Weekend: family

Nathan and family came this weekend!  It was a wonderful weekend.  The kids keep getting older and entertaining themselves and sometimes it feels like we barely see them.  (Although, to be fair, we kicked them into the basement a few times because they were being loud.  You don't get to be loud in the main area.)

Friday: we worked medium hard all day before they arrived, but it did also include a nap and making some food.  Isaac finished his deviled eggs (all by himself!) and I helped Joshua with his Pikachu cake.  Now, we had gone to the library to try and find some easy dinner ideas that he could make by himself that sounded good.  What we ended up with with an involved dessert.  Oh well.  It was very good and I expect we'll make it again.

Saturday: in the morning we went rock climbing.  Nathan and Liz also tried it out, while I still haven't made it off the ground.  I did get to belay some adults though, so it was nice to do that for the first time.  Liz was no problem, but I did feel the weight difference a little bit with Nathan.  I was floatier than normal.  Isaac worked on the challenge wall a lot.

After lunch we opened presents!  Yay!  We all got some good ones.

Kate came by for dinner...it was nice as we haven't seen her in a long time.  We did a New Year's countdown around 9 and sent the kids to bed.  They were out quickly.  (Actually, they were out quickly the night before too.  Maybe they had had enough time to see each other and burn off some energy.)  Isaac stayed up both nights to watch the new Top Gun movie with us.  I just though it was ok, although the plane scenes were good.  I don't know if Isaac understood all the minor plot points.

Sunday we went to church to watch Pat play the organ.  She did a lovely job.

In the afternoon the kids made a wood craft with Dad.

After the three youngest went to bed Ben and Isaac taught Nathan how to play Magic: The Gathering.  I read my book.  I just started a new one and it is hilarious and excellent.  (Beware the Chicken!  However, it is based on an Eastern genre, and if you haven't read at least a few of that type it might not be as good.  Still funny, but some items might not make as much sense.  Thousand Li was the series I read first to help out with some of the background knowledge.)

Then, as always, they left the next morning.  While it's nice to go back to normal and not run the dishwasher twice a day, it's also always very sad and quiet.  However, there are plans to see them during Spring Break!

Thursday: productive

 I, as always, had several things on my to do list for today.  The boys did amazing during the afternoon 'work' time and we got more done than expected!  

The morning started with Isaac making a huge snow chair.  I helped with the bottom a little bit, but it was really heavy.  Joshua and I made a cake for his Pikachu cake.

Then some chores, an early lunch, and errands.  We went to rock climbing right away and while it wasn't too bad at first it got pretty busy again.  I guess we just need to expect such things during school breaks.

Wednesday: in between

We're in an in-between time right now.  In between the Christmas bustle and my brother coming up for the weekend.  (Joshua is beyond excited.)

So obviously, we started out the day with some games.  Isaac asked and I didn't have a good reason to say no.

I then got a bit of work done and we wrapped presents.  Isaac said the snow was good packing snow, so we went outside for a bit.  It really wasn't good packing snow yet...we probably should have waited until a little bit later in the afternoon.  We made a small snowman and slid down the hill for a bit.

After lunch and nap time we did our errands, but they were rather unproductive.  The parking lot at rock climbing was more full than normal and when I looked at the number of climbers it was the highest I've seen at 30/50.  Joshua and I went once at 25/50 and it felt very full, so we decided to try first thing tomorrow instead.  We stopped by Cheryl's to see if some late Christmas presents had arrived, but they weren't there yet.  We stopped by UPS to do a return, which was successful, as expected.

I used my electric knife to cut bread.  It was wonderful.

Joshua made a new kitty place out of a Christmas box.

I also got all the laundry cleaned and dried, although not sorted or put away yet.  I also took down some of the extra Christmas decorations that become a bit too much with more people in the house.  It's still very Christmas-y, but we needed a bit more space.  There are still a few things to do before we start the official cleaning, but we're close.  I only crossed off two things on the "do before guests come" list today, but at the same time I'm still feeling on top of everything. For now.

Monday: rescheduled Christmas party

The extended Hilldore Christmas party was tonight.  It was supposed to be on Friday but by Thursday they rescheduled - an excellent choice.  It was nice to see everyone in our annual get-together.  

We were allowed to be in the main entryway, and we told the kids this when we got there.  No problem.  Joshua had to go to the bathroom, and one of Ben's uncles was showing him.  When they reached the boundary Joshua stopped and said, "I'm not allowed pass here."  He was easily convinced he could go farther for this purpose, but it was cute.

Isaac and Joshua ran around and around and around.  Then two other kids joined them and they ran around and around and around.  I couldn't believe how much they ran, but they were having fun and with other people!

Ben and I ended up with a pair of very nice socks from the exchange.  Isaac quickly claimed them, even though they're way too big, and was super excited about them!

Sunday: the rest of the day

Today we spent a nice morning at home.  We didn't do anything too special, but finished a game, played some video games, and did whatever.  The snow drift peaked right before we left at 39" right at the stick.  By the time we got home the drift was down.  The drift seemed less steep, so the snow and probably fallen down.  (The picture below was from when I woke up and the drift was at 37.5".)

Also when I woke up I found a crazy scene by baby Jesus.  The Christmas Ruiners had come out and were trying to steal Baby Jesus.  Obviously, the animals were winning, but there was a fight!  One sheep pounced a Christmas ruiner and fell over, which broke its ear off.  The shepherd and the sheep's family brought it to the hospital.

The weather was good enough for us to travel the 10 minutes to Larry and Cheryl's house, but the roads weren't great.  It was nice to have a white Christmas with the snow falling gently in the background though!

Ben helped Joshua put the star on the tree.

We ate brunch first.  It was full of delicious food.  This is probably my favorite traditional meal of the year...I do like all the sweet stuff!  A few things were said that really tickled Isaac's funny bone and it was hilarious to watch.

The only picture I have of opening presents is my new electric knife.  I used it at Thanksgiving and it was amazing.  I'm going to use it to cut everything.  And maybe I'll even make a turkey.  (But I'm going to borrow the roasting dish because I really don't want a huge roasting dish in my house.)  The one I'm most proud of giving is some pie.  At Thanksgiving Scarlet said she had only ever had (or only could remember having) pumpkin pie.  So Joshua and I got her a blueberry and chocolate pie slice from a local bakery. 

The last funny thing from the day was that I asked Joshua to get me a fork at dinner time.  He gave me one, and I continued talking.  A few minutes later I picked it up only to find it was a gigantic serving fork!  It was nice of him to get me one, but Ashlyn was also kind enough to sneakily get me the correct kind.

Sunday: He's here!

Merry Christmas!  As always, the animals that moved around all of December looking for baby Jesus finally found him.

Saturday: Christmas eve

According to my camera, all I did was take pictures of the snow.   In the morning the stick measured about 31.5", but the drift had moved over closer to the house.  The top of that was close to 33". 

We had five blue jays flying around at one point.

It was a lovely day.  We played several games.  Isaac made chex mix.  Joshua wrapped presents.  Ben cleared the driveway (4-24" deep).  I helped with a lot, cleaned the kitchen, and dealt with food.  I was quite excited about how I could oversee the kids and get some stuff done all at the same time: they're getting more capable!

By this evening the snow at the stick was reading around 35".  If you measured the drift between the stick and window it was at the top of the stick, 40".  (You can see the stick in the picture below, but I angled up just slightly so that you actually could see it.  It's sort of under the corn.)  The drift to the left is higher yet.  The weather conditions were much better today.  It snowed most of the day, but I could usually see the houses across the lake.  Also, it's only about 12" or even a little less right by the edge of the deck.  There's a pretty steep drift right now.