Is My House Somewhere Under Here?

Our Christmas was peaceful, serene, almost idyllic.














And then the children woke up.




The next few hours were filled with *gasp* sugar before breakfast, mounds of wrapping paper, clothes flying from every which direction, squeals of delight, and general mayhem and chaos.  I have no clue who got what for my kids.  All I know is that they are ridiculously spoiled.




The night before, we set out treats for Santa, even though my kids know he is pretend.  Sometimes, its still fun to pretend.  Except when Madi refused to sleep in the living room because Papa told her that Santa was going to come while she was sleeping.  Thanks, Dad.  Score one for the "Let's not make a big deal out of Santa" team. 




My mother got my children cameras.  I was forced to erase the internal memory in them at least 3 times Christmas Day.  I have a prolific paparazzi, apparently.  We will be featuring three little guest photographers, as soon as I can find my computer and the cords under all this stuff.  Be on the lookout for a lot of photos of my knees. 




We got to spend some time with my grandma.  We didn't think we would have this Christmas with her.  But, as the hospice nurse has told us, her body can, apparently, survive on pure stubbornness alone.  Grandma was too weak to open her presents, so Violet offered to help.  The joy of a 3 year old opening presents combined with the joy of a 95 year old watching her great-granddaughter is priceless. 




Somehow, we fit everything into our minivan rocketship.  Well, everything except the rocking chair for the littles, wine goblets from my other grandma, a beautiful lamp from my aunt, and the behemoth stainless steel man grill of happiness from my parents.  Those got to take a special trip to our house in the back of Dad's truck.




And then, we got home.  And Christmas threw up in my house. 




And, I would much rather snuggle my babies (well, the two who got sick on Christmas anyways) than clean.  I have to go get memory cards for the girls' cameras, especially so that Kat & I won't have to share.  Because I appreciated the 347 photos of her toes, and my mom's butt, and the ceiling. 




I guess I could clean the house and declutter after the kids go to bed.  But my Christmas present to myself was Big Game Hunter for the Wii we bought as a family, and getting that mountain lion is way higher on my priority list than laundry. 




I promise, the next post will have photos.  But not of the Christmas regurgitation that is my living room.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

I love the traditions of Christmas.  Yesterday, the girls and I spent all day making candy and cookies.

I quickly remembered why I haven't made rosettes in a while.  Those things are a pain!

We had a little more luck with the popcorn balls.

Katrina made popcorn balls.  Violet made popcorn lumps.

The peanut butter balls turned out fabulous, if I do say so myself.

And my dad is already excited about the rum balls.

The peppermint fudge tastes a heck of a lot better than it looks, I promise.

And I do think the girls first experience at making sugar cookies was a success.

At least Violet had a lot of fun.

A lot of fun.

My official taster had her job down pat.

Last night, we auditioned for most obnoxious bell ringers of the seasons.

I think we won.

Especially with our secret weapon.

Tonight we are headed to our Christmas Eve Service. 

Afterwards, we will eat dinner with Jerome's parents and open gifts.

At bedtime, we will head out to my parents house to spend the night. 

I am sure we will be up at the crack of dawn.

We will open stockings, then eat breakfast with my grandma. 

She is 95. 

And treasures Christmas morning with her great-granddaughters.

May you and yours be able to take the time to enjoy the day.

May you treasure the birth of the King.

We May Need To Work On This

I must be brilliant.  If I make a promise on this blog to take a photo of my children and post it, it drives me nuts until I get it done.  I may have just discovered the secret to regular posts.  Either that or I am just weird.  Anywho...

Sunday morning was the kids' program at church.  I was able to snap these photos before church (but only by allowing Violet to have Mr. Giraffe Puzzle Piece come with). 

Yes, I am not above bribing my children for photos of matching outfits.

And I am very glad I took those photos before church.  Kat's ankle was hurting bad enough that she did NOT want to stand on stage for the performances.  And, since Jerome was in a drama for service, I got to haul my lazy rear up the hill to the kids' building, carry Kat back down to the main building, carry her onto stage, set her up on the little stool, hide somewhere while they were singing, and carry her back up the hill to her class.  Twice.  No wonder I was tired.  And there are no photos of my children singing.

After church, the littles were playing with the nativity set my mom got them last year.  I love it because it is virtually indestructible.   They love it because it is, well, virtually indestructible.

Although I was a bit confused when I saw this:

According to Madi, Dora is Jesus's big sister.  Hmm...

I'm Back

I did not mean to neglect blogdom for so long, really.  And when I started getting the "are you ok, are you alive?" emails, I knew I had to get my lazy, exhausted behind on here and write something.  And there are so many things I need to write about, like:

• our Thanksgiving trip to Phoenix, where the zoo went to the zoo, we apparently brought the coldest weather in recent memory with us, goofed around in a hotel, spent 3+ hours at Cabela's (cue angels singing), and slid into a ditch 5 miles from home.
• Jerome's "business" trip to Paris (a.k.a. guys trip with his dad and brother)

• All the Christmas festivities we have been up to
• general updates on the family
• my baptism in October

But, today, you get none of those.  Instead, you get this adorable photo I took this morning:

Because they both looked fabulous in their hats, and were perfectly happy to have their photo taken together. 

And this:

 

Yes, Princess Needs A Bubble Suit got to have another visit to the ER this morning.  It's sad when they know you by name.  She landed wrong last night in gymnastics, and gave herself a high ankle fracture, right near the growth plate.  Lovely. 

Although I have learned to never underestimate the amount of sympathy shown by a herd of 2nd grade girls.  You would have thought she lost a leg or something. 

And this is my solemn promise to you, and I, to take a photo of my girls tonight.  We are having our office Christmas party, and the girls are wearing their hot pink, matching dresses.  Can anyone else say fabulous!

When The Cat Is Away...

... the mouse will stay up far too late!

One of the new addictions I have discovered is Shutterfly.  A few of my friends are regular Shutterfly users, and have always raved about the photo quality and customer service.  So, I decided to take a look.

And, oh my goodness!  What a treasure trove!  Someone *ahem* could get someone *ahem* a beautiful, custom 15 oz mug with three beautiful princesses on it.  Because every mommy coffee addict would love a beautiful mug with her beautiful children on it. 

In case someone *ahem* needs to find the aforementioned mugs, here is a handy-dandy link:

http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs

And their photo cards?  Gorgeous!  The designs are so unique!  I loved this little Christmas tree number:

Or maybe this beautiful green, ornamenty one.  And yes, ornamenty is a word in our house. 

But I just realized that there is only room for two kid pictures on it.  And I have three kids.  I see therapy bills in my future if I pick this one.  Moving on...

I think this may be the one.  Equal sized photos, enough photos for each of them, plus the ability to embarrass them with stories.  Love it!

Want to see more of their awesome designs?  Just go here:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

And bloggers?  If you want to receive free cards for this year, just go here:

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Cause you know we all love us some free stuff around here!

So, what are you still doing here?  Go pick out my Christmas card on Shutterfly already!

Chrismas Shopping With Purpose

I have found my Christmas mojo.  Last week, when Jerome asked me what we were getting everyone for Christmas, I said, "Nothing.  I don't even want to go there.  Don't talk to me about it.  Shush."


Yes, I know.  Bah Humbug!


Every year I would obsess about finding just the right present, what they would like, what I have given them in the past few years.  And it stressed me out.  But, wow, have I had a realization this week!  I love to receive presents that have a story, or a purpose, behind them.  A reason.  And I am sure our family and friends feel the same. 


And there are so many people who, especially in this economy, still feel God's pull to bring home a precious orphan.  My heart has done a 180 on adoption since our pastors arrived at our church.  I have met precious children who have come home to their forever families.  I have held them.  I have snuggled them.  They have stolen my heart. 


And I thought, perhaps, my bloggy friends were looking for a little more purpose and meaning behind their gifts this year as well. 


So, here are a couple of ways and families you can help:


Our nanny Sara and her husband are working towards adopting their first from Africa.  She makes stocking caps and beautiful jewelry.  You can find her Etsy site here.  She is adding new pieces daily, so keep checking back.  But I would suggest doing it quickly, as I plan on raiding her stock this Sunday for my presents.  BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!


Also, our pastor's wife has a post on her blog completely dedicated to families trying to adopt.  Each link in the post is a family raising money for adoption through creative endeavors.  There is literally something for everyone!  You can go here for her Shopping With a Purpose post. 


UPDATE:  My new bloggy friend Laura pointed me towards a friend of hers.  Chris and Lindsey adopted a sweet little girl from Guatemala.  Lindsey was recently diagnosed with Lyme Disease after a 3 year battle to find a diagnosis.  They are selling anything and everything they can think of, and accepting donations to help with their medical expenses as well.


If you know of someone selling their wares for a purpose, be it adoption, medical costs, etc, please send me a link.  I would love to include it in this post.


The knowledge that a present I purchased to bless someone else is working towards bringing home a sweet babe is well worth the time, in my eyes.

What We've Been Up To

Being home with a sick kiddo does have it's fringe benefits. Although I would much rather have my perky, happy Violet.

Anyways, while she's been sleeping, I've been playing on Picasa again. I thought I would be polite and offer a few collages of our recent adventures, rather than posting each photo individually. You're welcome.

This first collage takes us back a month, to our trip to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun with everyone. It was wonderful to make some memories with the girls.

During that trip to Phoenix, we also took the girls to the happy place. The outdoors shopping mecca of the West. Yes, I am referring to the wonderous place known as Cabela's. Be still, my beating heart!


The girls really love Cabela's. They love looking at the stuffed animals. Madi especially loves the lion eating the zebra. But we were disappointed this year - they stopped making the deep fried cheese curds in the restaurant. But, the girls were brave.


The first weekend in December, we had our Children's Christmas Program at church. I didn't get any good photos of the girls singing - too busy making sure 3-year-olds weren't picking their noses, 5-year-olds weren't messing with 3-year-olds antlers, and running through the church to find Jesus's birthday cake at the last minute. But I did get a couple of cute photos of the girls before the program in front of the tree. And one of the families at church donated their time & services to take family photos after the program.





I promise - I'll have more soon!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.

Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy, I'll just go."

"Not without something hot in your belly." George said.

He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty. Stew ... Made it myself. When you're done, there's coffee and it's fresh."
Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me, be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken." George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead.

"You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.

"But Mister, please help ..." The door of the office closed behind George as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good."

George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new ." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.

George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered the the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.

"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car anyway.

As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."
George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease.

"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."

The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.

He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area."

George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain."

George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked.

"None for me," said the officer.

"Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.

"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.

"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt."

The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"

The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop, "we got one too many in here now."

He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that pea shooter away."

George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last week."

George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can."

He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Bein' stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out."

The young man had stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."

"Shut up and drink your coffee " the cop said.

George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.

"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"

"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man.

Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."

George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other.

"That guy work here?" the wounded cop continued.

"Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."

The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"

Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks for everything."

"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."
George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."

The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."

"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need."

George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."
The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier.

"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said. "Now git home to your family."

The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."

"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."

George turned around to find that the stranger had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?"

"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"

"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was gettin' a little chubby."

The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor.

The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."

George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again."

The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration planned."

George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill the room.

"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."

George fell to his knees and replied, "Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus"

Merry Christmas!!

This story is better than any greeting card.


MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU!

Christmas in the Country

My dad emailed me this poem this morning - it was too fun not to share:


'Twas the night before Christmas & out on the ranch

The pond was froze over & so was the branch.

The snow was piled up belly-deep to a mule.

The kids were all home on vacation from school,

And happier young folks you never did see-

Just all sprawled around a-watchin' TV.

Then suddenly, some time around 8 o'clock,

There came a surprise that gave them a shock!

The power went off, the TV went dead!

When Grandpa came in from out in the shed

With an armload of wood, the house was all dark.

"Just what I expected," they heard him remark.

"Them power line wires must be down from the snow.

Seems sorter like times on the ranch long ago."

"I'll hunt up some candles," said Mom. "With their light,

And the fireplace, I reckon we'll make out all right."

The teen-agers all seemed enveloped in gloom.

Then Grandpa came back from a trip to his room,

Uncased his old fiddle & started to play

That old Christmas song about bells on a sleigh.

Mom started to sing, & 1st thing they knew

Both Pop & the kids were all singing it, too.

They sang Christmas carols, they sang "Holy Night,"

Their eyes all a-shine in the ruddy firelight.

They played some charades Mom recalled from her youth,

And Pop read a passage from God's Book of Truth.

They stayed up till midnight-and, would you believe,

The youngsters agreed 'twas a fine Christmas Eve.

Grandpa rose early, some time before dawn;

And when the kids wakened, the power was on.

"The power company sure got the line repaired quick,"

Said Grandpa - & no one suspected his trick.

Last night, for the sake of some old-fashioned fun,

He had pulled the main switch - the old Son-of-a-Gun!


-anonymous


He also emailed me this photo. Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that Santa could be one of my relatives?

Just a thought...

Cousins!

Christmas Day, my brother Kevin, his wife Crystal, and their three children, Riley, age 14, Hayden, age 10, and Katie, age 7, drove down from Grand Junction to see the Durango family. They had to drive over three mountain passes in a white-out to do it, but they made it safely. It was really fun getting to hang out with our siblings, nephews, and niece and see how much they've grown. This was their introduction to Violet as well, since we haven't been able to get together since she was born. All in all, it was a wonderful couple of days spend with some very precious family.

Enjoying the new bowling alley in Ignacio - Jerome won the first game & Kevin won the second

Playing Halo 3 together. It took Madison all weekend, but she finally warmed up to Uncle Kevin.

Katie & Violet

Hayden & Violet - He is normally such a "tough" guy - it was fun to see his softer side come out with his baby cousin.

Katrina was far too busy, by the way, running around totally crazy with her cousins to be bothered by photo ops.

Christmas Morning

After spending Christmas Eve with Jerome's family, we drove out to my parents' ranch to spend the night with my parents. It was snowing fairly hard when we left town, and by the time we got to the house it was fairly deep. Needless to say, we got stuck in their driveway. But, we got everybody up to the house & asleep so that we could party Christmas morning!

Violet crawled around with this piece of wrapping paper stuck to her hair for about a half hour while we were opening presents.

Katrina modeling her new Cinderella dress. She loved it!

Madison opening her new baby doll that actually pees after you give her a bottle. Gee, thanks Grandma...

Papa snuggling with Violet.

"I got binocolers, Mama." She thinks they take pictures.

Myself & Madison watching "Old" Grandma open her presents.

Violet & Madison eating cereal while waiting for Papa's quiches to finish warming up. Only these girls could get away with pouring cereal all over my mother's floor and not get in trouble. Must be nice to be the grandkid...

Violet enjoying some quality time with "Old" Grandma.

The big girls opening their stockings, and we enjoyed a rare moment of sibling cooperation. They can be nice!

Opening presents is hard work!

Christmas Eve 2008

We've begun a Bleger family tradition in the last few years of spending Christmas Eve after service together. We eat, open presents, & generally just enjoy some time together. Kristin's parents, Bill & Linda, came down for the week and joined us for some fun!

Grandpa Bill & Pepe giving Pax his first pool lesson.

Pax & Grandpa Bill snuggling on the couch.

The beautiful Woods/Bleger women, Kristin & her mom Linda.

Adam, looking slick from church, and Pax, ready for bed.



The grandmas enjoying a little time to watch the kids.



Katrina, very excited about her new poncho that Aunt Kristin made.

Madison admiring the spread. She ate a lot of shrimp and bread that night.

Pepe & Violet playing with Miro.