Minnesota is Heaven, But Virginia is Home

William likes to say "Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas", which I find adorable.  He's so sweet--this age is just the perfect Christmas age.  He still feels the wonder and enchantment of the season and he still believes in Santa.  The older two are a little more jaded.  There's not quite the same level of holiday spirit, though there's a lot of excitement to get down and get at the gifts under the tree. We did go to church last night, all of us in one pew, everyone shiny and neat in their best clothes and me in my Christmas dirndl.  And lo, it was beautiful enough to drive me near to tears for a few moments, but then the squirming and musical seats started up.  Luckily, it was a family service designed especially for--you guessed it, families--and so there were a lot of lively little ones there.  Anyway, here are some pictures from today:  It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a Pillowpet!  Annika picked this out for Wil...

I have to say it:  I think I nailed the whole sugar cookie thing this year!  My ultimate proof is that we made them on Monday and today they are ALL gone, all three dozen of them.  I'm not going to lie.  I ate at least half of them.  I really wish the holidays didn't coincide with PMS (apologies to my male readers)...since I feel like eating everything I lay eyes on!!  Anyway, enough about my PMS, which could comprise several posts of its own (I should give it a name).  How about some pictures of my children and Hans (!) decorating cookies? I'm happy to oblige: Annika on Sunday, waiting for the cookies to bake  Christmas Tree 2012 Preparing to frost--Josiah still remembers the year(s) I made them take off their shirts for this activity!   SO excited to get Daddy to come home a little early on Monday and frost with us!  There was plenty of sampling while we decorated, and we did end up giving quite a few...

By now, you all know our stunningly good news.  I was pretty much convinced that it would go the other way, so...I am surprised.  Proud and pleased and back on the bandwagon of waiting to see what happens next.  The Navy surely has kept us on our toes for the past decade!  Now we wait and see what happens.  According to Hans, he will have a little input into what type of ship he wants and where.  A very, very little, and of course he is subject to the whims and needs of the Navy.  I'll keep the five of you stalwart readers informed.  That's a promise! I'm just stunned, I think, to find that our adventure isn't quite over.  Thankful that we will now have more time for Hans to consider what he wants to do for a living post-Navy.  That one was scaring me more than anything:  if he didn't screen, what in the world would he do and in this job market? As life goes on.  Of course, I have to mention the tragedy in Newtown....

The Facts of Life, right?  A show that I saw maybe twice because we didn't have NBC at our house.  Or ABC or whatever non-CBS channel it was on.  I could have learned so much from Blair and Jo, but I had to learn my lessons from Thomas Magnum and the Simon Brothers.  Whatevs. So, it's been one of those days.  I knew last week was just too perfectly perfect, what with everything falling so neatly and amazingly into place. First.  The kids have had these God-blessed colds for about six weeks now and I'm about at my wit's end.  The only other stranger virus I've encountered was my bizzare German virus--remember that one:  fever, chills, body rash?  They thought I either had Lyme Disease or there was a dead Nazi in the basement whose malevolent spirit was causing my illness.  Remember that one?  This cold that the kids have (which Hans and I have not caught, for some strange reason) appears and disappears at random.  They wil...

Just a quick post/public service announcement.  If your kid has a wart, don't even bother. I took him to the doctor on Monday to have it removed.  Doctor was a nice(ish), older, civilian. Before doing anything to Will's wart, he lectured me for upwards of 10 minutes on how "they" don't recommend removing warts on children anymore.  He proceeded to describe to me in depth, using complex terminology (maybe I should be flattered that I looked intelligent or something?) that the wart was a virus and would retreat on its own.  I'm paraphrasing.  I may have fallen asleep for a couple of minutes.  With my eyes open. Well, I felt a little guilty because he asked if I still wanted him to freeze the wart and I said I did.  I am a horrible mother apparently, because he told me that it hurts the child and that it isn't necessary and I still want him to do it. It took an unreasonably long amount of time for the nurse to return with the freezing gun. So, ...

I'm pretty sure that I've done odds and ends at least thirteen times, maybe more.  Bear with me, friends.  This is one of those posts. And now, for the bullet points: Please give us a thought and a prayer this week.  In some doubtlessly drab government building in Millington, TN a bunch of important Navy people are looking over Hans' record and deciding, for the third and final time, if he's fit for command or not.  Let's hope that this time around, these are smart Navy people and not the kind of Navy people who keep picking drunk, fist-fighting, crew-abusing, adulterous, other-ship-hitting dumbasses for command.  Please let them be smart, please let them be smart, baby Jesus. OK, so anyway.  Having said the above, Hans and I have made peace with whatever decision the board comes up with (do they use dice?  do they throw bones?  read tea leaves?) and will be happy either way.  All right, we will admit that we will be 8.3% happier if the...