The door is so delightful

I love taping the Christmas cards all around the calendar on our school room door. It so just such a merry thing to see all those colorful cards and pictures! I have received totally delightful greetings from friends and family, and even from abroad to add to the jolly melange! Thank you so much. *cuddles all my Christmas card senders*

We had a totally fantastic Christmas day. The kiddles seemed satisfied with their presents (which were mainly Transformers toys for the boys, a little clothing, American Girl stuff, and for Kyrie a cupboard for her kitchen toys) and played together all day long, bringing joy to their parents' heart. And I got some fantastic snuggle time in with Blaine! What more could a girl want?

I hope everyone's holidays were merry and bright.

Q & A

My excellent friend Lillian has tagged me for two memes, and I'm going to tackle them both here. Gather 'round the fireside and Learn More About Al. ;)

Making a difference

1. In your opinion, what does it mean to make a difference?
It means to change the world, even in a small way—to do something that simply wouldn't be done if it weren't for me.

2. What is an example of a unique way to make a difference?
I wish I knew! Ah, I struggle to really reach out; it is so much more natural for me to hang around home here and immerse myself in this life. But I do know from experience that it is the littlest things—the seemingly innocuous and insignificant ones—that end up meaning something.

3. Who has made a difference in YOUR life this week?
So many people, I hesitate to choose just one. But I'll say Blaine's biggest client, Cindy. She thanked him in a tangible way for what he does, and it made me so happy to see him realize/acknowledge the worth of what he does all day every day.

4. If you didn’t have a blog, would you still be making a difference
Ack, I'd make a bigger difference if I weren't so addicted to my darn laptop, blogs included. :D

5. What is your favorite thing about the internet?
Information. So much learning at the tips of my fingers! And the downside: it's hard to know when enough info has been gathered, and it's time to stop surfing.

Seven Things

• Share seven random facts about yourself, in your blog.
• Include these rules.
• Link back to the person who tagged you.
• Tag seven more people and list their names & blogs. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged.
  

1. I can resist chocolate, I can resist cake and pie, I can easily turn down ice cream, but cookies own me. I just... must. eat. them.
2. Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice. (Even as wild as I am for the Twilight series, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are the bomb. They pwn. Srsly. :D
3. I love music. I love it so much, not being able to listen to music of my choosing was my One Major Concern about serving an LDS mission. I just didn't see how I could possibly not listen to my favorite bands for 18 months!
   
4. What I would do with my time if I didn't have all that other stuff going on: writing. I plot a new novel virtually every day. Think how many books I'm saving ya'll from reading simply by having all these children and homeschooling!
5. Though I'd never eaten one until I was 30 years old, I adore red bell peppers. Yum!
6. Someday I hope take up snow skiing again. I was just remembering, today, the good old days when Solitude was $10 for a day pass, and Alta was feeling pricey at $15. Thank heavens I cut school so much to ski back then. *tee hee*
7. Because my babies all slept in my bed with me (and because I so often got up quietly in the morning and left them there sleeping, and even put them down for naps in my bed) I have been about 10 years out of the habit of making my bed in the morning. Perhaps "make the bed" will be my January resolution!

Um, I'm treating rule #4 as optional, since I don't even know seven people here at blogspot. So if you'd like to join in and tell your blog readers about you, please consider yourself tagged!

Thanks for letting me play, Lil. *hug*

Pink Lemons

Happy birthday to our four-year-old Kyrie Grace. She wanted a lemon cake. She wanted pink frosting. So what did she get? A pink-and-yellow swirl cake with lemon pudding underneath and pink-colored lemon-flavored frosting on top.


Happy birthday sweet little girl! You're so precious to us.