Christmas

i left my camera at my in-laws, so i will have to post pictures of Christmas later...

i want to just state before anyone reads on, i am feeling not so nice, so i may offend someone, but i will be stating my opinion...

so this Christmas, John and I agreed like we have since we've been married, we won't be exchanging gifts again this year, we want to be out of debt more. See, this year it was ok, we got our house as an early Christmas gift so we were set. But this year would be different, we loathe our debt so much, that we got our kids 1 toy that John found on clearance in the summer, and they got some new clothes that i spent all of $10 total on. and that was our kids Christmas from us.

Now some people have in some way let me know that they think that is wrong and ridiculous to not have a ton of presents for the kids to open. Well i am so sorry that there are people that feel that way, but MY kids don't need presents from us to know we love them. besides Mimi & Pop and Grammie got them PLENTY of gifts so they certainly aren't lacking. (and i couldn't say thank you enough for all the wonderful gifts that were given. they are so appreciated. we can't wait till we can start "giving like no one else") and they aren't old enough to know "who" gave them what so they could care less who it came from. so we instead tried to center this holiday around Christ like it should be.

So Christmas with my sisters and mom was at my house, and yes, i wasn't as together as i would have liked, but how does anyone learn how to host without having the practice...now i know how to do things differently. anyhow, the food was great.

i made the ham and stuffing which was simple, Jenn made a yummy blueberry cobbler that stained everyone's teeth blue (haha) and rolls... Nats brought yummy green bean casserole and brownies, Angie brought yummy potato salad and peas, Mom (who has pneumonia, and almost didn't get to come, but i'm so glad she did!) brought Veggies to munch and Apple pie and yummy deviled eggs, and of course Steph made yummy sweet potato casserole, and cute little gingerbread cookies with a cream cheese dip.

so i didn't have any Christmas placemats and went to see how much they were, but it was far too expensive for me to buy any, so luckily, Corine had a Christmas table cloth and some green fabric that matched so i cut placemats out of the fabric and it looked great to me. i had to smile at the thriftiness of it all. and of course i thought of my friend Amanda, she is good at those kinds of things.

yes Nats, my chairs are horribly stained, and yes, seat covers are probably a good idea, but they cost money, and messes happen with kids so often that i don't even think about what mess they leave behind, it becomes part of life.

and yes Jenn, the curtains aren't sufficient enough to shield the light from shining in your eyes, nor does the light fixture above the table yield much light, but once again, we just deal with it.

so we played taboo because i LOVE games and that always puts me in a good mood, whether i am winning or losing...and Steph was soo good at Taboo! i had fun just listening to her come up with clues so fast and get her team to guess the words... but Jenn apparently didn't have so much fun because i didn't know the Kentucky Derby was known for the Mint Juleps everyone drinks while there (i mean, come on, who doesn't know that!?!) but oh well, i won't try to play that game with Jenn anymore. then we tried Apples to Apples, and somehow, Nats is SOOO dominant in that game every time she plays, she wins! i have to laugh. i just like to have fun. next game i need to get is scategories, cuz that is a fun game that makes you think... i'll have to get a group together again and have a game night. and i used to play Canasta with my mom all the time and i miss that too. i also really want to get a big enough group together to play cranium. somehow i don't know enough people that like to play games like me, so it seems to never work!

anyhow, my mom got me a salad spinner which was such a thoughtful gift, i love my lettuce but i have to rinse it every time, and i kept saying every time she was here that i wish i had a salad spinner to spin all the water off...thanks mom i love the gift. and Nats gave me some more of her african violet leaves, which was so awesome. i can't wait to see them sprout little babies. thanks Nats!

and i somehow thought it would be a good idea to paint before Christmas which turned out to be a lousy idea, it took so much longer than i had planned, but i had to finish, and now that i am, i'm so glad it's painted. it's a vibrant green and that's what i was going for, something to brighten up the room. now do i care what anyone's opinion is on the color? uh, no, so if you don't like it, good for you! like an old man told me by the deli counter, "it's a good thing we don't all like the same things, the world would be pretty boring" yep. and i like the color. i love green and brown together, i am a warm colors kind of person, so i can see (in the future) a brown couch with nice chocolate brown furniture that matches... it is so soothing to me. i can't wait to finish painting. i just love color.

and i will finish off with how thankful i am for all that we have. i am grateful that we have our house, and that we have such generous family members that will help in whatever way they can, for without them, we certainly wouldn't have much. i was realizing just how many things in our home were gifts from family, very appreciated gifts. and i thank all of you for your generosity. we are glad we decided to stay and be closer with the family that lives here. i love my in-laws and couldn't have asked for a better family to marry in to. i've strengthened the relationships with them and love them dearly. they are always there for me and i realize that i'm spoiled in that respect. thank you all. love you! Merry Christmas!