The List

A Gun

A Bible

Fish

Some books

What does this list sound like to you? Maybe a survival list? A hunter's packing list? Well, if you are thinking along this line, you are wrong. This would be my son's Christmas list. Yeah, I know, not a normal list but then again, this is what you get when parents start picking things they always wanted as a child. The gun, of course, came from Nimrod and his idea that Buckaroo needed his own shotgun to go bird hunting with him. The bible was actually a request from Buckaroo (yes, I cried when he asked for a bible, I was so full of little fuzzies inside). A fish-this was me. The kids love to play with their uncle's fish and are very intrigued by it. So, I thought beta fish for each of them would be good. I always said that if I ever picked a pet it would be a fish. Guess what? I really like the fish. Yes, me, the anti-pet person loves these fish. I talk to them when the kids aren't around and check on them constantly. I have grown quite attached these last few weeks while I hid them and took care of them before Christmas. Anyway, I digress....Lastly, books--I am an English teacher what else would you expect for me to get my kids? Fortunately for Nimrod and I, Buckaroo liked these gifts and few others he received. Whew, we get to live out our childhood wishes for one more year!

Hope all of you had a love-filled, joyous Christmas!

What is Wrong With Me?

So before I even get into what has been going on the last month I have to tell you what I have done. Most of you know my extreme distaste for animals. It is no secret I call our dog 'noxious stinko and mean it. Well, Punky Girl is the polar opposite. She loves, loves her dog. She got her daddy to take her shopping today to buy a Christmas present for her dog. They went to the local pet store and got a bag full of doggie treats for our "lovely" dog. Anyway...tonight I wrapped doggie treats for 'noxious stinko. What in the world?? What is wrong with me that I wrap doggie treats? I don't even care if he is fed and now he has a present under my tree. Who invaded my home...kids, that's who. Suckered again by those adorable little munchkins.

My Christmas Wish

The day before Thanksgiving Buckaroo lost a tooth. I joking said that all I wanted for Christmas was his 2 front teeth gone. I knew it would make the perfect Christmas card. How would I know he would take me seriously? Wait, this is Buckaroo I am talking about. He does everything seriously. One little wiggle and he was working those teeth like mad. In a matter of 10 days, he lost 4 teeth. The tooth fairy and I are tight now :). Like all good dramas (that is how I view life with kids-one drama story after another-no tragedies but lots of comedies) the second front tooth was the last of the 4 to go. December 7-tooth is gone, just in time to make some cute Christmas cards. He came through for me and I got my wish.

Actually, my Christmas wish is right here in this picture and I get to have it all year long.

Christmas Play

Part of the busyness of our lives has been the kids being involved with our church play. It was a musical telling the names of Jesus. I was surprised Buckaroo wanted to participate but he did and so the whirlwind of practices began. The first couple of practices went well. Buckaroo was gung-ho about learning the songs. Pretty soon Punky Girl was singing along and the next thing I know she has a part in the play as well. Buckaroo had a minor speaking part to begin with but our pastor asked if anyone wanted a solo part and Buckaroo volunteered. I was floored! He inherited his music abilities-or lack thereof-from his parents. The first couple of practices were quite interesting. (If you could only see the face I am making). But the thing about Buckaroo is that he is focused and determined. He made me so proud of how hard he worked at it. He continued to practice and work with pastor. He proved that determination really pays off. Will he be on American Idol? No, but he did make his momma shed a tear when he performed; not because he brought the house down but because he did his best and his best was perfect to me.

My favorite part of the play was when he got to read the story of the birth of Jesus. What an honor to be able to read of our Savior's birth. He may have a potential career in speaking (it will come in handy for the press conferences when he goes pro). Look at that little grin!

Punky Girl's role was that of a cheerleader-don't ask how it fits in to the play. Anyway, she got into the part and even let me curl her hair and everything. She was just the cutest!

Punky Girl's Performances

In addition to the church play, Punky Girl was in two other performances. Her music class had a little recital performance. She was super adorable. I am totally biased of course.

Punky Girl is definitely not the shy one.

In her school play, she was a ferocious lion. Her roar is quite scary! However, I find her cute as button.

Here is the "little Lord Jesus" laying down his sweet head.

Fa-la-la-la

So, Christmas decorating was different this year. Prior to kids, I did the decorating of the house and tree. Nimrod would tell me how wonderful it looked and I relished in the fact that I could do it exactly how I wanted. Then, we had kids came along and they helped do the tree ( few ornaments anyway) and then I finished the tree and decorated the house. They also asked why we didn't have lights outside like all the other houses. So, Nimrod bought 2 token strings of lights and that was it. Well, each year he has added more strings. No biggie, I still did the house and tree. All of that changed this year. Punky Girl and Buckaroo wanted to do the tree-ALL of it. I was delegated to handing the ornaments off to them. And, she wanted to help decorate the house. I had a big choice before me. Do I want it done the way I like it or do I let her help and let go how I think things should be. I took the high road and let her help (big of me, I know). It turned out to be so much fun for the two of us. She did most of the work and took ownership in decorating our home.

I have no idea what what they are doing here, but it is a funny picture.

Punky's wall decor of Christmas Pasts.

The grand finale of the whole day was that unbeknownst to me, Nimrod was outside busily working on Christmas lights. Mr. Two-Strings has become a light artist. This is the view coming down the road to our house. We went from the bare minimum to a cross on our roof and our pillars striped. Who knew my husband was so creative with Christmas lights?