Nice Nice Baby

Christmas was nice. We hung out for a few days in Pittsburg, TX with Gary's family and we always look forward to visiting with them. They are so calm and laid back, the girls get to ride a little pony and that's always fun for them. They of course got way too much stuff so I put a few things away for now. They don't even realize it. I got lots of new books to read and some other cool stuff. I was turned on to a new video game, it's a sort of karaoke singing game and it has me wanting to buy the wii version which I guess is Rock Band. We'll see. I can't sing for nothing but it's fun to watch people nonetheless. Oh AND maybe the highlight of my christmas vacation was watching my husband offer up his rendition of Ice Ice Baby. Oh my goodness...it is priceless and it is all captured on video and boy if I knew how to get it from my video camera to the computer I would offer it to you for your viewing pleasure. I'm sure Gary wouldn't mind at all.
Word to your motha!

Blog Photo Tag

This is a picture of some girls from Church A LONG time ago at least 4 years but might be 5. In it is Tracy Y, Summer M, Nicole M, Hanna and Mason O, and me and Hannah who is super little. We were at some church function ( I don't remember what) but were helping Tracy Y grade some school papers. Wow we all look younger!

I was tagged by Sara W.
Instructions:

Go to the place where you store all of your pictures on your computer and open up the 4th folder
Open the 4th picture

Post the picture and give an explanation
Tag 4 people (or more if you wish... I couldn't stop at 4)

Not sure anyone else will do this but I tag:

Melanie B.
Sarah H.
Amanda G.
Summer M.

Random

I had such a crush on this guy back in the 90's. Him and Eddie Vedder...haha. I think he's even more attractive now because he has a daughter. I just love a man and his daughter.

Is that you Santa Claus

THEN: The first time I took Bella to see Santa she was horrified and would not go near him. She wanted nothing to do with it. So we had to put her on his chair and he snuck up right behind her and she had no idea he was there and we got the shot of them together. That was then.

NOW - This is now. She's practically giving Santa her life story. AND she went back a second time to show him how she dances.

Crazy roads

I've never made a great passenger. Ask Gary. I like to be in the drivers seat. I drive him crazy when he's driving because I am telling him exactly how he needs to be driving. Slow down, don't stop so fast, you need to turn faster....etc. He HATES it. But I feel like I am in the car, in the passenger side, maybe even the back seat, with no great control of where I am going. I surely feel like God is about to steer me down a path, I never intended to take. It's a great reminder to me that I am NOT in control here. I guess I should not be so surprised about this but that still does not make it any easier. A crash still hurts whether I'm the driver or not. A LOT! All the preparing we have done this past year to get us in to healthy financial practices still did not prepare us for a dramatic turn like this. I mean we're talking whiplash here. We thought we were on such a good route. GOD said DETOUR! Obviously roads can fork off in to many different directions, directions we weren't even looking in, directions we were not even given. Bumpy roads, scary roads, dark roads. Roads that look like they couldn't even be driven on. THEY CAN! There's an innumerable amount of roads out there. Hopefully, and this is what I pray, the roads we are being driven down have better destinations than the roads we thought we were travelling. Maybe I should not have my eyes so much on the destination but the actual driver instead and I don't mean having my eyes on him so I can bark orders at him either. I am obviously not the driver right now and so maybe I should have complete faith that the driver is not going to drive too crazy and that he knows where he is going and will get me where I need to be....safely. Thank you driver that we even have this car to be driven in, because other wise we'd be walking.

Never say Never

Last night I was lying in Bella's bed with her and we're doing our usual bed time routine. We prayed, I sang her 2 lullaby's and said our good nights and I love yous....you know all that cute stuff. Then she closes her pretty eyes and begins to drift of to sleepy land. Or so I thought. Then she says, " Mommy!!!, did you know that I NEVER ( and she emphasized never ) want to go away to college! I had to laugh because it was so out of the blue and I could tell she wanted to make sure I knew this. I'm thinking...what does she know about college? I mean we had not discussed college or talked about that any time recently. Well come to find out later when I was telling Gary about her comment, he laughed too ,and then told me that he was telling her that when she was older she would eventually go off to college and that we would pack her up a suit case and send her on her little way. As a 3 year old that has got to be a frightening thought. I mean at 3 your whole world revolves around your mommy and daddy and it's just not in her comprehension that at 18 years of age she is going to be so excited at the thought of going off to college. I mean I guess it's a bit presumptuous of me to assume she would be excited at that but typically it is the norm. But for all she knows now, she is 100% convinced that she wants no part of it. She then goes on to tell me that she wants to stay with me forever because she loves me so much. As she is telling me this she is clinching onto me for dear life. The unknown is scary. But because I know and understand that she is just too young to know what she's really saying I know that college is not scary. I mean it is but not like she is thinking it is. All she probably heard was that she will live somewhere else away from us and funny as it is....that is just horrific to her. I as her mother know that when that time comes in all reality it is going to be me that will be hanging on to her for dear life and she will already have one foot out that door. At 3 she does not realize yet that with college will come certain freedoms. Freedoms that at some time between now and then, she will have an intense desire for. And this proclamation that she NEVER wants to go away to college will someday be something for me to remind her about and laugh at and probably desperately try to hold her to.

Thank God she is just 3 and I don't have to worry about this for quite sometime but it just got me to thinking about things that I fear. Is it possible GOD could be saying......No, Monica don't be afraid of that. As he laughs.

Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE


CLOSE UP

A POINSETTIA
Well I finally finished all my Christmas decorating. Of course the pics would look better at night all lit up but I did not take those pics. It was a lot of work getting my house Christmas ready. I did my living, kitchen, entryway, stairs and dining room. Thanks mom for all your help! The only thing that bothered me was that the color of my drapes interrupted the flow. I was going to ask Gary to take them down but he's quite grumpy at times and I did not want to ask him to do that. He was already frustrated with me for getting silver spray paint on the wood bench in the back yard. Oops! RELAX BABE......it will come out! I kind of went a little spray paint happy. I love spray paint and it's a cheap instant fix. Now I'm afraid I will want to leave the deco up all year. That should be fine right?

It's coming along

I have been so busy this week trying to get my house decorated for our Large Family Christmas Party that is being held at Casa de Clifton this Saturday. This is the first time I have ever really decorated for Christmas besides a Christmas tree. Man! It's a lot of work.....and an expense. Unfortunately my vision (as in what I wanted my house to look like) is quite larger than my budget so there is a large discrepancy. Hopefully tonight when Gary gets the tree set up.......(PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE babe set up the tree for me) that will tie it all together. It's going to have to do because I've just about done all I can. I STILL have not gotten that wave of holiday cheer that comes with the Holidays but I am trying to stay positive and not get overwhelmed. But I am. I am very overwhelmed. I can't wait until January when things can get back to normal. Next up will be the Church House decorations. I was supposed to get that done this week too but it looks like that is not happening. Sorry Church house, I know you are begging to be dressed in your holiday cheer too. How do I get into the spirit. What do people do? Do I need to listen to Christmas Music? That's kind of strange to do in 80 degree weather. How do people get into the spirit?? Maybe I'm trying too hard.

CHRISTMAS MANTLE