Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

John Michael

Last week John Michael was sick with yet another double ear infection. We saw his doctor and she referred him for tubes and she scheduled the consultation for this past Tuesday. I was expecting the actual procedure to be after Christmas but it is scheduled for 6:00 tomorrow morning. Yikes! I had quite a list of things to do this week and this was not on there. Of course we had the appointment on Tuesday, had a pre-op appointment this morning, and have to be there at 6:00 tomorrow morning. Of course he will not go to school on Friday so there goes my week. I just hope it takes care of the problem and he feels better and stops having these yucky ear infections! Say a little prayer for him in the morning that all goes well and that there are no complications and he recovers quickly.

We Like Santa Afterall

We went for Breakfast with Santa this morning and John Michael actually liked Santa and Mrs. Clause. I really didn't know what to expect. We have been watching him on TV alot lately and looking at pictures of him in books and he seemed to be okay with it, but I didn't know. I thought these pictures turned out really good. Yay!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I wish these pictures were taken in real snow but I guess here in the south we have to settle for soap bubbles. These were taken at Dicken Downtown Tuesday night. We can pretend, can't we? Elfie and Bedford were "just hangin around" Tuesday night when we got home from Dickens Downtown. John Michael riding a "horse", one of his favorite pasttimes these days.

Seventeen Years!

I can't believe Joseph and I have been married seventeen years this coming Sunday. Wow! Where does time go? We are trying to decide what we want to do to celebrate this year. Before kids, we used to do something really special every year. Of course with it being so close to Christmas it always seems extra special. One year we went to a little bed & breakfast in Versailes Kentucky and went to a really quaint little restaurant. Another year we went to "The Red Geranium", another really neat restaurant in New Harmony Indiana. A couple of years ago we went to Gatlinburg to celebrate and last year we went to "The Phantom of the Opera" in October as an early celebration. Joseph has always been awesome about coming up with neat ways for us to celebrate this special event for us. We spent our honeymoon in Steamboat Springs Colorado and one of these days we want to go back there. Like I said, Christmas makes it even more special because wherever we go the lights and sounds of Christmas are there and when we were in Kentucky, lots of years, there was snow. This morning when I got to work I had a beautiful arrangements of flowers.... a Christmas bouquet with a little snowy house in the center. Thank you sweetheart for the flowers but most of all thank you for seventeen wonderful years! I love you!

They're Here!

Elfie & Bedford arrived two nights ago and boy do we have some excitement around our house! As many of you know, Elfie is our magical elf that has been with Samuel every Christmas since his very first. He arrives when we put our Christmas tree up and leaves on Christmas Eve with Santa. Bedford joined us last year a couple of days before Christmas due to a letter sent to Santa from Samuel on John Michael's behalf. They have been up to their usual tricks already! This is one of our favorite traditions! We have such good memories of all the things our elves have gotten into and Samuel can't wait every year for the arrival. He loves it and John Michael will too, I'm sure, as he catches on to the whole idea. Sometimes there is quite a mess to clean up when these little guys are finished with one of their tricks. They love to get into the toilet paper, pop popcorn for themselves, watch movies during the night, climb the Christmas tree, get into the refrigerator, even bake cookies, play video games, anything you can imagine. Last year they went to McDonalds during the night and the next morning we found the jeep parked all crooked in the garage with Happy Meal boxes and french fries all over the place and Christmas music blaring loud! Another morning Samuel couldn't find Elfie anywhere. When he got to school he found him hidden away in his backpack. And the best part? His teacher's kids have elves also so she played along and Elfie did tricks in his classroom! How great was that? Another of our favorites was Joseph's idea. Again, we couldn't find Elfie one morning. He had gone to work with Joseph and came home with a Coral Industries official picture ID badge and a paycheck and everything. That was great. Samuel still talks about all of these tricks from one year to the next. It has been something we will all remember for years to come. How many more years does Samuel have still believing? I don't know, but I do know that we will all be sad when it ends for him. But the fun part will be him helping play tricks for John Michael. I will keep you posted on some of the latest tricks!