Just a few pix from yesterday before I ratchet into high gear in preparation for the start of our family's Christmas festivities this evening:

Shortly after the kids left, Alex arrived with Beth and Hannah!

Hannah required some persuading to eat her nice spinach and sweet potatoes.

Uncle Louis dropped by and was delighted to make his newest niece's acquaintance.

Beth and Hannah examining a Christmas scrapbook set.

Isn't she a precious piece o' poppetry?

Can't believe how Hannah's grown!  Is she really nine months old already? 

Observation:  I probably should have had them decorate cookies  -  which means eating frosting and cookies and colored sugar and sprinkles  -  last of all, considering the sugar high they're all on and we're not even an hour into this.

I've the stuff for putting stickers on bags, and coloring mugs, and coloring Christmas ornaments, and making fancy ornaments (thank you, Elaine!), but right now they're mostly raising a ruckus in the living room.  The older girls are playing a cross between house and hospital, so I'm trying to think of a way to convince them the most fun is to be comatose.

Just overheard:  Bethie asking Brianna, "What kind of cancer do you have?"

Five year olds are certainly "older" than we were in the 50's. 

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Mercy Maud, has it really been three days since my last posting? 

Well, the horror. 

Been trying to get prepared for The Official Christmas Festivities, so haven't been online as much, not to mention there hasn't been a whole lot to natter on about.  And then last night, the first night of Christmas break for Dmitry, Taylor was over and they were playing Tibia, with Dmitry in the living room and Taylor in the dining room.  Somehow I fear Don's evening TV watching was a bit spoilt by the constant shouts of "DUDE!" back and forth, combined with urgent suggestions and warnings to each other ("Watch out for that witch, dude!"  "I'm gonna kill these orcs, dude!" "Dude! You better run!").

Talked to Dmitry's school's principal yesterday, and received confirmation of what Dmitry had been telling me, that due to so many of the middle schoolers' wretched scores in math, there's to be mandatory tutoring, including the option of Saturday morning from 9 till 1.  Personally I'm hoping he'll opt to stay at school till 5 on Mon-Thu. so I needn't get up and haul him to school on Saturday.  He's taking it pretty well, bless his heart. 

On the Charles front, he dropped a bombshell on the family the other day by announcing he'd been in contact with a Navy recruiter, as it turns out there was a seaman recruit at Great Lakes who has asthma.  Apparently, contrary to what Alex's recruiter told him last spring, the Navy is willing to try someone with asthma.  Since the military was Charles' first choice as a post-high-school endeavor, he now wants to enlist immediately.

The family, naturally, thinks it'd be far more sensible to wait until he completes his college degree, then join....hopefully he could even enter OCS.

In ten minutes Brianna is due to show up to be here for the day whilst Jessica and Jason work.  At 10:30 she'll be joined for a couple of hours by Bethie, Benjamin, Meredith and Margaret so we can do some Christmassy stuff and let their moms have a little free time.  Will be sure to take pictures of poppets! 

That was scary!  Alex heard from his friend, who moved into the base housing in which he and Beth and Hannah had lived until they moved to their current apartment; his friend's wife - for a change - decided to take her husband to work, and after being gone for fifteen minutes, she found this:

The ceiling had crashed down. 

They were originally in the Navy fleet band stationed in New Orleans, but moved up to the Tennessee base after Katrina. Due to a difficult, high risk pregnancy, the Navy made his transfer permanent, which is why they had the housing.

Imagine if she'd been sitting on that sofa when the ceiling fell....or if it'd fallen when Beth was sitting there with Hannah, as she often was. 

Drat.  It's not that I particularly want it to be bitterly cold, but I really hate it when it's 70° on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, which is the current forecast.

Iffen I wanted 70° on Christmas day I'd move to Florida or southern California or somewhere like that.  I'm not unrealistic enough to expect a white Christmas, but it's nice when it's at least chilly enough to warrant a fire in the fireplace. 

The Christmas Countdown has begun, in the form of Dmitry driving me absolutely mad regarding his anxiety for his presents to arrive.

"I can smell the present!  I can smell it's here!"

Believe me, no five year old finds waiting for Christmas as hard as does Dmitry. 

You know what's getting crazy stupid big?

Drug stores, that's what.  Oh, for the day's of Daniel Drugs on 7th St., and Skillern's on Camp Bowie (both the Arlington Heights and Ridglea areas).  Soda fountain counters.  Pharmacy area.  Cosmetics.

There's a Walgreen's being built on the lot where the Minyard's grocery store used to be, and I swear the critter's gonna be huge. 

Mercy Maud, how large a magazine rack is this thing gonna have? 

Does the LORD work in mysterious ways or what?  While out at the mall.....a big, crowded mall....Don ran into his brother and SIL, Joe and Helen.  They live in Haslet, so Ridgmar is not a place they normally shop, but Helen had wanted to go to the Toys R Us nearby, and they went ahead and stopped in, seeing as how they were already there.

Anyway, they told Don the adoption is done, and now they're waiting for visas (or something like that) to be able to go get Katie Elena.  Supposed to be Jan. 3, but they're hoping to move it up to Dec. 28th. 

He says they're quite excited, as you may imagine.

Isn't it a weird thought, however, that the adoption is done already?  Without their being there?  They gave Gladney power of attorney, so that's how it worked.  Still, obviously Guatemala is quite different from Russia in the area of adoption law.

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Men just slay me, they really do. 

Don decided he needs a plane to be able to take off the bit from the bottom of the cabinet facing over the fridge, so it can be set back where it belongs.  He said he was off to Sears at the mall. 

The mall!?!  Today?  Why not go to Home Depot to get the plane?

He says he did.  They don't have any.  He walked all over the store and looked everywhere.....no planes, incredible though it may seem.

Did you ask someone, I inquired.

He stopped and gave me an incredulous stare, then assured me no, he didn't ask anyone, with the unspoken rider of "are you nuts?"

Foolish me.  Of course he didn't ask anyone.  He's a guy, and guys don't do that. 

Whaddaya wanna bet there were some planes tucked away somewhere in that big store? 

Isn't that the way?

There I was, gloating over finally having a kitchen full of working appliances, most of 'em new.  New microwave.  New dishwasher.  New fridge.  Range.  Oven. 

Just tried to heat a bit of chili.

The new (well, within the couple of months) microwave won't turn on.  

It's here!  

It's too tall.  By about 1/10".  

Hope Don can figure out how to shave off a smidge from the bottom of the cabinet.  Fortunately it's a facing, or whatever you'd call it; it should be no real problem.

HA!  Famous last words. 

The appropriate dishwasher's here, and Jane, you'll appreciate this....turns out one can choose whether the silverware bins are on the door or in the rack.  Isn't that spiffy?  It's easily changed! 

Now I've time for some errands before fetching Dmitry at 3:00, and the refrigerator coming afterward.  ;^)