Sights Family Weblog

Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus

Have I told anyone lately that I have the best husband in the world?  Not only did he agree to play Santa at the nursing home, but he did it on 4 hours sleep, knowing that he had to go into work early tonight--another 12 hour shift.  He looked great--and I didn't look too shabby myself--you know, grey hair, glasses and all!  I think I'm going to age well :)  Several of the residents were so happy to see Santa they kept telling him they loved him and then they wanted to give him hugs and kisses--I'm so glad he didn't get freaked out!  One lady that hasn't spoken in over 6 months said she was happy to see Santa.  How great is that???  He put smiles on so many faces.  I am so lucky to have married such a wonderful man.

While I was at the school today (looking like a big dork while dropping the kids off), there were several kids that kept saying, "Tell your husband that I was good this year."  Too Cute!  One of the teachers said that she was so grateful that I showed up, she told the kids that I was going home to give a report to my husband about how the kids were behaving, because he still had time to change his mind about the presents.  Kids crack me up!  While we were driving to the nursing home, people kept staring, and at first, I didn't realize why.  Hello--Mr. and Mrs. Claus driving in a Jeep down the road.  How bizarre.  Hopefully someone took a photo!

Twas the week before Christmas...

Christmas is fast approaching, and I just realized that we don't have hardly anything wrapped!  And, we ordered one of Trevor's gifts from Amazon and I realized after checking the status, that the order didn't go through...and Christmas is on Sunday!!!  I was able to order it and they say it will be here by Thursday.  I sure hope so!

Leeandra's Christmas party was today--and we were in charge of the veggies and dip.  What 4 year old really wants veggies when there is chocolate in the room.  None of the kids were excited to see me walk through the door!  Leeandra pretty much ignored me and when I told her I had to go back to work, she was really excited that she didn't have to ride with me and got to ride the bus back to Miss Keylee's.

I picked the kids up today and they were W-I-L-D.  They had their Christmas party at the babysitters and she made each one of them a pillow and throw.  They are too neat.  Leeandra's is My Little Pony and Trev's is Batman. 

Trevor's Christmas party is tomorrow, and I was in charge of reminding everyone to bring their goodies--two people's phones were disconnected so I had to go to the store to make sure they had everything for their party just in case.  I will be dressed as Mrs. Claus tomorrow--thanks to my darling husband.

He will be playing the part of Santa for the residents at Heritage Manor.  They did have a Santa, but he was going to charge them!  Who charges a nursing home to play Santa???  So, Kevin, being the wonderful man that he is, volunteered (okay, I volunteered him) But he agreed--on one condition.  I have to dress as Mrs. Claus.  I totally thought he was kidding--until this morning.  He was dead serious.  So, I called and got a costume--wig, apron, glasses and all.  So when I drop off the kids in the morning, I am going to look like a complete dork.  Oh well--it's all for the residents, right???  I am going to sleep now...Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.  I just couldn't resist saying that.  Hee hee.

Done Shopping...

We are officially done shopping!!!  YEAH! It is crazy out there.  We decided this year that each of our children will get three gifts.  The reason behind this is a story my sister told about a friend of hers that she used to work with.  She bought each of her children three gifts--the reasoning being that the baby Jesus was given three gifts from the Three Wisemen.  I thought this was a wonderful idea.  It is so often that people forget what Christmas is about.  We get wrapped up in the giving--and trying to "out gift" one another--it has turned into some sort of competition.  How sad that we have to think about what we want because we are so blessed to have everything we need.  Now we think about the things we want while there are families that don't have the money for food, much less gifts.  The kids had a canned food drive for the local food pantry, and I think we should remember to donate throughout the year.  Good night all.

Lazy, lazy, Sunday...

We have officially done absolutely nothing productive today.  We didn't go to bed until about 3am because we played this game that was kind of like Tetris--oh, by the way, I kicked Kevin's butt!!! We then slept until 9:30.  It's kind of nice to have every single piece of laundry done and the house clean...I don't feel guilty curling up on the couch watching TV.

We watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Closer.  I didn't really care for Closer.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith was "OK" and nothing to brag about.  I think there was way too much hype.

My parents got home from their cruise--I can't wait to go on another one! All is good.  I need to work on some Christmas gift tags for work.  Talk to everyone later!

Shopping in December. DON'T DO IT!

It is official.  We have decided that we should be doing more of our shopping online.  Today, we decided to venture out to get the kids their Christmas program outfits.  I know.  The program is Wednesday.  Why don't they have their outfits yet?  Well, I had the perfect outfits in mind for the kids to wear--but do you think I could find anything remotely close to what I wanted?  Of course not.  And we decided to head to Peoria after Kevin got home from work--before he had a chance to nap. He actually started out in a better mood than me.

We started at Target, which in case you didn't know, is apparently the gathering place for all people over 80, aggressive women and overall stupid people.  I know I shouldn't judge, but had you seen what we walked into, you would understand.  As we entered Target, we got our cart and then stopped.  Every single person pulled their list out and stopped right there.  They were so far back they were keeping the doors open.  I don't know about you, but when I go to the store, I at least know why I'm there.  You know--Oh, I need to get clothes...I won't stand in front of the doors.  I'll head in that direction and THEN look at my list to see what I need.  Call me crazy, but in my world, that's how it works.

Now for the shopping...they had a selection of 3 sweaters for Trevor.  And they were U-G-L-Y.  So, we headed to the girls section.  What is up with the pink camoflage skirts?  Oh, right.  It's hideous--that's why they had so much left.  People actually have good taste and don't buy it.  SO, we finally found the dresses--sleeveless of course, you know how practical that is for Christmas.  We ended up with a khaki skirt and a pink sweater.  Trev got a blue shirt and khaki's.  Shoes were another story.  Apparently Leeandra wears a popular size--10 1/2.  Couldn't find any!  So we paid and went to Shopko for shoes.  Again, no shoes.  Kevin, at this point, it tired of shopping--even though I really don't like the outfits, there is no way I am even going to suggest we look elsewhere (I'll have to do that when he's not with me).  But he suggests WalMart.  I offered to go in and have him wait in the car, but we go in.  And as we do, even the Greeter is frowning...does that tell you what kind of day he was having?  Well we are following a man with a cart that has so many piercings you can see the gaping holes in his ears from behind...did I mention the tattoos on his neck and arms?  Now, again, there is a HUGE traffic jam, we are behind him waiting while 4 women decide what they want to buy and what is on sale, and Trevor is just staring.  We couldn't get out of there quick enough.  Heaven only knows what he was thinking.  I told him to be quiet and he listened!!!  So, we squeeze our way through and head back towards shoes and people are practically running through the aisles with the carts almost hitting people (including Trevor--did I tell you I was leading him?).  Okay--it's WalMart--they'll get more.  Well, there were flurries--they might have been worried they wouldn't be able to get out again before Christmas.  We finally bought Leeandra some boots that we aren't sure will go with her outfit, but I figured it would be better to have boots that looked "OK" than to show up with her skirt and tennis shoes.  Gosh I love Christmas programs.

We got home and Kevin was ready to take a nap--so I thought, hey, a nap sounds good.  I was in that perfect stage between being awake and sleep when I heard it.  THE MOUSE.  It was in the bedroom, Kevin was sleeping, so I wake him to tell him I hear it.  He then rolls over and is asleep again within a minute.  How can he do that?  I think it was in the clothes basket--you know the one with all the socks that have missing mates.  I kept hearing it so I definitely couldn't sleep--it might climb into the bed!  I set up the "Mice Cube" which is supposed to trap the mouse without killing it.  I'm desperate...I've tried the good old regular mouse trap, glue traps and now this.  HOW DO WE GET RID OF IT????  It's not that I really dislike mice.  It's just the fact that I didn't invite into our home, it doesn't live in a cage, and it is potentially peeing and pooping in my bedroom.  GROSS!  Well on that note, we are going to watch Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  Trying that new Netflix.  We'll see if it is really worth the money.

Our little Angels?!?

I don't really know what has gotten into our children.  Normally they are very good.  Okay...mostly good.  The day before yesterday, Miss Keylee (the babysitter) had to pull Leeandra off of Trevor.  She said she was ready to call us to come get them--Leeandra had never been "difficult" before Wednesday. Trevor and one of the other kids had scratches on their faces.  Trevor got yet another yellow light on Wednesday.  Now, call me crazy, but what kind of punishment is 5 minutes less recess when the kids have recess indoors???  What are they going to do?  Make them sit and watch the other kids sitting?Last week Trevor got a RED light.  Now, normally I would be very upset, but when you hear what happened it is kind of funny (not that he'll ever know that)  The teacher was reading a book--something like "Click Clack Quackity Quack".  Well, every time she turned her back, Trevor, in his best Aflac duck voice says, "Quack Quack".  She turned around and asked who it was, and our angelic little man denied it.  Before she had turned back to the other kids, he did it again.  Is there a full moon???  They have been climbing on anything and everything. 

Oh--and the Christmas tree--also known as the tree that threw up Christmas.  I am not kidding--it looks as if the kids took the ornaments, put them in a big box, threw them at the tree and where they stuck is where they stayed.  They can't keep their hands off of it.  I think Trevor was better when he was 2!  Did I mention that Leeandra thinks that now that the tree is up, every morning is Christmas?  Oh--can't remember if I told you...don't tell Leeandra any presents you don't want told.  She's worse than I am!

Today, we went with Leeandra's Bright Futures class to the Pine Grove Tree Farm.  It was COLD!!!  Leeandra has been asking every morning since we went sledding when we will go again...including this morning.  She wanted to take her sled to school.  She was completely bundled up--snowpants and all--and wanted to know if she could play in the snow. Instead of being my usual highly anal uptight self, I told her to go ahead.  She then faces me, standing up and falls straight back into the snow.  WE ONLY HAVE 6 INCHES!!!  She makes a snow angel and then wants help up because her head hurts.  That's what I get for relaxing!  At least she's okay.

This afternoon, I helped with Trevor's cooking class.  They are learning about Hannakuh.  The Kindergarten class knows more about the Jewish holiday than I do!  We made Lachke's--basically they are fried hashbrowns with this egg mixture that holds them together...think potato pancakes.  The kids ate them with applesauce.  How in the world did I manage to get assigned to cooking???  I would much rather have arts and crafts.  You know, something I'm not too bad at.  A couple of weeks ago we made mini pumpkin pies.  My group made pumpkin custard.  So, who wants me to make the pumpkin pies for Christmas???

Well, Kevin is sleeping...he has mandatory overtime tonight, so I think I'm going to scrapbook...it's much quieter than vaccuuming (and a heck of a lot more fun!)

Sights Sledding Adventure!

Wow--my first time posting, I just finished and lost it.  I really hope this isn't how it is going to be every time.  It took forever!

Last Saturday, we took the kids sledding at Detweiler also known as the BMX hill.  The same place I went as a kid.  Long story short, we got there after a wrong turn (why does he still ask me which way to go???  How many times have I gotten us lost?  He loves me...he really loves me.  No other explanation).  Did I mention that once we got there, we found gates?  Locked gates.  So what do we do?  Kevin leads and we climb through the gates.  Such good role models we are!

The kids had a blast, and so did we.  We even went down a few times with the kids (and Kevin went down by himself--much to the kids' dismay). 

Here's the part most people don't share...when we left, remember the gate I told you about?  Well, the kids climbed back through.  Then I looked to the side and saw that the gate ended and we could walk around the side by the trees.  And I looked so graceful climbing through--you know, landing on my elbow and knee clutching the camera.  I'm just sorry I didn't have to do it twice so Kevin could capture it on film!  I wonder if anyone saw the two of us climbing through with the big green sled...

This time I'm going to post this and then try to add the pictures.  We'll see what happens!