Baby Jesus

A Nativity Scene was erected in a church yard.
During the night the folks came across this scene.
An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep.

He chose baby Jesus as his comfort.

No one had the heart to send him away so he was there all night.

Holiday Celebration...Florida Style

This year was the year to celebrate the Christmas holiday with the Veitfam. We packed our bags and headed for sunny...yet just a bit warmer Florida. We just hung out, did some shopping at the most fabulous mall ever (Coconut Point) and relaxed. We had two small holiday get togethers. One with a group of Wisconsin transplants who are friends with my parents. And one with some longtime friends who were also taking the holiday to vacation in Florida. It was nice to get to hang out with all of them. We also celebrated my Mom's birthday. I won't tell her age. I don't want her to get mad at me. But I will say that the next one is a milestone!

We are heading back to reality now. :(
It sure does stink to go home after vacation. But picking up our three dogs from the doggie hotel makes it not quite so bad. Plus Santa left Mia a letter at Grandma's condo for Christmas telling her of all the presents she has waiting for her in Tulsa. She is pretty excited to see what he has brought her this year.

Well, Happy New Year to all! Now go take down your tree and lights! And pray we get more fresh snow in Tulsa tonight since we missed the blizzard while we were on vacation!! I will be waxing our sled. ;0)


Ready for the Pool


Florida Snowman


Pelicans @ the Pieces of
Eight dock


Self Portaits on Christmas Eve


Hostess in Training


Mia's buddy Connie :)


New Bitty Baby from
Grandma & Grandpa


Sunset
- missambita

Location:Bonita Springs, FL

Mia's New Clothing

Mia received some new clothes in the mail today from Grandma Sherri. She got some PJ's with slippers and a robe! Just thought we would post a picture for you to see. They were part of her Christmas present, but they were shipped to the wrong address!

Christmas...The Day After

Mia was spoiled rotten as usual!

Here I am with my Vera Bradley Boxer Shorts! Sweet! I love my Vera!

Troy loved his Youth Soccer Coaching Books!

Whew! Christmas is over! I didn't think I'd say this, but I am actually glad it is. Is that horrible or what?! This Christmas was just so busy, it is nice to just breathe and know there is not something going on tonight, or not something we have to go buy. We had a good Christmas. I got a new camera which will be a lot of fun. It will take me some time to figure out how to use it properly, but it should keep me busy.

We went to Oklahoma City to Troy's parents. We stayed a couple of days, but had to return to Tulsa on the 26th for work. I only worked for half the day, so it wasn't so bad.

Now it's time to relax and watch some normal TV programs! No more claymation til next year!

We did make some Christmas cookies tonight because we neglected our child and did not provide her with any yet this year. :-/

Pwease,Pwease Santa!

Dear Santa,
I know I have been a little shit lately and have caused much
destruction to my family's things. But I am just a puppy Santa! Can
you pwease forgive me for all I have done wrong? Pwease bring me a
bag of treats and something that I can tear the stuffing out of! I
promise to be a good dog next year. I will even work on not leaving a
little Hannah Present in the doorway of my Mom and Dad's room anymore.
Wuv,
Hannah

Over the River and Through the Woods...

Here we are...Driving to Oklahkma City to celebrate Christmas Eve!
Hannah is restless and Marley has already given back her breakfast all
over my back seat. Troy forgot to have the dogs fast before our trip.
Lovely.
It is 41 degrees right now. Sunny as ever. I have heard that either
Thursday or Friday it is supposed to be 68.
My hopes of a White Christmas are now officially down the drain.
Bring on the Egg Nog!
Merry Christmas!

Wrapping it all up...

Finally! I got busy and wrapped a slew of gifts tonight. Mia helped me wrap and I have to say she did a darn good job! I couldn't really put the gifts under the tree yet this year due to the fact that we have a little hellion on our hands and her name is Hannah. She actually tried to chew through the box on one of Mia's gifts. So I just figured we would be better off if we just waited! We leave for Oklahoma City right after work tomorrow, so I have to make sure every last item is wrapped. That means staying up late to wrap Mia's gifts from us. Santa will be visiting us in Oklahoma City. But I got a cool Pottery Barn Santa Gift Bag this year. We are going to leave it out on Christmas Eve for Santa to place her gifts in. That way Santa doesn't have to take all that time to wrap her gifts. He is going to be busy enough with all of those deliveries. I am sure he will appreciate our thoughtfulness. This bag will make a good decoration each year as well. I just wish I would have gotten her name put on it. It would have been so cute. But I really didn't know what to expect and how the bag itself would look. It would be even cuter with her name on it. :O)

Hanging Out with The Pups

It's a bit chilly outside. So it is sure nice to just hang out on the
couch with the dogs and a fire. I'm really tired and feeling blah
today, so I was waiting all day to get home to do just this! I still
have a ton of wrapping to do. But I am putting it off until tomorrow
night! We are going to Oklahoma City Wednesday after work. So I can't
put it off too long. Mia is very excited for her visit from Santa. But
she is a little concerned that he might not bring something for Hannah
since she has been so naughty. :-/

I Caught Santa!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Just in case you have not heard about this...there is a website out there that allows you to take a picture of your house and place Santa in it anywhere you want. It makes it look like you caught a picture of him! I did one quick to see how cute it was. I think it is a really neat idea to keep the Santa Spirit going. I remember when I was little my Mom bought some old jingle bells and placed them out on our balcony in the snow. I was excited for a long time thinking that they came from one of Santa's crew! If I remember correctly, I think I even brought them to show and tell at school! Anyway, these pictures will only set you back $12.95 (with 5 emails of your friends for referral). Otherwise they are $17.95. You can pick from any of their Santa poses and move him around and get him the correct size. Mine could have turned out better, but I did it quick. I am trying to figure out how I will pull that off anyway, since Santa is supposed to be visiting Mia at Grandma and Grandpa Eberhardt's this year. I suppose I can leave a few Santa gifts here for her when we return on the 26th. Then she might believe it. I guess then I will have to tell her I am putting my camera on timer as well since I won't be here to take the picture myself! You have to get up pretty early in the morning in order to fool that girl!

Here is the website: www.icaughtsanta.com

Have fun! Merry Christmas!

Toys For Tots

Every year at my office we have a toy drive. In 2005 a little girl from Oklahoma was killed by her step father. She had been a victim of child abuse. The year she died, her grandparents gave all of her toys to a local toy drive that benefits children in the foster system. So now every year Kelsey's Kids has a toy drive for the same charity We have been joining in every year at LinkAmerica in conjunction with our Christmas Party. Last week we took a bunch of our donations to the drop. There were several people in our Sales Department who all chipped in and purchased a $150 gift card to Tous R Us. Since the cutoff for the DHS Toy Drive was last week, we took the gift card tonight and purchased toys to donate to Toys For Tots. It was so fun wandering around picking out the toys. Miss Mia helped. However, we had to keep reminding her that it is not always about her. It is a bad habit that she really needs to be broken of. But she thinks she has to get something every time we go anywhere. Even if it is something like just the little eraser set she wanted today. She pouted for like half the time we were there. I guess we will get through to her one way or another. But it is hard because everyone spoils her rotten. It is so hard to not buy her things. So even if we try like mad to get through to her, it really needs to be reinforced all the time. I know, she is just six. So I will be patient! I have to say, it is rather hard to go to the toy store and not find something even I want! Last time we were there I could not leave without a stuffed Smurf!!!

-And by the way...Mia made it all the way through without getting something!

Mia's American Girl

Well Christmas had officially started at The Eberhardt House. Grandma
Sherri and Grandpa Poncho sent Mia an American Girl. She is the doll
of the year and her name is Mia. I never got into dolls when I was
little. Except of course the Cabbage Patch Kids, and in that case, I
was completely obsessed. I never really understood these American
Girls. But boy are they hot. Mia had hers in her hands for less than
24 hours and already she wanted more clothes, a coat and some PJs for
Little Miss Mia. I am glad she likes her though. For that kind of
money, she should be taking it to college with her.
I just hope I get used to having two Mias in my house now. I never can
tell which Mia Troy is talking about. Today he said that Mia was going
to stay in the car while we ran into Best Buy. I freaked out as only I
would, thinking he meant that our daughter was going to wait in the 20
degree car while we shopped. Mia is just going to have to start going
everywhere, or I am going to get very confused.