The Other Special Lady In My Life

Meet D. This is my adorable stepdaughter. In a few hours she will be 7. How cool would it be to have a birthday on New Years Eve? She will have tons of fun with that later.


She had never had a sleepover at our house before so I decided she was overdue for one.


I had already bought the type of cake she wanted but what I found out this morning is that she wanted a "special" cake. One that I am not capable of making. So what do I do to get this lovely cake in my possession?


I call and whine to my friend who made these for Lael and her son's 5th birthday party a few months ago. Isn't she talented and extra sweet for making this at literally THE LAST MINUTE. Thanks Dusty she loved it, and that's putting it lightly.


I finally found Dance Revolution for XBOX 360 today and had to get it so the girls could dance their little hearts out. And they did. For about 3 hours. Yeah, big hit.


Afterwards, they watched Hannah Montana and ate TONS of popcorn and giggled, and giggled some more.


They then put on a PJ fashion show. That in itself made my night. D was very happy and thanked me many times. They are still awake now and I am plotting the different ways I can knock them out. Sleeping Pills, NyQuil, Hypnotizing, just kidding. But I do have to get up and work tomorrow, and while I'll only be working half a day, I can already tell I will be tired from lack of sleep.

I feel no remorse for my husband who will have to feed them breakfast and deal with them after a night of sleep.

Happy Birthday D. I love you hunnie!

Oh and I couldn't post without leaving yall a snap of my baby. This is her "serious" pose during the fashion show. Yeah, I know. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E.

Praying for Stellan....Bless the MckFamily

There's tons of things I could blog about tonight. But the fact is none of that matters right now because all day and night I have been tracking the progress of MckMama's baby Stellan.

He is very sick right now and my heart goes out to him and his family. If you have spare time, stop by her blog and leave kind words and if you really want to help, throw in an extra prayer for their family. They could really use one right now.

I'm off to bed for now but am hoping his health increases overnight. Pray, pray, pray.

Not Me! Monday

I did not leave work way earlier than I was supposed to on Monday and Tuesday. Hey there was really nothing to do.

I did not give into Lael (with help) after hearing this: "Mom, I really need to cut some paper, I promise not to cut myself, I promise, not even a little piece, not even my hand I promise." She did keep her promise. Thank goodness.

I did not play Dance Revolution with my friend, looking like and idiot, but have so much fun I didn't care. Nope not me.

I did not bang myself in the head with a door in a rush to get presents out of the closet. I'm not a klutz like that.

I did not almost cry when my husband told me our car needed a part and I would not be able to go to my moms for Christmas. If this happened my daddy would come pick up me and Lael and we would spend the night.

I did not get awaken at 4am by daddy the next morning to have him drop me and baby off because they had to work. Who would get up that early the day after Christmas.

I did not get a little sad because there wasn't anything under the tree for me but then giggle to myself when I realized my present was around my neck and I was taking pictures with it. Silly me, or not me.

I did not almost have a heart attack when I read baby Stellan was in the hospital. Once again, I am not, I repeat not, obsessed with blog friends kids.

I did not buy myself a pair of tennis shoes and walk around pretending they were a Christmas present. They are really cute though!

I am not planning a slumber party for D for Tuesday night. Who has kids over on a weeknight?

I am not in disbelief about the fact that said child will be 7 on New Year's Eve. She is growing before my very eyes.

I did not have better Not Me's but kept forgetting to draft them so had to come up with these at that last minute. Oh well! Your turn, last time to get thing off your chest before the New Year!!

Christmas 2008 Part 2 and The Aftermath

The sucky part about being a split family is that we have to share holidays. Last year we had D for Christmas so this year was her moms turn. While it's nice to have time with just Lael, during the holidays it doesn't feel right without the whole family.

Tonight I had to pick up D but made sure I brought out her presents from Santa. Because of course Santa has both of her addresses and brings toys to both places...of course, didn't yall know that.

So when we got back this is what she saw, plus a few more things I had forgot about and gave her later.






There were no complaints from this little girl, she was very happy. Who wouldn't be if they got 2 Christmas' every year!


Here is what was left over from her.....but I get to send most of her stuff home with her. The problem is what to do about this:


I thought I did good by getting rid of stuff before the holiday. Apparently I didn't know Santa would be quite so good to my little one. Was she really that nice this year??


Looking at them enjoy themselves reminds me that it was all worth it! My rock stars never get old to me.
I wonder if they will grow out of toys between now and next Christmas?
Probably not.

Photo Story....Our Christmas 2008

This Christmas has been a blast as usual. Even more so because I've had great friends to share it with. I've been having so much fun that I have gotten so behind in blogging so I decided to talk about my last few days in picture form!

Enjoy and I hope you had as much fun as me and mine did.

Here is a photo of me playing Dance Revolution at my girls house the day before Christmas Eve! What fun that was!


On Christmas Eve me and my girl took the kids to the National Harbor to see Santa and friends on the water! It was cold but really cool!






After our fun on the water we headed home and cooked. My girl had friends over for dinner and games. How beautiful was the table setup! Go girl!




We stayed pretty late but once we got home we put out cookies and milk for Santa.

Santa then came and brought many things for a special little girl! Look at all that stuff!

I'm not really sure if she like her digital camera....what yall think? Ok maybe she did...a little.





She has been wearing this around her neck all day every day. She took a picture of me taking a picture of her.


Later we went to my mom's and spent the night with them. While she didn't get these drums this Christmas she still had a blast!

Her expression sums up the holiday!

At Least She Knows The English Part....Mostly

This is what I've been listening to ALL MORNING! Hope yall have a blessed holiday.

Merry Christmas...from the bottom of my heart!

Not Me! Monday

I did not crash 2 Christmas parties at work and not feel a bit remorseful. Nope not me.

I did not get 6 gifts snatched from me during my White Elephant gift exchange. Only me, well only not me.

I did not almost choke down the lady at the store who gave me a hard time about exchanging my camera. I am really NOT the one!

I did not find a way for Lael to have a rainbow for Christmas. Thanks Dusty!

I did not go to Lael's PJ party at school in my pajamas and slipper. I would never embarrass myself like that...or would I?

I did not spend 1 1/2 hours in the Santa line and then spend an additional 8 hours shopping for friends. Who would keep a 5 year old out that long shopping...not me!

I did not almost finish all of my laundry since getting my new washer and dryer. If I did, it is not only because my husband threatened to take it back if I didn't get to washing.

I did not figure out how to let my pictures be "clickable" in my blog so yall can see the wonderfulness that my camera does!

I did not feel bad when Lael mentioned EVERYONE else on our block had Christmas lights up....except us. Bad parenting at it's finest people!

I did not think of ways I could call into work today. Obviously I'm up so I'm at work so I didn't come up with anything good. :o(

It's almost Christmas yall, what have yall been up to...or not?

Her First Wrapping

Lael had a great time picking out gifts for her friends last night but I think more than ever she got a kick out of being able to wrap them.

She hasn't been able to really understand the concept of giving but now I think she finally has it.

I am blessed to have a smart, funny, thoughtful, loving child. These moments will be gone before I know it.....













Thank you Lael, mommy loves you.

Last Saturday Before Christmas

I'm a procrastinator. I think I've always been this way. I seem to work better under pressure. When I'm taking college classes I wait until Sunday night when the homework is due to turn it in and end up sweating, but always come out with flying colors.

Christmas shopping is no different. However, this year I did really well! I had a few things before Thanksgiving and put a serious dent in my list the day after Thanksgiving. I thought I would have lots more shopping to do but all my Christmas Angels made my list a lot more shorter.

(Note: I got a phone call at 7:48 am this morning from a co-worker who was waiting outside my door to take me to Toys for Tots to pick up 3 gifts each for Lael and D. Can you believe the blessings that keep coming!)

Where I really slacked was on my "others" shopping. You know, my husband, my parents, my girl, and my girl's kids. In addition to that I hadn't taken Lael to see Santa yet and she was practically bursting to get to see him and reveal her great big wish for Christmas (which happens to be a rainbow).

So after getting back Toys for Tots we headed to Gymnastics and then came back and showered and were out of the to the mall. We stood in like for probably 1 1/2hrs to see the big guy and Lael talked my head off the entire time. Some of the kids in that line deserved nothing but coal for Christmas and it gave me an appreciation for just how well behaved my child is. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments but overall she is nothing like some of those little ones.

Anywho, in the past Lael is completely frightened my anything in costume or a mask and previous years I've had to force her to sit on Santa's lap but this year she declared she was a "big girl" and marched right up to him.




See, now does she look scared to yall? Nah, she was mighty brave.

After that we spent, hmmm, 7 hrs hoping from store to store, we went to about half the stores in the mall and then to Target and Lael really impressed me by her patience. We had a "talk" before and she understood that if she came with me it would be a long day but my trooper was in it for the long haul.

We got just about everyone taken care of on our list and I got really great deals. I took Lael to the BX on another base and bought her a pair of new shoes and a Barbie book for being so patient and she was really grateful, in reality, I'm the one that's grateful because the day could have been a WHOLE lot more stressful if she had meltdowns like other kids that were being dragged around by their parents.

Here's the damage:




May not look like much but believe me...it is! There will be happy kids and Lael really had a blast personally picking out presents for her friends! I love that she learned that Christmas isn't just about getting things for herself but giving to others as well.

Here she is when we got home right before 9. We lost 1 earring during the battle of shopping, but the war...we won!



Christmas is almost here! I'm so excited to see the surprise on everyone's faces when they open their gifts. It makes me happy to see other's happy.
What about yall? I hope everyone finished their shopping! If not....GOOD LUCK! :o)

Presents O' Plenty

The Christmas cheer continues around here. Today at work we had our Holiday (Christmas, but they won't call it that) Hallway party and we had our Secret Santa Gift Exchange.

This is always fun to me because you never know who's name you'll pick and who picked you. It is a cool way to see how people's minds work and just how creative they can be.

Many cool gifts were given out today, from Margarita glasses to bottles of wine to spa baskets. The person I picked is a huge Redskins fan so I purchases some Skins stuff and he was happy. I got some great stationary myself but also a few other things.

When I got to my office this morning my desk was filled with 7 gifts! 5 were for me, 2 for Lael and 1 for D. I have people I work with that really do care and it is touching. Our hallway party was pretty great, yall know I like to eat. I tried not to overdo it but I did sample just about everything.

I even managed to crash my 3rd party this month. Why, you may ask since we had our own free food? Because they had wine! Hello, that's all I needed to hear. Nothing makes your day at work better than a glass (or in this case a clear plastic cup) of cold wine.

While I spent most of my day on my feet, it turned out to be a great day. I waited until I got home to open my things and loved everything I got. Lael opened her things as well. I thought it would be cruel to make her wait until Christmas (ok, ok, I am really the one who was curious to see what she had).

I love how everyone is so thoughtful this time of year and wish that it lasted all year long. Me and my cheer and my helper will be going out shopping tomorrow to play Santa for those last few special folks in our lives.



How gorgeous are these cookies? Really gorgeous, I know.

Winter Solstice PJ Party

I didn't have time to post yesterday for a few reasons. When I got off of work, I had to go straight to the store here on base because my lovely Nikon's flash was malfunctioning. I don't know what I did or did not do but me nor my friend could figure it out.

I honestly thing something was wrong with the camera, but either way it cost way to damn much to try to just let it go. I took it back and the lady started going through the exchange process. Well when she took my id card and entered my social in the system, something popped up stating that something was wrong with my account.

She asked me if I owed money or had any returned checks? No, I told her (at least not recently), I hadn't written a check in 5 or more months. I knew for a FACT that I didn't owe them any money but didn't really care because I had paid for this camera and I wanted to exchange it not get my money back. Well long story short, words were exchanged, but I got my camera, a shiny newer one. So now I have a new, new camera and the flash works great. However, I WILL be calling to find out why that happened because it really ticked me off.

I got today off of work because, well, because I deserved a day off. My day off happened to coincide with Lael's Winter Solstice Pajama Party at school today. Whoo Hooo, I get to test out my new new camera. I rode with my friend and when I got there the kids were making paper snowflakes and doing various Winter activities.

I joined in on the fun, in my PJ's of course! I even paid my $2.75 to eat the school lunch (that was so disgusting and I will NEVER force Lael to eat school lunch again when I'm being too lazy to make it) and then helped set up for our ice cream party.

It was a blast and all of the kids were well behaved. I love being a mom and being able to be a part of fun times like this. It surely makes the hard days seem far and few.

Here are a few photos of Lael!