A Quick Update

We've been a little busy down here with the hustle and bustle of Christmas and having family in town to celebrate with. I have yet to upload our real Christmas pictures to my computer, so for now I thought I'd share a few of the others things we've been enjoying:

Smooching under the mistletoe...

Mountains of junkfood....

Replacing every old light fixture in the house.....it's nice to have a father in town who is a great handyman....


Enjoying the presents Santa brought this year (like my new bedding.....LOVE IT!)....




Hope your Christmas has been Merry and Bright!




More Christmas from our house to come soon......

The Truth About Christmas

Skyler has been asking a lot of questions about Santa this year.

Tonight he laid it on thick.

"Mom, tell me the truth. Don't lie to me. The presents that we get from Santa, are they really from Santa, or are they from you?"

I should have seen this one coming. I think he's been testing me for the last month in fact....starting with telling me that he was going to ask Santa for a violin for Christmas. I've desperately been trying to talk him into asking for a guitar instead. (Much less expensive than a violin!) I think he's on to me....

Anyway, he asked his question while I was reading to he and Kayla, so I calmly answered,

"Skyler, I'm going to tell you the same thing my mother said to me when I was a little girl and asked that same question." There was a silent pause and then I continued, "What do you believe?"

He answered....

"I believe that Santa was once a regular person who was kidnapped by bad people and forced to become famous and move to the North Pole. Then, they make all the moms and dads wrap up presents for the children and write Santa's name on them. And Santa is forced to pretend to be Santa and be famous and has to live where it's super freezing cold and the moms and dads have to do everything for him."

I tried very hard to keep a straight face. "Skyler, where did you hear that?" I asked.

"Oh, I didn't hear it." He shrugged. "That's just what I believe the truth is."

"Well," I answered, then trying to change the subject said "Maybe it's true. Let's get back to our story."

The kids listened quietly to the story ("The Night Before Christmas" of all things), then a few minutes later, Skyler interupted again.

"Mom, how could Santa get all around the world to every house in one night?" and before I even could respond, he decidedly said, "well, not the whole world. He doesn't have to do China because I don't think they have Santa there."

This time I couldn't keep a straight face. "Skyler, why don't they have Santa in China?"

"You know, mom, " he said a little impatiently, "Because it's China! And mom......who eats the cookies we leave out for Santa?"

Now this question really made me nervous. Of course I am the one who eats the cookies each Christmas Eve, usually when I am wrapping whatever last minute presents I always seem to have left.

I just kind of shrugged my shoulders this time and answered, "Well Skyler, I don't know...must be Santa!"

"No," he replied matter-of-factly "It's David. He loves cookies. I bet he eats them all."

Phew! At least I'm off the hook for that one....and I don't mind letting David take the fall!

So, we finally got back to our story and were able to make it to the end without too many more interupting questions.

When I knelt with
the kids to pray, I looked at them both and decided to make one point clear.

"I want you guys to know something." I started. "What you believe about Santa, is your decision and I can tell you, that if you choose to believe in the magic, the magic will always be there."

Then I continued,

"But there is one thing that we believe about Christmas that I know for absolutely sure is real."

Before I could go on, they were both already jumping in.

Kayla's answer was something like, "I know! Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost!"

Skyler's answer was a little more complex, "Jesus Christ is Heavenly Father's son and that's the whole reason we have Christmas!"

I can't tell you how that felt in that moment to know that each year my kids have listened as I've tried to explain to them that presents and Santa may be the funnest part of Christmas, but the real reason we celebrate is because of Jesus Christ and all he has done for us.

I hugged them close and later as I tucked them in, Skyer began to make inquiries again.

"Skyler," I sighed, "You can believe what you want to believe. Just don't go around saying that 'Santa isn't real' or you won't get any Santa presents....no matter where you think they come from."

He gave me that funny little smirk that told me he knew exactly what I meant.

I kissed him goodnight and told him as I walked out of his room, "the secret of Christmas is to believe in the magic. If you believe in the magic, you will always find it."

I hope he'll remember that for when he's a parent.

Because as a parent, I've learned that the magic of Christmas.....is watching it through my children's eyes.

Technology....Ugh!

Just so you know, my absence on here is not from a failure of motivation to blog. I have plenty of motivation.

It is also not entirely from lack of time, though that is always an issue....and I know I'm not the only one in that boat!

The real problem has been my possessed computer. At least that's what I've determined the root of the cause is. My computer has been possessed by some phantom computer genie that is seeking to completely frustrate my technological existence.

Let me explain....

My computer has been having problems for awhile. Several weeks ago, I admitted it into the computer hospital after realizing it had probably fallen sick to a virus. It had....a trojan and several other random viruses. And yes, I have anti-virus software which apparently didn't stop these.

One week and $200.00 later, I picked up my supposedly "healthy" computer. To aid it's normal function, my generous boss also had more ram installed and added an external hard drive to ease it's failing memory. That little set up cost nearly $300.00.

After another week of problems seemingly caused by a failing moniter, I purchased a new moniter as well as a wireless mouse and keyboard and was assured by the "know-it-alls" at the computer hospital that this should resolve any remaining issues. Another $200+ later...... I readmitted the computer that STILL would not function properly, convinced that they failed to remove all of the viruses.

Another week later and they returned my computer back to me claiming they could find nothing wrong with it and apparently I am imagining the fact that it keeps shutting down on me, that the screen goes into random wild fanatical displays of light and shade, and that on more days than not, the thing refuses to start up at all.

This morning I have decided that it is possessed. Since no one else has a logical solution, that is the conclusion that I have drawn.

What makes me mad is that over $700.00 has been spent on this said possessed computer when I could have purchased a brand new unpossessed one by now. Where's the computer whisperer when I need one?

The good news is, the new external hard drive now contains all the wonderful important things I need on it: pictures, the entirety of my work, etc, so at least all is not lost!