Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and other stuff

The Christmas season with young children is so much fun! Luke and Katie were so cute to watch as they got more and more excited throughout the month of December. We had our countdown calendar and had lots of fun looking for "Elfie", our elf on the shelf, each morning. He was a bit mischievous and seemed to have fun too as we found him hanging from light fixtures, unrolling the toilet paper and playing poker (Texas Hold 'Em, of course) with Rudolph and Dasher! And of course, we went to have a picture taken with Santa! The kids were completely inundated with such wonderful gifts! I am STILL trying to get a handle on all of that! More on that later.

We rang in the new year in our traditional way by spending the night with Matt, Kelly, Thomas, Mason and Maguire as well as a few other friends. We enjoyed lots of good food and had our countdown at 8 with the kids. We had a parade and noisemakers, party hats and the whole bit. And just like last year, me, Matt and Kelly were the only ones awake at midnight, although Thomas gave it a valiant effort and made it to 11.

I love the holidays as much as anybody but I also feel a little bit of melancholy after New Year's but that usually goes away pretty quick since my birthday is January 10th (I have a tendency to point that out to everyone as often as I can!!!). This year was another great birthday weekend so I am grateful for that although it, too, made feel a bit melancholy since I just turned 39. Yep, my last year in my 30s. Ugh. The good news is that I really don't FEEL 39, except for the aching back, the high cholesterol and the under-active thyroid!!! Ha ha! It's really not so bad. Having young children and a fabulous husband is the best medicine for all of that!

In addition to being my last year in my 30s, 2013 will also be our last year at the current address for Hogg Heaven. Some of you know that we have had a "contingent" offer on our house since the end of October. Well, "contingent" means "subject to change" and that change looks like it will be happening to us in February. While Andrew and I are very much in agreement that our decision is right and is exactly following the plan we designed for our family 5 years ago, it is still hard for sentimental fools like me to move on. The next month will be difficult for me (not only am I sentimental, I am also a pack-rat!) but I know that the exciting things we are aiming for will be well worth it and that, like the Tony Bennett song we danced our first dance to, "the best is yet to come"!!!!