Ugh, was that a Mack truck?

Wowie, this flu season is a doozy. We've managed to stay healthy since the Spring, but going to a Christmas party with 300+ people in a cramped, poorly ventilated space was a breeding ground for trouble. And of course, it happened. Now the only one of us not sick is Jon. How did HE manage to skip it? HUH?

Did anyone catch the plate numbers on that truck that ran over our family? Oh....there it is.....

White Christmas!

Okay, so technically this isn't a "true" White Christmas, as there isn't any snow anywhere, but hey, things are still very WHITE, so it counts, right? We had the oddest fog roll in a few days ago, and the longer it stayed, the whiter everything got! Of course with temperatures under 25 degrees, it's no wonder all that soupy water vapor turned to ice, but WOW....it left us with the most gorgeous display of winter foliage! Check it out:

I hope all of my friends in blogdom had a blessed Christmas--we certainly did. As usual our children were overwhelmed with far too many gifts and we were all passed out on the couch by noon, but this year we had a little something different. Kelsey had a Christmas Eve emergency room trip for severe stomach pains. We wanted to rule out appendicitis, and it was. Just gastritis, but that meant that none of the huge feast I prepared was eaten by my buffet queen. And now Morgan and Pete have it, so our traditional Christmas breakfast burritos and fruit salad went uneaten, and I'm not even bothering to make the lasagne I planned on making today. Oh well....there's always next year!

Ahh, next year. Well, one of Pete's gifts turned out to be a bit of a surprise to all of us. It wasn't really from ME, although I did wrap it for him and hand it to him to wrap. I gave it to him on Christmas Eve, because with Kelsey's illness and Jon's temporary "I hate my family" attitude, it wouldn't have been as easy to just be excited about it had it been opened on Christmas morning in front of the whole family. What was it, you ask? Well, it was a cute little digital device, fairly new on the market. A little white stick about six inches long with a display screen on one end with one simple word to announce........that we are expecting baby number SIX in August of next year!!!!! We are thrilled (even though our family will not be) that God has blessed us again with yet another arrow for our quiver, and we pray that as we grow spiritually that we will be able to do everything for this child and all of his/her siblings that God would have us to do. We pray, as we have with each of our other children, that their hearts and minds will be molded to fulfill His will for them and that they will each become as much of a blessing to this world and His Kingdom as they are to us!

It's amazing to think that next year we'll have an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 4-month-old around our table at Christmastime! Shoot, who wouldn't want a houseful of little ones like this?

This computer hates me!

For the FIFTH day in a row now, I am unable to use this silly computer without both MSN Explorer and Internet Explorer going haywire on me. I'm actually typing this right now with a little error box in front of this text box that reads: "msn has encountered a problem and needs to close. we are sorry for the inconvenience."

What is this, the computer Grinch or something?

What does this mean???

So...does this support Pete's accusation that I am a word snob? If so, NO FAIR! He doesn't need any help picking on me!

She's okay...again.

I still stand by my prediction that Jamie will be the first of our children to break a bone. She's just bound and determined to be the one with a standing reservation in a hospital trauma ward! How one child can so fervently jump headlong into danger on a daily basis without the slightest fearful hesitation is just beyond me, but Jamie...well, Jamie is fearless. She seems to have, by osmosis, absorbed the fearlessness that has catapulted Jon and Kelsey into walls, floors, skateboard ramps, poles, and miles of asphalt, but somehow Jamie has all of their combined cavalier bravado concentrated in her tiny 30-pound frame.

Last night, Jamie once again challenged gravity and the vulnerability of growing bones. As if her last stunt (taking a leap off of the coffee table in an effort to fly--only to land face-first on the tile floor and left with a split-open top lip, a bloody and bruised nose, and a loose tooth) wasn't enough proof of her fearlessness, she found it necessary last night to see what would happen if she ignored Mom and just went ahead and let Morgan throw her around. Well....if she hadn't woken up this morning with an only slightly tender arm, we'd be heading to the hospital for x-rays today. She went to bed last night with her little teeny wrist splinted and wrapped in an Ace bandage, because after her rather rough encounter with the floor (and the weight of her own body and Morgan's as well on top of her wrist), she couldn't move it and spent almost four full hours in tears.

This latest injury was probably the closest we've come to actually having a broken bone--well, at least with Jamie. Jon has had close to a dozen ankle sprains to his record, and our health clinic didn't even bother loaning us the crutches--they just GAVE them to us. We've been expecting a break for a long time; it's just not happened yet. But it's only a matter of time.

Perhaps Jamie needs to be outfitted with full football padding? Hmm, does that even come in a 3T?

Wordless Wednesday--Oh? Christmas Trees?

Ours--

Jon's--

To view other Wordless Wednesday participants, go HERE. Leave a comment, I'll link you up below!
*Celeste* *angi* *liza* *be inspired* *natalie* *2cents*

Forget this silly "break" thing....

I'm BORED! Seems the kiddos are now tired of cookies and crafts, and with my Christmas shopping done and mailed...there's not much left to do!

Let the blogging resume!

Breaking my break

Ok, this was too cute NOT to blog about. Sitting here beside me as I checked email, Morgan decided to "color her name". Okay, kiddo, go for it. Well, she did! Colored in is a distinct "Mo", which is her nickname! Cool, huh? Not bad for a not-quite-four-year-old!

December Blog Break

My life needs some simplification. My girls want to play with salt dough and make cookies. There are Christmas markets all over Germany begging to be seen. SOMEwhere, there is snow just calling my name. So guess what? I'm going to go live life a little these next few weeks.

Maybe sometime after Christmas I'll have tons of pictures and fun little anecdotes to share...but for now, I wish you all a Happy Holiday season and I'll see you sometime around the new year!