thankful ...

I'm so sorry for the 'debbie downer' post!  Thank you so much everyone though, for your calls, notes, and concerns ... and hey! I even got some extras prayers out of it!

Today, I thought I would mention a few things I'm thankful for ... but first let me tell you about my yesterday.

Curt's work program was at 1:30, so I needed to leave work by 11:30 {bad roads!} to get home, change, get the girls ready and head out.  So I got at the store about 7ish in the morning so I could accomplish the things I needed to and then get outta there for the holidays at hand!  Christmas Spirit ... here I come!

Hold that thought ... it'll be a while before the ol' CS comes to town ...

I won't bore y'all with details, but I got caught up at the store making heads or tails of a lot of things and therefore wasn't able to accomplish the ordering, etc. I intended to get done.  I slowly started realizing I would need to come back to work after Curt's program, so I called him in tears to explain {I'm a woman and I cry a lot, what can I say?} ... 

Anyway, 11:30 came and I had to go.  Nellie was a rockstar taking over while I was gone and with some help, managed to get 27 packages out the door to UPS ... thank you awesome Nellie!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... I got home in record time {seriously, I don't get home that fast when the roads are clear.  And I promise I was driving carefully}!  I thanked the Lord and ran inside to get some kiddies ready for a Christmas program.

My mom was at the house with the girls and she and my dad were going to the program too, so she and I started getting ourselves ready.  I whip on a dress {quite literally}, slap on a little more make up and try to tame my crazy hair.

Off to get the little ones ready!  But not before miss teenager steps in with a potential wardrobe malfunction that needed to be taken care of.  With Taylor's outfit under control, I'm back to get the little ones ready.

I hadn't shown them their outfits before and couldn't wait to see how they loved them!  And love they did ... twirls, excitement, spelling {spelling?!?} ... their shirts spelled out the word 'joy' and it was cute watching them figure that out.

I was able to quickly snap one photo {okay a few, but one that turned out decent.  okay, decent after a little retouching in photoshop ...}.  I wish I had gotten a photo of Taylor, she looked beautiful and way too grown up!  But of course she was putting some last minute touches on her awesome self!  :)

So we all scramble to the car ... seriously, the stuff reality TV is made of!  We get to the program and walk in the door, start greeting people, saying our hellos when Wynter breaks down into a crying fit.  "I don't want my skirt on!"

Blagh!!!!  Things were going so well.

I start by telling her she doesn't have a choice, it's beautiful, it's spinny, it's fun, it's ... it's ... {and in my head I'm thinking, "but you match your sisters and everyone will love it and you look so cute, and, and, and ..."} ... "okay Wynt, you can take it off if you really want to."

And she did.  :(

When Piper sees that Wynt doesn't have her skirt on, she wants hers off too.  I realize I'm going to lose that battle, so don't even embark ... and I let her take hers off.  :(

The thing is, the girls had leggings on under the skirts, that are basically made of tissue paper ... point being, you can see through tissue paper ... get it?  We're talking my pretty pony undies on one and bright pink on the other.

Still working on my CS here, so I'm not going to worry about an innocent little peep show!

The program starts.  My awesome husband does an amazing job {am I gushing?}.  Okay, time-out here ... I do want to say how proud I am of him.  He does such a good job with his speeches.  He works so hard to practice and make them just right and he did a great job!  I love him ...

Then it's time to introduce the girls ... he does this every year.  The girls have been practicing their songs for a few weeks now and are excited to bust 'em out!

The following ensued ...

{I downloaded this late last night and didn't have time to 'pretty it up' so it's just the raw footage, bear with me and enjoy!}

Cute, no?  Wynter didn't sing a word ... she just hummed it.  And Hunter started singing "O Christmas Tree" ... that's the one she'd been practicing.  How cute was she holding that mic?  And judging by the death grip in which she clinged to me, I think hearing her voice through the speakers freaked her out a little.

Back to my day {are you still reading?} ... we stay after the program to mingle a bit and the girls were heavy on the chocolate fountain!  Marta got a great photo of Wynter ... I'll share when she forwards it to me {hint, hint Marta}.

We head out a tad after 3 ... get home, I run like the wind to change my clothes {did I just write 'run like the wind?' what is with my dorkiness these days?}, I grab a couple pretzel rods and coke for lunch and run out the door.

This time traffic wasn't on my side and it took almost an hour to get back to the store.  I'm super happy things are out the door {the 27 packages}, but somehow I still managed to stay at the store until 11:30 last night organizing, shipping more orders, and doing the ordering I wanted to get done earlier in the day.  I know I stayed late, but that also meant I didn't need to go to work today!  Score one for CS!

Once again, thank you Heather for helping, thank you Nellie for staying and helping ... and thank you surprise visitor for rockin' the UPS side of things for us!!  Terrie was dropping the girls off at dance and stopped in for a visit ... no time for visiting, we put her to work!  :)

I roll into the garage around midnight and am thoroughly exhausted ... as I snuggle into bed, I smile and realize how blessed I am, and suddenly ... wait ... is that the CS coming upon me?

I am thankful.  I have much to be thankful for.

• God, who loves me and does take care of me!  Yes Jenny, that was our Christmas miracle from Him!  :)
  
• My husband.  I do. not. give him enough credit.  And on top of it, the poor man has to put up with my b_ _ _ _ iness and tears when I'm stressed out.  He is an amazing father.  A patient husband.  And I love him dearly.
• My children.  To hear "I wub you too mommy" as Hunter is running down the hallway in her new tennies to make them light up ... ahhhhh ... it's what this life is suppose to be about.
• I am thankful for friends.  I have amazing friends ... thank you for loving me everyday, in the good and the bad.
• I am thankful I didn't have to go into work today.
• I thankful for my new office.
• I am thankful I got my 250 {hand-addressed!} Christmas cards out.
• I am thankful God gave me the courage to sign the broker agreement yesterday.
• I am thankful for my health.
• I am thankful for my gifts God gave me ... I ran a darn good paper store.  I can take a pretty good photo.  Sometimes I can sing on key.
• I am thankful for my family.  My mom has been amazing being here to watch the girls for us.  And my sister loves them to death!
• I am thankful Christ was born.
• I am thankful I hear God speaking to me.
• I am thankful I am loved.

Merry Christmas everyone!  May your Christmas Spirit flow abundantly ...