The goose is getting fat.

Christmas is really coming. We have had only part of our Christmas season completed and what fun it's been! It all started when we got our tree on NOVEMBER 30!!! Have you ever heard of such a thing? It's still kickin' and I know it's because of all the mild weather we had the past 2 weeks. Then we had several parties early on...Young Life white elephant, John's office party, and my college girl's Christmas party, and our Sunday school party. The Barnes' were here this past weekend for a special Christmas dinner with them. Yesterday I had my 2 choir performances, which went well despite my 3 week cough and cold. I was able to sing every song without coughing. I even sang a few songs with a cough drop in my mouth-that's how bad it was! We did 2 hours of Christmas shopping last Saturday-big mistake. John was so ready to put the family up for sale. We'll never do that again. We did the "lights at the zoo" to celebrate a friend's birthday and saw a 20 minute 4-D version of The Polar Express while there. This week Rowan has his Christmas program at school and then we're off to Chicago! Will post more when we return!

Okay, so she's been 2 for awhile...

Holland had a nice birthday back a month ago. We enjoyed opening her gifts on the sunporch and then invited a few friends to the panCAKE house for a birthday dinner. She LOVES cancakes!!!

It's hard to believe she is 2 already. Everyone says that, but it's so true. Her 2 years, despite their many challenges, have gone so quick and they only seem to speed up. She's slender for her age, but tall just like her brother. Her hair is very long and looks so cute in pigtails even if they only last for a few hours. She has an infectious charm about her and she is always ready to play, play, play, run, run, run, move, move, move, laugh, laugh, laugh. Her biggest downfall is that she's never satisfied. When I say "never", what I really mean is only when she's doing what she wants is she satisfied. Any constraints drive her wild. BUT it is the wild spirit that attracts so many to her. We may always have many battles to fight with her, but I'm sure glad we have HER to fight them with. We love and adore her and feel so blessed she's part of our family.

I've been bragging about Rowan's increased abilities in coloring and drawing. His teacher has been working with their fine motor skills and holding pencils and crayons correctly. His imagination is also at work in his independent masterpieces!