The best Christmas ever?

I'm not sure, but I think this might be one for the record books (at least my own personal "record book"!). This Christmas has been wonderful! My entire family was home...my brother from college in Springfield, MO, my step-brother from Dallas, TX, and my DH, kids and I were all there. My sister is living at home while pursuing her masters, so we were actually ALL together. My kids got exactly what they had asked Santa for (thank God they only asked for one thing each! LOL). They were so excited for Christmas, and their excitement was contagious. Christmas Eve service was at the church my Grandmom attends, which is what we did when I was growing up. We also even went to my Uncle's house after the service, just like old times...but without the tension that used to be there. It was really a perfect Christmas! My grandmother and great-aunt came on Christmas morning to watch the kids open their gifts, and my kids were so patient while waiting on them to arrive! :) I'm so proud of them!!! Here are a couple pics:

My beautiful, precious kiddos on Christmas Eve:

My brothers, sister and me:

Having fun:

Lions and tigers and doctors, oh my!

The more I see of my kids' pediatricians, and the more I talk to other moms with small kids, the more I feel that medicine isn't a science; it's a guessing game. Every doctor you see tells you something different. My two older kids have both had MRSA, as have DH and myself. Each different doctor, nurse, PA...whatever...we've seen has given us different information (and I'd say we've seen at least 12 different practitioners with this). One will tell you to try a certain treatment...the next tells you that treatment is completely ineffective. The same with croup treatments. My kids' pediatricians (and the AAP) recommend hot steam. They advise going into the bathroom and turning the shower on as hot as it goes. Let the room steam up and sit in there on the floor or commode. This has worked for my oldest many times over. He's had croup at least 8 times. Well, wouldn't you know it, someone else's pediatrician told her that steam makes it worse and at best, doesn't help at all. Their advice is cool, night air. *sigh* I don't understand how so many doctors can all tell you with certainty that they know what they're talking about when they all say DIFFERENT THINGS!?! I suppose they're "guessing" just as much as us moms are. :)

Expectations vs. Expectancy

Expectations - something expected; a thing looked forward to, a prospect of future good or profit, the degree of probability that something will occur.
Expectancy - anticipatory belief or desire

Many times, we have expectations for certain events, conversations, situations or even people - how we think things will or should go. Most times, we're disappointed because those expectations are not met. After all, can any person really meet our expectations all the time? We expect a person to respond a certain way. We expect our husbands to do certain things. We expect a situation to be resolved in a certain manner and with a certain end result. However, when we place our own expectations on things, does that leave room for God? Where's the flexibility for God's will to be done? In our minds, we've already figured out how it should be, and we expect it to be so.

As Christians, I believe that we are called to live in a state of expectancy - not expectations. We should be anticipating what God will do in situations...how He will lead conversations...how He is going to move. Instead of putting our own expectations at the forefront of our minds, we should be focused on being a part of how God's will is going to be accomplished in that circumstance. Going into situations with our own expectations will leave us bitter, angry and frustrated. However, if we can approach situations with a state of expectancy, we end up amazed, excited, refreshed and encouraged.

Fun mornings...

Here's to "fun" mornings. :) Emma Grace woke up to tell me that she had wet her bed. Mind you, the child wears pullups at night. I was not home when the kids went to bed last night, since I had a meeting. So, guess who was in charge? ;) Anyway, I asked her where her pullup was. She told me, "Daddy said I could wear panties to bed." Niiiiice. So one quick phone call to DH later (to thank him for the lovely "gift" this morning) confirmed that he had not, indeed, told her that. What a little spitfire I have! The sheets go in the dryer in about 10 minutes. *sigh*

After all that drama, I thought for sure we were in the clear. No such luck. You would think that at 6 years old, EJ would just know that you can't climb a bookshelf. Unfortunately, that is not the case. But, I bet it is now! I'm not even cleaning it up until I get home this afternoon.

No children were harmed in the filming of this event (though he came awfully close to a good old-fashioned beating LOL). Please don't send me hate mail about not wall-anchoring my bookshelves...allowing my kid to be in a room unsupervised...having too many toys...the fact that they have their own TV...or to let me know that my baseboards need to be repainted. :)

Busy days

Today is one of those busy days...that is going to lead into a busy week! I helped set up for a meeting tomorrow. Ran home to grab lunch and then got Gracie to ballet. (She's so cute in that little leotard!) Back home to put kids down for a nap and then grab EJ off the bus. Now, I *should* be straightening up the house and getting my stuff together for my small group for church tonight. But instead, here I sit blogging for whoever actually reads this stuff! LOL As if anyone really cares about my day...you all have busy days of your own! :)

December already?!

I can't believe that today is December 1st. Elliot had his birthday party last Saturday (he hated the whole cake concept and wouldn't touch it!). Christmas is right around the corner! My kids are so excited for the holiday, and their excitement is so contagious. Their eyes light up every time the Christmas tree does! We hung our outside lights last night. My husband keeps joking that you must be able to see our house from outer space. I don't think it's quite THAT bright, but... This is the first year that we've really decorated the the outside. We've hung a few strands of lights before, but this year, we really lit it up. We haven't done any lights since we've lived here, and now that this is our last Christmas in this house, we decorate it! LOL I told DH that we are definitely decorating next year! I wonder how palm trees look all lit up??? LOL