12.30.06

Ok, I spoke too soon. Just as I posted last night, I went to bed only to wake up two hours later and have the stomach flu. Not only did I get it, but so did my sister and niece who are here visiting. Never say...it can't get any worse!

12.29.06

Here to check in on the holidays. Well, to put it softly there were some ups and downs. Instead of boring all with the gory details, I'll sum it up with the highlights:

Left NC and John had a bad case of the flu bug (finally ended by Saturday morn)

Saturday met up with some old friends and had some good laughs

Sunday a.m. (Christmas eve) learn that John's mom is in the hospital with an unknown pain

Sunday afternoon Karol gets a migraine

Sunday night go to Kristina's for a wonderful evening of food and fun

Drop my camera at the event and break the lens on my camera

Wake up to a happy little girl who is eager to wake up her sister and start the Santa fun

Little sister proceeds to open some gifts and then comes up with a huge spurt of vomit on the living room floor (sorry 'bout TMI)

Finish gifts, eat, shower, and leave for hospital to visit with MIL

Go to sister's home for dinner, drinks, and laughs

My niece and sister give us their old ipod mini for Lily and nano for me...yippy!

Day after Christmas head out to the stores with sis

John leaves that evening to head home to NC

We stay another day and go to Bonnie's for a visit with all of the girls

Visit John's mom at the hospital

Get word from sil in that mil is going home that evening from the hospital

Finish the VB trip with pizza and a movie at mom and dad's

Sister and niece bring the girls and I home

I get another migraine while we're on the drive home

Enter the house and immediately begin dedecorating

Have some good shopping fun with sis and all the girls

Make a yummy chicken dinner and hang out by the new fire pit

So, that's it in a nutshell...the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now, I'll add some holiday photos for fun.

12.26.06

This photo is tiny, but it's an image of a newborn Christmas baby on the maternity ward of Virginia Beach General Hospital. Lily took the picture with her new digital camera she got for Christmas. Little babies make priorities so simple and at this time of year, it's great to have your priorities in check. Merry Christmas.

12.21.06

Thought I would add a few more photos from the Christmas Caroling event.

Today, is Lily's party at her school. Spending the morning organizing the items to take with me: soda, book to read, trash bags, toilet paper, hats, scarves, gloves, cd player, holiday tunes...think that's it. Should be a good time. Tomorrow is a half day for Lily and then we will be all set for the holidays!

12.20.06

Saturday was a beautiful day with temps in the high 60s!! Perfect temperature for Christmas Caroling in a tractor around the neighborhood. This is by far one of my favorite traditions at the holidays. The children had so much fun and the adults who accompanied them in the golf carts had fun, too.

Do you Flickr??

12.18.06

Posting with an upclose and bigger look at the gingerbread houses, as requested:

12.15.06

Shelly and John at Shelly's Christmas party. She was so thrilled to see her daddy there!! Can you tell???

Shelly wearing her party dress. This one is for you mom and dad!!!

Here is Shelly enjoying her new keyboard from the class gift exchange.

12.13.06

Ok, as promised, here are some photos of the completed gingerbread houses. Lily requested that we add "setting" to the scene. So, she rounded up various Pet Shop animals and a few extras to add a winter setting to her houses. I am particularly proud of our accomplishments because it wasn't a hurried experience. I had all of the items on hand in the house...no running out to buy the perfect items just went with what I had. Also, pleased that it wasn't the prepackaged kit (although many of my friends use and love them). It was tons of fun for the three Foster gals.

12.12.06

Updating the gingerbread house progress. Here is a layout of the girls in the decorating process:

Tomorrow...the final product is revealed!!! This was a fun and easy project to do with both girls.

Today, we wrapped 15 gifts for various friends and we still have a couple left. Lily enjoyed calling the bedroom Santa's workshop and we were the elves.

Tonight, I enjoyed an hour and 30 minutes of alone time in the house. That is extremely rare. So, while John took Lily to basketball practice and Shelly accompanied them, I cleaned out more toy areas in our home. Great feeling!!!

Happy JollyDays!!!

12.12.06

Yesterday, in our advent calendar the directions stated: "Let's Decorate" and so we did!!! We decorated our gingerbread houses. I created the simple design from graham crackers (after just seeing this on Martha) and the girls put all the glitz on them. Here is the beginning photo of the houses and today I plan to take some more of the finished product. So, come back to see them all foofed out!!!

12.09.06

Trying to get back into my digital scrapping. So, I took this fun photo of Shelly and scrapped it up.

Last night we all bundled up and headed to the Festival of Lights in Winston Salem. It was the perfect evening for it. There was no wait and we drove right in. The girls had such fun checking it all out. We stopped at the little craft shop and Lily and I took a spin around the tables. She found a precious little leopard poncho for her doll, Nola (aka Bitty Baby). She plans to wrap it up and give it to her for Christmas. Now, that is just the sweetest thing. She even chipped in her own money for it. That Lily has such a good heart!

Lily had her first basketball game today and she did so well. She was happy and had a great time. The 24 points the team finished with were all scored by one little boy!!! How funny. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time...watching the kids run with the ball, shoot in the wrong basket, and just plain being silly was such a good time.

Season's Greetings.

12.06.06

Nifty date above...12.06.06...like the look of it. Anyway, things are coming along smoothly in this busy time of year. I tacked on a few more gifts for good measure and had fun doing it. No mad rush, just looking for the perfect little extras. Shelly is a bit under the weather and I am hopeful that will change soon. We have several events happening over the next 16 days...work party, neighborhood party, friend's party, Panthers game, school parties for both girls, PTA luncheon for teachers, basketball practices and games for Lily, and so much more. Busy but happy times. Here is a little digi layout I did the other day. Need to get back in that grove again soon. Happy Holly Days!!!

12.04.06

We had an excellent time in Virginia Beach. No big hustle and bustle, just relaxed and fun for all of us. We took a quick boat ride with Uncle Pat and the girls had fun looking at all of the birds and ducks. My SIL's shower was nice and the girls had a great time at Aunt Kristina's. They really liked David's fancy popcorn maker! We are eager to see the new baby in the family. Hoping that will occur while we're in VB for Christmas.

Feeling a real weight lifted off my shoulders...the gifts are purchased and now I can spend time picking up fun extras. Love that feeling. And, also a nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the season. Happy December.