White Christmas

I chipped away at the ice for over an hour today. The best part about it was having my little man keep me company through it all.

Shhhh.... don't tell our sales rep that we dragged his chair through the snow just for kicks. Crew did surprisingly well but it looks like we'll have to adjust the torque if he really wants to climb the snowbanks;

Crew is really enjoying the holiday lights, the cold, and the snow. The other night while driving around we stopped to look at lights and listen to our neighbors synchronized lights/music. I asked Crew if he "liked" the lights and he signed a definite "LIKE" and then clapped his hands. The sign is coming along:)

WISHING YOU A WHITE CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Break

Woohoo! These 3 handsome guys will be home with me for the next 16 days! S saw the movie "Bolt" with his school today. H made two gingerbread houses this week, one at scouts and one at school. Today he had a party with his class. Crew partied it up at preschool also! He came home with lots of interesting treasures. Crew isn't much of a candy guy but he did eat 1/2 of a chocolate snowman today. S doesn't eat much candy either. I guess H will have to make up for his two brothers' lacking sweet tooth (teeth). I'm really craving pizza today. Problem is that S and I are the only ones who would enjoy it.

I don't know how this post ended up being all about food. 'Tis the season;) Have a good weekend.

Artificial All the WAY

With only 10 days until Christmas I did the unexpected today...

Removed tree ornaments

Removed tree lights

Hauled our dried, crispy tree to the backyard firepit in anticipation of future bonfire spectacular.

Vacuumed up a boat load of dead pine needles

Scrubbed and shampoo carpet where tree stand made a stain.

Received refund for Dried Dead Tree

Purchased Artificial Pre-Lit Tree

Assembled beautiful clean 7 1/2 foot tree

Plugged in lights

Redecorated tree

Smiled

Read "The Littlest Angel" to 3 happy boys while snuggling around the Christmas tree.

Indulged in Icecream over Brownies.

Called it a night.

Some days are productive like that! NOT. I learned my lesson: No more live trees for me. It's too much hassle and things get ruined. Oh, and I can get that same pine scent from my Reed Diffuser:)

A Generous Donation

Our battles to get insurance to pay for a power chair have been significant! Its amazing how the loaner chair has brightened our little Crew. We have both primary and secondary insurance. You would think it wouldn't be so hard... but that is Utah for you!!!

Last week I received an unexpected phone call...

Another little boy, JJ, who also has CP and is older than Crew has graduated from his little Koala chair to a newer one. JJ's mom wants to GIVE us his Koala chair!!! I am so touched, and grateful, happy, relieved!

JJ lives in Texas. We are in Utah!

Now I am on a mission to figure out how to get the chair shipped here in one piece. This will be much easier than dealing with insurance, I hope! We are so blessed!

Holiday fun and Road Rash.

I'm not sure if my lack of posting has more to do with feeling overwhelmed or somewhat dissatisfied. Fortunately, I DO have enough sense not to shout those little secrets to the rest of the world. Apparently, when I get in these little funks I forget to pull my camera out of the bag. Sorry, I've got nothing to document the holiday.

I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for just the five of us which was a first. DH was ready to just stay home and take it easy this year. This was a better alternate then dragging 3 kids, wheelchair and various DME equipment 2 hours away to spend the day in a cold church. I ate sweet potatoes for the first time EVAH and they were so good! The mashed potatoes were also a hit and so was the Reese's Peanut Butter pie.

Friday night we stayed with extended family at a Girls Camp lodge that my parents had rented. It was fun reconnecting with family. The little nieces and nephews are growing up way to fast. The whole time we were there I was looking forward to my next run. I'm getting to the point that I cannot live without my runs. I need running and its a great feeling. Saturday morning when I woke up at the lodge I was eager to jump into a run. The road leaving the camp is uphill for about the first mile. When I got to the top of the hill I took off my gloves and my jacket. I was so excited to have made it to the top and set off for a 3 mile downhill course. I had just finished telling myself that it was time to practice downhill running S style. When S and I run he flies down the hills. S says its easy... "just let your body go". So, just as I finished telling myself to not hold back and pick up the pace, I find myself flying through the air. For some reason when I'm in a situation like this my brain processes everything in slow motion. Has that ever happened to you? Anyway, I find myself flying forward on a very STEEP, GRAVEL road! I realize that I am just going to keep on sliding down the road as soon as I hit the ground. Instinctively, I catch myself with just one hand and one knee and then I purposely rolled to avoid turning my face into hamburger. My plan worked quite well actually... not a scratch on my face! My left hand had sharp rocks embedded under the skin with some nice deep road rash. My left knee and right elbow also suffered road rash and now 5 days later I am left with some nice bruises on my knees, elbow, and hip. Truly I was quite sore the day after.

After I fell, I jumped up and checked out my wounds. Realizing I was one mile from the lodge I decided to continue my run. I ran 6.5 miles of hills. Not sure quite how I did it but still glad I did:) Also, I completed my goal of 100 miles for the month of November and that makes me so happy!