Happy Holidays!

Christmas has come and gone. Our house is finally settling down, and getting back to "normal."

Is there such a thing?

We had a great Christmas! Couldn'T have asked for better! Well, except to have Jess and her family here, and Chris and Crystal too. Other than the few missing family members, it was perfect. The kids were even kind to us and didn't get up at the butt-crack of dawn on Christmas morning! We stayed up far too late on Christmas Eve with Mom and Dad playing Spades. (Blake and Dad won....as usual) The kids all slept upstairs so no one would get up earlier than the others and have a preview. We told them they absolutely could not come down any earlier than 730. They were nice and obliged!

Looks like grandpa had too much Christmas Eve fun......

The kids were all spoiled. Got most of what they wanted. Had a great day playing with all their new fun toys. Luckily, we were able to sneak a nap in while the kids played with their toys. The weather was a bit damp, but warm, so the kids were able to go out and ride the new toys their Grandma and Grandpa gave them. We need to get a new battery for the Gator the kids already had, then Bry, Drew, and Sam can chase each other and Sophie through the yard. We have only had one injury with the kids "cars". Bryce ran over Drew's leg. I am still not sure how it happened, as I was inside(bad mom, yes, i know).

Anyhow, the day after Christmas all the family descended upon us. It was great. It is always nice to have everyone here. For one, since it is our house, i don't have to stress if the kids make a mess or brake something. It's ours anyway.
There may be some blackmail video somewhere of Blake and I singing and dancing to "Another one strikes the dust". Yeah, that was a moment that should not have been recorded for posterity. We got the game "Lips" on Xbox for Christmas. It is a karaoke type game. It is quite fun, though I think we have done all 40 of the songs about 100 times now. I had never heard the "song?" Lipgloss until that game. Interesting.....the power of lipgloss...who knew? Wish I didn't. It is a fun game, and even those of us who have not been blessed with amazing vocal talent still have fun playing it.

Here is a little funny for you. My kids will kill me for this when they are grown. For those who don't know. Our back yard backs up to cattle field. Our back fence line is just cattle wire. We love it. The view is great, and the kids enjoy seeing the cows. Well, while everyone was here, one of the kids (i think it was my nephew, but cant remember) came in and said the cows were jumping on each others backs. Next thing we know, we look out, and all the kids have gotten chairs and are sitting or standing by the fence watching the cows "jump on each other's backs." A little farm education never hurt anyone, right? It was quite funny, if only they knew what the cows were really doing. Thankfully, the older ones, who probably do know what the cows(and Bull) were doing didn't announce it or educate the little ones. Sophie (the dog) was itching to get out there and nip the heels of the cows. She loves to go under the wire and get in the hay field or the cow field. We hate it, as it means we have to chase her....

The kids had a great time playing football, riding bikes, playing on the Wii and Xbox, and eating. There was lots of yummy food! Scott and Melinda made us a YUMMY standing rib roast, garlic mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, rolls, and gravy. It was delicious! I think I gained 10 pounds from that meal alone! It sure is nice to have 2 former chefs in the family. Sure beats the little Caesar's hot-n-ready i feed everyone.

We played lots of games: Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride, Lips, and others too i am sure. Apples to Apples was a new one for us, and quite fun/funny.

Everybody has gone back home now, and the kids are back to driving me crazy since they have no one to play with! I get to go take down the "Easel Tree" at the church. Our pole was missing for the center of the tree, so our tree was improvised and the branches were wrapped around an easel from the church library. It worked quite well! Do you think there is a market for Easel trees?????

Off to take the kids to the park. I hit Target yesterday for the 75%off Christmas Clearance. Just trying to do my part to keep the economy afloat.

Jobs...they come; they go.....

Two weeks and two days ago, Blake and Jeannine (his co-worker) were called into their company's Alabama HQ. Evidently, even though the contract was not at its end, the Pentagon ended the contract to move it up to DC. In fact, they had already, unknown to anyone here, had a bidding process and hired 5 contactors (at DC wages...?) to replace the 2 here in Alabama. How does this make sense to anyone? Anyhow.....they were told to come to HQ at 1030 and not be late. They get there and the dude that tells them not to be late....well, he was 20 minutes late. So they sat with the VP and chatted for 20 mintues waiting for the "dont be late guy". What did they chat about? Oh, you know Christmas, shopping, trips......all light hearted things. Never saw what was coming.....
Late-man shows up...the meeting begins. On the way to the meeting, Blake and Jeannine rode together. She kept reassuring him, if something was up the company would take care of them. They always had. They'd work them in the HQ office till a new contract would start or a job came available. But, the contract wasnt even at its end, the government LOVED them both. No worries.

WRONG.

The VP informs them that effective in one week, they would no longer have a job. Yep, thats right folks. 20 days before christmas. 10 days before Kayleigh's birthday. Oh, and there was no severence package offered. They did agree to pay out all vacation and sick leave.....all three days of it...woohoo. They also have us on their insurance until Jan 1. Can you say...we are ALL getting new glasses and any other thing we can think of on this great insurance that had absoluetly NO deductibles for anything. They said there is just no projected work, and with the way things are, they can't afford to keep them on without work in the future. :( Whatever folks.....

After all this, the VP asks if he can have some feedback....hahahahah!!!!!!! Not sure what he was going for here. "Sir, you did a fantastic job firing us. The way you talked about Christmas for 20 minutes and put us at ease before the meeting started really made the "you dont have a job in 7 days that much more dramatic...Kudos to you!" Jeannine, who is a bit of a firecracker, evidently had feedback for him. I was told something to the effect of: "you just fired us 20 days before christmas. I've worked here for 8 years, and this is what I get. What kind of feedback do you want. THIS SUCKS"

The company really is upset that this has happened to (supposedly), and did not know it was going to happen. They really do love Blake there.
So, after the meeting they head back to the base......they get to the office and tell the people in the office what has happened, and they are floored. They had no clue either. Shock, Disbelief. Fear. Sick to your stomach. Dread.

However, the people in the office...like I said, they LOVE Blake and Jeannine. They got their resumes and before Blake left work that day, it appeared he had a new job. The Project Lead got Blake's resume from another lady, and came to see him. He is supposed to retire in a little over a year, and told blake he would hire him to replace him right now if he could! In the end, they hired Jeannine on as a Config. Manager (dont know what that is, but she did, and now does it) and hired Blake on as Asst. Project Lead and as the Program Manager. He is positioned now to take over as Project Lead when the guy retires.

It has been a blessing that 20 days before Christmas Blake lost his job. We kind of kept it a secret till we knew for sure he had this other job. We felt like we had JUST done this..oh yeah, we had....and were hopeful the unemployed time this time would be much shorter! The job offer came officially on Wednesday. He started work Thursday at 7am! With his generous vacation/sick leave from his old job, we went exactly one day without pay! Oh, and this job comes with quite a raise (he went from being the low guy on the ladder to the boss of the whole schibang). They will also be paying to send him to some PMP boot camp and pay for his PMP certification! (Dont know what it is, but it is supposedly pretty expensive and impressive? as long as I get a paycheck....who cares!) Here's the thing....they told Blake that if he hadn't had that other job....he never would have gotten this one! THey had applicants that already had their PMP andMaster's Degrees completed. But, they knew him and his work ethic. They know he is a MASTER politician, is a quick learner, and is an effective leader.

When he got the first job, we were frustrated because it was nowhere near the level of responsibility (or pay) he was at in the AF. We wondered why it was all he could get when he was qualified for so much more. We know now that it was a way in for a much better job!

We are so grateful right now for his new job (we know this economy is scary!) and for the people he worked with that saw his value and who also took care of "their own".

Anyway, that is our news....

We read a statistic that after leaving the AF (or military) it typically took three jobs to get the "right one". So, if that is the case, we should be set!

Boring but busy....

Nothing exciting going on here. We have been busy, which is pretty much a constant with five kids around.

This past weekend was the Interfaith Nativity. It turned out beautifully! Blake and I, along with the Backus', got to host/hostess for a couple hours. That was lots of fun. I am still amazed at how many different kinds of nativities there are. Everyone around here seems to be getting a cold or flu or strep throat or something. We'll be making our way to the dr today.....fun times. Jonathon is the only one who went to school, though admittedly, Andrew could probably have gone. He is coughing, but no fever and seems to have enough energy to fight with Sam.....constantly.

Jonathon had his second temple trip this weekend! He got to spend the night with his friend Hunter and ride up with the youth. I had a Christmas Craft Show this weekend, so Blake was home with the kids. It was a SLOW show....everyone was either in Birmingham for the big Prattville-Hoover State Championship football game (Prattville won...makes 3 state championships in a row! Hoover is the school that was on the MTV series 3 A Days....I believe.) Anyway, between that big game and the Alabama game....sports took priority for the day. I still did enough sales to make it worth it for me!

I can't remember if I shared it on here or not, but Restoration Mercantile (http://www.restorationmercantile.com/) is going to be carrying my things! They also have several vendors who are interested and are wanting to carry a line of LDS themed products! I'll update on how things go!

We had a great Thanksgiving....We went to Lake Martin again. It is becoming a tradition it seems. We all had a great time. Though Scott and April (my brother and sister) were feeling a little under the weather. We played badminton, ate, played Ticket To Ride (a really fun board game), and of course at more. The kids rode their bikes....only one major bike accident. Of Course, Kayleigh (and Julia) were involved......seems Kayleigh has her moms skills on the bike. A little ice, motrin, and lots of attention made things all better. The weather was perfect until Friday where it began to rain and rain and rain! We woke up Saturday with a stream of water running through our room.

Mom and Dad came back to our house, and we had a fun night of card playing....where if i remember correctly, Mom and I beat Blake and Dad at spades.......Ok, maybe not, but we probably won at least one hand?

Biggest news for our extended family is the birth of little Peter Sands M. My sister, Jessica's third baby. Mom and Dad are there now getting lots of baby love and helping take care of Kylie, Alex, Jess and probably Ryan too.

So that is it in a nutshell for now....lots of field trip, Christmas Parties, and fun coming up!!!!!!!!!!