3 days till Christmas

Well, there sure have been lots of changes here recently! I apologize that it’s been so long since my last blog. You know how the holiday’s get!

Let’s see, since I last posted what has happened? Did I mention before that we adopted a family for the holidays at work? There is a program here in town, and we picked a family off their list. It was a family of 6 (mom, dad, and 4 kids). The list provided their sizes, what they need and what they wish for Christmas. 3 of us from work went to Target and spent just over $500 on the whole family. Mom needed shoes and a jacket. Dad needed a jacket. The kids needed shoes and clothes, and they wanted a few toys and books. We were able to be in contact with their family advocate to ask questions. So, in emailing with her I knew they also needed a new microwave and they did not have a DVD player. So, we got them those items as well. We got each kid a lot of clothes and 1 toy each, and a book each. We got them a few family movies to go with the DVD player as well. Since you can borrow DVD’s from the library for free, we thought that was a great idea! My friend helped me to wrap it and last Wednesday I delivered it to the program’s headquarters. A few days later in the mail we received a nice letter from the family including pictures drawn by all the kids. What a warm fuzzy feeling that gives you!

Friday turned into not such a fun day. Day care called saying Courtney had a fever of 100+. So, I had to go and pick her up. She was just not herself. She was like a big bowl of Jell-O. We came home and spent the next 24 hours just rocking. She was all ready on antibiotics from her ear infections, so the nurse told me it was probably one of the shots that were causing the fever and miserableness. I felt so bad for her; she was feeling awful you could just tell. It took her a few days to finally perk back up again!

We had our holiday party for work last Saturday. We went to Mr. Biggs family fun center. It is an indoor place that is kind of like a playground for kids and adults. They have go karts, mini golf, games, bowling, etc. They also have a kids area designed for younger kids. After we ate dinner, Courtney spent a lot of time in there. It has lots of different rooms with all different themes. She really enjoyed it a lot!

Sunday I had another craft wrapping party. I got most every gift wrapped that I had. I had a few last minute things I picked up yesterday. Kelly came over and wrapped for I think 4 solid hours! She had a few gifts! Her SUV was full to the gills to get home again!

My friend Linda also came over and she worked on finishing her Christmas cards. She hand makes all her cards. She completed those too! So, a few of us got a few things accomplished!

Thursday night we had our Annual Reunion of Friends dinner (ARF). We have a Christmas dinner every year with friends. We had it at the same restaurant as last year. It was a lot of fun! This year we collected Pajamas and books for the Pajama program. We ended up with a large box of books and pajamas. The program will then give a pair of PJ’s and a book to kids who go into foster care with nothing, right here in the Colorado Springs area.

Yesterday another snow storm moved in fast. It brought not much snow but lots of wind. Waking up this morning, you can’t tell we got another 3 inches of snow, probably because it all blew away! The wind was howling last night. We had a few friends over for dinner and a few games. We were all in comfy warm clothes, and we made chocolate chip cookies. It was a warm comfy night to be at home with friends playing games.

Other big news is that last night we signed the paperwork for a new (to me) car! We sold my Kia Sephia and purchased a 2003 Kia Optima. My old Kia was still running great, but it didn’t have any safety features for the back seat for the car seat. The Optima has the anchors. I wouldn’t even put the car seat in my Sephia. So, the plan was to get a newer car before the end of the year. It helps that I have a good friend whose husband is a car salesman. He got us such a good deal that by the time it was all said and done, the dealership is making $150 on the car! So, we are now the proud owners of a 4 door black Optima. It has a moon roof, and power windows, locks, etc. It’s like riding in luxury! It needs my stuff in it to make it feel more like mine, which I plan to take care of today. My dog paw print car seat covers are in the dryer as we speak. I will get my rescue magnet on the back and a few more things inside and it will really feel like mine! Oh, and it has a V6 engine, so it’s got some get up and go!

My mom’s cousin arrived from Ireland on Tuesday. He is here visiting for 2 weeks for Christmas. He is a very nice, funny guy! We haven’t had the opportunity to spend much time with him yet, as work and car buying has kept us busy, but next week I look forward to spending much more time with him!

My sister and Zak hit the road today to drive our way! They should arrive some time on Christmas Eve! I look forward to having them here as well. It’s always great to have family around!

The kid amazes us every day. Her vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds! Today her new word is ‘gotcha’! I swear you tell her a word once and she’s got it! I can’t even tell you all the words she knows, there are too many. And now she is getting good at animals and the sounds they make! I just love her, she is so cute!!!

Speaking of which, she is over playing with her daddy, and I think I want to go and join in the fun!