Happy Birthday MM

We're at Callaway Gardens celebrating both Christmas and MM's birthday. Amanda's mom (mommy's mommy, or MM) gave us a trip to Callaway for Christmas while the Bunkers were "down South". We were fortunate that it coincided with MM's birthday, so we were able to celebrate it with all her children and grandchildren in attendance. After this we went to the Fanntasy in Lights, which was a fantasy indeed.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is such a paradoxical time of year. On one hand, our hearts open towards complete strangers as we donate large amounts of food, clothing, and toys to make Christmas brighter for those who can't afford even the basic necessities.. On the other hand, our fists clench towards complete strangers as we fight the traffic and crowds to buy yet another present; perhaps even one where we didn't even spend the time to think of ourselves. You know, Christ (the guy we named the holiday after) talked about both sides of that paradox- he encouraged the first and warned against the second.

Tell me- which makes you happier?

The Mt. Paran First Grade classes put on a musical tonight. Emily was fortunate enough to be one of the "Three Little Maids" (of Mikado fame). There were also the Three Billy Goats Gruff (Piper was one), Three Blind Mice (Brooke was one), Three Caballeros, Three Musketeers, Three Men in a Tub, Three Little Pigs, and Three (wait - just two!) Bears. The plotline is that Baby Bear has gone missing and all the characters are trying to find her. It was a very cute musical and all the kids had fun.

Today is my first day back at work, so I finally have a chance to breathe. Being Mr. Mom was no easy feat for a person who sits at a desk all day! Shuttling the kids around, getting people fed (except Claire, of course), and trying to keep the house just across the line from "a shambles" keeps you moving. In fact, I lost four pounds!

Everyone at home is doing great! Claire is coming along nicely. She is so considerate of her parents, even sleeping at night in four hour stretches and rarely fussing between feedings. Emily & Alex love having a baby sister, and Emily is learning how to be a big help - she's even learning how to carry the baby! How's that for being grown up? And Amanda is healing nicely. I am helping out as much as I can to make the transition back to "full-time mom" as painless as possible.

Claire's M.M. (mommy's mommy) stopped by to see Claire today. M.M. just had back surgery, so this was quite a trek for her. But she's doing much better and *loved* seeing her newest grandchild. (And Claire did pretty good, too, despite what the picture shows.)