Christmas 2010

We have been in OnE house for 4 Christmases! UnBeLiEvAbLe!! The longest we have been anywhere. Time to move! We say that to the kids, joking, of course. They absolutely do not think it's a joke. They get quite offended by it. I love it. The up side of moving so often is that you don't accumulate so much junk. You get to go through everything every time you move. So stuff

is starting to pile up around here. Good th

ing Spring cleaning is around the corner.

Christmas was fabulous! So relaxing and laid back. I started shopping early this year which gave me time to think about great and unique gifts and allowed for some unexpected surprises. Didn't have to rely on commercials to help me shop. Even John got some great surprises. John got a new aquarium, Ethan got a weight bench, and Emily got jewelry. John (spouse) got a Gonzales flag replica. John is getting old enough now that I feel like I have to distinguish between John (spouse) and John (son). That may get quite annoying. Back to Christmas.

John (son) bought a small aquarium shortly after we moved into the house and put two goldfish in it. I have to admit, I was quite the naysayer at the time. In my head I was saying that it would never get cleaned, the fish would starve and die, tears would be shed. Shame on me! The tank has hardly ever been dirty and John is fanatic

al about feeding the fish precisely. When he has to go somewhere overnight I get a very strict feeding instructions--"twelve flakes in the morning, mom, twelve". Or is it fifteen. Well, you get the point. He has the same two goldfish all this time. They started out as little fish, about two inches. Now they are about six or seven inches. Pretty soon they will have to be donated to an outdoor fish pond. So, John got a 36 gallon

tank from Santa. It has been a fun experience for the whole family. Everyone bought fish. Fun to stand around the tank while the new fish get released. We have 14 fish now and still need more.

And now I will publish this for an experiment to see if my pictures are loading right. And they are not. Dang it! So, I will make separate posts for each child.