Christmas Frenzy

Christmas Sunday! How the heck did it sneak up on me SO fast??? hehe :)

I woke up at around 8am, but didn't actually get out of bed until around 8:30am. You know, I LOVE afternoon church. hehe. I wasn't crazy about it when the kids were younger, but now that I have kids who sleep in and wake up and "fend for themselves", it's wonderful. hehe.

The kids were watching a church movie, playing with the dog. He'd already been fed, and been outside a few times. Yeah, he was gonna work out just fine! No problems during the night with him. He just slept in the living room, then upstairs outside of the boys' rooms.

We hung out most of the morning, just relaxing. Boxer got taken on a few walks, we had lunch, and eventually got ready for church. It's quite a process to get 5 kids ready for church, you know. We started at around 11am, cycling kids through the shower/bath. Eme, Tom, and Jake took shower, while Joe and Jim took baths. Everyone was clean and sparkly for church - ha!

We got to church in time to get our good row, too! I was a little nervous about leaving the dog home by himself, but I figured he'd be ok. As of yet, he hadn't gotten into anything.

So off we went :) Here's a pic of me singing "Silent Night" along with Brad Paisley.

And yes, you should be jealous - hehe. It got up to 68 today, and was sunny and beautiful. No jacket for me, even! Gotta love El Paso weather :)

Red satiny shirt from Savers - $0.99. Black skirt from Savers - $0.99. Big chunky belt from Fallas (came with a long shirt) - $2.00. All jewelry from Jewelry box - $1.00 a piece. Red fancy shoes from Goodwill - $3.99. Not too bad for my Christmas Sunday outfit, huh? hehe.

Church was very nice. After Sacrament, they did a Christmas program. Lots of Choir songs, and solos, and the Primary kids sang a few songs, and the story of the birth of Christ. I really enjoyed it. And the kids were mostly well behaved. I counted up the weeks, and there's only 3 more Sundays left with Captain America, at the most. Hmpf! Not so cool :( So I tried to make the most of the time we had today....

After Sacrament meeting, Captain America and I wanted to get some pictures of the two of us. Especially since he was leaving soon... So we had Jake take a few pictures of us before he went off to Sunday school.











Captain America and I went to the truck to eat our afternoon snack (because food timing is very important, you know...) of crackers, apples, and Diet Dr Pepper, then came back inside. As we were walking back in, we passed the bishop, and he stopped to talk to us. I thought we were gonna get in "trouble" for skipping Sunday School (hehe). But he said that the 16-17 yr old teacher hadn't showed up today, and they needed a teacher. That one of the girls in the class was leading a discussion about Luke 2, but that they needed some "guidance". So he asked if we'd sit in there and crowd control. Sounded perfect to us!

So we joined the class, and it only took about 10 minutes before Captain America had moved his chair to the front of the classroom, and was leading the discussion. The girl looked relieved, and it was a very nice class. We even finished the class by playing a game of "telephone". hehe. See, even the big kids like to play games :)

After the class, we caught up with Jacob in the hall, and he shared his M&M's from his class with us. Well, with Captain America. He offered for me, but I didn't want any. Then Captain America and Jake headed to Priesthood class, and I headed to Relief Society.

It was a WONDERFUL lesson today. All about the process of Repentance. We learned about the 6 things that you need to do to truly repent. Repentance is the way provided for us to become free from our sins and receive forgiveness from them.

1. We must recognize our sins.
2. We must feel sorrow for our sins.
3. We must forsake our sins.
4. We must confess our sins.
5. We must make restitution.
6. We must forgive others.
7. We must keep the commandments of God.

It was a very nice discussion about how the process of repentance is a very freeing and liberating process. And you know what, I can attest that it truly is :)

After church, we gathered up the kids, and headed home. Boxer was SO happy to see us. No pee or poop in the house, and everything was as we'd left it, minus the garbage can being knocked over. If that's the worse that happens, that's not too bad, huh?

Here's a picture that Captain America snapped of me before the jammies were put back on. hehe. Don't you all wear jammies on Sunday after church too? ha!


We had bought a turkey cooker not too long ago, and felt that today was the day to use it. So after we'd all changed, Captain America and I set to work assembling it. And it took about 30 minutes to get it built, then we read the part that talked about "seasoning" the pan. Nice. Well, maybe we wouldn't cook the turkey in it today - hehe. Oh well, at least it was assembled.

So I put he turkey in the oven (just because turkey is good), and I decided it was time for a nap. I was SUPER sleepy. I left the kids watching a movie, and Captain America and I took a nap.

I woke up around 5:30pm, and came out and made dinner. Yeah, the turkey wasn't gonna be done in time to eat it for dinner, but it would be around for leftovers for the next few day :) Anyway, I made spaghetti for the kids and a turkey burger with veggies for myself. And I must admit, I did eat WAY to much of Jake's popcorn. See, his teacher at church had brought gifts for each of the kids. And Jake got one of those big tins of popcorn. And the caramel corn was DIVINE. I eventually made him hide it form me - LOL!

At around 8:30pm, Captain America started working on the shelves again. Kids were watching something or another on TV, dog was being played with inside and outside and taken for walks and generally entertaining the kids, and I was doing laundry. Yeah, it's non stop in our house. But I hadn't done any in a while, so it was SUPER backed up. I only had about 8 more loads to go until it was ALL done :)

Here's a few pics of Captain America and Tom working on the shelves in the garage. Boxer and I came to check it out.






At one point, Jim had given Boxer a stuffed animal to play with, and it was the cutest thing. He was licking it and giving it loves. hehe. Too cute :) Wasn't that nice of Jimmy to share his toys with the dog? hehe.

It was a late night for everyone. Eme wasn't feeling good, so after getting some cold medicine, she went to bed around 9pm. Joe and Jim fell asleep on the couch by 10pm, and Jake and Tom are still helping their dad in the garage, and it's almost midnight. I'm trying to get this blog tied up so I can go to bed. I'm feeling sleepy. Not as sleepy as if I hadn't napped, though :) hehe. Oh yeah, and I don't think I'm gonna let Joe and Jim fall asleep on the couch anymore. Joe was SO heavy when I carried him to his room. But I managed ok. Jim? Yeah, I looped one arm under a leg, and the other under his armpit, and kinda carried/dragged him to his room. I only weigh 135lbs, and Jim is 70 lbs. Yeah, he was WAY to heavy for me to carry him at a dead weight. hehe.

I'm not sure what the day holds for us tomorrow. I know that Captain America wanted to go to the West side to the Outlet malls and get new running shoes. And if we're going that direction on a Monday, it IS Savers sale day.... hehe.

We still need to talk to Santa about stocking stuffers, but I think that's all we still have to do. Oh wait, we drew names, and have to get presents for each other..... Maybe we'll go and do that tomorrow. One of these days, we're gonna just sit home and do nothing. Well, maybe not. I think we'd all just fall asleep if we did that - hehe :)

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Sharon, my dear, I don't know how you do it! You're fantastic :)