I've been meaning to write about our Christmas but we've been a bit busy and I've been also a bit under the weather. The writing earlier today about the new book I'm reading was just one of those things I was itching to "vent" about. (Sorry, Alyssa) There was just so much to say about the past couple of days I wanted an hour or so to get my thoughts together. My rant from earlier today only took about 20 minutes or so since it was mostly copy/paste of blockquotes. Now that it's off my chest, onto family matters.
My girls loved Christmas day. They were overwhelmed when they saw all of the boxes under the Christmas tree. I don't have many pictures from the day. I've not had much luck taking pictures when kids are unwrapping gifts. The boys like their stuff and play with it a lot. They never seemed to make the connection for unwrapping the brightly colored boxes that were handed them. I'm positive it'll be different for them next year.
Michelle and I have spent much of our free time over the past two days assembling, installing, and instructing. Some toys had the standard "some assembly required". Others had to be installed on the computer. Still others require some hands on instruction (like sewing kits). It's kept us as well as the kids from being bored over this Christmas vacation.
One of my favorite things to do with the kids is to take the new snow tubes to the back yard and go sledding down the hill. It's just the right height and just the right distance to avoid collisions with the house and swing. Of course we couldn't do much sledding until we got our big snow storm that started the afternoon of Christmas day. It was a typical New England Nor'easter and dumped about a foot of snow on our otherwise dry ground.
I was very grateful to Chris Godin, husband of Michelle's close friend, Kathy Godin. He serviced our snowblower this past summer. When I needed it yesterday, it started without any trouble and worked like a champ. Having our cars in a garage and not on the driveway made clearing things so much easier. No cars to dust off. No cars to maneuver and clear around. Just open the garage door and get going. The only problem I had yesterday was the wind kept gusting in different directions so I often got snow blown back in my face. I had to clear it early in the morning yesterday because Michelle had an OB/GYN appointment. Yes, things are still going well.
Back on the home front, our family room is often a den of "new toy noise". Toy cars and trucks that make sounds, toy cash registers that beep, toys that play music, etc. When we need a break from it, we play the new Baby Beethoven DVD that Stu and Paula got for the boys. The noise situation could be worse. We could have a new puppy...
On the pet front Claire and I took George to the vet today for his annual checkup. George is about 10 years old now. He's still in reasonable health but the vet would like him to get a dentistry treatment. He's currently missing about 7 teeth and may lose more if his teeth don't get some cleaning. Just what we want, an old toothless cat gumming his cat food.
Every year there seems to be one or two toys that kids get most attached to. Claire got a couple of gifts that get her started on sewing and crosspoint stitching. So far she seems to like those. She's trying to get the knack of the Gameboy that we got her and Abby. Abby enjoys playing with the toy grocery checkout station she got and the toy grocery cart that Michael got. She also likes her new coloring/craft books and supplies. The boys seem to like their noisy cars and their Fischer-Price flashlights. I like the fact that those flashlights have a built in timer that shuts them off when they stop playing with them so that the batteries don't wear out. The one thing they all have been playing with is one of those stability balls that's normally used in adult exercise classes. We noticed that they liked playing with them whenever they would come down to the YMCA step studio. Me? Personally I've been enjoying the Maurice Lenell cookies sent by the Tarpeys. Thanks William! They're one of a kind and take me back to my youth. Now that I know you can order them online, lookout!
We've been doing a few things to try to avoid going stir crazy from winter cabin fever. I've already mentioned that we've gone sledding down the hill. We've also been lighting a lot of fires and watching some good movies. Some of Claire and Abby's friends have come by to visit and play. I went into Nashua today and had lunch with a friend. On New Years Eve we're going to a co-worker's house.
Overall it's been a nice few days. I thought by this point I'd be ready to start work again. Even though I've been a bit under the weather health-wise, I've been having a nice time with the kids. I'm grateful they're all healthy (knock-knock) and the domestic chaos is heartwarming. I'm blessed to have such a great brood of children and am looking forward to number five in February.