Greetings

Yes, I realize I should have had these posted day of, as so many of you have been kind enough to point out. But let me tell you, it has been a busy week, and I just plain forgot to download the pictures to the computer.

We have had ear infections, late night visits to after hours clinics, early morning visits for outpatient surgery, lots of naps, lots of antibiotics, a little bit of codeine, a lot of Tylenol, more than our fair share of dirty duds, crabby kids, tired parents, and other assorted ailments that come from being sick or having sick kids. Sarah Grace did fine with her little outpatient procedure, and other than a bit of residual pain, is a mostly cheerful, if not sleepier than normal, child. Thomas is still struggling with nasty double ear infections, but will recover and be his perky self soon, as well. At any rate, Joshua and I are a tad sleep deprived, but it's a long weekend!

As for the pictures, enjoy! The kids had a blast ripping into their Santa gifts and playing with all their grandparents Christmas Day. There was much no-ing and mine-ing coming from the mouths of my babes in their own toyland, and the jury is still out as to weather or not Santa Claus is coming to town again. Let us have a little more recovery time and we will talk about it at a later date.

It was, despite my whining, a very Merry Christmas. After their afternoon naps, the kids snapped out of it and were much friendlier to each other the rest of the day. Joshua and I were able to enjoy some sweet time with all of our parents, as well as just some 'nuclear' family time and still feel rested enough to return to our usual routines the next day.

Our home is in the midst of de-Christmassing now. The tree got gone today, and I would imagine that the lights and the rest of the decorations will find their way back to the attic for the next eleven months. However, the celebration of the miracle of Christ's birth will not be stored away, but rather something that we try to instill in our children's lives everyday. I hope homes across the country remember not to forget or put up until next year the wonder and the true reasoning behind the celebration of CHRISTmas.