We celebrated the kids' birthdays last Sunday. My daughter is now eleven and my baby is three. Can I even still call him a baby? Yes, I can; he is my baby. Anyways, we had a really nice time. There were like a thousand people there for the baby's party. Well, maybe not that many, but you get the general idea. His party was Go Diego Go theme, which is a cartoon spin-off of Dora the Explorer. I made him a chocolate cake and iced it orange with green lettering. He loved the cake but was not at all interested in eating the icing. His favorite gift was a little riding quad. (Not motor powered; he pushes himself on it with his feet.) By the way, there was "some assembly required on that"; thanks to my husband for taking it upon himself to put it together.

My daughter had a few of her friends come over and had a nice time. Her party was not themed. (It's the first time; she's getting older.) All of her stuff was black and pink. I made her the cutest cupcakes. (Well, my mom baked them but I decorated them.) They were devil's food with pink icing and chocolate sprinkles. They were too cute and they looked like they came from a bakery. Her favorite present was her X-Box Kinect. It's crazy, the technology of this device. Anyways, her friends and she went to her room and played with this and had much fun.

It was a great day for family and friends and, like every year, I thank God for blessing me with my wonderful children.

We had a nice Christmas holiday. My brother was married the Saturday the before Christmas and so we traveled to my parents for that event. He was so happy and I was happy seeing him that way. The next day we had our family Christmas at my parents house. It was nice seeing and spending time with everyone. I miss my family.

Christmas Eve was spent with my husband's family, as is tradition. It was nice; good food and seeing all the kids open presents like it was a race.

Christmas morning was spent at home, just the four of us. My kids enjoyed the peaceful time and, of course, the present opening. Santa Clause came again this year. No one left anything; no cookies, no milk, nothing. Oh well, it was fun being Santa again after a reprieve of about four years.

This year I did not catch the Midnight Mass on Christmas. I did watch it on the internet a few days later. It was nice and I have placed an excerpt in my facebook notes. God bless us with unity this year.