Busy is an Understatement

It seems to have been non stop for the last couple of weeks.  I have been so busy that I have had to even turn down jobs to sub.  Not because I have been Christmas shopping either...that would be fun to do.  This new calling has consumed so much of my time just trying to figure it all out and getting organized.  I sometimes feel that I am missing the spirit of the holidays with all the craziness.  But I have managed to squeeze in a few fun things...some "ME" time.......this last several days!

Last Wednesday I was able to spend the whole day with J on a field trip to Denver.  It was so much fun having some one on one time.  OK, maybe not that much alone time since I was in charge of 8 other kids for the day.  But she didn't have to compete with other siblings and that is always a big deal.  Anyway, we took 5 Grey Line buses up to the Denver Art Museum to see the King Tut Exhibit.  It was fun and comfortable riding in luxury while watching the Polar Express.  We were able to see a few normal museum exhibits first before having our sack lunches on the lawn outside in the cold.  Brrr!  The King Tut Exhibit was very interesting...seeing all the artifacts that were unearthed.  Did you realize there were 9 layers of protection before even getting to Tut's mummy.  It was a good exhibit, however, wouldn't it have been great if we got to actually see the mummy????  Yea, King Tut was not even there, nor was the sarcophagus that he was buried in.  I found that very strange.  We did see the little sarcophagus that his stomach was in...I guess that was something, huh?  Oh well, it was a good time, none the less!  These pix are off my phone...they said no pictures in the exhibit and I didn't feel like lugging that big camera around and not be able to use it much...so the quality is not the best.

Thursday morning I spent at a friend's house for a Christmas Brunch.  She has held them several times and they are always so fun.  We all had tons of fun eating, visiting, dipping marshmallows, making ornaments and exchanging white elephant gifts.  I won't mention the gift I got....just that it is something that I would never use (not anymore anyway) but would have been nice to have when I first started my family.  But we all had a good laugh with all the gifts.  Thanks friend for being so sweet to include me in your gathering. 

We can't forget the volunteering in K's classroom, a visiting teaching appointment, lunch with M, 4 food order appointments and an Eagle Court of Honor to finish out the day. 

Friday was the last day of school until the new year and I spent it in K's classroom.  Her teacher decided to have a breakfast for the kiddos and asked if I would come help.  Of course I would...in fact I was the only one she invited..she really just wanted time with her students without all the chaos of parents and little siblings to feed too.  We had pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit and donuts.  She had a a few crafts for them to do and a book exchange.  Then they finished it up with JUST DANCE.  The kids loved it and it was so fun to watch them.     

Then that evening, my hubby and I headed to Denver for a little holiday getaway.  It is so nice to have older kids that we can do things like this.  I hope they behaved!  We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes---love their chicken noodle soup--and then went to the Paramount Theater downtown for the Jim Brickman concert.  We have been waiting months for this concert...or should I say a couple of years.  He comes every other year to CO during Christmas time and we never miss it.  Of course I got tickets as soon as they were available and we were on the 6th row this year.  He hasn't been in the Springs since 2006, but he is worth the drive to Denver any day.  He had 2 of our favorites with him again this time... Anne Cochran (singer) and Tracy Silverman (electric violin).  He had another singer that was with him last time he came, Mark Masri.  It was an awesome concert full of great piano, singing and lots of funny stories and jokes.  It is an all around good time and a great tradition for my hubby and I.  It was fun (and cold) to walk around the 16th Street mall afterwards and see the horse drawn carriages and all the lights.

For his birthday last month, I gave my hubby an overnight stay after the concert, so we spent the night up there.  It was nice to take it easy, especially when we had one of these in our room......

It was so nice and relaxing and we both slept great that night.  It was so nice to sleep in and have a leisure morning of breakfast and laying around.  We didn't want to come home to "life"...it was a much needed break for us both.

Then that night we went out with some friends to a hockey game.  I must say...I have never been to one before.  I know that must seem crazy to some of you, but I have never had the opportunity to, so when our friends had some extra tickets and asked us to go, I jumped at the chance.  We had a great time cheering on the CC Tigers.  Next time, we will need to wear our yellow and black to fit in better with all the fans.  Of course we had to end the evening with a Blizzard at DQ.  We had fun talking and laughing...thanks guys for the fun evening.

I feel rejuvinated for the week left until Christmas.  I still have some shopping to do, but at least I don't have many other things going on to interrupt that venture.  I am so excited for this week I get to spend with my family.  Let's get to it!!!!