Question of the Day.

If your coffee cup is larger than usual and you only have 2 cups but you ended up drinking the 6 cups you made, how many cups of coffee did you have?

The Invisible List

I hate it!!  It'll be the death of me, I'm sure!!

I should probably explain it a little before you think I've gone of the deep end yet another time.

When I look around my house and my life, I have this invisible list that is calling out of things to do.  The things that I need to do, want to do, and simply HAVE to do.  It's constantly growing and it seems that every time I cross one of the things off... I add four - five more things.  

The list is invisible because I'm afraid to write the things down.  That and by the time I reach number 3, I've overwhelmed myself so much, I've forgotten what I was writing next and why I was writing them.  The problem is... I have a very good ability of not letting the list get to me... UNLESS, I'm at  home staring the stupid thing in the face.  So, if I'm out and about and causing chaos in other's worlds... then my invisible list is put off another day and I don't have to worry about it.  

Now... the invisible list is only important to moi.  Hubby thinks I've gone off the deep end because I keep referring to "the List" and he can't find it.  Friends are saying "RELAX" (A common comment for Rho's truly)and while they understand and help with the prioritizing, I'm adding another thing on my list as a creative way to thank them for putting up with another crazy moment - not because I have to but because of the way of Rho.

I just CAN'T be in my house without thinking of the closets to be organized, the garage to be de-cluttered, and the random arts/crafts projects that I have started or want to start.  Combine that with the every growing laundry, the domestic every day duties, and making sure my kiddos don't force cruel and unusual punishment on each other - Then the wish list of starting a new book and spending all day catching up on the blog titles that I've got floating in my brain. You can see the list growing.....and I haven't even started the self-help section. 

Part of me wants to look at the Proverbs 31 woman , shake my finger at her and shout "YOU!!!!!"  But, then my brain takes over and realizes she wasn't real to begin with so why am I trying so hard?  I need the qualities... not the quantities.  Ya know?!?!  

Life is back to normal...

I hope that everyone had a beautiful and wonderful Christmas.
We have spent the last two nights at my in-law's house. I have enjoyed hanging out here but, will LOVE sleeping in my own bed tonight.

We had a wonderful moment before the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve as hubby read the REAL Christmas Story to all of us while piled on Mimi's king sized bed. There as a family we talked about Christmas's meaning and why in the next morning, it doesn't matter what kind of presents are underneath the tree. The kiddo had the hearts in the right place and Buggy was reciting the musical again. Such a sweet moment.
As we tucked everyone in Bumpa (Father-in-Law) was with the kiddos as they were discussing how early was early. Bumpa said around 7:30 is good. I silently snickered as that was hysterical and an outrageous request!! Pshaw... asking kiddos to wait until "morning" over the crack of dawn. Could you imagine?!!?
...enter Christmas morning...
Silence was all around as I walked out at 6:45 to feed the dog and start coffee. Interesting I thought... as I opened the kiddos door only to find them still sleeping.
I had to grind the coffee beans.. Figuring that would definately start something.... and I hear nothing! Finally after the 2nd round with the grinder... I hear a stressed whisper....

Monster "Buggy!!! Get up it's TIME!!!! C'mon!!!"
This coming from the boy that's stuck between believing and not believing in the man in the red suit.
As two very sleepy children come out and look under the tree...Buggy turns to me and says....."I'm still tired. I'm going back to bed"
Me "But, your presents?!"
Buggy "Just a little bit longer..."
..and she proceeds to tuck herself back into bed and drifts into sugar plums, again.
Monster looks at me with amazement.
Me "Go wake up Daddy and everyone else"
...and I go back to making sure that the coffee is finished and working on getting the breakfast "snack" ready.
Hubby walks in and asks... "Where's Buggy?"
Me "She went back to sleep... she's still tired"
Hubby (smiling) "I'll get her."

Once everyone was up we proceeded to have the mass chaos of presents and paper.
I hope you all enjoyed your day yesterday.

I had hoped to get up and cover the after Christmas sales today... *sigh* No one jumped at the opportunity to accompany me. So, I'm here.. waiting patiently for my crew to wake up. We'll load up the cars and return home today. Thankfully... it's only a 15 minute drive...

Enjoy your weekend!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Enjoy your family and friends as you celebrate the birth of Christ!!

Now get of the computer and spend some time with them instead!!

Love Y'all!
~Rho

Something to think about!

Bugisms

Buggy: Why did the Turkey cross the road?
Me: Why?
Buggy: To prove he was a chicken!!!

Something New.

I tried something new this year.
I gave the kiddos $15 dollars, a list of people and set them loose in the dollar tree. Who'd a thunk it would give them joy to spend their own money to buy people Christmas gifts?!!? It all started because Monster made the comment of..."Uhh.. Mom?! When you buy someone a present will you let us know what it is - So we're not surprised when they open it?" THEN while in the Dollar Tree while trying to pinpoint something exact, I found a friend of mine monitoring her children shopping for gifts. I put two and two together and Voila! We have the Christmas shopping extravaganza.

It was absolutely adorable to "watch" them go up and down the aisles. Their gifts were thoughtful and I think possibly, will be the most treasured. I pushed my cart around and they kept checking in on me. It was GREAT!

I was able to enjoy watching the gift shopping experience. It wasn't a fight or a bother to hunt down what was on the "list". There was no stress, no crazy-ness, and best of all NO sibling fighting!

Our next step was the gift wrapping experience. Now that. I could've left alone. Especially because of the polar opposites I have in children. Monster all but had the ruler out for exact measurements and Buggy... Well, I'm one roll of tape short now. But, THEY did it. They were involved in the gift giving and getting process. Which taught me (and them) some lessons of the heart.

How do you handle the children's gift giving?

Randomness.

I'm following the white bunny from Alice in Wonderland.

Chaos is over running in the house of Rho. The end is near. 2 more days.

Emergency Prayer Update - PRAISE!!

I met up with my friend from college yesterday. She was leaving the hospital as I was going in to visit my MIL.
Her husband is out of ICU. He's made great progress but, there is still alot of concern. Please, please, keep him on your prayer list! Thank you for your prayers.


Jojo... The most gorgeous couple in the world.... you know the professional dancers!??!? Yeah... they'll be starting new classes in June of '09.


Michelle... Thank you for all you do! Your support, encouragement, and advice helps me more than you know. Thank you so much for letting me borrow your time on Wednesday!

Bonus Cookie Recipe

I'm the oldest daughter of many that my parents have - 2 of which are biological. I'm also the "chef" and premier recipe holder for those who were stuck in Shoppingdom for ANY amount of time.

All of that to say.... Here's a bonus recipe that Jojo needs... so, I figured I share with all!!

1 pkg of cream cheese (Philadelphia is the bestest!)
1 cup of powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 325. Beat cream cheese, sugar, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour and baking soda; mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour.

These are AWESOME cookie cutter cookies and super soft. The key is to make sure that the dough doesn't get too warm and use flour while you are rolling them out. I normally separate into two and switch between them as I make the batches. If batter is too warm.. stick it back in the fridge.
The only place that I have deviated from the recipe is that I'm a little heavy handed on the vanilla.

Go to Fuschia's for more fun recipes and hints!!!!

Fuschia's Cookie Swap

Okay... Fuschia says...List your favorite cookie recipe. So Rho says.... Okay!

This recipe is from the Philippines. Growing up I spent 2 years overseas with my family that I remember. While in the Philippines we had a housekeeper and these were her special cookies. Sadly, we lost touch after we moved back to the States. But, when I make these cookies I think of her every time!

Mila's Boiled Raisin Cookies

1 1/2c. raisins
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. shortening
3 beaten eggs
2 Tbsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt

Simmer raisins w/ water about 10 minutes or until the water is almost completely absorbed. Cool raisins. Cream together sugar and shortening. Add eggs, vanilla, flour, soda and salt to the shortening mixture. Add raisins. Chill dough. (Mila used to take a shower) Roll dough into balls and drop the cookie balls into 1/2 c. sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

I haven't made these yet this year so, I don't have the yummy picture. If you want to... you can leave the raisins out (Hubby prefers it that way... I like it with raisins - Go Figure) These are almost like a cake-like cookie.

Go see Fuschia for more yummy recipes and helpful hints.

Attention All Prayer Warriors!!!

I have a CLOSE college friend in need of prayer. Her husband is in ICU recovering from a heart surgery. He's been in there for an entire week. She is 3 weeks out of a hysterectomy and still recovering as well.

Bugisms

My Daughter as many of you know is referred to as "Bug" or "Buggy". Because of the fact she is constantly adding humor to our lives, I've decided to give her..her very own label for my posts. I'll update prior posts of her antics at a later date.. but, for today, I hope you'll enjoy two more.

#1

Yesterday we were riding to have dinner with My father-in-law's brother and sister. We were honored to have them visit our church as well as we were going to celebrate our Christmas with them. We were having THE talk about manners and proper responses regarding presents.

Me: We're going to lunch with Aunt C and Uncle D.
Buggy: OH! and WE get to see them Christmas Eve!!
Me: Not this year, they will be out of town.
Monster: Wh.What?!!? When will we get our presents??
Buggy: *Sigh* (Rolling eyes at big brother) Christmas isn't about presents. It's about Love. Love is when Jesus is born. Christmas is Jesus's Birthday and on Easter he will die on the cross for us.

Ummm.. so at this point, I'm having a near tear moment and frantically searching for my not pad to document so that I can blog appropriately. My heart and smile are so big right now I can barely hang on to my composure!! She's getting it!

Me: Buggy, How do you know this?!?!
Buggy: I just do.
Me: Tell me again. (I have a pen and paper now)
...and so she does. word. for. word.

Monster: OH!!! I KNOW where YOU got this from!!! It's the musical!!!
Buggy: I know..... (giggle)

Hubby: Not so inspiring now?!?!
Me: Oh. yeah. She totally got me!

#2
...On the way home last night... Out. Of. The. Blue. (go figure)

Buggy: Daddy, I don't want you to get Monster and I confused with each other!
Hubby: Huh?
Buggy: Well, sometimes I call you Dad.
Hubby: (look of confusion?)
Me: (giggle)
Buggy: *Sigh* Monster calls you Dad. and I call you Daddy... I don't want you to get confused between Monster and I when I call you Dad.
Me: (Struggling..giggle...giggle)
Hubby: Okay princess... but, you do know that you sound different from each other... Right?

I'm home.

I'm safe in sound and back in a very chaotic House of Rho.
Ahhh... the sounds of Home! I'll be spending this weekend washing 2 weeks of clothes and stuffing my suitcases back under my bed for 2 weeks and then we start the weekend bustle again. It's hard to believe I've spent the last 2 weeks living out of a suitcase!

The service for my Popi was wonderful. We laughed and cried as a family. I've always known what a wonderful Man of God he was...but, the amount of people he touched was un-countable.
I walked away with two things that are lodged in my heart....

1. There was not a picture to be found of him by himself. They always had his wife in them. That is NOT a bad thing!! My Grandmother as she placed the picture up on the memorial said..."I couldn't find one... but, it doesn't matter.. We were always one." And truthfully, they were. They celebrated their 30th anniversary in October of this year.

2. My Grandfather left a legacy. Something that has been in my heart since the day I accepted the Lord and finally understood what it meant. He truly touched every person he came in contact with. I looked at the three rows of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Then added the 8 grandchildren and great grandchildren that weren't able to be there. All of which had at least one characteristic of my Popi. His personality, his smile, or his love for the Lord... We were all there and willing to pass that legacy on.

25 questions about Christmas.

Fuschia "requested" that people participate. I LOVE (insert sarcasm) these!! But, this one... well this one is my favorite holiday and soooo... I MUST participate. That and she's a dear, dear friend so, I don't want her not to have someone do this.

On to the meme:
1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate, with smarshmellows, PLEASE! But the occasional 1 glass (unleaded please) of egg nog makes my season.

2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? A little bit of both. I'm the primo wrapper in the household so, it depends on when I run out of tape! :0)

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Me?!? White lights. on the House. on the Tree. Just. Plain. Period. I think it has something to do with the fact that I had nuff'n but colored lights growing up.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No... But, I love the tradition (only with HUBBY!)

5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend after Thanksgiving. I start the Christmas music the day after.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Ummm. Not a clue. I just like to eat. Period.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: Having Dean Martin's Rudolph being played on the reel to reel and waiting at the top of the stairs for my daddy to let us know that Santa came.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Wha..?!?What truth?! If you don't believe.. You don't receive.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yup. Pj's only. It's so we look glamorous on Christmas morning with our bed heads.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? It started out a victorian themed tree that morphed into a country Christmas theme that now has a little bit of this and that with ornaments that range from my childhood and ones that my children have made. It's a tree that beats all trees... in my opinion.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love to look at it. I can spend a max of 4 days in it. Then... Dread it.

12. Can you ice skate? Nope. but, I fall REALLY good!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Childhood - My Cabbage Patch kid that received a present under the tree before we knew who it belonged to. I was seriously torn up over the fact that Santa left the wrong present at my house. I found her on the washing machine after while doing my chores. Grown Up- The first Christmas in my current house. It was also our first Christmas married. Hubby gave me this gorgeous winter white suit (size single digit) from Petite Sophisticate - and it fit...perfectly.

14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Sharing the true love of the holiday and it's meaning with my family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Daddy's homemade toffee... Yes. I can make it but, Daddy's is always BETTER!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching my children wish Baby Jesus a Happy Birthday before they open presents. It was one of those "wonderful mistakes" that both of my children knelt in front of the Christmas tree for presents and then we mentioned why we were celebrating Christmas. At the exact same time the bowed their heads to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday. It's been an ongoing picture moment and tradition since then.

17. What tops your tree? A new fiber optic angel. My old one (12 years old this year) died a death of smushing. We'll see how this new one works out.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both. It's always a good thing to get presents... but, the smile of a friend or child when you give them a gift will make your day.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? All of them. If I had to narrow it down... It would be.... Nat King Cole's The Christmas song and Barbara Streisand's The Best Gift.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yummy!!!! Except when you're cleaning them off the car seat in March.

21. What do you want for Christmas? Whirled Peas.... Sorry.. Had to do it!! If I had to be materialistic... I'd love the entire Vera Bradley travel set in Java Blue along with accesories, wallets, purses,etc. But, seriously.... the smile on my children's face when they truly get the meaning.... that'll do it just fine.thankyouverymuch.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas Party? Nope. Unless you call the family Christmas's a party. Which in my family's case.... Yeah. I guess I do.

23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJs? Pj's from Christmas eve in the morning until we have to go to Mimi's for lunch. Then it's comfy clothes.

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Somewheres. You can't hand out gifts unless you have the hat on.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Weekend before Christmas... My parents. Christmas morning... my house. Christmas Night...Hubby's parents.

?

My Popi

**WARNING** CRY ZONE AHEAD!!!

I'm sitting in front of the computer with RAW emotions. It's been 2 days since my father called me to let me know that my Popi passed away. There are so many stories of laughter and tears that I can share about this man but, the one that's sticking in my mind is the last day that I talked to him.

He called the morning we were leaving my parents to return home from Thanksgiving. He was so excited that he was leaving the hospital that he was admitted into for observation on Thanksgiving night. He spoke to everyone of us - great grandchildren, too!

Me: Hello, My Popi!
Him: Hello, my grand daughter! I'm going home today.
Me: That's what mom said! What an answer to our prayers!
Him: You have a wonderful family, a wonderful man that will take care of you, I'm so proud of you and I love you!
Me: I love you too!!

I'm sure there was more conversation but, really that's all I remember. We went about packing the car and getting on the road. About two hours later is when I received the phone call from my father.

I have two things to comment on -
1. The nurse said that he was so strong and happy as she could tell he was talking to a bunch of small children and letting them know how excited he was about going home.

2. After I got over the initial shock, I was reliving the conversation I had with him. Home has two connotations- especially to believers and I truly believe in my heart of hearts that my Grandfather, a man of great wisdom and faith, knew which home he'd be going to. With that I can smile and know that angels are rejoicing as we cry tears of grief.

I'll be MIA for a while again.
Keep my mother in your prayers. Without going too much into her story... I don't know how much more she can take.