Rowan as Santa Claus supervises present opening on Christmas morning
Rowan's new Christmas outfit from Grandma and Papa
Pop and Rowan open baby's first remote control with buttons that make noise!
Nicole prepares to decorate sugar cookies. The green sugar is particularly popular this season :-)

A great holiday week but I am now officially exhausted! Rowan arrived with a cold and ear ache so now all of us have colds to match his. He has left to go home but his virus remains :-)

The people had a good time but not the cats. Nicole's cats and mine had some serious issues this visit. Although they've been together before, it has been a while. Merry was particularly annoying and slightly stalkerish. Much hissing ensued. Occasional growling and batting took place over the course of the week. Unfortunately Pippin and Micah somehow became entangled and each suffered a broken claw and bleeding on Christmas Eve day. $275 for an emergency vet visit later, both were treated, disinfected and given antibiotics. We won't be trying this again!

The week went much too fast and I abandoned my Weight Watchers log about 3 days ago. The kids all headed home today so the house has become very quiet. Back to reality tomorrow. Hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday too!

Almost ready

My grandson just finally fell asleep and reminded me why having children is a younger person's game! Thank goodness he's so cute.

Cookies are baked and presents are wrapped.

My nose is starting to stuff up and my throat was sore this morning. Sounds like a typical Christmas :-)

Nicole's cats have mostly quit fighting with mine (except for the occasional snarl or growl) I figure they will all be getting along famously by the time hers go home.

HoHoHo and Merry Christmas.

Family arrives soon!!!

Sorry for not posting for a while. I got distracted by work and trying to make a dent in my messy house. I decided tonight that I absolutely will not get everything clean and tidy before the kids get in. I'll just keep working at it and do what I can. As I get older I'm looser about such things. After all, my kids grew up in this house and they know my lack of housekeeping interest :-)

The tree is up but only half the ornaments are on it. I can't find the stocking hangers or the rest of the Christmas decorations. Breathe deeply and go with the flow - breathe. . . .

Cards are mostly out and my dad's box is sent. Most of the Christmas shopping is done but I still need to wrap. I've been through the recipes and bought most of the baking ingredients. Decided to wait to bake until company comes. I'm now approaching 25 lbs of weight loss and don't want to be too tempted by all those goodies.

Tomorrow my partners and I are going to lunch and celebrating our first full year of business. We each made low 4 figures this year from the business but we paid the bills and are growing a little. We'll keep moving forward - slow and steady.

So excited to have all of the kids here, including our friend Briana, who will soon be leaving on a plane from Ghana! Rowan will be here on Sunday (with his parents). I bought baby food tonight for the first time in about 22 years. Too much fun.

Off to hang a few more ornaments

Procrastinating

I could be working on finishing Christmas cards tonight. I could also be wrapping Christmas presents. I don't feel like doing either. Think I'll watch the Phoenix Suns instead and play on the computer instead.

It's been cold in the desert this weekend. That may sound like whining to those who live in snowy country but morning lows in the high 30's are chilly. We finally got to light the fireplace and enjoy the play of flames. The cats like to sit on the hearth and gaze in to the fire. It feels very cozy.

Not much new on the knitting front. Since I decided not to do Christmas knitting this year I haven't made much progress in anything. I might do one more hat for Rowan - one with ear flaps for those frigid Iowa winds.

That's all for now - hope your week gets off to a good start!