Yes, It's Really Me!

Wow, I thought I'd be better at this blog thing! Well, no appologies....it's been a busy two months!

The month of November found me rejoicing that Travis and Amy and the girls were actually coming to spend Christmas with us and then scrambling to get everything done....and I mean EVERYTHING! I was sick right after Landon's Imagination Parade in Lakeland so that took me some time to get over. But not before we had to take our shift as parking directors at our church's Flavor Fest. Then we had a small Thanksgiving celebration here with my mom and our kids, Christian and Alyssa....

Right after Thanskgiving I shifted into cleaning and decorating mode. All the fall stuff had to be packed away and a few at a time, the Christmas containers had to be brought upstairs. I won't bore you with the details-- suffice it to say that it took me more than three weeks to complete the decorating. We were able to get Alyssa a much needed new mattress and boxspring so we had to take apart the old bed , haul it downstairs and put her new one in place. That was going to be a surprise for Travis and Amy--that they didn't have to sleep-- one of them on the old daybed and one of them on the air bed on the floor (you know, the kind "they" always say sleeps great?)

I like lights so I put them on just about everything. I later told Travis that if he stood still long enough, I'd throw a string of lights on him too! In between the decorating and Christmas shopping, we found time to go to Cypress Gardens with Shane, Angie and Landon. We had so much fun being kids! We rode the roller coaster 3 times and I screamed all the way. Why put myself through all that "torture"? To get a good picture of course! We even rode the kiddie rides with Landon! It was the best day and quite a respite from all the work of the season......

The next weekend was, as Shane put it, "The EVENT of the year", Landon's 3rd birthday party! This too, was great fun. The party was held at Explorations Children's Museum, a nifty little place in downtown Lakeland geared to kids, of course. Landon is quite the expert at ripping packages open and had fun getting new "stuff". Like most kids, the toys were his favorites. But after the obligatory birthday routines, Landon and all his friends got to go through the museum and experience
(or PLAY with) all the neat things they have there like a Publix shopping area complete with shopping carts and fake canned goods," frozen" meat and cardboard "food" packges. Landon was making his "rounds" when a little girl with some "cheese" walked by and Landon grabbed it out of her hand and put it in his cart! ....The kids even got to "check out" their groceries.....In addition to the many interesting things for children there was a fire engine complete with fire fighting gear to put on and a stage for those children who are natural born "hams".....

The seventeenth and eighteenth of the month was our very unconventional church play entitled "Jesus, One of Us" that my husband had been rehearsing for for weeks! Doug played Satan (hey, someone had to do it!) and our pastor was Jesus (of course. He even looks the part!). Complete with rapping Pharasees, the play, while not in league with past productions at CHC, was very entertaining! And, yes my husband was terrific-- although completely out of character!

On the twenty first, my long time friend Marleen had a luncheon at her house for some mutual friends. Her daughter Laurel was there and her husband Lew ate with us also. I was hard pressed to get there after a series of mishaps that morning and arrived an hour and a half late! But I'm so glad I went, it was fun catching up with everyone and a nice break from all the hustle and bustle of the holidays.....

Thursday night was our son Shane's 30th birthday! My son is truly a Christmas baby. Coming home on December 25th in a red stocking, he was and is our very special Christmas gift! We, along with my mother, met Shane and Angie and Landon at Shane's favorite restaurant, Maggiano's in Tampa at Westhore Mall. Landon was not in the mood to sit still for a formal dinner so my dear daughter-in-law took him into the mall to walk around. The food was scrumptious just as Shane had told us and was served family style, course by course. I thought Angie would come right back but when she didn't, my mother volunteered to push Landon around in his stroller for awhile. Then Doug took a turn, taking Landon to the play area of the mall. When Alyssa and I came walking up a little while later, Landon came running into my arms for a hug--just the kind of thing that melts a grandma's heart! He then threw his arms around Alyssa's legs.....It doesn't take a lot to make me happy, just some good family times, laughs and little hugs....

Friday, the 23rd, I scrambled to put finishing touches on the apartment and get the wrapping done.....and then before we knew it, Christmas Eve was upon us.....We met my dad and stepmother and sister downstairs so they could follow us to S & A's house in Lakeland....Don't you just love greeting family and friends at Christmas time? Even if you just saw them last week, it's as if you're seeing them for the first time in a long time! Most everyone is so cheery......

We laid out the feast: Roast pork--Cuban style, yucca with garlic and lemon juice, Cuban bread and black beans and rice. Yum..... Shane had baked up lots of "goodies" for us. And everything looked beautiful inside and out.......

Doug and Alyssa had gone to the store so when there was a knock on the door, I assumed it was them returning. Imagine my delighted surprise when I opened the door and standing there was Amy holding Halle whom I had only seen ONCE and that was last April! My immediate thought- which popped out of my mouth was "She looks like Cindy Lou Who!" Now if you've seen the Grinch, you know exactly what I'm talking about! With big blue eyes and a little blonde "fountain" on top of her head, she is the spitting image of the cutest member of Whoville! I was so blessed, so happy to see Travis and Amy and the girls--my grand girls (as Mary so aptly put it a while back).......!

A little while later, one of Doug's brothers Dan and his wife Vicky and their sons and new grandson arrived. We were all trying to talk and visit and don't you know there's never enough time to give everyone the time they deserve......But it was such a joyous, if somewhat chaotic time for all of us...

Even though her car had broken down earlier, my mother finally made it to Shane and Angie's with Christian and a while later my brother Butch showed up with his girlfriend and her son.....and as the day wore on, people came and they left......

I even found time to read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" to my littlest grandchildren.....Chloe thought it was a "great" story.....

The ping pong games at Shane's house are legendary and ongoing.... and Christmas Eve was no exception..At any given time, two or more people would be playing an energetic game...Just about everybody played at one time or another--except me! (I stink!) Competition is the Johnson/Button midddle name.....

Christmas morning, we opened our stockings and then Christian (who stayed the night with us) treated us to breakfast at The Village Inn where we had eaten on Christmas morning for years when he and his brothers were little....So after our tummies were full, we came back to the apartment to open the presents..... Then we all showered and dressed and piled into our vans to go back to Lakeland! When we got hungry again we happily munched on the great food that Angie's parents and her brother Chad and sister-in-law Amy had brought as well as left overs from the night before......We played games and there were more ping pong tournaments.....

On Monday night we got to babysit. Grandpa was sitting on the couch whistling to Chloe. Christian and I were playing a game and Chloie had climbed on Grandpa's lap and asked him to sing her a Christmas song. Well, Grandpa asked what song she would like and she came up with some title like the church angel or something like that. He proceeded to "sing" it, making up the words as he went along, of course. Then she asked for "The Christmas Cookie Song" and he sang that. Apparently that was her favorite because she kept asking him to sing that one. And he did, over and over, coming up with at least 12 versions of it! I rolled with laughter! Then there were the bubble baths Chloe kept asking me for....I bought some bath foam that we had fun with... fashioning weird hair-dos and a "bikini bathing suit" for Chloe out of it! Out of the blue, Chloe would tell me "Grandma, I love you!"

Halle was a little charmer as well-- breaking out into smiles, reaching for us sometimes, grabbing ornaments off our fascinating revolving Christmas tree, chomping down on Grandma's crepes with great relish, crawling as fast as she could from the dining room to the living room to"play" in the doll house with Chloe much to her sister's dismay! It wasn't that Chloe was being mean and didn't want to share, she would get her little dolls lined up just so and Halle would knock them all down with that famous grin!

And Amanda has her own charm as well....She too, is competitive, playing ping pong or Apples To Apples and Taboo with great gusto! She's smart and pretty and fun to have around......I love being a grandma to all my grandchildren!

I know my blog is way too long and perhaps I've lost some of you who have your own stories to tell......I just want to say "thank you" over and over again to the Lord who gave the greatest gift ever--His Son and who taught us all the meaning of giving. I'm thankful that He allowed Travis and Amy and the girls to spend a Christmas with us......I'm thankful that Shane and Angie so graciously opened their home to an evergrowing list of people! I'm thankful that Amanda gave up her cherished traditions this Christmas for something different....I'm especially proud that our daughter Alyssa willingly gave up her room and brand new bed so her brother and sister-in-law could sleep in comfort and that she never complained once....I'm pleased that grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins went out of their way to give generously and even to change their plans to come and see Travis and Amy and the girls! And I want to say a great big Thank You to my husband of almost 33 years who was the most gracious, giving, hard working, uncomplaining example of Christ.....I love you, my best friend! Thank you for helping to make this Christmas so special for me and for everyone.......