A Joyful 2014 Christmas

Truth be told, the beginning of December was anything but joyful for us.  We hoped this Christmas to be able to share the blessing of another "small Paul",  but it would not be the case.  As sad as I was with our loss, I was determined to not let sadness taint what should be the happiest time of the year.  And y'all know when I'm determined about something that is in my control, I do everything I can to do it!!  That included praying for peace, recognizing we will be just fine, and being thankful for the blessing of Emerson and Cameron.  But I was not alone, my dear sweet family and friends contributed to making this a still VERY joyful Christmas time through their support, prayers and time together!

• Our elf, Joy, returned at the beginning of December to help keep watch over the kids and report to Santa how they were doing.  They were thrilled to see Joy and tried to be on their best behavior!  Atleast some of the time and when this was not the case, we would remind them she was watching.  :)

• Early in the month we enjoyed going to birthday parties for kids of two dear friends...  Nora's 4th birthday and Baines' 1st birthday.  Both parties were really fun for the kids and great for us... so nice to see people who love you and enjoy the time together.  

• We took the kids to see Santa at the Galleria one morning.  It went so smoothly this time and I was so glad.  Both kids were talking about seeing Santa and what they would ask for when they talked to him.  Cam told us he wanted a "chop-choo train" and Emerson wanted an Elsa dress and "power shoes".  One day the way the kids were talking in the backseat as we were driving  and Emerson was commenting that Cameron was going to cry when he sat on Santa's lap, to which he replied that no, he would not cry.  It cracked us up to listen to them.  So when it came time to sit on Santa's lap both of them talked to him first and let him help them onto his lap.  It was magical to see!  No tears, just a precious moment where they were both looking up to Santa to share their wishes.  I was proud of both of them for being brave and not being scared.  :)

• My family watched the kids so Frank and I enjoyed a wonderful date night Christmas shopping and a delicious steak dinner at Dee Lincoln's, a new steakhouse in Plano.  It was darn good steak!!

• Our friends Tracy and Homero had a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party that was one for the books!  They had amazing food, delicious drinks and desserts and had the absolute craziest and unique gift exchange and game we have ever seen.  I won't try to describe it fully here, but just know you likely could hear the laughter and yelling from the street.  Fantastic party...

• Justin and Alyssa came over to build a gingerbread house one night... half the candy was eaten it seemed or rolling on the floor at times, but the kids loved it!

• We took the kids to see the Trains at Northpark for the first time since Cameron has become absolutely enthralled with them.  Both kids were in awe... it was really neat to see.  I think my dad would really love it as well, so maybe next year we will go together.  

• I have recently joined the Mom-to-Mom group at the church and am getting to know those ladies and they are so genuine and welcoming.  At our meetings we share what is happening in our lives and get feedback, we pray and have fellowship.  It has been nice to get to know them.  I especially enjoyed the Christmas party that was one Sunday evening.  We had a gift exchange that created a lot of laughter!!

• Some friends came over one evening for a girl's night and we had Italian food and enjoyed wine as we laughed and talked about our lives.  I know I needed that time and it meant so much to me.  

• The kids were having so much fun in school with all of the Christmas projects.  Before school let out they had a performance where they sang Christmas carols that was so precious.  I just loved it.  

The weekend before Christmas we went to Austin for the big Paul Family Christmas and had a really wonderful weekend.  Santa came to the party as well to hand out gifts.  Both kids were apprehensive at first, but then warmed up to that Santa.  It was a fun night visiting with family, even though I was a bit cranky because Cameron was having lots of temper tantrums!  Oh that little boy was testing me!  :)  Glenn and Sarah came in the next day and we enjoyed a quick visit with them as well.  That night we watched The Griswold Family Christmas, which is always a guaranteed fun night.  That movie never gets old!  We were all rolling with laughter and were indeed the "jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nut-house!"  :)

On Christmas Eve we were busy baking cookies for Santa and to take to CC and PaulPaul's.  We had fun making a little bit of a mess and everyone helped!  Frank especially helped by mixing the Gingerbread cookies so we could make gingerbread men.  That evening we went to the Christmas Eve family service at the church.  It was interactive for the kids and they enjoyed feeling like part of it.  That night we gave them their first Christmas Eve box that contained special Christmas pajamas, a light up Christmas tree wand, and a little toy truck.  They were so excited.  We got the cookies and milk ready, read the Night Before Christmas and off to bed they went.  :)

On Christmas Day the kids had to be woken up by Frank as I waited with the camera since they were sleeping so late!  They were very excited to see what Santa brought!!  They explored everything Santa lovingly placed out for them and just really started digging in!  We gave them a little time to enjoy that as we finished last minute loading of the car to head to Duncanville.  I had gotten up earlier to make chocolate covered strawberries, dip some marshmallows (thanks for my awesome friend, Laura, I was addicted to those things!), and some white chocolate covered amaretto soaked cherries.  Yes, that's right... they are de-lish and I am also addicted to those.  :)  Once we arrived we enjoyed the chaos that is having two young kids, four dogs and eight adults... it was wonderful!  We laughed at the dogs as they were crazy barking, playing and chasing each other.  There were so many gifts to exchange and open and that was so fun... the kids are very loved, and spoiled! :)  They got some really fun stuff.  Of course, the best gift ever was from CC and was an Elsa dress that lit up and played "Let it Go".  To Emerson that meant THE WORLD.  Goodness, she literally could not take it off and not stop playing the song.  It was a riot because she would push it and my older brother, Johnnie, would whisper under his breath in great frustration, "I HATE that song" as he had a scowl on his face.  We must have heard the whole scene 25 times in just one day and that may be too conservative of a guess! My mom ordered that gift for Emerson in the summer time knowing it would arrive just in time for Christmas and it was such a hit for Emerson, and still is.  She asks pretty much every day if she can wear her Elsa dress.

On the morning after Christmas I unfortunately broke my pinky toe as I was hurrying to try to get to Reese because I didn't want her to wake the kids, and as I made the turn from the bedroom my foot slammed into the dresser/table in the hall and it HURT LIKE HELL... I whisper yelled an expletive as I bent over in agony for a few seconds.  Once I recovered from the initial blunt pain I hobbled down the stairs realizing something was not right with my toe.  I asked my sister to get Frank and then I cautiously took off my sock, which I was afraid to do fearing what I would see, and found my poor chubby pinky toe completely sticking out horizontally rather than in line.  I think my eyes almost popped out of my head for a second as it was sinking in that my toe was pretty messed up.  So Frank took me to the ER clinic and they temporarily fixed me up with pain shots, buddy taped the toe and gave me a prescription with the advise to get in to a podiatrist ASAP.  We returned home and as I propped my foot up and got some rest my mom, dad and sister went after Christmas shopping for me!  They found us a tree and nutcracker, the two things I had on my list!  And that afternoon since my foot was still numb I joined them to go to Target and later Kohls.  :)  At Target I actually rode on one of those little motorized carts, and that was fun.  As my sister said jokingly, you can't keep a good shopper down.  ;)

We returned home on the 27th and Dorthy came up that night and we did our exchange with her.  And thankfully, she helped put up Christmas decorations while I tried to keep my foot up and not to over do things after my appointment at the podiatrist.  It's all ok... just temporary and I am getting better at doing stuff with the boot.  Its a love/hate relationship, as they say.  I am hopeful my toe is a "super toe" and heals faster than the average.  **Fingers crossed!**  :)

As all of the decorations have been put away, mostly, here is one last picture of my favorite room while it was decorated.