I have been putting this off day after day because I have had so much I have wanted to write about, but no time in which to write it! And in my not so sane mind, I tend to think things like, "I'm not gonna do it at all if I can't do it perfect right." What is "right" by the way? That's a word that tends to rule my life and I just realized that I have absolutely NO IDEA what right even is! Just some sort of unrealistic standard and pressure I put on myself unecessarily I suppose....please tell me I am not alone in this people!
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Friends and Family!!! I pray that yours was as fabulously blessed as ours here at the McManus house! Here are a few highlights from Christmas morning....a sidenote...we stay home all day and do not go anywhere all day!!! We don't even shower get dressed all day long!!! I grew up travelling to at least 4 houses on Christmas day....so when I moved away with Adam, we didn't have a lot of family close by and we were able to spend the day at home....well, that's all it took....I vowed then that it would be our way of doing Christmas....so now, we spend it with my family before Christmas....and Adams mom and my sister come over to our house later in the day on Christmas Day....my mom lives in VA and she was able to be here last year but not this year due to her work schedule....we missed her!
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Ok, on to the highlights....I have so so much to tell you but I will not be ok with myself if I do not share at least a few Christmas pics...
Cookies for Santa...and notes from Mag and Aidan giving specific instructions as to where to put "their" gifts in the living room so they would know whose is whose....gosh, I have no idea where they get this organization obsession!
The gang leaving out cookies....heading up to bed to try and sleep
Christmas morning...coming down the stairs...I always make them stop for a picture...and they always hate that I do!
My baby boy Aidan with is CARS car track...mesmorized
Maggie had an American Girl Christmas...here she is with Kit, Grace (Kit's doggie) and their matching nightgowns...love it!
Gosh I love this boys smile...and the way it spreads across his whole face! I never get tired of seeing it! This was a boy happy to have a V-Rocker! (Do you see that BEAUTIFUL picture behind him that my wonderful husband got me for Christmas!?!? He rocks! He matched the colors to our living room and everything!...It has Romans 15:13 on it....he knows my heart so well.)
This guy is most certainly not looking more and more like a teenager everyday!!! :-/
Stockings come last in our family...I have no idea why...growing up that's how we did it and my mom always put one of our nice presents in our stocking....like a watch or perfume or something...this year our kids got gift cards in theirs. (And on a side note...I have no idea why my camera focused on Tyler and not the other two...or why if it was gonna blur something out, it didn't get the school books on the table!)...this camera is so above my IQ right now...but I LOVE IT all the same!
We don't have a Christmas "dinner" exactly....we have a Finger Food tradition in our house on Christmas Day....and what you see above (what you see above is Maggie and Aidan sharing in a bowl full of Nerds they got in their stockings...Santa must be in cahoots with our dentist!) wasn't even a fraction of it...Adam cooked a glorious ham and we had potato rolls to make sandwiches on....My mother in law also brought over her famous Asparagus Pesto Pasta...my fav! Oh yeah, and a friendly reminder there on the corner of the table from our Karate Studio to not get behind in our classes as to keep graduation on schedule....oops!
"Santa" somehow forgot the doggies this year....oops! I think Bo was still looking for him....and yes that is my front door wide open on Christmas Day....high 50's here in TN that day!
GI Joe...a real American Hero
Adam LOVES his new digital camcorder....I think it seriously weighs like a pound! I was regretting getting it not even 5 mintes later....doesn't that man know the "no pics of mom on Christmas morning" rule after 10 years!?!?!
The boys got this monstrous hockey table from Grandma Ann....ok, who does Adam think he is fooling here?!?!? Notice HE is playing and Tyler isn't!
Tyler enjoying some new games for his PSP....me enjoying staring at him
I am so mad at myself because I did not get one picture while my sister was here later that night....let's just say that Aunt Ashley created some "shock and awe" in the McManus house when she gave all three kiddos a Wii for Christmas!!! For real!!! And I do not even have one picture of them playing it yet! And it would have nothing at all to do with the fact that I have the sorest arms and shoulders can't get off of it long enough to photograph my poor children and their fabulous new Wii! What did I get??? Let's see...don't forget that I got the Rebel for Christmas...just opened it early so that I could take half decent Christmas photos....my kids picked the coolest things for me (Adam takes them every year and lets them pick regardless of what it is)...Maggie got me a beautiful blue and silver necklace....Tyler picked out a really cool recipe box for me...I really needed one!....and Aidan...oh my...he picked me the most adorable wooden rocker horse with a Santa on it....and it just melts my heart the thought of him looking at that and saying, "Mom would like this"....ahh I love them so much it hurts sometimes you know???!?!?! And I too got a gift card for a mom and Maggie shopping date that we enjoyed New Years Eve at Coolsprings! Maggie was so excited...this was our first year to do this....but it will NOT be our last....it is now a McManus Must for sure! We ate Chinese together in the Food Court and shopped till we dropped....I was so proud that she kept up with her balance in order to have enough for a Bible she had seen at Lifeway the week before. We even had a little talk over lunch regarding Santa....it seems we had been slipping and saying that we got things that Santa had apparently been from Santa....the night before, we were at Target and Adam said...Is this where you got the boys hockey cards...and of course not thinking, I say "Yep!"...I immediately see her wheels turning but I was NOT prepared for what came next...."I don't think Santa is real is he?" Oh dear! I panicked....and lied! Ughh!!! I felt horrible all night long and talked to Adam about it later....the unspoken rule in our house has been that if they ask, we will not lie to them...that's how it played out with Tyler...but he was 10 and she is just 8 so I wasn't expecting it so soon....man is she a smart cookie or what?...so at lunch I came clean with her and told her that I was sorry for lying to her....she seemed relieved to know....but a bit disappointed in knowing cause she said it was fun and magical to believe that he actually came to our house. Gosh, this growing up thing never gets any easier it seems! :-)
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Can you believe it is 2009?!?! I started thinking last night...this year, Tyler will become a teenager.....Maggie will be 9....Aidan will be turning 7....and Adam and I will celebrate our 10 years of marriage in February! Wow....what an exciting year already! And it seems to just keep getting better folks....my God is always up to something and I am always ok with that! I am NOT however gonna share in this particular post....nope, this is way to big people! It deserves to have a post all itself! Keep your radar up...it's coming soon....and I promise you....THIS IS HUGE!!!! :-)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! MAY HE RICHLY BLESS THE LIVES OF EACH OF YOU!!!
" And whatever I do, may it always bring glory to you"
