12-26-2012 Christmas and Beyond

We had a nice Christmas. Mom had to work 12-25-12, so we had Christmas on 12-24-12. The night before, Lily was asking a lot of questions about Santa and the logistics of him coming a day early. I thought she had everything figured out and so told her the truth. Turns out she didn't have things figured out and was DEVASTATED. I felt awful. We talked it out and talked it out until we finally came to the following agreement: Santa is real and will continue to be real as long as he lives in your heart.

Luke wanted and got $100 worth of red plastic cups for cup castle building. He also got a box of chocolates wrapped up in foil to look like cats and the Wii Sport Resort game to share with Lily.

Lily got a $50 iTunes card, notepad set, water bottles with sport spouts, iPod charger, earbuds for ipod, box of chocolate cats, and tights.

The two of them got rechargeable batteries to share.

Mom and Dad came to our place around 9:30. Kathy and Charlie Sr. came with Ben around 12:15. Doris stopped in around 12:45. Because the forecast was for snow in the evening, everyone was gone by 3:30. Perfect staggering of the coming and going of guests in my opinion and I'm always for rolling up the sidewalks early.

It did begin to snow around 5:00 pm and the kids were out playing in the snow until around 8:00 pm. It really felt Christmas-y with the snow coming down.

The morning of the 25th, our day after Christmas, we woke up to a winter wonderland. The kids got dressed and went outside for a few hours to enjoy the snow. Charlie slept in while I loaded the outdoor furnace, a rare occurrence. Then I went around the property snapping pictures of the snow covered scenery. What a great way to enjoy the morning.

Today we ran to the bank, had Chinese buffet for lunch, made a run to the library and just made it home before the snow started to fall. Charlie and Ryan came here from the roof job they were working on and are currently working out in the barn. Luke is upstairs building cup castles. Lily is on the other end of the sofa from me playing Wii Sports Resort. Outside, it looks like a full blown snow storm coming down. Lots of accidents reported around the area and I'm happy we're all here, safe and sound.

12-24-2012 Merry Christmas!

 

12-22-2012 Start of Christmas Break

Lily was home sick with a cold and fever Monday and Tuesday. After the school shooting in CT, I was  fine with keeping her home with me and Luke. Her class party was on Friday and I volunteered in the classroom. The kids had a good time, as always.

 After school, I took her for frozen yogurt as a special treat. Then a bit of window shopping at Marshall's. Luke chose to stay home and requested lemon orzo pasta soup as a treat for him.

Today I woke up feeling like I was coming down with her cold. I just sat around in the living room all day. Charlie did paperwork and customer phone conferences well into the afternoon. Then he and Luke played a bridge building game on the ipad. Lily and I played a few hands of Uno. No one left the house. No running around. No crazed Christmas preparations. It was really nice.

The wind has been howling all day with the occasional snowflake flying by. The forecast says we may wake up to a white Christmas. That would be nice, although we are having Christmas on the 24th since Mom is working the 25th. So I suppose it will be nice, but a day late, for us.

12-15-2012 Fall Deck & Roller Hockey

 

12-8-2012 Truck #10

 

12-7-2012 Mercedes it Is!

Charlie has been having quite a bit of trouble with both of his Chevy work trucks. Today he bought a 2011 Mercedes Sprinter. He'll attach a Supreme Spartan work truck body to the back. this will be Truck #10. Truck #9 is in the garage, where it's been for about 3 weeks. We're waiting for a price for a new engine. Truck #8 will be sold.

We learned earlier in the evening that a customer did not get approved for financing an addition that would have kept us busy for 3 months or so. not great timing, but Charlie wanted to move forward with the truck purchase. Hope we won't regret it.

Our health insurance is going up 10% over last year. Still less than what we were paying 2 years ago.

Lily has started basketball...her dream. She has practices on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Games will start after Christmas.

Luke seems to be doing pretty well. He's been playing a lot with Legos the past few days. And building his cup castles. For Christmas he asked for $100 worth of red plastic cups so he can build even better castles. He then comes up with videos filming their destruction  and posts them to YouTube.

We are planning on having Christmas here again this year. Mom is working Christmas Day, so we'll celebrate on the 24th. Santa understands and makes allowances for health care workers.

Mom and I went shopping Wednesday and she bought the last of what she wanted to get for the kids. We had a good time. It was nice for me to have a break from my daily life. dad stayed with Luke. Lily was in school.

Weather has been mild. We had minimal flurries and a dusting last week. Rain today, although Jill and Eric encountered some black ice this morning going to work an hour north of here. I definitely don't miss worrying about driving in bad weather!