What day is it??

Things at our house have hit the fever pitch that always comes with the holidays. As if that wasn't enough to keep us busy, we just finished our Thanksgiving visit with Chris, I took the GRE and Jason has finals going on. Add that to the normal craziness that comes with kids, a cat, a dog and working, and, well, I hope you can understand why I have written nothing in a month!

So . . . . here's a quick update:

Thanksgiving with Chris

Jason went out to visit with both boys for a few days before coming back here with Chris for a week of togetherness. The girls were head-over-heels in love with him, and he played his big brother role really well. He is growing up so quickly, and even though he lives primarily in a house that is night and day different from ours, he adjusts so easily and fits in so well.

We spent two days at Great Wolf Lodge, took family pictures and had a yummy Thanksgiving meal.

We also hit up the first Christmas Town Busch Gardens has ever hosted, and a jolly time was had by all.

As per our usual tradition, the Christmas tree went up on Thanksgiving Day, and it was interesting to try to hang ornaments with 3 little kids.

GRE

It has long been a dream of mine to max out my educational opportunities with a doctorate. However, with Jason in the Army and kids to take care of, the timing has always been a challenge. I am in the process of applying to several schools in hopes that I can start once we move next year.

I spent several weeks preparing for the GRE, and I really should have started much, much sooner. But, I didn't make a final decision to begin the application process until October, so I did not have much time. The verbal section never scared me since that comes easy to me. However, the math? Well, that's an entirely different story. Other than the statistics class I needed for my Masters degree, the last math class I took was 10 (yes, TEN) years ago. And I was very frustrated by the review books and their ridiculous math practice tests. In all honesty, I completely ignored the math information for the week leading up to the test because it made me want to cry.

And cry I nearly did when I finally went in to take the test and saw my unofficial scores. Let's just say I shocked myself because I way outperformed what I thought I could do. Glad that's over- it certainly makes my Christmas seem more merry and bright.

Jason

Jason is studying. We have one more week until we get to really spend time with him, and we are all counting down! One more semester of law school left!

Caitlyn

What can I say about Caitlyn? She is a mess. Her current pastimes include playing Spiderwick Chronicles (in which she slays goblins and dances like a fairy), playing Dora (in which she orders "Boots-Lorelei" around on adventures) and cracking me up with her daily litany of observations. She also likes to pretend to be a cheerleader, a doctor, a ballerina, a hiker and a teacher. Just the other day she told me she wants to be a teenager-doctor-cheerleader when she grows up.

Lorelei

Long our quiet little girl, Lorelei has begun to find her voice (for something other than shrieking, that is). She is still the adventurer in the household, and there is nothing this little girl is afraid of. I had to rearrange the living room because I did not want her to plummet to her death, since her daily pastime is to try to scale new heights and reach points never seen by a 16 month old before. She is still a sweet little cuddlebug, and we love her to pieces.

The Animals

What can I say about them? I'm not a huge fan of the cat, and I love the dog. Both like to play with the kids, shed and eat. Oh, and Smoky likes to run through the woods on our family hikes and wiggle his whole body when Jason gets home.