Christmas

It's Christmas Day so you know I gots to put up a gazillion photos. You've been warned.

As is the Christmas morning tradition at our place, we had to wake Sissy up for the festivities. Not a morning person, that one. Baby, on the other hand, rises with the sun. And sometimes even before that.

We all trampled into Sissy's room to shake the beast alive and then ran downstairs. Baby was excited to see all the presents huddled beneath the tree's warm embrace.

It is magical to experience Christmas with a toddler; such a gift for this old lady. Sissy was also enchanted but did her best to play it cool - you know - since she's 13 now. It's alright. I know the truth.

We began with stockings. Chocolate and goodies for me and Mykey, candy and little trinkets for the girls. Baby received a Minnie Mouse jewelry set and Sissy received a dice game and her favorite Soda Can Fizzy candy. I received Cadbury Eggs. Thank you.

Santa was a generous bloke this year. We began the bonanza with travel size watercolor sketch pads for Sissy.

And Moana and Ariel water bottles for Baby.

He carried a box set of The Lord of the Rings down the chimney with care. 

And left a velvety pink ball for Baby. 

There was also a squishy dinosaur and cars with people inside for Baby. 

And a Korok blanket for Sissy.

The old guy brought princess dishes, a doctor kit, and a numbers puzzle for Baby.

And a squeezy cheese block for Mykey. 

Michael made Sissy a book press so she can paint on the edges of books. 

And Baby received a bicycle!

I must note that Baby carefully threw her paper scraps away each time she opened a gift. She is fastidious to the core.

In addition to all the aforementioned goodies, Santa brought Sissy a Zelda calendar, Speks magnetic putty, Hatchimals, (for old times' sake), a National Geographic Kid's almanac, wearable hooded blankets, and gouache paints. Whew!

After the excitement of gifts, I made a delightful meal with our more-expensive-than-gold Honey Baked Ham, and we took it easy the rest of the day. 

Instead of exchanging gifts, Mykey and I decided to have a special excursion with just the two of us. We went to Pigeon Forge, where we ate at our favorite restaurant and saw a magician show. We had a nice time being together but the traffic and crowds were stifling. We plan on having an excursion for Christmas every year from now on, but next time we'll go someplace less popular - because I'm old and I don't like people being in my way. 

So there.

Merry Christmas to all!

Bluey Bustin'

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house...

Kids were cracking Bluey's head with a stick.

Poor Bluey. Thankfully, we've never watched Bluey at our house so Baby had no qualms about repeatedly smashing her face. 

Poor Bluey.

Bluey actually didn't hold up very well to the beatings. Her handle broke shortly after the games began and she crashed to the floor from ceiling height. Her bum broke and it didn't take long for the savages to exploit the weakness. 

Poor, poor Bluey.

But her gifts were plentiful. 

My cousin put in some Mexican candy this year. Talk about gross. (Sorry, Mexico. Stop with the tamarind and chili and try a peanut butter cup) You know it's icky when the kids were daring each other to eat the Mexican candy. (Sorry, Mexico. I do love your food though)

Mykey 3D printed spinning tops and a competition was quickly afoot. 

We ate soup and Chex mix, plenty of baked goods, all took part in singing The 12 Days of Christmas - Mykey and I were 5 Golden rings - and we read the account of Christ's birth from the Bible.

Half of the party was feeling ill - I was included in that statistic - but we powered through nonetheless. It was another lovely evening of tradition and I'm grateful that my cousin lives nearby.

And then on the way home we sat in standstill traffic for nearly an hour. Not grateful for that. Hopefully Santa can get through.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Cousin Time

We had my cousin's kids for a few nights so he and his wife could celebrate their anniversary. We had a marvelous time. I love that Sissy gets along so well with the cousins. They sat in the basement and played Nintendo for hours. And then they watched TV for hours.

And then I made them shower and go on an excursion with me.

We went to Candyland Christmas in the park by the library. The whole park is filled with trees that are decorated by local businesses or other organizations. After wandering through the trees, we stopped at the playground and the kids slid down the hill on cardboard and had a fantastic time. 

Except for Sissy. She was feeling sick.

She wasn't the only one. The kids would all be sick over the next couple of days. 

And I didn't escape it either. Insert trombone sounds: Wah wah wah wah.

Tis the season to be coughing, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! 

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Fishy Fish

Sissy successfully finished up her school swim season. She made excellent progress this year and was swimming mostly in the fastest heats by the end of the season. Coach had her doing the butterfly more often, much to Sissy's dismay. But, she persevered and made me proud. It was hard to take quality photos of her in the pool because I was usually sitting high up in the bleachers or had other people's noggins in my way, but I did the best I could.

On the day of the championship meet, we had to get up before dawn and eat bacon in the car on the way. Oh, the sacrifices we make.

Over the course of the season, Sissy dropped 13.5 seconds off her 100 IM, 3.1 seconds off her 50 Fly, and 5 seconds off her 50 Breaststroke.

Congratulations to Sissy!

Band Bop

Sissy had her winter concert for band. We arrived early so we could get enough seats for us and my niece's family. The place was packed when we walked in! We arrived 30 minutes early. Who are these weirdos arriving even earlier?

People without lives, that's who.

Sissy was nervous leading up to the concert because they were playing a fast piece and in her words, "We fall apart near the end." 

Oy vey. There's not much that is more painful to the ears than listening to a middle school band fall apart during a song.

My expectations were low.

But they did great! I was pleasantly surprised and it was a lovely concert. 

Navigating the crowds was not as pleasant but I was proud of Sissy and enjoyed the evening nonetheless.

Sissy's Young Women's leader came to the concert with her daughter because 3 girls from our ward are in the band. It was a thoughtful gesture and she snapped photos when I failed to take any.

Hey, gimme a break. I was trying to keep a 2-year-old from screeching during the performance. It ain't easy, you know.

Hooray for Sissy! I'm proud of her.

Obsessed

Michael has a new obsession. It's called using Snapchat filters with Baby.

Sissy has a new obsession. It's called Hollow Knight.

Baby has a new obsession. It's called bathing while wearing a swimsuit.

Booney has a new obsession. It's called eating.

Oh, wait. That's always been my obsession.

Some things never change. 

Thanks to the Giving

My sissy made the long journey from Rhode Island to join us for Thanksgiving. And I mean LONG journey. Stupid Connecticut and their stupid traffic. 

But I was surely glad to have her!

It was a delightful Thanksgiving break. Short, but delightful. 

We mostly loitered around the house and took it easy. We built a puzzle. My niece is a huge puzzler and was able to complete the Zelda puzzle from last year that Mykey and I couldn't complete. Just to be annoying, there was a piece missing! I emailed the company and they said they couldn't send me the exact piece, but they would replace the entire puzzle. Yeah, right! I ain't rebuilding that thing. It's currently sitting fully assembled on a shelf in the garage. Mykey is going to 3D print the missing piece and Sissy will paint it to blend in with the rest of the puzzle. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin's house. Even with sharing the food responsibilities, I still did a dang lot of cooking! Good thing I had help.

The food was delicious and we enjoyed a pleasant day.

We enjoyed lazy days and relaxation. We played games, Sissy and my niece played Nintendo, we played Jack Box, Mykey worked on making programmable Christmas lights, we went to see the new Wicked movie - Baby actually did great this year and I was able to watch the entire movie - and we sat around drinking soda and talking. It was lovely in every way.

And then they went home and I cried. 

Why do they always leave?

But Happy Thanksgiving anyway!