I have been exceedingly quiet of late. Thank goodness I have a wonderful blogging partner who picks up the slack when I slide into the abyss.

Our Christmas was lovely. Now that Santa no longer stops at our house I was able to focus more on quality as opposed to quantity in terms of what wound up under the tree. The result was two very happy children and even some shrieks of delight.

And, as this was the first year since we’ve had children (with the exception of a few times that Gamer Dude broke the agreement) that my hubby and I officially exchanged gifts it was fun for me as well. Especially as we had agreed on not only a budget, but on trying to get each other a bunch of small gifts instead of one larger one.

The following day was Miss Artistic’s birthday. Since we had already agreed that her “gift” was to go shopping for some new clothes there was little for her to open but we did enjoy both a trip to the movies to see Avatar and dinner out on Mr Grumpy.

The week that followed however left much to be desired. It was filled instead with little but irrational teenage temper tantrums, a horrible 4 days of telemarketing, and a resulting bad case of heartsickness by yours truly.

I am hoping that we can look forward to a better 2010. I have goals for myself, for my household, for my future. I am hoping that I am able to make some true progress toward them in the weeks and months ahead.

May each of you be blessed beyond your greatest hopes and dreams

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:Christmas, depression, holidays, teenager, Xmas

Today I am grateful for getting over the last remnants of my recent upper respiratory infection to be completely well in time for the holidays.

Today I am grateful for a truly happy holiday weekend with no moments of angst and a house filled with laughter.

Today I am grateful for everyone in my home being so spoiled, not just in terms of the financial aspect of gift-giving, but in terms of everyone getting things they wanted and needed.

Today I am grateful for a wonderful visit from my dear friend “M” (who will be referred to as Drama henceforth). Drama has been coming to out house for Christmas for about 5 years now, and as it is generally the only time we see her each year it is always a true gift to simply be in her company.

Today I am grateful that the new year is upon us. While it still boggles my mind that it will soon be 2010, I a grateful for a new year with no mistakes in it yet, and the opportunities it grants for fresh starts and new beginnings.

May you and yours be blessed

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:Christmas, family, holidays, Xmas

This year our family has started a new tradition, making a donation to the World Vision Organization.  We sat down with the catalog that came in the mail of possible gifts to donate and my daughter narrowed down a few selections she thought would make the best choices within our budget – chickens, fishing gear, medicine, and clean water.   Together we decided to donate:

•  fishing gear (provides an impoverished family with the means to put food on the table),
• two chickens (which will provide eggs, and since they are easy to breed can multiply and provide food to share and potential income), and
• 3 ducks (provide eggs and multiply, but have the additional bonus of being able to survive in a flood; 1000’s of families in Bangladesh have lost their food and livelihood because of torrential rains that kill their chickens so World Vision is helping to switch to duck farming).

Since I will have more time to plan and save for next year I hope to be able to afford a larger donation for Yule 2010 (perhaps we will be able to donate enough for a cow, or a donkey, or a goat along with some medicine and clean water).

Knowing that our donation will make a real difference in someone’s life and seeing the smile on my daughter’s face is priceless.   I look forward to sharing this tradition with her for many, many years.

If you are interested in making a donation, there is a lot to choose from in a variety of price ranges. For example – it only costs $12 to donate 2 ducks or $25 for 2 chickens and provide a continuous source of food for a family, or $50 to help stock a school; $100 for a small business loan for a woman; medicine for $35 (provides $390 worth), and much more to chose from.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the Yule holidays.

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:charity, Christmas, holidays, Yule

Today I am grateful for getting a good deal accomplished in terms of de-cluttering in preparation for company the next two weekends and Christmas the weekend after (which will include company as well).

Today I am grateful that two of my dearest friends “E” and “M” will be among my visitors and am looking forward to their company and their friendship.

Today I am grateful for getting all my cooking done for the week ahead. My Indian dish came out really yummy, my stew was to die for (but then it did have a whole bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon in it), we haven’t tried the jerk chicken, but unfortunately the chicken with Chinese vegetables only got rave reviews from 1 out of the 5 os us and probably wont be made again.

Today I am grateful that while both Princess Nature and myself are apparantly coming down with some kind of upper respiratory bug neither of us is truly ill either which means odds are good we’ll be healthy in time for Saturday’s “tree trimming” party.

Today I am grateful that while Miss Artistic is still having problems with her depression, with oppositional defiant issues, and with schoolwork, overall she is happier now than she was a year ago, two, or even three. Hopefully, there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if I can’t see if just yet.

Today I am grateful for a house being filled a little at a time with holiday decorations. Granted my house is not bedecked with twinkling lights as I would like to see, but things are starting to look a bit festive all the same.

Wishing you and yours happy holidays!

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:Christmas, holidays, preparation, Xmas

Today marks the first day of the last “lazy weekend” until after New Year’s.  The only thing that absolutely must be done is to drop off the kids at individual sleep-overs (one being for a birthday party) and to drive by the Mall and pick up jewelry I had dropped off to be re-sized.

Granted, there are other things I SHOULD be doing.  I should get some things done in terms of cleaning and organization as I would still like to see Miss Artistic in her own room by Yule.  I should clean my bathrooms.  I should start packing away some Thanksgiving food into the freezer. I should try and organize the mass of paper that came from dismantling Gamer Dude’s desk and moving its contents onto and around the desk in our bedroom.

I should do some more holiday shopping (as well as pick up a birthday gift for the Elder who will be 15 the day after Xmas).  I should think about starting the wrapping.  I should start the cards as well.

Because, while Christmas is still about 4 weeks away there is really not all that much time left to get it all done.  In two weeks the family will be coming over for our semi-annual “tree trimming” party and in three weeks our friend “E” will be coming up for our own holiday visit and cookie baking marathon.

This leaves me less time than I might otherwise have to do everything that needs doing, especially as I will still be working my usual hours and running the kids back and forth to Tae Kwon Do.

But, it will all work out.  It always does.  Every year I work myself up into a fine panic and every year Xmas morning dawns and I have managed to get everything done.

So, ignore the craziness and stress-inspired rantings that I’m sure will be appearing here over the next couple of weeks and enjoy your own holiday season to the utmost.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:Christmas, holiday shopping, holidays, stress, Xmas

Hope every one had an awesome holiday and a safe and happy New Year. 

Yesterday was my first day back to work (ugh!) after a big long break that started Dec. 20th.  All those days off makes me sure I could get used to being happily retired – hopefully only 8 more years.

Christmas was awesome at our house – went a little overboard on presents for Angelgirl, but we decided to get the wii that was on her list but make it a family gift.  So under the tree we had some gifts from Santa and from mom & dad for her, but hidden behind the couch was a stack of wrapped gifts from Santa that included the wii, an organizing bag for all the wii stuff and games, as well as 2 games for Angelgirl and 2 games for Teacherman (which were a surprise for him since he didn’t know I had gotten them).  So expense wise this was a bigger Christmas then usual.   (We know she doesn’t really belive in Santa any more – but she plays along to make mom and dad happy.)

Angelgirl got the new Ivy American Girl doll, lots of Webkinz stuff (clothing items for the stuffed animals, bookmarks, charms), some baking items (she loves to bake cupcakes and cakes), some books and clothing, and various other little items.

I got Teacherman some gifts he really liked this year (couple of books, the new Springstein cd, a bunch of scratch off lottery tickets (he won $32 dollars).  One gift I got just to be silly ended up being his favorite – a snowglobe with the NYC Giants stadium inside.   He really really loved it, and since the stadium isn’t going to be used after next year and will eventually be torn down it was a very sentimental gift for him (I was thrilled he liked it so much cause I had no clue about the stadium, I just knew he liked the Giants.)

I got a few surprises too – a soft pink bathrobe, an mp3 player, a Pirates of the Carribean clock (very cool), a fairy calendar (lovely), and a gift certificate for Lord & Taylor’s.   Teacherman said he asked all the ladies where he works what store would be good for me to shop at and they all said Lord & Taylor’s.  Well the ladies at work don’t know me – I’m more of a Walmart type person, I just want comfy clothes I don’t have to worry about.   But I was very touched by his generosity and he said he got it because of how proud he is of me losing so much weight (over 90 lbs so far).   

I have mixed feelings about clothes shopping no matter what the circumstances, besides being uncomfortable in a store like Lord & Taylor’s (I don’t even own an outfit that I could wear to shop in there), I also don’t like spending a lot of money of clothes.  Plus I plan on losing a lot more weight (another 55 or more lbs – hopefully) and it’s going to take a year or longer (probably more like 2 or 3 years at the slow rate I lose it) – so it’s hard for me to justify spending a big amount of money on clothing that won’t fit me later on.   But I’m working up to going shopping and will wait for Lord & Taylor to have a BIG sale.

Xmas day with the family was nice, with the annual choas but without the usual tensions (which was a very pleasant change).    We arrived about 1 pm and spent a few hours there.  My mom didn’t finish wrapping gifts until 5 p.m. (as usual) so it got very hectic handing out tons of gifts to everyone  (14 of us all together, plus pets too). Dinner wasn’t going to be ready until about 7 pm or later, but we decided to leave about 6 p.m. – Angelgirl was getting hungry and tired, and anxious to be home to play with her new games and gifts, as well as being bored out of her mind- all her cousins were busy off on their own with their ds games and other things so she had no one to play or talk to all that time except the 2 year old.

Friday after Xmas my good friend B. came over – she loved the blanket I had made her and the we also got her a coffee mug with Angelgirl’s school photo on it. 

The Saturday after Xmas we went into NY to see the Radio City Xmas show – I had only seen it once before about 30 years ago and it was Teacherman and Angelgirl’s first time seeing it.  It was a lot of fun, and since it was a 9 a.m. show, we got home by midafternoon and had the rest of the day to relax.  Sunday late afternoon we had tickets to see the Disney Jingle Jam with AJ and Ally (it was held locally only 15 minutes away) – we had extra tickets so Angelgirl got to invite two of her friends to come along.  The girls all had a great time. 

New Year’s day we made our traditional trip to Bridgewater mall where we got our traditional piece of chocolate from Godiva and browsed the shops and had lunch at the food court.

This weekend I am looking forward to visiting Mama Kelly and seeing my god daughters Miss Artistic and Princess Nibbles.   I get to celebrate the girl’s birthdays and xmas all at the same time since I don’t usually see them on their birthdays (Princess Nibbles is in Oct. and Miss Artistic is Dec. 26) – I always make sure to get separate gifts for the occasions so the two events don’t get bunched together because birthdays are too special to just be combined with another holiday.

I’m keeping my New Year’s resolutions simple this year and not gonig to stress over it.  The main one is pay off the credit card and build up the savings – this one will be easy.  The next is organizing my house – which has been on my list of resolutions since we moved here (6 years ago) – I’m not even going to try and get it all done, but I’ll be happy if I can just make some progress and get a couple rooms done this year.  The third resolution is to continue getting healthy – which means losing some more weight, but the main focus this year is going to be increasing exercise.  With my arthirtis that is difficult because of the pain, plus I’m a slug at heart – but I’m going to do my best.  After losing over 90 lbs, I’ve hit a wall since June 07  and I need to do something to start losing again.  Besides I took 3 day off over the holidays and gained 18.5 lbs – so it will take at least 6 months or longer to lose that and then to get back to losing the rest of the weight.  But I’m  not giving up, I’m going to just eat healthy and do more exercise regardless of what the scale says.

Since Xmas, I’m still crocheting – I finished a poncho for my niece for her birthday Jan 7, and half way finished a nice small shawl (not sure what I’m doing with this one yet) and have a few other ideas for things I’d like to crochet (I got six books from ebay with lots of cool patterns for ponchos, shawls and blankets).  I also ordered a kit to learn how to bead crochet (my last indulgence on spending until the credit card is paid off!).   I have made some notes on ideas for writing too.  So I’m looking forward to a creative year.

So that sums up my holidays and the New Year is off to a great start. 

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:family, holidays, new year

Good morning everyone and a belated Happy New Year.

It has been a few months since I’ve posted — but life was very hectic around the holidays, work has been just awful for the past few months (so not much time to log on for a quick post), and what little time I have to blog I have been mainly posting over on my other blog (Diet Pulpit).

Our holiday was great — we even went back to Williamsburg for a four day vacation after Christmas. It was a lot of fun and we got to do things we hadn’t done before when we went in the summer.

The first half of this year is going to be consumed with prepations for my daughter’s 11th birthday in May — theme: Harry Potter. The plans have been in the works several months already as well as ordering decorations and other needed items. My husband and I decided that it was time to rent a hall for this party — it is going to be just TOO big for our house (we have 23 kids invited with at least 10 or 12 adults to help out). I rented a fire house that is just down the street from our house for only $350, it has a big commercial kitchen and an ice machine too. This is much cheaper then renting a tent, along with the tables and chairs (over $600) if we had it at the house.

Here is an outline of my plans so far:

Students will arrive at 1 p.m., they will be greeted by a friendly witch who will give them a bag of wizard coins, a shopping bag and name tag. They will then proceed to Diagon Alley (several tables decorated like shops) for their school supplies – a Hogwarts Magic Book (42 pages of material I put together from the web and clip art), wand (make from chop sticks and wooden beads), cauldron with potion supplies (kits from Spangler Science to make a rainbow in a tube), and a pet – Pigmy Puff (puff balls with google eyes glued on). Then on to magical face painting and tattoos. Next a copy of the Daily Prophet (which I put together) along with contest entry forms to fill out for door prize drawings at the end of the day.

Next will be snacks at the Three Broomsticks Inn — definitely pumpkin juice, butterbeer, gillywater and cherry soda, along with pumpkin pastries, and a few other snacks.

Then we will have the sorting hat ceremony, and the students will move to the four house tables set up for their classes (History of Magic, Divination, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Herbology, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures). I’ll post what is planned for each of the classes once all the plans are finalized later on.

After class will be a Wizard Tournament. I had to find some games we could play inside (since my original plan was to have it in my back yard). I found at Oriental Trading – a ghost dart board (toss velco balls at ghost target), a pumpkin bean bag toss, wooden painted stars with ring toss (can have them make a wish on magical stars when they score). The final activity will be a Snitch relay race (while riding brooms, balancing snitches on long spoons students will have a relay race passing snitches to each team member).

Students will earn house points for class work, good manners, and the activites — the students in the winning house will get a gold trophy on a chain (also from Oriental Trading).

After all the activites the students will visit Honeydukes Sweetshop for a big sampler bag of Harry Potter candy (ordered from Amazon – bertie bott beans, chocolate frogs, cockroach clusters, fizzing whizbees, and acid pops), as well as free samples of fudge, coconut ice and a few other treats (that I’ll make at home). Ending with the cake (a HUGE castle to look like Hogwarts), and announcing the winners of the door prizes (there will be four winners that recieve a dragon statue (found at the dollar store) and a Harry Potter goodie bag — but everyone will also recieve as a second prize the goodie bag with a Harry Potter pencil, stickers and a few other goodies inside – so no one will feel left out).

What is also nice about all the party plans and stuff I’m buying for it — most of it can be used again for smaller parties for close friends who are also fans to celebrate when the last book comes out and when the movies are released. So I did spend a bit more then I would normally spend for decorations and big displays (like a misting dragon bowl, two HUGE cauldrons, Gryffondor Sword, etc.) — but the items I splurged on are can be used for other Harry Potter parties (and some even for future Halloween parties), and some are collectibles (and as a fan I really enjoy them).

There a million details and only 19 more weekends to get it all done in!!! Which means I will be very very busy — but also very happy and totally enjoying myself. I love putting together a big event like this, and I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan – so this is like heaven for me (a bit stressful too, but definitely worth it!).

I’ll post the menu, class information and more details as the plans get finalized and keep you posted on my progress.

Magically yours, Lady Rose

Update: See all the plans Best Ever Harry Party Birthday Party.

Written by Lady RoseTags:harry potter, holidays, party planning