Christmas Eve Snow

The past few days have been cold and rainy. It's been hovering at 33 and 34 degrees. I selfishly prayed that the temperature would drop just a few degrees. There are very few signs of Christmas, only what's in our hearts and homes. So I knew God could make a little snow and give us a beautiful decoration.

With school out I've been sleeping in a bit (thanks to my sweet hubby). The day finally came that I thought would never come - the kids are learning the art of sleeping in, too (until 8:00 anyway). This morning I woke up around 8:00. I stayed in bed and whispered some morning prayers while under the cozy covers. As Annie bounced in my room around 8:30, she slung open my curtains. While we were sleeping, about 2-3 inches of snow covered the ground. It wasn't long before the kids were rolling around in it. Here are a few pictures of our first snow...on Christmas Eve nonetheless.

Jolly Lotto

Jolly Saint Nick. He adorns a lot of stores here, but the only "live" Santa to be found here is in the city's largest mall...passing out lottery tickets. No center stage where kids line up to tell wishes. Only waiting in the middle of the mall for those seeking lottery tickets.

You can see the stack of lottery tickets in his hands.

The kids wanted their picture with Santa (truth be known, I wanted their picture with the skinny Santa), so he was kind enough to pose with them.

Really Green Tea

For Christmas break the kids have an entire month off of school. We are on week 3, and cabin fever has officially struck. We had to do something to mix things up. We found a store here that sells a lot of pranks. This one cost 75 cents. Mike loves tea, so we fixed him some authentic green tea!

Emma's tooth could cause 2 special people to meet