You want a Christmas card...I'll give you a Christmas Card!

For the first time in 14 years, I did not send out our Christmas Card. I got it all done and ready and then we decided that we needed the $50 in postage to go towards Christmas presents. It really pained me to not send them out because I just love to do it but oh well. I'm posting it here for you to read. I know it looks small...if you click on the picture it will get bigger and more readable. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

REVISED: My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.

Well, Chris and the kids took exception with this post. Mostly the kids were mad that I made them sound so bad. Chris said I really did make them sound worse than they are. I wrote this right after an incident with them and maybe I was over reacting a little. Chris said our kids don't really fight and bicker more than other kids do. He's probably right. I just wish it was less. Thanks for all your good suggestions.

My heart is so heavy this morning. We have such an awful problem in our family and I honestly don't know what to do about it. There is so much constant contention among our children and it is really breaking my heart. It starts in the morning and doesn't quit until they go to bed at night. If you were to hear them talk to each other, you would think that they hate each other. Sometimes I honestly think they do. As soon as they open their mouths, the Spirit just flees from our home. It is a sad situation here.

I am at a loss for what to do. I know that contention in a home is wrong. It doesn't belong there. The scriptures tell us not to let our children fight and quarrel with each other. I've been reading articles on LDS.org for advice and one phrase I read really hit me hard. "Frequent anger and contention do not persist where the gospel of Jesus Christ is practiced." But we do practice the gospel of Jesus Christ! Of course, there is always room for improvement. I am searching for answers. I am praying for a change of heart and attitude in their actions towards each other. Dear Reader, I need some very practical solutions. What works in your families? How do you keep contention down?

You know what I'd really like to do, I'd like to have the worst perpetrators wake up on Christmas morning to a lump of coal in their stockings. I'd like to say, "Santa was watching and you got zilch because of the way you behave at home."

Weekly Top Five 12/14/2009

Top Five Favorite Gifts I Got For My Birthday

1. Tickets to see "Wicked" in Toledo!

1. The promise of Beatles: Rock Band.

1. Funny Framed Poem

1. Lemon Cookies

1. Dish clothes...just can't have enough!

Weekly Top Five 12/7/2009

Top Five Things I want for My Birthday

1. A Cat

2. New Phone

3. Beatles Rockband

4. Vera Bradley Diaper Bag

5. This

Start Shopping!

Ben! Oh, fine, we're giving birth to a big bear? Great! "Gentle Ben!" "Hey, Ben, where's Jerry? Get me some ice cream, or I'll beat the crap outta ya'

I've chosen the names for our baby. Usually I have no problem telling people them. I usually don't care what other people think of them but when I told someone recently what they are, she acted like the names were just terrible. Even said they seemed "too heavy" for a baby. Whatever that means. I've decided I'm just going to get them out there in the open and you can read them and digest them and if you hate them, you can hate them in private before you have to swallow hard and tell me how cute you think they are.

If we have a girl, she will be Genevieve Anna. I think we might call her Gennie-sounds like Jenny. I know the spelling is a little awkward but you have to use the G with Genevieve. Chris' grandma was named Genevieve and she was one of the coolest, nicest, funnest ladies I know. Of course, Anna is named for my sister, also one of the coolest, nicest, funnest ladies I know. I like that the Gennie ties her back to me. I was called Jenny in grade school and switched to Jennifer in high school. NO ONE calls me Jenny now if they want me to respond. I used to really hate it and then I found a little card that my mom had written to me when I was young and she wrote it to "Jenny." Then I found the name sweet and endearing. So Gennie she shall be.

Our boy will be either Theodore Henry or Theodore Hamilton. We will call him Teddy. Chris' grandpa's middle name is Theodore. He is a WWII vet and one of the most honorable men I know. He has always supported Chris even when others didn't. Also, Teddy is the romantic leading man in the Emily books by LM Montgomery. I LOVED him! Perfect name for our little boy. The middle name is still up in the air. Henry is for one of Chris' relatives, Henry Dew, that I feel a kinship with after doing his and his wife's temple work. Hamilton is a family name on my side. I like them both. Maybe I'll let the kids vote.

So Gennie or Teddy it will be. I honestly think they are cute for a baby and have perfectly great names (Gen and Ted) for when they are adults.

You're enjoying your day. / Everything's going your way. / Then along comes Debbie Downer.

Every year, the date December the Second makes me think of two things. My mean grandma and my dear girlfriend who died when we were in high school. It is both of their birthdays today.

My mean grandma is my dad's mom. I call her mean grandma to differentiate her from nice grandma that is my mom's mom. Grandma Ballard would be 97 if she were alive today. I didn't always think she was mean, because she wasn't always. When I was little, I lived in her house for a lot of the time when my mom was in the hospital. One of my favorite things about Grandma was her freezer full of raspberries and blueberries and strawberries. Grandma was a very talented crocheter and knitter and seamstress. She made me many beautiful afghans and many ugly ones too. And many ugly outfits. Seriously ugly outfits that my mom made me wear anyways because they were perfectly good clothes. 12-year-old girls in homemade clothes get made fun of. It was a sad time in my life. Grandma would sit for hours and watch me swim in the pool. She gave me home perms every time I was there. That was torture. I really loved Grandma but as she got older, she lost the filter on her mouth and said everything that popped into her brain. Even if it was cruel. I wish I could remember all the nice things without all the mean things too. Happy Birthday, Gramma!

My friend, Nicky Faiella also had her birthday on December 2. She and I met in preschool when we were just 4 years old. We ended up at the same elementary and high school. She lived just around the block from me and I walked to her house every morning and we would catch the bus together. We were in the same Girl Scout troop until our freshman year of HS. I stayed at her house at times when my mom was very sick. I remember kissing her poster of Bo and Luke Duke and watching "The Stepford Children" at her house. We were California Raisins together for Halloween one year. We did many school projects together over the course of our education. Nicky was nice and fun and such a good friend. I really liked her alot. In the spring of our freshman year, she was with a friend on the highway and they had car trouble. They pulled over and called for help. Nicky sat on the hood of the car to wait for help to arrive. The driver of another car fell asleep behind the wheel and hit the car she was sitting on. She was thrown from the hood and killed. It was one of the saddest experiences of my life. Today she would be 35. Happy Birthday, Nicky!
I'm on the front row, third from the left. I've got my arm around Nicky, who is second from the left.