Christmas Sunday 2008

Christmas outfits for 2008!

Christmas at the Schaefer's

Well, Christmas came to the Schaefer's. It was fun and enjoyable for all--except me. Christmas morning was probably one of the hardest mornings. I took some pain pills the night before and the kids woke me up around 8:00 a.m. I was groggy, very swollen, and still "hung over." It was not a pretty sight. Harry took all of the pictures while I sat basically comatose on the couch. After the kids opened all of their presents and Harry opened his, they made me open my presents. It wasn't until about two days later that I actually got to see what I got for gifts. The kids really enjoyed all their gifts. Thanks to everyone from out of town who sent presents.

DISCLAIMER: Mind you, everything I write from here on out is speculative as I, myself, do not actually remember most of this stuff.

Some of the favorite gifts of Harrison were an Abercrombie gift certificate, a green fleece jacket, a Thrasher's hoodie, a Zune, a new set of golf clubs, and the XBox 360. Hannah's favorites were her American Girl outfit (her doll got the same outfit), High School Musical 2 DVD & CD, the full set of books on the newest Historical American Girl (Julie Albright from the 70's), and all the Tinkerbell stuff she got. Harry got a push cart for his golf bag (sorry Harry, no more renting golf carts from the clubhouse), an indoor putting green, and the final season of Seinfeld. I got the greatest hits of Queen & Bon Jovi (both BIG favorites), and some digital scrapbooking software.

After opening presents, watching the Walt Disney World Christmas parade, and recovering (okay that was just me), we went to my Mom & Dad's house to open presents and eat Christmas dinner. To clarify, I don't really feel like I actually experienced the FULL Christmas dinner

experience as I was only able to eat maybe 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes, a spoonful of stuffing, a roll, and some Jell-O salad. I hear everything else was marvelous, though. I also managed to somehow get a little pumpkin pie and some peanut butter pie in my mouth, too.

All in all, everyone (else) had a great time. Even Maggie got all excited. She was disappointed when Santa forgot to bring her anything. I for one am looking forward to New Year's as I'm eating more now and the swelling and tenderness has subsided. We hope you all had a great Christmas. Keep in touch and thanks for all of the prayers, presents, cards, and thoughts.

Harrison's Band Concert

Harrison had his last Christmas concert in Middle School last night (He plays the trumpet). It was a combined strings, 7th, and 8th grade band concert. It was pretty good. I thought the 7th & 8th grade bands were the best. They each played some wonderful Christmas songs. We were also treated to a a bit of a mini-rock concert by some of the guitarist from the strings band. We're talking amplifiers, drum sets, electric guitars--the whole nine yards. They did a really good job. I was pleasantly surprised. There was also a special ensemble from the High School that played. They were wonderful. I've also included a snippit of one of songs Harrison's band played. The battery on the camera gave out before the end of the song, but you get enough to be able to see what the concert was like. Enjoy! (You may need to turn off the audio from the "Stand"/Running montage video before you can here the audio for the Band or Chorus concerts)

Hannah's Chorus Concert

Hannah had her chorus on Thursday night. They did a really nice job. They sang a number of songs. Here is their program:

Sing Catate Domino

Light A Candle

Jolly Old Holiday

A Merry Modal Christmas

Blitzen's Boogie (their favorite to perform)

Winter Fantasy

Shalom

There are quite a few kids from church in the chorus with Hannah--Reagan Cluff, Chris Foster, and Taylor & Austin Panter.

I included a little video for those that weren't able to attend. You can hear a little piece of what you missed. Enjoy!

Jingle Bell Trail 5K Run

Hannah, Harrison, and my sister-in-law, Monica, ran the Jingle Bell Trail 5K Run this year (Harry had to take some things to the dump and I stayed with my nieces at the finish line). Last year when the kids and I ran the race, it was 20ºF outside. This year, it was about 68ºF! I probably dressed the kids a little too warm, but they seemed to be okay. This was Monica's first race EVER! She's been training for a few months now. The race started at Peachtree City Elementary School at 9:00 a.m. Emma, Thera, and I waited at the finish line to cheer everyone on. The first finisher came in at around 17:11 minutes. Remember that a 5K is 3.1 miles. HOLY COW!! Hannah has run a 7:08 minute mile and Harrison has run a 7:36 minute mile. So, I was expecting them to come in around the 35:00 minute mark--allowing for slow down from other racers and the distance. Harrison came barrelling around the curve and crossed the finish line at 33:17 minutes; and Hannah was right behind him--finishing at 33:28 minutes. They both beat their times from last year by 10 minutes! I didn't know when to expect Monica. She hadn't been feeling good last week; and she was a bit nervous about finishing. She came right around the corner and finished in 39:47 minutes. I was so impressed! She did AWESOME for her first race ever. I mean, that's a 12:50 mile!!! I average about a 14:00 minute mile. So, she did incredible. The girls were so proud of their mom. We all were.We were all just sitting around and letting everyone recover when they started to announce the age category winners. They announced the Girls 9 to 11 bracket; and all of a sudden, they announced Hannah's name as the third place finisher in that age group. HOLY COW! We were so excited! We were all screaming and jumping up and down. She got a trophy and everything! It was a great experience for everyone; and we'll definitely do it again next year. Who knows, maybe we'll all do some more races and work up to the Peachtree Road Race this summer?