Voyages in Parenthood

Let me start by saying that Santa is one awesome guy! Only thing I really wanted this year was a win over the Cowboys on Christmas day, and did he ever deliver! I was a very happy Eagles fan! (that's not to say that I am not grateful for all the great stuff I DID get!) We had an awesome weekend over all! We headed north to NY on Friday night in the driving rain, but all-in-all the trip wasn't too bad. Arrived around 11 or 11:30 and Leda was back in bed by midnight. Up early the next day asking for "Pop Pa" and "Na Na" and wasn't disappointed when they woke up not too long after we did! Saturday was a pretty laid back day catching up with Grandpa and Nana and Nana Rose and seeing Aunt Stacy and Uncle Todd. And, checking out that HUGE Christmas Tree in the front hall. With all the MANY presents underneath - and Santa hadn't even arrived yet! (Gluttony at its best!) Sunday was another relaxing day - Leda played with Nana and Grandpa and Aunt Stacy and G...

As this will be the last night I have before next week to post, here's the annual Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays post... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Holiday weekend starts right after work tomorrow and I plan not to be anywhere near a computer for the following four days! I am SO looking forward to the time away! Here's hoping Santa remembers to bring me that extra special present on Christmas night...you know what I am talking about, that one that starts around 5PM on Christmas night and if my in-laws are so inclined to let me watch (I have promised to behave myself - as long as no one there is rooting for the cowgirls) will have me celebratin' real good by 8PM? Yep, that one. Else the next post here might not be so cheery! ;-) Happy and Safe Holidays to you all.

Wow, two weeks in a row only two posts. Gotta get better than that! This past weekend was a busy one! Friday night we headed over to the Shiers for the weekly get-together-for-dinner-so-the-kids-can-play-with-one-another-and-the-adults-can-have-adult-conversations or whatever we have been calling them - really, just a way for us parents to gather our children in one house and ignore them for a few hours! ;-) Leda discovered a rocking horse which she just thought was awesome! Saturday found us cleaning the house, readying it for putting Christmas decorations up and laying down our new carpet in the living room. We purchased the new carpet in the beginning of November, picked it up two weeks ago and finally found time to lay it down on Saturday. This is a big deal as we got a good carpet - plush and soft - AND padding for it! Leda has already tested it out several times and the "thud" is much less noticeable now! Also, Aunt Claire was coming for a visit!! Claire was in NYC this...

What a busy weekend we all had. Friday night we headed over to the Durhams to help Paige celebrate her 3rd birthday! Leda had fun playing with the kids and watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman with Sydney and her Daddy, John. On Saturday, we went hunting for a Christmas Tree. This year there was no snow, but the wind was cold and we had to go to a far away field on a hill to find a tree. Luckily it turned out okay, but got me thinking about getting an artifical tree here soon. Don't know if I will breakdown and do it or not. Gotta say, the smell of pine really makes me re-think the idea and I think we will head out again next year to cut one down! Saturday afternoon we all packed up and Leda headed over to our neighbors for the night and Brock and I headed down to Atlantic City for my company holiday party at the Borgata. Very nice place and we had a blast! Dinner was at Wolfgang Pucks and the food was great - the drink just kept a pouring, so I was pretty...

So, here's one of the last pictures taken with my old camera... Leda wasn't real sure about this Santa person. Out of about 100 people milling around at this toys for tots event, Santa was the ONLY one Leda had issues with - what is up with that, anyway? The old guy with the corvette is okay, but the big jolly guy in the red suit is off limits?? Anyway, we did get some pictures with Santa - albeit, Mommy had to be in the picture AND between Santa and Leda. These are some of the last pictures taken with my old camera. Brock was able to get the camera to give up the pictures, but in order for it to ever take pictures again, it will probably cost us a bit of money! Don't know what happened to it, but it just doesn't want to cooperate with us. I was pretty bummed about the camera. I mean, how can a camera give up just before Christmas? Does it not understand that yes, it is needed other times of the year, but Christmas is really when it is worth all the money someone spent...

My camera is broke. Just decided to quit working. And with Santa pictures on it, no less. And three weeks before Christmas. Wanna talk mad?? Need to resort to the 35mm for Christmas, which means no one is getting any Christmas pictures anytime soon! Today, is not a good day. Don't even get me started on the approximately 3 hours of sleep I got last night due to one child who decided that 2:30am was a good time to wake up and NOT go back to sleep. Until 5:30am. Hopefully the week will get better. It can only go up from here (one can only hope!)