DIFFERENCES

I'm sitting here looking at he gifts I received from my sons for Christmas. I find their differences very intriguing. I think that is allows us a small glimpse into how they think. Take my gift from Forrest for instance:

It is a pink and purple glass angle holding a gold plated star. When I opened it he told me that it was me. Remember, he thinks that I am The Angle of Life. He informs me that it is The Angle of Life holding the Star of hope. It is a very beautiful, fragile, and sentimental gift. You can tell that he put a lot of thought into picking this gift out. It truly fits to his personality. He is a worrier. He worries about everything. If he wants a toy and I tell him we don't have enough money to get toys right now, he becomes afraid and worries about us having enough money to pay our bills. HB and I have told him that he should worry about things like that. We told him that those were Mommy and Daddy problems and that he should just worry about being a kid and having fun. We also had to explain to him that we made enough money to pay bills, we just don't always have a lot left over for extra stuff, so sometimes we have to go without. He is a very thoughtful and quite sensitive child, and he was and still is the smallest of the two, which in my mind makes him more fragile.

Nathan's gift on the other hand screams practicality.

Nathan is a whiz at math, so it makes sense that he gives me an ink pen with a built in calculator. He tells me that I can use it to write down my figures at my job as a Scientist. He wants to become a Paleontologist when he grows up. And I hope he pursues that dream whole heartily. Nathan is a very practical child. He is very quick to come up with a solution for problems, but he seems to never get ruffled about much. Unless you pick on him and call him baby. He is very laid back and has a wonderful sense of humor. He loves to joke, and he loves to play. His personality is totally different from Forrest.


So, it just goes to prove that no matter how similar they may appear, their differences shine through in every thing they do.

MERRY! MERRY! MERRY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you COOL CATs out there.

I am the World's Greatest MOM!

I think it should be made official. It is now 12:40 am and I have just finished baking 30 sugar cookies for the boys' school Christmas Party. And I must say they look awesome!


The party was suppose to be Wednesday, but school has been cancelled for the past two days due to icy road conditions. So we are having the party later today! (Thursday). I have worked extremely hard to get ready for this shindig and today is going to be a blast. I have to get up at 7am to get the boys ready for school and I will be hitting the floor running. I have to have to boys dropped off at school by 7:50, then it is off to the grocery store to pick up some fun icing to use in our cookie decorating center at the party. Then I have to rush back home and pack up our skateboard float and all of the party stuff and be back at the school by 9:00am. Our skateboard float is a real beauty. The skateboard float parade is a holiday tradition at my boys' school, and this is our first year to enter a float in the parade.

I worked hard on the float. I made all of the present in Santa's sleigh by hand with cardboard, construction paper, glue, tape, and gold ribbon. The boys are excited about the parade. After I was finished with the float, the were parading around the house with it.

I have also arranged for Santa to show up at the Christmas party. Santa is one of my best friends. I have known him and Mrs. Clause for a very long time. I will be sure to take some pictures of today's events and post them for every one's viewing pleasure. The party is going to be a blast. We are going to have an ornament toss game where we toss ornament into a huge box wrapped up like a present and a hole is cut out of the center of it. The boys, of course, just had to get inside of it once it was all finished.

We are going to decorate cookies. We are going to have face painting. I have bought some chocolate Santa's for everyone. And I have got a small Christmas ornament for each child. We are also going to make an ornament of our own as a present for mom and dad. It is going to be a wreath Christmas ornament with a picture of the kids in the middle. I think I've spent close to $50 on all of this stuff, and I don't even want to know how many man hours I've spent preparing everything. But to see the smiles on the kids faces and to hear their laughter of joy when Santa walks into the room with his bag full of candy canes will be worth every penny and every minute. And that is why I am the World's Greatest MOM!

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UPDATE

So the party was a huge success. Santa came and was wonderful!

I even got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas!

And the skateboard float parade was quite a site. There was everything from Santas, to presents, to Christmas trees to puppies, but best of all was Sponge Bob Square Pants!

Here's a few snapshots of everyone lining up to start the parade.

At one point during the parade the boys got their strings tangled up and tipped Santa's sleigh. Everyone thought that was quite entertaining.

There were also gingerbread men creations on display. A plain gingerbread man was sent home with each child and the family had a week to decorate him and send him back. This one is Nathan's. It is a rock star vampire ginger bread man. (click to enlarge it to see his teeth and blood below his mouth.)

This one is Forrest's. His is a Rock Star Shooter Gingerbread Man. He has a red gun in his hand and a purple bandit's bandanna around his neck. He is also wearing a rainbow Kevlar vest.

Here are a few snapshots of some of the other gingerbread creations that I thought were quite interesting.

The girl with the feathers was a bit risque for a first grade display in my opinion, but perhaps this girls mom is a stripper or something. I suppose we will never know.

But the most creative one of all was Houdini. Now this family has talent!

It is also a tradition in First Grade at our school to make gingerbread houses out of an empty milk carton and frosting and lots and lots of candy.
Forrest's gingerbread house
Nathan's gingerbread house

And lastly, these are the ornaments we created during the party. They look fabulous! Forrest is on the left and Nathan is on the right (his bow is at the bottom. I loved doing this project with the kids because no two ornaments were decorated alike. The used every bell, holly berry, and star they were given, too!. I hope everyone has enjoyed the party. I know I did.

Sometimes we just need a friend to Lean on.

Sometimes we all just need a friend,
To bend their ear or to make us grin.
I am lucky because I have found all of you,
To help me along and to get me through.



Lean on me when you have drank too much.
Lean on me when you feel out of touch.
Lean on me when you need a friend.
Lean on me when the pain won’t end.
Lean on me, I don’t mind at all.
Lean on me I won’t let you fall.
Lean on me, because I’m here for you.
Lean on me, and I’ll lean on you.

This Is Why My Life Is Worth Living

And the Innocence shines through

I know a soul,

as pure as gold.

Not an ounce of evil

in his body.

His big ole grin,

warms the heart within,

and fur covers

his whole body.

His love is true,

he's never blue.

Just give him love each day.

He wags his tail,

He likes hiking trails.

He loves to run and play.

He's a special dog,

He'll steal your heart,

You really don't have a chance.

By your side he heels,

and love you will feel

with just a single glance.