Seinfeld, anyone?

Usually my life is pretty ordinary, and I try fairly hard to make it funny...until this past weekend.

After we opened presents on Christmas morning, we headed over to Kirk and Amanda's for a leisurely day of Wii playing and eating. Amanda fixed a "real" Christmas meal...you know, the kind grown-ups make. It was delicious. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, but when you don't have family nearby, your friends really do become your family. They are ours, and we love them.

We loaded up on Friday and made a quick trip to Searcy for Christmas with my family. I always joke that when we all get together (18 in total) it's the equivalent of me X 1,000 (super scary, right?) It's SO loud. Sometimes I seriously leave there with a sore throat because I have to scream for anyone to hear me. My poor mother.

Sunday was a crazy day. I sang at both services at church and then headed north to Bella Vista to sing at a wedding. The bride, Candice, is the little sister of my lifelong friend, Julie. I've known Candice since she was a toddler. (Wow, that makes me sound WAY old.)

It was really just family, plus a few other guests. Most everyone there was either in the wedding party or had some sort of job. I was no exception; not only was I singing, but I was also running the sound system. I must say that it was the first time I've ever pressed play, grabbed a mic, adjusted the mic volume, changed the CD volume, and sang ALL at the same time. WHEW! BTW, that glass chapel has amazing acoustics. I'll sing there again any day.

Perhaps the funniest part of the entire event was the fact that they were already married. The person that married them couldn't come to the ceremony on Sunday, so he married them on Saturday. They got a stand-in for Sunday, an actor if you will.

He was actually a friend of Julie's, who did an amazing job. I was just about ready to start confessing my sins to him before I realized that he was just an attorney. He wore a nice suit, spoke with a soft voice, and carried around this official looking black folder. SO funny. He turned out to be the city attorney of Elm Springs, so instead of seeking spiritual counseling, Ken unloaded all of his city complaints with this unsuspecting guy before he knew what hit him. I couldn't help but laugh. It was all so much like a Seinfeld episode.

Ken lucked out of the groomsmen/usher/greeter/door opener job and settled to be the videographer. He was more than thrilled. :)

Candice looked beautiful, and her husband seems like a great guy.



The boys and me...

My sweet husband who didn't complain once that I was dragging to a wedding of someone he really didn't know. What a guy.

After the wedding, we headed to the reception at Julie's house in East Fayetteville. While we were there, Julie gave both Levi and Benjamin blue jay Webkinz for Christmas. Levi named his blue jay "Peckers." I've never seen Ken laugh so hard.

Oh yes, and on the way home, Levi threw-up on the side of the road.

And the saga continues...

I need a Silent Night

Amy Grant stole my idea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSSsNbF29I

Anyway, that's exactly how I feel. Good job, Amy.

What a crazy weekend. Benjamin had his Christmas Play with his preschool on Friday night. As always with Mr. Benj, I was worried that he would even wear the clothes and the special hat they had made for everyone. It's the unknown that is hard for him, so we've been talking about it for weeks...about how we were going to get dressed in our special clothes, go on stage with everyone, and sing our songs.

Doesn't he look handsome?


He did super. I was so proud of him. Every time we have a victory like this, I'm reminded of how far we've come in a year and a half of HARD work. He's worth every bit of it, and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat if I had to.

The Cub Scout party was at our house on Saturday afternoon. We had 32 people in here, so it was a bit crowded, but overall went really well. Levi still loves Cub Scouts.

Yesterday was the Christmas pageant at church. Levi sang a song with his friend Gretchen that seriously made me cry for 45 minutes straight. I don't think I've ever been so proud of him. For two 8-year-olds, those kids can downright SING!


My grandfather, whom we called Daddy Bill, used to lead music at his little Methodist church (the one without the indoor bathroom I've talked about before.) I couldn't help but think how proud he would have been of Levi last night. He loved to sing. He sang, whistled, or hummed all the time, kinda like I do. He died when I was in the 6th grade, but I could feel his presence with me last night. I still miss him.

Tonight is the Tyson Christmas party at my house. Am I the party hosting fool this year or what? Tonight we should have 30+ people, and I must admit even Ken is freaking out a bit. It's so funny watching him make a grocery list and plan for something like this. He's doing a good job.

This afternoon is Benjamin's wellness check-up and to make sure he still needs speech therapy. Well, he obviously does, but we have to go anyway. We've been talking about that for at least two weeks, so I think it will go smoothly.

This is likely my last post before Christmas, so MERRY CHRISTMAS to you!

Ah, Christmas Memories

I've been saying for years now that instead of shopping nonstop for weeks, pulling an all night gift wrapping session, and stressing out until I make myself vomit, that I would really, REALLY, like to take a trip...a mini vacation, if you will. I don't care where I go, and I really don't care who goes with me. If you want to go, come on...let's go.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. I really do. I love to stay up late on Christmas Eve, and I absolutely love to see the kids' faces as they wake up the next morning. It really is one of my favorite parts of being a parent. It takes me back to 1981...

So, bam. I'm 6. We lived in a REALLY small, 2-bedroom house (OK, single-wide trailer) and there were 6 of us total. It was cozy, as we all say now in our era of HGTV. I shared a twin bunk bed with my little brother. For Ken's sake, let me stop here and reinforce that I was SIX, not 21. This story grosses him out beyond belief.

Anyway (stay with me, Ken) it's Christmas Eve. I would be so anxious for Santa to come that I'd kick Dustin out of bed numerous times throughout the night to go "check" to see if Santa had come yet. He'd come back every time and sleepily say, "Heather, he hasn't come yet." Great, I'd think to myself. This is gonna take a while.

I would, of course, and to Dustin's relief, eventually go to sleep only to wake up the next morning to a Christmas wonderland. I'm still not sure how my mom did it. We obviously didn't have a lot of money but she somehow transformed our field-cut evergreen from a barren pile of cedar sticks into a colorful, present filled oasis with a magical glowing presence. I would just stand there, awe struck for a few minutes, and soak it all in. How in the world did Santa manage to get all of these beautifully wrapped boxes under our tree without me hearing anything? After all, we didn't even have a chimney.

Those truly are some of my favorite childhood memories. And not a Christmas Eve goes by that I don't call my brother on Christmas Eve and ask him to "check" on Santa. I'm sure he hates it now that he's 29, but he's not getting rid of me any time soon. Ah, Christmas memories.

But now that I'm older it's not near as much fun. We buy for A LOT of people...cousins, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, aunts, uncles...good gosh it's just exhausting. I love them all, but we are ALL hard pressed to know what to buy. So, for me, when I ask someone to email me direct links to specific things their kids want, or when Ken makes me a bullet pointed list of all the pros and cons of the latest and greatest GPS systems, it just takes something away from the overall Christmas experience.

So, let's take a trip I say. Come and go with me. Or better yet, let's just give all the money that we would have spent on the trip on the 9 foster kids that I've been shopping for the last couple of weeks. That's what I really want to do. REALLY. I mean, I would have adopted one of these kids already if Ken would let me. Her name is Heather...she's 13, loves the movie "Bring It On" and wants a hair straightener as one of her gifts. Is this child the spawn of me or what? Her name is HEATHER, for crying out loud.

But for now, I'll keep shopping, I'll press on with the gift wrapping, and I'll try to control my need to be sick. I won't take a trip this year, as I would obviously be going alone at this point. But if anyone changes their mind for next year, you know where to find me :)