attempting to de-grinchify

I'm a procrastinator. This holiday season we've been tardy with the lights, the decorating, and it seems I've been procrastinating the holiday cheer. Really, I'm not completely scroogey. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to squeeze it in the schedule and enjoy it fully.

This past week, though, some cheer has managed to slip into our household anyway. Taylor has been busy. He joined the running club after school and is quite quick. He's been reading a ton and tells me the story almost in its entirety. Yappity-yap this kid lately. It must come in bursts. Nothing for weeks, until -BAM- we can't shut him up. (Not that we want to.) He also recently had his band performance - in which he was a great performer. Next up, his 6th grade play!

Paigey had another round of strep this past week. She opted to get the antibiotics in one dose with a shot. She's very tough, but may not go that route again. I know that doesn't sound too cheery, but she spent the next day home from school and shopping with her mommy. We had such a great time, I offered to let her stay home to hang out with mommy another day. She declined, stating that it "was more importantly that she go to school to learn".

Gabriel has been oh-so-busy. Not just with school and therapies, but also trying to find the new "it" way to make another mess. If it's not a dozen eggs oozing out of the carton onto his shirt and the floor on our way out the door, it's finding new escape routes and places to climb. He now climbs over the gate that guards his bedroom door, and onto the popup tent trailer in our backyard - often to strip down to his nothin's and dance.

Todd and I even managed a real date-night! Complete with real-live conversation and flowers from a quaint little specialty flower shop called Albertsons (must be said with french accent and pronounced Al-bear-sunz).

We've managed to also get most of the decorations up (we might get done by Christmas), most of the gift buying done, and the majority of the Christmas cards out (we only lack those with new addresses - phew!). Now, it's on to actually completing something...