Whew. We made it.

We made it through the day. The BIG day . . . Christmas Day. The kids had a great time, our house was destroyed and they had so much sugar they were vibrating when they were standing still. We missed being so far from family, but it was important to have a Christmas at our home for the kids. We didn't get many pictures - but we had the video camera running. After we do some editing, we may be able to get a quick video posted here. But until then, here are some pictures to entertain.

Veronica and Alex both got ponies to ride, complete with hats. They also got lots of other toys to distribute in pieces around the room.


Some day Veronica will be very angry with me for this photo. But it's hysterical now. She was sneaking pieces of pumpkin bread off the kitchen counter and I caught her . . . so she snarled at me and I caught it on camera. Very funny.

Oh the horror . . .

I cried last night.

Something happened to my baby boy. Nathan says that I can blame him, but it was me weilding the weapon of destruction.



Here is a picture of Alex, smiling, happy, sweet boy.

And here is a picture of him after the "he really needs a haircut and since you have the clippers out giving me a haircut" comment from Dad.

My baby is bald. Oh the shame - I did this to my son. My poor baby. Yes, he cried too . . . well, he cried only because he wanted milk. He enjoyed the haircut and Veronica loved playing with the hair.

Ho Ho Ho

We had an extra special visitor this past weekend while we were decorating our tree. I'll let the pictures do the talking.



Our smarty-pants Rudolf saw right through the ruse and recognized Santa's helper right away. What a little cynic. I guess it didn't help that we had just seen Aunt Ingeborg and Uncle Dave last weekend and UD had his full beard on. That and Aunt Ingeborg accompanied Santa on his visit. But I think she still does believe, although she's getting a good dose of nay-sayers in school already.

Nate is finally sick! I'm not celebrating, honest. I'm just glad that I don't have to hear about his god-like immune system any longer.

12-12-07 Update: Nathan just reminded me to include a comment about Veronica's enthrallment with Christmas music this year and her versions of it. Our current favorite is: "The leaves naughty-not" sung to the tune of "Feliz Navidad."

Good Grief

So much for my assumption that we were all healthy. Let me outline the past month:

Alexander:
Cold
Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease
Conjunctivitis
Upper Respiratory Infection
Roseola
Update! Fifth Disease
Update! Stomach Virus
Update! Two new teeth
Update! He's been taking tantrum lessons from the grumpy four-year old.

Veronica:
Cold
Strep
Fifth Disease
Update! Grumpy Four-Year Old Tantrum Disease*

Mom:
Cold
Strep
Conjunctivitis

Dad:
----------- (Picture Nathan beating his chest like Tarzan going on about how strong his immune system is.)

*Ok, so this is made up. But her tantrums are unbelievable.

Hello? What is up with THIS? Now I know why he's off to Montana every other week - he's escaping the germs. Veronica had a short run of Fifth Disease on Thanksgiving so we had the feast 2 days in a row so she could enjoy it too. We found out the day after Thanksgiving that Alex was getting over Roseola and we didn't even know it.

Here are some photos from our Turkey Day:
Alex not so sure of the funny-looking bird. He found it quite tasty.










Here's our sick little princess. She just laid her head on the table and didn't touch a bite. Poor thing.




And finally these are our munchkins dressed up for a very cold fall day.

Hurray!

We're all well! I think. No fevers, no rashes, no whooping cough, no oozing eyes. Here's hoping it can stay this way for the rest of the winter.

That even makes me chuckle.

We're still mired in unpacked boxes and furniture where it doesn't belong. We'll be ready for visitors by the 4th of July.

Happy Turkey Day everyone . . .

Veterans Day and a Little Chicken

It's been a crazy couple of weeks . . . Veronica had strep, Alex had hand, foot, mouth and Jen had conjunctivitis (aka PINK EYE.) Jen also had some mystery illness which laid her up all weekend with a fever of 103 . . . crazy. This is the week we all get well. Right? Give me some encouragement here.


Everyone has been asking to see pictures of our Halloween chicken, so here he is - discovering loot. I wish I had pictures from later in the evening, when Nathan decided that giving him a blue lollipop was a good idea. We now have a blue chicken suit.

And this is Veronica and Alexander's tribute to Veteran's Day. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Jen!

When I asked Veronica what today was, she excitedly responded:

"FRIDAY!"

And so I continued to prompt her, "And what else?"

"Pizza Day!"

And I asked again . . .

"Show and Share Day!"

So then I decided to tell her what else the day was . . . and I told her it was my Birthday! Her response:

"I don't care." And she walked away.

Ahh. To be loved and appreciated by your children.

Here's hoping I get my Birthday wish: A good night's rest and stair gates installed! Now I'm going to go bury my Birthday face in lemon meringue pie.

And to those patiently awaiting: Halloween pictures will be eventually posted. As will pics of the rental house and other such.

The rumors are true . . .

We're moving back to Georgia. Jen just accepted a job there and resigned officially today. Target date: October 22.

It's hard to leave family . . . but everyone is so busy and we got sucked back into the rat race too quickly.

We have to find a rental until the lease expires for our renters . . . but we'll be back in our house by next year.

And THEN you can write the address in ink. No really. Why are you laughing?

You just never know when we'll have new news.

We just like keeping everyone on their toes.