The Mulder 2008 Christmas Card

The blog header was our Christmas card this year.

Pictures taken and card made by the wonderful, talented Selena at http://www.selenamariephoto.com/.

A Blizzard and a Party

I really don't like this weather. I really don't like any snow at all, but when it's a blizzard, my hate intesifies. It's freezing, wet and windy. There's zero visability and I'm stuck in the house. None of that is fun. So...I'm really hoping it gets better tomorrow! Here are a couple of pics from our house this afternoon. The last one shows how much snow blew in the garage just while Colin was snow-blowing.

We did have a fun night last night with a Christmas party with my mom's side of the family. It's fun because it's a decent size group...my grandma, her four kids and their spouses, 11 grandkids and spouses and then 7 great-grandkids. Abigail and Henry had a lot of fun and were pretty good most of the night. The adults play Bingo with tons of gifts ranging from a box of Skittles to tools, gift cards and other bigger stuff. Colin won a one-pound Sugar Daddy on a stick...Henry was in Heaven. Too bad we "forgot" it at the party and it didn't come home with us! It was a fun night and nice to get together with family!

This week is busy for us (like all of you, I'm sure!). Monday is a regular day with me working at night. Tuesday is a regular day with a Christmas party at night in Hudsonville (my dad's side). Then Wednesday morning I get to spend three hours at the hospital for my glucose test. We'll go see Santa at Froggy's for lunch and then our family opens gifts at night. My parents are coming that night. Christmas day is obviously busy with the Mulders in the morning and my family in the afternoon/evening. Whew! Busy, but so much fun!

Not sure if I'll post before Christmas...if not...Merry Christmas!!

Singing and Santa

This was the first year that Abigail sang in the church for the Christmas "program." It only included the group singing four songs at two of our church services yesterday and then the other two next week. They sang "Silent Night," "Joy to the World," "Go Tell it on the Mountain," and "Away in a Manger." It really was adorable and Abigail has really enjoyed it! I got a few pictures yesterday. The first one is clapping to "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and the other two are during the motions of "Away in a Manger." I love that she enjoys this type of thing!

There's no smooth transition from singing Christian Christmas Carols to seeing Santa, so we'll just move right on....

The kids enjoyed seeing Santa tonight. Henry was actually more intrigued than Abigail. I think she was more embarrassed than anything. :) It was a fun night and I actually got a cute picture!

Pregnancy Update

I am 25 weeks, 3 days today. This baby should be here in about three months. Crazy really. The time has flown already and will only start going faster I'm sure. I went to the doctor today for a normal check and gained one pound in the past four weeks. I'm still down about thirteen pounds since I got pregnant, but this is the first gain I've had, so that's good! I also failed my glucose tolerance test today. I think that it wasn't wise to have a granola bar and some Coke early this morning. I have to go to the hospital for a three hour test to get rechecked. I'm not really nervous since I haven't had issues in the past and think it's probably more related to my breakfast than anything. :) My doctor also told me to lay off sweets and pop for the few days leading up to the test, so that will probably help!

We also think we've decided on a name. Finally. We've been talking a lot and haven't come up with anything we like. Or one of us loves a name and the other hates it. I knew that it would be a name that we haven't discussed and when we did say the name, we would know it. I'm assuming we'll share it ahead of time, but since Colin and I haven't specifically discussed that I probably shouldn't blab it on my blog yet. :)

Everything else is going well. Tomorrow is a nice day since neither kid has school...we'll have a pajama day and lounge I'm sure. Haircuts for Colin and Henry at night and possibly a visit to Santa. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Where have I been? Life is flying by, Thanksgiving is over, December is here, stress is high...ahh! :) We've been busy and blogging hasn't been top on my list. Sorry!

Let's see...Thanksgiving was great. Busy, but great. We had a big turkey dinner at my parents' house at noon with just our family, my parents and my grandma. Joel and Kelly were in Florida and Brad and Bec were at Brad's parents' house this year. At night we went to Mulder for another big turkey dinner...this time with more people. We have so much to be thankful for (family, jobs, life security, friends, to name just a few!) and enjoyed spending the day with family.

I did do some Black Friday shopping. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go out this year since I wasn't dying for anything, but did end up meeting Marci at Rivertown right at 6:00 (a little later that I usually get going on BF, but still plenty early!). I did really well for not really needing anything! :) My favorite purchase was a new pillow for myself...I've needed one for awhile and I love the one I got! I have the majority of my Christmas shopping done, but still have a bit to go. Nothing is wrapped (except the gifts from Tip Toes...love that they have free beautiful gift wrap!), but I'll get there. I love buying gifts for people, so it's a fun time of year.

This past Sunday my Grandma came for dinner at my parents house and Abigail and Grandma Northouse worked on putting gumdrops on the gumdrop tree. I love pictures of them together...about 80 years between the two of them!

Things are moving along this week. Colin started a new trimester, the kids may have had too many days of lazy mornings, because it's getting hard to get them moving in the morning! I hope to actually do a little scrapbooking in the near future, but we'll see!

Have a great day!!