Today marks then end of two weeks (or more!) of madness at our house. The week before Christmas, I got sick. Like really sick, with a fever and everything. I even had to take a day off from work. And then the sinus infection set in. In the midst of all that, all the kids got colds (no fever, thank goodness). So leading up to Christmas, we were one miserable, sick household. We put off going to visit Santa until it was almost too late – but we made it just in time!
Santa listened to what everyone wanted for Christmas, and then we got to sit in his sleigh for a picture.
Jacob, very graciously, participated in this event, even though he’s a little bit… let’s say… old for it. Words cannot describe how sweet it is to see him excited for his siblings and helping them celebrate Christmas.
So finally the big day arrived. Santa was very generous this year!
We had a very pleasant Christmas morning. It’s amazing that weeks of preparations are undone within a mere half hour. I don’t know how it happens, but it does. It’s over so quickly! Jacob’s big gift was an iPod Touch (so that his mother could have her iPod back!). Lydia got a pretty heart necklace, and Aaron’s favorite gift was a metal detector, which he promptly fired up and discovered that the heating grates are made of metal! Go figure! Then we had a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and mimosas for the grown-ups, of course.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s was a tad chaotic. I worked for three of those days, and Aaron was sick with a stomach bug. More illness, yay. But he got through it without anyone else succumbing, thank the gods. For New Year’s, we walked downtown to catch the First Night fireworks. It was much warmer than it has been in the past, so it was quite pleasant to stand outside the college gates at the top of Main Street and watch the show. Jake brought his camera and captured the event:
Finally, we wrapped up our holiday season with a family get-together on the first. We got to see many people that we don’t get to see too often. It was also special because all five of the great-grandchildren were together in one place. We had a heck of a time getting them all into one picture, but we ended up getting a couple of good shots.
All in all it’s been an exhausting few weeks, and we’re (or at least I’m!) ready to get back to the regular routine starting tomorrow. 2012, here we come!
Listening To Whispers 