Never too old.... ZARK!!!

So my baby boy is a senior this year... Right... He's 17. Almost the big 18!!
Some may say too old for Christmas and SANTA fun

NOT in my opinion

I believe in Christmas magic
and I believe in the love and joy of the Christmas spirit...
And in this mamas big heart, as proud as I will be of my baby boy who will soon be leaving home for college ( we hope! Ha ha) I will miss having my baby at home

So....

Time for some fun!!!!

This year, in true Christmas spirit, I invited The Elf on the Shelf into our home!!!

His name is Zark!!

Sure, I may not be able to convince Zack that he flies back and forth to the North Pole every night, but I will show him fun, Christmas spirit and lots of love for his last true Christmas at home!!!
But maybe, just MAYBE little Zark will still come back every Christmas... at least for the time my baby boy is home :)

He may think I'm crazy now... But by Christmas time he will be anxiously searching for Zark every morning
And this will be a Christmas he never forgets

Merry Christmas everyone
No Scrooges allowed!!! :)

Our first morning with Zark... He's already doing flips in the tree!!!

Thanksgiving

In honor of one of my favorite holidays because it can't be killed my commercialism and is instead focused on all we have to be grateful for....
Try as they might to devalue this day, "Black Friday" on Thanksgiving night... I will never lose sight and gratitude for all that I am blessed with!!!

I would like to share a little Thanksgiving!!

I am thankful for being a mommy! I was blessed to become a mother 17 and a half years ago. I look back now and I am truly amazed at all we have been through together! Z saved my life in many ways and I have learned so much in watching him grow into an honest, caring, smart young man. I am thankful for the hard times we have been through and the honesty we have shared. I am thankful that he knows life can be hard but we are tough!!! I am thankful (most days) that he is me made over in so many ways!

I am thankful for my parents! I am thankful for being brought up in a Christian home by two God fearing Christians. I am thankful for their tough love. I am thankful that when I chose the wrong path, they prayed... and let me fall on my face and learn the hard way. I am thankful that when I am wrong, they tell me rather than being my "best friend". I am thankful that they raised me to always work hard and always give back and to try to see the good in everything and everyone!

I am thankful for my brothers and two great sister-in-laws. I know I could call any of them at any minute and they would be there :)

I am thankful for being blessed with some of the best friends a girl could ask for!!! My core girls, who have walked beside me through the ups and downs.... Some who have been there for many many years... Some whom have come into my life more recently... I honestly could not ask for better friends!!

I am thankful for my B-rad :). I am thankful that even after making some pretty terrible moves in my life, God still saw fit to bless me with a good Christian man who honestly loves me with all his soul. I am thankful that even after pushing him away, he never stopped loving me. I am thankful that I know what TRUE unselfish whole hearted LOVE looks and feels like!  There is no one I have more fun with or am more myself with.  He is my best friend!! 


I am thankful for my job and all my co-workers! As if I don't say it enough, I truly LOVE my job and all that it entails. It is entertaining some days and trying on others, but every day I'm doing something I love and meeting new people (crazy they may be! Ha). As for my co-workers... ALL of them are such great souls. I truly refer to them all as friends. Just as quickly as people I have known for years, they would be right by my side if I needed one single thing! :). I am very blessed!!  How many people can honestly say they LOVE their job AND ALL the people they work with!?

I am thankful for our babies (*dogs*). Bailey Shea, the ol' faithful brown dog and Zack's very first puppy... She's knocking on 12 years old and just as sweet as ever. And our new baby Dane, Lido Armani. I swore I would never potty train again. He wears me out but he is just precious. Thankful for both babies!

I am thankful for my sweet little cozy warm house!! It's not much, and sharing one bathroom with a teenage boy has its downside for sure.... but it's mine and its warm. What more do I need?! :)

There are a million other things to be thankful for... But I wanted to especially address these and say thanks to everyone I love, for loving me!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Remember, even on the bad days, there is ALWAYS something or someone to be thankful for.

We. Are. Blessed.

Hand me Downs

So I opted out of giving thanks every day on facebook.... not because I'm not thankful.... but because I don't think I could put all my thanks in a line.  Even spread out over a month's worth of days .... my thanks just couldn't fit in a status update!  (So I will share my list/blog of thanks tomorrow!)
I have so much to be thankful for!

But I couldn't pass up sharing this
"thankful for....."

HAND ME DOWNS.

I realized last night - that it's the things that we think shouldn't be handed down that I am most thankful for!  For they make me who I am today.
And will in turn make my baby boy the man he grows to be.....

........ so here we go.........

I am habitually LATE.  I am.  I blame my parents. (mostly my mother! LOL)   It's not that we WANT to be late.  I think we just have no concept of time.  And you would think that now working in a field where people being late is infuriating (and messes with my schedule) would change me...... but NO.
Now granted, when I have to be somewhere that affects someone else's schedule, I do try to make more of an effort to arrive on time.   (ON TIME.... not early!)
But the overall consensus is... I am late just about everywhere I go.
It is not malicious.... I think it's because I get so caught up in the moment that I truly do just lose track of time.
My mother handed it down....

and I realized last night..... - that I have in turn handed it down to my child.

When Z was little, he would always complain about us being late places.  It drove him crazy.  Actually - I think it still does!! (when it's MY fault!)  LOL
But last night - he had to be somewhere at 7.   He was leaving the house at 5 till.
with NOT enough time to arrive ON TIME.
LATE   LATE    LATE!
**You're welcome Z!  :)

And are you ready for this...
here's the next hand me down........

As he walked out the door he says "Crap.... I'm probably gonna run out of gas!"
see that?!!
acknowledgement that the tank is on E!!
Which would in turn mean - I'm late AND I have to stop and get gas.  
In a normal person's world.
BUT - nope.  Not in OUR world.
Instead.... since he is LATE, he just flies on to his destination.
Or at least he tried to.  

I got a phone call shortly after his departure.... with a panicked
"CRAP!!!... this is not good.... I'm gonna run outta gas.  yeah - I did.  I'm pulling over if I can.  CRAP.  I'm outta gas!"
As IF this is a surprising turn of events?
He was late - walking out the door saying - I should have gotten gas
But being late, you try to push the limit.
And ..... well...... sometimes you get burned.
And he did.
Rather than stopping to get gas CAUSING him to be late... he pushed on.  With the logic that stopping to get gas would MAKE him late!!
Instead..... he ran out of gas anyway and ended up having to RUN (literally) to his destination.  Making him even later than if he had just stopped and got the gas to start with.

After his appointment with the gym was complete -  we made a trip that I know all to well........

Gas station.  
Fill the gas can.  
Off to get the vehicle.  
Then back to the gas station to fill 'er up.

As aggravated as I was....... what can I say?!!
Do you know HOW MANY times I have run my vehicle out of gas!??
let's just put it this way -  more than I care to admit
Thank goodness for friends and family!!!
And that's why I live half a mile from my job!!!Ha ha

I had a green cavalier at one time that I SWEAR had a bottomless tank!!
I ran that thing PAST  E so many times!!!
I miss that car ...... mainly when my gas guzzling HOG pushes that E gauge....

But anyway - of ALL the things I'm thankful for - I think "hand me downs" is one I have never acknowledged before.
I'm thankful for all the hand me downs that I got from being raised by two awesome God fearing Christian parents who always kept me grounded and made me learn about life through experience, not through sheltering me and petting me.  I'm thankful that when I was wrong, they TOLD ME I was wrong and they let me fall on my face until I learned WRONG is WRONG.

AND I'm thankful that I can look into the eyes of my son and pass on some of those hand me downs and know that I have handed down some good stuff myself!
I've been blessed with an awesome kid who has also been raised to be a God fearing Christian man and when he strays.
As was passed to me, he will get lots of love and prayer, but a firm hand at the same time to experience life and learn a lesson from every road he takes!

I'm thankful for ALL the hand me downs.
received and the ones I continue to pass on.....

Lions and Donkeys and Elephants OH MY!

As has everyone else I'm sure, I have seen so much negativity from the onset of election day to the end and beyond. 
We are a nation divided for sure.
People for Obama, people against.... people who know nothing about politics and people that do.  People who pick out ONE thing to focus on and people who just criticize an entire running platform.

I will refrain from posting my political views here....
Do you want to know why?!!
The election is over.
The choice has been made.
We have a president.
And the fact of the matter is - agree or not agree with his platform - one thing rings true.....

HE is not my KING

Period.

I will support him as my president.  But I will not put all of my hope for a future for our country in one man.
And neither should you.

No matter who is our president, we have to understand and know that God has allowed that
And rather than putting ALL your hope in a man - OR focusing all your HATE toward a man... how about you do this??

How about since we are all so focused on making America better.... how about since all we talk about is how the world is going to hell in hand basket.... how about since everyone wants to TALK and CRITICIZE everything going on around us....

Why don't we ALL do this???

FOCUS on YOUR yard.
What can YOU do to make a change?
What can YOU do to make this country better?
How can you help?

Instead of letting a man take all the responsibility - why don't you take some too?

Give to your neighbor
Pray for another
Go to church on Sunday morning and WORSHIP who you need to worship not WHAT.  (Not money, not your car, not your job, not the president.... not material things!!)
BE THANKFUL for where you are and what you have - but KNOW how you got it and who blesses you every day!

Instead of being mad or sad or whatever emotion comes with not getting your way.... instead - fill YOURSELF with hope - don't depend on someone else to do it.
Sure there are bad things out there.  We as a country may be in a rut.
But at the same time - there are plenty of things to be thankful for.

We ARE a blessed nation.
Believe that.
We ARE still one nation under GOD - whether people choose to recognize it or not.

The election is over
The choice has been made

Now - focus on YOUR yard and what YOU can do to make life better for you, for others, and for the children we leave this mess behind to!

A friend of mine shared a song earlier in the week that I want to share with you.   It's intent may be speaking of a church dividing - but listen to the words and it could very easily be used to describe the divide in America today.
We ALL need each other and the only way to survive is to work together and stop turning against each other.
Whether you be a Donkey, an Elephant, a lion, a tiger or a bear  :)

I hope you enjoy and it gives you hope for our future