The Days Before Christmas

The past week and a half or so have been sooo busy, I have had no time for journaling at all. So it's time to make up for it a bit.
On Thursday the 17th, I realized that Ben and I were not going to have any time for Christmas shopping. Sad, but true. December has been crazy busy! So Thursday night I stayed up until 2:00 AM or so, putting everything I was thinking about into my Amazon.com wishlist. Friday morning I drove down to Ben's work for my H1N1 vaccine, and afterward Ben and I collaborated in his office and decided on our final purchases. Whew! All done!! Wow, I adore online shopping. Plus you can see all the reviews for different items on Amazon.com.
Last week I put the boys in a gymnastics camp Mon.-Wed. from 9:00-2:00 every day. It was a Christmas present to myself. :-) There were some things I HAD to get done, and I needed the boys away. It was glorious to have the peace and quiet. I adore my boys, but with homeschooling, I don't exactly get much time to myself. :-)
Monday I got all my Christmas cards stuffed, stamped, and in the mail!
On the way home from picking up the boys, I got pulled over. :-( I haven't been pulled over in... almost 8 years! The officer came to the window and asked if I knew why I got pulled over. I said, "I think because I stopped over the line at the stop sign back there?" He said, "No, your driving was perfect. But your inspection sticker is expired!" Yep, it expired back in August. Oops. He was nice, though, and let me off with a warning. The boys and I went straight to a Pep Boys and got that inspection done! I'm good for another year.
Then we went to the mall to try to find some presents for Ben. He ended up meeting us there for dinner at the food court, and he took the boys into some cheap toy stores to buy presents for each other, and I was able to take the boys to get presents for him. Mission accomplished! I don't love the mall.
Joseph and Mosey were being stinkers about going back to the gymnastics camp the next day. "I'm not going!" "You can't make me!" Etc. I said, "You're right, I can't make you. But you know what I can do? I can take all the Christmas presents we've been getting right back to the store!"
They are not used to being in big groups of kids, and there were a few things that really rubbed them the wrong way about the camp. When I came to get them, Joseph saw me and ran out to get in the car. Then the director called him in and told him something. Joseph came back out in tears and said I had to park and come in and sign them out. I should have known they would need me to do that. So I parked and got myself in with my crutches and signed them out. Joseph and Mosey were both upset by this and didn't understand why they couldn't just come out the car. I told them they had to make sure the kids don't go with the wrong person, and that I would have been upset if they hadn't made me sign them out! (Not really true, but I was certainly going to side with the gymnastics place on this one!) Also, they all had to get in a line and go to the bathroom, whether they needed to or not. I know, the horror, right?! I talked to them about how these are how things have to be done with big groups of kids, and if they were in public school, they'd be ordered around all the time! :-) Anyway, Joseph came around and said, "Ok, I guess I'll go tomorrow and Wednesday, but I'm NOT going after that!" Fine with me, since I didn't sign them up beyond Wednesday! :-) But he got to keep face, and that's important.
Tuesday after I dropped them off, I came home and worked on a big project. The twins both have scrap books of their first (and second) year. I had started Mosey's using a computer scrapbooking program, but never finished it or printed it out. I was determined to finish it and print it out and give it to him for Christmas.
When I picked up the boys, they told me they had a great time, and they wanted to go again! And maybe even go next week! Wow, what a difference an attitude change makes. In the morning I walked them in, and the lady at the front desk was very apologetic about the day before. I guess she felt bad when I came hobbling in on my crutches. She said she'd bring the sign-out book out to my car next time. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about taking special privileges because of my disability. But usually not. :-)
Tuesday afternoon and evening was spent making pints and pints (and pints) of homemade applesauce for Christmas treats. My friend Traci and her son Joseph came over and we had a good time. A good, sticky time. :-)
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Mosey woke up vomiting. Oh, great. Ben was my hero and took care of him all that night while he threw up every 30 minutes. I took Joseph and Brigham to gymnastics in the morning, and Mosey pretty much slept all day. Ben stayed home to work. I got Mosey's scrapbook finished.
And that brings me up to Christmas Eve! Which will be another post.