4 Down, 1 More to Go!

We are waiting for my brothers and their families to arrive today so we can celebrate our 5th Christmas! It all started on Christmas Eve with a trip to visit Mark's grandma and his mom's side of the family in Illinois. Then Christmas morning we woke up in our own beds and had our little family celebration. We then went to my parents' house to spend the rest of Christmas day with them. We spent Christmas night in the ER with Lydia who had some sort of viral infection with a cough and high fever. The next day we had Christmas with Mark's family. Tonight we have our final Christmas gift exchange and then we'll ring in 2009 at midnight. It's been a great Christmas despite the fact that Liddy got sick and couldn't wear her Christmas dress to church! The kids got way more stuff than they deserved and we ate way more food than we should have. The boys got a Wii game system and have had fun playing and watching the grown-ups try to play it! It's pretty bad when you wake up with sore muscles from playing a silly tennis video game! I'm posting from Mom's house now so I can't upload any pictures from Christmas to show you, but I'll do that soon. In the midst of the craziness, I hope I didn't forget to take a few! Have fun tonight as you ring in the new year with family and friends. Happy 2009!

Our Star Performers!

Here's a few photos of the kids' performances this Christmas season. Between church and 3 different schools, we were busy!

Lydia's preschool performance. She's in the back row with the black hairbow!

After they sang, they had a birthday party for Jesus. Here comes His cake!

Please hurry with the cake and punch!

Caleb acting goofy before his school choir concert. Thank goodness he didn't behave like this in the performance. Singing is not really his favorite thing to do, but he's in stage choir this year so he can act in the spring musical, Cinderella. Therefore, he had to endure this performance of "Handel's Messiah" for his final exam in the class!

Caleb needed a little help from Dad to tie his necktie before the show!

Here's Levi as King Herod in the church children's play. He had a hard time being mean and telling them "to kill all the baby boys". He did a great job!

King Herod again. Lydia was an angel in practice but didn't get to perform because she was sick!

Pause the playlist to the left and you can listen to Lydia singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in this video. So cute! She's in the back row with the black hairbow!

HELP!!! "I Need a Silent Night"

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've had time to post an update. So sorry to all my tens of readers out there! This time of year, who has time to read blogs anyway? It's too crazy getting ready for the biggest birthday celebration of the year! We've had sickness here again, tons of school parties and performances and now 3 slick snowy days stuck inside and I'm starting to panic about Christmas being a week and a day away. I still have cards to mail, presents to buy and wrap, parties to give and attend. My house is a wreck since Mark is building a mantle for our fireplace so we can mount our new TV we got for Christmas. I'm feeling a little like a new Christmas song I heard from Amy Grant called "I Need a Silent Night"! She talks about how in the midst of all the chaos she needs a silent night, a holy night. The words are perfect for all you moms and grandmas out there who are stressing out right now about getting it all done on time. Pause the music on my playlist, then relax and enjoy.......

Happy Birthday Levi!

Levi is 10 years old today! Wow--he's double digits for the rest of his life! Doesn't seem possible. He's not too thrilled about having a December birthday this year and was asking why he had to born in December anyway. My best answer was because God wanted you to be! We're having a simple celebration with him today and he'll have his friend party in about a month because the pool was all booked up for December! We are in party mode around here with my Mom's birthday last week, my Dad's yesterday and my Grandma J would've turned 95 tomorrow. This year she'll celebrate her birthday in heaven and the kids said she'll probably have an "angel" food cake! Here's Levi now and below are a few old pictures at his 6-year-old birthday party!

Levi at 10 years old, all grown-up and calm!

Levi at his 6-year-old birthday party, all crazy and cute!

What a joy Levi has been to raise. He's a ton of fun and loves life and everybody in it! Levi, you are an incredible kid and we are so proud to have you in our family. Happy 10th Birthday, buddy!