Every year seems to go by faster and faster than the one before. This one was a blur. Big events and interesting challenges have come our way this year.
Lee Joe did come home. He made it home a good week and a half before Christmas. He had thought there would be more work for him here at home but was told he needed to go file unemployment. Nothing ever goes smoothly around here. At least that has been the case for all of 2011. So he did. He got some days at home, had time to fix his car and work a smidge on mine, then looked into Amber's car and there was some bad news there. When Kelsea overheated Amber's car in October, she drove it too long in that condition and it needs a major repair now or a new engine. Lee Joe was not sure what he was going to do for work. But he made some calls and one of the calls he made had him going to work within hours of the call. From 6pm to 6am. That was two days of work before Christmas. But since he has been working 80 or more hours for months now, he was not ready but went. Then on Thrursday evening they told him they wanted him to head out of town for 3 weeks, Monday after Christmas. Then he was really beside himself. He didn't want to go but after talking to them at length he said he would. So this is the Monday after Christmas and he has left to drive truck to Montana and then to Utah back and forth until they decide to send him home again. That will mean he will miss the 4th birthday for this year-Hannah says he wasn't there for her birthday last year either. And another holiday-unless he manages to be in Utah for New Years and I decide the drive to Utah. We have to see if it will be something I can manage and see if the weather cooperates.
The girls wanted footy pjs. So funny.
As far as Christmas goes, Lee Joe was home. Amber is not, we are trying to figure out how these things work. But it worked well enough. We had Amber and Ryan over in the evening of Christmas Eve. They came back on Christmas Day until they went to his parents house. The girls were so fun Christmas Eve night. All the girls wanted footy pajamas which cracks me up since they all wanted them and they are 18, 15,13 and 9. I don't usually do the Christmas PJ thing, but we did this year. They were so funny.
Kelsea got her Harry Potter movie. Triumph!
Kelsea wanted a few specific things for Christmas, but what made me laugh was that her favorite present was not one she asked for. She got a Harry Potter wand that lights up on the end when you just wave it. She waved it on, off, on, off, on off. Then when she put in it back in the box she opened, closed it, open, close, open, close. Yes the child is ADHD and very easlily entertained. She reminded me of when she was 5. I loved it!
Kylee and Autumn didn't ask for anything this Christmas. I enjoyed all the smiling they did with what they did get. Kylee is easy and happy with everything. She was happiest with a pair of boots she got and an angry birds t-shirt. Autumn is always quite reserved and is always thinking. I remember the Christmas when she was 4 and all she wanted was a carebear. She looked at all the presents and asked which one was the Care Bear and almost everything else didn't matter. This year she was all smiles. Lee Joe even caught her sighing with contentment. She has asked for a camera several times. She didn't ask this year but she did get one. Hannah wanted this magic set something awful. We saw it at Costco and she talked about it for several weeks. She did the same with a Darth Vader alarm clock. This Christmas was a strange one. She got a Lego Star Wars Darth Vader ornament for the tree. She wanted Star Wars stuff, lego stuff and is into angry birds. But she wanted really pretty clothes and nice pea coats like all her sisters have. She also got Star Wars wall stickers. I think we will be painting her room soon. And she loves giraffes. It was a really funny year for her. Her birthday is in a few days so there will be more. But she still enjoys Build a Bear. We did get her a bear before Christmas for her birthday, because the store is way too slammed after Christmas. She did NOT dress the bear in Star Wars stuff. She chose a very sparkly outfit. So she is so quirky and she is turning 10 so things will be changing. I can see the little girl leaving and see a little of the pre-teen setting in. It makes me sad.
Quite the beast! Love it!
Kelsea was in charge of shopping for me. She did a great job. My mom, Lee Joe and Kelsea all got together and got me this fantastic Kitchenaid mixer. But I still need to try it out. I was done with my baking when I got it. I will have to try something soon. I LOVE the show Merlin right now. She got me the 2 seasons that are out on DVD right now. I got a few other things I really wanted. The sweetest thing she did was she made me a bracelet with some charms from my Grandma June. I will take a picture and dedicate a post explaining the significance of the charms. What she did with it is beautiful.
I will post about the importance of these charms.
Lee Joe was so funny this year. He complained when the girls and I got ipods in the past. Now he started to complain that he didn't have one. But the isolation in North Dakota got to him I think. So he really wanted an ipod. He did get one for Christmas this year. We did pretty good when he was opening his other gifts, keeping it from him. But one gift was a charger that plugged in the wall and in the car with a few different adapters you could use for other things. That was the only hint he needed. He started to go after the other present he suspected of going with that charger. That was funny. He did get an ipod touch. We were all trying to get him trained up on it before he left. Some of the aps will be really helpful for him while he is away.
While Lee Joe was home, he got to know the puppies. He can be pretty impatient sometimes. But they are so cute that he was really taken by both of our boys. Speaking of the boys, they will be having a necessary surgery tomorrow. So hopefully they won't be traumatized by the experience. I think Yoda is finally past the trauma from the Parvo and shots experiences. I just hope we don't have start all over again with him. Dobby is just a super cute whiney baby when it comes to pain.
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