Bethlehem Facebook saga continues
Dec 14th
Mary has returned home. It seems she just needed some "alone time". Being a new mommy is a bit overwhelming. She arrived just as the local priests announced a food shortage. It seems a "plague" has destroyed all the food. But good news!! the 3 wisemen and their camel have been sighted!

Dec 16th
Yesterday the Shepherds faithful companion, a beautiful black and white husky looking dog was caught in my kitchen begging for scraps. When I wouldn't give him any he went back to his master. He was VERY hungry. As our family was checking out at Safeway last evening who do you think was hiding in our reuseable grocery bag??? The cashier grabbed him by the scruff of the next and handed him to me. Where then Chelsea immediately put her hand out to hold him. Chelsea must be sneaking him scraps.

Dec 24th
Twas the night before Christmas and we're searching the house, Baby Jesus is missing (again), and Chelsea is as quiet as a mouse (meaning she's not talking). We are not sure where he went, we've looked in all the "normal" spots, but as long as he find him before we go to bed there will be no coal in our stockings.

Dec 26th
Word has come that baby Jesus has been taken by a soldier of King Herod. The search has been hampered by another storm, one created by shredded wrapping paper and all new toys to play with. The recovery effort will be a long and slow as we put the house back to rights. We have faith that the baby will be returned before King Herod can meet out his evil plan. :)

Merry Christmas!
Dec 28th
A classified document has just been leaked stating that Baby Jesus was rescued Dec 28th by two "angels" who found him in the corner of a cave. The accused person involved in the kidnapping has vowed retribution next year.

At the taking of this photo the accused tried to runaway with Joseph.

Love,
*Carrie*

So it's before 8 am on a Saturday morning. the kids have had breakfast and are dressed, well except for Chelsea and all are watching cartoons.
It's been kind of a crazy 48 hours.
Thursday I went to the Childrens Museum with Wyatt's class and then I hung out while they had their Christmas party.
After school I was feeling very tired and jittery, thinking that maybe I just had a bit too much sugar.
Found out that Chelsea had gotten sick at Grandma's but didn't think much of it because depending on the circumstance she can vomit easy.
Got everyone home and Rob isn't feeling well. Great. So Rob, me and Wyatt are lounging on the couch when Wyatt stands up and loses it all over the rug.
Oh boy
We take the rug outside and I hose it off.
The next 12 hours are a complete mess.
I get sick
Rob gets sick
Wyatt gets sick again
Repeat the last three steps
Try to go to bed
Chelsea wakes and cries for over an hour (between 1and 2am)
Wyatt again
Kelly gets sick
By morning everyone is feeling better
The adults are achy, tired but better
We get a call, Grandmom is sick.
It breezed through us pretty fast so hopefully she will be better this morning.
In the 7 years we have had kids we have never been sick all at the same time.
Sad story, Rob is in our bathroom, I'm in the guest bathroom and Chelsea is crying outside the doors because she can't come in. Poor Chelsea as soon as I was finished she got some hugs and cuddles.
So that was so NOT how I wanted this post to go. I could delete it but ya know, that's life. I haven't been on the computer in a couple of days and so I went to do some catching up.
I am so excited to read that Cricut is coming out with some new cartridges. Now by the titles I didn't think they would be anything that would interest me but HOLY COW!!! my mind is whirling with options and wondering when I can get the tax return back so that I can go purchase most of them
http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=876&s=1&sc=2 heritage

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=892&s=1&sc=2 sentimentals
http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=892&s=1&sc=2 forever young

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=888&s=1&sc=2 songbird

http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=897&s=1&sc=2 mothers day mini cart
The forever young cart has 50 purse designs, great for gifts or favors. Oh the fun I could have.
I love having little girls.
The mothers day cart is a must have. There are so many beautiful cuts.
Now heritage and sentimentals, at first I wondered about, what would I use this for but my creative brain came out of hibernation and I will admit I have a secret thing for old telephones. Plus all those shape cuts at the end.
Fonts are another favorite and Songbird has an elegant font.
These are suppose to be released late December, right now please, so I think I should be able to get them easily by end of January.
Now that I'm feeling normal I need to get busy finishing Christmas presents.

*Carrie*

I'm sorry, I'm just going to say it now

BAH HUMBUG!

I really don't know what is up with me but I always seem to get the blahs the closer Christmas gets.

Now who knows, it could be because I never got the Barbie dream house when I was little or it could be, dang it, because there are NOT enough hours in the day to do allllll the cool stuff I'm seeing around.

It's crunch time.

My one major project I'm making for 3 families has come to a sudden halt. It includes printing photos onto tissue paper.

Well darn it all, my printer has run out of ink!

And right this second I don't have the extra $24 to go buy color ink.

And my printer won't print without the color cartridge inserted. crap.....

On the good news side, Rob's Christmas present just arrived and all my Christmas shopping is FINISHED!

Except...I still need to make/finish a couple of things. Thankfully Rob is off next week and I'm going to have him wrangle the kids so that I can get the goodies finished.

Less than a week away til the big day... Can we add a another week?

I have started making a file of all the things I would like to accomplish or decorate for next year. The Internet has so many beautiful and creative ideas and people.

I'm hoping that next year will be what I call a "golden year" all the kids will be another year older and wiser and the joy of Christmas will hopefully make them more "jolly".

Right now they are sucking the Christmas spirit out of us with all the complaining and back talking.

Okay, so here is the Phoenix. I got really frustrated because I thought that all my photos were coming out blurry so I stopped taking pictures and vowed to one day come back.

Lo and behold they ALL came out clear, just not as perfect as I would like.

Also I would like to be there when the Masons were not using the building and the lights were off.

He is a gorgeous subject. That and the church that is behind this building are fantastic to photograph at night.

Oooh, Mom is taking all my rugrats on Saturday night. Besides wrapping gifts, as long as the weather holds maybe I can wrangle Rob into going back downtown for more photos.

I have already begun making goals for next year.

Maybe if I break them up into easy manageable project I will get more accomplished.

*Carrie*

holy moly. this has been a busy week and the busiest part starts tomorrow night.
Before I get to into it I'll catch you up on the Bethlehem Facebook saga.
Starting on Monday:
Due to a massive relief effort the town of Bethlehem has been restored. Unfortunately we have received word via carrier pigeon that the camel belonging to the 3 wise men has taken a detour and last seen heading for Damascus.
Now I searched for this camel and could NOT find him. One of my friends was asking if anyone had some boys shoes and so I went digging in Wyatt's room.
There I managed to find my cricut super sharp scissors and the camel.
this is what I posted this morning:

Bethlehem update: The camel was returned to the wise men by a group of bedouins for some of their gold. The Angel of the Lord has sent a message to us. She asks that we use the "off" switch on the manger. She is tired and losing her voice from singing Away in the Manger. More to come...
Now I'll add something that I haven't posted to Facebook yet.

Mary has gone missing. Joseph is taking care of baby Jesus and until Mary can be found, don't worry the baby will be drinking goats milk until mommy comes back. Upon her return she will be checked out for post partum depression. The mother of the Son will receive the best possible care.
On to other news or nonsense.
I have tried several times to get a group photo of the rugrats. I even let them sit on the kitchen table but all I get is grumbles and whines. This photo of the 3 here in the chair took 4 adults to orchestrate. And THIS was the best of the ones I took.
Gotta love this age, sigh... at least that is what they say.
Maybe I should have bribed them.
I mean look at those faces, couldn't they fake it??
today is school photo day for Kelly. Wyatt's was postponed till next Tuesday. Kelly is a pro now so I know I'll get a good smile.
Wyatt on the other hand, I'm sure I will get the squinty eyed, fake smile.
Can you believe that Chelsea will be 18 months old right after Christmas? She has started changing so much.
Right now we are struggling through a biting phase. There are the tantrums that strike in less then 2 seconds. Then we have the happy, spinning, silly spaz, that is just so cute and sweet. Of course I can't forget the cuddler. When she starts to get tired she will curl up in your lap and just chill.
Tonight Kelly's scout troop will be singing carols at the Scottish masons christmas dinner. I'm kinda of excited to see the girls in action. Of course I will have my camera handy and I think I'll try my nifty fifty lens because it works well in low light. I'm hoping to cruise around downtown and get some pictures of the different lights. Right next to where Kelly will be at is this beautiful metal griffon with a red light inside. It was so cool the first time Rob and I saw it, I immediately wanted to come back and take some night pictures.
Of course what downtown is boring? There are buildings that I would love to get shots of, so who knows, if my family is willing we will check it.
Have a happy weekend
*Carrie*

Welcome to the crazy holiday season!

And welcome home baby Savannah!

Just look at that face. aawwww

I have no idea where to start.

The holidays and all it's pressures are upon me and I'm trying not to crack under pressure.

I completed 55 Christmas cards and after having my kitchen table covered in craft supplies for 2 weeks I said enough. I have other projects to get done and I would really like to see my table let alone eat at my table.

Thanksgiving was great and I do believe we all enjoyed our selves. We had plenty of food as usual and ate leftovers for most of the week.

On Friday we put up the tree and some decorations and otherwise spent a relaxing weekend together.

We went with no ornaments on the tree this year because a certain someone keeps pulling the lights and garland off. Aahh terrible twos have already arrived.

No Black Friday for me, I did it once and once was enough. I made the mistake of going to Best Buy. Just insane.

Don't get me wrong Black Friday morning the urge to shop is there but between the cold and the crowds I think I'll stick to online shopping.

Why does December have to be such a crazy month?? I have to make sure I'm super organized, which I usually fail somewhere along the way, I tend to get panicky about the gifts I bought or made. There are never enough hours in the day and with the days being shorter in the winter makes everything worse.

Why couldn't Jesus be born in June??

I haven't been feeling the greatest, I'm not sleeping well and I'm having a power struggle with an 18 month old.

To bring some hilarity to the situation I have started a little farce concerning this Little People

Nativity Set.

For the last few years I had heard about this set but they were always sold out. Mom and I were out shopping when I saw some at Walmart. Mom bought it for us because she knew the kids would love it, and they do. Wyatt and Kelly spent most of the day playing with it while I cleaned off a spot big enough to set up Bethlehem.

So right now it is set up on our end table. Prefect height for Chelsea to see and touch.

To learn, to enjoy.

Sunday night the saga begins. Baby Jesus and a sheep went missing. Here is what I posted on Facebook:

Baby Jesus has gone missing. One of the shepherds sheep has ambled off also. I wonder if they are hanging together. I do know that Mary and Joseph are distraught and are frantically searching my house for their baby. I'm wondering, where did Chelsea put them???

Now most of my family and friends know about Chelsea's habit of causing mischief. Twice now she has clogged the toilet with toothbrushes. She has disappeared with my car keys that were found a couple of months later, she randomly put things that don't belong in the garbage.

So the answers to my post ran from check the toilet to check the sock bin, toy box, trash, etc.

A little while later the sheep just reappeared;

Checked the trash...but wait! the sheep has come home! Now off to keep searching for Baby Jesus. Poor thing cold and all alone.

The sheep was hiding in a basket on the floor. Rob says as long as we find baby J by Christmas eve he doesn't care. I'm hoping it isn't another missing car key incident

Rob and I searched everywhere. We decided that after the kids had gone to bed that we would flip the couch and love seat. Guess who we found?

Baby Jesus has been found!!! Mary wept with joy and gratitude that we found her little guy. That darn sheep must have ditched him under the couch before he came back. (the basket was next to the couch.) The shepherd apologized profusely for not watching his flock closely enough. I have put in a call canceling the missing child posters :)

So before we went to bed we put Bethlehem back to rights.

For the next couple of days Chelsea would get mad at one thing or another and she would swipe out her arms and send everything flying. so I decided to add this to my facebook saga.
A freak sandstorm blew through Bethlehem this morning sending bodies flying. No person or animal came away unscathed. Maybe I should call Chelsea a "little stinker" sent by King Herod. Goes with the story better. Instead of just looking for the first born son she wiped out the whole town. :)

At this time I'm thinking of relocating the town to a higher "hill".

So this is the story as of now.

Back to real life.

I'm not sure I can even begin to put into words all the things running through my head; to do's, wish lists, appointments, cooking, household stuff, school stuff, girl scouts.

I think Chelsea has a category all her own. There isn't enough time to write all her issues right now. :)

Kelly has started crying before going to school, she says she misses me. Kelly says no one is being mean to her and that she is having no problems with her teacher, so I'm not sure how to handle it besides a hug, a kiss, tell her to have a great day, and shove her into her classroom.

Wyatt has gotten in trouble twice this week. Once for screaming in the bathroom and another for calling a classmate a pig. Just great. He got his first red circle. He did not get the new book I had bought him and lost a few other privileges besides getting a talking to by both mom and dad.

I think I'm ready for a new year.

Off to finish, hopefully, some Christmas presents today, get cards ready to mail this weekend.

*Carrie*