Christmas is finally here!!! Too bad my kids are sick. :(
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This is the first year we didn’t go to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. The kids just didn’t feel like it. I have to say I was more than a little sad about it. But it was pouring with rain all week, including on Christmas Eve, so I guess it’s just as well. We didn’t get to do any of the things we traditionally do in the days leading up to Christmas with the kids so sick, and that’s a real bummer. We didn’t even make it out to Hunt Club Farm’s Winter Wonderland like we’d planned. But I bought tickets in advance, so we made plans to go on a non-rainy night before New Year’s. Instead, we stayed home, and I made a Christmas Dinner with all the fixings of Thanksgiving, including my mom’s recipe for fruit salad for dessert. Yum!
It was really good, though the kids didn’t feel much like eating with all their coughing going on.
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Christmas Day is here! The kids woke up early and couldn’t wait to get started. I’d let them open a few gifts before Christmas so they’d have a chance to enjoy some things before getting overwhelmed with their goodies, but I’d saved the best for last.
Steve played a little tug-of-war with Lilly, who was wearing her new Christmas bandana, as Teenie watched, wearing her new jingle neckband. Too cute!
Here’s a video of the kids opening their gifts. Hayden’s favorite gift was the rollerblades, as I figured it would be. Despite the weather and how bad he was feeling, he went out and took a few spins before the day was out.
Here are our annual family photos in front of the tree, just before I took it down. Hayden got a new digital camera for Christmas, so he did the honor of taking the photos this year. He set the timer for the group shot but couldn’t get the flash to turn on, so it’s a bit dark.
But the rest were pretty good, once he got it figured out.
I thought I’d be better about keeping up the decor this year, but by lunchtime, the clutter of Christmas was giving me all kinds of anxiety. So just as in years’ past, I had everything to do with Christmas boxed up and taken up to the attic by 3 PM on Christmas Day! As I’m quoted as saying, “Christmas is over…pack it up!” LOL. Holden’s birthday was coming in just 3 short days, so I had to restore order in the house as soon as possible, especially since Steve had to work the day after Christmas. Bummer!
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The day after Christmas, my long-time dear friend, Roslyn Smith, came over to see the kids. Then we all went to Winter Wonderland together with a bag full of marshmallows in hand for roasting over the fire.
After we looked at all of the animations and posed for our annual photo in their sitting room, we went into the petting zoo so the kids could chase some chickens…their favorite part of the visit!
Then we went over to the fire pit to roast some marshmallows over the fire. Some folks who were leaving even passed on their s’mores kit to the kids, so we all got to try one for the first time. Way too sweet for me!
The fellas that were keeping the fire going were particularly entertaining and chatted with the kids for the rest of the evening while Ros and I drank some hot cider. Yum!
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That’s a wrap!
I certainly wish the kids were feeling better so we could have done more over the break, but there’s always next week. Hopefully, they’ll be better by then. Merry Christmas!
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