sorry...

The cousins in front of Dad's tree

So sorry for my absence.  I can't believe its been close to two weeks since I've updated. The busyness of Christmas has kept me from doing anything crafty!  Plus, the last few days, I've been doing some sub work in a few dental offices (I am a dental hygienist).  It's been great to work but that prevents me from getting much done at home.  I feel like such a wimp...three days of work was pretty much enough. I guess I'm not used to it. But, as I said, it was good....especially to use my mad teeth cleaning skills :)  Seriously, I miss doing hygiene but I don't regret staying home with the kids.  Hopefully next school year, when Noah goes to kindergarten, I can maybe go back a day or two. It all depends on the job market, which currently stinks right now.  Right now, its tough for any new hygiene graduate to find a job.

Anyway, Christmas was crazy busy!  We had dinner Christmas Eve eve with our friends Bill and Eric who were here from CA.  We joined them, along with the Klein family, for dinner at a tapas restaurant. A lot of fun, but  A LOT of food! 

Christmas Eve day the snow started to fall. We headed to East Peoria to my dad's for the day.  It was nice to spend the day with my family (although my poor grandma couldn't make it due to being sick) :( 
The kids had a lot of fun and got the presents they were asking for.  I have to admit, Christmas has always been hard for me. I don't know why, although I think its because growing up, my brother and I always had to go to two or three places.  Now with my mom gone, Christmas just makes me sad. I still feel a huge hole in my life without her here. Holidays just seem to make the hole even bigger.  It does make me more thankful for my family. Definitely.

Christmas Day, the kids woke up to find tons of presents left by Santa and Mom & Dad.  It was a blast watching them! Noah kept saying "I've been waiting for this!".  Mid-morning, we left for Canton to go to my in-laws.  We had a nice lunch and visit with everyone. By 3:30 or so, we had to get on the road to get to my aunt and uncle's in East Peoria.  Unfortunately, that was the time most people were leaving. But the kids got to play a few games on my aunt's new Wii :)  The highlight of my night was going to Peoria to visit with my sister Jessica and her family! They were in town from Kansas...I haven't gotten to see them since Thanksiving of 2007!  It was a short visit but the kids held up great!

me and my beautiful sister, Jessica!

So today is the first day we've gotten to stay  home since Christmas Eve! The kids have been trying out all their new toys. Pretty soon though, we need to pack up and I have to go into the scrapbook store for a few hours.   My boss isn't feeling good so the kids and I are going in for a few hours LOL  Luckily, my good friend Stacey is going to pick up Noah after she gets off work. I don't think he'd last long at the store. Although he loves to greet customers! :)