I woke up this morning with something to say....

Good thing I've got a blog. Now I realize many readers have given up on me. sorry. I will do my best to win you back. Pictures, comments and consistency--to the best of my ability. And to follow up on the last post, I can now blog because that 'to do' list that initiated my blogger's block is done....New faucet: ebay....Ben's Halloween costume:And the rest of 'em...they were so dang cute!The book club dinner at at the Golden Phoenix: Pon Pon Chicken...mmmmm....The cute preschool kids Halloweening, Thanksgivinging, and Christmasing.We went to the candy factory too....The front door painted (and the stucco too--took us right out of the early nineties and into the 2000s for sure) After:Before:So back to what I wanted to say. I really want to wish everyone the best Christmas.

I sent out cards and I realize a few of you may not be on my list. Why? You must send me a card so I can send you one. I love this tradition. Even though a blog and face book are a lot like a Christmas card in that there are updates and pictures...there is just something about getting all of it bundled in the mail expressly for our family. Magic.

So without further ado, (and to those who got them in the mail today it'll just be a repeat) here's the letter and info for 2008:

Mer

ry Christmas! Here’s a little of how our year unfolded…
Stuart (1) has gone from baby to boy – he gets tackled daily by Benjamin and loves it. He boasts only about ten strands of hair, relishes his bottle, and gets carted around by Addie and friends daily --evidently he’ll be the baby for a little longer.
Paige (2) talks! She’s convinced she’s as big as the older two kids and to prove it she’ll do all the jobs they won’t. Little Cinderella is devoted to her yellow blanket and puts jammies on around 4 o’clock every afternoon.
Benjamin (4) has an active imagination that keeps us entertained and even awake at times. He’s one of the best preschoolers but what do you expect? He’s a two wheeler wonder and even braves going down into the basement himself (and with Paige).
Addie (6) sings in the school’s harmony choir and loves 1st grade. She had lasering treatments to lighten the birthmark under her nose and has recently delved into the lucrative business of losing teeth.
James takes care of all of us incredibly well and finds time to go to work everyday. He’s still running the world of Young Men and working at IHC but telecommutes every Friday. Such a perk!
I’m astounded with all the kids’ milestones. I started teaching preschool again with Ben and Paige as 2 of the 12. I raced my first, but not last, triathlon, swapped 10 frozen meals monthly with my dinner trade group and blogged a bunch. We celebrated our 10th anniversary and went to San Francisco just to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, ride cable cars and eat sourdough. We love you all so much and wish you the best this next year. If it’s been awhile…e-mail, blog, call—we would love to hear from you.
Much love,
James, Nora and Family
www.mairmania.blogspot.com

And the picture Tom took. Isn't he amazing? And the kid's pictures on the side bar. How about that? Hey Tom...I need the engagement photo you took of me and James....It's a super cheese shot. Also, James hates sweaters...the one he's wearing I borrowed it from Target...I took it back...maybe you got it for Christmas?