All I Want For Christmas

Now that Christmas time is near, it's time to revisit this subject. I've been asking for the same thing now for several years in a row but have yet to get it. Will someone PLEASE tell Brian that for $8, he can make me a very, very happy wife? Interestingly enough, these cute little guys can be purchased HERE. Obviously I'm not the only lady in the world that thinks pink tools are a good idea!

I had my own hammer and screwdriver before we married but somehow mine became his, moved to the garage and has yet to be seen or heard from again. I'm a thinkin' that if I were to have a pink hammer and screwdriver that neither Brian nor Ryan would be caught dead using them and therefore they would stay where I put them and would be accessible when needed! Not that I'm known to use one or the other often, but it would be nice to have a set handy. In their own little cute pink tool box would just be icing on the cake. Not to be demanding or anything.

Which all of this reminds me of a funny story. They were asking the children at Emma's daycare what their mother's wanted for Christmas, I'm thinking this was when Emma was 3. She told her teacher that her mommy wanted a "screwdriver". I was told later that the teachers all laughed and laughed and laughed because they thought I was referring to an adult beverage! Guess there must not be that many ladies who ask for a pink screwdriver for Christmas!

For Today

My sweet friend Gayly does a weekly post called 'The Simple Woman's Daybook' and it's by far my favorite of her posts each week. I think I'm going to try this ... although not sure I can fill in all the categories. But here goes!

Outside my window: It's dark and probably pretty cold, the weather website shows it's a chilly 35 degrees in the 'Ville tonight. Which makes me realize that it's probably time to put up the girls jackets and get their coats out. Goodness, not sure I can do this exercise because one thought leads to another and another and then I realize I'm not even through typing!

I Am Thinking: Of all the things that still need to be done upstairs to get ready for carpet to be installed in the hallway and the kiddos rooms. I'm also thinking of my sweet hubby who has been working so hard on the house so that we could get our room and the guest room back in working function for my mother to visit this past weekend. I've also been thinking a lot about my mother-in-law who is in the final stages of alzheimer's. A beautiful lady who loves the Lord with all her soul. The first person on either side of our families who completely supported us when we first discussed adoption back in 95 or so. Heaven will certainly be welcoming her precious soul.

I Am Thankful For: My sweet and loving children and husband. I'm also thankful for being able to spend Thanksgiving with my mom who made the trip out here from Oklahoma. That's one long road between here and there. Thankful that my children enjoyed her so much ... and she them. Rebecca was in trouble with us yesterday and after we got on to her she told us she wanted her Grandma. Times like this make me wish we lived closer.

From The Kitchen: Well, I actually cooked tonight. That is, if you count warming up pre-sliced ham, opening a can of corn and making mashed potatoes from a box. Yes, I'm a slacker in that regard. Maybe I'm not eligible for these type of posts. In my defense though, I did make an actual Thanksgiving dinner and even made the most yummy curry turkey salad with the leftovers!

I Am Wearing: Sweats baby! Too bad I can't wear these things to work!

I Am Creating: Again, maybe I need a new category for me. Not much creating these days but it would be nice to be able to scrapbook again one of these days.

I Am Going: To bed soon, I'm tired!

I Am Reading: Just finished reading the latest edition of 'Family Fun' last night - a magazine that I just love. Time to start back on a book. Ordered some new ones from Amazon that are here and then my mom brought some out as well. Not sure what I'm going to start next.

I Am Hoping: That some tests that Emma had done today at our local children's hospital will point us in the right direction of what could be causing some health problems she has been having lately. She was a trooper today though and I was so proud of her. The nurses were so good with her and she of course charmed their socks off. God has truly gifted her with that ability. Charm, wish I had more of what she has!

I Am Praying For: My mother-in-law, my children, our new/fill in Sunday School teacher who recently had surgery and for some peace of mind on a decision I need to make.

I Am Hearing: Football, could someone please clue me in as to why I went years without a TV and then one day had the thought that it would be nice to have one?

Around The House: A clean kitchen, a messy den. A son who wants some mama snuggle time before he heads to bed. Two little dumplings sound asleep in their room, all warm and snuggly in their soft little jammies.

One Of My Favorite Things: The previously mentioned son who still wants to be affectionate w/ his mom.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Finish getting all the things out of the girls and Ryan's room, pulling up the carpet (great way to work out frustration) so that Brian can redo the baseboards and then paint. Need to pick out new bedding for Ryan. Gymnastics for the girls on Thursday. Friday night shopping with my sweet hubby with the girls in a parents night out program at church - hopefully we can finish up our Christmas shopping. Lots to do!

So Many Blessings!

Our church hosted a fellowship the other night for adoptive families in our county. There wasn't an agenda, nothing planned ... just ice cream, toppings and cookies. Plenty of room and time for the kiddos to play with one another which gave the adults chit chat time. What a wonderful, wonderful evening catching up with everyone.

It's funny how it hits you sometimes. Especially when you see them all sitting together, but really - look at all these blessings. From time to time you cross paths with people who like to point out how blessed the kids are. Well, I'm here to tell you - it's all of us parents who are the recipients of the blessings! Our lives are forever changed for the better and our hearts just full of love and pride of our little ones.

What a wonderful and loving God we serve to bless our lives in the way he does. One little pint sized hug and kiss at a time.

First vs 1st

In honor of the story I shared about Ryan in my last post ... my techno/geeko friend-y-o made this. Oh my, I can't quit laughing! Poor little Ryan.

Here's the story if you missed the last post.

He is a lost soul when it comes to navigating, knowing what is where or even really knowing what town we're in sometimes so I have been trying to work with him on these things. We were downtown Louisville not too long ago and I was explaining how numbered streets ran one way and named streets the other. Downtown also has several one way streets so we were doing some backtracking to get around to where we needed to go. I turned on my blinker as we neared "First" and Ryan says "no, no - that's not where you want to turn" and goes on to say that the next street is probably going to be "One S T". He was phonetically saying "1st". This is coming from a straight A student who is also in the gifted and talented program at school. Needless to say, I think we may need to keep working on that area of study.

Saturday Samplings & Oddities

It's been a slow week for blog worthy material in the Hunter household. We even had a few nights at home this week, a real oddity for this 'on the go' family.

First, Emma had a school project where she had to disguise a turkey. Here's what we came up with. A bikini-clad turkey headed to St. Tropez!



Now for the sampling part.

Emma - I made the dire mistake of calling her a "happenin' chick" one day when I had her dressed in a little argyle sweater, denim skirt and some funky leggings. Apparently when she got to school and the teacher made a comment about her outfit she told the teacher that she is a "happenin' chick" which made the teacher laugh and subsequently Emma now likes to use that term fairly often. Except the other day she inadvertently called herself a "Hippenin' chack". We were rolling!

Ryan - He is a lost soul when it comes to navigating, knowing what is where or even really knowing what town we're in sometimes so I have been trying to work with him on these things. We were downtown Louisville not too long ago and I was explaining how numbered streets ran one way and named streets the other. Downtown also has several one way streets so we were doing some backtracking to get around to where we needed to go. I turned on my blinker as we neared "First" and Ryan says "no, no - that's not where you want to turn" and goes on to say that the next street is probably going to be "One S T". He was phonetically saying "1st". This is coming from a straight A student who is also in the gifted and talented program at school. Needless to say, I think we may need to keep working on that area of study.

Rebecca - I turned the mirror down to watch her in the van the other morning as she held a little toy hotdog up as a microphone, holding her other little arm up in the air and was singing very loudly a song she's made up about how much she loves Jesus. She's such a sweet little baby girl!

Feelings and Frowns to Share on Friday

I'll leave you with this picture thought for the weekend. This was taken right before we were leaving to come home from our little trip to Madison, IN. We had told the girls it was time to go, but I wanted just one more shot of them playing in the leaves. This was the best I could get. Ya' think maybe they weren't ready to go home?

Have a nice weekend!

Special Time

I just love being able to spend one on one time with my children, but that seems to not happen nearly as much as I would like nor as much as they would like. We are always on the go with various sports, church activities, school things, gymnastics, etc. Besides the fact that it's just plain ol' hard to be able to carve out such time for 3 little souls. So, with that said - in my inbox this morning was an email listing upcoming events and one in particular caught my eye - JIGU! THUNDER DRUMS OF CHINA. The problem though is that it is TONIGHT! I'm still trying to figure out how I've missed this coming to town. I sent Brian an IM and asked him if he would like to take Ryan since the time frame is too late to have the girls out on a school night. My sweet, kind, caring and loving better half suggested he take the girls to gymnastics and that I have some one on one time with Ryan! So, tickets are in hand and plans are made. Date night for me and the little guy!!! And even better - it's going to be a complete surprise!