our Christmas eve awards....

Christmas Eve pictures.....here is Stine with Emily. And a ride-on race, which Camille won.

Charlotte Claire and Camille....my babies are growing up.

Uh-oh, daddy fell....

he just couldn't race like Charlotte Claire....

Suze won the fit-in-the-basket contest.

Mirielle....






And the awards: Paul got "The Richest"....

I got the "Most Likely To Get Pregnant"....hmm.

Stine got the "Most Norwegian".

Emily got the "Most Converted", and Joseph got the "Most Caveman-ish"

Mali got the "Chinkiest", and Aaron got the "Europeanist"....

Samuel got the "Angriest in the Morning" award....

Mirielle got the "Most Eligible", and Margaret got the "Smiliest"....

Kathryn got the "Most Angelic"...

Evelyn got the "Most Blondiest"....(the boys call her "Blondie" all the time)

Suzanne got the "Prettiest"....

Sonja got the "Gingeriest", the boys call her Ginger.

Jon got the "TipToe-ist"....

And Charlotte Claire got the "Gunniest", because that is how she talks. Her name is Garlotte, and she is gunny! Camille's paper is backwards on purpose because Aaron and Mali, the givers of the awards, thought they were funny and wrote something inapporpriate on hers. It was very funny, or gunny, but not for a family blog.

Yes, our Christmas was fun this year. The very best part was having everyone here, and celebrating in such a way that involved everyone. The weather has gotten cold again, and snowy, and tomorrow will not get over 16 degrees, well below zero with the wind-chill, since it will be snowing again. An arctic cold front is moving over Lake Ontario tonight, bringing more snow. So tomorrow we are having "Coffee Shop Day"....I got some treats today, 1/2 price Christmas candy and cookies, and we are going to make lattes and tea and pumpkin pie. It sounds like a cozy thing to do on a freezing day. Then Wednesday, I am planning to go shopping for stuff for the New Year's Feast at church. We rent a bouncy house for the kids every year, and get together and have good food and good fun, like karaoke, skits, and other games that include everyone. And of course some encouragement to be faithful to God in our daily life!

The workload with so many people here all the time is incredible. I do have lots of helpers right now, so I cannot complain. But the dishwasher runs three times a day, and the washer runs all day, it seems. With us all home all day, except for Paul, we go through so much food. I made grilled cheese for lunch, and we had oranges and grapefruit and grape juice and some pretzels. Dinner is going to be hamburgers and salad. I got two chickens to roast tomorrow, since that sounds like a warm and comfy dinner. Wednesday, some of them will be gone for dinner time, since our church is fundraising at the Carrier Dome again, this time for the professional wrestling. But I am planning pizza for dinner. Thursday we will have pizza again at the party, and lots of other good stuff. I did not plan for New Year's day yet, maybe just some chili......

I read a whole book yesterday, in between everything else. I read the whole thing. Rats. I wish I had saved some for today, but no, I had to read the whole thing. It was a Jacquelin Mitchard novel, pretty good. But that's why I don't like reading books, I either read the whole thing in one day, or I stay up all night and read it. I have read literally hundreds of books through the years while nursing babies. But now, I don't have a baby,....

In fact, Camille is very ready for potty training, and this will be a first for me. ....for almost 25 years straight, I have had someone in diapers. Usually two, sometimes three....and to have NO MORE DIAPERS makes me downright sad. I know, I am silly. But wah anyway.