Uh oh.

The kids found the Photo Booth feature.

A visit from the Zoo!

Busy enjoying the Albers while they are in Florida for a brief visit... more pictures later I am sure!

Funhouse!

Good Ol' Santa brought me a new imac yesterday... while I figure out all the bells and whistles, Will and I are having fun with the Photo Booth feature!




















































Hope everyone's Christmas was merry!

Home, Sweet Gingerbread Home...

...OR NOT.

Leah & Olivia were eager to participate in today's Decorate A Gingerbread House Day... here is their creation. They worked so hard on it, and then to have a crazed Gingerbread Man attack, it's just, too sad!!





















**See calebnation and thevoiceofrawlins celebrate the day as well!

The Tree.

For the past several Christmases, Aunt Sherry & Uncle Tom have sent us a real tabletop tree - complete with pinecones, berries and ribbon. When you open the box, the scent of evergreen fills our palm-treed air. We have come to look forward to this special delivery very much - kind of like a little slice of our northern home for Christmas. (In fact, just last week I said to myself, "Self, where is this year's tree? Harumff!" And then the next day, there it was at my front door!) Thank you very much, Aunt Sherry and Uncle Tom, the yearly tree makes us very happy.

For today's music, a little Rob Thomas - a new favorite of mine!

Let There be Peace.

We attended the long-awaited Winter Show at Leah & Jack's school today. It was a great production and the kids did a wonderful job. Each class sang a song, and then the middle school theater students performed in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.





















Jack's class did a hip-hop number, "Sounds All Around Us."























Leah was the narrator for the play, and also turned up as an extra in a scene or two.



























For the finale, all the classes sang together on "Let There Be Peace on Earth" - one of my favorites!

One week to go!

We here on the planet just finished up a fun-filled, Christmas-y weekend. We had Family Movie Night on Friday night, watching "Elf," a family favorite, and eating Smartfood. Saturday afternoon, John and I went to his company party at The Melting Pot while the kids spent the afternoon at their cousins' house, planning top-secret Christmas Eve skits. That evening, John and I were able to attend a friend's Christmas party for a short time, then it was off for a fun-filled two hours at the ER with Jack, where doctors removed a "googly eye" that had mysteriously become lodged in his ear. And this evening, we attended our neighborhood's annual Christmas Block Party and Lighting of the Luminarias. This year we had a Chili Cook-off along with a visit from Santa.

































The Chili Cook-off Judges, hard at work.Yes, John is one of the judges; however, it was a blind taste test. Having said that, I am now free to tell you that the author of this blog won second place in the Chili Cook-off...


Will enjoyed checking out the luminarias!





















See you next week, Santa!



















** Yes, my mother tortured us as children with her Bing Crosby Christmas records (eight tracks?). Although I don't have anything against the Bing, I am going to play some of our family favorite Christmas tracks - each day I will change it to a different fave. Today is one of my favorites by Harry Connick, Jr.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Actual conversation from last night:

Amy: Tomorrow is Caleb's birthday.
John: Oh. (pause) Wait - whose birthday?
Amy: Caleb!
John: Caleb? He's... one??!!?? What??!!

Yes, hard to believe... but true.
Happy Birthday, little dude, can't wait to see you!

It takes a village.

Jack became interested in setting up a Christmas village this year, so he and John have been hard at work in the garage designing and creating their layout. They unveiled the village over the weekend - great job, guys!

Doing good.

Leah, Olivia, and their Girl Scout Troop spent yesterday evening at the Ronald McDonald House in Orlando. They sang Christmas carols for the RMH guests, donated supplies that they had collected from the community, and participated in a drawing that awarded a few children there free passes to Disney. The troop then went to Papa Joe's where they ate pizza, exchanged gifts, and basically terrorized the wait staff.

**UPDATED TO ADD: The Girl Scouts will be kicking off their cookie sale on January 4, 2007... you KNOW you want some!

Fun with Rice...

Will finds new ways to play in the rice bucket!

Just because!

Hope everyone is having a happy Sunday!