Best Christmas Ever!!!

I got the greatest gift I could get for Christmas this year, another charm for my grandma necklace!!  AUBRIE IS PREGNANT!!!!!!!  They told us by giving me a charm for my necklace for the month of July.  I am so happy I can hardly see straight.  My son, Kyle, has wanted a child since he was a child.  He has waited so long and is so excited.  I can't believe they kept it from us for 3 weeks.  They wanted to wait until Christmas but she has been deathly sick and very tired so it was pretty hard.  They both lied through their teeth and told us they hadn't stopped their birth control and that she just had the flu (she actually did get the flu today and had to go to urgent care for fluids and nausea medicine).  Kyle is a terrible liar and he actually convinced me even though all of her symptoms pointed to pregnancy.  It's a little scary that he has become such a good liar but all is forgiven because I GET ANOTHER GRANDCHILD NEXT YEAR!!!!!  I got a lot of great gifts today but nothing tops this:)  A very Merry Christmas to me!!

This Child

This is my grandson, Landon, and he never ceases to entertain us.  He picked out his own outfit today although it looks like something that Logan would not only put him in but would wear himself if he had it in his size.  He had a busy day today being very "2".  He got into everything!  He helped Papa make cookies for a little bit but then he got bored so while Money was emptying the dishwasher he made a little boat for himself.  He definitely keeps us on our toes but is so cute that we love having him around.  Can't wait for the other two grandkids to get here. 

Funnest Day Ever!

Now I know what it feels like to be Santa Claus.  Yesterday I took part of my girls (Alana and Tracy aren't here:() to do their Christmas shopping from me.  We went to lunch and then to Kohl's where I gave them a dollar limit and let them loose.  For 2 hours they combed the store with phone calculators in hand and bought as much stuff as they could for the dollar amount.  I would spot them huddled together over their choices and their calculators adding everything up and it gave me such a warm feeling seeing them so excited and happy.  We came home and they all gathered in my bedroom with Christmas music and chocolate and wrapped all of their gifts.  Some of them just piled all their stuff into bags and put multiple things in one box but others wrapped every little tiny thing separately so they would have lots to open on Christmas morning.  So cute.  I love these girls and this tradition and their happy faces were all the Christmas I needed but the many hugs and expressions of gratitude were pretty cool too:)  Merry Christmas Moore Girls!! I love you:)

Les Miz!!!!

About 25 years ago my mother went to London to see some shows.  One of them was Les Miserables.  She fell in love, bought the cassette tape and made a copy for me.  For the next 2 years me and my husband and two little boys listened to that cassette every single day.  We too had fallen in love with a story and with the amazing music that went with it.  When I moved to San Diego I got the opportunity to see the play in Los Angeles and when the orchestra played the first notes that I had been listening to for 2 years I burst into tears.  I couldn't believe I was really going to see the characters I had only imagined and hear people sing my beloved songs live.  It was everything I could have hoped for and way more.  I love that play!  I watched it 3 more times and have listened to the music countless times.  That was a very lengthy way of saying I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!!!  Les Miz finally comes to the big screen in musical form and I am so excited to see it.  I can't wait to introduce my sweet daughter to this magic.  I'm so glad the dream lives on:)

It's the Little Things

Even though I have a yucky cold, today has been wonderful so far.  Nothing really exciting has happened but a combination of little things has made it a very good day.  I've had something wrong with one of my eyes the last couple of days so I couldn't wear my contacts.  I was reminded, again, of how much I hate glasses.  Today my eye was fine so I got to put my contacts back on.  I was able to fit, comfortably, into some of my skinnier jeans (yay!) and my Meals on Wheels clients were especially festive and wished me a Merry Christmas over and over.  I got the Glee Christmas CD and listened to those ridiculously talented kids sing me right into the Christmas spirit.  My house is clean, my gas tank is full and two of my sons come home this week!  Hallelujah, Praise the Lord and Merry Christmas:)

My Crew

These people make me very happy and in just a few days all but one of them will be reunited with us and each other.  I love seeing them together.  They are a very loud and fun bunch.  They have grown to include 4 wives and 3 grandchildren but the original "Magnificent 7" have a bond that will never be broken.  Merry Christmas to me:)

Ha Ha Ha!!!

You lecherous ladies!  I got more hits on this one post than I have ever gotten.  That cracks me up:)  Nice to know my friends appreciate eye candy (Hee Hee).

Mama's Boys

I was going through some pictures and came across one of my very favorites.  Brandon was off reading somewhere but this is the rest of my stripling warriors.  I LOVE this picture.  This is so....them.  They love posing like stud-muffins.  That's a lot of really cute boy right there if I do say so myself:)

Vindicated!!!

As I enter my 23rd year (:)) I have been wondering if my mind might be slipping a little.  I keep forgetting things that people tell me or just forgetting things in general, things I've known my whole life like how to spell a certain word or an old friend's name.  I thought it might be the onset of old age but the other day my daughter-in-law, Michelle, was looking for some bread in the bread drawer and she found some frozen (not anymore) burritos.  Ha ha!  My 16 year old daughter was mortified but cracked up and confessed to putting them there absentmindedly after making her lunch the day before.  That brought back memories of my son, Tanner, sleepily (he spent most of his teenage years sleepily) putting the Ovaltine in the fridge and the milk in the pantry after making a glass. I have found (more than once) some milk in the actual Ovaltine can  as though someone mistook the can (full of Ovaltine) for a cup.  Quite the mess but pretty funny.  So, I feel much better about myself.  This isn't old age, it's just an overfull mind:)

Just Say No? Ha!

Yesterday I did something that I haven't done in a very long time.  I said, "No".  I did it kindly and with great reluctance but it was still very hard because I almost never do it.  It was either lose my pride or my mind.  I chose to lose my pride.  I play the piano, not real well but I do play so of course when people need a piano player, a lot of times they will come to me.  I don't mind doing it at all, especially if the pieces are not too difficult.  This Christmas season I have prayed for things to keep me busy, I need to stop praying for that now.  I am playing about a million times this holiday season.  Almost all of the pieces are not too hard but I have two or three that I've really had to practice.  This last Sunday I was given a piece that needs to be played for Christmas Sunday.  That's less than 2 weeks away.  I tried it yesterday and realized that even if I practiced all day, every day, until showtime I would not do the piece justice and I would be a nervous wreck so I told the person who gave it to me that they needed to find someone better than me.  It felt yucky to say it but when I actually did then I felt this huge weight lift off of my shoulders.  I hate inconveniencing people and always feel like I can do whatever they need me to do but in this instance it was just too hard.  My pride keeps pricking me and saying, "just practice more", but the rest of me is doing a happy dance inside because I don't have to deal with the added stress.  I know I'm not in any danger of making this "no" thing a habit but just this once it felt great to "Just Say No":)

That's My Girl!!

My sweet girl entered her very first tennis tournament this last weekend and she won it!  I was so proud.  There were only 7 girls in her age group and they weren't very experienced but a win's a win:)  She has only been playing tennis for 2 years and has never had the guts to enter a tournament so I was very proud of her for being brave enough to go against strangers and compete.  It was in Del Mar and it was pretty fun to watch.  I hope she does some more. 

A Mother's Christmas Wish

I heard this song again today and, as usual, was really touched by the words so I thought I would share them with you. 

I wish you love, a life to share and when you find someone to care I hope that time is kind to you and that all your dreams come true.  This is a mother's Christmas wish for you.
I wish you peace in heart and mind, to use your strength but still be kind.  To learn to give, to learn to lose, to live the truth in all you do.  This is a mother's Christmas wish for you.
And when you wake on Christmas day with children of your own, I know then you'll see what you've been to me.  You are the greatest gift of all.
A child was born on Christmas Day.  A shining star to lead the way.  And Mary's love was pure and true and that's the way that I love you.  I pray that love will guide you through.  This is a mother's Christmas wish for you.

I think, deep down, this is every mother's song to her child.  They may express it in different ways but there is nothing like a mother's love for her child.  I hope we all remember that because we are all some mother's child. 

Cyber Ritas

Normally being a very private person I often wonder why I throw all my innermost thoughts out to you in cyber space and while walking this morning I think I decided that you are now taking the place of my best friend, Rita, who has moved on to way more important things than taking care of me.  I have never clicked as fast with a friend as I did with Rita.  She and I were perfectly matched.  We were almost the same age, had kids the same ages, belonged to the same church, were very equal financially and had the same interests and hobbies.  Every girl needs a best friend to listen to her because even though we have husbands, they don't really listen the way another woman does.  They listen to fix not to just hear us out.  We don't really need fixing.  We are perfectly capable of fixing things ourselves but we usually need to say things out loud until we can figure out the answers to our problems.  Once in a while we like to hear counsel from someone who has gone through it before or who might have a diffeent perspective but we are really just voicing our thoughts out loud.  Rita was the perfect friend for that.  She was very wise and smart but she never really told me what to do when I had a challenge.  She just listened and would offer thoughts if I asked for them.  She also lived her life as an example and I watched very carefully because I respected her and admired what she'd done with her family.  I don't really expect anything from you, my friends in cyber space, but I appreciate the opportunity to lay my thoughts out before you and therefore come to the answers for myself.  So, thanks for listening:)

Farewell

I am striving diligently to bid farewell to life as I've known it for the last 30 years and lately I have been failing miserably.  I blame it on that horrible disease known as menopause but nonetheless it's kicking my trash.  It is probably being magnified by the holiday season and I hope it dies down or goes away soon.  I'm talking about mood swings.  One minute I will be reveling in Christmas cheer and joy and the next minute I am blubbering unconsolably wishing it was 15 years ago when all my kiddos were young and home and excited about Christmas.  This year will be a first for us in that most of my children won't see each other at all on Christmas day.  I'm sure this is just the first of many of those times but it's still an adjustment and not a fun one.  Having 4 other families involved in our lives now because of marriage we have to learn how to share.  I don't want to share!!! I want my babies all to myself.  (O.K. tantrum over).  I go through times where it feels like a mild version of mourning.  I need to learn to let go and move on.  Sometimes I wish I wouldn't have had such a great time raising my family and didn't have sooo many wonderful memories because then it wouldn't be that hard to let go.  I was doing pretty well getting on with my life and starting new things until I decorated for Christmas and wondered "Who is here to even care about this?"  I know Savannah is still at home but she is so calm and quiet and, well, not six boisterous boys, that it feels like I'm done even though I'm really not.  I absolutely love having her here with me and wouldn't trade it for the world but it's very different from having the boys around.  So, I guess I am really mourning the death of the "boy mom" I used to be.  They all have someone else to take care of them now so I am really done being their #1 girl.  My saving grace is that I will always have Savannah.  She will be my best friend forever.  Not even a husband can completely take her away from me.  I also, thankfully, will always have Pat.  He's the only one who shares all of these memories with me.  I know he is adjusting to this new life way better than me but I'm pretty sure that is because he doesn't have raging hormones.  And, he didn't spend a fraction of the time I spent with these kids over the last 30 years.  I'm counting on him to get me through this, him and my Heavenly Father.  I have no idea if anyone reads this rambling mess but if anyone does, it's probably young marrieds, so here's a head's up of what might be in store for you in a few (O.K. more than a few) years.  Hopefully you get through it a little more gracefully than I am.  Good luck and Merry Christmas.

I - Love - My - Grandchildren

Christmas is for children and I'm so thankful that I have another generation of children to be excited for.  I love these little faces more than I thought possible.

And the Winner is....

Aleigh made it all pretty and wrote stuff on it for us.  I love my little condensed family so much:)

Another Tricky Area

So, on my journey into old age I am faced with another tricky decision.  Christmas card pictures.  I always love when others send me Christmas cards with family pictures in them but I am now at a stage where most of my family has their own family so they will be sending out their own family pictures.  Also, a lot of them aren't around to take a picture with us.  So, who do I put in the family picture?  My oldest son is living with us and not married but will he feel silly being in the picture with his youngest sibling and mom and dad?  Will he feel left out if he is not included since he won't be sending out any cards or pictures of his own?  It looks very bare to have just me, Pat and Savannah.  I'm used to having at least 9 people in our picture and usually a lot more.  The good thing is that we had a blast taking our pictures last night.  I brought in a ringer of a photographer to take them for us and she may or may not have photo-bombed a couple of them.  That's O.K. though because she will probably be in a few in the coming years :).  Here are a few that didn't make the cut but had us laughing pretty hard while creating them.