"Merry" Christmas :(

Well, I feel like a big ol' loser for even posting on Christmas Day...like I have nothing better to do...and really, I don't...and maybe the frowny face above gave you that hint. We are down in the dumps here at the Sicko House of Steg :( Santa came last night and apparently he brought the Fever Fairy with him too...not the gift we were hoping for. 2 of the 3 crazy kiddos have ear infections, and the lil' guy who's always so peppy on his feet has been listless and lethargic since Sunday. Yesterday was a bad, bad day for him (and us)...his heat index was a toasty 106.7 for a good portion of the day and night...it was just a no good, bummer of a Christmas Eve...not picture perfect for me and I admit I let a few tears fall (it is no secret I have issues :) Yesterday's were many including our money sucking van and a clingy, sad boy in my arms all day...). And don't ask what possessed us to get our hineys out the door and drag the sick boy to church last night,but we did it...I think it was my one excuse to get out of the house for an hour (and it's amazing how peaceful a lethargic Dylan can be during a church service :)). So, that's been our "merry" Christmas. Really, I don't mean to be a downer on most people's joyful Christmas day...and I sure as heck know things could be worse (and, yes, I know I need to focus on the reason for the season too!)....but I'm just lonely for the moment...it's me and my boy sitting here watching Baby Einstein over and over again..while Kev and the girls are living it up in Indy with the whole Steg family. Not really my idea of the ideal Christmas Day...but I guess you take what life gives ya' and maybe this is God saying "hey, now's your chance to pack for FL and get some cleaning done"...oh happy day...what a holly jolly Christmas for me! :) Hope everyone else has a Merrier Christmas than we! :(


(On a side note I am relishing the wonderful gift that my parents and Kev gave me...a new camera!!!!!!! WHAHOO! You faithful blog readers know my woes about my crappy old one and I'm thrilled to pieces to have one that takes a clear picture....it's a dream come true for an obsessive picture taker like myself (especially before our trip to Dismal World)....thanks for giving it to me early guys! (it was supposed to be a b-day gift....but I think Kev has been fit to be tied with me (nicely) cursing under my breath about old peice of poo camera!) So, now hopefully I'll only have nice things to say during my photography sessions :) Thanks, mom and dad and Kevvy Poo...that is one thing that made me happy, happy, happy today!...well, I must go...sick, feverish boy in my lap who needs attention...)

R.I.P. Phillip :(

Memories of fishy Phil are fresh in our minds...here is Hailey (above) on her 6th b-day (3-17-06) waking up to the surprise of a fish (her first pet)...a gift from lil' Sis Shelby :) She was so excited (as you can tell!) :)...you can see Phil in his lil' cup ready to go in the big tank of pink (not sure how excited he was about that!?)
Sissy was excited too...she loved the fish like it was her own...
All smiles from Hailey, who was a proud pet owner...and then below I had to show you how she's always made him little name plates for his "room"...this was his first...he's had a few more since...the last one Shelby even made one for as well...we will miss our lil' blue beta smiling at us in the kitchen every day :(

Well, this is a tough one for me to post tonight, but in honor of the best (only) fish we've ever had I feel I must give him his very own blog post. Tonight, very unexpectly, we came home from a wonderful Christmas at Kev's parents to find our dear, sweet, 20+ month old blue beta fish Phil was belly up on the bottom of our tank for his night time feeding. I must admit this was quite a surprise to us all as we had just had a nice long conversation with Nina and Poppy S. and hour ago about how they were probably going to have to watch him while we were in FL and how he was a "hearty/good fish". So, needless to say it took us all by surprise when Hailey went to his tank and found him laying there motionless, not to mention I felt a tad bit bad about thinking this week what a hassle it was going to be to find a "fish sitter" at the last minute cuz our regular "sitters" were going to be out of town (love you D&H!). So, what a cruddy way to start this Christmas week...sorry, but our sweet girl just got done crying (actually sobbing) herself to sleep and that just tugged so deeply at my heart. I felt so bad that I even cried. We've never had a pet pass on in our home and she loved that fish from the moment she got him on her 6th birthday. He has been a good lil' blue beta and he will be missed. We said a special prayer tonight for our fond fishy friend that he is swimming with the best of them up in heaven (namely Hailey's friend, Baileigh's fish, Dennis, who recently passed on as well). Tomorrow will be a rough day :( Viewing and Funeral around 10am and burial around 10:05 in the backyard beneath the weeping willow (daddy wanted a flushing ceremony...but I think that might be a bit tramatic on all involved). If you think of Hailey say a prayer for her...she is beside herself with grief and is only hanging on to the promise that mommy said she could pick out a new fish after vacation...though we all know no one could replace Phil :( May he rest in peace. And now for a moment of silence in his honor...

Praise and Thanks

Well, some of you might know and many of you might not...that Kev's wonderful, sweet Uncle Randy was in the hospital this past week/end. I won't go into his whole situation or all the details, cuz I don't feel it's my place and I hate to get facts wrong...but I will say it was serious and we are very thankful and singing praises today that he is now home and on the road to recovery. I'm not exactly sure of all the circumstances...but apparently he contracted MRSA somehow and it went into a very dangerous area of his face/nasal area...and very near his brain. He went to an ENT on Friday cuz his face/mouth/nasal area was very swollen and they sent him straight to our local hospital where they did surgery almost immediately to drain the area. In the midst of all this our Aunt Kim (his wonderful wife :)) was up near Purdue area getting ready for her mom's funeral the next day. So, she had to drive back and be by his side, of course. As if they weren't going through enough already grieving the loss of a mother and grandmother. The whole situation was very critical and they were not sure even yesterday if they were going to go back in and do more surgery...but by morning they had decided that he was ok to go home, so he was released yesterday. He still has been going in for IV antibiotics twice a day and will do so again tomorrow...but we are just so incredibly thankful that he is better and that it didn't get more serious. Thanks to all of you who knew about this and were praying...and who also have been praying for Kim in the midst of her mom's passing. I know this weekend was hard all around for their family...not to mention that this all happened so near Christmas. But, we are thankful for God's hand in all this and that Kim and Randy have such a great support network at our church and in our community. We love you, Kim and Randy and kids. Hang in there.

Grandma's the Big 8-O! :)

Well, in the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle I wanted to give a big ol' shout-out to my wonderful Grandma G. in FL! She turned the big 8-0 today and I must say she doesn't look a day over 40 :) Really...she's a young whipper snapper at heart and to prove that, my whole family down there got her a state of the art exercise bike so she can stay slim, trim, healthy and beautiful for many years to come! (not that she needed a bike to do that for her!) :) I guess she was pretty stoked about the gift and I can't wait to see her zooming around (or in place) on it when we arrive later this week! You go, grandma! I know what a bumpy, winding and difficult road you've had the last couple years with grandpa and his illness and his passing onto the heavenly realm. But, I've see this amazing strength, courage and peace about you through that all and I truly admire you for your faithfulness and spirit of hope even in the midst of grief and tragedy. I know that was and is not an easy thing...to lose your lifelong love and to have him taken by the disease of cancer. It tore at all our hearts, but I still remember the last day I saw grandpa in the VA hospital and how you hugged me as I was sobbing and you said "it's all so hard isn't it"....and you were so strong even in the midst of your sadness and grief. It has always been that strength of faith and character that I have admired about you since I was a small girl. You've always had that peace about you. I still think of you as that young grandma who worked in the FLCS (my old school) office where I could go to for solice if I was having a bad day or if I was sick...it was always a comfort to know I had family right there to give me a hug. And now here you are...the great-grandma of my three kids and you're still as young at heart as you were back then. I am so thankful for you, grandma, and for the 80 years you've lived on this earth...I'm thankful for the legacy you and grandpa made with our family and for the love you still give to us all. It was so good to hear your voice today...and I'm glad the family spoiled you and kept you on your toes all day. We were thinking of you on your big day and we'll hug you in person on Friday! Happy 80th!! XOXOXO

(the above pic is when we celebrated her b-day last year in FL :))

Keeping it in Perspective...

I got this email forward from my wonderful, wise mom today (who always knows what I need to hear :))...and it touched my heart so I wanted to post it on the blog for others to read. I don't know about you all, but I needed to be reminded today of the non-importance of things and the importance of people (namely my kids and hubby and family...though you know I love you friends too) I just know I'm guilty of "doing so much" and "trying to make things perfect" that I know I often overlook the fact that I need to simply just love and hug my hubby and kids...........so "the heck" with my checklists and all my "to do" that won't get "done" and hang over my head making me feel guilty....I'm gonna just love on my family a little more and wallow in that happiness this holiday season and beyond :) AMEN! :)


1 CORINTHIANS 13- CHRISTMAS VERSION

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling
lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another
decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at
mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that
I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend
a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not
focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and
table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they
are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices
in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust.
But giving the gift of love will endure.
Merry Christmas!

In my thoughts, heart and prayers today are all those who have lost loved ones in the past year...all those who have lost loved ones near the holidays...I know this time of year must be so difficult for them...and lonelier than the last. My heart goes out to them...to our Aunt Kim who just lost her dear mom yesterday, to my parents who will spend this first Christmas w/o my grandpa F, to my friends in FL who lost their dad/husband last Christmas Eve...to my friend in FL who lost her dear, sweet mom this year...those are people on my heart this season...love you all...and thinking of you today and always...

Making a List...Checking it Twice...

Time to see the roly poly jolly ol' Santa this past Sunday at our small downtown mall. Dylan's only relief from the terror of it all was a candy cane that he knawed to pieces :) Phew...thank goodness for candy!
Here is Shelby telling Santa how badly she wants some Dora Dress-up clothes! Does anyone know a store that carries them? I only know Lilly Kids has them in a dress-up box but I don't know if it's worth the money to order them?!
Here is Dylan waving to Santa from afar :) I think he ended up liking the jolly guy...but he much preferred NOT sitting on his lap and just gazing with a smile from distance :)
Here are the girls digging in to their free M&M choc. chip cookies...always a highlight of seeing Santa (and the Easter bunny) :)
Even Dylan enjoyed a cookie this time around...yes, he can eat cookies, but nothing else normal :)
Another failed attempt at a Christmas card picture...do you see what we're dealing with here, people?! Help!
The silly kiddos in the old phone booth in the mall :) And below, the girls had to of course pose with a big ol' Nutcracker that was sitting out...our lil' mall is decorated so pretty this time of year...it'd be a great picture place if only our kids were more photogenic this time of year :( Bah Humbug! :)

Ok, I know that's a song about Santa...but it fits the post today as I'm sitting here surrounded by ALL my lists of "stuff to do". Yes, I'm a chronic list-maker. Don't know if that's good or bad...but right now I feel like I'm swimming in lists so it's a tad bit overwhelming to say the least :) :) And, I've made no secret that this time of year can be a bit stressful for me...I know that's sad to say, but as busy as our schedule is normally; to add to that extra holiday hustle and bustle...well, it leaves little time to sit and chill and just enjoy things. Sigh :( All that being said I am doing my best to try to get in the holiday mood....we've had our lovely tree up for weeks now (still w/o a star on top due to height issues and laziness)....the house is semi-decorated, the lights outside are semi-up, the gifts are semi-bought, the Christmas cards are semi-done....ok, so you see my frustration...we can't seem to get anything completely done and it's driving me bonkers. Things getting "semi-done" generally means I can't check anything off my list cuz it's only half done. Not cool! But, that just seems to be the season of life we are in right now....doing 1/2 of everything :( Not a nice feeling for a perfectionist like me. Ok...so I'm really not trying to be downer...I'm just admitting that December is not all holly and jolly for us over here in the Steg family.....and I imagine other households are the same though they might not admit it :) Anyway with that happy thought I want to turn to a few bullet points. Nothing too exciting's been going on since the big "N" performance...but life still has had it's crazy moments :)

• Well, the first illness of the holiday season has crept into our humble abode. Poor Dylan came down with some virus (most like church-related) yesterday....I knew he was being too clingy all day so I shouldn't have been surprised by late afternoon when he fell asleep in my arms (a rarity) and then wound up with a temp and vomited all over in his crib. Poor guy. Crossing our fingers and praying that the rest of us stay healthy....not a good time of year to be held up in the house puking :( (and now that I type this I realize that the poor boy is again asleep in my lap all slumped over and feeling very warm again...poor baby)
  
• The week of Christmas programs has begun. Shelby has two dance programs this week....one at a nursing home on Friday and one at her dance studio on Sunday....both should be cute and she gets to strut her ballerina stuff and have her sister watch (which is a nice change)....it should be humorous :) Both girls also have their big Christmas program (singing) this Sunday at church so this Wed, Sat, and Sun will be very busy with extra practices and me trying to lend a hand with the program too. Also, Shelby's preschool class is visiting a nursing home on Thursday to sing carols and bring cheer, so Dylan and I will tag along with that. All such fun things...I'm really looking forward to all of these...I think this is what the season is about...sharing the joy with others...and I always love watching my kids do things special :)
  
• This past weekend was semi-relaxing/semi-busy. I over extended us a bit on Friday cuz I committed us to a little get-together with church friends, but at the same time I had forgotten I didn't want to miss a special evening sale that this little store was having (the one that sold at the Nutcracker)....anyway...so long story short, but we were about an hour late to our get-together cuz we got lost trying to find this cute little store in the middle of no where in the pouring rain. But, I did get the lovely blue angel ornament for Hailey that I had missed buying at the performance...and I did find Shelby the cutest lil' mouse king ornament....not to mention I splurged and got myself the same fancy Nutcracker ornament that my mom bought :) So I was happy with my purchases and happy we also made it to the get-together. It was fun to hang with old and new friends and I even sucked it up and played some cards (to know me is to know I DO NOT like to play card games :)) And try as I might to lose the whole game I actually didn't :) Go figure :) So, Friday was a busy, but fun night...
• Saturday Hailey had her last dance class of the year (yay!) and Kev was sweet enough to take her to that. I actually don't think I left the house all day long...awesome! I love being a homebody! We just tried to get more Christmas stuff out and get organized a bit....it didn't really happen, but we tried....it was lovely to spend a whole day at home....even if we didn't get much accomplished....that will probably be the last day we get to just veg for awhile :( But, we did get Hailey and Shelba's trees all situated in their rooms (Dylan has yet to do his :))....and Kev put a few lights outside after we realized that half our lights are dead this year :( But, some is better than none I guess :( Oh...and the most fun we had on Sat. was watching the DVD of Angel Hailey....it was first time Hailey got to watch herself :) And Shelby had to watch the mouse king scene over and over again :) Oh the fun!
  
• Sunday...well, we made it to the 10am church service...ok, that's a joke that most of you won't get....there is no 10am service at our church...but we were so late for the 9:30 that to make ourselves feel better we named a new service for ourselves. Don't ask why we were late....ok, I'll hint at it...we were trying to get a pic of the kids for our Christmas card....well, needless to say after weeks of trying we still don't have one (yes, getting a pic of three kids looking semi-normal and not crying or rolling their eyes...well, it's one of the toughest jobs lately :))....so we still have no picture and we were embarrassingly late for church...not to mention Dylan now has a black eye thanks to a juice cup he rammed into his face...so our Christmas cards might become New Year's or Valentine's cards with our luck :( Which, also means that I can't/won't be reading any Christmas letters for a bit....I know it's silly...but last year I decided that until our cards were out I wouldn't read anyone else's. Don't worry...I still look at the lovely pics that come in mail (cuz I LOVE pics!) but I make myself wait to read all the lovely letters :) It's my way of getting a fire under my rear to maybe get our cards out! Yes, I am crazy with a capital C! :)
• We did indeed see the big ol' jolly man himself, Santa, on Sunday after church and our lil' local mall...that was a fun little outing. Dylan wasn't so sure of the big man in red....he preferred to wave at him from afar (like from the upstairs balcony looking down on him :)) and give him high fives. He only warmed up to Santa when he gave him a candy cane...yes, Dylan loves candy lately...he won't eat normal food, but he loves his sugar! I think Hailey ask Santa for some Webkinz and clothes for them...and Shelby asked for Dora dress-up clothes...hmmm...Santa better get working on that! I think Dylan was just happy with his candy cane and free M&M cookie and if I had to guess Dylan probably would ask Santa for a new ball or two or three or more :) And on a funny side note I have to tell you that we are inheriting a lovely red and white suit ourselves...so watch out...there maybe be a Santa in our family at some point in the near future :)
  
• Hailey had a lovely time on Sunday night with her 2BMe church girlfriends :) They had a fun party-game night get-together at one of the girl's houses....I know Hailey enjoyed it. We tried to go see our church's Christmas light show (an outside show of lights they have put to music on the radio)...but I think half the light's were out so we only saw a partial show....again that sticks well with my "semi" doing things theme :) Go figure :)
  
• Is anyone else out there struggling with shopping this season?! I just can't get in the mood to do it and I hate crowds so I just get frustrated. So far we have about 1/4 of our shopping done...not good odds since I'm realizing Christmas is like 2 weeks away :( Not to mention our weekend coming up is crazy with Hailey's school's Secret Santa Shop that I'm helping at, a fun trip the the Children's Museum for a special Christmas thing with Kev's parents....and then all the programs/practices I just talked about...it's gonna be nuts, so I have no idea how we will find time to shop and do the other holiday things we'd hoped to do.
• It's that time of year again, folks, "Girl Scout Cookie Time"...starting officially on Jan. 1 we can sell these yummy lil' things...oh joy! I love cookies...anyone who knows me knows I love them...and girl scout ones are the best...especially the Tagalogs (yumm!)...and they even have some new lemon creme ones that sound very yummy this year...so all that to say the it's that crazy cookie time of year. Now I am not a big seller...or I guess I should say Hailey is not a big seller...that comes partly from "no soliciting" allowed in our neighborhood and Kev only working with one fellow employee...and well....we don't have very many family members in town....so that leaves Hailey usually as a bottom seller actually...not to mention that fact that we sell things all year long and we participate in all those things....plus I'm just not a salesperson and as chatty as Hailey is she is not into selling anything either....so we won't be selling like some "go getters" who sell 1,000's. But, I'm excited to finally have some good cookies in the house again and if anyone out there needs a stash of them let us know :) We'll be selling til Jan. 14 and the cookies will be delivered the 2nd week in Feb. And all hail "Miss Vonna" who works so hard in all things girl scout related in our area (and who is the best leader)...she is #1 in my books and if I could sell a million cookies I would....but be rest-assured we'll do our best to sell, sell, sell this next month and beyond so our troop can continue to do all the fun things we do! :) Go Girl Scouts! :)
  
• And lastly, Dylan can now say Shelby's name :) It's actually quite funny...I think I was yelling her name last week (not unusual :)) and all of a sudden he yelled "BELBY!" He was so proud of himself that he's been saying it ever since. He's been saying Hailey "HAY" for a long time...but I can't blame him for not trying Shelby's name...it's a toughie for our not so verbose boy :) Not to mention he now calls most women "mama"...nice, huh?! I'm not sure how I feel about this, but he goes up to lady strangers now and calls them mama :) Silly boy. And also another cute thing that he did in the midst of his sick day today...he handed me his baby Bible and said clear as day "Bible"...I was blown away cuz honestly we have just started reading his Bible to him and I'm not sure I've ever said the actual word Bible to him...maybe we have a future preacher on our hands who just loves his Bible?! :)
  

Well, that's all I have time for today...gotta get my rear in gear and get caught up on laundry, cleaning and dishes....oh the excitement this mom leads :) And can I just say it is insanely foggy out today. I am baffled by it....it's been so rainy the last few days (the only snow we've seen is a sad little dusting that made Shelby go nuts....she had to kick it around and play in it for awhile last Friday :))....but today it's supposed to get very warm (60's)...craziness....so the fog is amazing. Ok...I know weather related info is so stimulating....but with that I must go. Hope this all finds you doing well and staying warm and having a stress-free holiday like me :) Don't get me wrong people...I love Christmas...and I know I need to take it all in stride and focus on the "reason for the season"....and I plan to do that this week.....finally I am feeling better after a 4-5 month rampage of feeling crappy (and last week being especially rough)...so that is a praise for today! :) Happy Holidays to everyone out there! And hope you all have a great week...especially to our friends Nate and Laura who I believe are welcoming their second child (and first son) into the world via c-sect. on Friday. You go, Laura! Can't wait to hear the news! Love ya'll!

Backstage Angel Action

Ok...well, again this took a freakin' long time to upload all these and they are all out of order, but I figure "who cares"....so I'll just make a quick run through of last Sunday (12/2) and all the exciting backstage angel action!! Above is actually after the big angel dance...me (the backstage mom all in black...a rule we had to abide with)....and my sweet ballerina girl :)
Out in the rain by the stage door after the performance
After the performance...Hailey and Hope (our backyard neighbor/friend)
Hailey, Baileigh and Sydne...good friends...and fun to see them at the show
Hailey and her new Nutcracker shirt and a pic of her "do"....I did a pretty good job of french- braiding for just having learned how....yes, that's a pat on the back for me :)
All the angels crammed in the big elevator to go up to the stage (yes, this is pre-angel dance) :) I love this shot..look at all those pretty wings and ugly wigs....16 of 'em crammed in there like sardines...along with 4 of us moms...
Here's a better group pic than the one I posted a couple weeks ago...this one you can actually see Hailey (far left)...though I did cut one angel off on the right...sorry, whoever you were :) This is after the big dance....
A funny pose by the angel in blue
this one's for Shelba...a pic of Hailey by the mouse head :)
I love this pic too....really shows off that "lovely" metallic blue color :) And this is a rarity in the angel business...to be able to sit in costume...they hardly ever allow this...another strict rule
All in costume and ready to go on stage...
A nice close-up shot of the blue-wigged angel in all her glory :)
Sweet Angels, Hailey and Lauren
All lined up in "angel order" and ready to go up the elevator to perform
Hailey pretending she has her angel light...which were only given to the angels right before "showtime" up on stage
Nice angels...
Getting the wings on...
Getting the wig on...
Getting the make-up (blush and lipstick) on....this only happened on Sunday night...they never had time for make-up any other night...they just had to pinch their cheeks to make them rosy for the other performances :)
My sweet angel
This was back at our house earlier that day...me doing "the double-braided do" :)
Hailey and her best bud, Julia, before the show...she was so sweet and brought Hailey a little bouquet :)
This is pre-show...our backstage "angel" area where the girls did "quiet activities"
Moving on to the costume room...as you can see Hailey and most of the girls played those clapping games...or whatever they are called...we used to do them back in the day...and below is some crazy angels....