Christmas Countdown - 2012

[Christmas-A-Holic]

This past December 27th was my wife's (CAH) and my 9th anniversary of being together. Not wedding anniversary, just being together as a couple. It has flown by, but it has been the best 9 years of my life. Happy Anniversary sweetie!!!

Happy Anniversary to you too, sweetie! It has been the best 9 years ever!

I think this Christmas went to fast...
Cant we just start all over again? Let's begin with the December 1st?cheesy

Yessssss!

I think I will print out this pic and tape it to my window and pretend you are standing outside with the snow in MY yard!

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!

358 days till LOVEMAS!!!!!

AHHHHH under the 360 mark.... O M G yabba

Wow! We are getting closer!

I love lentils, so the soup sounds so good. Who else wants a ride to Meceka's? We can just jet around the world, stopping at all y'alls places and eat whatever y'all have fixed. Hmmm. Stops along the way: Meceka, Christmasstar, Solice, Bradmac, who else?

Our house for some Scrabble!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

[youtube_browser]9YeypQtgiWM[/youtube_browser]

What????? I have never heard this one before!!! You know that is what I want for Christmas too!!!

 

[RadioJonD]

~~~ Positive Vibe Wave ~~~

I kinda thought you would be interested in this and comment!

What????? I have never heard this one before!!! You know that is what I want for Christmas too!!!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

toy story 1 in the dvd player right now....kandice and i have really been hard by the disney bug since we went to paris

I loved it when my kids were little. We had nearly 30 VHS Disney tapes and watched them all the time. We would "camp out" in the living room on the weekends and stay up late watching Disney and other great cartoons like Bugs Bunny! Great fun!

Hey everyone! We did not go skiing this weekend as planned because right at the last minute before I made the reservations we both got cold feet about leaving the babies so soon!!

I hope everyone is having a good post Christmas weekend...At least we still have New years to look forward too!

Sorry about the vacation but at least you will go soon!

I am still feeling the Christmas spirit and not down (yet). Lights and tree are still up and still watching Christmas movies. Hopefully I won't feel the blues this year and just flow into the next season with no problems! =)

my daughter has that too, not fun! Now I feel like I may be getting it too, but am trying to drown the sucker out of me!!!!

I hope you fight it off!!!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

I kinda thought you would be interested in this and comment!

I am always interested in anything Beatle related! Christmas related stuff too. Wow! I learn about the 2 things I love here in one youtube clip!

Thanks!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Wayne and I had a nice day. Got some errands done, went out for lunch and played a game of Scrabble.

We are talking about getting bikes for this spring. We never did get them over the summer like we planned. I hope we are able to get them this time around. Looking forward to bike rides at the lake!

Going to get some things done around here and get ready for the Skillet!

 

[Holiday]

Good evening! I just wanted to drop in & say "hello"! We are having a few quiet hours at home! It has been a crazy stretch of running & parties - my recliner felt pretty good. I am starting to hear people talking about taking down Christmas decorations & it's making me sad!! I'm not ready! Mine will stay up for awhile yet.
I hope you are all enjoying the "Between The Holidays" time! We have no plans for NYE but tomorrow night we are going to a dinner/auction where our neighbor who pitches for the San Diego Padres will be the featured speaker. We have a reserved table of 8 with neighbors. It should be a good time!
I hope everyone is doing well!
:whisper:

 

[Seawaters]

Xmas Tidings,
My heart goes out to you and to this young man. As a mom, I would say take him in, with a caveat: Lay down the "ground rules" that you and your kids already observe. Let him know how you and your wife run your household, what is expected of each family member, and the behavior and consequences that each is to abide by. Lay it ALL out. Ask him if he is willing to abide by and be held accountable to those expectations. Before you do this, however, think of all the pros and cons--do your own pros and cons and ask him for his pros and cons. I do this A LOT in my classroom (third grade) when we try to make diplomatic decisions.

If I had to make a decision such as this, I would think, "What if this were MY child. What would I want for him?"

I am sure you will do the right thing--the thing that is right for you AND for HIM! But only you and he know what that is. Working together, however, I think you will come to a decision that is the best for both of you. Let your conscience AND your heart guide you.

Please keep us informed. We honestly care.

I need some help/advise/reassurance/guideance here from a situation that my family has decided to get involved in; it's about taking in another teenager.

This may a little long here, but I will try to do my best to get to the points.

The beginning:
I met this kid 6 years ago (his name is Austin) from the rest of the kids in the neighborhood that constantly/ always hung out at my house. I never liked him at first because he was smart mouthed, always stirring up trouble in the neighborhood and with other kids (stirring the pot), etc... and he was disrespectful to other adults.

About 4 years ago, he mouthed off to me outside of the house one day and so I gave him the boot off the property and told hime he was banned until apologized and showed some respect; (I directed my kids to stay away from him as well).

The Middle years:
So, for 2 years, he was not around, but as a board member of my HOA, I kept tabs on him, (if there was a problem in the neighborhood) because of his past behavior. During that time I noticed a change over him, he got quiet, and stayed low keyed, stayed close to his own neighborhood, (apparently, he got a steady girlfriend) and the girls parents are know to be very strick with her. Well, they sort of gave him some guideance over those years (as I was told) and I noticed a major change in him.

A year ago:
About a year ago, my son approached me and told me that Austin was outside the house at the end of the driveway and he wanted to talk to me and apologize to me. I told my son to tell him that I needed to think about it. A couple of months went past, I was working out back and my son came to me again and told me that Austin wanted to talk to me, I said ok. I went to the front porch and we talked for an hour, he apologized, said that he has changed for the better and he would really work hard to earn my trust back again... I was, impressed with his sincerity!

Now:
Over the past year, he slowly started coming over the house to visit and hang out with the other kids (NOTE: Since we have lived here, we have been adopted by every kid in the neighborhood, Perry Hall, Baltimore County... Well, at times it seems like it, lol - we have always held this belief that if we let them stay here, then we know where they are, who their with and what their doing.... plus help to keep all of them on a straight path), and he had earned his trust back after time. Now, during all of the years since we known him, we did not know much about his family, past or troubles...

He joined the Army on a delayed entry and was scheduled to go in around September, a month prior to this, he was told to leave his house, get out, pack your stuff and leave by his stepfather and mother, (apparently, he couldn't get along with the stepfather and the stepfather with him). So we let him stay with us (I couldn't see the boy living on the streets), he slept on the couch in the basement and we charged him nothing. He left for the Army as scheduled, but injured his ankle during basic training and the Army discharged him (a general discharge).

He told my son that he was going to ask to stay with this one and then that one, (just bounce around), we know he had a troubled past and knew that could be dangerous so we told him he can stay with us on a temporary basis. Now he is with us, sleeping in my sons room in a sleeping bag. I became frustrated with the apparent lack of information from his family so I went up there (unannounced) and talked with them for 4 hours. Wow, I left just completely blown away with all the information I had.

Apparently, Austin was an abused child (verbally and physically) and so was his mother, by the ex husband as well as she was as a child as well by her own father...Yikes...from talking with the mother, there is alot of pain there all the way around! The stepfather - seems like a nice guy, firm, quiet but yet strict; he fully accepted her two children when he married the mother, but one child never accepted him, for 5 years; Austin.. hence, there lies one problem!

So, here we are now, sort of stuck with this 18 year old kid in my house, the mother and stepfather are writing a contact for Austin to sign in order for him to return back to their house, but they told me that it is only for 7 month and then after that he has to leave again...WHAT??? and get this, he has to pay for his own food, have strict hours when he can take a shower, has to stay in certain portions of the house only, and it gets worse.... worse that bootcamp or a prison! I mean even if he goes back home, I can guarentee that if there is one problem, boom - he's out of the house again, and where is he going to go???? My house! I like the kid, but am in no means prepaired to have a permanent boarder in my home forever.

He loves us to death, he's best friends with both my daughter and son and the rest of their friends. he told us that after 6 months he wants to try to go back in the military again, after his ankle heals properlly. I'm at a moral crossroads here and I don't want a permanent boarder and yet I don't want to see the boy on the streets. He's cleancut, no tatoos, no body pericings, says yes mam/ no sir, etc.... I don't know what to do!

Thanks~

 

[Seawaters]

Is someone keeping track of our itenerary?

...

Our house for some Scrabble!

 

[Snow-in-Texas]

Perhaps you should open the right "doors"!

[youtube_browser]Xv3CIZs21Ck[/youtube_browser]

I like that!!! I love the Doors, I never heard this mix before, thanks for sharing Jonathan!

 

[Seawaters]

Of course she would. That is so funny that I was thinking the same thing!!!

I kinda thought you would be interested in this and comment!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Is someone keeping track of our itenerary?

Santa!

 

[Seawaters]

This made me smile. My sister, who has a green thumb, used to set up a "blanket tent" and would bring in all her plants from the front porch. Her kids thought all children had moms like this!!!

I loved it when my kids were little. We had nearly 30 VHS Disney tapes and watched them all the time. We would "camp out" in the living room on the weekends and stay up late watching Disney and other great cartoons like Bugs Bunny! Great fun!

Sorry about the vacation but at least you will go soon!

I am still feeling the Christmas spirit and not down (yet). Lights and tree are still up and still watching Christmas movies. Hopefully I won't feel the blues this year and just flow into the next season with no problems! =)

I hope you fight it off!!!

 

[Seawaters]

Check with Merry Carey. I think she got a new bike!

Wayne and I had a nice day. Got some errands done, went out for lunch and played a game of Scrabble.

We are talking about getting bikes for this spring. We never did get them over the summer like we planned. I hope we are able to get them this time around. Looking forward to bike rides at the lake!

Going to get some things done around here and get ready for the Skillet!

 

[Seawaters]

How exciting!

...
I hope you are all enjoying the "Between The Holidays" time! We have no plans for NYE but tomorrow night we are going to a dinner/auction where our neighbor who pitches for the San Diego Padres will be the featured speaker. We have a reserved table of 8 with neighbors. It should be a good time!
I hope everyone is doing well!
:whisper:

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

This made me smile. My sister, who has a green thumb, used to set up a "blanket tent" and would bring in all her plants from the front porch. Her kids thought all children had moms like this!!!

We would set up sleeping bags and sometimes tents. I would tell the kids that they could "stay up all night long" watching movies as long as they lay down the whole time. Here it was a Friday night after a long week at school. We would get the movies going by 8:00 pm, they would lay down and were sound asleep between 9-10. They thought they were up "all night"! Lol... We had so much fun when they were little.

Check with Merry Carey. I think she got a new bike!

Yes she did. Her and I have chatted about different bikes. She got one but Wayne and I haven't yet! We will get one soon, I hope! =)

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Good evening! I just wanted to drop in & say "hello"! We are having a few quiet hours at home! It has been a crazy stretch of running & parties - my recliner felt pretty good. I am starting to hear people talking about taking down Christmas decorations & it's making me sad!! I'm not ready! Mine will stay up for awhile yet.
I hope you are all enjoying the "Between The Holidays" time! We have no plans for NYE but tomorrow night we are going to a dinner/auction where our neighbor who pitches for the San Diego Padres will be the featured speaker. We have a reserved table of 8 with neighbors. It should be a good time!
I hope everyone is doing well!
:whisper:

I know what you mean by running! We have been going non stop since Thanksgiving but it has been fun fun fun! Today we have been taking it easy for the first time since then. I still feel Christmasy though!!!

Have fun at the dinner/auction!

 

[Christmasstar]

This past December 27th was my wife's (CAH) and my 9th anniversary of being together. Not wedding anniversary, just being together as a couple. It has flown by, but it has been the best 9 years of my life. Happy Anniversary sweetie!!!:celebrate::dance:

 

[Seawaters]

I remember, I remember!

We would set up sleeping bags and sometimes tents. I would tell the kids that they could "stay up all night long" watching movies as long as they lay down the whole time. Here it was a Friday night after a long week at school. We would get the movies going by 8:00 pm, they would lay down and were sound asleep between 9-10. They thought they were up "all night"! Lol... We had so much fun when they were little.

Yes she did. Her and I have chatted about different bikes. She got one but Wayne and I haven't yet! We will get one soon, I hope! =)

 

[RadioJonD]

~~~ Positive Vibe Wave ~~~ & Andy Cirzan Presents 2012

Normally there are no cross posts from the Archived Online Christmas Audio Thread.

However, we need lots more "flurries" here! Plus, the last five items posted there are time sensitive in terms of you adding them (by downloading) to your collection and some of you won't venture out of here to see them!

Andy Cirzan Presents 2012

Time Sensitive - Link comes down January 1, 2013

http://christmas.soundopinions.org/

Tracklist:

SIDE A
Winter Man - Clarence Reid
Christmas Gift - Margie Joseph
Purple Snowflakes - Marvin Gaye
Spirit of Christmas - the Meditation Singers
Just A Sad Xmas - the Soul Duo

SIDE B
Snowflakes (pt 1) - Betty Lloyd
Remember Christmas - the Stridells
Angels Christmas - Wild Honey
Snow Flake - JJ Barnes
Tit for Tat - James Brown