Holiday Hoopla

I gotta say that I love the holidays, but boy do I love when they are over!  Talk about stress...  This year, we said that we weren't going anywhere for the holidays.  We planned to stay home and enjoy our time here.  Well, that didn't happen.  We ended up visiting 5 different places.  We had a great time though.  Here is our holiday in a nutshell...plus a few extra bits of info.

1 very EARLY visit from Santa...Gracie decided she couldn't sleep any longer at 4:30 AM Christmas Day.
4 is the number of people it took to put Gracie's new art desk together.
6+ hours it took us to get to my grandmother's house through the blizzard like conditions Saturday night.
3 nights we spent in Alabama traveling around to all the families houses.
1 1/2 hours spent opening the presents bought over the last two months.
3 very happy people living under our roof!

And last, but not least, one very surprised and excited girl when she found the cell phone in her stocking Christmas morning!  :)

Holiday Happenings

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."  Not only do we finally have the tree up and the house decorated, but we have also had snow for the past 3 days.  It is not enough to make a difference, but it is snow.  It has been bitterly cold here since Saturday, and the weather people say it will be cold for awhile now.  We have been busy since Thanksgiving getting everything ready for the holidays.  Here's whats happening at our place:

*Daddy and John put new windows into Gracie's bedroom...PTL!  They were MUCH needed.

*We have the guest bedroom cleaned out and ready to become an art studio / playroom.

*John is still taking boxing classes and doing well.

*Gracie is working on her speech for 4-H.  I think she is writing about soccer, but the topic changes often.  :)

*Gracie will compete in the county spelling bee next week, and she is performing in "I'll Be Home for Christmas" town celebration this weekend at the city library.   

*I have completed 9 Christmas ornaments and tote bags for the Girl Scouts.  I am now working on a scrap book for Gracie.