Yuletide

We had a wonderful Christmas. Carver woke up at about 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, excited for the presents, but we had to put him back to bed and remind him that we said he could get up at 6:00 the next morning. Hakan and he were up at about 5, but we instructed them to play on their tablets in a room upstairs until 6. Oddly, Merritt slept in unusually late, missing all of the presents when we started at 6. He came down and did his all by himself then.

I made breakfast of gluten-free pancakes for Carver, and then made waffles with extra gluten for the rest of us. The rest of the day was a lazy time, testing out new toys, slowly cleaning up the wrapping paper, and sort of putting all of our stuff away. 

The weather was not helpful, as it was in the 40s all day, but at least it was sunny. We spent the next few days taking down our Christmas lights and decorations from all over the house. Kira was invited to go along with another family to the LDS temple in Chicago on Thursday, so she was gone for most of the day while I kept the kids from rioting. Friday, I went to do a little bit of shopping for some furniture to fill out my sister’s room (she’ll arrive in a few more days). 

We finally got our snow on Saturday. I came downstairs to find the boys on the TV, and I opened the curtains to see our backyard covered in snow. They, of course, didn’t notice it until I turned off the TV, and then they flipped out. After breakfast, we went outside to clear half of the driveway and see if they could sled down the other side. That worked out pretty well, with only a couple of wipe outs. We built a little snowman, and even cleared off the trampoline for a winter bounce or two. 

Kira and Avey then took off for some shopping errands they had to do, and they were gone until dinner time. The boys and I kept our wits about us by playing in the snow, taking baths/showers, baking cookies, cleaning the bathrooms, and fixing a leaky toilet that’s been on my list of things to do since June. 

This morning was pretty normal except that Merritt was complaining of aching sides. I was in such a rush to get the others fed and clothed for church that I didn’t pay much attention, but then he keeled over and threw up all of his water over the dining room floor. He’s been throwing up about every 20-30 minutes still, but seems in good spirits otherwise (the above video is from this morning). 

We’re excited to put 2018 to a close, and look forward to another year of chaos and excitement!

#Happenings