Monday, December 22, 2008

Monday 12/22/2008

Hello all, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We here at the Hodges/Snapp homestead had a wonderful but excruciatingly cold weekend. The temp has fallen completely off the thermometer! We all thought it was cold this weekend as we headed out to Dales' father's house to celebrate an early christmas with the family. But compared to today we all could have worn our bathing suits! lol! It's a brisk -4 degrees out today with a high of only 15. Woo-hoo break out the sunscreen! Not only is it cold outside but the wind is whipping out of control with gusts of up to 40 mph. Talk about cold!!!! I felt it's fury as I refilled the car with antifreeze. Which I am very proud of. It was the first time I have every done anything like that all by myself. Dale usually does all the maintenance on the cars but seeing how he is at work in Ft. Wayne which is an hour away I had to don my coat and hat and face the cold all by myself. I had some trouble finding the latch that releases the hood but once that task was achieved I managed to find the overfill resevoiur and top it off like I had been doing it for years. Of course, Dale failed to tell me that the hydraulics on my hood were not working properly so I almost got whopped in the head with the hood. But, I managed to overcome this little obstacle and complete my task with honors if I must say so for myself.

Anyway, back to our christmas celebration at Jim's(Dale's father) house. Everyone had a wonderful time. We all ate, chatted, exchanged christmas gifts and had a wonderful time. Our family has been blessed with some new additions over that last couple of years. Jason, Dale's second child, has a 14 month old son by the name of Dominic and Ryan, Dale's nephew, has two sons: Kevin age 2 and Jackson about 8 months old. So we all enjoyed watching them open their gifts. This is the first real christmas that they can enjoy. Last year they were all just babies and too young to understand what christmas is all about. PRESENTS!!! And lots of'em. lol!

Jim was a little under the weather. He has a degenerative diesease in his back and it was causing him a considerable amount pain. But he seemed to grin and bear it taking it all in stride. He has had a tough year this year so we all have been keeping him even closer to our hearts than normal. I am a firm believer that when something bad happens to a family you should all rally around that person and be there for them. Providing them with more love and support than normal. Christina, Dales's oldest daughter and 4th in line in our blended family was unable to attend the festivites and she was much missed. Christina is 19 and she is just beginning to find herself. She like Trey, my oldest son and 3rd in the line up of our children, are really getting a big dose of reality thrust onto their plates right now. It's a difficult time for both Dale and myself. Our first reaction is to bail them out of whatever dilemma they are encountering at the time. But we know we have to stand our distance and allow them to learn from their mistakes. It's so hard being a parent at times. We sometimes forget that we have to let them stand on their on two feet. That they no longer need the training wheels. Or even if they do still need the traing wheels we can't rush out and install them, allowing them a crutch. Nope! They have to learn to be adults on their own. Our job now as parents is to stand on the sidelines and watch only rushing out to them when they are truly in need of it. You truly don't know what it's like until you have children of your own. Parenting can be defined in one word as Bittersweet. And I wouldn't change it for anything in the world!!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!
xoxo much love to all........

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Tuesday, 12/16/2008

Good Morning all. I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. We here at the home of "alicia's family blog" are all doing well. I have finally gotten the christmas treet up and If you know me at all you will know that I am not one of those day after Thanksgiving put up the christmas tree kinda gals. About two weeks prior the the day is when I like to put it up. My attention span is relatively short so you can imagine how crazy it would be to me to put a tree up and leave it for almost 4 weeks. Now if I can just keep the cat out of it I will be able to decorate it tonight with the kids. I plan on continuing to wrap presents the rest of the day, putting a roast in the oven, doing my caily chores and then relaxing.... if that is possible....lol!! So please have a great day......much love from alicia

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Sunday's thoughts...

Hello All and a very happy sunday to everyone. Well, it's not as cold today as it has been. Winter didn't ease it's way into season this year, instead it skipped fall altogether and went smack dab into winter full steam ahead. It has snowed several times and the ground is already frozen solid. I swear every year I say i'm moving to Florida because I just can't take this cold. But I never do and even if I did I would just miss it. Snow and all.

It has been a fairly quiet year this year for my klan and I must say It has been rather nice. Lord knows I have needed it. Christina got maried this year and we didn't get a chance to welcome Ryan into our family since he was deployed only after a couple of days of marriage. He is due home this month and we are all happy that he is coming home safe.

I can say that with all the free time I have had I've been able to do some work on the computer and I am happy to say that I have caught up with some of my old friends from High School. There's nothing like catching up that reminds you just how old you are. lol

Trey turned 21 this year and Dustin turned 15. Trey is now legally old enough to drink and I pray that he doesnt. And in just 2 months Dustin will be old enough to drive. I guess next year won't be so quiet......

Friday, December 12, 2008

Introduction

Hello, My name is Alicia and Welcome to my blogspot. Here you will view pics of my family. Read my thoughts on everything from politics to our everyday life. You will meet all the member of my family right down to our pets. I hope you enjoy your visit and feel free to leave your posts. They are not only welcomed but encouraged. Have a Wonderful Day!!!