Christmas break photos.

Jim and some of the kids went to celebrate Christmas with his side of the family.  The big girls had to work, and Saige and I missed out due to Saige having a terrible cough and fever.  The other kids reported having a good time. 

Sometimes over school breaks, I get asked if I am ready for the kids to go back to school.  I always say no.  I like having them around.  They really do get along good most of the time.   Preston got the game of Life from Santa.  I was amused listening to them play.  I believe Saige schooled them all!  

It took several days, and she still has a bit of a cold, but Saige is feeling better.  I enjoyed a little bit of snuggle time when she was feeling bad.  

It has been 50+ degrees all winter until now.  We had a winter storm with ice, sleet and a dusting of snow.  The girls had a My Little Pony marathon and 

We had to drink a lot of hot chocolate.  Aunt Geraldine gave them hot chocolate mix with several different flavors and chocolate covered spoons to stir it with.  It was a huge hit with the younger crowd. 

And with Cameron who appears to be a hot chocolate addict.  

Quincy started practicing with a new basketball team. She was pretty nervous, but she seems like she is enjoying it now. 

I truly am amazed at how fast the break is flying by! I guess it just means we are getting closer to summer!  

Happy Birthday Jesus!

It's been a marathon of Christmas here.  We started out at our annual Christmas Eve party with the Lang Gang.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins, eating like fools, trying to get one decent photo of all the cousins together, and opening gifts.  

The only thing Cameron really wanted this year was a pogo stick.  He was very pleased!  

The top of Quincy's list was an incubator.  She has grand plans for hatching her own laying hens this spring!   She would also like to give some duck and peacock eggs a spin.   

It was such a fun night.   I appreciate my sister in law taking such good care of this tradition.  

After the party, the kids and I attended 11pm mass at St. John's with my parents and sister.  It had been a really long time since I went to church there.  It is the church Jim and I were married in.  It was a beautiful service and it was filled with good memories for me.  I don't know why I don't attend mass there more often, it isn't far away.  I always love going there.  Life happens I guess.  

This morning, the kids actually let us sleep until 7!  We have had a nice little quiet Christmas.  

We finally had some time to put together our gingerbread house.  It was a better effort than last time, but we really do not excel at this activity.  We had fun trying.  This time, the kit I bought was missing a wall!  We had to improvise.  

The little girls were exceedingly happy.  I have to share this little story about my kids.  Last year, Preston and Quincy pooled their birthday money on Black Friday and bought themselves a trampoline. About a month later, we had a big storm which whipped the trampoline into a tree and ruined it.  They were pretty upset and understandably sad.  This year, the big kids pooled their money and bought the little guys a new trampoline.  They made the arrangements to buy it, hide it and get it here this morning as a surprise.  They made the little kids sit under a blanket while they brought it inside!  

The little ones were so excited!  I was pretty proud of my big kids.  

Colin and Cameron helped them get it set up.   

And broken in!  

It has been an excellent Christmas!  We are so very blessed. 

The eye thing

The good news is I most likely won't be needing this neat eye patch my mother gave me.  The Dr. at Ku Med did not think I have melanoma.  His associate agreed. They ran a lot of tests including a sonogram of my eye which sort of freaked me out, but turned out to not be that bad. The bad news is they do not know what is in my eye. It is something they had never seen before.  They disagreed between the two doctors on what it might be. One thought a cyst, one thought it might possibly be some lymphoma cells that had migrated into my eye from someplace else. They suggested that I follow up with my regular doctor for a few tests and follow up with them in 3 months.  If the spot changes we will have to do more testing at that time.  If it doesn't, I guess we will just watch it.   So good news that it wasn't the terrible diagnosis I was given a few days back, but sort of odd that they had no real answers.  I will take it as good news and count myself amongst the blessed.  

Every time

Every Friday for years now my friend Grace and I have done a Friday email.  It keeps us connected even while we are both incredibly busy.  Every single week I tell her I am so happy it is finally Friday, and that I am excited for a weekend and hoping for some down time.  And every Sunday night, as I tuck my kids in bed, I wonder how a weekend can fly by so dang quickly.  And just for clarity sake, there really is no such thing as down time.  

Friday night, Cameron played basketball at Royal Valley.  He had a great game but the team as a whole did not.  We are not allowed to talk about the score.  

Saturday, I went to Abilene to watch Colin wrestle.  This was by far the toughest tourney they have had this year.  Lots of ranked kids, lots of super good wrestling.  Colin had a couple of nice pins. 

He also took a couple lumps. 

And finished the day in a 10 school tournament in 4th place.  Always good to see your kid on the medal stand.  I am proud of him.  He was in a tough bracket. 

This evening, the kids 4-H club went Christmas caroling.  They started out singing at the nursing home and ended up in the senior citizen apartments.  

It was a lot of fun, and I think both the Carolers and the Carolees enjoyed it. 

For about 3 weeks, I have been promising Harper we would stop and watch the city's light show and listen to the music.  Every time we have been in town in the evening, it has been malfunctioning. Tonight, we were finally able to see it in action.  I must say it is fun to watch and worth a few minutes of your time if you find yourself around town in the evening. 

And now the weekend is over.  It happens this way every single time!