Christmas with the gals...

My two dearest friends and I went out for our annual Christmas gift exchange that usually falls somewhere mid-January. We took along little Jack-a-mack for all of the excitement. We always have a wonderful time as we share un-Mommy moments together. It is not uncommon to see us sitting so long that restaurants are closing around us before we move out to the van. Then our conversations continue in driveways as we drop eachother off. One such event almost esfixiated us when we forgot to turn off the motor. I love these gals. They are the sweetest friends a girl could ask for. Excellent examples of "iron sharpeneth iron." I love our times away together.

My gifts were tremendous and thoughtful. Stacey bought me a beautiful table runner and handmade an adorable snowman ornament clothed in some precious keepsakes. A finger off of her favorite pair of worn gloves dons this snowman's head and a special keepsake scrap of fabric that reminds her of her grandmaother was made into his little scarf. Christin bought me this schmancy stamper that interchanges borders and phrases in a circle pattern. It is such a cool little tool and I can't wait to put it to use. She also picked out a darling silver reindeer ornament. We unknowingly all gave ornaments as part of our gifts this year. Are we in sync or what! I will try to remember to take pics of the other gifts soon.

Maybe it is too cold...

-9. Yep that's what the temperature is as I type. Now that's outside of course. My fingertips are yet to be convinced as to how warm it is inside our home.
I am beginning to think that it truly is too cold, though. I have had to clean up two bathroom "accidents" and two wet beds from my completely potty-trained, ever so wonderful daughters. All in a two day span. It must be "just-that-cold!"

Random Tuesday...

So in an attempt to appease my few followers, I have decided to put random musings from my week into one blog. Random Tuesdays. Calla is off of school on Tuesdays and I tend to have a little extra time to myself while the girls play. Here we go.

The girls have reached an age where they enjoy playing together. It makes for wonderful mornings, or afternoons, or whenever I need a little time to finish something.
January is movie overload in our house. The kids and I are indoors so often that I tend to let up on the "one video a day" rule. Amelia only sits through short videos anyway. She sure does LOVE her "Little People with helping hands..." The Aaron Neville theme song sung throughout the videos is enough to send me to a loony bin. Like incessant nails on a chalkboard kind of grating, ya know...
Calla is back to school. Her last day before Christmas Break was canceled due to snow, so they were able to have their Christmas Gift exchange this past Friday. Her teacher has a great method for the gift exchange. The kids earn a gift for a classmate by completing a "chore" drawn from a hat. They get to pick the gift from a treasure chest and wrap it in a brown paper bag. They are to decorate the bag to their liking and bring it back for the exchange. Some teachers are so ingenious. They then had a pizza party. Then sledding. She had a great day. Her bounty was a set of glitter pens. They have yet to be opened.
I am on week two of Weight Watchers. It is long overdue. I am determined to lose a pound a week by Christmas. I find it to be like a fun game of cards. I have two points...what can you give me for two points...Anyone. Anyone?
My dear hubby is on week two of his new job. We are praising the Lord for His provision. And I do believe Cory is enjoying himself. Things are much more professional and it will take some getting used to. I think the hardest adjustment is the lack of open internet access. He barely checks his email. For those of you who know Cory, this is a withdrawal process to be sure.

There it is. My past week in a blog. I feel there is much to be said and have intentions of writing, but alas, the time eludes me. No worries, though. Spectacular events will still receive there due blog entries.

A Leathley Christmas...

My mom's family is great fun. We had a wonderful time during our Christmas trip 2008. We surprised my mom and drove over on Christmas Day instead of waiting until the next morning. ..."Who is that man waiving at me from that white van parked oh-so-close to my car?"... Our time was taking up down to the minute. Fun all around. Lots of family laughs and stories. We even surprised our former pastor at his new church on Sunday. We stopped by a friend's house for dinner. We shockingly found ourselves at an outlet mall most of Monday. All culminating in an exhausting exhilarating trip to Chuck E. Cheese. I love Christmastime in Michigan. And I love coming home when it's all over, too.

Have you ever?

Have you ever tried to put a red crayon through the dryer with your laundry load of lights only to find large red splotches all over your clothes? We did today. Not on purpose, of course, but we did nonetheless. It also created an artwork of color in our dryer barrel. Like looking into a kaleidoscope.
Lots of goo gone. Oxyclean. Soaking and soaking and soaking. Most of our clothes are salvageable. We were thankful that this load was almost all pajamas or socks. Crayon is much worse than chapstick. Burts Bees or cherry!

White Chocolate Macadamia Choas...

I had a victim friend come over yesterday to help me with my share of our latest fundraiser. We are making homemade cookie dough by the quart to fill orders collected last week. My selected dough was the white chocolate macadamia nut. 29 quarts! An afternoon of dual kitchenaid stand mixers humming along. Lots of chatter from the 5 children. Lots of laughing from the two barely sane mommies. Two semi-used 25 lb bags of flour. Stacks of egg cartons. Boxes of white chocolate chips. A large Tupperware bowl FULL of macadamia nuts. Bag after bag of brown sugar. Box after box of butter. A newly revived appreciation for sticks of Crisco as opposed to the bottomless tub we used. Four hours later, we were cleaning up the mess and staring at the towers of finished product! It was a long day, but so enjoyable. I love my dear friend. And I love being done with large projects!

Silent reminders...

On the ride home from dropping Calla off at school, I told Amelia I loved her. She responded, "I love you, too, Momma. I'n not be naughty for you today, K?" I teared up. I know she means to be good, but her curiosity almost always wins out.
My own conscience was also pricked. Her response - I will obey because I love you - reminded me of how often I do not obey the Lord even though I say I love Him. Shouldn't my love for Him drive me to a desire for obedience? And I too often fail. Because my flesh wins out all too frequently. Too tired. Too frustrated. Too emotional. But just like me and my little two-year-old blessing, God is willing to forgive me and love me just the same.
So will I fail today? Yup. Will Amelia act naughty? Yup. But we are both thankful for love. And paper towels.