Ohhhh Yeeeaaaahhhh...I Have a Blog

We are in the midst of winter break and I love having the kids home all day every day. They go back to school next Monday and Tuesday. We've had plenty to do...last week we were busy getting ready for Christmas and then having Christmas and then playing with toys. This week we're slowly digging out from the deluge of toys and electronics. We had a nice Christmas. Robert was on call Christmas Eve, but off on Christmas day -which was wonderful! The kids got a Wii from Santa and a Wii Fit from Uncle Mitch and Aunt Georgia. The kids LOVE the Wii Fit. According to the Fit, both older kids have lost 6 lbs. playing it. I guess I need to spend more time on the Fit. ;) Santa also left American Girl dolls for the girls and Legos for Garrison. Garrison also got a snowboard - yikes!- we'll see how that goes. He should be fine as long as he's not relying on me for instruction. Kate-Kelly's favorite gift was a bead set. She has spent hours making beaded necklaces and bracelets for Brennan and me. Brennan loves the Vera Bradley accessories she got from Mimi. They match the Vera backpack purse Mimi gave her last month for her birthday. Robert and I must have been very good last year, because Santa left iPhones for us. I love my new iPhone! Since the phones are also ipods, we passed our old ipods down to Garrison and Brennan - who were absolutely chomping at the bit to have them! My BFF of 24 years, Kelli, sent us the book Dreams of my Father by Barack Obama. I'm very excited to read this book (I should have already read it!) and I'll get to it as soon as I finish The Shack. We also got a special package in the mail yesterday from our dear friends in Tennessee! Cathy sent us some apple butter and jam from the Loveless Cafe, and some adorable retro sewing machine note cards. She said she was sending us something southern. Thanks Cathy!

We went to see Marley and Me and it was fantastic! The end was very sad, and the whole theater was sniffling by that part. I had to look away a couple of times because I thought I might actually start sobbing. Despite the sad ending, the movie was great and I would love to see it again. Yesterday we went ice skating. Any day that I ice skate and don't fall, I consider a successful trip. :) Kate-Kelly is skating on her own now and she likes to get going too fast and then stop quickly in front of me. Not good. It is miraculous that neither of us fell with her doing that. Garrison and Brennan are much more confident on the ice now. Let me tell you, a great idea for an invention would be ice skates that don't absolutely kill your feet.

The kids and I will be having our own little New Year's Eve party as Robert will be on call that night. I got them some sparkling grape juice to toast the new year. We'll have a board game night that night, and if I get my way we'll play lots of Scrabble.

We're starting to plan our spring break trip, and that's just what we need to do to get through the rest of winter. Our only requirement for the trip is that we go somewhere warm, sunny, and beachy. We really miss the beach! Did I mention that we want to go somewhere beachy? Even Kate-Kelly, given the choice of Disney again or the beach, chose beach. (However, this does not mean that Disney is officially off the table!) We've spent a lot of time searching our go-to website for vacation... vrbo.com .

Finally, a puppy update. This picture was taken a month ago on Thanksgiving Day. Mac has actually grown a lot since this picture.