It's FINALLY beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

It looks kind of festive and Christmas-y, right?

After a month of gloom, drizzle and gray, we finally got a bit of this white stuff they keep talking about. We were starting to think it might be our first Christmas in five years that wasn't white! We didn't get much and it's warming up a bit now so it will probably be mush before long, but it looks pretty now!

The kids have been busy celebrating the holidays at school. Neither had a holiday program for parents, but both had parties. Hadley's class did the usual goodies, games and songs. She goes to a Christian preschool so there's a lot of focus on the birth of Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas, which I like. Wyatt goes to public school so they try to be politically correct and teach about all the holidays. His class has a menorah and a Christmas tree in it and the other day he came home and wished us Happy Kwanzaa! His class had a special "Polar Express Day" and the entire school wore their pajamas that day. They had hot chocolate, candy canes and took a pretend train ride through the halls to the decorated commons room where they watched the Polar Express movie. The next day his class had their holiday party and I was one of the volunteer moms so I got to partake in the festivities, which was fun. There are so many food allergies, they had only individually packaged fruit snacks instead of cookies or cupcakes which seemed a little unceremonious, but I guess it's just a sign of the times. Wyatt was so happy to have me there and I enjoyed seeing him there and getting to know the other kids better.

I don't want to jinx it, but we are finally WELL. No one has barfed, coughed or had diarrhea in over a week, which is huge for us. I did manage to go round two on my strep (thank goodness no one else picked it up) despite my best efforts to clean and pitch my toothbrush and all other possible contaminates. I just finished up my second round of antibiotics so I'm hoping this is it. Everywhere we go we hear people hacking, sneezing or complaining of illness so we're dousing ourselves in antibacterial gel and hoping for the best.

We've been doing our best to get in the spirit of the holidays, despite the sadness blanketing the country right now in light of the shootings in Connecticut. It's just all too heartbreaking and there are really no words. It hit really close to home because the kids were Wyatt's age and the school sounded a lot like ours, in a town where nothing bad ever happens. I was glued to the news absorbing every detail until Dayven called me "obsessed" and insisted I turn it off. I can't stop thinking of those sweet babies and cry every time I look at their beautiful faces in the photos. I will be praying for their families for a long time. It really puts things in perspective and was a true reminder of how precious life is and what's really important.

I've been hugging my kids a lot tighter and enjoying more of the little things. We've been listening to Christmas music non-stop, admiring the tree and baking. My parents are here now and we're enjoying just being together. Dayven and I are even going to sneak away for a date night tonight.  My mom and I are taking the big kids to see the Nutcracker tomorrow and they are so excited. We're listening to the soundtrack now. Only three more sleeps and the big day is here!

Their impersonation of the Nutcracker...