Scenes from the Holidays

Here are a few images from the Christmas season. First there's a picture of Veronica and Harrison on Santa's lap that was taken at Holy Spirit Catholic Church during their night out with Santa. Veronica's Daisy Scout troop went as a group. Next is a shot of Violet at the YMCA in Montgomery and a shot of the Y's Christmas tree--it's still decorated like that for the record! And yes, Violet does have a black eye--she pulled a Christmas stocking off the mantle and the stocking holder hit her in the face. Finally, from our recent trip to Ohio for post-Christmas/New Year's, there's a shot of Veronica and Harrison enjoying the snow at Great Grandma Haren's house. As you can see, they haven't learned the difference between snowmen and snow cones yet.

We're Baaack!

After a long break for Christmas and New Year's everyone is back to their normal routine. Yes, even I am back to putting off writing in my blog! Here is a story for all of you who enjoy hearing about the joys of parenthood. On Monday, Veronica had a dentist appointment. No one was back to school yet, so I had to take all three of the kids to the appointment. It's a pediatric dentist though, so they have an interesting waiting room--lots of park benches and fish tanks. Anyway, I successfully got all three of them dressed and in the car and actually made it to the dentist on time (9:30 AM). Just as I was parking, I heard Veronica exclaim from the back, "Eww! Violet threw up!" Yes, Violet had thrown up. Fortunately all she had "eaten" so far was juice. She did get a little bit on Veronica's leg though. I got out the wet wipes, handed one to Veronica, and then wiped Violet clean. Then we went in to the appointment. Again, fortunately, they saw Veronica almost right away and Violet seemed fine. Violet looked at the fishies while Harrison and I played with his toy knights that he got for his birthday. It didn't take very long and Veronica was done--no cavities--yea! Then I had to go to AUM (my school) to pay my last registration fees--I WILL graduate this spring. I had to wait in line a little while and Veronica and Harrison got antsy. They decided it would be a good idea to run laps up and down the hallway and then run up and down the stairs. Violet preferred to cling to me. She was starting to feel a little feverish. Finally, I got everyone rounded up and back in the car and home. Just as I carried Violet into the house, she threw up again. This time on me, and the floor, and the carpet. Since I didn't have anywhere else to go I gave her bath and put her down for a nice long 4 hr nap. While I was getting her cleaned up, Veronica and Harrison helped themselves to the pantry. I heard Veronica say something like, "Hey, Harrison, let's see how many crackers we can fit in our mouth!" Needless to say, there were a ton of cracker crumbs on the carpet when I came out of Violet's room. Violet was sick the rest of the day, but was better the next day, and was able to go back to school today. I'm not sure if she actually had caught something or was just exhausted from our trip. Maybe both.