Christmas Coal

Yes, Santa put Coal in stockings this year. My kids snooped and snooped this year. Even my college daughter talked on the phone and asked lots of questions from her siblings to get as much information out of them as she could. One child knew every present he was getting, expect the one bought days before hand (but even then he ripped it open some, just not enough to see what it was).
I was ticked.
So Santa put candy coal and ONLY candy coal in the younger kids stockings.
They were ticked.
An entire half an hour was spent talking and crying saying family prayer and calling a truce between me and the one son.
We opened all the presents.
I was happy.
They were happy.
It was a Merry Christmas!

Until that night. The last hour was spent getting our youngest (who was very very tired) to finish up her dish chore AND take her strep throat medication. She was very distraught.
We slept well, until she threw up. She had been distraught and overly tired and over stimulated Christmas day.
I think we will all remember this Christmas.

Merry Christmas?

At last night's school musical performances one of the groups sang...about the Holocaust. Not Hanuka, not a traditional Jewish song but a song that was sung as people went into the gas chambers (that's what we were told). The 2 songs following were also Jewish and depressing. I'm not against singing a diverse group of songs, I love the African theme of some of the songs done last night. I love learning about other cultures. But did we have to get so depressed at a Holiday Concert?

Sad Van Good-Bye

We had to say good-bye to our van of 11 years. I love our new van but felt like I was cheating when the guy towed our old one away. We bought the old one when we found out we were pregnant with our last child. It moved cross country with us and helped us be comfortable as our family grew. What I will miss most is the personality our van displayed in all the bumper stickers. I love reading other people's bumper stickers. It says a lot about the person driving the car. Here is a picture of the back of the van.

1. Star Fleet Academy-Trekkie
2. Honor Student at General Wayne Middle School-brainy kid and proud parent
3. Cub Scout-involved parent
4. Cub Scout 50 the anniversary-over the top scout
5. American Flag- just after 9/11
6. LDS-Mormon (you only saw it when we braked)
7. BYU-over the top Mormon proud parent
8. Go Out Side and Play-outdoorsy parent (dream on)
9. Honor Student Emerald Park Elementary- proud parent again, again, again
10. Got Fabric?- sniff sniff sniff I'll miss this one the most, the others can be replaced, but not this one. This one was me and only me.
11. I forget what the last one was, I thought we had 11?

What do you think the back of our old van said?

Anemia

I HATE feeling tired all the time! I hate being anemic. I hate all the steps that I have to go through to try and stop it. I hated the 3 and a half hours I spent at the doctors yesterday. I hated the tears that snuck out during an exam. I hate being against the odds on so many things. I hate what my tired body can't do for my family. I hate the cycle of not eating well because I'm to tired to make healthy food, which would help me feel better. I hate the idea of pain to learn something. I hate losing hope. I hate being so negative. ;)

I love that my family tries to be patient with me. I love that my hubby is so supportive. I love my hubby and kids. I love learning. I love great insurance. I love my new iron pills. I love having hope. I love the people who are reading my blog.