As I listen to the kids playing with their new toys I am also watching the beautiful giant snowflakes falling down outside. A perfect scene for Christmas Day. I am happy that we get to be together to celebrate as a family today.

Merry Christmas to everyone from the House of Cochran!

John, Paula, John, and Christopher

...for colds and flu in the Cochran house. With all the stress we have been under this week, we finally hit the breaking point. Poor Christopher was first, followed by J, and now me. We had a nice weekend planned and now I am spending most of my my time cuddled on the couch shivering with fever. YUCK! I am sure John is next...

Last night was our preschool's "Holiday" Program. (Just call it a Christmas program...we were singing Christmas songs anyway!!!!) It would have been Christopher's first program if he had not been spiking a fever. Poor Guy. Not like the toddlers did much more than stand up there and look cute anyway! I took a video of J's performance below and added some snapshots to the Holiday Album. J is the one on the far right at the end of the row. He HAD to stand beside one of his teachers. He is a charmer...... Enjoy!

The powdery fluff outside is beginning to accumulate fast! There is a serene feel when you are outside...except when you are having snowballs hurled at you. J went out to play in the first real snowfall of the season, and didn't waste any time practicing his snowball throwing skills and finding a nice, long icicle to munch on (yuck!). Christopher has been pretty sick the last couple days, so unfortunately he had to sit this one out! 

Well, it finally feels like Winter. I was starting to worry that we might have a 75 degree day on Christmas. I am glad we have nowhere important to go this weekend.

We spent this week getting everything ready to spend a nice, and hopefully peaceful, Christmas together.

The house is glowing with icicle lights, and I have 4 boxes of decorations to spread around the inside. We went and picked out our tree and the prices almost killed our spirit. Sixty bucks for a 5 foot tree!!! Or 14.99 for a little three foot one that apparently had been drug to the lot behind the trailer instead of on it. On our 3rd stop we found one that we liked for only $20. SOLD. The best part is, I got to be a geek (read "Soccer mom") and tie it to the top of our station wagon (yes, I have a station wagon now thanks to my husband) and drive it home. It wasn't until we tried to decorate it that I found out that Scotch Pines have the pointiest needles....ouch! No wonder this tree was cheap-it is a torture contraption when you try to decorate it. Oh well, hopefully it will keep the boys from playing with the ornaments. A kind of built in baby-proofing.

The boys got to see Santa yesterday and J immediately ran up into his lap and started rambling off all the toys he NEEDS so very much for Christmas. To add, of course, to all the toys he currently leaves strewn about the house for us to trip over. Chris was a little wary, but still was curious enough to stay on his lap long enough for a picture.

Now it is on to buying the rest of the presents...... Click on the holiday album to the right and enjoy the new pictures.