We did have very sad Christmas night, however. About 4 p.m., one of our cats, Loopy, started to seem very lethargic. Then her condition turned for the worse at bedtime for the kids. We had the kids come into our room to visit with Loopy as she lay on our bed, and had them say goodbye. We told them that Loopy's sickness was really bad, and that she wouldn't be with us in the morning. They knew that she was sick (myxosarcoma ), and they knew she was going to die, but they still didn't really understand what that meant. Isabelle understood it best, but David asked to see her in the morning after Christmas.

So anyway, Loopy faded away at our bedtime later that night.

Here it is, the Christmas post, with all it's present laden glory. Actually, there will be a second post of pictures I think.

We started the celebration a little early, after dinner on Wednesday night. We were informed by a little elf from Missouri that one certain box had some Christmas themed pajamas which would look great on Christmas morning. So we opened that up before baths, and the kids wore the warm flannel PJs to bed.

Then we had to get the cookies and carrots out on a plate for Santa and his reindeer. Done.

Onto Christmas morning. Thankfully, the kids slept until about 7:3. Then David came in, scooting into bed right next to Julie, and laid there for about 30 seconds. Then he jumped up and ran down the hall. THUMP THump thump went his feet on the floor. Followed shortly after with thump thuMP THUMP. "Mommy, Daddy, the cookies and carrots are gone!"

THUMP THump thump....thump thuMP THUMP. "And the stockings are full! Come on, get up!"


So we got up, and David was standing guard next to the Christmas tree, all jumpy and hoppy. Julie went in to wake Isabelle, who grunted, "I'm tired. I didn't sleep enough, but I guess I'll get up anyway." A few minutes later, she was up, and inspecting her stocking stuffers.

Then, of course, was the tree. Or should I say, all the pretty boxes under the tree, and tucked behind the couch arm a little bit? Sometimes, just ripping open presents is the best part. Sometimes, it the actual gift. Isabelle and david were very happy about this fine morning, and had some shortbread cookies as a pre-breakfast snack.

Later that morning, Grandma Jeanne, Aunt Susan, Uncle Greg and Aunt Joan came by for a Christmas brunch, and a whole lot more presents! And a whole lot more fun! David and Isabelle were great helpers at passing out all the presents for everyone. They were also very good at helping to tear apart more presents. And we never have enough batteries, but the kids still had lot of fun with the new toys, especially a talking dinosaur, and a set of mini 4X4s.

Isabelle made a great Gingerbread house in Kindergarten today! Actually, its a graham cracker house, but thats just semantics. She was so proud to show off her creation. And we are pretty proud of her too!


Now, where can we keep this away from tempted fingers and kitty-cat whiskers? (No, we're not gonna eat it all tonite!)




(I think one of us had a finger over the flash with that one picture)

David is a sucker for store displays. Every time we walk past a store or even an end-cap within a store, David finds something he needs. Or at least WANTS. Badly. Most of the evening after visiting a store, I am reminded of a train, or bear, or car, or candy bit he would like.
The funniest bit of 'reminding Dad' was the other day at dinner, when he mentioned he again wanted, "The train we saw at the farm store."
"Farm store?" I said. "Do you mean the farm we visited around Halloween?"
"No."
"Farmer's Market?"
"No."
Then he reminded me that we were there a day or two ago, and got some cleanser and some stuff for my work. Ohhh...The Pharmacy!
"Yea, Dad. Can I get that train?"



(p.s., we have like 8 trains, so he's not getting that one.)

We just got our Christmas tree, and it is up and shinning. We actually picked it up yesterday, but it was all wet as we have had a rain storm for a few days now. This is one is about 5' (150 cm) tall and maybe 3' (95 cm) round. And it was clearly cut down in August. At least, the number of needles on the floor of the garage, where I placed it to dry, would lead me to believe it was an early harvest. It didn't look so dry in the yard, but again, we had a rainstorm. Some of the other trees looked a bit worse.

I placed it in the corner after moving the couch over a bit, placed a couple strand s of lights on it (why do strings of lights always loose the ability to light up when they are placed in a box for 11 months? We have 5 sets, 3 work!) And when you have two kids with ornaments in hand, it sure takes a long time to string lights around a tree!


Eventually it got done, and hanging of ornaments commenced. For a while there, I thought all we really need to do for Christmas is bring out a tree and let the kids decorate. They loved doing it. And they really would have loved to decorate, and re-decorate, and re-decorate all night long! Then Isabelle and David wanted to take their favorite ornament, and bring it to their room to play with and admire. David wanted to play with a glass double-decker bus, Isabelle found a purplish glittery swan. We convinced them to keep everything on the tree, with the breakable stuff up and away from the reach of the daycare kids. So the tree is ready for the pretty boxes to go underneath!

David had his 4 year annual check up. 4 YEARS! Wow. He's doing great. He is very healthy, and David is also still above everything on the growth charts. He is such a brave and strong little boy, when he wants to be, as he had 4 shots at this visit. And not one whimper.

I brought Isabelle along too, so she could get a couple of vaccinations as well, for the H1N1 and seasonal flu. And I think she cried and fussed more before the actual shot then after! She also got a nasal version of the seasonal, and was just a little annoyed with that.


We stopped by a drive-thru Starbucks and the kids got a madeleine, which they love, and everything was OK, ....with David. Isabelle wasn't too quick to let this go, and as soon as we got home, she told Julie that she does not like getting shots AT ALL!