I'll be right back...

Oh how much fun CHRISTmas was this year! There was MANY a present unwrapped WAY before it's time! This Mama got quite the refresher course in ift wrapping this season! LOL! We had our good friend "Ollie the Elf" visiting us daily & not even his prescence curbed their mischievous ways! I begged, pleaded & even tried bribing them to behave. They just do NOT listen! One day I had all 4 of them help me load ALL the presents from under our tree to give to some more deserving children! Unfortunately they did NOT care! There they were, helping me load each & every package from under the tree into the back of our 'burb. This time they actually listened to me! Now if they would just behave I would be one HAPPY mama!

The week of CHRISTmas we had a Santa encounter. He actually took time out of his schedule to stop by our house for a visit. At first the tribe did not know what to do, when he walked inside they just stood & stared. The good thing was that they did NOT cry! Santa sat down & starting asking them if they had been listening to their Mama. {We all know that was not happening! LOL!} He reached into his bag & handed the first present to Camryn. As she opened her present which happened to be a Barbie purse with a cell phone, camera & sunglasses, Santa asked her if this is what she wanted.

Leave it to Camryn to speak her mind. She shook her head & replied, "No, I wanted a Dora Doll!". Well that right there shows you how my week was was going! hahah! Needless to say Santa brought 2 more of those purses for her sisters so no one would fight. Luckily Avery LOVED her purse! In fact I think they grew on each of them! He brought Brendan a Buzz Lightyear hand held toy. It is suppose to be educational but I think in the end it's just going to be another thing that makes NOISE! =]

This year I was actually wondering how we were going to "do" CHRISTmas. I know it is about the birth of Christ and not about giving or getting gifts but our tribe is young & they do not know any different. They definitely do not get a lot through out the year & especially not for CHRISTmas but this year was much harder. Finances have been rough. The economy is terrible & just like eveyone else we have been struggling. The tribe attends school which is really strapping us, actually it is putting us further in debt than we need to be. But that discussion will be for another day. Just last week I received the most wonderful call from my Aunt. She had been given MANY hand-me-downs from a mutual friend & wanted us to have them in time for CHRISTmas. Let me tell you how grateful I was for that! I have to say that 3/4th's of what the girls asked for was in those bags! She really made our CHRISTmas! So again I need to say "Thank you" to everyone that has helped our family survive! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Now let's fast forward to CHRISTmas morning. Avery came & crawled into bed with me like she normally does. She was partially awake but awake just enough to remember that she saw a baby stroller by the CHRISTmas tree. I turned to her & said "Santa brought you a stroller?!?". She looked at me with WIDE eyes & said...

I'll be right back...

Yes Avery there really is a Santa Claus...

I know that not everyone "believes" in Santa Claus but here at the Fulton house we do! CHRISTmas, Jesus, Santa & even his elves. This is the first year that they really are into the whole CHRISTmas experience! The fact that they know they better behave or else is PRICELESS! They LOVE singing CHRISTmas carols and they learn new ones daily since that's about all we listen to in the car. I LOVE 24 hour 7 days a week CHRISTmas carols on the radio! YAY! Last year was our first year with the "Elf on the Shelf" in our home and this year it seems to be the only way to get them to behave! You see they will walk over to where "Ollie" is, that's our elf, and they rat each other out.

 Yes we have a bunch of tattletales here! They will stand in front of Ollie & tell him about who did what, mostly bad but sometimes good. You see Ollie goes "home" to the North Pole every night & tells Santa about their behavior so he knows exactly which list they should be on come CHRISTmas Eve. Now before you all get your panties in a wad it's not ALL about Santa, they do know the real meaning of CHRISTmas, that it is the birth day of Jesus. In fact their Uncle Rick bought them a really cool book all about the meaning of CHRISTmas! They have the Little People Nativity set to go with it. Boy do they LOVE baby Jesus!

Just the other day while shopping at Walmart it was not Jesus that sparked Avery's interest, unfortunately it was the BIG guy himself, Santa. This was her first one on one experience of her seeing Santa outside the normal realm of the mall. We were walking out of Walmart after making a quick shopping trip & who do we almost run into? Santa! He must have been making a last minute run to the mother of all discount stores for a last minute item. He was not dressed as flashy as he is in the local mall, this time he had on a polo shirt, pair of shorts & sneakers. I have to say that it was his fluffy white beard & red hat that TOTALLY gave him away! We knew it was him! As fast as he entered he was out in a flash. {See I told you it was a last minute item!} Avery searched all over for his sleigh & reindeer but this time it was NOT a sleigh that he rode in but a gray Jeep Laredo. Yes we staked out the door to see where he went! Now some people would probably say it was NOT Santa but Avery & I know better. The look on her face that day said it all! All I said was...

Yes Avery there really is a Santa Claus...

Merry CHRISTmas to all and to all a good night...

CHRISTmas was much more memorable this year than the past. The tribe really enjoyed themselves! We have been reading them the story of Jesus's birth. They really love Jesus. They even sing Happy Birthday! TOO cute! The other person they love talking about is Santa. They do not really like him they just know that he might bring them presents especially if they are good! Now that they are almost three they knew exactly what to do & did it VERY well!No sleeping in at our house! We were awoken VERY early to children on scooters/bicycles trying to enter our room, all at the same time mind you! LOL! They apparently stopped by the tree & found what Santa brought them, SCOOTERS! One glitch to the master plan was that Santa could not get all the scooters together due to a missing part. I guess that's what happens when "he" puts things together last minute! haha! Aave must have thought she was not good enough to deserve on because she said no scooter for me. Ahhh... We told her how Santa left us a note saying he could not find an important part on one of them. He wanted to make sure it was safe so since he could not do that he left us a special certificate to bring to the store to get it fixed & get a safe one! She liked that & went on to the next toy. Oh to see the joy on their faces from opening presents, presents & more presents. They really got the ripping open presents down to a science. This year it was NOT all about the box! hahah!Last month during one of my MOPS get togethers one of the women told us how they do Christmas in their house. Her husband happens to be one of the pastors from our church and way back when their kids were little & she attended MOPS a woman passed this along to her so she in turn passed it along to us. Giving your children three gifts just like Jesus received. You know the gifts the three wise men brought, Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh. I LOVED that idea! I wish she would have told us this in like April, when I started shopping! {Buying for 5 I have to start EARLY!} Trying to keep CHRIST in Christmas has been hard to do since everywhere you look there is Santa & not enough Jesus! We need more nativity sets around town too! That is why we now have a nativity set in front of our house this year. Keeping Christ in Christmas! Do not get me wrong Santa definitely visits the Fulton home. I think in the end they each received 5, hopefully next year we will be able to accomplish that feat. At the end of this busy & chaotic day we can say...

Merry CHRISTmas to all and to all a good night...

the BEST gift ever!

We here in the Fulton home want to wish everyone a beautiful Christmas. Ours was a rainy one. It drizzled all night & during the day today. The sun is trying to break through the clouds to give us a bright & shiny day. This year Christmas was EXTRA fun! We started out having a house FULL of Fulton's for Christmas Eve dinner. Our 6 year old nephew Aidan, who came dressed as Santa, stopped playing for a moment to tell us this was his BEST holiday EVER! I wanted to make sure it was this Christmas or just Christmas in general. He said being here. What a WONDERFUL child! I was SO happy that we made his day! The only thing missing was Dustyn. He spent Christmas Eve with his mom so we missed out on having him with us. Everyone missed him. Maybe one day soon we can all be together. He joined us this morning & we all got to be together on Christmas. The babies eyes lit up when he walked in their room this morning. They all grinned from ear to ear & yelled out "Dustyn!". They just love him so! Oh what fun will we have as the years go on. They all filed out of their room & walked directly to the den where the Christmas tree is without any coaxing. I was AMAZED! I guess they really do notice "new" things. There in front of the tree was their presents & they each gravitated to the toys they liked. Santa did good & they loved it all! Dustyn made out too! CLOTHES! You all know how much kids LOVE getting that! hahah! No, he also got his router & wireless connection for his XBox 360. I know nothing about these sort of things but he LOVES it. I think the best gift God gave Michael & I would have to be these 5 happy healthy children. That is...

the BEST gift ever!

presents....

People have been asking me what Dustyn & the babies need or want for Christmas. I have put a lot of thought into this question. They do not lack for much. Even with our meager funds we seem to make do. They pretty much do not "need" for anything. We have been VERY fortunate to have some WONDERFUL people in our life that pass along their hand me downs for our children. So from time to time they get "newer" toys & clothes. Life is good. What they "need" is people, not "things". They need our time. Since there is only 2 of us and 5 of them things can get rough in the attention dept. I feel bad that Dustyn sort of gets the shaft at times. We have SO much going on that we can never accomplish every task. He puts up with a lot & hopefully things will get better. So that is why I now answer that question with the following response... That the BEST present they could ever receive is to have our presence in their lives. To be there in each moment & really pay attention. They crave it! Some days are better than others but mostly I just try my best. To be the best mommy I can be. Some days I feel they need more than I can give & that is when I need the help I rarely ask for. SO, to any person out there that knows us personally, PLEASE, stop by & visit our little munchkins & Dustyn. If you have any "free time" we'd love for you to come over to spread your love & attention. Remember that's one of the best...

presents...

the Elf on a Shelf...

I heard about this NEAT book recently while we were attending MOPS at our church.Apparently I do not get out much because it is all over the book stores! A mom, just like most of us, Carol Aeborsold, created this idea years ago for her own family & once her daughter, Chanda Bell, grew up they had it published. This is THEE best gift to give small children for Christmas. Basically it is a book about an elf that is "magical" & reports back daily to Santa on how good your kids are being. It comes in this box that includes a book and the elf. It explains everything in the book. There is even a certificate where you list when you received him & his or her name. Then each year when you start getting all your Christmas decorations out he returns too! Our children as young as they are already named our elf "Ollie". Cute huh!? Hopefully as they get older they will love it as much as I already do! I have been told by MANY of my other mommy friends that it really gets them to behave!All they have to do is remind their child that the elf is watching & they will behave. Since the elf comes back each day, with a little help of course, hint, hint, the kids wake up searching for him. Most of all they CANNOT touch him or he will lose his magic. Isn't this a neat idea!? And if they do misbehave just remind them "Mr Elf" is watching! Too bad they do not have this for us year round! This mom that created "Elf on a Shelf" gets BIG kudo's from me! So get out there & buy your...

the Elf on a Shelf...

From Our Home to Yours...

Make a Smilebox greeting

Where is my fairy Godmother anyway?

I cannot believe that Christmas is just over 2 weeks away. I am SO not ready! I have done my elfing all year so I am good in the gift dept, just not in the Christmas photo dept, or better yet in the decorations dept. Our house is bare!! We do not have ANY Christmas stuff up yet at all. Our Christmas tree is malfunctioning (looks like a green candy cane)& our front yard is just in such disarray that I do not even think Christmas decorations would make it look good. We are in dire need of some elves to come over with some Christmas spirit to get us in the mood. Mostly I have just been trying to get "that" picture to send out with our Christmas letter. If I can get this done the rest will follow. I just cannot seem to get them all to look my way. I am constantly telling my children to look at the little birdie or telling them that I have a bird in my hand. Like a bird would even fit in my hand! Anyhow, this usually works, they all look at me & I get a shot of four little faces sometimes smiling, sometimes dazed but it's a picture & I'm happy to have it! Terrible I know but it usually works! Well lately that is just not the case. They do not want a picture taken especially not a Christmas one! It's in times like now when I am under the gun & need to accomplish something quick that they just do not want to cooperate! I even tried getting a picture of them with Santa & they all SCREAMED! It was such a sight. Santa even asked if he could have a copy of the picture for his scrapbook. I do not know if that was a compliment or not! ha! How terrible would it be of me to use that photo? I may have to get creative real soon! Hopefully we will have everything done by Christmas!

Where is my fairy Godmother anyway?