Well, the holidays are winding down. Today the remainder of our decorations will find their ways to boxes in the attic and we're trying to Lexi back to a normal sleep schedule. She will return to school on Tuesday. Let me tell you, I'm so excited to wake her up on Tuesday as I know she will be an absolute princess about it (<--sarcasm here). I also return to school on Tuesday and am not looking forward to it. I'm burned out on school and childcare arrangements and all that it entails. This is something I have been doing since the summer of 2003 and it's wearing on my nerves. With any luck though, I'm set to graduate in December of 2009 so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

On a brighter note, I got some Mommy time Friday night. Lexi stayed the night at my parents' house while Abby stayed with Nana and Papaw. I repaid a friend of mine with dinner for helping me with a massive school project. It was nice to get out without our husbands and kids but we did break into "kid speak" on occasion. Afterward, I went to another friend's house and was later joined by Stefan while we played Rock Band on the XBox 360 until the wee hours of the night. It was nice yesterday to wake up whenever my body deemed fit. It annoyed me bit to realize that my body thought that 8 a.m. was a reasonable time. I fought the inevitable for quite awhile but finally conceded with the realization that the kiddos must be repossessed. The rest of the morning/afternoon was spent going here and there collecting the munchkins and hearing stories of their night away. Once fully reunited we took the kids to Toys R Us to spend some gift cards they procured over the holidays. Lexi got a Barbie play set and Abby got a puzzle and a Fur Real puppy. They had a good time at their respective sleep overs to say the least.

Stefan came home from work Friday with some great news. After 10 years of loyal service to his company, he was still considered the low man when it came to seniority for vacation requests. This meant that after the three month blackout period when vacation requests are not allowed and four other people with seniority and massive amounts of vacation in their arsenals that could bump any of his requests planning vacations is always difficult. However, it recently occurred to Stefan that 2 of the other guys had breaks in their service to the company and he inquired about the legitimacy of their seniority over him. Come to find out, the last 5 years have been needlessly difficult for Stefan's vacation planning because he should have been #3 instead of #5. We're excited about this because it will allow for vacations during times considered impossible before for #5.

In other news, our winter trip is approaching. Since I was pregnant with Abby we've used this opportunity to stow ourselves away in the Great Smoky Mountains. However, we've been snowed in each time and decided to change our destination this year. Stefan found a great deal on a package to Biloxi including airfare, so we're going there in two weeks. I'm excited but I think Stefan is more so. He's called the Isle of Capri Casino (where we're staying) to see what types of tables they have. As if that wasn't enough, he got on their website last night and found out about a Texas Hold 'Em tournament they'll be having the Saturday we're there. This kid, I swear!!!! He wins his first and only tournament and thinks he can take on the professional gamblers that do this on a daily basis!!!