~2015,ACountryChristmas~

When you consider

The ENORMOUS amount of rain we received,

Which kept us in doors way more than a person ought to be,

Which in turn gave us a terrible bout of Cabin Fever

And rendered us stir crazy and a little out of our minds,

It makes perfect sense that I have dubbed this Christmas

"2015, A Redneck Christmas"

In the interest of discretion, I suppose I could say

"2015, A Country Christmas"

PoTAEto PoTOTo…..whatever.

We spent the week tucked away in our mountain spot with family.

Inside, during the almost constant downpours,

We (and by we, I mean Brad, Cameron, and kids) jumped rope to the point of delirium.

Grandpa organized his second installment of his clever "DiveThroughThe HoopAndHopefullyRollOutOnTheSofaCushionsThatAreOnTheFloor" game.

He also sent us all on a MadHuntGame to find the piece of paper with your name on it…victors received $5.

We had handstand contests and played "CatchTheOrangeSliceInYourMouth"

Grandpa is the orange slice tosser, as he has been for 30+ years.

We cooked a LOT and ate even more.

We cut up with crazy sisters.

Some of us wore glittery, laced, sparkly princess outfits paired with cat socks EVERY DAY.

During any letup from the rain,

We sent volunteering brother in law down an overflowing, too narrow creek in a too long kayak.

We shot lots of guns.

We hung out in Enos.

We surveyed flooded roads.

All in all, inside or out, it was an easy Christmas full of laughter.

The kind I do NOT take for granted.

We are back home

Brad is on call all week :-/

It's raining….again….but I don't mind a bit right now

Kids are upstairs content with sticker books, Beanie Boos, and other randomness.

Channel 801 is playing "Holidays and Happenings"

Chicken and Rice is about to come out of the oven

Gabbie is on the sofa beside me, sleeping.

Definitely shaping up to be one of my favorite December nights, when measured on the Cozy Scale.

~stacey

~NothingButTheHumOfTheDishwasher~

I can handle only so much audible stimulation.
I have limits on how many
ideas
suggestions
observations
complaints
arguments
thoughts
wrong calculations
right calculations
disagreements
stresses
cat observations
school project ideas
and kid jokes
that I can physically, mentally handle and process without jumping off a bridge.

At about 8:47 tonight, I just had to tap out.
I was d.o.n.e.

There's dog poo on your shoe?
I don't care.

Yes, I just dropped the brand new gum ball ornament and it broke into a million pieces.
#idon'tcare
Get grateful, kid.

That's due tomorrow?
Hmm…maybe you should have started before yesterday.
#idon'tcare

You just got catsup on your brand new, very most favorite Love. shirt?
Yeah…you should go straight upstairs, wash it on delicate (because that's the shortest cycle, so you will still be awake when it's done and can hang it to dry yourself, because I am not going up those stairs one more time today unless someone is bleeding or the house is on fire).
#idon'tcare

My ears hurt from all the precious, life sucking chatter that I get from all my people that I absolutely would not change for the world.
I mean, let's be real, there are a lot of brains, mouths, and emotions going on under this one roof. (which, for an introvert, can prove to be a real challenge) #Lordhelpmedothiswellenough

Yes, I am fully aware that I will absolutely miss all this glorious white noise one day…which is why I light-heartedly make fun of my chaos, cut myself a little slack, and give myself permission to happily sit in this keeping room, at 10:04p.m., ALL alone, with nothing but the hum of the dishwasher, and the clicking of my laptop keys….and not be sorry a bit.

~stacey