Catching up from 2011

We had a great ending to 2011:

October:  We had the priviledge of "babysitting" for a CCS foster mom who had to go to work.  Oh, my...I have found my calling!  I went to CCS and picked "Melissa" up & brought her home.  I must admit, I was a little sad driving away, thinking, this baby has nobody (yet); she has no idea who I am or if I will take good care of her?  Made me thankful for my family.  Of course, Honey came over to meet her.  We fed her, changed her, loved her and basically just stared at her. Once I picked the girls up, they were thrilled! Of course they named her "Hello Kitty"!  They held her, fed her, changed her diaper, they even put her in their doll stroller - did I mention she was only 4 pounds?  MJ said, "Mama, where did she come from, Covenant Care"?  I answered, "Yes"!  She then said, "Oh, where you pay and get stuff like people"?  We made need to work on that answer a little, ha!  So thankful my girls had this opportunity at such a young age and we look forward to babysitting again.  Yes, I did get to see "Melissa" meet her parents for the first time...that was a very special adoption ceremony for me to attend.  So blessed to be involved with CCS - thank you, Lord for giving me the opportunity!

November:  We celebrated MJ's 3rd Birthday with breakfast at BK that also included a donut cake.  Her friends came in their pj's & even Honey wore her pj's!  We also celebrated with her 3K class at FPD & enjoyed a birthday dinner at El Sombrero with Honey, Papa & Unlce P - they came out & sang to mj & me & put sombreros on our head!

Cha-Cha told the girls that they have Cherokee blood and that they are part Indian princess (Doc's great grandmother was an indian princess).  A few weeks later, we were at FPD riding bikes on the track & LG crashed into the fence.  Her knee was bleeding and she would not stop crying.  Eventually she started saying, "I don't want to bleed anymore because I don't want to lose my Indian blood...I'm not going to be part Indian princess anymore"...she was devasted!  We explained to her that she still had the same amount of Indian blood that she originally did and that when she bleeds it not just the "cherokee" blood that comes out.  Love children's minds...

We have a new cleaning team!  Mrs. Jackie, Christopher & Ty.  (Now that MJ in school 3 days a week Mary was just cleaning for us (not keeping MJ), but, sent me a text saying she would no longer be able to clean because of her health).  Mrs. Jackie saw that our washer & dryer was old (um, yes, 16 years old in December - wedding gift from Carol & Mike!) & said she had a newer set that a client gave her & she didn't need it & wanted to know if we would like to have it?!?  Are you kidding?  YES & thank you!  What do I owe you?  Nothing...just pay us to install it.  Okay, deal!  After they installed it I asked what I owed & she said "nothing", it was there gift to us!  She told us to pay it forward...we have and will continue.  WOW...thank you, Lord!

Thanksgiving was delicious...we went to Honey & Papa's and stayed ALL day, eating, talking, girls played, eating some more, just enjoyed great family fellowship!

December:  We celebrated LG's 8th Birthday by surprising her with a trip (moms & kids; M-W) to Lake Oconee & the Gunns met us there!  We made a scavenger hunt for LG the morning we left & the last clue was in my car telling her to pack her bags!  She was thrilled and ran through the house...so cute!  Once we arrived, it was so sweet to see the kids reunite.  They hadn't seen each other since the Gunns moved to NC in August.  J & I had an absolute ball catching up!  We woke up on the 21st & celebrated by having a cookie cake for breakfast. Once back to Macon, we celebrated with a birthday dinner at LG's favorite...Moes!  Honey, Papa & Uncle P joined in the fun. Finally once school was back in session, we celebrated her birthday with her class in January!

I learned this month that I need to REALLY pay attention when I'm backing out of the garage (or anywhere for that matter).  I told CW I would take the girls to school (he normally takes them, so nice!) & we were running behind.  CW had exercised that morning & didn't pull all the way into the garage.  As I was pulling out, not looking behind me, of course, afterall, who looks behind them when they're backing up?!? I completely side-swiped CW's car. The 3 of us heard this horrific sound, & LG said, "Mama, I think you just hit Daddy's car"?  I rolled down her window & asked her to check it out..."Yep, you definitely hit it & it does NOT look good".  By this point CW had come out of the garage door looking in horror.  He said, "I KNEW I should have come out here & told you to watch out for my car!  I was sitting in our room having my QT & every fiber in my being was telling me to get up & tell you to watch out for my car; then I heard a REALLY loud sound & knew what had happened"!  He was of course disaapointed, but, was so kind in how he handled the situation.  He even blamed himself for not pulling all the way into the garage.  Seriously? It was completely my fault.  Just another reason why I love CW appreciate him being my rock.  On the way to school, LG sweetly said, "Mama, I think I have enough white paint to cover your car, but, I don't think I have enough silver to fix daddy's".  I love you, LG.

We celebrated Jesus' birthday by waking up & cleaning the house - yes, I'm serious!  The house was a wreck & CW took everything out of the living room, etc. & asked the girls to put it up & clean their rooms and THEN we celebrated Christmas.  Santa's reindeer had left a little mess from their reindeer food on the floor leading to the fireplace.  CW thought the girls had made the mess & almost blew a gasket.  I had to tell him that the reindeer made that mess!  Love you, CW.  CW made hot chocolate, we turned on Christmas music, opened gifts & enjoyed the morning. Santa did leave a note that we need to be on the look out for the perfect dog for our family since LG & MJ are dying for one!  We then headed to Honey & Papa's (Uncle P, too) for a delicious steak lunch and more celebrating & relaxing! We ended the day by celebrating at Cha-Cha & Doc's with Daddy's family. 

New Year's Eve we took the girls to Shogun for dinner at 5:30.  They loved watching them cook our food, but, didn't really eat it, ha!  We were in bed by 8:30...Happy New Year!