the zoo

tonight, jayden and helen had their preschool christmas program.... the theme was "the zoo". here are a few vidoes...

Dear Santa....if you exist....

when i picked jayden up from preschool today, he today me that a girl in his class told him that there was no such thing as santa......THIS IS PRESCHOOL!!!!! i thought graham would be the one to come home from kindergarten saying this!

well, i'm the oldest of 3 kids and yes, i was the LAST one to believe in santa... my sister had to specifically point out to me that the writing on the packages was our dad's! i won't even tell you how old i was!! oh, and she told me about the easter bunny too!

thankfully tonight, graham's homework assignment from school was to write a letter to santa... and jayden wrote one too.

i'll translate the letters...

graham wants a DS mario game (must have learned about the DS at school... he's still in Leapster land in my opinion!), DS DVD (not sure what this is??), game like car (i think he was trying to say a game with cars), and books (good choice!)

jayden wants a DS mario too (just like graham), a monster truck, and a car with a remote.

on the bright side, i'm proud of both of them for trying to sound out the words on their own :)

now santa and his elves better get busy making these toys!!

Graham's Piano Recital

Graham's been taking piano for 2 years now - he loves playing the piano and I'm amazed at his skills.

My Little Shopper!

Helen's really been into shopping lately... i'm beginning to think that i've taken her on too many 'christmas errands' lately..... or maybe she's just a true girl at heart who loves to shop!

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

well, not too much snow yet - but the kids couldn't wait to get out and play in the snow.... or were they more interested in the hot chocolate when the got inside :)

laundry, laundry, laundry

i had to take this picture of my laundry basket... don't worry it's the clean laundry basket.... piled as high as the dresser and chair!

i must admit - i'm very good about keeping up with the washing part of laundry... but not the folding and putting away part :)

amazing grace

i can't seem to get this song out of my head today.....

this weekend, i found out about a 4 year old girl (she is the daughter of a couple that i knew from my college marching band days) who is battling leukemia. the part that really hit home for me is that she was diagnosed back in september... yes that's only 3 months ago! she woke one morning in september with a fever.... after a few days of fever - her parents had her checked out by the peditrician.... after several blood tests - the results came back with a diagnosis of leukemia. i can't stop reading the story of her last 3 months posted by her parents. (the girl's middle name is grace)

i am sure there are several reasons i can't stop thinking about this little girl and her family.... being a mother of 3 (almost 4) kids - i can't even imagine the emotional and physical struggles this family is going through. it has caused me to really reflect on my life and puts into perspective the 'big' issues that i face - that really aren't that 'big' at all. i need to remind myself to hug my kids a little more - even when they seem to be 'driving me crazy' - and to enjoy each moment i can with them.