Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas Re-cap

The picture below was taken the morning after Christmas - notice the rain falling on the windows. It started raining on Christmas afternoon and rained for nearly 48 hours. And melted all 2 feet of snow. The only remaining evidence we have are a few snow banks that were piled in parking lots. So sad, but much easier to drive in. Also notice how everyone has their hands up by their mouths, the reason that I took the picture to begin with. (Harry Potter was playing) Photographic evidence that what Aunt Heather predicted did in fact happen. Hello Kitty wall decals being placed on the living room wall. Thankfully, Ashlee took all the decals and the little sister into her bedroom and helped her hang them up all around the crib. Much better, but no picture.

In this picture, Paige is playing with: Little People gifts from Santa and a tiny doll, blanket, and pillow that came in a little box from my mother. She loves this doll. We are on the fence. Several times a day, Paige will say something like: "Where's my doll, where's my box, where's my pillow....." She's not such a great looker for things, in fact she's pretty awful at it. We are learning that the first place to look is right around her - usually she has just set it down and forgotten that she did so.


Maggie woke up at 5 something on Christmas morning, she waited until 6 something to wake Ashlee and 7 something to wake Paige and us. We love her.
Finally, some notes to myself at Christmas time:
  • The Christmas holidays - especially Christmas day - are not the time to give up Diet Coke. Next year, go ahead and buy some when you are doing the big grocery trip (unless you have been living without it for several months). Because there is no possible excuse to leave the house and get one on Christmas day and you will REALLY want one, and it is Christmas after all. Consider a gift to yourself.
  • Maggie has fewer Christmases yet to spend living at home than the ones she has already spent with you - be with her and all three girls more.
  • Nobody but you will be excited about home-made marshmallows. Yes, everyone will be a year older, but they still won't think they are that great. And honestly, they aren't. Better than the grocery store? Yes. Enough better to make them at home? Not really.
  • If you want to make home-made gifts, have them planned and done by Thanksgiving - or at least planned and prepped by Thanksgiving, otherwise you will not get to it.
  • Ditto with any additional advent calendar activities you want to try.
  • Ditto with the Christmas cards.
  • Ditto with the advent wreath.
  • Sugar cookies and gingerbread houses are fun for the girls. Don't take all the fun out of them by freaking out about the mess or the sloppiness of it all. Let it go.
  • Remember how much better things are when the Mom decides to be happy and have fun - try to have a little more fun be a little more silly. Also remember how much more festive you FELT when you were dressed, with your hair and make-up done.
  • Having Chris take the girls somewhere for a few hours on Christmas Eve or the day before Christmas Eve is a great idea and should be a tradition. Having the house to yourself is kind-of heavenly for a few hours.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! For the first time since we have lived here, we will have a white Christmas! The big Nor'easter came through and we got about 20 inches. Church was cancelled, school on Monday was cancelled and we spent our 3 days playing in the snow and spending time together. It was so nice! Here are some pics - sledding in the driving snow. Paige lasted 2 trips down the mountain and then waited in the car.








Building a snowman the next day - she doesn't look happy, but she was having fun - she even sang the Frosty song to her snowman.

The girls made some sledding "runs" from the snow mounds in the front yard. They named them: Long Lecture, Partly Painful, Deadly Dangerous and one other one I can't remember.
More sledding in the blizzard. It has been really fun and has made our last Christmas in New Jersey extra special!










Thursday, December 17, 2009

Engineering

My dad used to sing a little ditty when he was doing work around the house - "It's so nice to have a man around the house...." I didn't always appreciate the truth behind those words, but it is really nice to have a man around the house.
They do things like: hang the Christmas lights, get all the Christmas boxes out and then put them all away again, eat the food you cook, help with the dishes, give two year olds a bath, play with the kids, clean out the garage, and make you laugh. It is nice - extraordinarily nice.
We made gingerbread houses again this year - here is our engineer putting the braces in the houses before we decorated. See? Nice.
Decorating the houses. . . they are all still standing - I hope they hang on 'till Christmas.I forgot to edit out the red eyes, but I LOVE this picture of Paige. She is such a character.
Anyway, probably the next 5o posts or so will be about how great it is to have Christopher home. It's just so great.




Wednesday, December 9, 2009

HOME

Anticipation as we load up the car - Watching for his plane to land...The plane that carried him safely home to us...Reunion.
Happy

Not a lot of words - this homecoming has been very similar to the arrival of a new baby, I have been wanting to bottle it all up to pull out some future day. We are so so so so happy to have him home!