Mama, I wanna Be A Rock Star

Music is a huge part of our family. My mom always sang in church, my dad has played the drums since he could walk. He has been in more bands then I can count. I grew up playing the piano and trumpet. I sang in the church and school choirs. Needless to say music speaks to my soul. I always wanted my kids to have the same passion for music I was raised with. My son wants to play the drums to be like my dad, and my daughter wants to be like Hannah Montana and play guitar.

Last Christmas they both received "starter" instruments; cheap, small versions of the more expensive counterparts they desired from my parents. The deal was take care of them for a year and practice, if they were still interested they would get an upgrade.

Boy, did my mom and dad deliver on their promise!

The little drummer boy rockin' out

There's my girl jammin' on her new guitar!

Thankfully we have a huge basement so the kids can play to their hearts content when ever they want to. I love hearing the sounds of their music flowing through my house :) It's what I always wanted. Lessons start next month and the kids are so excited! 

Anyone out there start playing guitar or drums at a young age and have any advice?

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

See, It IS Magical

Wow... just wow. 


What started as a wonderful, heart warming Sunday evening quickly changed into one of the scariest moments of my life. Let's start from the beginning: 


My beautiful munchkins were singing in the church Christmas program. It brought tears to my eyes to hear their sweet voices singing about that precious baby born in a manger.

As I was taking in the wonderful performance, my husband grabbed my hand and everything changed...


He said he felt weird, his heart was beating more than 130 bpm, his hands & jaw went numb...


We sat on the front steps of our church with ambulance lights twinkling on the stained glass windows as our children sang their hearts out inside, unaware of the fear and chaos just yards away from them...


*sigh*


As I sat in the ER wondering if my husband had suffered a heart attack my mind was racing. 
I can't lose him! 
Hope there's no permanent heart damage!
Will he be back to normal? 
Could we have prevented this?
What if....... 






It was a rough night. We found out he had arrhythmia (irregular heart rate) and it had just gone haywire. My husband has been a bad boy the last few years. He has a severe case of Sleep Apnea and is supposed to wear a CPAP machine to force oxygen in his lungs while he sleeps. He hasn't worn it for years. (Trust me, this housewife has nagged him to no end about this for a VERY long time) Also, he has very high Cholesterol and hadn't been taking his medicine. BAD HUBBY! Throw all this together with a weeks worth of not much sleep and a stressful time of year and you get to stay at the hospital thinking you are having a heart attack. The kids were in great hands with my parents and came to have meals with us in the hospital.

We are back home now, and very thankful for this "warning sign." My husband is committed to changing his future. He finally understands that taking care of him, is in fact taking care of us. We have started new eating and exercise habits. There is a lot of changes going on around our house, and many new things to learn. God has truly blessed us with open eyes and hearts that can heal. We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season. I think the kids and I will be hugging a special someone a little tighter from now on :)


Up next, the many, many, MANY ways to cook fish. Ha ha
(if you don't get this, wonderful! Those that live with, or know someone with heart problems will understand. You have to eat a LOT of fish!)




au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time... 

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Every body has that one movie, that one they HAVE TO watch every Christmas. For my husband it's "A Christmas Story" for my daughter it's "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" for my son it's "Home Alone." But for me it's always been Irving Berlins "White Christmas."

I love this movie. I remember as a kid getting in my Christmas jammies and curling up on the couch with my mom for a family movie night. We would sing along to every song. We would dream of snow falling on Christmas Eve and wishing we could spend the holidays in Vermont. 

We would laugh as we fast forwarded the "Choreography" number. (try it! they look funny in fast motion!) And we were touched when it all came together in the end. 

I love this movie so much that it was all I wanted to watch when I went into labor with my son, ha ha. IN MARCH! 

Needless to say, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney & Vera-Ellen have been apart of my life for a very long time :) 

I keep trying to shove my love for this movie onto my children... So far it's not working. They want to watch things with more action, more pizazz. I hope as they get older they will appreciate this classic as much as I do. Until then, I will force them to suffer through it to appease there ol' mom. Here's a great clip for your viewing pleasure:

(The funniest part of this great movie)

Now it's your turn! What is your favorite holiday movie?

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

The Christmas Tree & Its Ornaments

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,

How lovely are your branches!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,

How lovely are your branches!

In beauty green will always grow

Through summer sun and winter snow.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

How lovely are your branches!

A beautifully lit tree looks so good in a home at Christmas! Of all the decorations I put around my home, the tree is by far my favorite :) Each and every ornament tells a story; my babies hand prints, our first home, the past & present, Santa's fame...

I have a few favorite ones I would like to share with you:

This pretty unicorn was given to me as a baby from my grandmother. Every time I unwrap it it reminds me of Christmas mornings at her home growing up, moments I treasure so much. 

These beautiful gold ornaments my other grandmother gave me over the years. Now that she has passed (on Christmas) It helps me know that she is still with us in spirit. 

Nothing beats ornaments made by your kids! A few years ago my munchkins made these at a pottery store. I love looking at their scribbled paint strokes & remember when they were smaller. 

This was given to me by my great aunt & uncle just after my husband and I were married. It's fun to think of all the holidays him & I have shared and the many more that are a head of us. 

This concludes a trip around my Christmas tree. What are some of your most favorite holiday decorations? 

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

It's That Time of Year Again!!

I love the Christmas season. The house looks so warm & cozy decorated with red, green and gold all over. The kids are on their best behavior anticipating Santa's arrival. Oh and the smells! sugar cookies, festive candles, chimney's burning firewood, gingerbread houses, and the chill in the air. 

What is your favorite part of this magical time of year? 

I will admit I have one thing that I don't enjoy... The crowded malls and shops! My goodness, people can be vicious out there. This makes me get my Christmas shopping done early so as to avoid the crazy people that come out of the woodwork, ha ha. 

Have a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Thankful...

The other day my mom was sharing with me about a song that has truly touched her. Thankful by Josh Groban. So, I of course had to hear this amazing song. It is such a beautiful song that reminds me there IS so much to be thankful for...

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each others light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

On this holiday season, remember to look around you and smile. We live in a busy world, slow down and hug those around you.
Merry Christmas everyone.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

What's The Deal-io?!

Someone up above is truly looking out for us. Today our house here in Arizona went into escrow. That's right, you heard me! We sold our home in under 30 days!! The price was a little low, but it is still workable.

A few weeks ago I flew back east to look for a rental property for our family... It was a disaster. There wasn't a single home suitable to rent anywhere, I was pretty stressed out. While I was there I looked at a few homes for sale just cause they looked interesting online. Well, I fell in love with one (go figure.)

Since we didn't have the ability to buy the home while we were still trying to sell the home in Arizona my parents bought it for us!! The deal is once we sell this place and get on our feet we will buy it back from them. HOW COOL ARE THEY?!

It has been an emotional roller coaster, but I am proud to say we are blessed beyond words. OK people here it is, our home in South Carolina:


It's a Log Cabin! It is so cute, I wish I could have you all come over once we get moved in and have a party :) We are so excited. My son can't wait to go fishing (there's a creek that runs on our property) and my daughter is super thrilled to be living in a "Lincoln log home."

I can't wait to get there and take a huge sigh of relief. This move/home are here for the long haul. We are DONE.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me. Now comes moving day count down... We shove outta here December 17th, which means we will make it to our new place by Christmas Eve.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

From my Home to Yours... (or is it "from my computer to your computer"?) I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

Ta Ta for now

The Gingerbread House That Could

Last weekend we went to a cute little tree lighting party in our new neighborhood. The kids had a blast. There was a gingerbread house making station and my munchkins went straight there.

_

After these lovely homes were made there was a catastrophe... The mini-munchkins house fell apart. Now normally this would have been no big deal, but we are talking about my very dramatic little girl here. This small issue turned into a HUGE meltdown: screaming, tears, red-faced crying. Needless to say, no one wanted to talk to the "new people" with the crazy child and frantic mother!

A few days after this event we came across a kit for making spectacular ginger bread houses at the local grocery store. I decided to get it and hopefully put that cute smile back on my mini-munchkins face. This kit was AMAZING!! If you all remember, I am culinarily challenged, and look what I was able to make!

It's a miricle I tell ya. and it didn't even collapse *shocking* Yay for us!

_

The kids had such a good time "helping mommy" make the ginger bread house. And by helping I mean eating all the candy that went astray and licking frosting off of every possible surface in the kitchen :) I think they are going to be sticky for a week!

I just love Christmas, and I think making gingerbread houses will be a tradition we do every year, now that we found a way to make everyone enjoy it.

Ta Ta for now

A Geeky Christmas

As you know, every now and then my inner geek shows herself... This is one of those times :) I ran across these super fun Christmas cards yesterday and HAD to share them with you. Here are a few of my favorites:

This one if hard to read, it says "Oh, I am SO Blogging about this."

(LOVE IT!)

I had Christmas cards... before the move happened, now I fear they are somewhere in the depths of the box filled garage. It was just a photo card of my little family, nothing fancy. Maybe since mine are lost, I'll send one of these, ha ha.

Do you have your Christmas cards ready yet? Do you send cards? Are you one of those people who send a nice lengthy newsletter about the past year?

Ta Ta for now