So once again we honored the 12 Days of Christmas by planning on something fun and celebratory for each day. Unfortunately our plans were slightly derailed by the now traditional Christmastime illness -- but I think we did enough to make the Christmas season feel fun and restful.
Day 1: Christmas!!
Pajamas + Toys + Food + Grandma = awesome day.
Seriously good haul this year. It was really fun shopping for the kids. We get a couple really awesome toy catalogs -- Mindware and Young Exporers (recommend) -- so the things the kids asked for were actually really cool. And now that they're old enough to choose gifts for each other, Mr. Pickles and I could cut back on the number of things we got each one, and just focus on getting a couple items they really wanted. Jojo got a spy kit which has all kinds of cool gadgets (pictured above). For Katie we got a drawing tablet that plugs into the computer, to help streamline her game design and other creative outlets.
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| "Anime" |
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| "Northern Lights" |
The boys also received lots of weaponry -- nerf blasters, light sabers, etc. -- and remote-controlled things that require many, many batteries. I think everything mostly still works. One thing we got Miriam was a certificate for a massage at the chiropractor's, since she gets lots of neck pain from hunching over desks and books all day.
Day 2: Pajamas & Video Games
The day after Christmas is always Mom's day to collapse. So I always put video games down for this day, so that everyone will be occupied so I can goof off and eat chocolate all day. :) I also spent lots of time playing with my awesome new toy.
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| gloooowyyyyy... |
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| how the blue jays and squirrels see our house |
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| Soot Sprite approves of the blanket Katie got for Miriam. |
Day 3: Blanket Fort & Books
Since we always give books each year, we save those for their own day.
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| Jojo received permission to read the 3rd Harry Potter book. |
We had also found an awesome fort frame set that we brought out today.
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| the igloo |
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| ...a rocket ship? all I know is that it involved lots of shooting and explosions |
Day 4: Grandma left :(
Odd as it sounds, the house felt weirdly empty after she left.
Day 5: Stinky Rotten Chores (because it's Saturday) and Movies
After everyone finished their Saturday chores, Mr. Pickles took everyone from Daniel up to the theater to see the new Spiderman movie. Daniel brought earplugs. (The last time he went to the theater he did not have a positive experience, due to the seat-shaking volume level. He was much happier this time.) I stayed home with the little boys. Thankfully the day was sunny and warm-ish (i.e., above freezing), so Andy played outside most of the afternoon. I, however, spent most of the day on the couch. After coasting along for weeks on Christmas cheer (and generous helpings of caffeine), my internal systems finally collapsed and I was rendered incapacitated for a few days. It's funny -- right after Christmas I was feeling fine and all ready to get back to work, but then after Grandma left I gave myself permission to laze around the rest of the day and after that just completely collapsed. It's like when you're perpetually sleep-deprived and then you finally get a good night's sleep, but then you feel awful all day because your overworked adrenal glands took that one decent night of sleep as their cue to shut off finally, so you're left a boneless heap of lethargy. I guess this semester has been harder on me than I realized. At any rate, even though I felt like a boneless heap of lethargy, it was nice being able just to rest and rest without worrying about stuff getting done (aside from feeding people).
Day 6: Gingerbread House prep
Sunday -- Feast of the Holy Family. Mr. Pickles got started on the gingerbread house, with Miriam as sous chef. Katie also made an amazing thing called a mallowmelt -- it's like a cross between a cookie cake and brownies, with chocolate chips and butterscotch and marshmallows melted in. If you're not drooling already you should be. If you come visit, Katie will make it for you!
Day 7: Gingerbread House Decoration and Puzzles
This was New Year's Eve, our traditional day for decorating the gingerbread house and pulling out the ginormous Hogwarts puzzles.
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| even though Katie looks like she's too cool for such infantile things as puzzles, she was extremely helpful later on. She has a good eye for putting together all those monotonous pieces that have no distinguishing characteristics aside from slight color variances. |
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| Andy and Dominic "helped" by taking pieces apart and having battles with them. |
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| So. Much. Sorting. |
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| all glued together and ready to go! |
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| that would be a sour patch kid on a spit. you'll never guess whose idea that was. |
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| guilty as charged! |
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| ta-da!! |
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| the corn- and soy-free side |
By 8 pm we had made good progress on Hogwarts' Great Hall:
We put the little boys to bed, and then everyone from Daniel up stayed awake to ring in the new year. We traditionally watch a movie that the little kids can't watch, so it's a mark of distinction to be able to stay up. After an excessively long deliberation period we finally decided to watch The Empire Strikes Back. I WISH I had a video of Daniel during one scene towards the end in Cloud City when Luke is sneaking around and everything is quiet and then Darth Vader jumps out with his light saber and attacks Luke -- I swear Daniel jumped a foot off the couch, flapping his arms.
The movie finished just in time for us to look up a Times Squire feed.
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| 10... 9... 8... (yawn)... 6... |
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| high five. |
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| Happy 2019! |
Day 8: New Year's Day
Boy, was everyone cranky today. We went to noon Mass -- I wonder who actually made it to the 8 am that morning. Our traditional New Year's feast consists of cornish game hens, which are fun b/c they're so widdle! And of course, for dessert:
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| gingerbreeeeeeeead! |
...toasting marshmallow snowman heads.
We also pulled Christmas crackers, told each other corny jokes, and put on our paper crowns.
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| after the tornado (note can of beans to buttress the walls) |
Day 9 was our last official day of vacation. Miriam had Activities, but Mr. Pickles drove so I could stay home in my jammies all day, bless the man. We pulled out the other Hogwarts puzzle -- the Astronomy Tower -- and got started on that one.
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| more sorting! |
Day 10: BACK TO WORK
Really, is there anything worse than the first day back after a nice long break? Everything inside rebels against the restraint of a schedule. It's like herding turtles to get the kids to do schoolwork again. And coming home from work Mr. Pickles got whacked in the head by a punk on the Metro, which pretty much sums up that day.
At least we have gingerbread. Or... did.
We also finished the Astronomy Tower! So we put both puzzles together:
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| Great Hall on left, Astronomy Tower on right |
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| werewolf, or hippogriff? |
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| it's a dementor!! |
Day 11: Choir Concert
Another work day, but not as terrible as yesterday b/c it was FRIDAY, huzzah. Also our church choir gave their Epiphany concert. Since I got to go last year, Mr. Pickles took a turn and brought the big boys to foist some Culture upon them.
Miriam had a solo:
What a blessing it is to have this choir provide our music at Mass every Sunday.
Meanwhile I stayed home with the little boys and Katie (who was sick again that day) and watched a stupid Christmas movie about kittens. The boys were entranced, of course (we're kind of into kittens around here), and Katie and I kept our sanity by making MST3K-like comments where necessary.
Day 12 was another stinky rotten chore day. I had another relapse -- or else caught what Katie had -- and had to spend the day in bed while Mr. Pickles kept the ship running again. It was a bummer b/c I had lots of things I wanted to do -- the house was in the state houses usually are in when everyone is on vacation. Oh well.
And that brings us to today, the Feast of the Epiphany! The three kings left chocolate coins (or a soy-free substitute) and a kiwi in everyone's shoes. Thankfully no one noticed that the kiwis looked REMARKABLY similar to a bag of kiwis that Mom bought at the grocery store on Friday and forgot to keep hidden while everyone was helping unload the car.
Today Mr. Pickles also made some ninjabread men. After we've finished decorating them I'll post pictures.
It's back to work again tomorrow, but we're keeping decorations up for at least another week. Despite illness forcing us to keep things fairly quiet (well, as quiet as our house ever gets, which is not very unless everyone under 11 is sleeping), it's been a joyful Christmas season. I'm so blessed to have been given this family.
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| saying hi to Baby Jesus |
