A flurry of activity

As many of you may already know, I found out (about 2 weeks ago now) that my Mom was getting to come home unexpectedly to see her Daddy whose health is really bad. We are so sad that it's under these conditions but I'm thrilled that we will get to see her even for a bit. She will finally get to meet her 2 youngest grandbabies.
I have been scurrying like mad, since I found all this out, to get things cleaned up and ready. I THOUGHT I was all ready for her to come and then we get the brilliant idea to paint the living room....this week. So down come all the Christmas decorations and.... we paint. I know, I know,....What was I thinking?! As if I couldn't find enough to do already.... BUT, I have to say, it looks fantastic. I am so happy with how fresh and pretty everything looks. Then that got me to seeing dust and dirt everywhere, so it has been an all-out war on dust. I don't think there is a speck of dirt left...or if it's there it doesn't dare raise it's little head (hopefully). I should be ready for Christmas gatherings with all this cleaning and decorating. I'm hoping to have Christmas dinner here at my house....we'll see how that works out.
The kids have been loving all the goings on and are so very excited to get to see Grandma (Levi is now saying "Mamaw") and Uncle John, who has come back with Mom and will be staying.
As a note, please be praying for my Grandfather and all of Mom's family. He really is in a serious condition.
With all this prep I haven't gotten any holiday shopping done at all, but then, I guess I never do until the last minute anyway. That should be interesting. Especially as the kids have drawn names and are very anxious to go buy their gifts. I have to say they are all very ambitious and are expecting to get great things with their $5. Stuff like bikes and houses, etc. Fun stuff!
Well, hope your holiday preparations are all going great. I'll try to get on here a little more often hopefully...though with the holidays it may not settle down until later. We are planning on going to TX right after Christmas for a couple weeks, Lord willing, so I know I won't be writing any then. But I'm sure I will come back with lots of stuff to blog.