We Wish You A Merry Christmas...

So yay, my Christmas - errrr New Year's - cards went out tonight, which means they're really in the overstressed mail stream tomorrow. They'll arrive eventually, and next year I'll order the cards prior to December 10. They turned out gorgeous, no?

Most Wonderful Year Christmas 5x7 folded card

Create modern Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

And for all of you, a special edition of the letter and where we stand this year. Life. Is. Good.

Happy Holidays!

This year, I was so proud of myself. I thought about cards more than two weeks before Christmas. Then I ordered them and discovered that they wouldn’t arrive until only a couple days before. Oops!

This year has been a fun one. Mister Man has moved into first grade, still at the Catholic school, where he is doing really well. With the official Asperger’s diagnosis for him coming in April, we are truly impressed at the improvement he’s had over the last several months. Starting him in Tae Kwon Do this summer – he’s now a purple belt and working towards his green belt – has made a huge difference, and he loves it. He’s also doing “gymnastics” as part of an OT program that has been a lot of fun, although these activities meant we had to give up swimming lessons in September.

Little Miss is also doing gymnastics and becoming pretty decent for a five year old. She’s still in the beginner class, but her cartwheels and handstands are definitely recognizable as such. She started kindergarten in a special Spanish immersion program, meaning that she has a near full day program that is entirely in Spanish except for lunch and library. It’s been an interesting transition for her (and for me – I’d thought she was going to be at the same school with Mister Man until the day before school started!), but with some friends both from preschool and the summer school class she did, she’s been loving it!

They both did t-ball this past summer and enjoyed it, but I think we’ll skip that next year. Games every Saturday and Sunday from April to June was a bit much. We’ll find other ways to occupy our time instead. They also got to go to Disney twice this year, once for a conference I attended (which meant all sorts of special backstage meet and greets and other neat stuff – like being at a Mission Impossible dinner for Robert Irvine on Food Network) and once with my parents in August. I don’t think they’ll ever get tired of it.

My husband is continuing to do the traveling teacher gig between schools, which he enjoys. His coaching commitments have already started, and he’s anticipating a good team this year – at least at the middle school level. He turned 40 this year (at the end of July) and was surprised (in September) with a party to celebrate. That milestone hasn’t stopped him from playing baseball, and he’s signed up for next year already, too. Between that, teaching, coaching and his PA announcing, he’s pretty much booked up, but that hasn’t stopped him from adding some tutoring on the side recently.

I am happy to announce that I am no longer PTO president, which has removed some responsibilities. That said, I'm secretary of the board at Mister Man’s school and in charge of hospitality at Little Miss's. It’s still easier than what I had been doing - besides, I quit work at the end of June to stay home with the wee ones, so have more time (theoretically). I ran my first 5K in NYC in August (with Melisa with one S) and am now learning how to use my new DSLR – slowly.

I hope that your year has brought you peace and happiness!

Current Giveaways:
Professional cookware, courtesy Jewel here
Baby Einstein Discovery Kit here