Huntsville at Christmas

Huntsville is like the lyrics of Silver Bells.. Every street corner has something to make you bright eyed and in awe.. We are a smaller city but we are a busy fun filled city.. From poor to rich there is something to do. We are situated around a military post and NASA but I wouldn't particularly say we were a military town. Most of the white collar jobs are DOD situated.. I never wanted to live in Alabama but once Rick took me by the hand and introduced me to Huntsville and I fell in love. Its not Georgia noo.. I miss home but I do love Huntsville and all its treasures.

For the holidays around here Tinsel Trail (picture above) is decorated Christmas tree's around Big Spring park... The building on the right? It has a seasonal out door skating rink. At the VBC you can watch the Christmas Carol christmas play.. or see the Nutcracker Ballet. Huntsville Ballet company has always been nice enough to invite the military for a special showing for free. There are huge light displays in neighborhoods I have even made a map.. There is Constitution Village that turns into Santa's village for the holidays. (you never know when the old man might need a pit stop). The Botanical Garden has a huge drive through light display as well. Many area's have a Christmas tree lighting, Santa at the mall(s), Celebration at the Library, Toys for Tots Bikes or Bust hosted by our own favorite celebrity Mojo Jones on WZYP, Christmas Parades, Santa Train, Maple Hill Cemetery Annual Candlelight Memorial, Living Christmas tree, Harrison Bros hardware store open house, Caroling at library, the Army band performs a concert, Horse driven carriage ride through the historical part of town, and this is our first year without Operation Christmas Bear.. The Shrine used to host military families in a free celebration we are SURE going to miss that! Monte Sano does a bunch every holiday and the mall hosts Santa breakfasts (as does one of the high schools), and Santa story time... RocketCityMom.com (My Blogging idol) keeps me all up to date about what I should be doing every weekend.. Bad news for my homebody husband during this time of year :)

I guess I can't complain I have a pretty cool daughter

I have always called Skylar my clone.. its funny how she is named after a virtual stranger... yet she is my clone. I did want to name her Bella (which is my nickname) but I was out voted. Skylar was my second idea for a name. 

 

Here is both of us at 3 years old or so... If I show someone the picture of me they think its Skylar. Skylar has never worn glasses. She didn't inherit my family's lazy eye.

However she has been my clone since conception and making a surprising entrance... When I was born I was born with extra toes and webbed fingers a lot of birth defects. When she was born she was breech and stuck and came a month early weighing 5 lbs 8 oz. She's been a force of life ever since. 

She has my strength and stubbornness for sure. She's messy and emotional like me. She is so much like me in some ways that we butt heads because I don't know how to reach her.

She has similar struggles as I did in school and I don't want her to grow up something fierce.. Afraid of life. I know one thing will be different. I will be there for every bump and bruise unlike my mothers. As she has become a teenager she has shown interest in a certain boy band or two.. No they aren't the same ones I adored at her age. She is showing interest in other music too.. rock music... Nirvana, Beatles, My Chemical Romance, Oasis, Eminem, Rolling Stones, and Evanescence I did like in my younger days. I adored Nirvana... Unlike most generations we actually mesh pretty well about music.. Maybe I am just a cool mom :)

We don't even have to fight about clothes too often.. I often find her stealing mine. 

So yeah I can't complain about my tween yet.. she's pretty cool.

I love you Skylar Ann! 

My favorite Christmas/Holiday ornament

We use artificial tree's well because we have cats, I don't like a zillion pine needles. I think pine needles are like glitter the moment you think its gone it comes back to haunt you. I have had the same artificial tree for the majority of my life. My dad (Guardian) and I used to decorate it when I was a teen. Rick had a pitiful little tree when I married him as well. Then we decided to get a new tree together. So with the Sears campaign that gives gift cards to active duty troops I bought a new tree about 6 years ago. Well with fat cats sitting in the tree one of the limbs is broken and some of the pre lit lights are blowing out. So I am in the market for a new tree. The PX had some tree's real cheap after Christmas last year so I got a 7.5 foot for $15 and I also got a free one from the neighbor (I don't really remember this though LOL). Last week we were out at the storage unit and I am counting tree's there are 4 7.5 tree's 1 5 foot tree, 4 smaller tree's and one Charlie Brown tree... I was like where did these extra tree's come from? So we left the Sears Tree and Daddy's tree in the storage unit. Its just getting difficult for me to have to climb a ladder 12 feet in the air and put up Daddy's tree. Well see the tree has to be installed limb by limb one at a time so it takes work LOL. 12 feet up in the air on a ladder isn't where you want to do work. 

When Rick and I got married I had very few ornaments I left most of my ornaments behind in Georgia and they never made it back to me :(. Our first Christmas married Rick was deployed and I went on Freecycle and asked friends for older or unused ornaments and got several and that's how we started off. Then we have increased our collection by every member of the family buying an ornament every year and maybe getting a family ornament. This makes a really cool tree.. We have poly clay ornaments that I buy at a special shop here.. The kids like picking those out and personalizing them.

or sometimes we go the Hallmark route.. and the kids pick out their favorite Hallmark collectible ornament from that year. I love all things Dumbo :) Yes I have already been in the store this week and have Mama Jumbo and Dumbo on my wish list among others.

Then there are ones that are personal to us.. Events we went to, souvenirs we've collected, Huntsville landmarks, Military affiliated ornaments, Even our duty station used to have an ornament every year,

Of course the ones the kids made rock too!

(Alex when he was wee little ) 

We used to make them ourselves too a technique my Guardian taught me so that was a family thing we did for awhile. Here in this blog 

Sometimes there is even an occasional cat in the tree

We went from having barely enough ornaments to fill one tree to filling all of them with some ornaments left over.

So I think all the ornaments that tell a story that are close to my heart, the ornaments that bring back memories are my favorite.

This year I am slowly putting our tree's up. I have just started on the smorgasbord tree/ family tree, the Charlie Brown Tree, and a smaller tree up. Smorgasbord is not even done being decorated but here are some pictures from years past.. 

Wifey Wednesday

I know your saying whew girl that's a whole lot of blogging today but I wanted to take part in this meme because its something I have addressed recently in therapy and in my private blog. The topic on to Love Honor and Vacuum is Make Up Sex is it real? 

Well I just closed the book on Captivated by You by Sylvia Day and in the 4 books I have read in this Crossfire Series the main characters Gideon and Eva.. both abused as children have gotten into this relationship with each other that is sexually charged. Perhaps they are not using sex in a healthy way but who's to say? Certainly not I. 

I have been spending time outside of therapy concerned about other people around me.. Maybe they are as broken, exhausted, cranky, needy, etc etc... as I am or can be.

So Rick and I had a disagreement and he made me feel bad.. He hurt my feelings if I put it out there for the world to see. It just sounds childish to say. He wasn't trying to have make up sex and I wasn't either but I felt the need to put in my private blog last week or whenever it happened that I don't like it. I don't know if it was from my own abuse or I just don't like it. That may be the way he handles it but it doesn't mesh well with the way I process it. I consider it a band-aid on the problem like the poster who wrote in to the blog. It just further triggers my need to fight or flight most likely flight since I already fought :( 

So this may be the topic for my next Girl Talk Tuesday :)

I am linking up here http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/category/marriage/wifey-wednesdays/

So I guess I am raising a bunch of Linus'

Nothing should come between a child and their blanket....

My oldest Mackenzie was given a Scooby Doo blanket as a baby shower present. For the first year or year and a half of his life he always had his blanket. My now 12 year old Skylar was given a quilt the day she was born at Gordon Hospital when she was in the NICU. My 5 year old William has many blankets. His baby blanket is blue camo with his name on it but he prefers his other ones...

I belong to a group on Facebook and her 11 year old's blanket was basically in threads and she wondered what should she do with it? I told her that's nothing my 12 year old has had hers since the days she was born and won't let it go. I don't have pacifier babies or thumb suckers I have blanket babies. Pacifiers you can usually find an easy replacement and of course your thumb is always connected to your hand but I think those habits are harder to break.

There was a time when Skylar would take her "B" everywhere with her and we went to Kroger. I was putting Skylar in the car and my significant (or Insignificant) other was putting away the groceries in the trunk.. Well he took the cart the cart corral and didn't notice Skylar's blanket was still in the cart! We got home and Skylar was asking for her "B" and it was gone. We rushed back to Kroger and it wasn't in lost and found. One of the employees said he just threw it away... REALLY? a homemade quilt? So we had no choice but to dumpster dive for her precious B and have it washed well.  After that we made a rule that has very little exceptions.. B doesn't leave the house LOL.
Here are pictures of Skylar and her B. Yes the cat has grown with her tooo.




William and his blankets. My friend Erica was PCSing and she left some stuff at my house until she returned from a trip to Washington. Two of the items which were blankets. I guess there was some misunderstanding about the blankets and they got left behind... I am kinda grateful but feel bad at the same time. These are just average Target blankets I am guessing half is silky and the other half is softy minky fabric... William loves them. We have them in two colors blue and red. Sometimes he wants one more than the other and I am trying to wash them enough to keep them clean but the minky is loosing its softness and becoming matted down. There was also this pink pillow he couldn't do without until it got so bad it just HAD to go LOL.. Those blankets aren't even his baby blanket!

I was talking with the receptionist at the school about it and she said her son used to rub the blanket between his fingers. William does this too since both sides have a different fabric he's been known to do it to my hair as well. She said her son now rubs his belt loops on his pants till they break LOL.

I had this blanket made with his name on it blue camo minky dot to match his crib bedding. 

and he came home from the hospital with this blanket and this outfit..

and when they don't have their respective blankets that don't mind sleeping with my oldest son's Scooby doo blanket that I mentioned earlier in the story...believe it or not Mackenzie's blanket has only needed one small fix. If all velour blankets were made this way... It is one of the warmest softest blankets ever as well.. Just not quite long enough to keep my feet warm.. You can find it on my bed most days.