December & on into January

Time has gotten away with me these past few months, again. As I said in my last post, I have been working alot, Dr appts & girls' activities, then came Thanksgiving and Ri was home. We spent with my parents. We had a great meal as we do every year, then all ended up on the couch watching Scooby Doo re runs for the rest of the afternoon, then headed home. It was a lazy day for everyone.
Ri was home all week and stayed in most of the time, so we got to spend lots of time with him this time. It was nice to sit and talk like we used to.
Everyone went back to school after Thanksgiving. Back into our crazy lives, and last few weeks of school before Christmas break...B's last Christmas parade the first weekend in December, Ra's 1st Choir Concert, B's last Madrigal Feaste :( Ra's first dance and she was SO excited, even though she was only going with friends! :) B's last Band concert, then Ri came home the night before the girls' last "Final" day, we took off up to Chicago for "Relient K, Sherwood & Daes Vail" concert!! Merry Christmas to us :) it was a LONG drive up there, and COLD, but we made it through the crazy city of Chicago just in time for them to start!! The kids were STOKED!! The Concert was Incredible!! Haven't been to a concert in years, but I do have to say I think this was the best ever!! After the concert we headed out of town, stopped to grab a bite, since we didn't eat anything on the way in, because of traffic. We drove for an hour & half before we made it to our hotel at the halfway mark home. The best hotel we've stayed in in a long time, course it's been forever since we stayed in a hotel, but nevertheless it was very nice! We got a good nights sleep, slept in the next morning, showered, had continental breakfast and headed home in time for Hubby & I to meet our friends to head to his work Christmas party!
We had a huge meal, hubby won $50! woohoo! We headed out early, to get back to the kiddos. Our girls were watching their kids, so didn't want to be gone all night :)
Had a good weekend but were pretty tired come Sunday and Hubby had to go back to work that evening. The rest of us had 2 more days of school before we started our Christmas break. The girls had Finals both days!
Our 1st day of Christmas break I cleaned a house, the following day the girls went to see the dentist for the 1st time in over a yr (since hubby lost his 1st job in 2009) Ra had a clean slate; B, on the other hand has "groovy teeth" which means she's more susceptible to getting those cavities! and sure enough, she still had the same 1 she had when we lost our insurance (duh) but 3 more showed up! Poor B! I felt bad for her, cuz they said her teeth looked GREAT other than having the "groovy teeth". So we set up another appt to have those taken care of, and Ra to go back have sealant put on her teeth.
We came home to finish packing for our trip to Texas! We haven't been back there in 3 yrs, so we were all pretty excited about going to see everyone. (Although over the past 3 yrs, some of the family has been out here twice a yr to see us; In March & August.) So, we all (including my parents) headed out Christmas eve morning, EARLY for our 11 hr trip to Texas! It was a long 11 hrs, but we all made it safe and sound! We got there just in time to see my niece before she headed out with her mom for the week. We hadn't seen her and my other BIL in 2 yrs. We were waiting till she got back from Mom's to celebrate our Christmas together. The rest of the week was extremely busy. We hung out at my SIL & BIL's house (where the kids stayed) most of the time, evenings the rest of us would go back to my MIL's which is about a 25 minute drive. We went to church together on Sunday, dinner with BIL's family & all of us after church Sunday night; there was a total of 18 people, including kids!! Boy was that a houseful!!
Monday - Wednesday we went shopping every day! My parents left early Tuesday morning, so mom could get back and go to work the following day, B came down with the flu on Tuesday night, so she didn't get to go out shopping with us on Wednesday :( It took until Thursday before she was feeling better, but still pretty weak on Thursday for our trip to "World Market", but we saved it for that day, cuz that is where B wanted to go before she got sick! On our way back we stopped off and picked Hubby up from MIL's (where he had been working around the house for his mom, while the rest of us was out shopping) to all end up back over to BIL & SIL's for Christmas with everyone!!
As I have said before, all the work that goes into preparing and running around with the crazies buying for Christmas, then to see it all end in such a short amount of time, is rather depressing! It just doesn't seem fair. I enjoyed watching the kids and nieces open their gifts more than anything. Sadly, we didn't get pictures...not sure why? Think everyone was a little wiped out by the time our Christmas rolled around...I know I WAS, from all the shopping! We don't have as much shopping places here as in Texas!
My family packed up and headed out the next morning, New Year's Eve. The kids were wanting to get back and go to our church NY's Eve party and hang out with friends.
We literally got back in time to unload everything into the house, couple of them take showers and run to the party! Hubby & I decided to stay home and relax, in the quietness of our own home, take showers & unpack...I know that doesn't sound like much of a celebration for ringing in the New Year, but we were fine with that, after driving 11 hrs. We were pretty wiped out from all the running we did all week and then driving back!
We sure enjoyed being able to see the Simpson family, but it was nice to be "home" and in our own beds :) We all slept in the next day and did absolutely NOTHING, but start laundry. Hubby had to go back to work on Sunday, Jan 2nd, so he vegged all day :) Monday, Jan 3rd I took Ri to Festus to have his oral surgery. We got back about noon, with meds and all. He handled it better than I thought he would, and healed quickly, no swelling. Thank the Lord!
We ( the girls & I) started back to school Tuesday, Jan 4th while Ri recouped.
Hubby & I drove Ri back to College at the end of the week, Sat, Jan 8th. He had to be back by Sunday night anyway, the Chorale was leaving for tour on Monday.
Because of snow, the Chorale director asked that everyone try and get there early before the snow started and weren't able to get there. So we took him back on Sat afternoon, dropped him off, he had friends help him unload and we were back on the road for home again (3 hrs each way) I was sad to see Ri go, seems to be getting easier and easier for him...and I'm happy for him, but still isn't any easier for his Mama :( I have been a little down in the dumps since he's been gone, but guess it's just part of life; not what I had expected out of it all, but still must go on...even though I wish that I could make time stand still...and keep my kids forever, with me.
I really need to get to bed tonight; I've got a house to clean in tomorrow, and Friendship Sisters tomorrow night that I need to make something for. Goodnight to all!