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.