Perfect Attendance Award

Growing up, did you know there was an attendance award?  There was, and I was awarded it.  A lot.  Supposedly it should be a source of pride, it's not really.  Maybe if it were I would have better attendance here on this blog.  Supposedly it was going to be the great communicator between all of us siblings, and those of you on the outside who like a glimpse of the inside.  Failure.  Here's to new beginnings!! Don't you just love the new year? I LOVE my nice new moleskin calendar so completely bare and clean and awesome.  I can't wait to fill it up with all sorts of fun things, and probably some not so fun things (but I can wait for those).

 But we just aren't quite there yet, so I'm sitting here tonight being thankful for my sleeping one year old girl upstairs, and my rowdy 3 year old boy right here negotiating a bedtime.  I'm thankful for two really great, really fun families with which to spend birthdays, Thanksgivings, and Christmases.  Speaking of, side note, we had SUCH a fun time in North Carolina for P man's birthday and Thanksgiving.  Peter had tons of balloons, got a train, decorated his own cake (a huge hit), and visited the world famous Asheboro Zoo, not to mention his grandma let him go fishing for his presents and both kids fell in love with Auntie Tess and Uncle Jonathan. I'm thankful for a busy, full, fun, fighting, and loving house and all of the people in it and who visit it.  There is so rarely a dull moment...and we usually sleep through those.

I'm thankful for my incredible college friend who hosted me, MLL, and FTD in NYC for an extended weekend.  We saw as much of NYC as we possibly could with two little girls, including Central Park, FAO Swartcz,  the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall, the tree in Rockefeller Center, St. Patricks Cathedral, Times Square at night, we walked High Line Park, took a cab with babies in the bjorns, stopped traffic in Grand Central Station, saw the Bloomingdale's Santa,  and pretty much walked all of Manhattan in a long afternoon.  Of all of these things, we loved visiting MEByrd the most.  And clearly our stop in a NYC dive diner with none other than the soon to be Dr. Gordy.  It was awesome.

I'm thankful for P's preschool which he ADORES and for how it is helping teach him about the meaning of Christmas when it is so easy to get caught up in the festivities.  P and L loved setting up all of the nativities & Holy Families and talking about the birth of baby Jesus.  We went to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, which if i were honest, I would say that I was nervous about how tacky or blasphemous it might be.  I dare you not to tear up when the angels descend singing hallelujah and your 3yr old exclaims "the baby is here!"  Though also happening on that trip a life sized replica of a Jesus was standing on some waves and started speaking as we walked by....."PETER, COME TO ME..." It was hysterical to watch our sweet boy explain that Jesus was talking to him (it was actually a reenactment of Peter and Jesus walking on water, still awesome).  We rode the Christmas Cannonball Express to the North Pole just like the Polar Express and drank hot chocolate, ate cookies, and got a bell from Santa's sleigh from Santa himself.

And then, RBD II, LTD, RBD III, FTD, LDL, BML, CMD, PDL and MLL were all in the same house, under the same roof, asleep in our beds on Christmas Eve.  Magical.

See you in 2013.  Promise.

oh.  and we bought a house.  we'll move soon, and update you then!