New Year's Eve

Tonight, I am definitely thankful for our three little blessings who are always up for a big celebration. Our New Year's Eve party consisted of our traditional
"make-your-own" party hats, peppermint ice cream, and marching in a parade while Harry Connick sings Auld Lang Syne in his fun New Orleans style. Luke was on the electric guitar, Caroline was on the drum, and Jake was on his acoustic guitar. Very fun. Luke and Caroline did not stay up to see the ball drop, but we let Jake stay up for the first time. He loved that!! (he promised that he would stay in bed until 10:00 tomorrow morning... we'll see!)

Gatorade and a Flat Tire

Luke has decided he is thankful for Gatorade. The doctor told us to get Gatorade for him. (which is a special thing at our house). So when John brought home a bottle...he opened it up and started guzzling! I guess that bottle is just for Luke. Jake and Caroline quickly found a permanent marker and labeled it "LUKE". The doctor said that Luke got hit with two separate viruses...Rotavirus and croup...poor guy. We are trying our best to help him get better. The fever just won't go away.

One thing I am thankful for today is the fact that we made it to the doctor's office and back safely. When we got in the van the "inflate tires" light was on. Uh,oh...what does that mean? I remembered running over something two days ago and thinking... I hope that doesn't make me have a flat tire. Well... I got to the doctor OK and looked at the tire...very flat tire. After the visit, I went straight to a tire center.... looked like about an hour or so wait...very packed. Across the street was a Jiffy Lube and Caroline suggested I go there. Luke quickly agreed. They were both hungry. It was supper time and Luke still had a fever...poor guy. They both thought "Jiffy" sounded like a good bet. They were right. The nice man let me sit there with the kids in the van and he filled it up with air so we could make it home OK. Tomorrow we will have to figure out what to do...probably replace it. Thank you, Lord, for getting us home OK.

Two Things to be Thankful For

We are always looking for things to be thankful for. (blessings!)

Caroline is thankful that she finally got to go to Kidsnips to get her hair cut yesterday!!

And Jake is thankful that he got to go to see the Harlem Globetrotters tonight. (He even got Curly's autograph! Remember him?!)

Luke is still thinking about what he is thankful for today. He is still sick. I will be taking him to the doctor tomorrow. I think he has what Caroline had. (Bronchitis...sounds like croup, too)

Christmas '08

Merry Christmas to all and a very happy and blessed new year!! We decided to stay home this Christmas due to the fact that John is working at my sister's and brother-in-law's car dealership. He is enjoying the change of pace. It's so much different than teaching, but he will be glad to step foot in the classroom again after break! We got to celebrate with my parents and Diane's little family (they have a baby now...almost a year old!) last weekend. And then next week we will be off to Michigan to visit John's mom for New Year's Day. Poor Luke and Caroline have been battling bronchitis this Christmas, so it was good that we decided to stay put for a little while. Hopefully, they will be healthy enough to make the trip to Michigan.


Christmas morning was very fun!! It started out with Jake wanting to wake us up early, but we were scrooges and told him he had to wait until 7! Then as soon as 7:00 came, he woke up the other kids and quiet Caroline came in our room shouting, "Wake up shepherds, come with me, there is a baby you must see!!! Wake up shepherds, come with me, there is a baby you must see!!!" So we all went down and first of all checked to see if baby Jesus was in the manger (we don't put him in the nativity scene until Christmas morning) Then we headed off to open the presents. One of my fondest memories of this year will be the fact that the kids were so excited for us to open the presents that they had made/bought for us! Those were the first presents that they grabbed. After presents, we had a special breakfast and then we just played the rest of the day.

Having fun at breakfast together.

Enjoying a game of Monopoly... the modern way...debit cards instead of paper money!!

Just like Jake's!!!

A favorite present... Marshmallow, the hamster... it will definitely be well-loved!!

Caroline reading to the hamster....like I said, it will definitely be well-loved!