Post Christmas Trip North 2019

Well now that we are a few days out from Christmas and back at home I can safely say that no one felt better during our trip and, in fact, most of us felt worse.  The kids were troopers and still had a fun time, but everyone was definitely laying low and took early bedtimes (including me!).  We decided to cut our trip short by a night, but everyone just wanted to be home and in their own beds.

Despite that we did get to ice fish, ice skate, play in the snow a little, play cards, go bowling, go to the movies,  and visit with lots of family.  We appreciate seeing everyone and spending time with them even though none of us were at our best... except for Noah that is... he is still symptom free from this illness;)

Christmas 2019

 

Christmas was interesting this year. Gabe was sick over the weekend and he was kind enough to share it with the rest of us.  Audrey was the second and I was the third to go down.  I spent most of Christmas day laying on the couch napping with a fever.  James and Ben started feeling poorly by the end of the day, so we will see where things go from here.

Besides that we did get a few pictures on Christmas Eve before church.  Audrey reminded us repeatedly that we hadn't gotten any pictures of them decorating the tree this year, so we did have to reenact some of that to appease her...;)  This year the kids drew names out of a hat for each of them to buy one gift for one person. Christmas Eve is when they exchanged their gifts.  They did a really nice job being thoughtful and picking out exciting gifts.  Noah got Audrey a customized "mechanic suit" she had been talking about and he even sewed the name patch on himself.  Ben picked out a very specific pirate Minecraft lego set for James. Audrey found a fun build/learn a motor kit for Noah.  James thoughtfully picked out a Star Wars lego set that Ben had been talking about spending his own money on. 

Everyone was pretty thrilled on Christmas morning with their gifts from Santa.  We all took most of the morning opening presents, but it was worth it to stop and read a book or two in between.  Nannie even surprised us with a quick visit to join in the excitement.  Given all of the illness, it was a fun and relaxing day... hopefully everyone feels better before our trip north tomorrow!

More Christmas Preparations, More Concerts, Matilda, & a Bar Mitzvah!

This past week has been a wild one, but was full of fun things!  It started with our annual Christmas party complete with lots of help and lots of guests. BTW our washing machine has been broken for the last 3 weeks, but luckily the local laundromats have been a fantastic asset for us!  Our Christmas party was immediately followed by the kid's Christmas party at church on Sunday with ornaments and more cookies.

We did get some school done this week including a STEM igloo challenge with marshmallows and toothpicks.  Noah had his chorus concert and James had his orchestra concert this week. They both did so well!  This week also brought the end of basketball season for Ben and Audrey who both had so much fun playing and learning! I helped to coach, so there are zero pictures of them actually playing.

Thursday the kids and I traveled to Bangor to see the musical Matilda for their school time performance and it did not disappoint. Also on this magical day, our new washer and dryer were delivered.  The poor men who installed them faced some obstacles, but we are SO grateful to be able to do laundry in our house again (especially after surviving a GI bug this week!).

On Friday we loaded up and headed to the upper valley in Vermont to attend our first ever Bar Mitzvah celebration.  The kids all did SO incredibly well during a 2.5 hour ceremony and they learned so much! We did also enjoy the party in the evening, especially the dancing part;)  

Christmas Preparations, Concerts, and Chester Greenwood Celebrations

We had a bit of a failed attempt at picking out our Christmas tree this year, but we did find our Grandpa tree which is a bit bigger than the usual "Charlie Brown" style we have had in the past.  Regardless, it was a fun day outside:) The kids have also gotten on writing their letters to Santa.  This year I felt it important to share James' letter, partly because it made us laugh, but mostly because this is a perfect representation of how James' mind works: honesty, suspicion, and disregard for social norms of insulting someone then asking for a present.

This week also brought the start to our winter concert series with Noah's orchestra concert. He did an awesome job and was pretty proud of all of his hard work which got him a front row spot! This weekend was the annual Chester Greenwood celebration in Farmington celebrating the inventor of the earmuffs. Gabe juggled, Ben & Audrey carried the banner, and Noah marched with his nordic ski team.  James and I were happy parade watchers and candy collectors;)