catching up

thankfully, good health has been restored to our house (well almost, lauren is still on the tail end of a cold- which she caught on top of the stomach bug she had last week).  i’ve never had to deal with so much puke and poop in my life and hope i never have to again!  but having to put everything else on hold has meant that my christmas to-do list is now kind of a lost cause.  still have to take our family picture and send out our holiday cards, get a few more presents, put together photobooks for the grandparents, make the treats for both kids’ classmates, wrap all the kids’ presents…  the advent count-down i was doing with the kids got derailed a week ago…  but at least we managed to get our christmas tree up and decorated, the presents for the kids’ teachers are ready to go, and the nativity set is in place (only because i never got around to putting it away last year!).

but in the end, i really just want the kids to come away with happy memories of this year’s celebration as we remember Jesus who came to us as a baby to give us the greatest gift of all.

i may never get fully caught up (funny how life keeps happening in the midst of my trying to keep up!), but i’ll keep plugging away at it.  so this entry is really about the rest of thanksgiving– oh so many weeks ago now!

on black friday, we stayed put in our house and avoided all stores like the plague.  though i did manage to get some great online deals on a new treadmill and gps.  no waiting in line and shipped for free directly to our door!  can’t beat that.

in the evening, i stayed home with the girls while phil took mikey out for a daddy/son outing to a college basketball tournament in anaheim.  mikey was a happy boy cuz daddy provided him with a steady flow of snacks.  first was cheese pizza, then popcorn, then ice cream…

on saturday, we holed up some more at home where the kids discovered that daddy can draw some pretty cool rockets.  (daddy did have to go in to work later that night, but was back the next morning.)

one for each of ’em…

hers…

even one for the littlest one…

but it didn’t last long.

on sunday, we went and visited my brother’s family.  they took us to a park where the kids fed some ducks.

such a happy boy!

then the seagulls descended upon us.  so the daddies decided to “feed” them too…

good times.

this was just before the goose nipped jeremiah’s finger.  it caught him by surprise and he checked with both his parents to make sure he was okay, but he shook it off and kept on the job of feeding them.  even when it happened a second time!

happy little baby joy.

then we headed over to the playground for a some more fun.  lauren is a big fan of the slides and was happy to have lots of people around to go down with her.  first was her big brother…

but now what do i do with her, mommy?

uncle johnny took her down the twisty slide…

and then it was daddy’s turn!

so, i guess this means she’s not my little baby anymore?

meanwhile, the older ones were playing transformers.  with sticks.

mommies with the babies.

not-so-happy-girl…

so it was a great thanksgiving with lots of good family time.  my favorite thing.