Arika is a Slacker!

Ok, I know I am and I deserve to be called one, because I haven't posted here in almost a month! Oops. Give me my thrashings in the comments section if you must. ;)

Since Thanksgiving it has been a madhouse around these parts! I was in Indiana for a week due to the passing of my Gran Gran! Though I will miss her so, I am happy that she is finally at peace and suffering no more and she's up there in Heaven with my Pap Pap and so many other friends of hers! She will always live on in my heart. She was a very special woman who taught me so much that she didn't even know she taught me. I love you Gran Gran. Here is a poem that I found, reworded and had read at her funeral.

Since I have known her,
I have respected her,
Since I have respected her,
I have loved her.

Because she is gone,
I will now love her spirit.
Her voice speaking to me, first as a child and then as an adult,
will forever ring through my soul.

Seeing her so tired, I asked her to go.
I never thought she would listen to me.
She always had a mind of her own.
No more pain.
No more suffering.
She is finally at peace.

It makes my heart soar to think
she is probably dancing with Pap Pap
in the moonlight and stars.

I thank her for caring for and listening to me.
I will cherish her forever
and her strength will live on in her Sunny Sunshine.

Need I say more about the time frame from Thanksgiving to now?! LOL

I think we spent every weekend from the time I came home from Indiana until Christmas Eve shopping. I added up the receipts today just out of curiosity to see how much we spent and I only have one thing to say about it: NEVER AGAIN!! It was absolutely ridiculous the money we dished out this year. Don't get me wrong, every bit of it was deserved by the recipients, but it was still way too much! Thank goodness we have a Christmas savings account set up for next year! Once it's gone, it's gone!

My mom has moved back to VA and is living with us now! It's great having her here again, close to us. There are just some things that only a mother is the right person for and it's so hard sometimes when she's 800 miles away! She has helped out so much since she's been here and she'll never know just how much that means to me. I must say though that it has and still is taking some getting used to. I'm so stubborn sometimes about doing things myself and I'm not used to having the help around the house and with the boys so I don't always give in when she wants to help me out. I don't mean to hurt her feelings but there are a few times that I think I may have when she has offered to help and I didn't realize that's what she was doing or I unconsciously did it myself. Like I said, it's a change that I have to get used to. Slowly but surely I'm getting to where I will let her help more and it has made a big difference in my attitude in general. Thanks again Mom for everything!

I have so much more that I need to post about but I really need to wake Hunter up so that he isn't up ALL night. No, he still isn't sleeping through the night yet...I've had a few nights where he has slept 6-8 hours, but nothing consistent. I've learned that no matter what I do I don't think he is going to get consistent with his sleeping at night until he is just darn good and ready...more on that in a later post.

Zach is doing wonderful and had a great Christmas! Spoiled that boy is I tell ya! ;)

So until next time...see ya later tators and best wishes for a wonderful 2006!