The Rounds Rock: December 2012

Saturday, December 22, 2012

T-Minus Teenager

The Boy. Smelliot. Smells. E. E-boy. Ee-oh-ut. He has many names but he will always be my special little guy. Surrounded by women, this boy is learning how to hold his own. Hard to believe we are in the countdown until he starts Jr. High AND becomes a teenager. I'm hoping to get in as many hugs, snuggles and face time before he officially morphs into a cave-troll...or whatever happens at the strike of midnight on his thirteenth birthday.

This year we celebrated at the nickle arcade. Elliott invited his friends from school and his cousins. I was home sick with bronchitis so Kris had to hold down the fort. He reported back to me that the kids were well behaved and also, that it was strange to see Elliott in his element--joking with friends, being loud, etc, because at home he's pretty quiet. The boys all had a great time. Elliott was in heaven because despite many "no way dude!" responses from me as he begged for the video game "Call Of Duty: Black Ops II", I caved and surprised him with the game. I guess that makes me officially the best/worst mom ever.

Happy birthday to my Smelliott. I'm glad you had a good day. LOVE YOU!

If someone can tell me how to switch the orientation on these photos, I will love you forever!

The crew

All the boys in his crew pass around the Barbie gift bag. We have it now so we have the honor of giving it to the next birthday boy in his group! Haha!

Had to sneak in a pic of miss Norah who had Aunt Lis all to her self!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Holiday Decorating

How is it December? Maybe my brain is having a hard time thinking about Christmas when the weather feels more like September! I can't remember the last time it was over 50 degrees in December. Alas, the year is coming to a close and it was time for me to break down and haul out all the Christmas decorations.

I've been feeling a little "bah humbug" this year. I think it's due to the fact that our "temporary" living conditions have become a little less "temporary" and a little more...well, it is what it is. Every year I pull out the Christmas decor and I think "This is it! The next time I pull these out I will be in my OWN HOUSE!" and here I am again, digging through an over-priced storage unit to track down my box full of stockings and ornaments, trying to decide which ones are "special" enough to bring back to the house because I know we won't have room for everything. Sucks.

I know, I know, I need to be thankful for a roof over my head and that my kids are healthy and that I have in-laws nice enough to let us crash their house for over two years...but it still doesn't stop the tears and the heartbreak during the Holidays from the sheer fact that I am stuck in purgatory.

Fortunately the kids still had a blast trimming the tree, even though I only had the emotional stability to put up the smaller, older, fake tree and only the stockings, none of the other decorations. We ate snacks, I baked cookies, and Norah helped me string popcorn and cranberries. Kris played DJ and dusted off our Christmas albums--Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, and Stevie Wonder were our background soundtrack while we reminiced about the ornaments and Christmas years past. Watching the kids faces and seeing how much fun they were having made me realize that I have been focusing on Christmas Future and I need to focus on Christmas Present. It sucks that we're not in our own place for the Holiday, but we've had many wonderful Christmas seasons and this one shouldn't be different. I need to quiet my negativity and try to make this Holiday special no matter what. My kids and my hubby deserve nothing less.

The tree is trimmed! Presents have been wrapped! Now we just need some snow...