sanity break

(The photo above, shows just how spirited and crazy our little girl can be sometimes...today was a particularly challenging day with this little one! Sorry if this offends anyone, I thought it was hilarious!)

I have a few minutes to myself this evening...
David is spending some quality time with Gwyneth in front of the "boob tube" catching up on their latest cartoon favorite "The Batman."
I've been almost three weeks without my car.
I never realized how much I depend on it until now.
I put rental reimbursement on our insurance...can't believe we were so cheap and didn't put it on before!
Gwyneth was sick almost a week. She ran a low fever for 6 days! Now she has a cough. 'Tis the season...
Going a little stir crazy here without a car. David has had to chauffeur us everywhere. Grocery shopping is the worst. His cab in his truck is not that big. I am trying to make it until this weekend on the food we have before I have to shop! They say Friday my car should be done! Yippee!
Even though she is six years old, Gwyneth still has those days when she is so needy, and hyper like a three year old! That was today! I needed this break. She is hilariously annoying sometimes. I can laugh about it out of her midst...but boy, to be in the middle of it! whew!
We've been keeping up with school pretty well. Ready for Christmas break though. Gwyneth is super smart! This 1st grade curriculum is not very challenging...yet. I have looked ahead a little and know it will progressively get more challenging. For now, she is a little bored with Math, and she doesn't care too much for reading, even though she is an excellent reader. In the new year I plan to incorporate more extra curricular activities. She would like to take ice skating lessons, and is interested in basketball.
We're approaching the shortest day of the year. I think it's December 23rd? Anyhow, our days are short enough now! The sun doesn't rise until 10:30am and sets around 3pm. So only 4 1/2 hours of daylight. It can take a toll on you. When I get my car back I plan to go out and run my errands between sunrise and sunset to take in all the daylight I can!
Here is a picture I snapped on our way to church one day... it was 10:30 am.Lack of daylight=lack of inspiration, or any photos worth sharing. I'm so glad I have a big flash to take the little snapshots around the house such as this one of Gwyneth with her enormous collections of Littlest Pets:

Aren't these just the cutest!? (For the record, we have only bought a few of these for Gwyneth, or they came in sets. She has bought the majority on her own with her allowance.)I have all these grand plans for Christmas cards/letters, but am doubtful I will get to them!
We just received our families names in an envelope from my mom today. My side of the family started drawing names for Christmas about two years ago. With all us young folks on limited budgets and "young at heart" retirees, we saw it as a way to alleviate the holiday pressure. We put every member of the family's name on a little piece of paper into a box and draw out the number of names in our individual families. We only buy Christmas presents for the names we draw. And there is a $25 per person limit. It has worked the past two years, and everyone appreciates it. We were excited about the names we drew today! I can't wait to do the shopping now! I LOVE shopping and giving gifts to others! Because we only get to shop for three people each Christmas I make sure to make every other family member's Birthday extra special throughout the year. It's a little more spread out then...
We have already done a little shopping for Gwyneth. She is almost done. Just a few more items and she is set. I know what I want to buy David, I just have to order it! Better get crackin' on it! It's one of my goals for this weekend.
Our Christmas tree is up and decorated! I just love the twinkle lights! I love to just sit in the evening with all the other lights off and read by tree light! I have tried to convince David to put some lights up outside. Not sure if it will happen. It is only -8 currently! ;o)
We recently purchased the game Clue on sale! We've been wanting to add this game to our collection for a while! Gwyneth loves it just as much as David and I did as kids. I still love the game!I think this brings you all up to speed. Thanks for stickin' it out while I rambled on! I pray each and every one of you feels the "reason for the season", and are enjoying your family, friends, and health!
Take care!