Some Christmas photos

Here are a few of the shots we took on Christmas Eve. Thought everyone might want to see what we all looked like that night! Chas is still not too sure about having a tree in the house, but he put on his happy face and posed for us.

Merry CHRISTmas!

We wish all of you a Merry Christmas! May it be filled with warm memories of times spent with those you love, and may it be all about the hope that we have through the Christ child born in the manger.
We are spending a very sunny Christmas Eve Day preparing for all the celebrations that will begin around 6 this evening! It will be a special time for us to spend with Leon and Gret (and with Katrina, Nathan and the boys in spirit!).
Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you!

It's Playtime for Chas!

Today was a special day for Chas. In late morning, we jumped into the truck and took him to the new St. Charles Dog Park. His ears popped up and he began to fuss to get out of the truck even as we pulled up and he spotted all the other potential "playmates" at the park. Our boy did a good job for a first-timer. You can see from the photos that at first he hesitated and just sort of watched the other "furry kids". Then he ran in and joined 'em. He was a stitch trying to get everyone to chase him... dogs must know greyhounds are fast cos' when Chas got galloping, they only followed for a little while and then he'd have to "dare" them to catch him all over again. All the other "parents" there were cheering him on, yelling things like "Go buddy, get my dog to run; he needs the workout!" All in all it was pretty funny and we met some other crazy dog lovers. Jolly good fun! If your community doesn't have dog park... encourage them to get one, it's a great place to meet people and we were amazed at how clean and nice ours is. Grass is stuggling to grow in ours at present, but it just opened in November and hopefully come summer, it will get a chance to sprout some green.

Finally, I hadn't yet posted a shot of our beautiful tree. It came out gorgeous again this year. Ed is the "master" tree designer at our house. I am the "appreciater" of trees!

Updated to the "New" Blogger

Just updated to the new beta version of Blogger... which is really easy, you just need to open a "Google Account" - and beyond that Blogger does the rest. It's supposed to be faster and easier... we'll see. It all looks the same so far, so I think it's all going to be okay! Give it a whirl friends! 8 Days til Christmas and counting!!!

14 Days and Counting

Only two weeks to go and the natives are still restless. We will survive!
Stole another REALLY cute set of photos off of Katrina's blog. My grandsons crack me up! In these shots, Gabe is trying to teach Asher how to catch snowflakes on his tongue. They take cute to a whole new level. Do I sound like a doting granny? (nah.....)

17 days and counting!

You've all heard of the 12 Days of Christmas... well, I am here to introduce the 17 Days Before Christmas Break. As many of you know, I teach high school, and there is NOTHING in the world squirrellier than a bunch of 9-12th graders who want their semester to end and their Christmas break to begin! And it gets more intense with each passing day. Top it off with the semester ending, final exams being given, and throw in a little holiday hoopla and, WHEW! You are lucky if you survive! Presently, I have added a rather persistent head cold to this whole mix... so my days may be merry and bright, but they are also crazy, zany, somewhat frustrating, and frantic! Let the countdown begin!

On the first day of countdown my students gave to me.... a headcold of an amazing ferocity.....
stay tuned for days 2-17!