hot news

First of all - I'm on the mend.

Secondly - we've made The Decision.

Can you guess what it is?

the present

Yesterday, (after weeks of feeling not so good, coughing like crazy, but still determined to carry on because its Christmas y'know and someone has to do it (and do it right), and get the kids to their grandparents' house on Monday (which consisted of a 7 hour drive - I still think I deserve a medal for that one - it should say "I'm an over-determined Mom and you need to make me take a nap") I finally went to the doctor (they have those here in Phoenix) and after 3 minutes of being with me he said:

"You have pneumonia."

He also told me I coughed a rib out of place. Nice.

He then wrote me for some meds, including a zippy cough syrup that I am still hungover from (but it was worth it), and told me I should lay low.

Nate comes in tonight. He can do the rest of Christmas. And fortunately, he is very happy to do so. Jimmy is hanging out with his grandpa today (they went to the kids' gym and will run Christmas errands and probably eat chicken nuggets). Grace is at the Princess and the Frog with Nana. Later she'll meet up with my brother's family and have a sleepover with Jenna.

As for me, I'm finally going to take a nap.

so tinsel

Grace and I saw the Nutcracker today! It was only planned yesterday and I am so thrilled we got to go. Grace loved it. During the Arabian Coffee movement she leaned over and in only a whisper that a kid could do (y'know, the kind the whole theater can hear) she said, "Mom, This Is AWESOME!!" And, well, it was.

We went to get our Mezzanine level tickets at the Will Call window. We were prepared with our binoculars. (I thought we'd appreciate them being in the second row of the balcony). The woman at the window said, "Do you want better seats? Just say yes." We got 5th row Center!!! We were so close I could see a thread hanging off a dancer's costume. It was fantastic! When we sat down I said to Grace that I had never had such good seats before, she leaned over and said, "Me neither!"

After the ballet they had a Sugar Plum Party where you could go and meet the dancers. We saw the darling Bon Bons, Clara and the Prince (Grace's favorite, I think her new career goals involve being Clara at some point), a Flower, Dew Drop, and the Sugar Plum Fairy! She told the Flower she thought she was a great dancer. She told Clara and the Prince she loved the show. And she told the Sugar Plum Fairy that she "did a pretty good job." Seriously, right before I took this picture she told the principal dancer that she did a "pretty good job." It was so tinsel.


Love it!

the cut

This picture did not make the Christmas card. Its not the best picture of any of us, but its Nate's favorite. I think because it somehow sums up our little family so well.

We've been making some big decisions around here - mainly about the next step, the next job, and where we'll be. Each choice has great benefits. Each choice has consequences. Keep us in your prayers, won't you? We sure would appreciate it.

8 days of lights and potato pancakes

As many of you know, it is Hanukkah! To celebrate this ancient holiday, Nate thought it would be fantastic to make potato pancakes. I thought it only appropriate to serve a pork roast along side those fried latkes. I suspect this may embody any chutzpah I have. I hope this isn't blasphemous to any of my readers and that you might just say I'm a bit goyish.

I am on the mend, but have been stuck inside for far too long. This has given me ample opportunity to study the Yiddish handbook.

Shalom

my boy

Jimmy has decided to sit by me and watch a movie. And he insists on holding my hand. This is making me feel less Grinchy by the minute.

The Grinch

I'm sorry to report to you Mr. Grinch has found his way into my home. Instead of stealing our decorations, he had pity on us, as we really don't have many. But instead he brought a doozy of a sinus infection. Its very hard to remain Christmas-y when I feel my head will burst into two. Its also hard to think of things to blog about other than how horrible I feel. If you find it in your heart, please entice the Grinch away from here. He's been here much too long and needs to go elsewhere (or at least have his change of heart pronto).

when daddy's away...

Poor Nate is freezing in Salt Lake this weekend. Some people are 'freezing' here in San Diego, too. Though I must point out these people are not us. Its been in the low to mid-sixties here and frankly I think its perfect. Lots of folks who live here though are putting on their parkas (for real). Many have turned on their heat. Our home has been a comfortable 65 and I love it.

To party on this Friday night in the absence of The Great Defender of Fun, the kids and I ordered pizza, have watched many an episode of Little Einsteins (well, I read a book instead), and washed it all down with a shared slice of chocolate cake (or brown cake, whatever you want to call it).

Tomorrow will involve wearing pajamas most of the morning, a Christmas movie, pizza leftovers, four fabulous hours either spent with a babysitter (if you are James or Grace) or Christmas shopping (if you are me), dinner with the other Pages in town, and hopefully some on time bedtimes for one and all.

What are you doing this weekend?

the turkey did me in

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Giving Thanks has tired me out. I'm hoping to catch up soon.

dedicated

Rain or snow, sleet or fog, this boy here is always on the job.

Sometimes there are railway emergencies that need to be tended to stat.


At least he attended to business before he tended to train business.

Jimmy' girl and Jon's girl

We dropped Grace off at school this morning. As soon as the door was closed and we began to drive Jimmy said, "I aldeready miss Gracie. I aldeready miss my girl."

I suppose they've had a lot of bonding time lately. You can't help but feel close to those you conk out with in the back seat of the car strapped into car seats attempting to catch flies while your parents zoom through the desert in the night hoping to reach your Nana's house before your mom resorts to singing Bon Jovi songs to keep herself an attentive driver.



Thanks to Jon, we successfully navigated an unmarked detour (realizing the big trucks are most likely headed to the interstate, I stuck with them (and several other cars decided to stick with me) and wouldn't you know my new truck driving friends lead us straight through desert farmland right to the interstate - love those truckers, they won't lead you astray) and pulled into the drive right around midnight.

As a side note, during the next few days Grace sang "Never Say Goodbye" a lot.

More details and facts from our fact finding trip are bound to appear on this blog at least sometime in the future.

in transit or J is no van gogh

J: I not go to preschool.
Me: Its Tuesday and we go to preschool on Tuesdays.
J: I not want to go to preschool AGAIN!!!!!!
Me: Why not? Its fun! And you can see your teacher. She's so nice.
J: No, she bad.
Me: She's bad?! How come?
J: I. DON'T. WANT. TO. PAINT!!!!!!!!

We arrive in his classroom -

Teacher: Hi Jimmy! Its so good to see you! Do you want to paint?!
Me: Uhh, no. He rather emphatically explained he was not interested in painting.
Teacher: Uhh...

talk about trouble...

These five wild ones met and havoc wrecked all over Peach Tree Lane last week. May I say, these darling trouble makers make mischief look good!

We somehow managed to coerce them into some family pictures. That is a significant accomplishment. I think you should all take note of that!

scary some more

hanging in the family tree

What happens when the entire family gets together for 24 hours? Hilarity, fun, wild times, tasty food, trick or treating cousins, grown ups in coustume, and very tired (but happy) kids.

we want facts and we will find them

Tonight begins the beginning of another fact finding mission. As you may remember, our stint here in San Diego is most likely temporary. There are a few places on our short list and two of them happen to be in Phoenix and Dallas.

Tonight we trek east to Phoenix. The great thing about this is that our entire families (both Pages and Morrisons) will be within 1 hour and 10 minutes of each other. So we'll be doing Page stuff on Saturday and Morrison stuff on Sunday.

Later on in the week, Nate and I will visit the great state of Texas to see what its all about. Should be interesting.

I'll try and keep you posted.

emergency preparedness

This past Monday night, Grace was in charge of our family lesson. She was supposed to teach us all about being prepared for emergencies, what emergencies are, and things we can do to be safe. This was done in light of a recent church activity for the children on the same subject. The following is her lesson she wrote out. I wanted to share it with you so you can feel just as safe as we do:

Today I will talk to you about emergencys.
Emergencys are great danager.
There could be a fire tomarrow!
You never know when a emergency comes!
Like an earthquake or a tsunanis or a fire or an
explosion!
They can cause trouble.

Whatever you do, don't get
near them!
They can hurt you.
Reilly bad.
Relly super, superduper bad!!!!!

Raise your hand if you want to do an activity.

An activity?! I sure hope the activity involves putting us all in the middle of a danger-free zone with our 72 hour kits, haz mat outfits, swine flu masks, and gallons upon gallons of water. Well, and a little chocolate wouldn't hurt either.

scary

Super J (revisited), Witchy Woman, Leopard Girl

a serenade

a taste for work

Obviously Gracie thinks this gal is something special. Well she sure is! Besides being our favorite grandma in Chicago, my mom, and the go-to-gal for all things Beatles and/or chocolate, she is a published author! Mom has been a career coach and resume writer for years. She and two of her colleagues have put some of their wisdom and best practices into print. And if that isn't enough, there are some tasty dishes to cook up to help you along the process of job seeking.

A Taste for Work is a delicous read. And if you aren't in the market for work, you certainly are for some serious chocolate cake. See, this book fits all your needs. Click here to get your needs met!

Way to go Mom!! We're so proud of you!!!