Does anyone else...

experience pure joy while blowing juicy, wet raspberries at a sparkling, shining, fleshly cleaned mirror?

If so, PLEASE help me understand! I tried it myself. I was left thrill-less, joy-less, and smile-less.

Maybe it's because I can't separate myself from the fact that I'll be the one cleaning it up later...

Then again, this isn't on my top ten, or even top hundred, actually I wouldn't even include it in my list of things I like to do!

Silly kid :)

I've been crying all afternoon...

...ever since the UPS man dropped off this box...... and I opened it and found this...
...Christmas packages for my boys and me, a card for Craig and I, cute little shorts and hat for Mason to grow into, Christmas ornaments with a note that says "It won't hurt if the boys break these. They were cheapies!", cute decorative little Santas, a Christmas dish towel, a darling snowman and bear on sleigh decoration, a jar of Craig's favorite homemade blackberry syrup, and a container full of homemade chocolates.


I can't find the words to express what I feel. This is one of the most thoughtful packages I've ever received. Packaged by one of the sweetest people I know. She's been there for me, supported me and loved me (and my family) when I needed her most. She is kind, thoughtful and unassuming. She's come through the ups and downs of life smiling, not bitter. She loves her family. She's raised seven wonderful children. I married one of them.


Valarie, thank you for everything! I could not ask for a better mother-in-law. I hope you don't mind me posting about you, but I don't know if I'd be able to express my deep gratitude any better than in writing. You are, without a doubt, the BEST! And you are so loved!

Christmas Cards

If any of you blog readers would like a Christmas card, please leave your address in a comment or email it to me at sharellejs@hotmail.com.

Family: I already have most of your addresses, unless you've moved in the past year.

Nat, I need yours, again... I'll try to remember to save it this time!

Dear Dad,

You'll have to forgive us, but your birthday gift will be a 'cyber' gift first, until we get it mailed. We wanted to get you something this year that you couldn't just go pick up yourself. So I thought we'd make you some dark chocolate peppermint fudge (I'm drooling) with all the candy canes that used to hang on our tree until Gavin snapped them all at their crooks. But then I found out you were laying off the sugar... I almost still went with it, telling myself that you could just share it, but... then I put myself in your place and realized how LAME I would think that arrangement was. So we tried to get creative and this is the result:

The card reads:

We're sorry your package will be arriving so late,
Getting it sent in time sure would have been great!
But it wasn't in the cards for us, you see,
The first chain was smashed, unfortunately.

This second we made for this purpose quite clear--
So you can count down the rest of the days in the year
And continue on counting, at the same time we do,
The rest of the days till we get to see YOU!

We are thrilled as can be for the 12th day of next year;
We'll drive to the airport and wait for you to appear.
Your stay will be awesome, we'll do such fun things!
Gavin will show all his tricks--how he reads, how he sings!

We are so very glad you're our dad/"gyandpa"
The fact we can't see you today, well, it's BLAH!
We love you and miss you without any doubt.
Relationships like ours are what life's all about.

Happy 50th Birthday!!!

Love, Craig, Sharelle, Gavin and Mason

P.S. You'll be receiving this in a package sent via USPS hopefully soon!


And for your viewing pleasure:
Here's Gavin's Birthday smile for you!
Dad, I knew I loved you when I was a little girl and you took care of me, wiped away my tears when I was upset, held me close when I was scared, and beamed with joy when I did something you thought was cute. The day I found out that you could be married to only Mom and not me was a sad one indeed!

When I was a teenager, I realized you were an even better man than I had previously thought. I saw there was more to you - weakness as well as strength, heartache as well as joy, worry as well as security. You weren't the fairytale 'Prince Charming' of my childhood, you were better! Because even in the face of opposition, you chose faith and rose above it.

As the years have passed on, you've continued to make that choice. With your grey hairs has come greater wisdom, experience, and a softening of temperament. What a beautiful process! I see you, each day, becoming a more Christ-like person, and it amazes me. I only hope I can follow in your footsteps and continue in the legacy you and Mom have left for your posterity.

I am so eternally grateful to be your daughter! Thank you for loving me and my family. One of the things that brings me so much joy is knowing that some of the fruits of my labor (literally) bring you joy. I'm so grateful my boys have a grandpa as amazing as you!

Not all super-heroes are make believe ;)

Hope you have the best day EVER! If anyone deserves to, you do!

Love,

Sharelle

Christmas Spirit

Everyone's been saying how much fun this Christmas will be with Gavin because he'll be excited about what's going on and the presents and Santa...I realized I hadn't been prepping him very well because, aside from the fact that the Christmas tree is up and he pulls all the ornaments (that he says are "so cute") off, he's been oblivious to anything else. So I talked to him about Santa and how, if he's really good, he'll get presents on Christmas day. He knows what presents are, and he was more than excited about that. So I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him. He said, "Presents!!!" Hmmm...

"But G, what do you want to be in the presents?"

"Uh...Choo Choo Trains!"

"And what else?"

Pause.

Then excitedly, "A present for Macy-Man!!!"

Without any coaching from me, he'd captured the true spirit of Christmas.

Santa Babies :)

I just couldn't resist taking pictures of my boys in their Santa suits when I realized I had one to fit both of them (well, pretty much...Mason was almost ripping the seams on his and Gavin's was drowning him)! They looked so adorable! We just couldn't quite get one with both of them looking...

Here's Mason's bestAnd here's Gavin's
These are cute too, though!

At this point Gavin was dismissed for his quiet time, and Mason was being so good I thought I'd snap a few of him. He is so jolly!!!

But even he hit his limit!

Calendar Page

Here's how our page for the Rich Family calendar turned out. Getting it to this point was a little frustrating, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. This is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. Sadly, after begging Craig to buy me scrapbook factory for Christmas last year, I have not used it until now. I think I was feeling a little overwhelmed, and I was waiting until I could sit down and figure it all out, but now I realize that that defeats the point of the software. Hello! That's why I wanted it! It could be called Scrapbooking for dummies. I like it!

I've already posted most of these pictures, but there are a couple gems that were glossed over. Who's the Hottie in the John Deere shirt? :) oh yeah, he's mine...