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So we’re at the mall yesterday doing the after Christmas re-shopping. Why do people think that the anchor stores of the mall (Sears, Elder-Beerman, JC Penney, etc.) are providing courtesy strollers for your ENTIRE mall shopping experience? Come on!!! If Sears wanted you to take their stroller to the other end of the mall, it wouldn’t have “SEARS” silkscreened all over it in 3-inch letters. For that matter, it also would NOT say “Please do not remove from the store.” I know you people can read! So go to WalMart and drop the $9.97 on your own umbrella stroller.

I know you’ve seen this before, so this is nothing new. However, I saw it turned up a notch yesterday. I’m in one of the mall seating areas with the kids waiting for mom to finish up in a store that didn’t need three wild ones running loose. Then some lady (I’m guessing around 45) comes by with her husband, 3 teenage daughters AND A SHOPPING CART FROM OLD NAVY WITH ALL OF HER MALL PURCHASES! Come on lady…don’t you think Old Navy meant for you to use the cart for your shopping convenience…IN OLD NAVY!!??? These people need to get a grip. I wanted to go up and say, “Excuse me, Old Navy undercover security, you need to return the cart to the store please.” I think I would have lost some credibility with the 3 kids in tow.

If that ain’t enough, I’m always seeing people from the Meijer (that’s like a Super WalMart to those that ain’t from around here) walking their groceries to the apartment complex a mile away in a Meijer shopping cart. All right people, buy a wagon, a car or buy less groceries so that you can carry your toilet paper home in your hands. I wonder how many shopping carts are dead on the side of the apartment parking lot??? Am I the only one that thinks this kind of activity is abnormal?

J

I have been stuck in the house for 3 days (and in the hospital for the day before that). Yesterday, Joey wondered what this White Christmas stuff was all about? Just means we get stuck in our house all day! Today I finally got out for a little day-after-Christmas-shopping. Didn’t need anything except a little time to myself.

Driving around was amazing! White everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like this. Snow drifts so tall that you can’t see the other cars in the parking lot or even the other stores in the stripmall! Snow piled up everywhere - you don’t see this in Texas. I decided this was a beautiful blessing from God. So wonderful was this (annoying to some) white stuff that I can now see why Bing was Dreamin’ of a White One. We have had a great 3 days of family fun together -just us all hanging out (oh and some great fun with friends that are close by). Since this Mommy is such a busy-body and always likes to be on-the-go, I don’t think we would have had as fun of a Christmas if the Lord hadn’t blessed us with a little (ok, a lot of) snow!

~S

This morning:

2am - Carter awakes crying b/c his bandage has fallen down to his neck. He pulled it back up and it snagged on a stitched and ripped it out. Ouch that had to hurt, poor guy.

2:15am - 3:30am Carter lays awake in our bed talking about Santa and all the presents he will be getting.

6:00am - Ethan comes into our room wanting to go downstairs. We tell him to go back to bed until the 1st sevens.

6:45am - Ethan is back and we go for the stockings!!

7:00am - We head downstairs and Carter says “Do you know what I really want for Christmas? A new brother, a new baby. Ethan never plays with me.” Uh, ya, I think he’s got that one backwards….

~S

OKAY, this head wrap is TERRIBLE. What was this guy thinking? Did he realize he was putting this thing on a 5 year old boy? By mid-day this wrap was pretty much hanging to his neck and the packing they had placed in his ear to keep its shape (very important that it stays there) has already come out. In comes super Dad! Mr. Perfectionist cuts off the old wrap and puts on a new-better-than-ever wrap that is sure to stay in place until we go to the doctor next week. (A picture of this better headwrap can be seen in the family album).

We did get our first glance at the ear. Not sure what to think right now - still swollen and very pink. Plus all the stitches get in the way of the final result. I’m sure it will only start to look better from here!

~S

Today is the big day to repair Carter’s little folded ear. It’s a big day for us - a day we have been anticipating since he was born. Carter’s ear didn’t finish forming while in the womb so now we will depend on a plastic surgeon to help finish that process for him.

Our “report time” is 8:45 am for a 10:45 am surgery. No food past midnight. We wake up to yucky/snowy weather and pray that the doctor & the babysitter will be able to brave the bad conditions. Both make it to their desired destinations and we, too, make our way to the hospital.

As these things usually go for our family, the surgery is delayed by 3hrs and Carter doesn’t go back until 1:30. Amazingly he only asked for food 1 time! Also wanted to know why we didn’t feed him breakfast! What a trooper. Although I would never recommend surgery for anyone’s children, I do wish we could all get a little shot of that neon pink medicine they get just before being wheeled back. This little cup contains a seditive that would help any mother of 3 (or more) on a crazy day! I think they do it just to make you laugh with your child before he is taken back to the unknown. It kind of keeps you from worrying for just a few minutes. Carter became VERY laid back (not like him at all) and started to slur his speech while saying things like “If you touch me again I am going to color your whole face with this crayon”. Everything was funny and strangely enough, he could color in the lines perfectly on this drug. He may need that in kindergarten next year…

The surgery took right at 2 hrs like they had thought. Before Carter went back he asked us to pray for him while he was in surgery and we did that right away. Mom crocheted 2 scarves and Dad watched a 1978 Dallas cowboys game on ESPN while trying to forget about what little Carter was going through. Just like that, he was back in the room - very asleep - with his head all wrapped up in bandages. We left the hospital at around 6pm and Carter was pretty much out of it for the rest of the night. He did have a little pain just before going to bed (pain killers wearing off?) but slept through the night just great!

We are so thankful to God for keeping Carter safe in His hands for this procedure. Praise God - He is good!!

~S

“Who Dey!” is the Bengals cheesy attempt at a catch phrase. They should know it won’t stick…just look at the Saints with their “Who Dat!” saying. Catch phrases only work for teams capable of winning. Anyway, I’m not really a Bengals fan, but some of the guys I work with have season tickets. Since we are on our Christmas break, only one of the guys could go. They asked me if I wanted the other ticket. Of course I immediately said “Yes” (and then asked permission at home later).

I had already been to a Bengals game this year to see the Cowboys play. Unfortunately, the Cowboys DIDN’T play and the Bengals won by a landslide. Anyway, I was excited to go to another game. Weather reports earlier this week were calling for 39 degrees and rain/snow. However, each day that we got closer to Sunday, the forecast got colder and colder.

Finally Sunday came. It snowed Saturday night and was still snowing Sunday morning when we headed out to church. The roads were a little iffy, but not too bad. After church, I went to pick the other guy up for the game. The sun came out and the roads were pretty much dry at this point. We made it to Cincinnati and cruised around downtown for a little while to find a parking place. The garages I wanted to park in were full and we finally settled on a $5 unmonitored lot. The temperature? - a crisp 18 degrees. Did I mention the wind was blowing about 20 mph?

We were freezing, but excited about going to one of “those cold games” you see on TV. The excitement was pretty short lived though. We got to our seats (endzone with the north wind breathing down our necks). We’re two minutes into the game and it’s going slow. We pause the action after the first punt for the dreaded “TV timeout.” Of course, after being at commercial for what seemed like forever, we come back only to have the Bills challenge whether or not the Bengals had 12 men on the field. Are you kidding me??? Is that even a challengeable call?? Off to another commercial. Come back - hey! guess what? The Bengals only had 11 men on the field. Hello!! And so the entire first half goes. It took almost 2 hours for the first half alone!!!! We’re going to be here all day!

Bills are up 21-10 I think. Bengals backup quarterback is in for the day…his only touchdown pass is to the Bills Defense. It’s getting close to the end of the second quarter and a lot of people are heading down the stairs. I’m guessing they’re headed for some warmth and food. Finally - halftime! My entire body is numb, but have to go to the bathroom nonetheless. I have to stand in line to get in - is this the line to the women’s restroom? No, it’s not…finally, I’m in. There’s about 200 guys in there, 100 of which are smoking. There’s only 10 guys using the can. Everyone else is looking for a place to warm up.

OK - out of the restroom…need some hot chocolate. Fortunately, they have hot chocolate (in the souvenir cup) for the unbelievable low price of $6. I don’t care…it’s freezing out. My buddy gets a pretzel. We head back up for the second half, which has already started. Apparently, the people we saw exiting the stands kept going…they never came back. We get up the stairs and look at our seats. There’s about 40 people left in the entire section - 15 of them are right around our seats, and they’re all Bills fans. I didn’t care…I’m not a Bengals fan either and thought I might get on TV being next to these guys. They’re giving all the local Buffalo cheers. Later in the quarter, the only people left in our section are us, the Bills fans and a couple of die hard Bengals fans a couple rows down. The banter between the two groups is entertaining and fairly clean. I’m doing much better…laughing at the Bills/Bengals fans making fun of each other and the hot chocolate is doing wonders. The scalded tongue is a small price to pay. My buddy ate half of his pretzel before it froze solid and he couldn’t eat it anymore. I look around…there’s a cemetery of half-filled beer cups frozen solid hanging on the backs of the chairs. There’s also fudgesicles on the ground, the result of spilled hot chocolate that froze on contact. End of quarter three - I need more hot chocolate.

Fourth quarter. We’re not leaving now! We’re going to stick it out with the other 900 people left. This quarter is going pretty quick - I guess the players are getting cold too. Uh oh…die hard Bengals fan decides to take off everything but his pants to try and get on TV. OK - that lasted about 5 minutes. He came to his senses and puts the clothes back on. The blistering pace of the 4th quarter slowed down around the 2 minute warning when the Bengals take a time out to try and save some time on the clock. I mean, they’re only down 17 points with 2 minutes left…they could pull it out. No, really. They finally give up and the game’s over.

Back to the truck. I’m halfway home before I can feel my face. The sun went down and the temperature is dropping. I drop off the other guy and pull up to the house with the old Ford thermometer saying it’s a cool 9 degrees. The temperature drops to 3.8 degrees before it’s all said and done. BRRRRR! I can now say I’ve been to one of “the cold games” but I’m not sure I’d do it again. What are the Green Bay fans thinking??

Been getting lots of Christmas cards and I am loving every minute of these letters and pictures. I love reading about the lives of old friends and seeing how familes have grown through the year. It is also making me feel a little melancholy tonight. I feel a sadness for old friendships - people we used to spend night after night with and now hardly talk. I still love them dearly, but there is distance. Sometimes I hate the military. I mean I never would have met these friends if it weren’t for moving around, but the pain of having to leave is a bummer! I am also sad for friendships that could have been better had we stuck around a little longer. You know how it goes in the military - it seems your friends change each year as old ones PCS and new ones come into your life. There are so many families that I know could have shared so much with us if only we (or they) hadn’t had to move. Finally I feel a sadness for current friends. I feel a sickness in my stomach knowing that soon the day will come when we will move again and have to say goodbye to another set of “loved ones”. That old familiar feeling of “when will we see you again?”, knowing that it will be a long time. Each move also seems to put another separation between past friends and we grow farther apart as new relationships in new locations are formed. The Lord has truly blessed us with wonderful friends throughout the years and know He will continue that blessing, but did I mention that I hate the military sometimes?

Physically this was NOT the weekend for me. My body has taken a beating due to my clumsiness this weekend (no I am not pregnant - I’ll spare you all the silly stories, though) and it culminated with a big fall down the stairs Sunday morning. Oh, did I mention I was holding Molly?? My foot got caught in my long skirt and we were tripping and heading down the stairs head first (no railing to grab onto b/c she was in the arm on the side of the railing). I did the Mommy thing and threw my body backwards with all the force I could muster and landed on my butt - HARD. Then bumped down about 5 more steps - screaming the whole way. Did I mention our stairs are very steep and very NOT carpeted. So I’m crying and Joey comes running to get Molly (she was fine - super Mom!!) I actually considered not going to church but did finally get up and begin the hobble to our Sunday morning worship. I was a picture of pitiful as I slowly walked around church.