Our Christmas in Pictures

Let the festivities begin . . .

Thursday, December 20th -- Big Night Out

Caleigh & Mommy -- all dolled up for an evening at Sight & Sound's Christmas show "Voices of Christmas"

Friday, December 21st -- Aunt Heather comes home from Indiana

Caleigh loves the gift from Aunt Heather

Who needs toys when you can have laundry?!?

Sunday, December 23rd -- Christmas at MomMom's & PopPop's

Caleigh felt like a real princess in the Cinderella dress from Uncle Adam.

Is it time to open the presents yet????

Peyton & her new blanket

Mommy & PeyPey opening presents together

A favorite gift for Pey -- her new baby bassinet

Jason gets in touch with his inner rocker with "Guitar Hero" from Playstation 2.

Monday, December 24th -- Twas the night before Christmas . . .

Our tree, complete with presents

Tuesday, December 25th -- Christmas Morning!!!!

It was all we could do to hold Caleigh off until 6:30 am

Say "cheese!"

PeyPey joins the fun & finally sees what all the fuss is about.

A little Christmas morning serenade on her new recorder.

How does this thing work?

The princess gets her long-awaited crown.

It's never too early for a cell phone!

It was a Princess Christmas -- complete with a Princess cash register.

. . . and a Princess ride-on toy!

And now we all enjoy a perfect Christmas breakfast.

Mommy's favorite Christmas gift!!

A Christmas gathering at Mimi's brought more special presents -- including Baby Cindy.

Caleigh models her new winter outerwear!!

It was a wonderful Christmas for our family!! And we wish all of you a blessed New Year!!!!

You Couldn't Write This Stuff . . .

Simply outrageous!!! I'm telling you, if all these crazy things hadn't been happening to me, I would never believe it!!

So, as you all know, life has been a bit trying lately, to say the least. We spent this past weekend at Jason's mom & dad's house. Even though Peyton & I were not feeling up to snuff, with MomMom & PopPop's watchful eyes, we were able to get a lot of good rest. We headed back home last night around 9 pm.

It was a clear, crisp winter's night as we left Pottstown. The closer we got to Myerstown, however, the worse the situation got. Everything was covered with a thick coat of ice -- so much so that several trees had buckled under the weight & were lying in the road. The wind didn't help matters any.

As we turned off the main road & approached the seminary, Jason turned to me & said, "Honey, I don't see any Christmas lights." Things did not look good. As we pulled in to our driveway, there was not one street lamp, not one Christmas tree, not one window candle to be seen. Not only that, but all the cars were parked far away from the trees. Hmmm, that's odd. It didn't take us long to see why. The wind was blowing shards of ice out of the trees & down into the exact spots where our cars would normally be parked.

No power meant no heat for us as we have electric heat. It was going to be an interesting night! I quickly located the matches & lit all the candles. Thank goodness I'm a candle-junkie! Then we got everyone into double sets of jammies. We settled the girls down in our bed to snuggle together while Dad & I took care of everything else (finding the lantern & the flashlight, packing the fridge with ice, & gathering extra blankets). After all emergency measures were taken, we got the girls settled into their own beds with everything but their parkas. It was a long night, with the temperature dropping a few degrees every hour. By morning, the power was still gone & the house was a nippy 40 degrees.

It's one of those situations where, if you don't laugh, you'll cry. So we chose to laugh. I greeted everyone who called on our cell phones with a melodic " . . . Jack Frost nipping at your nose . . . "

So, here we sit, at Jason's mom & dad's again. Weren't we just here?? It is rumored that we may be without power until at least tomorrow. Oh well, it gets me out of doing the laundry for a few days!!!

Welcome Infectious Diseases

We made it through finals week with our health & our sanity still in tact . . . well, our sanity anyway -- our health, not so much.

It was a tough week. Satan has a way of kicking you when you're down. It was obviously an important week for Jason. It was imperative that we stick to the schedule & give Daddy plenty of uninterrupted study time. Ha!!! On Tuesday night, Peyton's eyes started looking a little pink . . . eerily reminiscent of Thanksgiving day. By Wednesday morning, it was pretty obvious that our weekly trip to church (5 hours of study time for Daddy) was not happening. So Jason was trapped in the house with us all night . . . not the most conducive environment for studying. Things went from bad to worse pretty quickly on Thursday morning. The seminary was officially closed due to the weather, so Jason's 4 hours of studying in the library also went out the window. The planned babysitter for Thursday evening also became a fleeting dream as Peyton's eyes got worse. Our evening ended with a trip to the doctor's office . . .

Now, this section is only for those of you who can handle children & their complete & utter grossness.

I called the doctor on Thursday to request an office visit. He asked me to explain what was going on with Peyton. I said, "This is really gross, but this is the best way to describe it. It looks like snot is coming out of her eyes." When the doctor saw her in the evening, it turned out that I was right!!! Apparently, the congestion in her nose is traveling up into her tear ducts & coming out her eyes!! And it's just nasty!

Friday morning ushered in yet more sickness as I woke up with my throat on FIRE!! I think the doctor jinxed me. He made the astute observation that everyone had been sick except for Mom. Thanks.

But finals are over. The semester is over. And we have Jason all to ourselves for 5 WHOLE WEEKS!!

The Holidays Are Upon Us

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

And it's finally here!! I would like to be able to say that my overly-organized self has all my Christmas gifts picked out, purchased, wrapped, & sitting under my perfectly-decorated tree. But life is bound & determined to teach me to go with the flow (no matter how much I may resist). Besides, the only thing I love more than being organized is the hustle & bustle of the holiday season. I love to be out amongst the crowds, sipping mocha cappuccino, listening to Christmas music, looking for that perfect gift for that special someone.

Truth be told, this year is a bit out of the ordinary for us. Being our first year at seminary, we are still getting used to all the new demands on our time. Jason has not had the luxury of shopping, decorating, or baking with his girls. Now if Christmas cheer consisted of paper-writing, theological journal-reading, or visits to the library, he would be Kris Kringle himself! But we are learning to grab ahold of special moments when they happen to come along . . . to heck with the best laid plans.

So our Christmas tree, which always goes up the day after Thanksgiving, is not gracing our livingroom as of yet, but hopefully it will tonight after the girls go to bed. We may not have the traditional marathon session of decorating the tree, but throughout the course of the week, we should manage to get it done.

As for my shopping, most of it is done. At least the gifts that are non-negotiable, must-haves. Nothing is wrapped yet, but I'm sure it will be done before Christmas morning. Maybe Christmas Eve, but better late than never!

But in the meantime, we are on the countdown . . . 11 more days before Jason's first semester of seminary is over!!! He has lots of projects & papers due this week & finals the week after that. We are bracing ourselves for one big push through to the end & then CELEBRATION!! I already have a babysitter lined up for the night of Jason's last final. :)

But, until he is free to celebrate with us, we will continue to play our Christmas music in the kitchen, make our Christmas cookies for Daddy, & decorate that tree, one ornament at a time.

Happy Holidays!!