not a creature was stirring, not even Marge.
Marge didn't go skating with Paul and the others,
with all of those sisters and two of her brothers.
So Mom made the mint coffee she loves and dad hates,
while the kids get their exercise tying on skates.
She sits with her feet up, pondering this:
If she loves her kid muchly, why is this bliss?
Her sprouted grain toast spread with pumpkin jam that Emily bought her,
Makes her appreciate her sweet oldest daughter.
The grapefruit from Florida from Gramma are so yummy,
One of the last ones left will go in Mom's happy tummy.
While cleaning the kitchen, looking forward to writing,
she thought it would be fun in poem form, exciting.
But now as she sits while the dogs lie there snoring,
she knows it is too much work, and is boring.
So, we survived another Christmas! It's hard to sum it all up, so I will just write some random sentences...
I walked this morning, three days in a row. Yesterday Abigail joined me, making it a pleasant Christmas walk. I know everyone wants to get in better shape after the holidays, and I am no exception. We haven't feasted on rare Who roast beast, but we did have a ham dinner yesterday...with squash, mashed 'tatoes, stuffing, applesauce, cranberry sauce, rolls...Christmas eve there was a big pot of meatballs, hot sausage, fresh bread and butter....and we had brunch on Christmas eve too...homemade pancakes and crepes, berries, eggs, bacon, sausage, grapefruit, orange juice....on Christmas morning, as per tradition, we had cinnamon rolls, the kind that come in the tubes...I didn't have any, but the smell! oh dear. torture. Poor Sam, we skyped with him on Christmas morning...his very first Christmas away from home...and when he asked if there were cinnamon rolls and I said there indeed were, he had teary eyes.
Today, all the kids will be here at once for the first time of the season, except for Benjamin in Washington state, and Sam-the-soldier in Washington D.C. None of the nurses work during the day today, so later they are coming for our Secret Santa and stockings, and for Chipotle style food. We are having chicken fajitas, taco salad, ect.
So...while it hasn't been ALL about the food, well, it has been pretty yummy around here. Plates of homemade cut out cookies, fudge, snickerdoodles....and boxes of chocolate, bowls of red and green M&M's....for me, it's like a constant conversation with myself...on the one hand, heck, it's Christmas! But on the other hand, for every little morsel of chocolate I put in my mouth, I have to work that off, or worse, leave it on. So, it isn't a total riot to have this much yummy stuff around, for me.
But having the kids around, oh so nice! The older kids pitched in and bought Evelyn an iPod. Paul and I bought iPods for Suzanne and Sonja. Jonathan got a remote control helicopter, his Hess truck from Gramma, a pogo stick, a video game from Abigail, and a electric panel learning set from Emily. The little girls got Frozen dolls from Gramma, (which they LOVE), Star Wars stuff for Char, a Calico Critter playset for Cam, and a few other things. The older girls that live together got a food processor, and a few individual gifts. I got a scarf, some chocolate, and some good coffee beans from Paul...
We were sitting here during the day of Christmas eve, and I asked Paul if he got his secret santa gift, and he just looked at me. oops, he forgot! Out the door he went, shopping with Evelyn. :)
We can't find Camille's Christmas doll. It was her "big" present. Charlotte Claire got one that I purchased online from Target. Cam's was from Kohl's, and it never came. Or perhaps it did, and we put it somewhere and can't remember where. It supposedly was delivered the day after the girl's car accident, and I am drawing a blank, big surprise. I don't know if I hid it somewhere really well, or if it really didn't get delivered. I told her that if we can't find it, I would buy her one...but when I ordered it before Christmas, it was on sale and only like 20 bucks, now it is $49.99. blah.
You must be SO organized, they say. You must have a system, to have all those kids. You must have schedules, even to use the bathroom! ha. ha ha ha.
Our washing machine chose a fine time to break. A few days before Christmas, it filled with water, but wouldn't spin or empty. I am so extremely thankful Paul wasn't in France. He took it apart and found some stuff that had clogged it...he cleaned it out, put it back together, and it works fine again.
Paul has had the whole week off. He is all mellow and relaxed. We have been on the same level lately, getting along really well. If you have been married for any length of time, you might know what I mean. Those times when you just aren't connecting, are't in sync. But lately, we have been just going in the same direction or something, it is almost tangible how we are just FOR each other. Not that we normally fight or anything, we don't. But we have our times. Our misunderstandings, hurt feelings, silences. I hate those times, and thankfully they come less and less as the years go by. I think we both realize how short life is, and each have more acknowledgement of our own sin, and are more forgiving. Plus, ha, we just plain like each other...) We do wonder sometimes how we got so lucky....
Aaron came over on Christmas eve...then got a text from a friend...his friend found a dog along the highway in the city. Aaron left, sneaky like, with Kathryn. I thought perhaps they were going to get the dog, and yeah, I was right. He came in the door with this adorable little Jack Russell...the poor boy was trembling, but still wagging his little tail. Our labs loved him, but he jumped up and tried to show them he was boss. The kitty wanted to play with him, but he wanted to chase the kitty. He settled down on different children's laps, and made Christmas eve very special. Aaron put an ad on craigslist right away, in case there are kids out there all brokenhearted about losing their pup at the holidays. Aaron is bringing him to the vet today to see if he's microchipped. He will turn him over to a shelter if they people at the shelter can guarantee he won't be put down, and will be adopted. We can't keep him because he likes to chase the cats, and he is so high energy. Aaron sleeps during the day because he works nights...he said that little dog was a darling, slept so nicely in his bed with him, but at 8 a.m., that dog was up and ready for the day. Aaron has to sleep in the day, so he doesn't want to keep the dog, wah.
If it were the case that he would be put down, we would keep him at least until we could find a good home for him.
And...that's all I have to say about that.
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We've had 9 kids in the house for four days. It's our two, the four fosters, and the other three siblings of our foster group. Of course they all want to say here now. But the oldest (he's 13) is finding it a bit hard I think. He likes the attention he gets when his sisters and brother are at their foster home. I have thought of you so much though and wondered how you do it with 16?! It's a lot of fun, but so MUCH WORK! The laundry, the dishes and the cooking seem to never end. :-) Sound like you all had a lovely Christmas!
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