Christmas Eve 2008

I just got done putting together a princess make-up table for Chloe and setup Stephen's desk. Our house is so small that I had to rearrange the furniture, so when the family wakes up I hope they don't trip....

Stephen and Chloe are so excited, they can't control themselves. We found a Santa tracker and before they went to bed, they saw where he was. It was fun checking through the night on his progress and learn a little history about the cities he visited. I heard Kathi and Caitlyn laughing. They explained to me that Santa was not real....

Tonight I walked the neighborhood with the kids. We found a house with candles in bags. It was the image of a cross. Chloe randomly starting to sing Silent Night. Then she reminded me once again that "Baby Jesus was born by Mary and Joself, grew up, dies on the cross, and went to heaven and became Santa." Reminds me of my own faith at times. It would be easier to think of Jesus as Santa. Even with the strange explanation Chloe gave, she somehow gets what Christmas is about and I was touched looking at the cross listening to her sing...

Here is a video of Caitlyn getting mad at her gingerbread man.
I love how serious she was about it.



I realized tonight that Kathi and Caitlyn call me the Grinch more then I like to admit. It is kinda funny because at times I see myself getting all frustrated with the kids. I am off 2 weeks and not use to having them around 24-7. Even if I am the Grinch, I really do love being with them. The short moments we are all focused on each other and none of the static of the world. Like playing Candy Land, going for a hike, building a Pinewood Derby car, or taking naps together.... I hope they remember those moments more then my Grinch ones...

It is 12:15 am... Merry Christmas!

Santa talks to our kids

We got emails from Santa today. He had us gather the kids around the computer and spoke to each of them. As you can tell they were so excited and amazed that Santa not only knew their names, but had pictures of them and knew what they wanted. Check them out, each is a little different. Pay attention to Caitlyn's. I think Santa was not paying attention.....

• Click here for Stephen
• Click here for Chloe
• Click here for Caitlyn

After they watch the videos, they began to see elf's peeking in the window checking in on them. The energy got so bad, I had to take them on a elf hunt around the block. At dinner Chloe explained that "Joeself" and Mary had baby Jesus. Baby Jesus grew up, died on the cross, went to heaven to be with God and became Santa.

Stephen was struggling to listen today and recorded Santa an apology. I hope he gets it in time...

What am I getting into?

Today I applied for graduate school and a new position at BCBSNC.

My brothers visit

John and family came up last week to watch Alley's soccer team play. We had a good time with the kids. Stephen and Chloe loved having Emma and Garrett around. Garrett was soo nice to the younger kids. Here is a sweet picture from our trip to the mall. More can be found here

Here is a video of Alley punching me. She hits harder then John...
More video with the kids can be found here. There is a video of Garrett dancing and telling us what hew wants for Christmas. Santa better wach out...

Chloe gets her ears pierced

For over a month Chloe talked about getting her ears pierced. Last week, she came home from preschool saying she was not a real princess because she did not have pierced ears like Megan at school.

Pierced ears became priority one for her. She talked about Santa getting her ear rings and how pretty she would be. Telling her she was pretty the way she was did not help. She could be prettier with ear rings....

I wanted to be there when she got her ears pierced because it seemed so important to her, but I did not want to be blamed for putting her through the pain, if she cried.

Well, I decided to man up and go. Below is a video of my brave little girl. I swear I see her fighting back tears. But, she won't admit to it. At the end, with no one to remind her, she even tells the women "Thank You"!

Now she wants Santa to bring her ear rings and lots of make up......