So many things for which to be thankful, so I'm going to jump right in.
1. Buttercup had a bunch of friends over to make cookies and watch movies one day. It was nice to get to meet some of the kids I hear so much about. They were all nice kids and caused no trouble whatsoever. They even welcomed Cuckoo in to help them with the cookies.
2. When our family opens gifts, we take turns. One person at a time, one gift at a time. Every single year, the kids choose to open the gifts from each other before the gifts from Santa and Bryan and me. They know that these gifts were purchased at the Dollar Tree, but they are excited to see what their siblings picked out and to see how their siblings react when they open the gifts given to them. It melts my heart each and every year.
3. The kids were pleasantly surprised with the gifts we gave them. When asked what they want, they all say, "I don't know", so buying for them can sometimes be difficult. We're always happy when we manage to find things they didn't know they wanted. :)
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| Cuckoo was thrilled with the gigantic remote control car Bryan found. It had no trouble driving over gravel and grass. |
4. Traffic to and from Ohio was light, so we made good time both directions.
5. For the first time in 20 years, all 3 of Bryan's siblings were home for Christmas. We had a good time visiting with them and the kids had fun getting to know their cousin.
6. The weather was ridiculously warm, so the boys were able to spend no less than 10 hours playing football in Grandma's front yard. With all the relatives filling up Grandma's house, it was nice to get the sugared up, rambunctious boys out of the house for so long. It's never happened before, which made it an extra-special Christmas treat.
7. When the boys managed to get the football stuck near the tippy top of Grandma's huge tree, one of Bryan's brothers took one for the team by hauling out the ladder and climbing 30 feet into the air to retrieve it. (He may or may not have been swayed to do it when Giant said, "Well, if someone doesn't help us, all of us boys will have no choice but to come back into the house.")
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| Sad faces all around. |
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| See the football still waaaaay out of his reach? |
8. The kids received some great new board games from the relatives, and we had plenty of down time to play several of them on Christmas day.
9. As always, it was a low-key affair at my dad's house Christmas evening. We're the only ones to come in from out of town each year, and I know my dad is glad we do. And as always, after a few hours I took Bryan and the kids back to my mother-in-law's house, then went back to my dad's to play some cards. It was a nice, quiet time to end the day.
10. We had some leftovers in the fridge for those of us who were hungry when we got home from Ohio. Ain't nobody got time or energy to be making food after that long drive!
I pray your holiday was happy and full of good times, but I know not everyone was jolly that day. If you could, please say a prayer or two for a friend who lost her dad last week, as well as for Bryan's aunt (by marriage) and cousins who lost her father/their grandfather on Christmas Eve.
So, tell me. What are you thankful for this week?
Have a lovely day!
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ReplyDeletemerry Christmas to you and your family; and btw holy moly that football was up there all right...uncle idontwanttheboysinthehouse had some climb whew!
ReplyDeletewe had a wonderful evening on Christmas Eve at my sisters; my nieces' (twins) celebrated their 20th i kept saying to them wow I know you for 20 years - and on Christmas day we decided to forgo any visiting or invited anyone over...
it was nice and relaxing we opened gifts went to mass then came home and Amelia played with her new toys while James and hubby put together the kitchen counter/cart that I received... then we had dinner followed by a quick visit to Dunkin Donuts for dessert...it was very nice; this afternoon we met our friends at the bowling alley .. I had a Groupon 6 bowlers bowlers for an hour $25.00 free pitcher of soda and free shoe rentals; at the the counter when presenting the Groupon you can add another hour for ten bucks- two hours of the kids bowling I got to reconnect with my girlfriends it was good...we all adopted basically at the same time - all our kids came from the same orphanage...they knew each other before we did.
we all live 15 minutes from each other. its wonderful seeing them giggling and having a good time with each other.
enjoy the rest of the week.
Those quiet, peaceful days are awesome, aren't they?
DeleteWhat a blessing to have the adoptive group you are in. A blessing for the parents and the kids. Transitions can be very difficult, and having people you know going through the same experience at the same time had to be helpful.
I'm so glad you had such a lovely Christmas. I drove 2 days through snow, sleet and rain to spend a few weeks with my dad (at 94, I'm not sure he'll be here next year) and one of my daughters flew home from Hawaii where she is currently stationed - so wonderful to see her. Twas a quiet Christmas, but we did get to include a couple who befriended my daughter when she was stationed in Washington in our Christmas dinner, so that was nice. We got 5" of snow on Christmas eve, so we got to have the first white Christmas in several years!!!
ReplyDeleteOh my word, what a drive! We've had to drive through similar weather to get home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but never for 2 days!
DeleteHow marvelous that you were able to spend the holiday with your dad and your daughter! I imagine you don't get to see her very often, living in Hawaii like she does. My brother lived there for 3 years, and we only saw him once in that time.
I'm glad someone got to have a white Christmas. They do make the day seem even more special, if that's possible.
So glad you all had a great time, and well done to Bryan's brother for climbing way up that tree to retrieve the ball.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas has been rather an odd one this time - due to family problems which weren't of my son's making I decided I would be going camping this time and not joining his family, but because of the continuing rain across much of the country plus a sick dog to care for those plans have been scrapped. I was quite prepared to have Christmas Day on my own, which wouldn't have bothered me at all, but I actually ended up round the corner at my friend's, joining her and her daughter for a pj day, a meal and some tv watching, which I really enjoyed.
My one very big thankful, not just now but all the time, must be for my son. In spite of having a big family to support he helps me out in so many ways - he's a great son, one of the best, and really deserves a medal :)
Good gravy, that's a lot of changing of plans, but I'm glad that in the end you had such a lovely day. It sounds a lot like the way we spent our one day at home.
DeleteSounds you are quite blessed with that boy of yours. I pray mine end up being just as good and responsible.
you do have a thing about trees, here at 'the coop'! (your helpful illustration of the tree and football reminded me 'The Escaping Chicken Caper' of a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteI totally can get used to a warm Christmas… Phyllis and Una went for walks without coats as it was in the 70s!
Hats off to Bryan's brother climbing that far up (and from the looks of the photo) having to get the whole thing shaking to dislodge the football…) I'm thinking scott there.
lol
Yeah, I'm with you. I'm OK not having a white Christmas.
DeleteHe took a big stick up in the tree with him in order to reach out farther on the branch. He couldn't reach the ball, but he could get close and hitting the branch did the trick. Brave boy. And no, not a scott. Just an uncle who hasn't seen his nephews in a while and wanted to be nice. :)
What a wonderful Christmas you had indeed. Well except for the losses of special people. I always hate that part.
ReplyDeleteI love your thankful posts. Very much.
Have a blessed day. ☺
Losing someone at the holidays does seem extra hard.
DeleteThank you!
What a prayerful week! I will certainly pray for those you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you had a good time with your family. Ten hours of football must have been wonderful for both the participants, and the adults left inside the house!
Thank you!
DeleteYou don't know how right you are! :) We were all staying in Bryan's mom's house, so things were really tight. Having the boys outside for so long was a huge help for everyone.
Merry Christmas, Christine, to you and yours. I love the days spend in love and joy with family members. Giant's comment was so adorable. Here's to leftovers, any night we don't have to cook is a good one.
ReplyDeleteThank you! This is my favorite time of year, as it means a lighter work load for Bryan and lots of time just being together as a family.
DeleteYay leftovers!
I really enjoyed the warmer weather for Christmas this year. Even if it's a bit of a fluke, after the past two years of colder than normal temperatures I'm happy the jet-stream is in my favor this year.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both!
DeleteThe photo of the ball stuck in the tree is amazing, but imagining someone having to climb and try to dislodge it is even more amazing. You must have some boys with great throwing arms! How nice that all their energy could be consumed outdoors. How nice Bryan's siblings could all be home after so many years of not being able to do so. It is always difficult to experience losing loved ones, but I think especially so when those things happen near a holiday. Wishing you a wonderful new year.
ReplyDeleteA couple of my boys tried to get up there to get it, but even they, who climb trees all the time, said it was too high for them to go.
DeleteBryan's mom was so happy to have all of her kids back for Christmas.
Thank you!
Glad so many lovely family memories were made and good times had.
ReplyDelete:-)
Happy New Year to you all.
Yay for leftovers.
Yay for leftovers! :)
DeleteHappy New Year to you, too, Kerry!
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWe did have fun. And one of my best Christmas gifts was the boys playing football without a hint of fighting. :)
Glad the boys got some outside time, and glad they got the football down without any accompanying injuries.
ReplyDelete#2 Precious. It's the thought that counts!
ReplyDelete