The day after Christmas, my mom and stepdad came down to celebrate with us. My sister and her family were hoping to come, but they unfortunately had a bad virus go through their house, so we'll be partying with them tomorrow instead. (Keep the party going!) But it gave us some really nice time to spend one-on-one with my parents. On Friday, the kids played board games with my mom, and the December-birthday kids got to open their birthday presents. Atticus got car seat covers for his car, and he immediately raced out the door to install them, so there are no photos. Oey got a princess dress, and these shenanigans ensued:
Callista also celebrated her half-birthday on the 26th.
The next day, we got to celebrate Second Christmas, and it was so fun.
Rocco has been dying for a jean jacket!
Penelope thought she was going to be getting clothes, but the box tricked her!
Eulalie got a Noah's Ark.
Everyone is dying to know what's in Oey's big present...
A wooden high chair for her babies!
Lolo got a patio set for her dollhouse, with the tiniest little glasses of lemonade that even have ice in them!
My parents went home in the afternoon. On Sunday, there was no fellowship meal at church, so we came home and ate chicken nuggets for lunch and spent the afternoon working on a Christmas puzzle.
Knox started teething early in the week, so we spent a few days snuggling with him while he nursed a fever and was just generally inconsolable unless he was cuddling a G. I. Joe and watching Thomas the Tank Engine.
On Wednesday of that week, we celebrated New Year's Eve with a cheeseboard. We have a tradition where anyone in the family who wants to can share a poem or a drawing about our family. Poems usually include memories from the year, or sum up who each person is or what they like. Drawings are a fun snapshot of what everyone looks like, and also of growing artistic talent. It was so fun to see what everyone came up with!
Juni drew a picture
Callista wrote a poem
Rocco drew a picture
Lolo drew a picture (she originally had the top half hidden and then dramatically unfolded it to reveal Atticus!)
Penelope wrote a poem (as did Todd, but there is no photo.) To read their poems, you can find them on Todd's blog here
Thursday, Todd was off work for New Year's Day, so you know what that means: I cleaned our bedroom. He works in there, so I don't always have access to it for undertaking big projects, and it was a big project after all of the wrapping and gifting stuff had been in there for the past month.
On Saturday, we had friends from church come for brunch. They have five kids, so it was a full house (although, Atticus was at work, so he missed out.)
Somewhere along the line, Juni lost her second-annual Christmas Tooth. She named it George. She doesn't know why; she just likes that name.
I have been trying to get to bed earlier since the New Year. I'd been getting between six and seven hours most nights, and it just wasn't enough, so I've been shooting for eight. The first few days I woke up feeling about the same, maybe even a little more tired, as my body caught up. I didn't feel radically different. UNTIL. Tuesday morning, I was reading my Bible (another attempt at leveling up in the new year) and drinking my coffee and I was suddenly like, "I AM SO AWAKE. What should I do today?! Maybe we should have another baby! Maybe I should PAINT SOMETHING! Maybe I should write a book!" So I walked on the treadmill and picked up our dry cleaning, since those were the most accessible productive projects at the time. I would have gotten some paint at Home Depot, but my paint chips went missing during the Christmas chaos, so I need to find those first. In the meantime, I worked on patching some holes in the walls in preparation for some paint and rehanging the curtain rod that someone pulled out of the wall months ago.
It turns out that sleep makes a difference in a person's energy levels and overall outlook. Who knew?
Tuesday was Epiphany, so we had another cheeseboard, and our friends Josiah and Meghan joined us for the evening with their three kiddos. I made mini King Cakes for dessert, and their daughter Olive found the "bean" and was Queenie Beanie for the evening (this year, it was a raisin, which is much more complementary to spice cake than black beans, but "Queenie Raisin" just doesn't have the same ring to it.)
Forgive the terrible lighting. When we have guests on a cheeseboard night, I get to bust out our Super Mega Cheeseboard that my brother-in-law made us from an actual tree. Amazing.
Check out the full Kids' Table!
Wednesday we finally started taking down all the Christmas decorations. It was 60 degrees outside and raining, and it was gray and dismal. Penelope was like, "I think this is the saddest day I've ever had to live through." Rough stuff. It's definitely less cozy and Christmassy around here, but I will say that I'm happy to have my normal house back. It feels good to walk through the living room and recognize it.
The boys pulled down all the lights in the rain
and while wearing shorts. Weird start to January.
Knox wanted to help the big boys with the tree.
While the boys were helping me deconstruct All the Things, Penelope kept the babies occupied with some water play.
Today I'll be grocery shopping, and I'll have the kids clean up their rooms. Tomorrow we'll see my sister's family, and then Monday we'll start back to school - and that will close the book on Christmas 2025. It was a really good Christmas season! Luckily, I have a crack team of masseuses and doctors at my beck and call to help me recover.
More spa treatments like this, please and thank you.
1 comment :
the twelve days of Christmas presents like the puzzle and the game were fun additions this year. i love how it keeps building on itself. the old familiar and the new fun. it is all just great!
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