Christmas, the new do, cats, etc

What can you expect of me? Not much....so here's pics of the last week or so at the Casey house!



Christmas morning--before the chaos began!


Lillie (before the haircut!)

Lillie after the haircut! And before you ask, yes it's even....it's laying funny right now!

Max and Milo....the gay boys! They got a BIG present for Christmas.....NEUTERED! Merry Christmas, boys!

Zac, getting into the stocking!
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The true spirit

Last night, on Christmas, a young girl passed away. I never got to meet her, but through her short life of 5 years, I saw the spirit many times. I worked at the bank with her Daddy up until last year. He is a kind hearted person and I couldn't imagine what he and his family had been going through in the last 2.5 years. I was so saddened this morning when I woke up to find out his little girl had passed last night, on Christmas of all days. It was a blessing I know, but a hard one to swallow I'm sure. The family, while relieved that their daughter is not in pain any longer, is grieving and will spend the rest of this season doing so. I just can't imagine....and my heart breaks for them. I am grateful for the opportunity to know them and to have followed their story the last few years. Grateful that I learned something that no one else could teach me. Grateful that Regan is in heaven now, pain free and with God. Grateful that her family can now be at peace, even while missing her with every breath. God bless you, Harper family.

How much more?

How many more things can I possibly need to buy this season? It seems everytime I turn around, I have either forgotten someone or something and I wind up shopping again. And when I end up shopping, it's never cheap! LOL! I think I have blown my original modest budget by 200% now....and I'm not joking. Between having Christmas brunch at our home (taking Terry to Jungle Jims is quite the experience at this time every year!) and taking something to Christmas Eve, and then getting into gift exchanges and so forth, it just gets out of hand! I am going to have to rethink all this next year. I love to give give give, but at what cost? And our kids today have so much already...how much more do they really need? They start out so young having everything and more, and then each year becomes more difficult to buy for and more expensive in order to out-do yourself from the year before. This year neither child asked for anything super big (although Zac did mention a Wii early on, but that was shot down from the get go and we have since forgotten about it) and I still wound up spending more than I had hoped. They will be excited come Christmas morn, but really, that's not what I want them to get out of it at all. Yes, it's fun to get new stuff, but it's even more fun to be together and be with our family and friends on that day. They saw the "show" at church today, called Awaited. It was an original show and it was the Christmas story played out through music and dancing and snow falling from the ceiling via snow machines. Lillie sat with me and I leaned over to tell her what was going on throughout, so she really got it. She then thought that the REAL baby Jesus was on the stage and started to get all excited. I burst that bubble, but she is still talking about the story. That's progress!

Back to the spending....we have even decided to stay home this New Years' and not host anything, like we have in the past. We are going to stay home and watch the ball drop in our jammies, curled up with hot cocoa (and maybe something a little stronger?) and I plan on reading my way right into 2008. I borrowed about 6 books for my almost 2 week break and I plan on getting through most of them. Borrowed, as in FREE, as long as I return them on time. FINALLY, something besides christmas cheer that's free this season!

Not snow, not sleet, not even rain.....

could keep my from my long awaited hair appointment. I'm giving my hair a rest now, so there's no frilly highlights for me this season, but it had to be trimmed and thinned again before I shaved it all off. I had made this appointment not thinking it would actually snow today. I mean, let's count the amount of time the forecasters are truly correct in their predictions, shall we? So when I woke up and sat down with my coffee this morning, it didn't dawn on me to look outside. I left with ample time however, as I had to go to the post office with all the other late shoppers to get my gifts out to the west coast before next weekend. Nothing like waiting until the only way to mail packages is priority! I love it when the cost goes up because I'm too busy (or as I say, working!) to get there for parcel post time.

So while driving through downtown Loveland and seeing multiple cars on the side of the road, I was determined I would not be one of them...it would have been too far of a walk to make it to the salon from there! I made it, found a new stylist that I love, bought some Aveda goodies for my hair and then continued onto my morning o' shopping. Like I said....not snow, not sleet, not even rain can keep me from some things!

As if!

I'm making cookies today and I hear a ruckus behind me. I turn to see Max on top of Gracie (Max is 9 mos maybe and Gracie is about 3.5 mos) biting her neck. At first it didn't register with me what was happening. You'd think with the pet population outweighing the human one in our home that I would have realized what I was witnessing. And then it hit me. NOOOOOOOOO! Max hasn't been fixed yet, and Gracie is the only "whole" female in the house, even though she isn't old enough to do anything yet. She's also the smallest female and the only one that Max can overpower. Before I could shake the cookie batter off my hands, Lillie decided to take matters into her own hands and pry him off of her. I then picked up the phone as quick as I could and made an appointment for my beloved Max (and Milo, maybe I can get two for one!?) to get snipped the day after Christmas. And then I explained to Lillie that under no circumstances is Max allowed on top of Gracie, until the day after Christmas. When she asked why, I told her that the vet was going to make it so he can't make babies with another cat, ever. Her eyes got really big, so I had to take a different approach. I said he won't do that again because the vet is going to fix him so he's nice to her. Lightbulb on! Got it. And then I had to explain alllll over again when Zac got home from school. It's really the talk of the Casey household right now.....big news.

Another day, another sick child....

This was soooo two weeks ago. Now, no one looks this healthy at our house. My holiday time has become me playing nurse to everyone in the house. If it's not a child, it's Terry, and if it's not his hurt back, it's a hacking cat. I tell ya, I'm about ready to go on strike. This job stinks! The one good thing about it is that I get to sit at home with good books and cats sleeping on my lap. I think they think I quit work to be home with them. Last week I was home 2.5 days (that's half a week in the land of work!) and this week I'm on day 2, and it's only Wendesday. Zac had the fever that wouldn't quit, the sore throat that wouldn't budge, and now has the cough that makes me want to puke. Now Lillie has everything but the cough. She's replaced that with our first round of pink eye for the school year. My house is ONE BIG GERM! Wanna come over?

All I can HOPE is that we are getting all this shit out of the way before Christmas actually gets here. I will not spend my time off being sick or playing nurse. I wanna play and have fun and sleep in late and stay up watching my shows at night with cats crawling all over my lap fighting for one on one time with the brush. Speaking of cats, here's a pic of our newest, Gracie. She's about 3.5 months old and was found outside under a bush, abandoned in September. She's still not so sure of us, but LOVES mealtime....she wants to eat about every hour, or everytime I walk in the direction of the food bowls! LOL! BTW, that's Lillie holding Gracie and Lillie's friend, Trinity, is trying to get in on the action. Bossy Lillie says NO!

The tomboy is slowly being edged out

It seems that the tomboy in Lillie is slowing being pushed out by the girlie girl side of her. She is into purses, makeup, hair accessories and for the first time yesterday, we discussed clothing. I was going to drop her at my parents' for the afternoon and do some shopping so we were talking in the car on the way over. That is the BEST time to talk to Lillie...she is non stop chatter about anything and everything in the car. Makes me wonder what she tells my parents when she rides with them! So we were talking about Christmas and wish lists when she tells me that the new girl in her class, Briella, "dresses cute everyday!" Without hesitation she goes on to tell me that she has the cutest shirts, and is just so cute. She then tells me that she would rather have cute clothes for Christmas now, instead of toys, because, "well, you can wear clothes and toys, just sit there!"

As a Mom who LOVES shopping more than anything, can I tell you how happy I was? I went straight to Gymboree (which I never would have done before...pricey pricey pricey!) and found an entire outfit, right down to the hair bows and cute-sy boots all on clearance. And it's CATS, no less. Lillie will pee her pants when she sees this ensemble. Cats, cute shirt, matching hair barrettes and new black boots (which are also her newest favorite things....SHOES!) I almost want to give it to her early so she can wear it Christmas Eve, but I will try to refrain.

Christmas with kids is the best, isn't it?