Highlights

1. G is quite the little helper, at only 16 months old. He now will push a chair to the sink and help mommy out. He has always enjoyed the vacuum! He is so good at picking up! The other day at Wal-Mart he even helped put the grocery items onto the counter! Sometimes I think he's a better helper than both his brother and sister combined!
2. Last night I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some wrapping paper. They were out! They had been out for days! How can Wal-Mart run out of wrapping paper? Good thing Dollar Tree was right there, with ample supply! You gotta love the Dollar Tree;)
3. Yesterday I went to the commissary on the base to buy some groceries. I sat in traffic for probably at least 45 minutes. I wondered if there was an accident or something wrong with the bridge. Well, as I was listening to the radio they announce that the Imperial Palace casino had their grand opening and that traffic was backed up. It was quite sad to me that most of these people were sitting here waiting to gamble. I guess they had to turn many people away because they were at capacity! So what I was hoping to be a quick trip turned out to be a long day, but I did enjoy the Christmas music on the radio!
4. It is great to see many people still in the 'holiday' spirit! You see FEMA trailers decorated. People are out in the hoardes at the stores, along the roads, etc. I noticed not as many homes are decorated as last year, but there still are quite a few. It is great to see that despite life still being turned upside down for many of these families they are still celebrating Christmas.
5. The other day J helped me vacuum and he vacuumed the whole living room floor for me! It is great when these children get old enough to help out and pull some weight around here!
6. We had the most unreal evening on Wednesday. Awhile ago Zach had gotten an email at work about some Christmas party for children put on by the Boy Scouts. I told him to sign us up, but didn't really know what it was all about. Well, it was Wednesday night. I was apprehensive not knowing what it would be like (and the last Christmas thing we went to where the children got to pick out a gift for their parents had all Mardi Gras items-yuck). Then it was in an airplane hangar so my apprehension grew. But let me tell you that it was utterly amazing. Two Boy Scout troops (one from California and one from Illinois) came here to share this evening with us. It is called 'Good Turn' and every year I guess they do a 'Good Turn'. Well, after Katrina they decided that they wanted to come to Keesler AFB to help us out. They made this amazing, emotional video (I had the biggest lump in my throat to keep from crying). You can watch this video by going here and clicking on the link for it on the side. They had a dinner for us all, and had the kids sing Christmas songs. In front of the podium was pink backpacks, blue backpacks, wrapped boxes and a tree with oodles of unwrapped toys underneath. They also had these huge gift packs with two diaper bags for babies. Each child was to get a backpack and pick a gift from under the tree. Each backpack was FILLED with toys. Not cheap toys either. Both the older children received portable CD players! H also received a little radio, a jewelry making kit, hair ties, a handheld electronic game and other little things. The toy she picked from under the tree was a Disney Barbie, Belle. J received this neat monster-type truck that does tricks, a handheld game, a Spiderman toy and other items. G's two diaper bags were filled with all sorts of baby things! It was so overwhelming! We walked away with so much! As I drove home I just wanted to cry. It is unreal to see such love poured out to us. They were truly honored to come and give to us military families and we were so blessed!
7. The house repairs are coming along. Now that Zach has time off it should go by even quicker. The roof is already repaired! Larry sure is a hard worker out there! I am hoping that they will take some time off from it all this weekend to do family things. There is a live nativity I'd like to see, and in Mobile there are these gardens that they decorate beautifully for Christmas that I wouldn't mind going to. With Zach having had worked 6 day weeks for the past couple of weeks I feel like we're lacking on family time! He has been enjoying watching movies with his dad every night though! I'm not a big movie fan so I am trying to get us all to do something besides veg in front of the TV! It's Christmastime afterall and I want to celebrate the birth of our Lord throughout the weekend, not just on Sunday.
8. I haven't figured out if: a. people are slower on sending out their Christmas cards this year b. people aren't sending out Christmas cards this year c. the mail system down here is just backed up and slower or d. i'm just not receiving my mail. Usually by now I have received many more cards, some people never miss a year, so I'm wondering what is going on! I know it took awhile for us to get the card from my father-in-law!
9. H just loves the song 'Sleigh Ride'. She calls it the 'horsey song' and gets pretty excited when it comes on the radio. I have to admit that I am quite partial to that song too. Usually I just stick to the lovely songs reflecting Christ's birth, but we played this song in band one year and ever since I've just enjoyed it!
10. Larry, my father-in-law really seems to be enjoying my cooking. It sure makes me feel good! When I first got married I wasn't even sure how to read a recipe! I have come a long way in 6.5 years! I have to admit I've only made two big meals so far (Baked Ziti and Layered Enchilada Pie), but I have many more on the schedule. I did tell the guys last night though that the cook is off until Christmas. We have too many leftovers that need eating and I know we'll have many more after Christmas dinner!

Well, that's some of the highlights of my week! The list was much longer than I intended it to be!