So, well...

I'm not even going to try to explain away the last month. I'm way too tired. Suffice it to say I have managed to crawl back onto the face of the earth. At least for the moment. I'm in complete denial that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Really? It's been a month since the Thanksgiving Day video debacle? Now, I'm really tired.

Let me bring you up to warp speed on what's transpired in the past month. Shopping. Trips between here and the high school. Trips between here and the elementary school. Trips between here and preschool. Drum set purchased for Mickey. Loud. Very loud. School board meetings. Shopping. First infant photo shoot. Attempts at editing. Crashed hard drive. Much praying. Recovered files. Puking three-year-old with a high fever. Puncture wound in Abby's foot. Trip to the doctor. More meetings. Teeth cleaned. Boy trouble. Christmas lunch at Mickey's school. Caroline's Christmas program. Dog to groomer's. Christmas decorating. Cookies baked. Cookies eaten. Post office. Wal-Mart. Forty-seven times. Presents wrapped. I know!

Last night, we managed to get our act together momentarily and headed down to Christmas at the Zoo to see Santa. Man, it was cold! We made it all the way from the parking lot and through the gate before seeking refuge in the Waters Building. We weren't alone. There were at least three million people there last night. That's right. Roughly half the population of our entire state. On we trekked to the Santa Pavilion, a pleasantly toasty destination. This particular Santa rocked, and the picture was decent. Then we hustled and bustled our way to a table in a cozy corner of Cracker Barrel for a late dinner. I could have curled up next to the fire there and gone to sleep. Seriously. While we were there, the kids fulfilled our tradition of choosing new ornaments for the tree. I think our tree might pass out...but more on that later.

By the way, the photo above was our $10 souvenir of our adventure. I love the way the kids are chopped off at the knees. Oh, and I love the flare right in the middle of the picture. And I really love that look on Mickey's face. Exactly what I imagine when I hear the word smile. I spruced it up as best I could with Photoshop and Lightroom. Apparently, there are no presets for children's bizarre facial expressions. At least they're all looking the same direction! I snapped a few of my own, and I'll upload those next.