Our Christmas

Christmas was quiet. Relatively speaking that is :-) Christmas Eve over the years has dwindled down to nothing. I did make the pierogies for Christmas Eve. I had a lot of help, as I did with all of our Christmas preparations. I wrapped one present, Isabella did the rest. This was a good thing seeing as I had caught the buggies. Hey, it takes a while for the garlic to work! ;-) Hee, hee. So we found ourselves on Christmas day being loudly greeted by a swarm of girls who woke a wee bit too early. We went light this year for gifts, one each (with the exception of Jed who got a "side" gift of a rubber duckie, and Jonah who got two teething rings). Isabella and Saoirse got real looking baby dolls. Moira and Flannery share a castle with horses and people. Jed got a tractor/plus a rubber duckie, and Jonah got the teething rings. Let me tell you, it is so nice not to have a whole bunch of stuff!! Then we got ready for Jeremiah's parents who arrived around noon. We opened some very lovely presents. The girls each got these neat t-shirts. They have what seems to be just line drawings on their white shirts...until....they go outside in the sun. then the whole drawing gets filled in with color! Very neat. My best gift I saved to tell about last. Isabella, on behalf of the girls, got me a pretty necklace. It is a gold heart with the word "Mom" inside of it. Daddy helped with the choosing. Later in the afternoon we started dinner preparations. We had ham, a LOT of ham, pierogies, chicken, collard greens, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, garlic green beans and the beloved cranberry sauce. Now we have lots of left overs :-) I have been looking up ham casserole recipes! If you know of any good ones please send them my way!

Flannery is the last of the girls to have the pink eye. She is now getting the sore throat part of it. And Jed is the last of the boys to have it. He has been handling it well, but has looked horrible. The whole area around his eyes have been swollen. The poor thing woke up this morning with his eyes glued shut. I thought he would be freaking out, but he wasn't. We had to get a wash cloth and wipe his eyes really well for him to be able to open them. Jonah boy is THE chunk miester!! Jeremiah decided to weigh him the other day. I thought he was kidding when he told me how much he weighed......17 pounds and 7 ounces!! He just turned 5 months old! I was looking at baby pictures of Flannery and Saoirse, Jonah really is a cross between them. His personality (thus far) is also a cross between them. Very neat.

Jeremiah and I continue to talk about the changes that need to go on here in our home. The first important step will be the changes that need to take place with ourselves. I was able to have a long conversation with Isabella about some things in her life that need changing. With all of this talking it is hard to put together a concrete plan. Not necessarily a Step 1, Step 2, etc. kind of plan. But certainly something that we can look to and see if we are working on the things that need working on and to keep us on track. But the bulk of all of these issues are spiritual. And those are some hard things to measure!

The castle! The girls have really been enjoying it.

Jed and his tractors. You can see his duckie too.

Isabella and her new "baby" Ruthie. The girls gave informed me that I am a grandmother. They lined up all their dolls and I am a Grandmother to six! Ha, ha.

Saoirse and her new "baby" Abigail (although her name changes often!) .

Baby cakes is awake. He has been very interested in making new sounds. Too funny. He is even experimenting making them while nursing. He's choked a bit as a result. Hey, live and learn!