Below are 47 new pic's in regards to Christmas 2010. First, let me start off with the sad news: Bella Ryn was sitting on Joshua's pillow and chewing on it. Joshua yanked it out from under her and Bella bit him. He required 3 stitches in his bottom lip. Since this was the second time this happened we made the decision to get rid of her. Joshua shouldn't have to walk around his home afraid of the dog that is nearly as big as he is. So, she is currently at the Humane Society. We did not report the bite because there is a history only between the two of them. Bella Ryn gets along very well with all other children, other dogs, and cats. Wisconsin is a 'no kill' state which simply means they won't put the animal to sleep unless they don't pass the temperment testing or if they become seriously overcrowded and then, it's the ones that have been there the longest. Fortunately, our shelter isn't very crowded at all. I believe Bella Ryn will be adopted by a loving family and my only hope is she will quickly forget us and be happy til old age.

Now, for all the fun stuff! :) I made tons of treats for the kids classrooms (not Justin - it's a little bit different being in middle school). If you want to see the cool treats then you might have to click on "Older Posts" once you seen all the pic's on this page. Mice, wreaths, cupcakes. Mmm! Joshua's classroom party was fun and they made gingerbread houses. Note that he really was trying to smile for the picture but it was kind of hard to stretch his lips with stitches. Same goes for the rest of his pictures where he doesn't look entirely thrilled - he was, trust me. :)

The kids made cookies and opened one present on Christmas Eve. Tyler was totally psyched with his lava lamp. Justin and Joshua were less than thrilled with Eclipse (what was Sky thinking???) and a case (for the tag books). But, they were funny about and not rude. Besides, the latter were from me and Sky, anyway.

I woke up at 5:15 Christmas morning (showered and all) and fell asleep on the couch. Woke to the cat licking my face. Yuck! Fortunately, I didn't miss any kids coming down. I was real lucky they came down one at a time. Justin was first at around 6:30am. He only got one gift from Santa, an airsoft gun. (But, he knew what his BIG gift was so he completely understood and was grateful he got any 'Santa' at all.) Tyler came down later and was thrilled to get a big airsoft gun and a Fushigi ball among other things. Sky had to go get Joshua once he got home. Joshua received some Dragon Universe toys and a CD player with mp3 plug in and other things, as well. Since Sky had to go to bed soon we went ahead and opened gifts. I'll post a video later. At any rate, the big items were a DSi for Joshua (which is really fun) and some games. Tyler got an iPod Touch that we're still trying to figure out. And, Justin got the nicest laptop I've seen to date. Okay, I'll admit it - I'm totally jealous! Sky got a bunch of ice fishing stuff and I got my Flip camcorder and a font cartridge for my Cricut.

While Sky slept I cooked our traditional dinner - and might I say it was delish! Wanda's cranberry congealed salad was awesome (sadly I'm the only one who really eats it). I made nana's dressing, gravy, and sweet potatoes. The turkey in my Nesco was beautiful (and tasted good, too). Other than that we had some green beans and dinner rolls.

Now - it's time to clean house. I hope you enjoy the pictures and come back soon for the video of the kids opening their gifts. Love to all!

Stacie :)

PS I'm not proofreading before I post so pardon any typos.