Over the Christmas Holiday...

It's been a while. We've been busy. I think. The weeks before Christmas, Chris did a lot of work down in Alabama, spending several nights out of town and racking up some overtime. I was busy trying to wrap my ebay sales up for a few weeks and manage the household at the same time. Then the kids were out of school, Chris was off work, and the fun began.

 

The 22nd, we had our annual Christmas party at Chris's grandmother's.

 

Christmas eve, I made gingerbread cookies for us to decorate.

 Next year, I hope to plan ahead a little better and do a gingerbread house. Or maybe a house for the kids and one for me.

We've been pretty straight forward with the kids about Santa. They know he's not real, but we've also talked about the fact that it is fun to pretend. Of course, some like to pretend more than others. Finley likes to pretend. And Joe likes to remind her that Santa isn't real. Regardless, Finley insisted on leaving cookies and a note for Santa. After the kids were in bed, I found another note... from Santa! (Boy, he needs to work on his spelling.)

 We never got around to taking and sending out our family photo before Christmas, but finally got everyone together for a shot at it on Christmas day.

A few days after Christmas, Finley and I ventured out to the mall to get her ears pierced. I don't think she even flinched.

Chris and I have been getting a little work done on the house (finally). He has been working on getting the tub set in the main bathroom while I've been putting up fan, light, and electrical boxes and running some temporary lights. It's nice to be able to SEE in there on these dreary winter days.

 Chris has been under the house most of today working on the soil pipes. I've been helping a little, and my knees aren't too appreciative. Am I getting older or something?

And the kids got to go outside and play in the snow today. (If you look closely, it is kind of snowing.) They were excited. I think I need to plan a trip up north next year so they can experience some real snow and sledding.