Around Here

It's Christmas vacation and I cannot seem to escape a kitchen that looks like this:

It's been raining.

Pouring.

Day in and day out.

The shop...it is closed.

Well, sort of. Now I am making things for people I love and for friends who call and say 'help! I need another gift!'

I like doing those.

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I never in my wildest dreams thought my little business would take off like this. I've learned a LOT along the way....but that's a whole 'nuther post.

This was one of my favorites...I'm thinking of offering them as a pair on the website, but not until after the new year. The website and I are vacationing from each other until then.

Despite all the rain, it was proven to me that the sun ALWAYS shines over Target.

There's even a rainbow if you look closely.

Target = one stop shopping = happiness.

And here it is.

THIS makes me happier than Target makes me.

THIS is my houseful of boys, all in the same room watching the Grinch. It has been so fun watching the dynamics change once Matthew came home.

I like that.

That guy that I like so much and I are in desperate need of a date. In fact, that is all that I want for Christmas at this point. Not sure that it is going to happen anytime soon, but I am patient.

Sort of.

Today I need to pick up a few more groceries and clean a few bathrooms and watch yet another Hallmark movie and bake some cookies and make a couple of necklaces and hang out with my boys and ask them lots of questions and stare at them and get all weepy when I think about how blessed I am.

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Braces For Brian

We are all on vacation this week and one of the items on the list of things to get done involved this guy...

...who chose black as the color for his braces.

Black?

And here is where I am scratching my head. Five years of speech therapy down the drain because of an expander he has to wear for the next 6 months.

Please tell me he is not going to lisp for the next 6 months?

Yesterday, that guy that I like so much and I did a marathon shopping morning and aside from a few little things, we are ready for Christmas.

Let the wrapping begin!

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It has been so gloomy outside...I am beginning to wonder if the ground will ever be dry. Definitely feels like winter here in southern California!

Weekend Get-Away

On Saturday morning that guy that I like so much and kissed our young lads goodbye and headed for the airport.

Along the way we hooked up with my sister-in-law/brother-in-law with the hopes that at least one of them would remember where we parked the car.

After security and a very yummy chicken salad sandwich, I discovered that airport bathrooms are so fancy schmancy now-a-days.

Just strap the kid to the wall while you do your business.

One 60 minute flight later and we were picked up by my other sister-in-law, who thankfully rushed through her nail appointment to take us to her house.

The reason for the crazy trip?

My in-laws, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They had no clue we were coming and thought they were going out for a quiet dinner...and instead were stuck with all their children (the sugar) and their spouses (the spice).

Every family needs some spice to go with their sugar.

(I think they got more spice than they bargained for....)

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Once they were able to speak (champagne helped) we watched a video of the first 50 years (hoping for a sequel) and then headed out to dinner on the town.

The lovebirds and their anniversary cake.

My sister-in-law...when she thought no one was looking.

Chug it, sister.

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Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids...the quietest all our children have ever been at a restaurant.

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After crashing at Andrew and Leslie's, we got up early and all went to church (at the church we were married in...so nice to be back there), out to breakfast and then a quick stop at my in laws house.

Hugs and kisses goodbye and then back to the airport for the four of us where our flight was delayed. And delayed. And delayed.

Greg read People magazine.

He says he wasn't...but here is the proof.

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FINALLY on the plane.

And then we experienced 56 minutes of turbulence (gotta love when the flight attendants tell you to 'check your neighbor and make sure their seatbelt is on' because they can't get out of their seats FOR THE WHOLE FLIGHT) and the scariest landing (in the middle of a storm) ever.

So. Much. Fun.

Not.

And then....home sweet home, 29 hours after we left.

Thanks to Leslie and Andrew for driving us around and for letting us crash at your house, to Greg and Joanna for being the perfect travel companions ever, and to my in-laws for giving us a reason to put together this fun little trip....Happy Anniversary!

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Little Moments

In spite of all the craziness of the last few weeks, I have had this great sense of peace.

Part of that comes from short moments of 'keeping it real' and the other part of it comes from being so busy that I haven't had time to think.

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A few of my 'keeping it reals' this week:

An amazingly GREAT breakfast...black beans, eggs scrambled with roasted green chili's and tomatoes plus a little guac.

Oh. My. Word.

A visit to a Christmas store with that guy that I like so much...I really wanted those little presents for my fence and being the guy that he is, he found the only outlet in the store so that I could see what they looked like.

I didn't like them.

(but I really, really like him.)

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Four basketball games.

Make that four HOME games.

Throw together dinners (because that seems to be all I can manage right now) that make everyone happy...this one is a frittata with spinach and roasted peppers and tomatoes.

Yum.

Rain.

And a leftover pumpkin. And the ever present trash that someone forgot to carry out to the can. And an empty wine box.

Today....coffee. More basketball. Paperwork. Phone calls. Jewelry orders. Laundry. A college son coming home for break.

And then....let the vacation BEGIN!!!

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If I Knew Then...

I was in the attic looking for my birth certificate and came across an old christmas letter I had written and sent out years and years ago.

15 years ago, back when I was a perfect mum.

My oldest boys were 5 and 1 and the idea of a 3rd was not yet even a blip on the radar. We lived in Colorado and had a rather simple life...I was a stay-at-home mom and M was working and finishing up his doctorate.

Two things stuck out to me as I reread that letter.

1. I was naive.

I ended with 'I love being a mommy!!!' I still do, but just the fact that I ended that statement with not one, not two, BUT THREE exclamation points screams out that I hadn't yet raised a teenager.

Just sayin'.

2. I was clairvoyant.

I wrote that my then youngest (who is now a teen) was 'cute as a button but he has a naughty streak.'

Sigh.

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No Christmas letter this year but if I did it would be something like this:

Dear everyone,

Please pray for us.

We are raising 3 sons who all (when the oldest comes home from college) share a bathroom. The same one the guests use when they visit our little house.

Thank you,

M and M

Back to hiding out at Corner Bakery, where I am supposed to be working on paperwork.

I highly recommend the california grille sandwich and the roasted corn chowder, with a Fresca on the side...just in case you were wondering.

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Lunch With Brian

Brian got a 'get out of school early' card due to an appointment at the orthodontist and scored lunch with mom, too.

He's a character, my 12 year old.

He talks a lot.

To everyone. Anyone.

He talks more than both his brothers combined.

I love that. Most of the time anyway.

Sometimes I send him to chat with the neighbors.

"Go talk to Sheila, " I tell him. "Run on over and say hi."

And so he does...and comes back like an hour later, ready to fill me in on everything they talked about.

(I love my neighbors.)

If you ever want to find out any kind of info, just ask Brian. He'll tell you, whether he knows the answer or not and will convince you it is the answer whether it is or not.

(we're working on that one.)

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We call him our exclamation point...that if we didn't have him, we would simply be The Busch Family.

But because of him, we are The Busch Family!

See what a difference an exclamation point makes?

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(dressed for school today. what can I say...he's a 3rd child.)

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Big Weekend

Last weekend.

Three concerts.

Two parties.

Three basketball games.

One church service.

Four bottles of wine.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Did I mention 300 meatballs?

Or the fact that we fit 60 people in our little house on our little street?

Or the fact that I filled 74 orders just this weekend alone?

Yep.

And you know what?

It was fun.

FUN.

I have no idea why (actually, I do....) but everything seems so peaceful this year. We've been forced to simplify because I am refusing to pay for Christmas AFTER Christmas (not easy) and so there is less to buy.

Much less.

Focusing on joy and peace this year.

(have to put that in writing...might help me remember!)

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