Christmas 2007

Kate smiling proudly after decorating the gingerbread house
Hero helping to open his present
A rare sighting of Bart (with Hero)


Kate with her cash register. She is licking her lips with excitement
Kate ever-so-grateful for the cash register!




Boy, this is a Christmas to remember for sure. It started with Rosemary visiting the Friday before Christmas. I was at school with Kate, so Mel picked up Rosemary. Now, the night before, Mel was up all night puking her guts out. By the time she went to pick up Rosemary, she was getting worse, so Rosemary then drove her to the emergency room. She was so dehydrated that she took 3 IV bags!! So, even though she vomited all night, she still gained 10 pounds from all of the IV solution!! :-) I think Mel looks good with an extra 10 pounds.

Anyways, after an exciting evening in the ER and a diagnosis of food poisoning (from her work lunch the day before - NOT my cooking!), we were on our way to an enjoyable weekend.

Kate was a sheep in both her school Christmas play and the one at church as well. She was a great sheep. Perhaps next year we will work up to a speaking role.

On Saturday night, we took Kate to her 1st Chicago Bulls game!! We were so excited and convinced that she would love it. The seats were right down on the floor. Well, the music and speakers were SO loud, that it actually frightened Kate. So, we ended up sitting outside in one of the restaurants at the arena, eating fries. Mel and Rosemary enjoyed the game. Kate and I enjoyed it on the TV.

To ensure we never have a dull moment, we of course had a house fiasco. Mel went downstairs Christmas Eve to do laundry (because she constantly has to be doing something) and notice we had water - a lot of water - on the floor. The basement is finished, so this was not good. It was all in the carpet and in the various closets as well. Several pieces of furniture will probably bite the dust over this. We finally got a plumber to come out Christmas day to fix the problem. It was a bit of a disaster, though. We have spent the last couple of days having workers here digging up the flooring, cutting out walls, etc. Yes, never a dull moment.

Christmas was a blast, though, even though we had no water for a day. We were smelly, had bad hair and could not use the restrooms. But, we had fun hanging out and of course watching Kate opening up her many presents. She was so sweet after every present. She would talk about how it was what she always wanted and then want to play with it. So, after much nudging, she finally opened up her last present around 7pm Christmas night.

General Update

Just a few updates...

Kate is loving school. She can now write all of her numbers, her name and most letters. She is singing constantly. She is singing a lot of Hanukkah songs right now, which amuses us.

I am working at Kate's school today. This morning, I was about to get out of the bath-tub when Kate informed me that I needed to shave my legs. She said I should not have hairy legs for school. Nice. She also told me that she wanted all of my hair to be brown, to match my roots. And, that it needs to be longer. Wow. I am not sure how I feel about all of the style tips from my 3-year-old, but I am going to try them out. The next time you see me, I will have smooth legs and long brown hair.

And the acting update... Kate is going to be a sheep this weekend in the church Christmas play. It is a non-speaking role. I am a little worried, as expecting Kate to sit around in a sheep costume for a long time while not speaking should be something to see. I am the play videographer, so I will share this at a later time.

We just started with a house-cleaner, so I feel like a pampered princess now. Mel must have overheard that I was going to shave my legs, so now I am being rewarded... :-) Now I have more time to learn Kate's spanish and Hanukkah songs.

More soon...

Benny

Kate has a new best pal.  Actually, she calls him her cousin.  His name is Benny.  She wants to have a play-date with him EVERY day.  She might become a stalker when she grows up, as she will not let him out of her sight when they are together.  They met in the summer at a Messy Arts class and have been hanging out ever since.  Below are a couple of photos of Kate and Benny.  At Thanksgiving, we went to NYC.  We went to FAO Swartz and Kate adopted a baby there.  She named it Parker Benny.

Visiting Tamara's Parents

Kate and Great-Granny      Kate with new loot!         Kate and Great-Pappy     

Kate and I visited my parents for almost a week in mid-December.  It was a bittersweet time.  It was great to see my family (parents, grandparents, cousins, etc. all pretty much live in the same small area).  The sad part was that my grandmother was in the emergency room much of the time and was diagnosed with Stage II Alzheimer's over the weekend.  We visited my grandparents every day, so spending this much time with them was awesome.

We also had Christmas #1 with my parents, brother Calvin and his wife Virginia.  I was worried about the amount of stuff Kate received, but then her last present was a suitcase - genius!  So, we were able to carry the loot home on the plane.  Brilliant, Mom and Dad!

Below are a few more photos of Kate hooking up with a stranger at the bowling alley.  Cute kid. I think his name is Tyler.  She put nail polish, lip gloss, beads and a crown on him.  Not a good 
thing to do in rural West Virginia.  Most of the adults were appalled, but the two kids were
having a blast!

Nail polish application     Lip gloss application       Off to Royal Tea Party!!