It's Christmas here, people

I love this time of year. Joey and I celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday....actually we haven't really celebrated yet. We'll be doing that after Christmas. I had a Christmas piano recital here last weekend and the kids made graham cracker houses afterwards. It was a fun night with friends. The kids got a little crazy and practically poured candy all over their houses. They figured that the more they put on, the more they could munch and pick at later. I feel ready for Christmas. The presents are wrapped, we're putting together a little program for Christmas Eve, and Grandma and Grandpa will be arriving tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

You better watch out...

Sammie was the only one brave enough to sit on Santa's lap at the ward Christmas party. Or maybe she thought that it was the only way to actually get the candy cane. She may not have realized that you will get one whether you sit on Santa's lap or not. But she was first in line and probably felt that she had no choice. I think Olivia thought she was too old and Abby was not happy about it. Santa tried really hard to be a part of the picture with the girls as he leaned over. Abby was very cautious and kept stepping away. The girls are excited for Christmas though. This is the first year that we will be in our own home for Christmas morning. I'm so excited too. I can definitely feel the Christmas magic this year. Santa gets to come to our house.

Abby. She likes to read.

I caught Abby "reading" the other day. She does this all the time. She picks up books and jabbers, makes things up, and sometimes says some of the words she remembers from the pages. She has such a cute inflection in her voice and expressions on her face. She takes her reading very seriously. I especially love when she reads Frog and Toad.
"And fwog says, Wake up Toad! And then it is spwing time. Toad says it's not my button." Those books were a family favorite when I was growing up.
Abby can carry on a conversation non-stop. She always has something to say. She can even have a pretend conversation on a play phone for 20 minutes with herself. She's good company I must say.

It's December

December 1st. Sammie has yet, another fun dress-up day at school. Today is Cowboy Day. She had her outfit panned for a week. Olivia got a new pair of shoes because she was complaining of hers being worn out. The ones that were brand new on the first day of school? Yep. A hole in the botton already. How do shoes wear out so fast? With Sammie motivated by Cowboy Day and Olivia by new shoes, the girls were not only up before my alarm went off, but they had breakfast, brushed their teeth, fixed their hair, got dressed, and packed up their backpacks before my alarm had ever even gone off.

Then at exactly 6:59 they were in the backyard dribbling basketballs.

At 7:10 they were crying about being bored.

Then they got the markers out and time slipped by and we had to run to catch the bus.

I'm loving the cooler weather now. I'm loving my kids. Loving my husband. Most of my Christmas shopping is done. I'm not trying to brag about it. It's just a fact and I love online shopping. As far as my health...I've been slowly improving. I can't even tell a difference in the day to day. But I notice that I'm doing more now than I was 3 months ago. My strength is slowly coming back. Ever so slowly. I have good days and bad. My doctor is saying that I have a "Fibromyalgia probably caused by an illness which may have possibly been Valley Fever (A fungal infection)" How's that for a diagnosis? I still feel confident that I will get better and life goes on.