We started the day with Church. Then Alex wanted to treat Granny and Pop to lunch. (It was a really sweet gesture but it also meant he got to avoid leftovers.) The rest of the day we spent playing games and cooking. Granny helped Kaitlyn make Apple Hand Pies – they were delicious!
Granny and Pop are finally better! Today we got to spend the entire today with them. We opened some presents, ate some food, and played a lot of games. It was a pretty great day.
We were supposed to be spending the day with Granny Pop. They landed yesterday, but sent us a message that they weren’t feeling well and were going to go by the hotel. It turns out they really weren’t feeling well and they have been cooped up at their hotel yesterday and today. We are hoping they will be well enough tomorrow that we can see them.
Today is a gorgeous day so we gathered the troops for a visit to the Storybook Trail. (I would have voted for a longer hike if I had gotten my ducks in a row earlier.) We were having so much fun that Ben didn’t even realize we forgot the snacks till 3/4 of the way through!
Ben was invited to a playdate – without Mom. At first he was “a little nervous” but he definitely wanted to go. At one point, the Mom texted to see if he could stay for lunch since everything was going so well. He came home talking about it nonstop but then immediately put himself down for a nap!
Wade has been on a project streak after Christmas. He’s been finishing up jobs – Ben’s closet door and trim; Alex’s bathroom wall patch. He’s also been working on new ones – Kaitlyn’s non-working radiator and a suspicious mark on my office ceiling. At first we thought Kaitlyn’s non-working radiator and the leak were connected – after working for several hours, Wade figured out they were not connected but had both fixed (except the hole which has to wait till it dries out a little).
We had our Christmas card pictures taken back in October. Wade was out of town, I bribed the kids with video games, and I was rather pleased with the how the pictures turned out!
Several years ago Kaitlyn wrote a letter to Santa, put it in the mail, and got a reply. I was as shocked as she was! It has been one of her most treasured possessions ever since. Last year she chose not to write, but this year she couldn’t wait. She wrote her letter early and again got a sweet reply.
Then it got to be the week before Christmas and Ben wanted to write a letter. I hoped it wasn’t too late to get a response, but of course Santa came through. I was even more impressed with Ben’s response because it addressed so many of the specifics in Ben’s letter. Truly amazing!
The kids were ready and waiting when we went their rooms to get them at 6:30 am. We gathered them at the top of the stairs for one picture (blurry of course) and then they went running down the stairs to see what Santa had left them.
Then we got dressed and made it to church early because we feared a crowd. We were so wrong! There was no one there! I always thinks it makes Christmas more special when it falls on a Sunday but it definitely makes the day and its activities a little more challenging. Kaitlyn was asked to be an acolyte for the first time and loved being able to serve.
We had a quick snack lunch and then spent the afternoon opening presents. The kids had a great time seeing what everyone thought to send. Then they were excited to play with their new items while Wade and I took naps!
We don’t have family in town this year for Christmas and we are embracing the slower pace. The day was still full of activities – basket presents:
cookie making:
Christmas Eve service:
cookie decorating:
and preparing for Santa:
We always choose one night around Christmas to drive around and look at Christmas lights. We end the night at Dunkin Donuts for donuts and hot chocolate. This year was a calamity of errors.
We were running low on free nights. We thought tonight was the night! Then we started seeing warnings for flash freezes so we hurried everyone to the car to get our drive in before the potential ice on the roads. Due to the high winds (that came with the earlier rain storm and coming freeze), a lot of the blow up decorations weren’t out, but there were still a ton of lights. When we got to the first Dunkin Donuts there were two donuts on the rack – something I have never seen. We drove to a second and found at least four varieties, but not our normal selection. We made our choices, enjoyed the hot chocolate and called it a night.
