the good, the bad and the what do I do now?

so after feeling like I was shot in the stomach yesterday morning, I had to take off to Austin. the lovely thing about being in La Grange and driving a Toyota is.......there's no Toyota dealership. And since, for some reason, we bought an extended warranty, we hoped....no prayed....that this lovely malfunction with the drivers seat would be covered.

so the good news was that the 1100 dollars of work would be covered under the warranty but the bad news was that my car wouldn't be ready until Wednesday. thankfully Kreg was able to get a rental.

since I was in Austin, Justin was able to pick up Hunter and take him to my dad who was off due to Veteran's Day. Hunter and Popo had a really good time together. And the good news is that Popo taught him how to ride his bike! Woo-Hoo! FINALLY!

But the bad news is my other son.........and what to do with him, I'm not sure. so...over a month ago we had the whole episode of me losing my keys at my parents house. till this day, we've never found them and can't explain what happened. we've all been at a loss. then my dad goes to start his tractor yesterday and his key is gone. we all remember that Jayden was the last one on the tractor playing around. I also cleaned his room last week and found a secret stash of keys that were missing off of our "key hook." the kid has been obsessed with keys in the past couple of months. so dad wants me to talk to Jay about where the tractor key is. we pretty much now figure that he's got a secret stash at my parents house and for the life of all of us, we can't figure out where it is. so I spend the better part of last night trying to talk to Jay.........and I can't get anything out of him. I've tried explaining how bad everyone needs their keys back. I tell him we aren't going to be mad. I try to bribe him with a reward. And I just sit and talk to him about the keys. Let's face it folks, I'm up against a brick wall here and I'm at a huge loss. ADVICE? HELP? ANYONE?

After the pain I endured yesterday morning, and not wanting to feel like I've been shot again, my doc. and I have decided to hold off on the laparoscopy this Friday. I just hope that this pain goes away by then.

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week. Kreg and I have been trying to put some serious thought into Christmas. We really want to consider going away again. I know lots of people ridicule us for that, but I think we both really enjoyed being away from Christmas and actually being able to enjoy Christmas. That totally makes no sense huh? The focus of Christmas these days seems to be nothing but presents, everyone having to out do the next person, who got what and so on. And that's SO NOT what I learned Christmas was about and what I really don't want my kids thinking Christmas is. Yes, last Christmas had it's ups and downs but what we remember the most about it, is that it was all about the kids and family. Christmas was about being away, and spending time with each other. We made the gift giving all about the kids and santa. On Christmas Eve, there was no "Let's open presents. PRESENTS, PRESENTS, PRESENTS." It was all about going to church as a family and coming home to spend time as a family playing monopoly all night long. We laughed and fought and cheated but enjoyed ourselves. Christmas morning was all about seeing the joy on the kids faces of Santa coming. Then the guys settled into the football game and the girls spent time preparing the Christmas meal. The boys got to enjoy time playing with their new toys. We all enjoyed time outside feeding the deer and then playing in the snow and snow tubing. It was nice and relaxing.....which is what Christmas should be. It's how I want my kids to treat Christmas. My memories of Christmas as a child were spending Christmas Eve at Meme's house. All 20 of us running around outside playing Ghost in the Graveyard and Hide & Seek. It would take forever to actually round all of us up for Santa. And once they did, we all sat around the Charlie Brown Christmas tree filled with ornaments with our names on them and sang Christmas carols. Santa would bring us a little gift and we each got a gift from Meme. The whole present fiasco was over in 2 minutes and we were all out the door again to play. Christmas was about ALL of us being together and having fun. The boys are growing up so fast. Memories are being made as we speak. I want the kids to think of Christmas as a celebration of being together and having fun....laughing, playing games, being outdoors, eating yummy food......not a celebration of presents.

so......I will get off my soapbox now........I need a pain killer.