Yes, It Gets Cold Here Too!

I took a picture of the girls as they headed out to the bus stop one morning. They look like little snowmen all bundled up in their gear. It takes us about 5 minutes to get our gear on. Then take a peek at the fountain outside Barnes and Noble. It is frozen and Kennedy had too much fun sticking her fingers in it and trying to lick it. I was envisioning The Christmas Story when the little boy's tongue froze to the pole. We were lucky though, no frozen tongues. However, I about busted on the sidewalk, wearing my fancy new boots! They are cute boots but not practical and I can't believe they haven't heard of salt here in GA!!!

Santa Baby!!

So we went with friends to Barnes and Noble to peek at Santa. Linc was the first one to run up to the chubby fellow and jump in his lap. Linc. then preceded to act "too cool" for Santa. All three kids huddled around old Santa and shared their visions of Christmas. Of course they all three mentioned toys that I had never heard of and did not purchase. Good thing that they know Santa is not real. However, I do think they are trying to believe. They begged for us to leave cookies again this year and warned daddy by saying "no eating the cookies dad; they're for Santa!!". I have a feeling I'll be eating the cookies this year!

Her Name Means Joy

Right now you'd never know that her name meant joy. Mia has been so sick that a smile has hardly been visible. She has been asking to head to bed around 6pm and lying around the house each day. It has been terribly sad to see a 5yr old turn down cookies, hot cocoa, and movies. Since Thanksgiving, our home has entertained such viruses as: pneumonia, flu, double ear infections, sinus infections, food poisoning, 104 temps, puking, and other "unknown" viruses. We spent 6 hrs in Urgent Care on Saturday with needle pricks, x-rays, and no news............just a virus. Today was spent at pediatricians office taking urine tests, flu swabs, and blood pressures. All 3 kids are sick. We know that Kennedy has the flu and a double ear infection. Lincoln probably has the flu and no news on Mia. So we are watching this week to see if the fever will go down and stay down. I'm hoping. I had big plans for this week. I was thinking gingerbread houses, Christmas Shopping, baking cookies with friends, and heading to the movies. Instead we are sipping down Pedialite, tylenol, couging, crying, and sleeping. Every night 2 out of 3 kids are awake. Last night I stared at Paul while all 3 kids cried and I said "pinch me so that I can wake up; this isn't really my life". I was joking of course. A mother only wishes health for her kids. I wish I could carry all these viruses instead of the kids. Somehow, I know that I could still plug along and get everything done........on pure stuborness. Unfortunately, the little ones cannot carry these germs and maintain any happiness. They are miserable. I wanted to blog about this so that next year I may look back remain thankful for health. I'm hoping 2011 brings many healthy days ahead!

Time Spent..........Priceless

Every time the grandparents visit, our girls load them up with books and insist on hours upon hours of reading. It's fun now that the girls can read to the grandparents too. While Grandma and Grandpa visited in November, many hours were spent reading. These are pretty precious times for us and we are so thankful that the kids have grandparents that will sit and read.

Keeping Traditions Alive

Thanks to Grandma, we always do a Gingerbread house with the kids. This is the 1st year that Lincoln was able to participate and boy did he participate!! He ate most of the candy and was even pulling it off of the house and eating it after the girls had placed it on. It's not a very creative house but it's just for fun and the kids love it! This year we will also start making our own house from scratch and putting all sorts of brick walls and candy fences on. We shall practice for next year!! We are getting very serious about it now! Just kidding. Thanks Grandma Debbie for always keeping the tradition going. :-)

1st Place at School and Honorable Mention at District Level

Just by chance our girls entered the Reflections Art contest at school, back in September. Kennedy submitted a drawing and Mia took a picture. Kennedy did not place, but we were still so proud of her for trying and Mia's photo took 1st place at the school. She was then promoted to the District Level and her photo took Honorable Mention. How funny! She didn't even really care and yet her photo placed! This was a great lesson for Kennedy. Kennedy is actually the artist in the family and she said to us as we drove to Mia's ceremony "how come I never win anything and Mia wins everything?" I reminded her that this is the only contest she has ever entered and that we should celebrate a win for our friends and/or family at all times. So she decided to put on the happy smile and celebrate her sister's victory. A good lesson to learn.