Saturday: Christmas 2

 Dad and Pat brought breakfast over in the morning.  While that didn't really start our day, it was a delicious part of the day.  We slowly got ready and went to walk downtown.  Joshua was not excited about going because he was having so much fun playing with his cousins, but none of them had a choice.  

We enjoyed a few stores, and then decided to get some pictures in some big wooden shoes.  But.  But.  The children were having a hard time deciding who should stand where and in the process almost knocked over several delft pieces.  The kids are all smiles, but the adults' hearts were all racing.

We walked down to Cakabakary to get a birthday treat for the 12 year old.

After lunch we opened presents!  There were lovely and thoughtful gifts all around.  Dad and Pat got the largest presents, which seemed appropriate but abnormal.

Pizza for dinner and then a small celebration for Isaac.  (His main celebration is in June.)

Friday: arrival

We spent the morning cleaning.  While I did spend most of the morning getting ready, I also feel like it wasn't as stressful as normal.  The rest of the family helped out with a lot of the chores.  Joshua cleaned a bathroom for the first time and did a great job.  I had also given the kids a chore list, like normal, but then their last chore was to help mom for 400 minutes.  They both wondered why the number 400 and I told them it was easier to need them for less time to give them a "present" than need them for longer and have them "complain".  Honestly, it worked well because Joshua was very willing to help out with some of the little tasks that popped up near the end.

Aunt C came over for the afternoon.  Horizon followed her around for a while because she is his favorite person.

We mostly just hung out for the rest of the day.  The kids mostly did their own thing.  Joshua had made a puzzle this summer for just this occasion and it was put together.

We played a game of Can't Stop and Ben stole the win from Isaac so I was able to win!

We watched a movie after the younger kids went to bed and surprisingly no one fell asleep!  Liz and I were close, but the movie was interesting enough that we stayed awake.

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.