Thursday: they're almost here!

They're almost here!  There is excitement in the house as we wait for our guests.  I've also been making the family help with more of the chores than normal because...they can.  I almost feel mean, but they need to know how to do these life skills, including bringing things from the banister to the basement, so I don't actually feel mean.  

I had a nice day.  It felt productive but I was also able to work on my Lego set and finish up a game and take a nap.  Isaac finished a route at rock climbing that he's been working on for a long time and therefore said that practice was "amazing" today.  Joshua probably had a bit of a boring day, but we did make some items from one of his Christmas gifts and he entertained himself well.

The video is a bit quiet.  Joshua has been playing with this gift a lot more than I expected.

Wednesday: date night

The kids went to Cheryl's house for the evening.  Ben and I had a nice time together.  We read together, played a game of Dominion, had a good dinner, and worked on some Lego sets together.

Tornado sat on a donut pillow...Ben said he has good taste.

Tuesday: feels like Saturday

Today we did quite a bit of work, but we played hard too.  We put away the presents, started cleaning the guest room (which was the present wrapping room), and the main area.  

I continued working on my Lego set, although Tornado fully stole my seat while I was helping Ben look for a piece.

We played Joshua's new Christmas game, The Isle of Cats.  The first step is to have your cat sit in the top of the box.

The kids went rock climbing, and although the gym was pretty busy it wasn't too busy.  After we got back we watched a video on the rules for Apiary.  It was a half hour long!  But...once we got started with the game it is going pretty straightforward.  

Friday: last day of school

It was the last day of school before break!

The Christmas Ruiners and SMTWRFSs put their jail keepers in the jail.  To be honest though, they weren't very good jail keepers.

The SMTWRFSs were no where to be seen, but the baby Ruiners were swimming in a dangerous location.  I found the normal Ruiners all over the place thoughout the day.  I also think I had one in my hood all day and didn't realize it until about 5pm, but am really quite unsure if that actually was what happened.

It was cooking day.  I dropped a lot on the floor.  Most of it was small, easy to clean items, but I was disappointed that I also dropped an egg.

Tornado was very cuddly.

Isaac and I went downtown to pick up some candy and pizzas.  We had the candy and I was looking at my phone to figure out where the pizza place was.  It looked...right across the street.  Yup.  When I looked up and actually looked for it it was right in front of us.  We had a good laugh about it.

Last Sunday: piano recital

Joshua had his first piano recital last Sunday.

Thursday: presents and testing

I made-up my black belt recertification today.  It was supposed to be last Thursday, but instead I had a crazy evening.  Anyway, Mrs. Galli said I was doing a great job!  It was nice to hear.  There were a few very small things to adjust going forward, but that is how it should be.

I finished Christmas wrapping today!  Then 30 minutes later another present showed up at the front door.  Then I remembered two more presents that needed to be wrapped.  This evening I bought another one.  So...I'm once again not finished.  This is how it's going to go this year though, since there were some late arrivals scheduled.

I got to squish Joshua's face today.

Wednesday: legacy

 First off, the sound mufflers that we got Joshua seemed to work great.  He came home saying they worked well and he was in a much better mood.  The class might have been less loud too, but we'll take the win.

I thought I was reasonably close to being done with wrapping presents, only to find another stash.  Oh well.  What I have been doing is writing numbers on the To: part of the present instead of Isaac or Joshua's name.  This is a throwback to when Mom would use a code.  Or, one notable year, when she didn't put names on at all!  We opened a present and figured out whose it was.  Isaac has been most intrigued, trying to figure out a reasoning behind the numbers.  (This is extra hard when he doesn't know which ones go to which person.)