K= Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn is my 2nd child, a whopping 12 years after my first! (omg, how crazy is that??!!) She is a very nice & polite child... and of course, is very near and dear to my heart.

And she is SKINNY! Like, stick THIN skinny. I think I USED to be like that... LOL. She's really tall, and rail thin. Finding clothes that fit are a nightmare! If they don't have something to tighten up the waist, they fall right off. To get them long enough, I have to get a 7 slim or 8 slim and then tighten them as much as possible! It's sort of crazy... and because the girls aren't the same size, I can't do any "hand me downs". (ugh!)

Her best friend right now is Brianna... who is the daughter of a good friend of mine from high school!

Her favorite colors.. well, she likes pink, purple, blue, etc... nothing specific really. She loves cats, dogs & all other animals. She loves to play games on the computer and she is quite the little socialite. She is always being invited over to play with someone... and she loves having her little friends over to our house. I'm very proud of her and love her with all my heart.

J= Candy!

Yep... Candy, Cookies, Candy, Cookies. I have been doing it ALL DAY. I have so much to make, I will be doing it all day tomorrow too! I'll post some pictures when I'm done. I have 21 plates to do for pharmacies & doctors offices and I will have tons left over for the family get together.

Haystacks, many different kinds of dipped pretzels (including cherry flavored!), choc covered cherries, chocolate almonds, walnuts & pecans, coconut & chocolate things, hard candy in watermelon & cherry flavors, and several other surprises.

My back is killing me. EEK. Otherwise, I have almost all the presents wrapped, and I drew Tammy's name.. I think she's going to LOVE it. Duane drew Dan's name, I am HOPING he loves his. I found some great stuff for many of the kids, some of the older ones got gifts, some get money.

Oh, and my very part time hospice job sent me a 50.00 bill today for Christmas! Didn't expect it, so it's just icing on the cake!

Guess I better get back to it... have TONS to do still! And Duane is planning on shampooing carpets tomorrow, putting up Xmas boxes that are still out from decorating and hopefully he can hook up with a guy selling some oak firewood... I am almost out and we need some for Christmas Eve & Day for sure! It's going to be a cold one... and I LOVE a fire!

I = Inlaws

Why are they called In-laws? That sounds too much like Out-Laws. LOL! Of course, we have had a few of those in our family haven't we? LOL!

Well, my Mother-In-Law(MIL) & Father-In-Law(FIL) are both really nice people. He's a mortician (giggle) and she used to teach Kindermusic (piano for little people). They are both very big in their Church and don't drink, cuss, smoke or do other things that my family considers a part of normal life.

The girls take piano lessons from MIL now... and the boys did when they were younger. The boys didn't like it very much. Apparently, MIL didn't enjoy trying to teach them either. When the girls got old enough to start, we ended up with a piano so they could practice at home. LOL. I still need to find a good place for that.

Then there are the Sister-in-Laws and Brother-in-Laws. And I've had a few of those. They change over the years... mostly upgrades. LOL!

Oldest sis is married to Dan.. he's a really nice guy. He doesn't have many vices, and one thing I find funny is he likes to "people watch"... especially at our big family gatherings when there are 20+ people running around, kids running amok, 60+ year olds sledding down basement stairs, etc. You get the picture. I guess he must find this fascinating. I have fun watching him watch us. LOL! His expressions are priceless!

3rd Sis has a great guy too. He's Harley Dude and he treats her like a Queen. Or at least she wants us to think she sits on a throne all day eating bon-bons. He's very considerate and is making some major brownie points with the parents by doing manual labor and building & fixing up things at their house.

4th Sis has a nice guy too. He's tall, dark & handsome. We haven't been able to get to know him quite as well as the others, because distance prevents that. But, he does have a great personality and I know whenever I've talked to him on the phone or in person, we can chat up a storm!

#1 brother is married to a FANTASTIC gal... who is actually more of a sister than sister-in-law. She's a great person, great wife & great mother... and couldn't be more a part of this family if she had been born to it.

Now, it wouldn't be fair to my sisters to exclude talking about THEIR #2 BIL (my own Rasssbo). Let me describe him: A very good father, a great provider, very stubborn, a male-chauvinist wanna-be (and CAN be), great with yard-work, can build anything although not so great with mechanics (aka: get your oil changed at the oil change place!), and is a do-er. He can have a mouth on him when he's in a bad mood, can be abrasive, and sometimes doesn't know when to stop when he's gotten started on something. He's also extremely giving. Like, if the kindergarten teacher makes a comment they are 3-4 books short for their book exchange for Christmas, he will run out and get the books they need so no child is left out. That's just a recent example, but he does stuff like that all the time. He's terrible at discipline with the kids... they walk all over him, but perhaps that's because from the day the girls were born, if they woke up at night, he was the first one up... telling me I could stay in bed and he would get them. Why you might ask? Well, I asked him too. He was afraid he might miss their first smile, giggle, fart or anything else. He said, "They don't know it's 2am.. what if she smiles for the first time? Or... Talks for the first time?... or rolls over for the first time?" He didn't want to miss anything. So, as much as he can drive me absolutely insane sometimes, the pro's do outweigh the con's. And if they ever don't... I'll just stick around to make his like more interesting

So... that's it. The In-Law post.

Well, we have the Rasssbo side... but as I was always taught.. "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". ZIPLIP.

H = Home

I have a nice home. However, when we did look at it, initially considering buying it, Duane was like.. "Yeah, well, it's perfect, BUT (always has to say that "b" word) BUT... I KNOW you will want all new this and that (blah, blah)... so, to COMPROMISE I told him.. "Nope, no new furniture for FIVE years. But after that...yep". Well, I have compromised for over 5 years. Well over 5 years. Kaitlyn was less than a year old when we moved in, she's EIGHT now. I think it's MY time to do for our home what I think is best.

It's difficult dealing with a man who thinks white walls are "all that". I think I have FINALLY, after over a year of "verbage", have convinced him it's not "all that".

We are supposed to get some bids on interior painting.. considering the ENTIRE house needs painted inside, it's apparently more than he wants to tackle. Myself, I'd try to tackle it, but I have severe tendonitis to my R wrist, elbow & shoulder. The last time I did repetitive motion it was almost 10 months before I could move those 3 joints without pain. So... I know I can't do it. SUCKS.

So, when we do get to get this started, which I KNOW will likely be February at least, I'll be sure to take before & after pics. Wish me luck!!!

G = Gifts

Gifts. EEK. I dread that part of Christmas. Trying to find the “perfect” thing. Well, luckily this year I drew Tammy, my #3 sister… and I already have the perfect thing(s) for her. My BIL my husband drew.. that may be a different story. The kids… well, the boys aren’t too hard right now. The girls, that’s a different story. I dread it. I usually have most of my shopping done by Oct 1. Last year and this year, nada. Zip. Nothing!

Wish me luck!