I wish I could say that I was writing from New York, and that I was going to be at the biggest countdown for the new year. But I am not. One of these years I would love to be there. BUT I did submit my wish to the New York Times and when they drop all the confetti, mine will be on there. (that is what they told me anyways). And no, I cant tell you what I wished for, cause then it might not come true! 
So this year has had so many changes for me. It has been full of many blessings. Many challenges. Times of growth. Times of waiting and listening to the still small voice of our heavenly father. I have learned to take the answer yes and no. Times of trials and victories. I have learned a lot about friendship and family. I have learned to trust even more in our Lord. I would like to say that I have learned to be more patient. 
I am thankful for this year. AND I am looking forward to 2008 and all that it has in store for me and my family. My motto for the the new year is “No Regrets and live life to its fullest!”
Wow, can you believe Christmas is all over with? It was so quick for us. I think partly because we had so much going on. The kids had a wonderful Christmas. We read the Christmas story Christmas morning and then we also have the tradition of reading The Crippled Lamb every year. The kids got lots of gifts and were all thankful. My mom got me some nice earrings, and I got a cool new apron from my sister, and some new workout stuff from my other sister. Today Tony’s family comes in. So I have been busy getting the house ready and baking some goodies. They will be here till Monday. We are planning on installing a new garage door opener while they are here. It never stops in our household. We are always doing something! I am planning on buying some curtains for our room. We have not had any for a year now, and I think it is time. Tony says it will just make me want to stay in bed longer in the mornings. And it probably will. I am not a morning person. I am more a night owl.
Okay my eldest needs me…he is still recovering from surgery. And he had a long night last night! I think I need a nap too.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas Day.
So my son had his tonsils and adenoids out today. We are also installing wood floors throughout our house. IT is a mess at the Evans house. There is stuff everywhere. Thankfully I have some good friends that have very generously taken on my other 3 kids to help us out. So thank you Bruce, Ruth, Janet, and Dawain for helping a sister out!!!
So I will be able to blog and post some pictures once we finish. For now I am going to have to nurse my sweet baby back to good health and finish the installation!
Is everyone ready for Christmas? NONE of my presents are wrapped.
Can you believe it….8 MORE DAYS….I have so much shopping to do. Gift to wrap. Cookies to bake. Oh and I have not even sent off my Christmas cards yet….sigh….A house to get cleaned for all the company. Children’s Programs to attend. Lights to go see late at night with the kids. Knitting to do. AND I dont think I am going to get it all done. But I have resolved myself to the fact that it is okay…I have 4 kids! So if you are a friend and you get my Christmas card by…let’s say Valentines Day. Just know I was thinking of you. Feel the love yet?
It is 7:13 and Tony was supposed to be home…um a while ago, so I could go out and get some shopping done. So when he gets home I am going to RUN so that I can get some gifts bought. And maybe stop for a coffee…I mean how can you go shopping without coffee. So where am I going tonight…well I need to make a stop at Target, Barnes and Noble, Dillards, Penneys, Macys, Disney Store, Victorias Secret (every year I buy my sisters underwear from there ), Gap, and Gymboree. Good Golly, I hope the mall is open late tonight! And while I am shopping I need to keep my eyes peeled for Tony a gift, cause I have not a clue what to get him. Okay so what are you all going to get the man in your life? Any ideas for me?
Side note, my little Ben just totally melted my heart tonight! We were eating dinner, and he looked up at me and said, “Mom thanks for making us dinner, it is yummy!”
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Fast forward a few hours….went shopping. The mall was crazy!!! So I shopped till I almost dropped. It was about 9:30 and I thought I would run to the little massage place in our mall and get a 20 minute massage. So I go in, and sit down on the chair. The lady said in her very broken English…”baby tummy” as she points to my stomach. GULP!!! Um, I said no I am just fat, and then I chipped in and said “Well I mean I did have a baby…18 months ago.” Oh my gosh, I was totally crushed. She seriously thought I was pregnant. That screams “YOU ARE FAT HEIDI”….ugh. how depressing. I need bootcamp again. It starts Jan 7th….if it only started sooner. sigh…
So here are a few of my favorite ornaments that we hang each year on our tree:
Now what would an Evans Tree be without an Starbuck’s Ornament…
Growing up my mom collected angels for me. I am guessing it was because I was such an angel Here is one of the first ones she bought me:
My oldest son made this for me in 1st grade. He was SOOO proud of it, especially since he added red to it, and that is my favorite color!:
When we moved to Costa Rica we had no Christmas Ornaments. All of ours were on a container on there way to Chile. So my mom made all the ornaments for us. This is one of the ones that I saved. It was funny cause we had probaby about a 14 foot tree (yes we had extremely high ceilings in our house) and we had a handful of these little ornaments on it. :
So there they are. I have a lot more, but these are the top 4.
The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. This is the quote that I read today. Is that not so true. It kind of hit me like a ton of bricks actually. It is something that I knew, but have not thought about lately. God really is so divine. The way he orchestrates everything in our lives, is beyond my belief. I am thankful that he sees the big picture.
Okay off to get ready for a Christmas Party.
So my prayer today was, “Lord, please just give me a breather…my kids have been so sick. And I am so tired and frustrated.” Off to work I went and within about 3 hours someone said, “Heidi you better come and see Kaitlyn’s ear” It was just oozing infection. Thankfully I work close to her doctor and urgent care that we use. So I ran her over. Her ear drum had burst and it is super infected. Poor baby. I felt so bad. But then I found myself praying again, “Now Lord, I know we talked this morning and I told you to give me a break and now this! What are you trying to teach me or show me or what?” Maybe it was because I told him to give me a break! I bet he didn’t like me telling him what to do. After all He is in charge! It has been one thing after another with my kids. So here I am going around the mountain again…and you can betch your bottom I will be as still as I need to be to figure out what God is trying to show me. Don’t get me wrong I do believe that sometimes kids just get sick. But….this is going on and on and on. What am I missing? This has definitely caused me to slow down. Sometimes I wish that God would just write his message in the clouds to us, then when he was done he could just blow on them and write a message for someone else. It would be so much easier like that. You know what I mean. I read this quote the other day “Choose to see what is always true instead of what happens to be true at that moment. Isn’t that good. I just loved it. Are you going through something too? What is the truth about what you are going through. Sometimes our emotions get so wrapped up in the moment, we kind of loose perspective of what is really going on. That is when we really have to lay it at his feet and ask him to guide us. Sometimes the water is murkey, but thankfully God sees the BIG picture. Okay that was my sermon for the night.
Tomorrow night I have my work Christmas party. Friday night we have Tony’s work Christmas party. Saturday night church musical. Sunday church. And then another week starts. And then can you believe that we are almost to Christmas. Hot diggity dog!!!!!!! My favorite day of the year for SOOOO many reasons. My kids have been taking turns putting something on our advent calendar. Once it is all full I will take a picture and show you cyber people what I made a couple of years ago.
Okie Dokie I need to move along to my favorite chore….laundry. NOT….my favorite chore. But we all want to wear clean clothes tomorrow!
Okay yesterday I had the opportunity to go watch my friend run her 3rd marathon. And I am so motivated now. And she did such an awesome job. I was so stinkin proud of her…..26.2 miles is long RUN. I am aiming to run the half marathon in May and then the full marathon in November of next year. So I have lots to do to get ready. But it is something that I want to say, “I ran a marathon”. Any of you’all ever ran a marathon? Any advice?
And so my kids are sick again. That seems to be my life story right now. We get over one thing and then we get another round of sickness. When is it going to end. Now we have ear infections. I have bleached my whole house again. Are we having fun yet?
I had more I wanted to write about, but my mind is drawing a blank….so off to bed I go. How was that for an exciting blog entry?
If you Click on this link you can see the video of me and my husband dressed as elves!!! It is pretty funny!
Enjoy and if you want to do one too go to www.elfyourself.com
