Merry Christmas to all

I'm going to spend at least the next 36 hours focusing on my family (and no doubt gathering ideas for many blog posts to come.)

Here's a look at our Christmas card picture and letter.

I've been stalling for a week, trying to summarize the 2011 chapter of our lives in a way that's     concise and interesting to anyone other than us. Coming up dry, I turned to my two greatest          sources of inspiration and asked them what we should write in our Christmas letter.

"Merry Christmas. I'm sure you're on the good list." That was the suggestion from Alex, our first grader formerly known as AJ who's now decided he wants more letters in his name.

Sydney's idea: "Let's put in something that gives them good luck. Not bad luck." Our well-intentioned almost four and a half year old then headed into the kitchen in search of something lucky to put in the letter.

"How about if we just write 'We wish you good luck in the New Year'?" I suggested to her.

"No," Sydney wrinkled her nose. "Maybe we should just give them something to eat."

"That'd probably be too messy," I started to explain.

"No, Gus, NOOOOO!" Sydney shrieked, suddenly distracted. "Mom, Gus has something in his mouth!"

And there's your glimpse of life in the Kazel house in 2011.

It's been a busy year. The kids keep us running four nights a week. Alex is in hockey and Sydney has started dance class. When we are home, we're chasing the newest addition to the family, a stubborn but loveable six-month-old golden retriever named Gus who chews on anything and everything and recently managed to pull over our 10-foot Christmas tree.

Whose idea was it to get a puppy?

In his defense, Gus has the very difficult job of following in the paw prints of Maggie, our much-loved golden who died last spring. Our ever-cranky 17-year-old cat, Spike, isn't too pleased to have a puppy in her house. But Gus is adapting well, and the kids adore him. When he's not destroying their toys.

So what else is there to tell? The children, of course, remain brilliant, adorable and perfectly behaved. Sometimes.

In school, Alex likes recess best, followed by math, reading and anything related to history. World War II and the Titanic are favorite topics for library books. "Because that's important," he tells us. He wishes his social studies class could focus more on history. "All we learned is where St. Paul is and the Mississippi River," was a recent complaint.

Sydney, meanwhile, is in the school readiness preschool program and is quite excited when she can do "homework" and craft projects at the dining room table. She loves anything connected to Barbie and Disney princesses, and will very proudly tell you she's not afraid of mascots anymore. She even posed for a picture with Champ the Bulldog at a UMD hockey game.

As for Jeff and me, we just keep doing our best to keep up with the kids and enjoy this wonderful, crazy life with which we've been blessed. And so, as 2011 draws to a close, we wish a Merry Christmas, and New Year filled with good luck...  to all of you who've earned a spot on the nice list.