2008 Christmas Review

Once upon a Christmas in the Donatini household there was much celebrating going on. The two little girls, Mya and Sara, were very excited about Christmas. They went to church Christmas Eve and learned about baby Jesus and His birth. They played with their cousins and then settled down for the evening in their nice warm beds. Once they were asleep for the night, their parents had a party. They put all the christmas presents under the tree, set up the nativity scene, lit a candle and spent time in prayer with God. Then they looked at each other with excitement and decided it would be really fun to open their presents without the kids. So they did! There was much celebrating over all the fun presents: a Garmin watch, a pearl ring, a trip to Kalahari in January, new boxers, a T-shirt, and a coat. In the morning, Sara woke up bright and early (6 AM) and Mya soon followed at 6:30. Mya giggled with glee when she saw all the presents under the tree. The first words out of her mouth were, "Good morning Mommy! How are you today?" The whole family gathered around the christmas tree, but first the Daddy held both girls on his lap in the rocking chair and read the christmas story to them. Then he took their hands in his and prayed with them. The girl's mommy watched in admiration and celebrated silently because her husband was so special. Next, the girls opened all of their presents and played with each toy that they opened. Mya enjoyed wearing her new underwear over her clothes. Sara practiced rolling across the floor to get to all the fun toys with tags on them. All in all it was a wonderful morning as the family settled down to eat some breakfast and then got in the car to go to another christmas celebration. The rest of the day was filled with lots and lots of presents, fun times with relatives, and grape chapstick that Mya put on her lips all day long.

The family lived happily ever after.

I do need to share a very funny story before I finish this entry. Dan had a white elephant gift exchange at his office on Wednesday. As we looked around the house for something to wrap up, I jokingly said that he should use tampons (because my friend mentioned using maxi pads as a white elephant gift) and make something creative out of them. Now those of you who know Danny's track record as a young child know that he once experimented with tampons and his GI Joe men. Well he took my joke seriously and took two tampons and tied them together. Oh yes.... my husband decided to make numchucks out of tampons. He even demonstrated how to use them for me. It was hysterical! We wrapped up the tampon numchucks and threw in a $5 Wal-Mart gift card for the poor soul who got the gift. Turns out the only other male that Dan works with got the tampon numchucks as a gift. And yes, oh yes, Dan showed his employees how to use the weapon too. He made them laugh pretty hard!

Sara's Dedication and More Christmases

Baby Sara was dedicated today at church. She was very well behaved and even allowed Pastor Dan to hold her when he prayed for her. Her little legs were swinging back and forth while Dan held her on the stage. She seemed excited to see all the people looking at her. We were so proud to see her get dedicated today.

We had two great Christmases this weekend. On Saturday we were with the extended family on the Spreng side and today we had Christmas with the extended family on the Donatini side. Both get togethers were so much fun for the kids. Mya loves to see her family. Before we go to the party I will say everyone's names and she will repeat them back to me. She wants to know everyone that will be there. She gets so excited to see her cousins. We have to wait until after her nap to tell her where we are going. At the Donatini Christmas we had a visit from Santa Clause. Both girls did very well with Santa. Mya has learned that if she sits on Santa's lap she will get a candy cane. Good thing this Santa had candy canes with him. After the kids opened up their gifts they decorated gingerbread houses. Given that Mya has SUCH a sweet tooth, she really enjoyed this activity. I think she ate more then she put on her house. The marshmallows were quite a hit!

First Christmas

We had our first christmas yesterday with my Dad and Kim. I have to admit that the best part was the lobster and filet mignon for dinner. Wow! That is the best meal we have every year. I would like to say that I am very proud of my ability to eat the lobster, filet mignon, salad, bread, potato, and peppermint ice cream. I skipped lunch on purpose and ran four miles so I could eat all of that. The next best part was watching the kids open their presents. They really enjoyed seeing all of the presents and helping all of us open our gifts. We all got some cute things! One of my favorite gifts was a popsicle mold so I can make special popsicles that my grandma used to make. I have been wanting to make these for Mya so I can't wait to do that. I must mention here that my step mom did a fantastic job surprising me with my gifts this year. Usually I know everything that I'm getting and nothing is a surprise, but she had some surprises for me. Way to go! I am a horrible person to surprise. Just ask my husband=) All in all it was a wonderful evening except for the meltdown that Mya had when we were getting ready to leave. Ugh! We love her dearly, though!

Ho Ho and the Train

We had a very fun afternoon with the three girls. We took the girls to Panera Bread for an early dinner and then to the mall to see Santa Clause or "Ho Ho" as Mya calls him and to ride the train. Then the girls played in the play area with Dan while I did a little shopping. Now the girls are settling down with their popcorn and watching their new Christmas Barbie movie. Mya couldn't wait to get home to watch her movie. Boy does she love Barbie movies. Tomorrow and Friday we have preschool and then this weekend we start with Christmas festivities. Every weekend from now until Christmas we have family get togethers. Did I mention that I love christmas???? Well...I do! I love giving all the presents that I shopped for. It is so much fun! One of Dan's presents is a surprise so I can't wait for Christmas morning.

Race Day

Well.....Dan and I ran our 5K today. Our time was 26 minutes, which is about 8 1/2 minute miles. That isn't bad considering the weather that we faced today. Boy was it cold. After running the 5K I met up with a friend who was running the half marathon and I finished the race with her. So I ran a total of 9 miles today. Luckily when the race was finished the snow started sticking to the ground so we avoided that during the race. We just had snow flurries with a wet ground. There is another 5K in January so I am hoping to run in that race. My goal is to do a half marathon in the spring, assuming that we aren't pregnant by then. We shall see what God's plans are for that. The group picture is of my running group "The Movin Mamas." This is an awesome group of mommies in the area who run together. I am so thankful for their companionship and support.

The Princesses

Updates

We have had some great accomplishments here in the Donatini household. Sara is learning how to sit up on her own, Mya can sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" all by herself, and Dan and Mya are learning how to eat more vegetables. This week we focused on green beans and broccoli and they did so well. Mya fought the vegetables at the beginning of the week but by dinner this evening she was eating her food without much coaxing. Of course she does get rewarded with a Barbie video if she eats well, but who doesn't like getting rewarded for doing something good? I am hoping that over time we won't need Barbie as a reward and she begins seeing that vegetables are just part of her regular meals. I have to mention that I am SO proud of Dan. He definately is not a vegetable fan, but at home he works very hard to eat everything that Mya eats without complaining. He is so good! I feel better knowing that I can provide him with healthy meals. Tonight he sat in front of the broccoli and mentally prepared himself to eat it. It was tough going down, but he did it. Yeah! I love my husband=)

I am reading Exodus during my quiet times and have learned so much about Moses and Pharoah and the Israelites. It is so intriguing to read about Pharoah and the many things that God did to get his attention and show that He is Lord. And yet Pharoah's heart remained hard time after time after time. I imagine myself being bombarded with frogs and hail and blood and would hope that I would believe in God after seeing Him make things like that happen. And Yet Pharoah still doesn't believe. These readings just make me think about how often I try to do things my own way in life until God gets my attention and says, "Hi Julie, I am still here. I need you to listen to ME." And thankfully my heart isn't hardened and I can focus on the Holy Spirit, repent of my sins, and follow Christ. Thank you God for a soft heart!