Merry Christmas and Stuff

Today was a good day. I can't say great because of things that started yesterday and carried over to today even though I didn't think they had.

Cameron had a fantastic birthday and Christmas. Santa brought him the two Nerf guns he wanted along with a sled. Kelly did not get the camera she wanted but said she still had a good Christmas. She got a Cabbage Patch doll and that made her happy.

We had cake and presents at Beth's for Cameron's birthday and Cameron said that was nice. He picked out his cake, ordered and put the decorations on it today. A hockey themed cake again. He had the same cake several years ago.

6 days and counting

Only 6 days til Christmas and Cameron's birthday. Where have the past 10 years gone? I remember whining that I wanted him born so I could see him.

Cam went to the endocrinologist this week. He has grown 2" since June. He is now 49" and 70.4 lbs. They did not increase his shot dosage as it is working well thus far. He had follow up bloodwork and another wrist x-ray done while he was there. He is almost on the growth chart.

Kelly had her renal ultrasound. The doctor called this morning and said her bladder and kidney look healthy so they don't think that's the reason for her problems. She wants Kelly to see a gynecologist to see if there is any reason there for her problems like endometriosis or fibroid cysts. As the cysts run in the family, I would not be surprised. She is also to start taking miralax to see if it could be constipation. I guess kids and teens can void daily but still be constipated...who knew!

Over the weekend we drove out to State College for Bryan and Laurel's wedding. The ceremony and reception were beautiful. There are no words for the exquisiteness of her dress. You can't see how truly gorgeous it was from this pic but when the train was down and the blue insert was shown, it took your breath away.

Kelly completely fell in love with Ryan, Beth's baby and hogged him for most of the reception.







We are gearing up for a busy few days. Tomorrow is Kelly's cheerleading holiday party, Sunday is church, Tuesday we take Cam to the pediatrician for his ADD/ODD and visit Dr. Renk for his Christmas party and then Wednesday we will join June's family and Glenn's parents for dinner at 2:00 to eat and exchange gifts before the 4:30 service at June's church.

Kelly works all weekend then she is off until Friday.

We will be going to Beth and Michael's for Christmas dinner on Thursday. I'm looking forward to spending time with Glenn's family and the kids.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I will update this blog during the week between Christmas and New Years with a synopsis of the holiday and pictures.

We still believe in Santa

Boy the holidays sure are moving fast this year. It seems like just yesterday it was Thanksgiving and now Christmas is 15 days away.

On Saturday, Glenn, Cam, his girlfriend, Jalyne and I went to the Kid Crawl in downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50215&l=f93a4&id=550377911
It was extremely cold and by the end of the afternoon it was snowing and the roads were icy. Cameron made what I believe to be his last trip to see Santa. Fortunately, he asked for easy things....Nerf Vulcan and Recon. Looks like Santa will easily make his wishes come true this year.

Kids Crawl is a day of cultural activities put on by the Cultural Trust of Pittsburgh. The kids were able to decorate cookies, make musical instruments, paper garlands and spin art. Then Cam stopped in to see Santa. Jalyne passed as she has moved passed that stage in her life. We also stopped in the Heinz Hall, where the Pittsburgh Symphony plays. What a beautiful building inside. We are watching the season guide to see if we can afford to go see a show there so that we can see the entire building instead of just the magnificent lobby.

Jalyne had never seen the outdoor ice skating rink so we walked over to PPG Place and saw the tree and rink. By then it was snowing and freezing so we headed home to eat and take her home.

As we were paying our parking in the garage lobby we turned and saw a blast from our past. MR. MCFEELY from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. He was incredibly kind with us and the kids. He even gave the kids his business card, some tapes, photos, etc. and allowed us to take a picture with him. He still does alot of children related events in the area. We rode the elevator up as we were parked on the same level. That was the best part of the day for me as Mr. Rogers was my absolute favorite show as a kid.

Kel went to Florida for 5 days. It sounds like she had a good time. She spent some time with her dad, stepmom, sister and some of my family. I think she most enjoyed seeing her Florida friends. It must be really lonely here for her. She is finally making friends her age at cheerleading. In fact, she is supposed to go ice skating with her friend on Sunday.

I've been baking cookies since Sunday. Aunt Sharon asked me to make 10 dozen snickerdoodles for Bryan and Laurel's wedding on Saturday. It's hard to get that full 10 dozen done when Glenn and Cameron keep eating them. After those 10 dozen, I need to make another 10 dozen for his work friends.

Our tree is finally up and it feels like Christmas. We are cutting down on gifts this year in hopes of helping the kids realize the true meaning of Christmas.

Milo is sick right now. He has been getting sick in Cam's room so he is on the front porch tonight. You can tell he's sick when he passed up steak tonight. I don't believe he's ever passed up steak in his life.

Glenn is luckily still working alot. Fortunately, we have a decent unemployment claim until the 1st of the year. Then he will have to reapply and I know it will go down. :<

I'm just trying to keep upbeat and be here for the kids schooling. I really need to get some energy and motivation to wrap presents.

Our tree looks really empty underneath right now. I am considering not putting anything under it until Christmas eve after the kids go to sleep for the wow factor. They have always seen presents under the tree and I think it diminishes their excitement.

On Monday, Cam and I are going downtown to PPG Place for a school field trip. He is really excited. He enjoyed skating their on New Years Eve last year. The first part of the trip is touring the Santas of the World then he can skate until the rink closes at 3....or until I'm so cold I can't take it anymore! I should be able to make it. The temp is supposed to be 52/43.

Our family wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Remember the reason for the season and be sure to skip the Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings. Make everyone aware of why we celebrate by saying Merry Christmas.