My Poor Neglected Blog

Dec was a busy month for me. Aren't they all?

My home photo studio officially opened in Oct. My website was built and my portfolio. Oct and Nov I didn't see any business, which is ok. But in December I did 3 photo shoots. It was lots of fun, and my clients were happy with their results. It was pretty neat seeing the photos I took of their kids on a Christmas card they sent me.

We also attended a benefit for a friend of ours. He almost lost his life in November, but the doctors were able to save him. He somehow had infectious tumors in his neck and throat. He had 3 long surgeries in 5 days. He has about a 4 month recovery period. Needless to say his illness and recovery time has forced him out of a job. His baseball friends all got together and held a benefit for him. It was a really good time. You paid a cover charge to get in, and got free food and beer. Then they had a silent auction. We won/bought a Margarita/Mexican bag. It has chips, salsa, a chip bowl, 2 margarita glasses, and margarita mix.

I've also been working on my book edits. I finished my book on Tulum, Mexico and the Maya, so now it's editing time. Edits are going pretty good.

Kevin had a Lego Robotics tournament at the end of November. His team did a really good job, and they are moving onto the state tournament at the end of January. It's a really busy and fun day for the kids, but it's a very long and boring day for the parents. Lots of sitting, and even more time spent between performances. His team is made up of 5 sixth graders, 4 boys & 1 girl. They are all pretty excited about going to the state tournament. They have practices scheduled twice a week to get ready for it. I hope they do a good job at the state tournament.

This year for Christmas I only set up a small tree. It's about a 1 foot tall tree. With all the Dec happenings, I just didn't have the energy to go all out. Plus, with our new kitten, I don't trust her enough to stay out of it. I don't feel like coming home to a destroyed tree every day. Not to mention taking it all down. I usually never get my tree taken down until around Easter time. February if I'm lucky. It's such a big project.

So I put up the little tree on a table and next to it put a snow man snow globe, a nativity set, and a nut cracker. All small pieces. It's a nice little decoration, and the cat has only knocked it off the table 3 times. Not too bad.

I got all my Christmas shopping done. I did most of it online, and just hoping it all gets here in time. My mom and grandma's present is going to be late, but I get her the same thing every year. Not really a lot you can get a 72 & a 101 year old that they don't already have or haven't already given to you. But they will always need a calendar, and that's what I get them. Each month has a photo of us in some way or fashion. They really enjoy it, and it's a good way to show off their grandsons.

Our new kitten had her claws removed and spayed right before Thanksgiving. The little stinker was healing fine over the weekend that we were home, and then as soon as we all left for school and work, she tore out a stitch and managed to get her tummy surgical cut infected. So everyday, I had to clean it out, put antibiotics on it, and give her oral liquid antibiotics. Good thing she liked it. I had to put a cone around her neck and she absolutely hated it. It took a while to get rid of it, and I didn't dare take off the cone until it was all healed up.

Christmas is just a few days away. We plan on spending time with my husbands parents and family. That is always a real fun time. The kids have a real good time with their cousins.

This Christmas we are starting new traditions. My kids have reached that age where they know Santa isn't real and they want more expensive toys. The annual tradition of visiting Santa just doesn't cut it anymore. So we will spend time with the family, got to midnight mass (now that they are old enough to sit through it), open gifts on Christmas morning (as usual), and then we are going to a movie. I'm also going to make a nice Christmas ham. So as the kids grown, we form new fun traditions. I remember as a kid at their age, our mom would load us all up in the family car and we would drive around town and look at all the Christmas lights in town. We'd get home and before bed, we got to open one gift from an out of town relative. It was always so fun to get a sneak peek. On Christmas morning, we'd open gifts, and then go to Christmas mass.

This year also marks a first that my kids are old enough to understand the spirit of giving gifts. They took me shopping with them so they could get their dad and me a Christmas gift. I was just along for the money. It's always so nice that I'm so needed. It's the thought that counts, and I'm pretty proud that they wanted to do that all on their own. They are such sweet kids. They were able to hide my present from me, so I have no idea what I paid for. I'm excited to see what they picked out.

Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas Eve with my husband's family. The boys had fun playing with their cousins. All of their Minnesota cousins are girls, but they have fun. Kevin and the oldest girl cousin get along so well together. She is more of tomboy so she will play the boy stuff that Kevin likes to do. Sam just plays chase with the smaller girl cousins and tell them stuff to do and they listen and do what ever he says.

Sam was ready to open presents last night at grandma & grandpa's house, so he asked if every one was ready too. Grandma said "No, some of us are still eating dinner." About a half an hour later, every one was finished eating. Sam looked around and said "Is everyone done eating?" He looked around and said " Yep, I say you all are. Time to open presents!"

So it was settled. Present opening commenced. Sam got the game Sorry and he was so excited. It was on his list and he couldn't wait to play it. He got some Star Wars pajamas and a Star Wars bedtime robe. He won't wear it if I call it a robe, so I told him it is a cozy blanket with sleeves and pockets. That got him to wear it.

Kevin got a book about WWII Navy Aircraft Carriers. He was excited about that. He got a Yadda, Yadda, Yadda toy, which you record your voice and then play it back either sped up or slowed way down. It sure does make us all laugh and I think the batteries are almost dead. He got a few other goodies, that he has horded off somewhere, so no one gets into them.

This morning at 7 am they woke up and woke up my husband & I, so we could all go to the tree together. I had to get in proper photography position so I could snap a picture of the looks on their faces. They had big smiles when they saw what was under the tree. Star Wars figures, a stuffed animal, and a poster made especially for them. Then we opened up presents. Sam got a virtual fish aquarium. It's pretty neat. It's a real fish tank with fake fish. It's so nice, we don't have to feed them, clean the tank, and the cats can't eat them. Kevin got a Nikon Coolpix point & shoot camera. He loves it. He's becoming quite the little photographer. He took 100 pictures with it today already. Most of them are just of things around the house. Anything he could take a picture of. I told him the rules with the camera are 1) he has to be careful with it and not leave it laying around to get broken & 2) it's not going to camp.

The boys got lots of Star Wars toys, a Star Wars Dictionary, and Star Wars Monopoly game. So it was a very Star Wars Christmas. They have been having fun all day with their new loot.

I made a big huge ham for dinner along with home made cheesy potatoes, Ken's favorite green bean casserole, relish dish, apple sauce. I made some stove top stuffing for Kevin and some french fries for Sam. I made an Apple Pie with the help of my good friend Mrs. Smith. She sure knows how to make a good Apple Pie. So our bellies are full. We'll have left overs to last us until New Years. Or at least pretty close to it.

And I have a gigantic pile of dishes to do. Where's my fairy Godmother when I need her?

More Christmas Shopping

This year my youngest caveman has been the most excited about Christmas as he ever has been in whole life of 9 years. So I couldn't be a grinch this year. Last night I ventured out and did some more shopping. I scored big time too. My little cavemen will have so many presents to open.

I even got the hubby a few things so he'll have more than just the credit card bill to open for Christmas. And of course I even bought a couple of little goodies for yours truly. I mean, I have to have something to open on Christmas morning too.

I'm officially done getting ready for Christmas

Tonight I bought the last of all the Christmas presents. I didn't think I'd be spending much money. WRONG! My cart was spilling over the top. So it will be a happy Xmas at our house.

Today we put up the Christmas tree, decorated it, and Ken hung up all the outdoor & window lights. It looks so festive. The kids decorated pretty much the whole tree. I just went and moved the ornaments and spread them out a bit. Sam made me two ornaments at daycare, so he was happy to put those on the tree. We have one of those artificial pre-lit trees. That is SO nice. I hated stringing the lights on the tree. I'd get dizzy going around and around the tree and then trying to keep them evenly spaced was a chore too. So I'm really loving the pre-lit tree. And so far the cats have been staying out of the tree.

The kids are so excited for Christmas. They just want lots of presents and two weeks off from school. Such the life. It's great to be a kid.

Well, I got my Christmas present early. I got a Nikon D80 digital camera with lens kit. It's my dream camera. The camera to end all cameras. I LOVE it. It's wonderful and I'm still trying to figure out all the gadgets it has. Right now I've discovered close up (still learning on that one) and automatic. It takes amazing photos. I have my manual and I have a feeling I'll be reading it more than once. I couldn't wait until Christmas though, I had to open it up early and try it out.

The hubby gets the credit card bill for all the Xmas shopping. I'm so glad I could give him that gift. Which is pretty good considering he doesn't have to shop for or wrap any gifts. I think that's a fair trade.