Shep has been begging me to make peppermint ice cream. I think I might be raising a food snob—he had a taste of the store-bought kind, and declared it wasn’t good enough.
Of course, one of the best parts of making peppermint ice cream is whacking the heck out of the candy. Shep and Ellery happily obliged, hammer in hand.
During this glorious break from winter, I pushed the kids outside. They wandered out with squinty eyes and declared, “Hey, it’s nice out here!”
Today I cleaned out my car. During these cold months, the clutter has piled up in the corners until it was tough to squeeze in a passenger. Groceries were a challenge to fit in the back on account of the tools and half-finished projects.
Ellery joined in. Long after I’d decluttered and vacuumed, she scrubbed the baseboards with gusto. I swear she was in there for an hour. I left her to her work and mucked out the coop.
Shep was running circles around the yard. And Neko? She was hard at work on this fairy house.
It hit 40 degrees today, which is downright spring-like compared to the winter wonderland we’ve been living in. When Neko discovered the rain had melted much of the snow, she got rather indignant, and insisted on pulling out the snow tubes and enjoying what little white stuff was left.
Nancy and Mary Beth were visiting, so we decided to take advantage of the moment to throw everyone outside for some much needed Vitamin D.
Hello sunshine.
(I think Ellery’s boots are on backwards.)
The day after Christmas started well enough. Our family present was a big bunch of Lego. When everyone seemed restless, we cracked it out and began building. Neko and I worked on a house, Tom worked on some wheelie contraption, and Ellery made a grocery store. Shep worked on a bedroom with a secret door in the roof, but it got taken apart before I got out the camera. I love that they’re finally at the age where they make THINGS.
By afternoon, we were off to Barb and Ev’s house to celebrate with Tom’s side of the family, which was somewhat incomplete due to our nephew’s unfortunate ear infection. I swear, the moment we pulled into their driveway, the inevitable post-holiday letdown hit. Suddenly our under-slept, over-excited children became raving maniacs. It was great to see Tom’s family, but, ohmygoodness, those kids were crazy.
An early departure was followed by an even earlier bedtime. We’re looking for a few quiet(er) days ahead.
What a fantastic day.
Neko woke up at 5:30am, but we managed to put her off until 6:15am. Everyone was ecstatic about their gifts. I declare that everyone got exactly what they needed. Butterscotch the horse was adored every bit as much as Neko said she would be. Ellery pranced in her twirly skirt and Shep delighted in his magnetic roller coaster.
In the afternoon, we visited my parents for another round of gifts, good food, and sledding.
As a Christmas gift to myself, I decided not to pick up the camera. Instead, I decided to just be present in the day. (But I couldn’t resist snapping a few as the kids squealed their way down the sledding hill.)
Don’t worry—full documentation of favorite gifts, including the world’s most enormous robotic horse will appear here shortly.
As has become our tradition, we headed to the museum on the morning of Christmas Eve. It is a low-traffic day at the museum, and it gives us a chance to have some solid family time during the holiday. This year, loads of friends joined us, which made it even more fun.
We arrived right as the museum opened, and as we walked in the door, Santa was waiting for us, scooping up little ones for a hello hug. Ellery, who’s often quite shy, jumped right in. From that point on, she was smitten. And Santa, not having a lot going on this day (he said Mrs. Claus had it all under control), spent plenty of time listening to her and admiring the trains.
I love this time, before it becomes about unwrapping and assembling, where we get to spend time in the company of such good folk.
Well, we’re nearly a week into break, and Christmas is almost here. The inevitable result of this is kids that are bouncing off the walls because—wheeee—Christmas is almost here! Meanwhile, the parents in this house are in a state of panic because—eeeeek—Christmas is almost here!
And did I mention everyone is sick? On Tuesday, I propped myself up against a wall in the basement, and watched the children run in circles around me for six hours. Bless them, they were angels.
But today we had a welcome diversion when Garrett and Katrina came by. They brought with them a few things for the kids, including this dinosaur dig. They also brought a few other handmade items, which I’ll save for another post when I have better photos.
But for today, this dig was a lifesaver.
We waited a day, and then got around to decorating the tree.
Ellery was Martha Stewart, Jr., spending the better part of an hour decorating and finding the perfect spot for each ornament.
Despite no photographic evidence, Neko was, in fact, there. She likes to hide from the camera and she’s pretty quick. Shep is moving into that territory, as well, sadly. Soon this whole blog will be filled with photos of chickens.
Speaking of chickens, Neko and I made sure they didn’t miss out on the festivities.
We meant to get a Christmas tree last weekend, but time ran short, and we decided to push it another week.
Clearly fate meant it to work out that way. We woke to find our first snow of the season. At the Christmas tree farm, things were downright magical. Not only was there a blanket of snow, but perfect, little flakes kept falling on hats and eyelashes.
We need to remember that Christmas trees look bigger next to small people, as we got home and realized our tree was a bit on the small side. (Next year, we’re bringing a measuring tape.)
This is the very first sweater I knitted, which I finished this summer on the way home from the beach.
Ellery put it on for about 3.6 seconds and then declared it too itchy. Rookie mistake #1: When choosing yarn for children it should be made out of clouds. Rookie mistake #2: Never make a sweater for someone who you aren’t 100% sure will wear it.
Today she agreed to put it on to show Garrett and Katrina. (Who, by the way, brought us delicious homemade biscotti!) Again, I barely snapped a photo and then she took it off.
Maybe I can convince Joe to wear it…