I have committed...

Sunday, while the snow was still a-fallin'
Chad dug a snow tunnel yesterday that was unfortunately a bit small for me...

... but fit Parker perfectly!

We made gingerbread houses, using graham crackers, on Monday afternoon

Parker's was very impressive, but between you and I, he had a little help from Chad

Here you get a nice shot of my house... it's the one that looks like the big, bad wolf blew it over. It was still tasty though!

... or I should be committed, either way. I registered today for a 1/2 Ironman in June... 1.2 mile swim, 58 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. Should be fun! And incredibly painful. I'm actually really looking forward to it - always look forward to the season starting up again. I'm been focusing on endurance this week (2 mile swim yesterday, 2 hours on a spin bike today, and a 8 mile run on Monday that was supposed to be 12 miles if my knee haven't decided to stop supporting my weight). But, now that January is just around the corner, I'll have to start stepping up the training a bit - longer, more intense workouts and going back to 6 days a week. I love the training, but it is difficult to find the time for longer workouts... seems like I always need to be home as quickly as possible to watch the kids or meet a bus or so that we can all go somewhere. Not that I am complaining because I know I'm lucky to be able to do all that I do as it is.

Both boys are on winter break now, and we are on the final countdown to Christmas!! We've been doing all sorts of Christmas crafts and lots of baking cookies and sledding down our back hill - it's been a really fun week. We got something around 18-20 inches on Sunday, but by Monday morning it was all cleared off the roads. I love how fast they clear the roads around here! I'm happy to be snowed in for one day, but after that, I gotta be free again. Our snow stopped around 5pm Sunday, and at 5am the next morning, I had no trouble getting to the gym. I was so happy that school was a "go" for Monday because I was scheduled to volunteer in Brandon's classroom. I just love visiting him at school - so fun to see him and his friends in action.

Chad is supposedly on vacation this week, but unfortunately, he's been working quite a bit. He's had 8am meetings every morning and then has worked on and off the rest of the days all week. It's a bummer because we were all looking forward to him having so much time off with us. AND, his vacation days don't carry over, so now he just had days that he is unable to take. That stinks. It's great that he gets so many vacation days, but kind of silly that there's an environment where he's unable to actually use them. But, at least he's been working at home this week so that we get to share meals with him and such. And, I got to sleep in the last couple days and then go to the gym during the boy's quiet time... SWEET!

I'm really excited for Christmas Eve and the start of all the festivities tomorrow. We have big breakfasts and big dinners planned for the next couple days, and of course, Chad and I will spend tomorrow night sitting in front of a fire, drinking wine and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" just like we do every year. I love it! Oh, and I love tracking Santa's progress on the NORAD site tomorrow - the kids just love it!! When Santa gets to England, the boys know it's time to think about going to bed so that they can be asleep for Santa's arrival. It's the easiest night of the year to get them in bed, when they know that Santa's visit depends on it!

Merry Eve of Christmas Eve!