Triple Dentist Visit and a Funeral & Libby is in the Hospital

Yep, that was my day. This morning, I took all three of the big kids to the dentist. The middle two have never been to the dentist!!!! I am an awful mom, I know. I have dental phobia! Seriously, I don't have fond memories of the dentist and I honestly hate going. The kids were awesome. We got a great report of no cavities for anyone and no orthodontics for Savannah. Blayne was nervous, but did great in the dental chair and with x-rays. The room was a triple room, so all three kids were worked on at the same time. The hygienists (two worked on them at a time) were sweet and kept saying they couldn't believe that Blayne and Whitney had never been to the dentist, because of how well they did. They all got new cool toothbrushes, toothpaste and a cool toy each. I got to pay $680!!!!! ouch. I have to remind myself that it is okay...we chose to stay here in at this job with our poor medical benefits! So, I guess we will be saving up for our July visit.

This morning, I got a text page from Gracie telling me that she and Libby were headed to Dallas to he ER. Libby is having breathing issues. Her lips are blue and she slept a lot yesterday. My girls were over there yesterday playing with Camden and Libby and Savannah commented on how much Libby was gagging and how hard she was breathing. I knew that it must have been bad for Savannah to notice. They have Lib on oxygen and they are doing a an echo of her heart. Gracie is just waiting for results. The boys have both been sick in the last week, so she might have some kind of respiratory bug going on. Gracie's last call to me was to tell me that they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

This afternoon, I attended the funeral of a woman from my previous church. She was only 38 and died of an aneurysm. She leaves behind a husband and two boys. She worked with my kids in VBS this summer. She worked at a Tuesday Morning that I shop at regularly, and she was always really funny. My two worlds collided today, as the funeral was at my former church, but a lot of the attenders were from my current church. Kind of weird, but it was nice to see everyone.

So, it was a solemn day for me...a day of being grateful for good teeth, hopeful for Libby's quick recovery from illness or whatever is getting her down, and a day of celebrating the life of a sister in Christ.

Christmas Came....and went....

Well, we had a lovely Christmas. We hosted my family this year: my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and we went to visit my grandmother on Christmas Day. We had a nice time. John and I attended the annual Christmas Eve service at church without any kids...how relaxing! Then, we came home and re-grouped and ALL went Christmas caroling. That is an annual tradition for my family. We went to sing at the Packwoods' home first. I think that it was a little emotional (not weeping or anything) for my family to get to see Libby right there looking and smiling at us as we serenaded her family with Christmas cheer! She looks so good. My dad said that he just wanted to go over there and hug her and let the family know that so many people are praying for her...but he felt that it might overwhelm her. She seemed to enjoy the singing and the boys were wound up and excited about Christmas Eve. We exchange gifts and Gracie gave us a platter of YUMMY Christmas treats! We left there and headed to a widow lady's home that we visit every year. She was so pleased to see us as she sat in her walker/chair on her front porch and we sang. We visited some friends that live a couple of streets over and then our neighbors who let us know that they have NEVER had Christmas carolers. It was a sweet time and we enjoyed blessing others in song. We came home and bathed the kids and put them to bed and the family stayed up and played Texas Hold'em while I played SANTA CLAUS. I don't know why I have to get things every year that require assembly! I guess I like to torture myself! We were up past midnight and we really felt it when we were up at 6:15 Christmas morning with the kids!!!! We enjoyed the huge pile of gifts and laughed at the humorous gifts that were given. The kids were entertained the entire day with their loot! We headed to Memaw's house in the afternoon and spent the evening with her. We had a HUGE "Cowboy" lunch (sliced beef HUGE twice baked potatoes, homemade rolls and LOTS of desserts) so the gourmet pizza for supper was not too appetizing! Memaw had purchased an insurmountable amount of licorice...I still can't think of why...and she tried to pawn it off on us. My brother was the only taker...she also had real ginger candy (yuck) to which he accepted as the rest of us turned up our noses. We watched a home movie of Whitney singing in church and Savannah speaking at a school assembly and exchanged gifts with Memaw, sang carols to her (at this point, we had our entire routine down) and headed home. Our tradition is to open our stocking on Christmas night, so we did that when we got home. I love stocking stuffers and try to find unique items to put in there.
FAVORITE GIFTS:
Savannah--Nintendo DS
Whitney--Hannah Montana with stage set
Blayne--Darth Vader voice changer
Reagan--Hot Pink Jogging Stroller for Dolls (or an empty plastic bowl and huge metal spoon)
John and I got some awesome plastic cups that don't sweat and that keep ice frozen for hours....no more fighting over the ONE favorite cup we have!!!

Well, Merry Christmas to you and your family.
More posts soon...

Oh, what we do to get a Christmas Picture!!!!

We had a lovely dinner at my best friend's home last night. She went all out with the delicious 5-Star food and table settings. The kids played great and we really enjoyed ourselves. I needed to get a picture of my kids for a Christmas project I am working on. Reagan was past being done, but I wanted that picture. So, here it is...Reagan is SITTING on my HEAD in the photo...Ahhhh, what a mom will do for a picture!

Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar???

REAGAN STOLE THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR....
Once again, never a dull moment around here!!!

Giving Santa a Second Chance!!!

In our old neighborhood, there is a sweet man who is "Santa Dave" every year. We have been doing Christmas pictures with him since Savannah was a toddler. Today was THE day for him to come, so we went to our old neighborhood and mooched on their neighborhood Santa. He is a real sweetheart and was glad to see us....Reagan was not so excited to see him! He buys treats for all of the kids each year. It is one of our family traditions to see Santa Dave, so I squeezed it into our day today!!!

Whitney & Blayne Singing in Church Today

Whitney also sang a duet, but I don't have a YouTube copy of that song. These are not my videos, and when I get the cord that I need to download them to my computer, I will put MY videos on there...yes, I zoom in on MY children and you can watch Blayne pick his nose during the song, and see and hear Whitney make her first debut at this church. But for now, this is what I have for you to enjoy!!!

Savannah Singing in Church