Merry Making

     We decorated gingerbread houses. 

Played games.

    Heather made a delicious pistachio pie that she shared with us. Henry loved it so much that he licked the plate clean.

    The older three have a New Year's dance, and it's Devon's first dance. It is formal, so we went suit shopping. I took them to Burlington first. I haven't been inside one since before my wedding, but back then, they carried suits. I guess things have changed a bit in 20 years; they didn't have any, and there was a bouncer at the entrance! He gave us a spiel about safety, then lifted the rope for us to enter. It was a bit surreal. We quickly realized that they didn't have anything for us, so we left for JCPenney's. They were having a sale on the suits, so that was fabulous. It took a bit of digging, but we struck gold. We found this burgundy suit coat that was reminiscent of the Doctor from Doctor Who, and I still can't get over how good it looked on Charles. We found a fun matching tie and black shirt, and he was set. For Devon, we had to look farther. He really wanted a vest, but the suits his size do not have vests. I found a lovely blue suit that fits well. I ordered a vest and pants set from Amazon to round it out. Devon was a bit upset that the shades were a bit off, but honestly, they looked great together. 

    After a successful visit, I was hungry, so we went to a nearby breakfast/brunch joint called Shack. It scared Devon because the decor was interesting, there was a huge sign that said something to the effect of: eat bacon so you don't get kidnapped. It was meant in jest, but it unnerved Devon, and he was scared that there were kidnappers about.  He ducked his head under the table and refused to eat. I was unaware  what caused this commotion, as I had not seen the sign, and Devon would not engage with me in conversation. I let him be,e and the rest of us enjoyed a delightful lunch. 

    We had a good day, and the end of our membership collide so I took the younger three to Wonderscope. It was done up for the holidays. It was fun watching the kids play. 

 

    Henry was frantically running back and forth on the train, as I tried to capture him, I could only just get the heel of his foot.

    It was a good day. A nice end to the year.

Christmas!

       I love Christmas Eve, how the bustle of tradition melds into a quiet hush of expectation. I started the day with a hunt for tamales. I always have tamales for Christmas Eve dinner, but had neglected to get them when I was at the store earlier. I found some, but was not particularly excited about them. It was an unknown brand to me. I have lived near a large Latino community for most of my life, so getting good tamales for Christmas was never hard. Here, I haven't found them, so I was settling for whatever I could get, but to my surprise, our neighbor brought over some homemade tamales as a thank you for the cookies. She was so sweet, and I'm afraid I may have startled her with my enthusiasm for them. I told her that she had made my Christmas. They were delicious and just so perfect. 

    After dinner, we gathered to listen to Daniel read from Luke 2. Normally, we also read Stubby Pringle, but we weren't feeling very well, so we kept it short. The kids drifted off to sleep, and I caught this shot of the tree. This is the moment I look forward to the most. The quiet before the storm. It's so magical. 

    The kids surprised me by staying in bed til after 7 am. We had to roust the older kids out of bed. A clear sign that they are still feeling the effects of the flu. I didn't mind the respite. I decided that we would have a Bluey Christmas. I got everyone Bluey Pajamas. Inexplicably, Devon lost his. We always eat breakfast before presents, so Daniel made our traditional monkey bread. Afterwards began the (somewhat subdued) frenzy!

    Charles loves this bike horn; he has been using it non-stop to hilarious effect.

Lizzy loved this crazy toy. You pinch it and blow, and it plays music. It was hysterical.

Merry Christmas!

Getting Ready For Christmas

  This year, getting ready for Christmas was a bit of a slog. Lizzy came home at the start of winter break feeling sick. And like clockwork, one by one, the kids all fell. With everyone feeling terrible and not wanting to eat, making merry sort of fell off the radar. 

    As the days ticked down to Christmas, though, I was eager to do at least a few of our traditions. We decorated cookies to give to the neighbors. 

    Henry has taken to wearing this hat, and he looks adorable, like a 1930s newspaperman hot on the trail of a good story. I love it!

    I made ginger cookies, surprise bars, and got a few chocolates from Costco to round out our treat plates. I had Emily count out the houses in our cul-de-sac. I wasn't clear about adding the 2 houses at the top of the street, so we were a plate off, but a couple of houses didn't answer the door, so it turned out okay. 

    Caroling is a tradition for both Daniel and I. We love it. Some years we go out every weekend in December, this year we could only manage one night. It was cold, but no snow, and we were able to get them all done within 20 minutes. We don't really know our neighbors well, but I knew that a few to the left of us were older, so I wanted to hit them first. They were so excited to have us sing to them. At the rental house across the street, the young man who opened the door was so shocked. He thought he was only supposed to take one of the treats off the plate and was so happy to receive the whole plate. It was cute. We had a good time, and I was so happy.

    The activity days had the kids do a nativity reenactment. Henry was supposed to be a shepherd, but he decided to be a hat rack, so he stood with his hat on his shoulder the whole time. Then, when they closed the curtains, he fell over to represent the hat rack being knocked over.

    We finally got our tree on the 20th from Lowe's. The nice thing about getting a tree so late is that they are discounted, Yay! I always leave the tree up for Kings Day so we have it nearly as long or longer than most anyway.  With Daniel still working 12s and everyone being sick, it was an undertaking to feel festive. The kids helped decorate the house. It's always fun with a new house trying to merge your decor with the space. Charles was especially helpful figuring things out.

    Devon found a hidey hole. Later we went to Knights of Lights! We met Santa.

We decorated cookies with Mrs Claus and Dasher.

Henry was less enthused to meet Mrs. Claus.

    There was an eye spy of several elves thoughout the area. Then the younger kids entered the snowball fight. It was a lot colder than I origionaly anticipated so poor Teddy was freezing. He stayed under Daniel's or my cape nearly the whole time, he would run out and throw a few balls then run back and warm up.

This year they did a maze with the 12 days of Christmas.