We are still without a heater, and it was still too cold to stay in our house, so we moved in with Chris’ parents for a few days.  It was hard on everyone, including my inlaws who couldn’t get anything ready for Christmas with the five of us (Jojo came too!) around.

Christmas was crazy as we picked up Chris’ sis, Katie, and her husband Jason and their baby, Joby from the airport. Tradition mandates that everyone stays in the same house on Christmas Eve, so it was a bit crowded with the nine of us. The kids had a ton of fun playing and drinking wassail/eggnog and eating every last bit of sugar on the snack table.  They finally settled down around 11 on Christmas Eve, and Santa went to work drinking wine, unboxing, and putting together the gifts.  As tradition would have it, bright and early we were up again, and the girls were crying because they were too tired to see what Santa brought them. They got a lot of nice things.  Trinity got a Puppy Grows and Knows your Name, crayons, a crawling My Little Pony, a boy baby doll, and a barking puppy dog stuffed animal.  Gracie got a Furberry, a cool electronic journal, some perfume, an identical crawling My Little Pony, a puppy stuffed animal, and some crayons too!  They got lots of games, puzzles, toys and clothes from all the relatives. Chris and I gave them American Girl dolls, that was their big and only gift from us!  Lots of things–enough to fill up the whole entire van (we took the middle seats out) and the back of the van too!  We are grateful for all the nice things the girls got this year.  We just wish we had enough room to keep it all!     

We went to my parents’ house for lunch and things were pretty laid back.  We opened presents first, and the girls got a Disney Princesses poster for their room, some refrigerator ABC’s, and a baby station/armoire for their dolls.  The girls played with that baby station all afternoon, they loved it!  We ate ham and some casseroles, and while they took Gracie to a movie, Trinity and I opted for a nap.   

We left my parents’ house around 9ish  and we were all craving food that wasn’t ham, so we went to the only place that was open, a Chinese Take Out place.  We didn’t want to take it back to the house, so we pulled into a church parking lot and all sat in the floorboard of the van (glad we took those middle seats out!) and ate Chinese food.  This is my favorite memory from this Christmas, as silly as it sounds.  It’s something we did together, and was fun, and was just us.  I treasure those things as a mommy.  I want more family traditions of our own soon! 

This morning, we loaded up the van with all the gifts and headed home.  The weather was nice today, sunny and warm, so we enjoyed being in our own house.  We are home now until the next freeze or until the heater gets fixed.  Let’s pray that part is en route, I don’t want to be homeless anymore!

I have already started dreaming about vacation for next Christmas.  Santa can find us on the beach somewhere enjoying our time together, sleeping late, and singing happy birthday to Jesus.  =)

Oh, and pictures are coming.  They aren’t uploaded.  Give me a break, I haven’t been home!!

We’re living at the inlaws’ house for awhile.  The part for the heater finally came after a month and a half of living in the cold with only space heaters.  Well, guess what, it was the wrong part.  So we’re back to square one. Ugh. 

Today I went on a field trip with Gracie to end the school semester and start Christmas break!  The principal, Mr Haws, donned a Santa hat and drove the bus full of Kindergartners and teachers/moms to an assisted living center where the kids caroled in the lobby.  It was soooo cute!  Gracie has always been a performer, so of course she had a blast, and all the old people really loved the show.  I enjoyed having this sense of "normalcy" that comes with doing things with Gracie’s class, getting compliments on my cute curly hair, and talking with moms of Gracie’s friends about clothes, our kids, and Christmas.  I loved every minute of it. I took pics but they’ll have to wait, the camera dock is at my house and well, we’re not. 

Then me and the girls went to Judy’s house for lunch and Christmas party preparations.  Judy is my boss at the Mother’s Day Out and she is a wonderful lady.  I loved getting to chat with her and Jeena, a mom of three who also works at the MDO with us.  Jeena’s oldest daughter, Maya, is one of Gracie’s best friends.  So the five kiddos had a blast chasing eachother through the huge house while we chatted and laughed.  Good times.  I needed that. 

Something new for all you Facebook users…log in on the left hand side and you can comment with your facebook name and password, so it’s much easier.  Cool huh?   

That’s all I have for now.  Hopefully I’ll be home soon so I can upload pictures!!

Let’s talk Christmas traditions.  We have a couple, which I’m big on blogging about so you’ll always know what ours are.  One, we make Christmas candy every year with the Moroz side.  The recipes are decades old and passed down from generation to generation.  There are no written instructions.  We cook, mix, pull and cut the candy the old fashioned way.  Cool, huh?

Another is the sleigh ride.  My inlaws have a nice neighborhood that sponsors this, and it’s free to anyone who lives in the neighborhood and their family.  So we make a reservation, bundle up, get in, and are pulled through the streets to look at Christmas lights in a 2 horse open sleigh.  I took pics, I thought you’d enjoy them!

While being pulled through the neighborhood, there is one house that we look for in particular.  It’s kind of hard to miss–see the pics and you’ll know why!  Candy Cane Castle is the coolest and most fun house of all!  The kids get to go up and pick a candy cane off the wreaths.  They love this!

And in my title I mentioned couponing.  This is a new hobby/obsession for me.  Now that the times are getting harder financially for most of America, and we’re trying to keep our heads above water, I have become very serious about my coupons!  You’ll think I’m nuts if you don’t use them, but maybe I can convince you.  I have told you before  I dabble in couponing, saving maybe $15 or so a grocery trip. But I have joined a forum to help me do more, and learn how to be a couponer extraordinaire!

I went to Homeland last night.  My budget was around $100-$120ish for the things I needed and to get us through the week.  I printed out and clipped the coupons I needed (and even some we didn’t) and headed out.  Homeland is more expensive on some items, but they double coupons up to a dollar.  This is HUGE.  It doesn’t seem like much, but if you have a coupon for say, 40 cents off, and the product is on sale for 1.20 you pay 40 cents TOTAL!!  So yeah, those little coupons are big too!  I couldn’t believe my savings.  I can’t remember exactly so I’ll go get my receipt…

Wait for it, wait for it….

Okay, I’m back. Here’s what the bottom of my receipt says:

Manf. coupon: 32.94

Bonus coupon: 16.80

One Card Savings: 34.86

Total Due: 99.95

Total savings: 84.60 (48% off)

Believe in the coupons! They work!

And now the pictures I promised you!

When Gracie was born, she was the most beautiful baby in the world.  Everything she did was adorable, and all our hopes and dreams were somehow wrapped up in that tiny little body.  We knew she wasn’t *really* perfect, nobody is.  But we hoped that maybe–just maybe– she was somehow more perfect than we were as children. Maybe she’d bypass the ADHD diagnosis that plagued her Daddy or somehow her personality would skip the worry gene that her Mommy fights.  I hoped she would have perfect teeth, so that she wouldn’t have to get braces one day.  Looking at that cute, giggly, squirmy infant, I vowed to never yell at her, never let her suffer, never make her do something she didn’t want to do.  I didn’t ever want her to hurt,  be sick, feel heartache, have difficulty learning something, be self conscious, or experience the frustration of life in general. 

In my sleepy-mommy, completely ignorant, fully optimistic new mother mind, I made a vow to be perfect so that she, in turn, would also be perfect, or at least lead a pretty perfect life.  Well, it was a valiant effort but we all know how that story goes. As parents, we are well-meaning but absolutely wrong when we make those kinds of promises. The hardest part of parenting is observing the learning process, not interfering, and letting them work through experiences that form them into the teens and adults they eventually become.  

Gracie had to get glasses last week.  Not only that, but she was also given a prescription to wear an eye patch for one hour each night.  The glasses seemed like they would be welcomed in the beginning, but the eye patch–I cried.  I cried because she cried.  At least she doesn’t have to wear it in public.  Her glasses need to be worn all the time. She is mortified to wear her glasses to school.  My poor baby!  Somehow I was hoping she would bypass those genes too, but she hasn’t.  She is bright, funny, caring, loving, and beautiful.  She has a sweet, tender heart and a huge imagination.  She has poor vision. 

 She is absolutely perfect to me, imperfections and all. 

Gracie, one day when you’re old enough to read this, I want you to know how brave I think you are.  It is hard to be different, my love, but you were never meant to act or look like everyone else.  Here’s a promise I can keep: I promise to see your glasses not as a reminder of imperfection, but as another way that God has distinguished you from the crowd.  You are unique and wonderful.  I will not interfere with God’s plan to build you into who He has called you to be.  My beautiful child, I love you. 

So until the braces, embarrassment over a dropped tray in the cafeteria, the first time she feels self conscious around a boy she likes, or her first traffic ticket, I will do my best to trust God that she (and I) will survive.