Merry Christmas...We have a leak!!!!

Great way to start the holiday...with a leak in our family room just above the sofa. Nice eh?

It rained most of the weekend, but especially Saturday night, and that's when I think it started. It's not bad, just enough to get the sofa/futon cover wet, but it didn't soak through to the mattress thankfully. Cris pulled it off the frame and it's on the floor for now and we have a small tub to catch the residual drips..I thought our roof was only about 5 years old. When we bought the house I'm sure they said that a new roof had been put on 3 years previous. Anyway I'm irritated one because it's Christmas, and two because we will probably have to wait until the rain stops before we can get it fixed and that won't be until next week, which is Christmas. At least the Christmas tree is in the formal living room, so Santa can still bring our presents and not slip and break anything...hey maybe he'll just come through the HOLE in our roof....better yet, maybe he could just stay and keep the hole plugged until we get it fixed.

Cris hung up all the Christmas lights outside BY HIMSELF not this past Saturday but the Saturday before (poor guy, I think is back was killing him when he was finished). Frances was off doing something at the farm and I was watching Nathan and Gillian and Erin and doing laundry uh and well ...kinda watching a movie that I was supposed to watch a couple of weeks before but kept getting side tracked onto other things.) At any rate, the house looks real pretty on the outside thanks to Cris' hard work. He was creative too...he arranged the lights on our front gate in the shape of a Christmas Tree. Very nice.

Also Angela arrived on Friday night. She spent the night with us on Friday and then we took her to Modesto on Saturday afteroon to meet up with Cris' mom and dad. I guess they leave for the Philippines sometime today. I think they are gone for 10 days and then Angela will stay an extra week when she gets back. It's kind of a bummer though, cause everyone will be back in school and at work the week she gets back, so I'm not sure if we'll even get to see her again before she goes home.

I spent all afternoon yesterday baking Christmas cookies and pumpkin bread. I don't know, I just felt like it, so I made jam thumbprints (Frances favorite) with apricot jam and rasberry jam. The first recipe I think I used too much floor because the dough was little on crumbly side but useable, so I corrected the recipe on the second batch. These turned out a little better.

Finished all the Christmas shopping for the most part. Nothing is wrapped yet, but we'll do that over this next week when the kids are occupied and /or asleep.

I think its just going to be Cris, me, and the kids alone this year. After the large group on Thanksgiving, I'm kinda looking forward to just spending this time with Cris and kids leisurely enjoying the short break.

Nathan loves the holiday lights. He's always wanting to turn them on at home, or points to them whenever we are out. His already huge eyes get even more huge as he points and comments excitedly. Cris and I took Nathan to the mall on Friday and he was just mesmerized by all the sights and sounds and colors and lights. He loves it.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when Angela said just hello to Gillian, she would melt into a sobbing little mess. She was not interested in playing or getting to know Angela on Friday night at all (couldn't even entice her with a toy). Saturday was a little better. She would smile at her but was still extremely wary and certainly did not want to be held. She will only go to hand full of people anyway. Cris' parents after a breakin period of a few minutes, or of course any of her siblings, me or Cris, and her godmother. That's pretty much it.

Cris and I both have to work this week, but I'm taking all of next week off through the New Year. Cris is on call 3 of the 5 days next week. Hopefully he doesn't have to go into the office. Keep your fingers and toes and whatever else you can cross, crossed.