Dear Santa,

It's me Scotty...

Can we talk?

I know there is a very good chance my name 

is not going to appear on the "Nice" list this year.

I realize in your omnipresence that

you have most likely seen some stuff

that shot me right into the number one

position on the "Naughty" list.

I tried really, really hard to be good but,

I broke some stuff...not limited to...

but including parts of our house.

I wasn't always nice to my mom and dad,

and I pulled my sister's hair and hit the 

people that love me and take care of me.

And I yelled...oh how I yelled...

 But I am really, really, really sorry.

I know you get this a lot,

but it really was out of my control,

and as devastating as it was to everyone else
it was terrifying for me.

 But I am better now.

Whatever was making me hurt inside 

doesn't hurt so much anymore.

I still struggle everyday and I probably

always will, but I know one thing for sure...

No matter how "naughty" I am my mom and dad

will never, ever, ever give up on me,

and even when my devilish alter ego makes an unwanted
appearance they will never stop loving me.

So dear Santa my list this year will be very short

since I really have everything I will ever need.

If I absolutely had to come up with a list it would be

 pretty much identical to my list from last year...

and the year before that...and the year before that...

A guitar, a baby, a snake, and a slinky.

But what I really, really, really want this year

Santa, is for my sisters to come home.

I miss them every single day, and

nothing makes my mom happier than when
we are all sleeping under one roof.

Merry Christmas Santa.
And I hope you can forgive me.

Hugs and wet slobbery Angel kisses,

Love, Scotty

P.S.  I am not making any promises but I am really, really,

gonna try to make the "Nice" list this year.

 

♥It's A Wonderful Life♥

Halleluiah

Praise the Lord

It's finally here..

 Parade Day!

All year long any route that takes us in the vicinity of our Main Street (which is usually daily) causes Scotty to ask about the parade.  As soon as the first Christmas decorations hit the stores his parade frenzy kicks into high gear and brings about an onslaught of near constant frantic signing.  His litany of questions includes, but is not limited to the following: Can we go to the parade?  Can we sit at Debbie's office to watch the parade?  Will she have cookies? Mom will you come too?  Dad will you come too?  Then he will list the cast of characters he wants to see there... and it is a very looooooong list.

And repeat ad nauseam...

for hours...

for days...

and for months.

Personally, I usually can't wait for the parade

TO BE OVER.

So we can finally get a brief reprieve 

from the daily line of questioning. 

 His persistence and tenacity are

 to be applauded I suppose. 

However, this year something changed.

As I looked around at the faces that
surrounded this boy of ours,

 most of whom have long ago

grown out of their "Parade Years,"
I realized once again just how blessed we are.

The adults no longer come to watch

 their children in the parade,

and the children, now adults, have long 

outgrown the magic of Santa Claus. 

Yet every single year those that are 

available come to the parade.

They come for Scotty.

I realized that this yearly tradition quite possibly

would have fizzled out by now

if not for this sweet boy of ours.
This boy who still believes in Santa.
This boy who reminds us how important it is
to always keep the joy and mystery of
Christmas in our hearts.

 As we wait for the parade to begin,

Scotty anticipates the arrival of every one on "his list."

 As each new person arrives and he tells them where to sit,

his JOY grows almost to immense for his body to contain.

He nearly vibrates with ecstasy.

I believe now that his parade attendance
check list is a also a place for
counting his blessings. 

I see my son cocooned in unconditional love by friends 

who would move heaven and earth to make him happy.

It leaves me nearly breathless with gratitude.

No longer will I dread the upcoming 

parade and the onslaught of questions.

Instead I will anticipate it with 

as much enthusiasm as Scotty

as a time to count our blessings.

IT REALLY IS 
A WONDERFUL LIFE!

"Remember, no man is a failure 

who has friends." 

Parade Memories
From Christmases long, long ago... 

Now the serious
 countdown begins...

 

Did you know...

...That Santa Claus 

is Coming to Town???  

Well according to this extremely, ridiculously
over-excited young man it is a fact!
Santa WILL be coming down a chimney near you
very soon with a bag overflowing with
guitars, babies, slinkys, whoopie cushions and PUPPIES♥

As soon as the first Christmas decorations
appear in the stores the Santa vigil begins.
Of course these days that is about mid September
so according to my calculations
that equals approximately
91 days of the following litany...

100 times a day he signs Christmas Tree.
100 times a day he points to the calendar and signs Santa.
100 times a day he marches around the house
 anxiously awaiting the Christmas Parade
on Main Street in the Christmas Capitol of Texas.
100 times a day he asks for a Christmas Party.
100 times a day he points to the chimney

and says Ho Ho Ho.

Translation...

500 times a day I have to say,
"Soon,"
or

" In a couple of weeks."

And in the true holiday spirit he responds

with a festive bang, yell or arm folding harumph.

 

What truly amazes me is that for the approximate 91 days
of his personal Santa vigil

he runs downstairs and heads straight for the tree...

hoping beyond all reason that today is the day 

that it will be filled with brightly wrapped packages.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Hope is really an amazing thing...

we all have it even in seemingly hopeless situations. 

 It is unexplainable and as my friend Gerry always said,

 "It's a God thing."

Hope is really nothing more than faith lived out.

I have made no secret of the fact that we are going through a difficult time right now with Scotty and our days can be challenging and exhausting to say the least.  One morning my husband and I had a few quiet moments before our usually irascible bear awoke from his slumber and we were able to have a conversation that wasn't punctuated by growls and snarls from our feisty little cub.  My first cup of coffee in my hand fortifying myself for the day I said to him, "How is it possible that I wake up every single day with renewed hope that today will be a better day...that today will be the day our life that has temporarily deviated from its once manageable course will once again right itself?"

"How is it that I perpetually hope against 

all hope that today will be the day?"

There is only one answer...

It is a God thing.

So each morning Scotty and I will run down the stairs, 

my beautiful boy will be hoping for Santa...

As for me, I will be hoping beyond all hope

 that today is the day...

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, 
the conviction of things not seen.

^{Hebrews 11:1} 

This is one of my all time favorite pictures.

 1987

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

In All Things Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is time to pause...a time for counting blessings.  Blessings are gifts which I have in great abundance.  Blessings that if counted would fill the pages of a very lengthy book, but all blessings are small and insignificant when compared to these.

♥I am so thankful for this man and the life we share...

...And for these beautiful souls that take my breath away♥

...And I am so very thankful for our Babs♥

I am thankful for our family.

Those that are still with us...

                                            

...And those that have left us behind.

I am thankful for our friends who hold us up 

and hold onto us when times are difficult.
They are our safe places,

they are our happy places,

and they are the cornerstones of
normalcy in our very abnormal life.

I am especially thankful for this noisy,
exhausting, impossible life we have been given.
I am thankful for the chaos that marks our days,
because inside the pandemonium we have been
witnesses to  thousands of tiny miracles. 
Moments that seem commonplace to most
are for us instances of something extraordinary.

Today my whirling, twirling, rambunctious, chair throwing
son sat quietly with me for an hour
and played cards and looked at books.
To most mothers...just a Tuesday afternoon.
To this mother...a miracle.

Every single day I am overcome with thankfulness
for any small moment of something extraordinary.
I am humbled that I have
been chosen as a witness to these miracles.
I am humbled that I have been chosen to be Scotty's mom.

 The child must know that he is a miracle,

that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been,

and until the end of the world there will not be,

another child like him.

-Pablo Casals-

 

Happy Thanksgiving

P.S. Stevi and Sarah Rose...I love you both so very much and I hate that we are apart, but I am so thankful that the two of you are together and sharing a "Sistersgiving".
Take lots of "good times" pics for me...and promise me you will go easy on the Arbor Mist!

 Happy Thanksgiving baby girls♥♥♥Moo