True friends are priceless...

So we are in Sacramento, visiting one of my BF's and her family... They are Lucia's godparents, and we are having a blast doing absolutely nothing.  Best kind of vacation if you ask me!  We got in late Xmas night, and after a yummy breakfast on Sunday, drove to Tahoe for the night...  The kids got to play in the snow, and then we went tubing the next morning and drove home.  Simple.  Easy.  Fun.  Best kind of adventure!  Yesterday and today we've done nothing but hang out at the house...  Correction - I did have a successful visit to Thrift Town to get some more clothes... (remember this post from over a year ago?) and this afternoon we're going to go check out another store.  I love finding bargains!

The best part about this for me is that Lucia gets along SO AMAZINGLY WELL with J and E (the kids)... they have been playing make-believe and all kinds of other creative games non-stop with no melt-downs or fights yet!  3 days and counting...  We just finished lunch, and they are riding bikes, scooters, etc... in the backyard before we go run some errands and check out a fish-hatchery...  Then maybe the hot tub tonight for the kids and I'm sure they will pass out early.

Tomorrow brings a trip into San Francisco for the day, and then alas, tomorrow night we have to pack to go home.... Boo...  I am just so grateful for friends where we can just "be" and laugh and talk and sleep and all that stuff that sometimes you don't want to do when you are a "guest"... but we aren't guests which is the best.  I am extremely grateful to have such great friends that are really more like family!

Better than any present...

Was watching Lucia find what Santa left her on Christmas morning...

Reading her letter from Santa...

Realizing she gets to keep Missy the Moose forever (long story... kind of like the "Elf on the Shelf" concept)

Opening Santa's present... FELICITY... The American Girl!!!

A Very Content Lucia...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wishing you all the MERRIEST of Christmases and the continued joy of the season... Talk to you in the New Year, if not before!

Lucia, visiting Santa last night at Christmas Town...  They had a VERY Serious conversation!!!

Sticky Note Tuesday... pre-Christmas edition

Hi Everyone... a quick little sticky-note collage before Christmas...



(Yes... this is yellow on purpose!)

It serves me right that my stomach is in absolute revolt today...

Because I ate yesterday, like I used to eat 2+ years and 80+ pounds...  Behold these choices:

• A cream donut from McMillan's Bakery in NJ (my parents brought them down) - you can see the pictures, but each donut probably weighs half-a-pound each.  And there were a dozen of them.
• Eggs Benedict including homemade hollandaise sauce for brunch
• A cheese and turkey roll up for later lunch
• "Amazing Thai" with chicken for a late Dinner (Chicken and veggies on rice in a peanut sauce)

WTF???  Part of me argues that it was tradition - we were celebrating Christmas the way we used too... which included the donuts and eggs benedict.  And while every bite was fantastic, needless to say my stomach has NOT been appreciative of any of it today in more ways than one.  Ugh.  I certainly could have made a few better choices, but I didn't.  It is interesting to me though, just how far I have come - although it all tasted good (really good in some cases), I just can't handle the rich stuff anymore.  And to think I used to eat like that more often than not.  No wonder I was over 283 at my highest!  Time to start healthier Christmas "morning" traditions!  

~*~*~

Lucia had her Christmas pageant last night, and was an Angel (of course!)... she did a great job... here are some pix of her in the pageant... Enjoy!

Angel Lucia

Angels, Natalie & Lucia practicing their flying skills

Lucia is right in the middle, behind the camels & cows and in front of the stars!

Snow day accomplishment

Good morning all!  We had a snow day yesterday... schools closed (and again today) and I got a day off of work which was heavenly!!!  I got all my laundry done - still have to put it away, got all my presents wrapped, realized the few (thankfully) little things I still need to get, and spent some good time with Lucia!  We played outside for about an hour-and-a-half, and then my sister-in-law unexpectedly stopped in and spent the night.  Always nice to have a day off like that!  Today is back to work - a few things are still on the list to get, and then stocking stuffers which usually happen on the 24th.  My parents are coming tonight for the weekend and to exchange gifts and we have Disney Princesses on Ice tonight and then Lucia's Christmas Pageant at church tomorrow.  Busy but fun weekend of things to do!  I hope all is going well for everyone out there.  Thinking of many of you during the holidays!

Great weekend in FL - even though it was COLD!

Hi everyone!!!  We just got back from a weekend at Disney World... What a FUN time!!!  I think this simple picture of Lucia was my favorite from the entire weekend.  We took Thursday morning to go to some of the resorts to see their gingerbread creations, and this was a completely spur-of-the-moment shot - she just looks so darn cute and angelic here!  And a real smile vs. one of those "cheesy" 6-year old smiles!

The best part of the trip for me was actually going to see the Harry Potter section at Universal.  I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan...  All I can say was IT. WAS. AMAZING.  Worth every penny.  They put Disney to shame with the absolute attention to detail!!!  I could have spent the whole day there, and we were completely lucky to walk right onto the rides.  In fact, we waited longer for the "show" at Ollivander's Wand shop than anything else.  And of course, we all got our requisite butter beer which was a lot like cream soda with whipped cream on top - YUM!!!! I truly felt like I had been transported into Hogsmeade and that I would see Snape round the corner at any minute!

The trip, albeit short, was a really nice way to celebrate with my folks and to kind of "kick off" the upcoming holiday events. We have a lot going on over the next 3 weeks though and this was just the start!  So here are a few more pictures (below) of the weekend...  The weather ranged from high 30's to low 70's - quite the range!  I'm glad we came home today though because it is supposed to be in the teens there tomorrow!!!

I hope everyone out there in band-land is doing well... I don't look forward to seeing the damage on the scale tomorrow morning, but I enjoyed myself and kept the over-indulgence to a minimum!!!

My Dad, me, Lucia & Dennis at The Grand Floridian

Lucia & Den outside Magic Kingdom

The Castle... those really should have been REAL icicles hanging off - it was COLD!

My parents in front of Cinderella's Castle

Lucia with her Butterbeer

Lucia and me, riding "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" at Universal.   We got pretty wet - thankfully it was warmer that day!!!

Trying to simplify Christmas... just a little bit!

Good morning everyone!!!  We woke up this morning to a tiny little covering of snow...  So pretty - and even better, it will be melted by noon.  No shoveling today!!!

We've had a delightfully quiet weekend... Lucia is still fighting pneumonia, but thankfully getting better each day.  However, as the doctor reminded us, lots of rest is what is going to kick this, so since we're traveling to FL this upcoming weekend, we need to get in the rest now!  Thankfully she's cooperating on that front.

I decided that I am going to do my best to simplify Christmas this year.  I don't need anything.  Honestly, we all have too much stuff. We are blessed that if we need something, we get it.  And I'm at that point where what I really want is a magic wand to clean out the excess, NOT more stuff... so Dennis and I agreed that this year we are going to just do stockings for each other, and get new flooring in our kitchen which we've been talking about for years.  Maybe a new toilet in the bathroom too (not a very exciting gift, but exciting to me if that makes sense!). When it will happen, who knows - but there is a plan now!  What a relief to me it is to know that I don't have to figure out what to buy him that he doesn't need/want!!!  Plus, we're going to CA on Xmas day to see dear friends, so I didn't really want to deal with decorating up the house when we weren't going to be there.  Instead, Lucia and I decided to decorate our pre-lit palm tree with ornaments, and you can see the outcome below.  Not half bad!  In fact, as Dennis said, there is way more room for presents underneath (which isn't going to be an issue anyways)!!!

We went to a Christmas Play on Friday night, which tied Santa and Jesus together in a wonderful way, and was just amazing.  I think even Lucia got the message that Christmas is about giving to others, and about the gift that God gave us...  Yesterday was quiet - errands and dinner with friends, and then church today, a few more errands, then the afternoon at home.  I am going to try to get everything wrapped so that I can enjoy the next few weeks, and really focus on the quality of the season vs. the rushing and stress....  I hope you all have had a great weekend, and (for fellow bandsters) if you pray, please send Barbara and her family prayers...