, Great-Aunt Irene (Charles' wife), my Grandma Southern, Great-Uncle Charles, and Great-Uncle Faye; Sitting on floor (back to front): George Stewart (Joe's son), my Great-Grandpa Charley, and my adorably chubby mom!

Merry Christmas

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years. Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.

~George Matthew Adams~

Weekend Wisdom

"Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder."
~Eberhard Arnold~