And a touch of December...

Wow, time does fly doesn't it?

December was a wonderfully busy month. We started with the boys school's big fundraiser, the omelet breakfast on the 2nd. Then we pre-registered all three for Little League. I hate that they start registering in December, but I saved $70 by coughing it up early. The boys had half days the entire week of the 4th.

Joey and Matthew are doing very well in school. Joey made honor roll, and got an award for outstanding performance in Language Arts (sounds like there should be a statue with it, doesn't it?) Matthew did the same for Language Arts, but they don't have "honor roll" in 3rd grade. If they did, he would have made it. We had parent/teacher conferences that were wonderful. It's awesome when you get to sit down and talk to another adult that finds your child's accomplishments as wonderful as you do!

Hope's preschool had their annual Christmas Pageant on the 8th, and Hope and her best boyfriend Salem were Joseph and Mary. We attempted to tape the performance, but the batteries on the camera died. Luckily Salem's parents filmed the entire thing. I was near tears the whole night, I was so very proud of my girl. She performed wonderfully, and looked so very beautiful and grown up! She had a terrific time too.

Her last day at school was on the 20th, so we made some goodie bags to celebrate her birthday. I was disappointed when I got there, as several parents made treat bags as "Christmas presents for their preschool friends", but I LOVED that Mrs. D, her teacher, had all the present bags put in the kids cubbies. Hope was allowed to pass her birthday bags out at the end of class so that she would have a turn to have a special day at school. Turns out that Mrs. D has two kids who were born in December too! FANTASTIC!

I managed to squeeze in as much shopping as possible on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9am and 12noon so that Hope wouldn't catch me at it. On Friday the 15th, I picked Hope up from school and took her to the mall to find something for her cousins. Unfortunately, another driver felt that being on time for his job at the candy counter was more important than actually stopping at the intersection, and plowed into us. I was absolutely terrified. The minivan may be totalled, but Hope was not injured, and I have a bit of bruised elbow. I made the paramedics come and check Hope out because the impact was pretty hard. The airbags didn't go off, but it was a good thing. My mechanic explained that if they had gone off, I probably would have more injuries that the minor stuff I have. I used enough adrenaline for the next 5 years or do. I just kept thinking about my precious girl and what could have happened. It wasn't until the next day that I could truly appreciate that it DIDN'T happen and calm down.

So I've been driving a KIA minivan around since the 16th, and for the record, I HATE IT! It falls under the Total POS category. I rented it because they are inexpensive to buy new, and since I wasn't planning on buying a new car this year, it seemed worth a shot. It's uncomfortable, and screams CHEAP! From the upholstery fabric to the fact that the armrests are about 2 inches shorter than they should be for comfort. I'm still trying to work out details with the insurance companies, so I'm stuck with a rental for a few more days at least.

Christmas Eve was fun. We had the darling children and their parents over for clam chowder and ciopinno. They brought some homemade eggnog, and while bourbon is not something I drink, it can be quite tasty disguised with some rum, sugar, eggs and other ingredients. My kids were exhausted, and dropped to sleep by 9:30. I even finished wrapping before 5pm, so I didn't spend most of the night hunched over tape and ribbons.

Christmas was lovely. My brother was here, and I finally caved and let the boys have Game Boy Advance handheld's. I also got Hope a Leapster. It was a nice day, the kids were very quiet, and absorbed in their new games. Hope went nuts over Polly Pocket, and Joey has a telescope that he is fascinated by as well. DH made a wonderful Prime Rib dinner, and we had pies from my favorite bakery http://www.burgessbaking.com/index.html(who also made Hope's birthday cake!).

On Tuesday, Hope turned 5 years old! I cannot believe that my precious little girl has grown so big! My Dad and his wife drove up from Southern California in his brand new Lexus, to share the day (and show off the new car). We went out to dinner because I could not face another meal for 8+ and all the dishes it entails. Then Hope got to unwrap her Polly Pocket "So Hip Cruise Ship" and was over the moon! She had a great day, with lots of attention, all her favorite foods, and too many presents.

This morning, my brother and nephew left for home, and so did my Dad. It's the first day with "just us" since the 18th, and boy did I enjoy the relative peace and quiet. I did some grocery shopping, and tried to get over the lovely head cold that I've had for the past few days. The boys go back to school on the 2nd, and Hope on the 9th.

For now, it's bedtime.