Jordan has come a long way since his first Christmas program at church.  When he was a preschooler, I led his class out to the stage to sing, but when I turned around he was gone.  At first, I couldn't figure out where he went.  Then I noticed a wave of heads in the congregation looking down towards the floor.  Jordan crawled under the seats all the way from the front of the sanctuary to the back.  Six years later, he's owning the stage.

Tonight Jordan played part of the clean-up crew in a muscial.  They were three boys who rocked out to their air guitar brooms and mop microphones.  Jordan had a feather duster drum solo.  For a grand finale, the boys were to take a knee.  Jordan kneeled then lept up into the air (in a move I'm guessing he learned from guitar hero) and recieved thunderous applause.  Who is this kid?

My daughters also made me proud onstage.  Caitlin was such a little lady when singing "Away in a Manger", not to mention the way she gave her lines perfectly.  And though we woke up to the sound of Lauren vomiting this morning (too much candy at last night's Christmas party) she still donned a halo and took her position in the manger scene.

To cap off the evening, we returned home (it was still standing despite Dan's attempt to burn it down by leaving water boiling on the stove for hot cocoa) to watch the whole thing again on our new HDTV--Dan's Christmas present to himself.  And if that wasn't enough, we also used the Wii to look at all the pictures I'd taken during the musical.  The Wii has a neat little gadget you can use to draw on top of photos.  Dan gave Caitlin a booger hanging out of her nose, Lauren got glasses, and Jordan grew some angry eyebrows.  This might not be a tradition we continue, but it's one I'm sure they will remember for a long time.

For more pictures, click here.  Here's wishing many memorable moments to you all during the holidays.   

I had a dream last night that another couple wanted to adopt my youngest daughter Lauren. The really weird thing is that my daughter Caitlin had the same dream. She woke up crying because she couldn't hear Lauren on the bottom bunk and thought that she'd already been adopted.

I'm sure these dreams were caused by a comment Lauren made the other day. My husband asked, "Lauren, why are you so cute?" She responded, "Because I'm adopted!" She was clueless as to how perfect her timing was on that one, but we had to explain to her that she is not adopted.

I think we must have read Jamie Lee Curtis's book TELL ME AGAIN one too many times. Great book, though. And someday we want to adopt. But right now I've got my hands full with the kids I gave birth to--whether they believe it or not.

My girls got to be flower girls for the first time. We had their hair done professionally, and they were beautiful. Then before I knew it, they were rolling down hills and climbing trees. Such ladies.

Today Lauren meant to say, "Never talk to strangers." She got confused and said, "Never talk to weirdos." Good thing I corrected her or she might never have spoken to Dan again.

Caitlin's words were a little wiser. "I know why God had somebody invent I-SPY books," she said. "Why?" I asked. "Because it's like how people look for God." What a great analogy.

Then there was Jordan, who when he was smaller checked out a children's book from the library to teach him Chinese. I later discovered this was because all his toys said MADE IN CHINA. I had to explain to him that China is not a giant toyland.