Our Christmas Update:

Luke is well. He had his first 4^th grade report card, and earned two 97s, two 98s, and a 99. We’re very proud and very impressed. He recently was in the school Nativity play, and had two roles. One was a “walk-on” as a Roman guard sending “each to his place of birth,” while the other was a speaking role as a Wise Man. He was the King who brought the gold to the Baby Jesus. He is still ice skating, and doing very well. He has moved up several levels since last season, and is planning on beginning to take his Moves tests soon. He has learned five single jumps (Salchow, toe loop, loop, Lutz, and flip) and three spins (scratch, back-scratch, and sit). Next up is the granddaddy of all the skills—the Axel. He’s looking forward to mastering it. For his school journal entry on “Who is a good role model to me?” he chose his coach, Roland. Luke thinks he’d like to be a skating coach when he grows up, too.

Matthew is enjoying first grade. He had a good report card as well, and we’re very pleased. He also sang in the Christmas show with his class. We recently went to Disney World for vacation, and one of his schoolmates was there at the same time. Matthew and Carina had a great time going on rides together, and hope that someday we can all go back again. Matthew is following in Luke’s skate tracks, and can successfully land his waltz and toe loop jumps. He enjoys spinning the most, though. He’s discovered how to be popular with the ladies. I volunteer in the cafeteria on Mondays, and after he finishes his lunch, he gets to hold Jude on his lap. Together, they’re “chick magnets.”

Celia is holding her own. We’d love for her to join the boys at Notre Dame in September, and have started talking to the Pre-K teacher to see if her class could make the accommodations Celia needs. We still need to talk to the principal, but when we said, “Celia has a feeding tube,” to the teacher, she didn’t even flinch. We’re taking this as a positive sign. Her one “solid food” is plain cane sugar. During a recent grocery trip, she discovered stretch of aisle ten feet long and filled with different kinds (granulated bulk bags, cubes, packets) and brands. Her response was a slack-jawed, breathless, “Oh. My. Gosh.” I think she’d have preferred to sleep on the bottom shelf than come home. On our trip to Disney World, she got to meet her heroines – Princesses Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel. She had a wonderful time with them. Not one to be left on the sidelines, she’s begun ice skating, too. During the Christmas show, she experienced a surprising touch of stage fright. That is, until she saw another parent walk by with an armful of flowers. She said, “I want pretty flowers, too!” and we said, “Then you have to go out and skate.” She was off faster than a camera flash! Medically, she’s been a bit unstable, but we’re hoping we’ve turned a corner. She recently was doing very poorly, and had to have her “stupid old plain tubey” (a g-tube that goes directly to the stomach) changed to a “brand new SUPER tubey” (a gastro-jejunal tube that goes to both her stomach and intestine). It does appear that it is helping, so things are looking up. We’re still trying to outsmart our little thief. We tried locking the cabinets to keep her away from the food, but she’s figured out how they work. Since our house is under construction anyway, we decided to add lockable doors to the kitchen entryways. She’s pretty indignant that we’ve (at least temporarily) outsmarted her.

Jude is not yet up to schoolwork, or ice skating. He’s content working on being cute. He was very well behaved during Celia’s recent hospital stay. He has recently discovered how to work cuteness to his advantage, and saw hanging out at the hospital as an opportunity to polish his flirting skills with the nurses. He’s not doing much else yet, but that’s just fine by us. If he’s anything like his brothers and sister, knowing how to turn cute on and off at will may just be his salvation.

Neal and I are doing well. Thankfully, there’s nothing particularly interesting happening with us, since the children seem to be providing enough excitement. Here’s hoping 2008 is a year full of continued good things for everyone we love!