flashbacks of 2010...

Well in just under 30 minutes it will be 2011! WOW, it's hard to believe 2010 is about to end. SO many things happened this year & since we did not do a CHRISTmas card I decided to do a brief montage of what life in the Fulton house was like over 2010. So enjoy our...

Opening presents CHRISTmas 2009

Bren & Lindsey



Their COOL tee pee!

Visiting Grandpa!

 


flashbacks of 2010...

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...

NO school Monday's...

Today was one of those days where more than one was not feeling good so they ALL stayed home SICK! You see last night out of the blue while at a CHRISTmas performance Lindsey threw up multiple times. Right there at the end of the pew in front of a packed church! It was bad! Luckily my 20 year old cousin came to our rescue & cleaned it all up. What else that I found amazing was that not one other person got up once she did it. They all just went along watching the performance! WOW! I really don't know why she threw up or where it came from but she did so there would be no school for her today. Well it seems that Avery did not want to be outdone by her sister because she too threw up on the ride home. Sigh... I just hope it ends with her! I could tell it was going to be a LONG night!

I prepared them like my mom always did us by placing a "puke bucket" by their heads & lined the edge of the bed with towels. If they were going to threw up again I was ready! I have to admit that before they actually fell asleep Linz threw up one last time on of all things her "Patty"! I think she was SO tired from throwing up that she didn't even care that she had to fall asleep without her! I checked on them a few times before I went to bed & they were all fast asleep! YAY! Apparently over night Avery threw up one last time, a small bit, but none the less I had to wash ALL the bed linens! She was clingy & not herself all day! I guess the silver lining in all of this was that none of them had any fevers! I decided to keep to the BRAT {Bananas, Rice, Apples & Toast} diet just in case they were not really over this illness. All things bland were my friend today. The one EXTRA thing I let them assist me in doing was making cut out sugar cookies. Boy was that a mistake! The darn cookie dough stuck to EVERYTHING!

In the end I was better off making our designs by hand! I made each of their letter's, the B & the A were "interesting"! Heck I even made a snowman without even trying! LOL! They were SO excited! From mixing the batter to cutting out the first cookie to seeing them bake in the oven it was quite an experience! There's nothing like...

NO school Monday's...

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...

I better watch what I promise them!...

This story begins on a day I had Avery home sick from school, for those of you that have children you know that kids while do just about anything to stay home with Mommy. I had scheduled their "well check-up" the day before Thanksgiving but rescheduled for this day and here Avery goes & gets sick! UGH! She had a fever so there would be NO SCHOOL for her! When the others heard she would be staying home they tried faking some symptoms to get to stay home too. It was quite funny seeing Camryn & Lindsey say that their bellies hurt & then Brendan tagging along saying he was sick too! They were not sick, they just wanted to stay home with me! In the end Daddy took Camryn to school, she had her "well check-up" over the summer in preparation for speech school. There I was taking the rest of them to the doctor. Three "well check-up's" turned into two! Thank the Lord for our Pediatrician Dr Mahoney, she is AWESOME! They asked me all sorts of questions about what was going to happen while being there. The most important question was if they were going to get a shot. I said No, this was a well check-up not a sick visit. I guess they have been to the doctor sick WAY more than being well because they could not understand what a "well check-up" was! LOL! The doctor was pleased with all of them in fact Mr B gained a pound from his last visit! WOO HOO! This is a BIG deal! We have to plump him up for his heart surgery in March! Lindsey is the tallest & is like in the 44th percentile for height. This is an accomplishment since all 4 of them are scrawny & weigh like 30lbs! hehee! Oh & Avery's illness is just that, an illness. She was negative for strep so it's most likely viral & will stay the course. So just like we thought she would be staying home sick from school. Brendan & Lindsey did not really like hearing that! haha! Our day get's even better, the "well check-up day" turned into "Flu shot day". Yes, the three of them all got shots! UGH! All that preparing I did telling them no shots because it was a "well check-up" went right out the window! There I was consoling them after they each burst into tears! Oh did I feel bad! Luckily after the flu shot Dr Mahoney took each one of them over to the special treat box for a prize. I am now the proud owner of two planes you put together & a bottle of Santa bubbles! =] I think in the future...

I better watch what I promise them!...