Every morning I get up, wake the kids up for school and turn on all the indoor Christmas lights.  Why? Because my kids LOVE rolling out of bed to the glow of our tree and railing and mantel and seeing those smiles first thing in the morning is worth the extra 33 cents in electricity...  As soon as they leave for school, I wander around and pick up blankets, load the stray cup into the dishwasher, wipe up toothpaste, and turn off those Christmas lights.  It is hard to see them during the day anyway, right?  

Well.. not today. Today I left them on.  I need the brightness, the light, the reminders.   Today I am melancholy, and I have no real reason. Maybe it is the weather, maybe it is PMS, maybe it just... is.  I spent November LIVING in November.  November holds Thanksgiving.  We are to be thankful.  But it gets overlooked so often by the hustle and bustle of Christmas.  The shopping, the parties, the programs.  I wanted to LIVE in my thankfulness.  I wanted to present in November.  So I did not buy ONE Christmas gift.  Not one.  No Black Friday shopping, no ad searching.  I LIVED my thankfulness.  It was awesome.  I am one blessed mama!

Menu for the week:: 
M: Pizza 
T: Southwest chix wraps 
W: Hot Dogs
T: Bacon Ranch Crockpot chicken
F: Breakfast for dinner
S: Chicken Sliders
S: Chicken and Dumplings

Not a super healthy week, but we have 8 mouths this week, and I was low on grocery money.  Healthy isn't always cheap, unfortunately.  Next week will be better!

Tony has the week off, and we are keeping his kids this week, as his ex is on vacation with her fiance and new baby.  We are excited to have the extra time with them!

Court went well last week.  P showed up an hour late, and the judge did not modify support. Actually it should have gone up by 42 dollars/wk, but I asked for it to be kept the same.  It really puts a strain on him, and I would really like to see him move out of his sisters and be able to get a more stable place for the kids to be at.  Apparently this court date was to modify support and not custody so nothing has changed there either.  

Here is the past year and a half in a nut shell...

*I am in the process of a divorce
*I had a job, and lost that job due to budget cuts
*I moved to a new house
*We switched churches
*My kids are still fantastic, and amazing
*My heart is healing, with the help of amazing people, one in particular
*I am poorer than I ever thought possible and wonder every day if I will be able to stay in this house and feed my kids at the same time
*I have really missed blogging, and am thrilled to be back