Christmas Day ...



Ready to open presents in their Christmas PJs

What a whirlwind Christmas Day was. The girls woke up at 7:30 and immediately wanted to go downstairs and see if Santa ate the cookies we left out for him (of course he did, yum!). We had planned to eat breakfast first, but as soon as Isabella saw the presents under the tree, that went out the window. We opened presents, ate breakfast, opened stockings and then got ready to go to Gran and Gramps for the Tindall Christmas celebration. It was a beautiful day, filled with family, fun and understanding the reason for the season.



Look ... Santa ate all of his cookies


The stockings were hung by the 'kitchen' with care


I got a Leapster, just like Samantha!


Olivia checking out her first MP3 player

Christmas Eve ...



The cookies and milk are ready for Santa


We had a great Christmas Eve together. It's so nice to get the shopping done and settle in for the celebration. We went to church at 5:00 followed by a nice time driving around looking at Christmas lights and a stop at a wonderful live nativity before dinner with the Harris's at Carlucci's. Of course, after dinner we went home to get the cookies ready for Santa and leave some reindeeer food on the front lawn. We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the evening. It is so fun seeing all of this through a child's eyes.

All dressed up in our Christmas best



Leaving food out for Santa's reindeer


Opening the last door to the Advent Calendar


Even Hunter is ready for Santa

Merry Christmas!


And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”


Luke 1:46-55 (ESV)

May your Christmas be blessed and may we focus as Mary did on the goodness of our Lord and Savior. He keeps his promises and has blessed us all indeed! Merry Christmas!!

The Night Before Christmas (Sort of)

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all round my hips
were Fannie May candies that sneaked past my lips.
Fudge brownies were stored in the freezer with care
In hopes that my thighs would forget they were there.
While Mama in her girdle and I in chin straps
Had just settled down to sugar-borne naps.
When out in the pantry there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the kitchen I flew like a flash,
Tore open the icebox then threw up the sash.
The marshmallow look of the new-fallen snow
Sent thoughts of a binge to my body below.
When what to my wandering eyes should appear
A marzipan Santa with eight chocolate reindeer!
That huge chunk of candy so luscious and slick
I knew in a second that I’d wind up sick.
The sweet-coated santa, those sugared reindeer
I closed my eyes tightly but still I could hear;
On Pritzker, on Stillman, on weak one, on
TOPSA Weight Watcher dropout from sugar detox.
From the top of the scales to the top of the hall
Now dash away pounds now dash away all.
Dressed up in Lane Bryant from my head to nightdress
My clothes were all bulging from too much excess.
My droll little mouth and my round little belly,
They shook when I laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
I spoke not a word but went straight to my work
Ate all of the candy then turned with a jerk.
And laying a finger beside my heartburn
Gave a quick nod toward the bedroom I turned.
I eased into bed, to the heavens I cry–
If temptation’s removed I’ll get thin by and by.
And I mumbled again as I turned for the night
In the morning I’ll starve… ’til I take that first bite!

The week before Christmas ...

Just wanted let you all know that the "grumpies" are gone and we are all feeling better today. I think it was just a Monday thing. I do have a bit of a headache and my knee still hurts, but what is new. The attitude has changed and I am feeling a little more in the holiday spirit today.

It is exactly one week until Christmas and we are down to the wire. Try not to injure yourself or anyone else in the last minute "hurriedness". We have been enjoying something with the girls since December 1st. We bought an advent calendar last year right after Christmas and they love it!! Each day you open a door and pull out a magnetic piece of the nativity and put it on the board. It even tells you a little story about what that piece represents. We alternate days so that one day Olivia opens the door and the next day Isabella opens another door. They love it and they are learning so much about the real meaning of Christmas. I will post a picture when I have one.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with my grumpy post yesterday. We hope you are all doing well today.

national lampoons christmas vacation - 250 strands of lights

Holiday Weekend Hangover ...

I promised myself that I would always be honest when posting ... so here goes. I just had to post and tell you all that we are all grumpy here today, especially me. We really don't have any excuse, but who needs an excuse to be grumpy. We had a fun but busy weekend, went to see a light show at Shady Brook Farms on Friday night, then went to our friends church for a spectacular Christmas-themed evening. Saturday night Silvia had a Christmas party with her cousins, followed by church on Sunday, a big Eagles win over Dallas, a little Christmas decorating and then we crashed. Then I decided to do a little stocking stuffer shopping this morning and totally aggravated my already aching knee.

Hopefully, we will get out of the "grumpies" today. I, for one, have little patience for whiny redheads today, so I am staying in my office. You all know how much I love my girls, but they are suffering from the grumpies too and it's not a good combo. My mother always told me, "If you can't say something nice ..." so I am not saying anything at all.

I promise to post a more cheery post tommorrow. Hope you all are having a more uplifting Monday as you prepare for Christmas. I think I need to watch "Christmas Vacation" again to lift my spirits.

The Reason for the Season ...

The following was just e-mailed to me by my wonderful sister-in-law, Claudia and it bears reminder for all of us. Please don't forget what Christmas is all about!

Dear loved ones, As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is getting closer and closer.

It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning of the celebration.

I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor. The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many,many beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want to know something? I wasn't invited. I was the guest of honor and they didn't remember to send me an invitation. The party was for me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed the door in my face .... and I wanted to be with them and share their table.

In truth, that didn't surprise me because in the last few years all close their doors to me. Since I wasn't invited, I decided to enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner. They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes and laughing at everything. They were having a grand time. To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying: "Santa Claus, Santa Claus" .. as if the party were in his honor!

At 12 midnight all the people began to hug each other; I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and ... do you know ... no one hugged me. Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe, there was one for me.

What would you feel if on your birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one? I then understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left.

Every year it gets worse. People only remember to eat and drink, the gifts, the parties and nobody remembers me. I would like this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life. I would like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save you. Today, I only want that you believe this with all your heart.

I want to share something with you. As many didn't invite me to their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party. I'm still making the final arrangements. Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those on the guest list will be invited to the party. Those who don't answer the invite, will be left outside.

Be prepared because when all is ready you will be part of my great party.

See you soon. I Love you!

Jesus

P.S. Please share this message with your loved ones, before Christmas. Thanks

Gettin' Crafty


Isabella with her first Gingerbread House

My darling wife decided to get a little bit crafty this year and build a Ginerbread House with the girls. It went as well as could be expected for a first time experience and Isabella had a good time. I give Silvia tons of credit for trying these things and pulling them off. It's not my arena for sure. Olivia preferred to sit in her high chair and eat pastina, so she only "participated" for a minute or two.

The front view


The back view


Olivia preferred pastina to gingerbread



Even daddy pitched in (for a little while)

O Christmas Tree ...



The finished project ... a fun family experienence!



Well folks, after the last post of our trip to get the dreaded "artificial tree" I thought I would post some pix of the finished project. At least it's mostly finished. I (Jeff) tinker with the tree until it comes down in January. As you will see from the photos the girls had a blast putting ornaments on the tree. The biggest challenge now is keeping the ornaments on the tree as Olivia loves to take them off as much as she loved putting them on and Hunter tends to knock them off with his tail.


Hope you are enjoying your Christmas season!




Olivia was fascinated by the lights and ornaments


Is that me or Olivia in that picture?



Isabella, what is this and where do I put it?

It's Beginning To Look (and feel) A Lot Like Christmas

Isabella and Olivia loving our lighted reindeer

Hi everyone! It's snowing in Pennsylvania today and I've gotten out of my grinchy mood and I (we) are ready to celebrate Christmas despite all of the clamour that surrounds the season.

Today, I did something I swore I would never do. Before you think you may have some juicy gossip coming ... I bought an artificial Christmas Tree. We are staunch supporters of going out and finding, cutting and bringing home the "perfect" tree (see "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase). The experience and the smell are something we love at this time of year! This year, however, we made a temporary switch. We had been wanting to get a smaller, artificial tree that we could use as a second tree for special ornaments when we buy a bigger house. And since we do not have any extra space in the house right now, we thought now might be the time to get that tree and use it this year as our main tree. It's tall, but leaner than the trees we normally buy, and it's the only thing that will fit right now. I will send you pictures of the tree when we get it decorated, but for now here are some pictures of our shopping outing and the girls enjoying the first real snow of the season! Enjoy!!




There was barely room in the backseat ...



... but Livvy didn't seem to mind!




Olivia trying to catch snowflakes as they fall

Tis the Season!

The tensions are mounting, people are driving more obnoxiously than ever and you know what that means ... it must be Christmas. It makes me so mad that we have turned this beautiful, holy remembrance of our Savior's birth into a mockery. I, for one, don't want this to happen to me, but as you can see by my grinchy mood above, it happened this past weekend. Too many people in the malls, too many fights for parking spots, etc. has made me grumpy!

I am challenging anyone who reads this blog to stop, take a deep breath and remember what we are celebrating here. Hold your loved ones near, shop (online), bake some cookies, watch "It's a Wonderful Life," do whatever it takes to keep the "grinchiness" out of your home this season.

And know that we are wishing you a wonderful, peaceful Christmas Season!

All our love,

jeff, silv, isabella and olivia (even hunter)!

p.s. I added some pix to the slideshow above and will keep adding them through the season. Enjoy!