It is almost 10:00 pm on New Years Eve. I have no kids home and I am sitting here writing on my blog. I sent my husband to Steak N Shake for my last hurrah before I start my diet tomorrow. How will I ever survive without cheese fries. Erin spent the earlier part of her evening trying to swindle Shannon out of her new jeans. Erin insists they make her butt look amazing and Shannon was going to a party with just girls so she could wear sweat pants. OK, if Erin thinks those jeans make her butt look "amazing" I would prefer she wear the sweatpants not Shannon. As a matter of fact she can wear my sweat pants!!

Kelsey gets to have a private one hour session with Lori Chalupny tomorrow. She is from St. Louis and plays on the United States women's National soccer team. We got her the training session as a Christmas gift. Kelsey is so nervous. She is a little star struck. She said she has been practicing in the mirror all day as to what she will say. I hope the weather holds up, she is supposed to meet her tomorrow at noon.

Maggie, Ryan, Kelsey, and Shannon are all spending the night at friends houses tonight. My house is so quiet. I feel like I am in the wrong house. Oh wait, never mind, I see dog pee stains on the carpet, I am in the right house. My New Years resolution is to not eat and to not kill Maggie's dog.

Sam cleaned up the great room and kitchen yesterday. She got a little upset with her baby brother during the process. She said there was a pile of clothes behind the chair next to the heat vent. He insisted they were not his. She said "come on Ryan, it is your jacket, your socks and your Rubik's cube." He reluctantly picked it all up. She said he put his jacket on, put his Rubik's cube in his pocket and threw his dirty socks on the floor right next to the laundry chute. Sam was not to thrilled with her brother at this point. When I got home she was still ranting and raving "who does that?" I am thinking that maybe she should change her major from accounting to child development. She is so patient with children I would hate to see that skill go to waste.

I am in the basement right now trying to get away from Shannon. She has been singing on the High School Musical Sing It game that I got her. It sounds as if there is a whole pen of squealing pigs in my living room. I know it is my job as a mother to encourage my children but I am afraid that this time I just can't. She has loved to sing from the time she was really little. Unfortunately for her(or the rest of us) she is extremely tone deaf.

I am taking the girls to go see PS I Love You tonight. I heard it was really good. The best part is I will be able to have 90 minutes without hearing Shannon sing.

One of the many perks of having so many girls is not just the lovely homemade Christmas ornaments but the many gifts my girls have given me to put on my dresser. My latest and greatest is the silver jewelery box complete with a little rust on top that I got from Maggie this Christmas. It is on my dresser in between the heart shaped plaster jewelery box from Erin and the lovely flower pot with a foam daisy that Shannon made. The aqua bank with a decoupage family picture and hot pink sequin trim is from Lauren. Erin also made the vase next to it and Lauren is the creator of the blue and green coil container. I wonder if Martha Stewart's dresser looks like mine?? I am hoping that one day their father will actually get me some jewelery to put in my jewelery box collection.

Kelsey has a game in the morning, Lauren has to work, Erin has to work and Sam has to work. This whole sharing of the cars is working almost as well as the girls sharing their clothes.

I go back to work tomorrow. It has been a nice few days off. Today was my last day to sleep in. Of course that didn't last long because no one in my home knows how to answer a phone other than me. My four oldest kids have cell phones so they see no need to answer the land line. Sam had to work this morning, her car that is almost as old as her, has seen it's last days. It no longer goes over 30 mph. I guess she figured the car fairy would come over night and wave a magic wand so she would have a ride to work in the morning. We have four other cars, so working out rides is actually pretty manageable. The only problem is that between our six drivers in the house, only two can drive the van. I am usually the lucky one that gets to drive the living room on wheels around town. Sam failed to mention to anyone that she was working today. Grandma dropped her off at work and her boyfriend is bringing her home. The nice thing about the whole situation is how pleasant she was this morning. It just warms my heart when my oldest child crabs all morning because she forgot to mention to anyone last night that she needed a ride to work. Dave could have taken the van to work and left his car home for her to drive. That would have been too easy, I guess we should learn to read her mind.

The picture above is of Dave playing around with Ryan. He had just put a new trash bag in and Ryan jumped in head first. I am posting the picture because my darling husband who still thinks that he looks 21 insists that his hairline is not receeding. He insists that it is just the way that I cut his hair. OK, I am really not 30 pounds overweight either, it is just the way the light shines on my clothes!

If you want to test your children to see if they know the real meaning of Christmas, I have the perfect test. Buy them a Wii with just two controllers. They got the Wii game system as a family present. They got several games, High School Musical Sing It, Dancing With The Stars, Hannah Montana,Guitar Hero, Mario Party, An Army Game, We Play and a Sports package that came with the system. I went to take a little nap around 10:00 AM. I was tired waiting for Santa AKA Star Gazer AKA Dave last night. Fifteen minutes after I laid down I was sprinting to the great room to break up a kickboxing match. Hey, I don't remember buying that game. I think Wii is a great way to bring out your family's dysfunction. Previously, I thought about buying two extra controllers but decided against it. I figured they would have to learn how to share. I sure wish stores were open today, I could either buy two more controllers or return the Wii and buy myself a day at the spa. Once we broke up a few squabbles they started relaxing a bit and realizing that they would all get a turn to play their game of choice. It is 9:15 pm and the game has been going non stop. I think Maggie is going to have some sore muscles tomorrow. She is the reigning Wii tennis champ.

Dave got me the book,Rick Springfield making of Working Class Dog album that I have been dropping hints for all month. I practically threw a brick at his head that said I wanted it. For once he paid attention. I think that maybe I might have a keeper on my hands. I made the mistake of showing Erin how to shop on eBay tonight. I think I may have created a monster. She was outbidding herself on things. I am afraid to check my account tomorrow. I think I will be changing my account password soon. When 12 pair of chestnut uggs size five show up at my door I am not going to be too happy. I guess she thought she needed to bid on a pair for each one of her personalities.

It is 12:30 AM on Christmas. I have just finished wrapping the last of my Christmas presents. Dave is outside on the deck playing with Ryan's new telescope that he got from grandma tonight. While I was downstairs wrapping presents the dog was upstairs barking because he wanted to be out on the deck with Dave. I came up and asked Dave if he was ready to carry our life savings upstairs and put it under the tree. He insisted we wait to make sure everyone is asleep. Maybe they are still up because our stupid dog won't shut up. Mr. stargazer just wants to play with the telescope. Does he not realize that our offspring will be at the foot of our bed in approximately 5 hours ready to open presents.

Is it normal to want to beat your husband so close to Christmas? We used to do all the shopping and wrapping together. When did that change and why?? Maggie and Ryan talked their father into letting them play with the pottery wheel Maggie got for Christmas last year. When I walked in the kitchen I saw Maggie in a new outfit with pottery sludge all down the front of her. Not to mention my table. Could we have maybe put some newspaper down or changed into some old clothes??

We have Dave's family Christmas party at our house tomorrow. It is always fun to get together with the whole family. The cousin's usually play a game of spoons that resembles something that you would see on Springer. The Murphy's are a bit competitive, they normally draw blood when they play. Last year I moved the couch in front of the TV and the adults went upstairs to let them fight it out.

I was going to fight the mall crowds today and pick something else up for Dave for Christmas. I decides since I am on the verge of killing him, that what I have already bought is sufficient. Besides, it is still fresh in my memory the year he got me two lawn chairs in a bag (to bring to soccer games) for Christmas. Why two???

Is it normal to want to beat your children so close to Christmas?? Why is it that my kids become so rambunctious in the days preceding Christmas?I called home today from work to check on the kids. Ryan and Erin answered at the same time, it didn't take long for me to figure out that Sybil was out in full force today. I said a little prayer for Ryan and the rest of my kids and quickly got off the phone. I decided to volunteer to stay late and let the other receptionist go home early today. The house was spotless when I got home, Sybil must have switched to her cleaning personality. It may have had something to do with the fact that she wanted to take her dad's car later. Kelsey informed me that Maggie is expecting gifts from me as well as Santa. She overheard me telling the older kids the dollar amount that I would be spending for Christmas. She assumed that meant in addition to what Santa was bringing. Won't she be surprised!!

When I got home from work I got all of my sugar cookie supplies together to make holiday cookies. My cookie sheets disappeared out of my kitchen. I headed to my home away from home (Target) to get some new ones. I got back and rolled out the cookies on my counter. The kids decorated the cookies. Ryan looks like I have kept him in a dark closet and withheld food and water in the picture above. I have actually considered doing this several times but to date have resisted those impulses. I have banned him from all sugar, he fell off the wagon today during our cookie making . He literally bounced from couch to couch, sometimes on his head after he ate three icing filled cookies. While I was cleaning up the cookie mess, I found my cookie sheets that had disappeared earlier.

I am seriously considering taking back the Guitar Hero that I bought Ryan for Christmas and getting him a remote control electric shock collar instead. I went to pick him up from basketball practice last night and for once I was a bit early. I went inside and was horrified with what I saw. He was goofing off with his friends and running around like he was on crack cocaine. I thought to myself "who is that darling little boy that looks exactly like my son?" I had "the look" all ready for him if he would just glance my way. It was then that I realized that a shock collar would be a perfect solution. When it was time for the boys to run at the end of practice he started out OK but quickly fizzled to a jog and then to a walk. When I questioned him on his lack of effort his response was, "it was too hard to run because my shoes were untied." Again , had I had the shock collar remote in hand, that statement alone would have warranted several jolts.

Kelsey came home from school today with her leg covered in mud. She slid into base during kickball and covered herself in mud. She was happy that she was successful at keeping her foot on the base during the whole fiasco. Another Murphy looks like a homeless kid at school but we were safe at third.

Erin went to the mall yesterday and found something to wear for Christmas. She was having the store hold it for her. She told me she wasn't sure if it was a shirt or a dress but it was really cute. OK, if you can't tell if it is a shirt or a dress I am assuming it is pretty short. Why don't we just call it a shirt because if it is a dress, I could wage a pretty safe bet that it is not appropriate to wear to mass. I am taking Ryan shopping to get Erin's present tomorrow (he drew her name) maybe we should get her some pants or a skirt!!

Grandma is in charge of the family laundry. She left for Atlanta on Thursday to visit my sister. She needs to hurry back home because I think I may have lost a couple of my children in the laundry pile. I could have sworn I had seven when she left, now I can only find five.

I took Maggie shopping to get her secret Santa present for her sibling. She was so cute picking it out. She already has it wrapped and ready to go. It is going to kill her to wait until Christmas Eve to give it to them. I am taking Ryan shopping Thursday after school. I ran into a friend tonight at the store, she told me that she figured it out for me, when Shannon is driving, Sam will still be under 25 and I will have to pay car insurance for 4 drivers under 25. That made my Christmas just a little brighter.

Erin took Shannon to basketball practice tonight and brought her home. This driving thing is not too shabby. Ryan went sleigh riding after school with a friend. He doesn't have any snow boots and the old hand me down pink ones were not an option. He told me he was having a hard time snow boarding because his shoes kept falling off because he forgot to tie them before he went out. Why is it that my son refuses to tie his shoes? These are the same shoes that he "forgets" to tie everyday at school. He came home one day with the N (they are New Balance shoes) taped on with clear packing tape. He claimed that the N just fell off at recess. I guess the N jumped off of his shoe around the same time the holes appeared in the knees of his new school pants. My goal in life is to teach Ryan to tie his shoes and brush his teeth without being constantly screamed at. So far I am 0 for 2.

Yesterday morning was soccer uniform turn in day up at school. Of course Ryan couldn't find his jersey. It was missing most of the season, lucky for him he had three others to fall back on and he could wear one of his sisters. Dave brought Shannon with him to go turn everything in. They have all the pieces numbered, it turns out the number that was sewn on the inside of Ryan's shorts was actually his friend Jack's assigned number. Hopefully Jack has Ryan's. The guy couldn't find Maggie in the computer, Dave told him she played on the kindergarten girls team. Finally the guy said wait a minute, Maggie Murphy played on Rogers team, that is actually a 1st grade team. Dave looked at Shannon and said, "Don't tell your mother." I am just happy he actually remembered her name much less her age.

I had to cancel my party last night. My best friend lives in the boonies and she was snowed in. The weather forecast was calling for more snow so I was afraid the roads were going to get worse. We are going to reschedule to a time where everyone can make it. Considering our monthly dinners turn into every 6 months I hope it doesn't take another year before we all get together.

Last week at church Ryan asked Dave to take off his wedding ring so he could see it. Ryan passed it down to me and I said "Now your not getting it back." Ryan's eyes lit up and he said "Yeah, two Christmas's." He stole that line from Taladega Nights. I knew I should have never let him watch that movie. This week at church I guess Maggie thought she would be like Ryan and she asked Dave if she could hold his wedding ring. She accidentally dropped it on the floor. It bounced and rolled few pews up. They could see it but would have to army crawl on the floor through three families to get to it. Ten minutes later the 3 year old in front of us was getting bored. He was laying on the floor while his parents were kneeling. We noticed his eyes light up as he spotted the gold shiny ring. He had no qualms about crawling on the floor to grab his treasure, he was showing his mom what he found when Dave finally decided to tap his dad on the shoulder and ask for his ring back. I am sure the guy was thinking, what idiot drops his ring in church. We all had a good laugh and decided we won't play with daddy's ring in church anymore.

Dave took the kids to the movies this afternoon so I could get all the Christmas presents wrapped. I had just finished wrapping my last present when Dave called to say they were on their way home. It is such a load off of my mind to have that all done. Next year I am going to the movies while he wraps. Never mind, Sam would probably end up with a barbie dream house and Ryan would get a water bra. If he struggles with what grade his kids are in he certainly won't know who gets what gift.

Erin/Sybil passed her driving test yesterday. She got an 85%, I guess she brought her "safe driver" personality with her. We were hit with a snow storm last night so she won't be able to drive by herself until all the snow is melted. I can't wait until Monday to call the insurance company to add our third driver under age 25.

We had our soccer Christmas party at our house last night for Shannon's team. When our friend John got to our house last night he said, "my goal is to make the blog tomorrow." Fortunately for me he didn't dance on tables or walk around with a lampshade on his head. I will give him a shout out anyway.

My friends from high school were supposed to come over tonight but I had to cancel because of the snow. I am hoping to get a jump start on wrapping presents tonight. I like to make sure the kids gifts are fairly even, that is hard to do until I drag everything out and wrap it. Dave is driving Lauren to work tonight and will most likely be driving Erin/Sybil somewhere on his way back. She would probably just die if she had to spend an evening snowed in with her family.

Well it looks like it is up to Shannon now to pass her driving test on the first try. Erin said her test went fine until the guy giving her the test had her drive past the parallel parking poles and into the parking lot. She said "don't I have to parallel park?" He responded "not today." She didn't realize that earlier in the test when she almost killed him , that it was an automatic fail. She pulled out in front of another car without looking and allmost crashed. He called it a "dangerous action." The roads are still safe for at least one more day!



Maggie had to stay after school today to practice for the Christmas choir. I went to pick up Erin and I sent Lauren to get Maggie. She was late to get her, one of the mom's had Maggie sit in her car and wait for Lauren. She pulled up next to Lauren's car and said "are you Maggie's sister?" Lauren said "yeah." She said "are you the one that is studying fashion?" Lauren said "yeah." She then told her "I was working playground duty today and your sister was freezing. She told me she wasn't supposed to wear socks with the kind of shoes that she had on because my sister said they looked bad with socks." Today was Rams spirit wear day. We don't have any Rams shirts so she just wore a blue shirt with her "skinny jeans" and little ballet style slipper shoes without socks. Lauren has her well trained to always be fashionable. She walked around with two little feet that felt like popsicles but she looked great. That is what really matters.

Lauren is home for Christmas break. She laid around all day and watched me clean. We are having a party at our house for Shannon's soccer team tomorrow. When I left to pick up Erin, Lauren decided it would be a good time to soak in my squeaky clean garden tub. She then proceeded to remove what appears to be a semesters worth of hair from her legs. Dave didn't think it was a big deal until he found out she used his razor.

My little angel/demon turns sixteen tomorrow. It is hard to believe she is that old. She had a crash course in parallel parking tonight. I was at the mall so unfortunately I missed that little lesson. She seems pretty confident. If she passes her test tomorrow she will be the first one of my kids to pass her driving test on the first try. Sam flunked twice and Lauren flunked once. Erin flunked her permit 4 times. We finally forced her to read the book. It was getting to the point where I wanted to show up at the DMV in a wig and sunglasses. Dave finally took her to take her permit for the fifth time and made her study before they went.

Dave went to the hockey game last night. He got the tickets through work. He called home to tell the kids to turn on the TV and look for him because he was in the first row behind the glass. They said "we are watching The Biggest Loser, we will see you in the morning, thanks anyway." I was out shopping, I would have changed the channel and looked for him if I had been home. I always have a problem watching people shaped like me on the treadmill when I am sitting on the couch just watching them. That show always inspires me for about 10 minutes.

I spent a few more hours walking the mall tonight looking for the perfect birthday gift. I picked up a couple of things and even got her a sentimental gift. I thought about going to Sam's dorm room and buying the sign I bought her for Christmas last year that she has hanging on her bulletin board. It says "caution mood swings ahead." I'm sure she would let me buy it back from her. I could probably even trade her a cheeseburger for it. Erin doesn't quite understand the concept of a dollar. I gave the kids each a dollar amount that I was spending this year for Christmas and Erin wanted me to assure her that the amount I gave her that I was spending was pre-tax. She didn't want tax to interfere with the amount of gifts that she received. I am so glad that she knows the true meaning of Christmas. After all no one liked the tax collectors in the bible. I think she is just trying to express herself biblically. It almost brings a tear to my eye.

Erin's permit has her height and weight listed as 5'1" and 95lbs. When she brought her permit home last year I said, "look Erin, we weigh the same. " My drivers license still says that I weigh 95lbs and I am not about to change it unless of course I ever get down to 90lbs. My height says 4'11" I finally hit 5'0" but I was afraid that if I changed my height they would ask if I wanted to change my weight. Erin is about 4'11", not 5'1",apparently I didn't set a very good example of not lying to the DMV. Sometimes it is OK to tell a little white lie. Whatever height and weight she lists when she passes her test will probably stay with her for the rest of her life. She might as well put 5'7" what the heck aim high!!

Not much explanation needed here. This is a lovely paper snowman featuring a soccer ball stomach supported by what else but an orange juice can lid. Every tree needs one of these.

I went shopping last night looking for something for Erin/Sybil's birthday. She turns 16 tomorrow. I think I went to every store in the mall. You would think I would be able to find something that one of her personalities would like. No such luck, it looks like I will be out shopping after work tonight.

I think I have myself to blame for this lovely ornament. For some reason I thought it would be a fun activity to cut up a toilet paper roll and paint it red and green to look like a poinsettia.I did this one with Ryan's picture as a sample and had a whole class make these at a school Christmas party when I was a room mother. I would like to make a formal apology on the Internet for the 25 kids who have toilet paper roll ornaments hanging on their trees.

I have my final tomorrow for my ethics class. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed studying for my very first college final exam at the ripe old age of 38 with my quiet, well behaved perfect kids right there next to me offering me encouraging words like "I'm hungry, I'm thirsty,can you help me with my Olympic wreath that is due tomorrow?, can you study my vocabulary words with me? Can you go buy disposable diapers for me to bring to school for the single mom shelter?, can you give me a ride to basketball practice?"I went to another room and started studying. A few minutes later, my conscience got the best of me and I was in the kitchen helping Kelsey make an Olympic wreath. She has been asking me to help her for over a week and I kept putting her off. I decided it wasn't very "ethical" for me to study for an ethics exam when my little princess is struggling trying to find a leaf stencil. Then I studied vocabulary words with Maggie and read her favorite bedtime story that I never seem to have time for. To me, I aced the Murphy ethics exam, and of course Dave will be sleeping on the silly putty couch for not being much help!!

Martha Stewart eat your heart out. I bet her fireplace hearth doesn't feature a slightly squished (from the backpack transport) construction paper advent candle. There are yellow, slightly flame shaped pieces Maggie cut out that she is supposed to tape on each week. We can't find the flames so we are just pretending, I told her it was OK as long as the fire burns in our hearts. That held her over for a while, I will be out tomorrow buying yellow construction paper.

I got an early Christmas present this weekend. Two bright and shiny new tires for my van AKA "The Money Pit." Dave hates to drive my van he says he needs a runway just to turn the blankety blank thing around. He drove it today to Kelsey's indoor soccer game. We had a lot of ice this weekend so my side mirrors were all iced up and you couldn't use them to see behind you. Dave circled the parking lot about 4 times passing several good parking spots. He was too afraid to back into a spot without the use of the mirrors. Finally he dropped us at the door and said "get out." Fifteen minutes later he came inside. That reminds me, I need to call the pharmacy and get his high blood pressure medicine refilled!!

On the way home from the soccer game today, we were passing the field by our house that is always full of deer. Everything is iced over so apparently Erin was concerned for the deer. She asked, "Mom what do the deer do in the winter, do they hibernate?" I said "yes honey deer hunters hang out in caves." No, really I told her the truth that Santa comes and brings Rudolph and they all fly to the North Pole. Maybe I should go wake her up and tell her the truth, remember what happened when I told Lauren St. Patrick only had one arm.

I have a site tracker on my website so I can see how many visitors I have each day and from what city and how they were referred. Either by typing in the address or by a Google search. It is funny for me to see how some people stumble upon my site accidentally. I had one person search, how to leave your husband? My post that said "never leave your husband in charge " directed her to my site. I have had searches that said "how to make a teapot costume" because I mentioned that I had to draw a teapot in art class. Anyway to make a long story short, Today I had a visitor that searched Google for a frozen orange juice can ornament. I mean seriously, send me your address and I will send you my juice can ornaments, I have several!!

This lovely little ornament was a new addition to the family tree last year. Kelsey made it at school. It is made of recycled Christmas cards that the kids in her class brought to school from years past. The nice thing about this "special" ornament is it's size. It is about the size of a playground dodge ball. There is absolutely no chance of this ornament getting lost on the tree.

This morning after I discovered the silly putty on my son's pants and my new couch I was feeling very festive and cheerful and couldn't wait to get up to school to work my shift at Breakfast with Santa!! Maggie could only find one shoe and of course after the silly putty discovery we were running a tad bit late. I wasted at least ten minutes grieving for my new couch. The dog ate Maggie's crocs and last years school shoes were too small. I had two choices, send her in flip flops or plead with St. Anthony to help me find the other shoe. I thought since I may have possibly used God's name in vain when I noticed the silly putty, we may have to dress for a beach bash instead of breakfast with Santa. Luckily St. Anthony came through for me and I found the other shoe in the back of grandma's car. We got to mass 10 minutes late, we settled in and I forgot all about my new couch. My sweet angelic son looked up at me and said "I think my pants might be on inside out." Sure enough the tags were on the outside. I told him to quietly go to the restroom and turn them around. He came back a few minutes later and as soon as he re-entered the church I noticed they were right side out but now they were on backwards. Is it not bad enough that we turned in a bobble head St. Anthony and Maggie wore a saint costume to school on the wrong day?

Maggie went to a birthday party today. It was at a ceramic store and guess what they got to do?? They made a Christmas ornament. Just what I wanted, another homemade ornament. They didn't get to bring them home because they still need to be fired. I didn't get to see hers but she told me that her ornament looked horrible. I told her that I was sure that it looked just fine. Then I showed her the glitter orange juice can ornament that her brother made!!!

In case anyone thinks it would be a good idea to give your kids silly putty as a St. Nicks gift I would like to tell you, Not so much!!! Lots of kids sleep with stuffed animals or a special blanket but no, not my son, he prefers to sleep with silly putty while wearing his brand new sweatpants. I might add that these pants are one of three pair that fit his skeletal little body that don't look as if he has been caught in a flash flood. I also have a lovely new silly putty couch to match his pants since he slept on the couch last night.

We just got back from breakfast with Santa, as I predicted we now have a few more beautifully hand crafted ornaments to hang from the tree to add to my collection. They played some games and received some fabulous prizes. What house would be complete without 12 paddle ball games. Lucky for us they have already broken 6 of them just on the 10 minute car ride home.

This little beauty is the end of a frozen orange juice can with a little glitter sprinkled on it. I think Ryan made this high quality ornament. Every tree needs one of these. I love it when my kids say they will only have a tree with pretty ornaments when they grow up. Little do they know that as soon as they move out, I am boxing up all their crappy frozen orange juice can lid ornaments and sending them with them. We are going to breakfast with Santa this morning. I hope we get to make more ornaments. I will be sure and post them if we do.

I chose Maggie's paper angel to display that she made in preschool. Maggie helped me get my Christmas cards ready to mail tonight. I couldn't find my stamps that I bought this week. I remember putting them somewhere "safe", Oh where the hell was that safe spot!! After numerous prayer to the headless St. Anthony he finally came through and I found them. Dave and I left to do a little Christmas shopping and Maggie and Kelsey were putting stamps and return address labels on for me. My niece Katie will be receiving her card with her stamp and return address label upside down. There were a few others that I was able to pull off and re stick but my nieces was stuck on there pretty good. I normally order 120 cards, I printed off 112 address labels so I knew I was cutting it pretty close because I am still missing a few addresses that I lost with my last computer virus. I was afraid I would have to order more. When I finished putting them in envelopes I noticed I still had almost a full box of cards. I thought, did all of the sheets of labels print or am I missing a sheet or two. Then it hit me!! I ordered my cards online, they come in sets of twenty and for some reason I was thinking they came in sets of 10 so I ordered 12 sets. No wonder I had to drop algebra!! So now I have 240 cards, I am going to try to spend the next couple of weeks making new friends. I don't want to let all those cards go to waste!! I would try to do some type of math problem to see how many new friends I should make per day in order to use up all the leftover cards but I would probably add wrong again. Simple multiplication threw me 20 x 6 = 120 not 240 a word problem is too much for this budding mathematician. I might even try something fun this year and open the phone book and send cards to random people. That would keep them guessing all year. "Who are these people?" Of course I would leave the return address label off. That might be easier than making new friends.

Kelsey brought home from school today this construction paper poinsettia. It is actually pretty cute and well made. I am not quite sure what to do with it yet but I know it was made with love!!!

Dave called me at work today and told me that Lauren called him out of the blue and asked him if he would take her to lunch. Dave was a little nervous because she has never called him and asked him to lunch before. He thought Oh God, I hope she is not pregnant, she then said, "why don't we call Sam and ask her to go too. He then thought, Oh God, is mom leaving me and you two want to take me to lunch to let me down gently? Now if my number one fan actually read my blog he would know that Sam was out of cash and Lauren was jumping on the gravy train because she smelled opportunity. Lauren explained, "No, Dad, I am definitely not pregnant, and I have no idea if mom is planning on leaving you or not, you will have to ask her." I just want a free meal.

Dave enjoyed his lunch with the girls, they had a lot of laughs. Sam said "I always thought I was the smart one but when I go online to check my bank account balance I have $12 and Lauren has thousands. Lauren has had a boyfriend for 2 and a half years and I am single. I am going around campus eating free stale cookies and Lauren goes to her boyfriends family's house for roast and potatoes." Dave had visions of his first born walking around the neighborhood pushing a shopping cart and digging through trashcans. He called me after he got back to the office and asked me to transfer some more money in her account. If she shows up with a new outfit from Urban Behavior I might have to kill her. I have a feeling I may get a beautiful homemade ornament from Sam for Christmas this year.

I chose this lovely glitter and paper laminated angel that Lauren made in kindergarten to showcase this evening. I still remember when she made this, we had to send in a recent picture, I had just had Shannon and I sent in this picture of Lauren holding her new baby sister. Sam made this same ornament the year before when she was in kindergarten. I am quite lucky to be blessed with not only one but two 12 by 12 laminated angel ornaments on my tree. Thank God that teacher retired the year Lauren was in kindergarten otherwise I would have had to put up a separate tree for my exquisite angel ornaments if the rest of the Murphy's made those too!! Lauren read my blog this morning and sent me a text message asking why dad should take Sam to lunch and not her. I guess you are never too big for the mom always liked you best game.

I went to Pets Mart on Sunday to get more solution for the carpet to get rid of the dog pee stains. Santa was there posing for pictures with pets. I thought to myself, are these people serious?? Do they think their dogs are going to request a special gift from Santa?? I was thinking of running home to get Ryan and Maggie. The line was much shorter at Pets Mart than at the mall. I will just tell them to crawl on all fours and bark, no one will notice. The dog pooped in his crate today while I was at school. He hasn't done that since he was a puppy. I let him out and put his crate out on the deck. I decided to save his little "present" for Dave. Merry Christmas honey.

I am featuring Sam's lovely yarn and glitter star today since I just got off the phone with her. She called to tell me that she was aware of all the money that she owed me and that she got a job and would be working towards paying me back. I'm glad she finally noticed that she has not paid her car insurance or loan payments in the last few months. Last time her checking account got low I transferred some money for her and she used it for an online shopping spree at Urban Behavior.

She has kind of hit rock bottom with her finances. Her meal plan at school is quickly running out of points. She is forced to do some desperate things for a meal. She said they were advertising on campus that if you went to make a homemade card for a kid in Children's Hospital you could make your own cupcake and cookie. I think she lined her purse with napkins and made enough cards to spread enough cheer to all the sick kids in St. Louis. Last weekend she borrowed Maggie's tooth fairy money to pay her share of the party bus her friend rented for her 21st birthday. I am thinking of rounding up the family and arranging an intervention!! I told her to call her dad this week and make a date for a lunch. Of course she has had plenty of money to pay her $80 dollar phone bill every month, a girl can't survive without text messaging.

This monstrosity is a mint green dough candy cane ornament featuring a red ribbon. I can't even remember which budding artist made this one but I am sure it was made with love!!

Yesterday it was freezing outside and it was raining. Kelsey had an outdoor soccer game, obviously I sent Dave while I stayed warm and cozy. 45 minutes after they left, I got a call from Dave asking me if I was sure that I had the right soccer park. I was out Christmas shopping so I had to call home and have Shannon look it up on the computer. Sure enough I screwed up again. The park I sent them to is about 40 minutes away, the park I should have sent them to is only 20 minutes away. I like to call these little mishaps as extra bonding time in the car with your daughter. It is not a true Murphy Saturday unless we throw in a wild goose chase. To top it off, I called her coach to let him know that she would be late. I got his number from a friend who's daughter plays on the team. She gave it to me when we were at a tournament in Illinois and Dave and I took two cars, Dave left in between games and went home with her soccer bag in his car. Saturday I learned I was calling a different Ron, not her coach, their names were below each other on the phone list and my friend gave me the wrong one. Just another prime example of what a bumbling idiot I can be.

Dave and I argued about what type of Christmas lights to put up this year. Last year we put white lights on the roof line and icicle lights on the triangle peaks. Dave didn't want to do icicle lights this year but I talked him into it. He has them all done except for one peak in front, he has to borrow our friends ladder for that one. Every time I turn on the light to the storage room I blow a fuse and they all go out. It was like a scene from the movie Christmas Vacation. I think I need to put masking tape on the light switch so I remember to leave it off until January. We came home tonight from shopping and 3/4ths of the icicle lights have blown up on top of the roof. Dave said it will be fine and not to worry, another storm might come from the opposite direction and then they will look fine!!