Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Around 3 am the night of Friday, December 18, or truly the morning of Saturday, December 19, the snow began to fall. We were all cozied up in our beds, with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads (or not, since I've never even had one)...and the snow continued to fall the entire next day. We had gotten a call the night before that Grandma Good's annual Christmas gathering was being moved up to 10 am. That worked out great for us! But, unfortunately, at 9:30 am we got a call that she was postponing it until the next day at the prompting of a couple families who lived farther out than the rest. We were a little bummed, I'll admit. And even more so the next day when we realized that two families couldn't be there due to work or other plans on Sunday. I called my Dad who invited us out to breakfast. Sure! Why not? We headed out in our AWD sleigh and met Grandpa Georgia, who Joshua begged to come play with him in the snow, and Uncle Jim & Aunt Karen at Dad's favorite 'Greasy Spoon' AKA Bridgeport Family Restaurant. Uncle Jim had a long-sleeved red shirt on along with a Santa hat and his suspenders. He truly looked like good ol' St. Nick (as does my Dad). Two of the waitresses told him to slide his chair out and promptly sat on his lap for a picture. We all laughed. My uncle is NOT the type to usually like the attention, but Dad said that all sorts of kids and folks waved and said hi to Santa and my uncle thought that was neat so he kept it up. He laughed as kids in the Walmart parking lot saw "Santa" going in to buy things and got really excited. Both my aunt & uncle seem to really love kids.

After breakfast, our Santa (AKA Daddy) went to AC Moore to buy some trains and tracks for the Bean for Christmas. They were closing at noon and thankfully Shawn made it over there just in time. Joshua has told us that Santa is bringing Thomas for him, Percy for Caleb, Gordon for Daddy and Rosie for Momma because Momma has an ouchy belly. He's prayed to Jesus to thank Him for all of those trains and continues to tell us that Momma is getting Rosie. Daddy said that we had to find a Rosie, which he found at AC Moore; and when he bought the track set, he got Rosie free. Now we're just waiting on a few other trains from eBay and we'll be all set! I'm excited for Christmas this year!!!

When Daddy was gone, we finally wrote our letters to Santa. It's sooo sweet! Joshua spoke it and I wrote what he said. He asked for the typical trains for each person, a bike (which Grandma bought him), and a dog & cat for him & Caleb. Yeah, right! Not so much!!! It was really fun.

We didn't play much in the snow since it was still coming down so heavily, but Grandpa said he'd come the next day. But, Sunday Joshua woke up struggling to breathe, so we called Grandpa & said maybe another day this week. We gave him a breathing treatment and told him to take it easy. I took Joshua to the doctor's office, and they said he sounds okay but it could be a sinus infection. Dr. Haught gave me a script for antibiotics but told me to wait a day or two to get it filled in case the cold clears out on its own. Joshua's lungs sound okay, his ears look fine, and he might be able to kick it himself but only a day or two will tell us for sure. He is seeming better today, but I'll get the prescription just in case. Joshua nor Caleb should be contagious anymore since they've had it for two weeks now and are at the extreme tail end. Lastly, Joshua's issue with going No. 2 is behavior-related, Dr. Haught thinks. And, he told me it's most important that Joshua gets regular and chooses when to use the potty on his own. He said to give him a pull up and let him hide and go if that's what it takes to make him WANT to go. He can't be scared of pooping, to put it bluntly. So, that's where we're at. He's been going potty just fine, but he does hesitate to do longer business there. So, they think he'll go when he wants to and they don't want him holding it until that time comes. UGH! I know that this, too, shall pass.

Saturday night, Shawn told me he was really in the mood for homemade chocolate chip cookies (hint, hint). I love him so much and it's rare that he asks me for anything, so I didn't mind making them for him. I dug out the ingredients and used all of our brown sugar, regular sugar, etc. We'll need to go shopping! But, the cookies turned out well. I was so sick from eating the dough (UGH! That's why I don't bake! I can't say no!) and the cookies themselves. Caleb LOVES cookies, too, but Joshua doesn't like sweets. No wonder he's so skinny! Daddy ate a ton, too, and I told him that he has to save some for Santa in a few days. He told me he'd try to. I made a double batch, so he darn well better!!!

The roads hadn't been plowed yet and everything was pretty slick out, we'll admit. Thankfully, Shawn is calm as a cucumber so he did just fine with our SUV when he went out. It really was pretty. I don't know the official count but I'd say we got about a foot total. That evening we watched the movie "Elf" before putting the kids to bed (well, Caleb got tired half way through but Joshua made it to the end).

Sunday morning we woke up to our neighbor from across the street snow-blowing our sidewalk and the driveway out to the road. God love him! Shawn was about to read the manual from ours (thanks, Grandma) while Brian did our house and our next-door neighbors who are currently in England for Christmas. We really do live in a nice neighborhood and have great neighbors - we are truly blessed. I took over some cookies to them and wished them a Merry Christmas and said thanks so much for helping us. Each time it snows our sidewalks were cleared almost immediately, and now we know who it was. Over the summer, I had helped him out with a logo free of charge but they've also made us meals when we've had our babies, etc. It's nice to have nice people nearby. :) We are thankful for our cozy warm home, the beautiful snow outside, and the kindness of people around us. Most of all, we are thankful for a God who loved us enough to send a Savior to us in the form of a baby one blessed Christmas day...