My Journey, the Life of Carla B: Busy, Busy, Busy... A Mother's Work is Never Done!

We have been super busy around here. I can not believe that Christmas is in just one week. Every year I say that I will take a step back and relax, but once again it didn't work out for me. Fortunately I was able to get a lot of things done early as far as the shopping goes, so the fast pace of this season has been bearable. I have put less thoughts into gifts this year. It's not that I don't care, but the truth is in the past I have stressed over getting everyone the perfect gift and that is just down right silly. Besides, isnt it the thought that counts?

Anyhow, this week started off crazy. I was sick. So sick that I took two days off work. I was down for the count on both Monday and Tuesday. I usually feel guilty when I have to miss work, but this time I am so glad that I did. I managed to sleep quite a bit and it was exactly what my body needed for a speedy recovery.

Jasmine's Awanas (church version of the scouts) Christmas party was the first task on the agenda this week. It was Wednesday night. Jasmine had a ball at the party, especially making cupcakes with her friends. The kids also went nuts in a relay game where they were allowed to wrap the leader like a Christmas tree in a boys versus girl contest. I had never seen that game before. But the kids managed to have laughs and a great time using simple decorations and teamwork in this game. Kind of makes you wonder what else kids would enjoy if we took all of the conveniences and electronics and hig tech gadgets away from them.

Cupcake Table

Decorating the cup cakes

Jasmine getting in on some relay action!

Team of the wacky girls!

Jasmine and her friend Grace

So after being sick on Monday and Tuesday, then volunteering at the Awanas party on Wednesday night, I had a night off and then it was on to the next event. Next on the agenda was the Christmas Concert at Jasmine's school. The concert was Friday morning. Jasmine and her classmates sang their little hearts out and it was a delight to see them perform. Somehow that never gets old.

Ms. O'Rourke and the second graders before the concert.

Jasmine and Ellie

The second grade chorus

Later that evening, my mom, Aunt Pat and Timothy babysit the kids so that Ken and I could go my corporate Christmas party. It was also a lot of fun. Nothing like seeing your coworkers get hammered and make fools of themselves. Unfortunately I could not stay as long as I would have liked to. It was one fo those moments that I realized that Ken and I can't party like we used to. We were back home in bed by 10:30 PM.

Ken and I before the party.

And if it did not seem like my week was busy enough, I woke up the next day and worked at the MAC once more as a photography apprentice. It was like waking up and being right back into a party. Doing the photography gig at MAC was a lot harder this second time around. Last week we had 80 children. This week we had 120 children who needed photos with Santa. Before I started to get paid as a photographer, I did not understand why the professionals charge such high rates. All I can say now is that they deserve every penny (within reason of course.) People sure do expect a lot at times. It seemed like all the moms wanted the perfect photo. I felt bad for Santa. However, it was worth it. The best part was seeing the looks on the faces of the young children who truly believe in the magic of Christmas. At the end of the event, we sold 100 photo packages. Not bad if I do say so myself!!!

After the MAC photography gig, I went home and rested for about two hours with my kiddos and then got dressed for my niece Kailyn's first birthday party. This was something that I had been looking forward to all month. Simple kid parties are always nice. And it is always nice to celebrate. Jon and Ken stayed home while Jasmine and I attended the party which was a blast.