This was at our Churches Christmas party!
My Dad played Santa and my kiddos thought that was the coolest thing ever!
Where to begin, oh where to begin! I love Christmas time, though it is a season to rejoice and have fun with family and friends, it never fails that chaos and stress creep their ugly heads into the mix. Most of the time it is self inflicted chaos and stress, but it is still chaos and stress, none the less. When I say self inflicted, I mean, that many times, we find ourselves trying to accomplish every little thing and make everything prefect, when in all reality, all we really need to do is, simplify things and enjoy them, rather than drive ourselves mad trying to be everywhere, doing everything and all while trying to achieve some unobtainable "prefect" type Christmas, that does not exist! Christmas time, should be a time of giving of ourselves, not necessarily of the "prefect" or "homemade" present, rather it should be the giving of our time and selves that helps to life the burdens of those around us who are in need of that help and encouragement. But not only that, this season should be spent in Rejoicing of Christ and of his birth and the fact that he is indeed the King of Kings and it should be spent celebrating with the people we love, rejoicing in these truths, all while enjoying the sacred time we are spending together as family and friends. However, often times, we tend to throw in the unnecessary "extras" that take away, rather than add to the spirit of Christmas. I am not preaching this, because I am prefect at this, rather I am preaching this, because I need to take heed to these words and learn from them, because I tend to fall victim to this chaos and stress every year, with the feelings that I am not doing enough for my family and friends! Silly me! I need to stop and take a step back, reevaluate my situation and what I am trying to achieve and realize that rather than try harder, I need simplify everything around me, so that I too can feel of the spirit and joy this season has to offer, rather than dread it because I am trying too hard to help everyone around me feel and enjoy this time of year.
This week has been crazy, hence the no blogging! Every night has been a late night, doing different things for Christmas. I feel like this has been the worst year for feeling overwhelmed and stressed and today, as I sat down to ponder and evaluate the past week and what went good and what I could have improved upon, I realized why I have been feeling more overwhelmed and stressed. I realized, I am trying to do everything I have done in years past, but without all the help that I have had in years past. Meaning, the past few years, I have had the help of Nursing for Payten, which has enabled me to accomplish more things during my days, rather, than being left to do everything at night, when everyone is sleeping, so that I can think and do things, without interruption. I never realized how much I needed the help of Nursing before, especially during this time of year, until now, when I do not have the help. Without the help, it has left me on edge, feeling as though I do not have enough time in the day to accomplish everything that I need to accomplish, which leaves me staying up late, trying to accomplish the tasks that gone undone during the day, as well as doing the "extras" that go with this time of year, as well as getting in my own Christmas fun in, by doing Elf on a Shelf! It has truly left me feeling as though my head is spinning!
Thankfully, Payten was just approved for Nursing hours again, due to her having her trach reinserted. Unfortunately, the help might not come until after the Holidays, but at least it will come and Joseph and I, now realizing just how much we truly need the help, will be that much more welcoming of it, though it still will be a bitter sweet necessity. I say bitter sweet, because it is bitter sweet, for we need the help greatly, but it is quite hard opening your home up to a complete stranger and feeling as though you have to have everything neat and tidy, always in order and that you need to be on your best behavior, making sure their needs are met and that they feel comfortable, etc. all while trying to use your time wisely while you have them in your house, helping you, but also getting that much needed break in too. It can be cumbersome at times, but going without the help of Nursing for so long, Joseph and I know that it is time to welcome that help back and be grateful for it, for we truly are in need of it. We are just hoping that this time around, we will find reliable Nurses, who fit in with our family and who can meet our families needs, for that will make this transition so much easier and smoother. So please, if you could keep our family in your prayers that we might find the "prefect" home health Nurse for our family, we would greatly appreciate it.
Not only have I been dealing with Mommy duties and Payten duties and meetings in regards to Payten and all of her therapies, etc. This week has also been filled with meetings regarding the other kids and school, etc. Which has left me feeling overwhelmed as to how to best help them and how to meet their educational needs, so that they can be as successful as they can be. However, I feel since the last meeting, Joseph and I had with Makenna's teachers, that things have been a lot better. I feel as though the school has been a lot more accommodating to both Zachary and Makenna's needs and that the school has been a lot better about communicating right away to me when a problem arises, rather than waiting for it to become a much bigger problem. Also the school has been more willing to listen to my ideas and suggestions. Honestly, I am not sure if it is because they know that I know the laws and what my children are entitled too, therefore they are scared of me or the fact that the school is just now starting to get with the program?! I want to say that it is because they are scared of me, but whatever the reason is for the recent changes in the schools behavior, I do not care, all I care about is that they are finally accommodating my children and meeting my children's educational needs. I am crossing my fingers that it lasts throughout the year and that my fighting days are over with this school and that they continue to give into the needs that my children may have.
Thursday was parent's day at Makenna's dance class and Joseph was able to go and watch her dance, since there was limited space, therefore we could not bring the whole family to see her and we did not have anyone who could watch Payten, as well as the other kids. He did however, take pictures for me and some videos! She may not be the best dancer, but she is certainly not the worst dancer and she is by far the cutest dancer, at least in my opinion! Here is the pictures and videos that Joseph was able to capture for me,
Friday, we had our Ward/Churches Christmas Party and this is the first year, in a few years, that we were able to make it as a family, which was great, considering that my Dad played Santa at it! The Santa that the Church/Ward had planned on fell through, so they called me Friday morning and asked if my Dad would be willing to play Santa? After some coaxing and begging, my Dad agreed to be Santa and I might add that he did a great job at it! I think he really enjoyed seeing old friends, as well as seeing the children's faces light up as they sat on his lap! But even though he was playing Santa, he still remained his normal, jokester self, giving the kids bunny ears, all while making funny faces. He really was the life of the party and I think he made one memorable Santa, that the kids will remember for years to come! I know my kids will always remember this night and the fact that their Grandpa played Santa! Here is a picture of Santa, aka Grandpa Greene and the Merrill kids sitting on his lap,
Are these not the cutest pictures with Santa?! What a fun night it was and what a great memory this will be in the years to come, knowing that Grandpa loved his Grand kids enough to come and play Santa at their Ward Christmas party! After the Christmas party was over, we went for a drive around town, listening to Christmas music, looking at the different light displays that people put up, all while listening to our children fight and bicker that they could not see the lights, to say it was prefect ending to a beautiful day, would be an understatement, for it could not have ended better, bickering and all! The imperfections are what make it so perfect!
Saturday, was spent trying to declutter our house, in order to make room for all the "new" things that Christmas will bring, as well as Joseph and I trying to complete all of our Christmas shopping. It was probably the most stressful day of last week, at least for me, that was filled with me having a few panic attacks! Seriously, I love spending time with Joseph and I love going shopping, (that is when I have a game plan) but there is something about Christmas shopping and trying to stretch a dollar, so that the parents feel as though their kids are getting what they want, all while remaining within a reasonable budget, that can send any parent, especially the Mother, into a complete and total break down/panic attack! I seriously, did not enjoy most of Joseph and mines night, Christmas shopping, due to the fact that I was either worried that we were spending too much money, or I felt that we were not finding everything we wanted to find, feeling as though we had no time left to find it, all while crying over the fact that we were not buying certain things for Payten, all because of her developmental disabilities. It really was quite a depressing night, that I feel bad Joseph had to endure, for he was stuck dealing with me and my crazy Christmas shopping state! Hopefully this coming weekend, when we go out to finish our Christmas shopping, I will be in a better spirit, not feeling so stressed about time and money.
Before I go, I want to leave you with all of the crazy Skylarking fun I did this week with Buddy and Josie,
Above is a picture of Josie Relaxing, while Buddy, was
in the kitchen feeding the children! (it is nice being able to use
Makenna's toys for my different Elf antics!)
Then Buddy and Josie got a little domestic and made cookies and snowflakes!
The cookies were store bought cookie dough and snowflakes, darn it!, were hard!
Seriously, I forgot how to make a snowflake, which made it quite hard to achieve this Antic,
which left me up way later than expected and Zachary caught me skylarking about! Which I
told him that Buddy and Josie asked me for help and in order to make that believable, the next day
while the kids were out of school, due to parent teacher conference, I took them to lunch and while we were at lunch, I had my Dad break in and move Buddy and Josie, so that Zach would be left wondering if Buddy really was real or not?! Here is what Grandpa did,
There was no real rhyme or reason as to what Grandpa did,
thankfully the kids believed the craziness of Buddy's antics were all because
of Buddy getting a hold of one of Mom's Sodas and the Caffeine caused him to go Wild!
The kids thought it is pretty funny that Buddy googled himself and they were
worried that Buddy might have ordered some Buddy merchandise! It was quite
comical listening to them.
Then that night, Buddy went hunting,
While Josie and the kids,
Played and Relaxed,
Tonight, Josie and Buddy, felt like being a little "naughty" and they Tee Peed the Christmas Tree!
Though my week has been a little chaotic and overwhelming, I have still found pleasure in doing the little things, such as Elf on a Shelf! However, I am going to try and take heed to the words I said at the beginning of this post and this week I am going to try to find ways that will simplify things, so that I do not feel so stressed, therefore I might leave Buddy and Josie sitting on a Shelf doing nothing for a few days, which will leave my kids wondering what happened to Buddy and Josie and questioning if they are sick?! Who knows it might be fun! I hope that you all are enjoying your Christmas season, with little to no stress and that you taking the time to remember and enjoy the sacredness of what this season can bring. I love you all and I hope that you all have a blessed night.
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