snowy here.....

Imagine our delight when we left the airport last night, and walked out into the snowy night! It didn't stick, but it seemed magical and Christmasy last night.

Today we cleaned the house and got our Christmas tree!! Paul took Evelyn and Jonathan and Sonja with him to cut it down. We haven't put the lights on it yet, and the kids are waiting. But I had to take a break. I made a triple batch of cookie dough, and made some into normal chocolate chip, some chocolate with toasted almonds on top, and some chocolate with mint chips. I put them out on plates, and Paul came in with the tree and asked me what they were for. I told him we were going to have a Norman Rockwell decorating day. ha. Aaron, who has been my biggest helper in the tree-lighting area for a few years now (it's funny how some of them are just competent!)...but this year, he is almost seventeen, and he asked why we have to decorate again this year. I told him he was turning into an old man. No, he said, old people like to decorate because they don't have anything else to do.

Jonathan asked all morning when they were going to go get the tree. Now he is asking when they can decorate it. I asked him what he was going to bug me about when the tree is done.

Now they are counting the stockings. Each year, inevitably one or two are missing. Probably kids bringing them in their rooms and eating the candy and then losing them. I don't know. Sonja just counted eleven. Hmm. Nothing is ever simple. But now there are 15. Oh well, Emily can have a sock.

Charlotte Claire just broke a glass ornament. She just picked it up and squeezed it, and it shattered. She said it was not "a accident, it was old and I didn't like it." Well, I liked it, it was one from when I was little. Oh well. That is what vacuum cleaners are for.

I am not having a peaceful and quiet blogging rest. Nah, the kids keep asking me questions, chiefly, "When are we decorating the tree???!" So I should get back up and move it. It was a huge contrast coming back home after all the relaxing we did. By the time we got home from the airport, I heard about how the first batch of Mirielle's fudge failed, how Ben got mad at the dog, how no one woke the kids up for school on Thursday so they just went to Burger King to use their Halloween coupons. I am not stressed out BUT......I am not relaxed anymore. My big nice glass pan got broken, there was still turkey in the 'fridge from Thanksgiving, and Rosie has a haircut.

So life goes on. There is very little milk, and no bread, so guess who gets to go grocery shopping tomorrow?

They did a good job though. They made nice dinners for them every night, like homemade meatballs and ravioli and macaroni and cheese and pork chops. The kids were happy and well taken care of, and the Mirielle also managed to make things for the bazaar and they managed to bring the kids there. So all in all, I have nothing to complain about. But....

And Cheryl, I am changing my password! Just kidding. I think it has been fun. And on that note, off I go to put lights on the tree before Jonathan jumps out of his skin.