Well, it is finally over. What a year!

Let's just begin with TWO MERGERS. No one should have to go through that in a single lifetime, much less a single year. Also, we were purchased by a publicly-traded company the week before the market went south, so as usual the Bonds bought high. Rumors fly that we walked with gazillions ($11 gazillion, in one case), and the truth is that we are still working hard to break even. Travis' schedule went from bad to worse, and the kids had a tough time adjusting. For crying out loud, our dog even died.

The good news is that we're still married, we did figure out a way to adjust, we managed to go on some fun vacations for the first time in, well, forever, and we are finding a way to have some fun in the midst of it all. God has been good, but boy are we looking forward to 2009!

Tuesday...Tal and I went shopping, and he bought lovely gifts for everyone with his money. We budgeted and found great deals and added up receipts. Hey, we can count it as a school day!

Christmas Eve...Um, what happened with all that preparation I did? Somehow we were late already for church, then at the last minute a waterhose was unleashed and we had to redress the kids, and we gave up. Travis spent the daytime undoing all my plans for a reasonable, uncluttered Christmas. Mom LOVED her iPod! We stopped by the storage unit to get the table & chairs and a couple other things we were hiding. Oh, 24-hour storage was locked down? Hmmmm. Ungood.

Christmas Day...should be chaotic, right? The kids actually wanted breakfast first--how crazy is that? As soon as the Rs opened the Indiana Jones dress-up sets, it was all over. We decided to open the rest of the gifts later, and rest for a while. Then neighbors came over and the dog was out in the living room, and nothing really went on plan, but all was fun and great. We had a nice dinner with my parents, then collapsed.

The Day After...Who plans a party the day after? Oh, that would be Travis. So it looked like Chernobyl in the house, but we managed to have a wonderful time. The best part? The hideous squirrels who are Taking. Over. Our. Garage. got into the leftover wasabi. There was a lot, and I hope it burned their intestines. Varmints.

Two Days After...After-Christmas bash with the Bonds and Jim & Debbie...FUN!! How long can we extend Christmas?

I know a lot of people do fabulous formal shots for Christmas...not me. For some reason, I slave over these fun outdoor photos. We live in Florida, and I think it is somewhat fun to have shorts and a lush green backdrop for the December photo. I've seen some wonderful beach shots--even some sand-snowmen--on Christmas cards. We're still just trying to get all four to sit still!

The big decision this year will be which bad photo goes in the Bad Christmas Photo album...probably the one where it was too bright and they were all squinting. And mad about it.

I love Christmas cards--getting them, seeing the kid pictures, reading the little updates--and I love seeing my own through the years. So you'll eventually get one.

I've been bent on doing all things Christmas-y lately. Yes, even to the point of being negligent on other things. We are having a lot of fun. So Saturday we dropped Travis off at his movie and went to the Chick-Fil-A to see the lights (and get dinner), then on to a kid flick. After, I made Travis stop to see some Christmas lights...in particular, this one that I found on www.TackyChristmasLights.com. It was hilarious--they had a junker car all lit up, Spanish kid holiday videos, you name it. There were two houses, and they have you walk through the yards and see it all.

On Thursday, we met Christy & the kids and went to Wiregrass to see the Christmas lights. We had pizza outside and shopped. I would still like to see some traditional Christmas fun...everything is wild and modern and flashy. Even though we are used to sunny, green holidays, I think we would still like a white Christmas.

Fleming is doing quite well. He is over fifty pounds already, and as you can see, Camden thinks he is a horse. Travis and I have really enjoyed taking him on walks, especially since the weather has been so beautiful.

Yesterday was Travis' birthday. He is VERY difficult to surprise. Someone told me about the CineBistro theater, so I took Travis there and we had a blast...what a great experience! The movie The Day the Earth Stood Still...not so much.

Kudos to Travis for noticing the new & improved birthday banner! I know that stuff isn't in the official Husband Guide.

And here is our dawg, snubbing his water bowl and drinking from the once- elegant fountain. NICE.

Here is a preview of our fabulous annual photo shoot. Notice the crazed look in Fleming's eyes. Bondism. It looks like I"ll be sending photos out for some PhotoShop love.

My little Canon Elph took a better shot of the castle than the $14.95 picture I paid for (but has us in it), and includes the Mickey & Walt sculpture at the bottom...nice. In fact, it even looks better than most of the ones you can purchase.

Magic Kingdom was perfect for getting the Christmas Spirit back. Decorated to a T and oh, so much fun. It was "snowing" as we left--great for Florida kids. The Very Merry Christmas party was happening that night, so people were pouring in wearing their Christmas best. I'd highly recommend it.

The kids found out we were going to Disney via a little note in the Advent box...what a good surprise! Lots more fun to come as we make the best of our favorite month.

All the kids got to spend their birthdays at Disney this year. Except Tal. Reagan got sick and we had to postpone, and Saturday was supposed to be the day, but it was too cold (for you non-Floridians, it didn't even reach 60 on Saturday!), so we went on Sunday. Tony's restaurant on Main Street, where we had Riley's birthday, is themed with Lady & the Tramp and is our favorite.

In case you didn't know, my life is difficult. I have four little boys, a boy cat, a boy dog, and Travis. And which one do you think gives me the most trouble? No, the answer is not the not-quite-housetrained puppy.

Travis needed to work during the drive, and it turned into a three-hour marathon of attempting to get software for his satellite card, since he brought the wrong laptop (who needs matching laptops, anyway). We ended up at a McDonald's, and I bought chocolate shakes for the kids in order to get the wireless coupon. Here are the kids' faces as I pulled out the camera and made faces in a desperate attempt to keep peace. We finally got on the road, but Travis got more shakes to go (?). Well, Camden got a second shake and the first one hit the floor. Of course the lid fell off and of course it seeped right off my fantastic rubber mats and into the new carpet. It was too much for a roadside job, so we had to make a gas station cleaning stop, where Travis mused that he sort of felt like the mess was his fault. We're still married, and I gladly got back into the passenger/kid manager seat on the way home!

As you can see, we had quite the hectic weekend. Travis was a trooper about helping with running kids to rehearsals and other stuff, and I'm reminded of how wonderful it is to be surrounded by family. My sister offered to help with the craziness on Saturday morning, and Mom called to see if she could watch the little kids last night so we could go to Tal's program together. Last weekend, Brenda watched the three older kids so we could go adopt Fleming. I know things are bananas, but it is so wonderful to be grounded here. If I ever get my wish of moving north to the real South, I'm taking them all with me.

Here is Tal in the Christmas program Sunday night. He did a great job! Me on the camera? Not so much.

Tal did a beautiful job at his first recital. He has only played for a few months and wasn't nervous at all (must get that from his father). I was a wreck! Here is one of his songs...

Idlewild has an Angel Breakfast every year for 3, 4, & 5 year-olds only. Gramma took Tal the first year, which was his last year, and I took Riley alone his first year--he was so sad and scared. He refused to dress up, and when it was time to go to the craft area, he shot out the door. The main EXIT door. He has changed so much the last two years! Reagan softened him up last year, but this year was Riley's turn to be the outgoing one.

So the grandmas and grandpas and other volunteers dress up as angels and shepherds and greet us. Then we get to go to the Starbucks and put on costumes, then go to photo stations for pictures with the props. Then back for breakfast in the big gatheria. Then they break up into groups and you go for a craft time and a puppet show time (it was really funny, and Riley totally got the humor intended for the parents, which cracked me up). Then there is more fun (it just goes on and on) with a live nativity and birthday cake for Jesus, etc. We were triple-booked today with activities, so Tal was in another area, rehearsing for his Christmas program.

The Rs weren't excited about taking a picture in front of this nativity, and neither was another kid I saw, who was beating the snot out of the baby Jesus. Christy and Dylan were there, too, and when Dylan saw the pretty creche when they came in, he said, "Hey, there is the baby Jesus and all his babysitters."

We were at Disney and took this great shot, but didn't wait in line for the photos. So it took forever to order it online. I love Camden's expression. Not so much with the lady's flash behind us. It was a great day...I am ready to go back and see the Christmas decorations.

I still have a lot of work to do, but Travis has completely escaped setting up the nightmare tree. I even moved the piano by myself. I deserve a medal for this.

It is a busy week. We have an Angel Breakfast--Riley's last one! It is for ages 3-5, and a sweet little fun time for kids. I'm going with my sister and Dylan. Tal has a piano recital, rehearsal, and his program. There is also a rather large tree that has hours of branch-fluffing and ornament-hanging ahead.

On another fun note, Potter took Tal one day to decorate the outside of his house, and this morning they painted props at church. Tal LOVES hanging out with his Potter (especially the part where they go to lunch--Friday's, BE, or MCD). If he doesn't like what I'm cooking, he says, "I'll just call Potter and go out."

Since we don't have enough going on, I bought a little advent box last year and got it out. Oops. I have to FILL IT every day. It has been fun. There is either a little note with what Christmas activity we're going to do, or a little Christmas chocolate or something. Staying creative with that is so far (yes, on December 5) a royal pain, but fun.

Fleming is doing better than expected. Not completely house-broken, but he is doing fine as long as we stay on top of it. My only complaint is his stench. UGH. The dog smell. I've poured through the Internet, and the thing that works best so far is wiping him down, no kidding, with Bounce. Fun. Next up is liquid chlorophyll in his water...seriously.

Not to be upstaged, James decided to pose under the front Christmas tree the other night. You can't see most of the ornaments because of the flash, but you will notice that the glass ornaments are out of Camden's reach, so it looks pretty funny. The rest of the trees have all unbreakable decorations. Or at least glueable ones.