December is out, January is in..and hopefully slower!

This month has flown by and been so busy that it has seemed so hard to plug in the camera and download the pictures. In our house, 5 minutes is a lifetime and there are always so many other things that need "just 5 minutes". In the month of December (as mentioned before), we celebrated 3 birthdays in our house, traveled to Tennessee, had various training schedules to work around (Fred), traveled to Georgia, had school parties, girl scout parties, cheer parties...it seemed to go on and on, only to end on New Year's Eve with Kaitlin anxiously awaiting the ball drop, Fred snoring on the couch, and me searching craigslist for a new single stroller for Abby...such exciting lives we lead! ;-)

The kids had an awesome Christmas - full of toys, traditions and fun. Everyone got the required new jammies on Christmas Eve and tons of new stuff on Christmas day. Matching Lightning McQueen scooters for the boys (so they don't fight over them), My Little Pony stuff for Emma(to add to her growing collection), Nintendo DS games for Kaitlin along with clothing, and a Wii from Aunt Eileen and Uncle Jon for the whole family. We lucked into a WiiFit at Target when returning something else that didn't work and we are loving it..mainly making fun of each other, but hey, it's family time. The kids got their own games as well - Kaitlin got a We Cheer that looks intriguing as an aerobics program..have to try that one day. :) We got Fred a PSP to take with him overseas along with all the required war games..why you need wargames to play while sitting in a warzone, I have no clue, but apparently that's the way it's done, go figure. And I FINALLY got a Willow Tree set - the first 6 pieces of the nativity I wanted. Next year, I'll add another piece of the set (for myself since Fred won't be home, of course!)

We are busy planning our major birthday bash on January 31st - we will be celebrating Abby's 1st, Joey's 2nd, Owen's 3rd, and Emma's 5th since Fred won't be here next year. Kaitlin opted to have a party on her birthday instead with her friends, so I'll be planning that one for her later. We bought all our decorations and supplies today, now we are just waiting on confirmation from the location.....hopefully that works out! (And Fred's schedule doesn't change AGAIN!)

More later on New Year's resolutions or the lack thereof...

Hugs
Katie