Do You Hear What I Hear?

Over 100,000 Printable and Online Coupons from over 50,000 Stores including Grocery Coupons and Restaurant Coupons.

--> Win an iPad from Catalog Spree! <--

If you'd like to be considered for the 2011 gift guide, please contact me via the aqua button on the top right of your screen. (a form will pop up)

Check me out on Cafepress

Read the latest issue of Project You Magazine right here at Not Everyone's Mama!

Vote For Me @ Picket Fence Blogs

Need to earn more money from your blog? Check out Chitika.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Posted by Heather Manning On December - 24 - 2009

That’s my favorite Christmas song. It just makes me happy. What’s your favorite Christmas song? I think Silent Night is right up there with my all time favorites and if we’re looking at winter ones, I think it would be

Sleigh Ride

And who doesn’t love a little Harry Connick Jr?

He makes me happy too.

I can hardly stand it! It’s almost Christmas! Pato has to work until 5, which stinks, but I’ll deal. This afternoon the kids and I will be going to church for the candlelight ceremony. Then we’ll go out for Chinese. Yep, that’s how we roll on Christmas Eve. It’s my dad’s birthday today. (Happy birthday dad!) It’s a good thing we all love Chinese food because it’s the only restaurant open in the evening on Christmas Eve. We’ve been going as long as I can remember. Pato will catch up with us as soon as possible. Usually on the ride home he calls his mom and I get to hear how I’m a heathen because we aren’t going to midnight mass and because my children still aren’t baptized (it’s her tradition every year to try to convert me to Catholicism by telling me what will happen to me if I don’t do as she thinks I should.) And might I say, Pato’s goes to Pentecostal services with us, I would have no problem going to midnight mass with him, that’s his choice not to go. He doesn’t take credit for that with his mommy though.)

We’ll come home, the kids will do a mad dash cleaning up the living room (that they will have trashed between now and then, it’s what they do) because they’ll refuse to do it today and I’ll get tired of fighting them. I also refuse to let them open any presents until the living room is spotless because I’ve got pictures to take people. Ain’t going to be no messy living room in my Christmas pictures. Then we’ll put out some milk and cookies (actually, it’s usually Little Debbie snack cakes) for Santa and a plate of lettuce and carrots outside in the snow for the reindeer (which will probably get lost because we’re expecting some nasty weather here tonight.). Finally we’ll get them all in bed and drag all the presents out here and pile them around the tree. I’ll write each kid a letter from Santa to tuck in their stocking (telling them that he was proud of them this year, but to really work harder next year on keeping their rooms clean – it’s tradition.) Pato and I will all into bed exhausted for 4 hours or so of sleep, then Katiana will be bouncing on the bed at about 6 or 7. We’ll try to put her off until there is no more chance of sleeping. She’ll run around the house and wake up everyone (that’s her Christmas job, but I’m not sure who gave it to her). And we’ll come out here and open all the presents. Jordan’s dad will come pick him up for Christmas at his house (if the weather doesn’t get as nasty as they are predicting because he won’t drive in bad weather, which is fine with me, it’s my precious cargo he’d be toting around on ice and snow.)

At 4 we’ll head over to my sister’s for turkey and noodle soup, which really isn’t a tradition of ours, my sister just didn’t want to do a whole huge meal at her house and all the places we reserve for our huge family we’re booked by the time my mom tried to get one. Saturday is the Manning family get together (dad’s side). Will be driving out to Winterset (again, weather permitting) to celebrate with my grandma and all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, once removed, twice brought back, all that jazz.

Then I can rest and relax……..ok, that might not happen until the kids are back in school on the 4th. Yesterday was their first day off and they were fighting by 11 AM. If you’re traveling, stay safe – if it gets as nasty as they are saying here in Iowa, traveling through the midwest right now will be treacherous. So, be careful! And if you don’t come back here by then, have a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

(If you’re hear from SITS, I linked Mr linky w/my favorite 2009 post, but here it is too – Guess Who is Here)

Orange NJ invisalign – anyone tried them? I’m worried my kids will need braces someday and I HATED mine. Though, I’d probably go with an Iowa dentist. Just the invisalign thing, wondering how people like that?