My Favorite Christmas Present

I'm such a bad mom. Hazen's backpack sat in the back of my Jeep for almost a week when I remembered that we had ordered him a preschool sweatshirt for Christmas. When I got the shirt out (after Christmas, of course), these two things were in there wrapped in tissue paper.

Being a mom is the best, isn't it??

Funny Hazen!

We went to Indy today and on the way home we stopped at Uncle Bill's pet store in Noblesville. Hazen was looking at cats and told his dad, "I asked that kitty what his name was and he gave me the evil eye". It was a rather grumpy looking cat (maybe persian). He cracks me up!

Christmas is family time!

After everyone had their fill of Matt's fried turkey, Tony's homemade rolls, and the rest of the fixin's we migrated to the living room to exchange gifts. Hazen had to tell Grandma Brewer how happy he was with the gift she got him.

I'm not sure who put who to sleep. There is nothing like a turkey induced coma!

Uncle Stan with his granddaughter Julienne. She was playing shy today, so this is about the only picture we got of her! She is only 2 days younger than Hazen. It was nice seeing Wesley and Andrea. He will be leaving for Guam in two days for a 4-6 month deployment.

Rett doing his cat impression?! Actually, I think he was passing out gifts.

I think every one had a good time today and got their fill to eat. I really enjoy spending time together. Matt was a big help in the kitchen today and I am very thankful for that. I know there aren't a lot of men out there who would do that.

Annual Christmas Cookie Baking

Mom, Tony, Cherylyn and the kids came over Friday for our annual Christmas cookie baking. We made chocolate crinkles and sugar cookies.This year I made icing to decorate some of the cookies. Usually we just use colored sugar, red hots, chocolate sprinkles (known to our kids as "mouse turds"), and the little silver balls. They each enjoyed creating their own masterpieces. Of course, some of them are so full of sugar your teeth nearly crack with the first bite!

Wyatt even got in on the action with a little help from mom!

The kids were in heaven when they got to eat the cookie dough scraps (except for Hazen who didn't like it).

I'm always amazed at how well Rett and Hazen can play together considering the 10 year age difference. First, they made a track of Hot Wheels for the monster trucks and had a competition. Right now, I am watching a concert of sorts. They have one of Rett's "mix" CD's playing (everything from Cinderalla to Bon Jovi to Hendrix). Rett is "playing" the guitar along with it and Hazen is dancing. The music is awesome and the visual that goes along with it is pretty entertaining. Rett is such a good big brother. I am so proud of him.

Almost there!

Matt got a phone call yesterday evening to let him know that he was the finalist for the firefighter position at Frankfort. He has to go sometime this week for his psych evaluation and then Monday he goes to Indy for his PERF physical. It will take 4-6 weeks for the results (maybe a little longer with the holidays). Once he has passed, they are prepared to offer him employment. He was pretty excited.

Me, on the other hand, did not even get called for an interview at Western. I heard they had 15 applicants and interviewed 4. Oh well, it just isn't meant to be.

Merry Christmas?

Matt had been hearing that his department would be on shut down starting this Friday until the second week in January. Today, they are talking about laying off 500. Before the latest round of buy-out offers, he had 700 people under him. Now, he's not so sure. There were more than 200 people who took buyouts, but he is not sure where they were seniority wise. If he doesn't get laid off, he will be bumped to second shift.

Steve took the buy out, and has a new job but obviously is not making the same wage. He wants to reduce support by $30 a week. It is a worrisome time for us. I get upset, but then I feel guilty because I know there a people out there with situations more difficult than ours. One of our friends is battling cancer. Another friend recently lost her father and her mother has required around the clock care for the last several months. I need to learn to be more thankful for what I have instead of focusing on what is not going our way. God has always provided.

Matt is pretty much a shoo in for Frankfort Fire Department. We just don't know when. They have a pool of 40 applicants that they will use to hire from for the next couple of years. Matt is in the top 3. They want to have a name for the board meeting on the 17th, so he should know by Monday or Tuesday. If he doesn't make it this time, they are planning to hire 2 more by August.

I still haven't heard anything from Western. I went into the administration building to make sure they had my application from the last time. They did, but said I needed to submit another letter of interest, so I did.

We have a pretty busy schedule for the next couple of weeks. Friday, Rett is playing in the Pep Band. Wednesday, Rett has a winter concert and Thursday is a parent meeting about graduation requirements and high school scheduling. Do you think if I skip they'll make Rett stay in Middle School?

In Search of the Perfect Tree and Christmas Pictures

We made our annual trip to the Christmas tree farm in West Middleton tonight. Of course, this year we had to brave a single digit wind chill. Rett was really into picking out a tree, but I think Hazen and Kelsey were content just eating the snow. Rett showed off his upper body strength and sawed through the tree in record time. We carried it back to the truck and then went in to warm ourselves by the fire.

After setting the tree up in the stand, my husband the redneck, used the shopvac to get rid of the loose needles. We still ended up with them all over the floor. I place the angel a top the tree and strung the lights. I plugged them in and had large sections with no lights. I ended up having to take all of the lights off and start all over with different lights.

Finally, we got the tree decorated and got the kids in the football jerseys. I was hoping to get a quick picture for the Christmas card. YEAH RIGHT!! Here are a few that didn't make the cut.

I'm so frustrated with these pictures right now, but I'm too tired to mess with it. I tried to put the pictures after the text, but it won't work!

Keep your fingers crossed!

Matt got a call tonight from Frankfort Fire Department. They have narrowed it down to three candidates and he is one of them. He has to visit all three fire stations on all three shifts before December 11, and then they will let him know. He is pretty optimistic about his chances since they are hiring three (one right away and two more before August). One of the guys who sat in on the interview told him more than once what a great interview it was. I have been pretty nervous about the pay cut, but with the UAW re-negotiating contracts there is a good chance he will have to take a pay cut at Chrysler, too. At least this way, he will be doing something he loves.

I applied at Western for the nurse position in the Intermediate building. The posting closes Friday, so hopefully I will hear something. They pay about $6000 a year more than what I am currently making. That would be AWESOME!

What the heck??

Matt just told me last night that a guy he works with has his aunt listed as the beneficiary for his life insurance policy through Chrysler. She is also covered on his health insurance. She does not live with him, nor does he claim her on his taxes. She has been on his insurance for eight years with no questions asked. You wonder why the auto industry is in such bad shape.....they're a bunch of IDIOTS!!

OOPS!!

Matt went to Frankfort Fire Department for his interview this morning. He just called....apparently they meant 8:30 PM!! So, he is going back tonight. He asked if me and the boys wanted to ride along so we can eat at Ponderosa (Rett's favorite restaurant). He said we could walk around Walmart while he's interviewing. I joked with him that it was pretty bad dropping the whole family off. (For those of you who haven't heard, over the summer a lady left her toddler son there because she could no longer take care of him)