Not Missing This!

Just checked the weather in Spokane...snow and down to -3 tonight.  Here in beautiful Roatan we are basking by the pool.  It's so nice here!  Our house is gorgeous, we are situated on a lovely bay, with a view out through a reef to the Atlantic Ocean.  I have mostly been knitting, reading and lounging by the pool, and that's perfectly fine with me.  Rumor has it that the more adventurous members of our party are going zip-lining today.  Those of us who are "gravity people" are trying to get out of it.

Paradise

Pia, Katie and I arrived in gorgeous Roatan this afternoon and were met by Patty, Tony, Junior and Franklin (our home's caretaker and his grandson, great guys!)  The island and the house are as beautiful as we had dreamed, and we are already living la vida loca (no idea what that translates as, but you get my drift).  It's so warm here and it's so much fun to get to spend Christmas with my kids, Tony and Patty. Thanks all of you for making it possible for me to join you!  Happy Christmas, Santa is on his way!

Packing!

Our trip is almost here!  I've thrown swimsuits, shorts, flip flops and underwear in  my suitcase, along with a rather pitiful pile of gifts (hard to pack a full load of Christmas presents in one suitcase):

I also threw in a jigsaw puzzle (Great Shipwrecks!) just in case Katie is completely housebound and we get bored.  The knitting projects are selected and yarn is ready to be wound into balls. 

I can't believe it's finally time to head to sunny Roatan (or Rwanda as my dear relatives insist on calling it)!!!

Getting Crafty

The gang and I went to a family night at the Y, where they had a bunch of tables set up for Christmas crafts.  Of course, we especially loved the ones that involved marshmallows.  We made Reindeer Chow and Snowmen using 'mallows, licorice whips and pretzels.  Those didn't make it home, but they made some very cute ornaments for their tree.

GAK!

Once AGAIN, I am working on transferring my store to a new host.  It's a total PITA, and I find I need to learn a lot more about computer programming and codes and HTML language than I ever really wanted to know :-(

Hopefully, I'll get it all figured out before we leave on our trip and have the store & site up and running pronto.  Send strength and patience thoughts my way, I'm going to need plenty of both...

True Believers

Is there anything more grand than a child who still believes in Santa?  No, there really isn't.  And the boys are in various stages of 'true believing'. 

Mikey is still a T.B. at age 5 of course.  On our walk to school this morning, he asked if I believed.  I replied,  "YES. OF COURSE I DO."  We then had a discussion about what Santa is bringing and how many days left till the big day.  It's hard being a good boy right up to Xmas day!

The twins at 10 are wavering a bit.  The logical part of their brains knows that "Mom buys the presents", but they totes WANT to believe.  Liam told his mom that the Santa they saw this weekend wasn't the REAL Santa, his hair was too light. Real Santa is at the Mall.  And then he asked his mom "do the reindeer REALLY fly?"  Al is pretty sure Mom is Santa, but just in case he's believing.  You don't want to miss out on the really good presents by dissing Santy.

Riveria is 11 and totally over the whole Santa thing.  But trying to be a good big brother and not spill the beans.

I vote that we all endorse Santa 100%.  The world needs the jolly guy.

It's Official!

Christmas season is upon us!  We watched "White Christmas" last night (well, I watched an hour of it, then had to go to bed, but really I have the whole movie and all the songs and dialog memorized so it's okay).  Love this movie SO much: Bing! Rosemary!  Vera-Ellen's creepy tiny waist! Danny Kaye and everything he does!  Mary Wickes (the housekeeper)! 

And of course, my sister B & I do a mean version of "Sisters".

Once I've watched "It's a Wonderful Life" at least one time, I'll know it's time to get those presents wrapped!