Week in Review

Last time I posted, it was Family Night. That was a fun night! This week was Addie's first week of pre-school and she is loving it. She gets to eat breakfast and lunch at school and gets out at 1pm, so it's a big leap from the 2-hour pre-school she is used to. But like I said, she is enjoying it a lot, and Heidi loves having mommy and daddy to herself a bit, too (mommy while James naps, Daddy at lunchtime). This schedule also allows me to get a lot done, too, since James takes a nap right about when Addie gets home, so Addie and I have about an hour of computer time then we go feed James around 2pm and we lay down and read stories or watch a kid show before starting dinner and afternoon clean-up. So far, so good.

Also, this week I found out that I will have a new niece this spring! My sister, Sara, is having a baby girl (third child, first girl). Of course, it will be ages before I get to see her since Sara lives in Michigan, but I am still excited! So my cousin Lacy, my friend Mary, my sister Sara, and possibly my cousin Kate are all having baby girls pretty soon. Good times!

We also had our Relief Society Christmas Luncheon on Saturday for which Jenn & I decorated a table. The table turned out really cool on a really slim budget (almost everything was made from paper or ribbon, with a tower of beautifully-wrapped and tied gifts as the centerpiece), and the luncheon was so nice. We did a readers' theatre of the Women in Christ's life, and it was really nice. I sang Mary's Lullaby (the Easter Pageant version) and I totally started crying while I was singing! I choked out the words, but I was so embarrassed! I guess the emotion of having a baby son at Christmas time really got to me! But it all turned out alright. I'll have a chance to redeem myself when I sing it in sacrament meeting on Christmas Eve (which will probably be WORSE!).

We are having so much fun with the girls! They are just WIRED for Christmas. They got to see Santa again, this time at the bank during the Livingston Christmas Stroll (it was warm enough to actually stroll this year). After cruising around downtown on Friday night, we picked up Anna, our new favorite babysitter, and Rich and I went to Bozeman to finish Santa shopping. We got everything for the kids except the small Cars character cars that Addie wants. We are so bummed! We have missed three truckloads of them at both Walmart and Target. We wanted to get her Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc, & Sally as stocking stuffers (they are small and only about $3) so she and Heidi can play Cars together (they already do, but McQueen is an old red Matchbox Corvette and Mater is a GI Joe Jeep with a tow cable on the back from a Happy Meal).

I wanted to keep track of the funny things they do to the nativity set downstairs, but this year all that has happened is Baby Jesus and the shepherd have disappeared. I am hoping to find them in the toy box when I clean it out this week (to donate and make room for new stuff, of course).

Last night we took some fun pictures of Rich's sister, Angie, and her family (they live across the street). They brought over an antique sled that belongs to Davy's mom and the pictures turned out pretty cool.

So that's about all I have to update. I gotta go finish up my Christmas stuff--my deadline is Wednesday, and then it's smooth sailin'--just hanging' out with my kids, baking, etc. Good times, y'all.