Holiday Bonanza

Today is January 6th - the first time in 17 days that I'm at work (except for a few hours pre-storm last week)...and it's blissfully quiet. I do not need to come up with a craft for anyone to do. No one is trying to eat tiny objects or crying for a bite of my food. No one needs a diaper change or to be reminded to wash their hands. No one is ripping all of the pots, pans, Tupperware, pet food from the cabinets, then tripping over it all. No one is complaining that we "did nothing all day" even though we have been going non stop. I love my children dearly, but I need an 8 hour mental break today.

Mix that in with holiday madness - gifts, gifts, gifts (upon birthdays and birthdays) plus more food and cake than you can shake a stick at - and I'm completely ready to get back to my normal life.

So first with the holidays...

Sadie and I were very hands on this Christmas - actually making thoughtful, handcrafted gifts. Aside from homemade dog biscuits (which Maggie is reaping the benefits of the extras), we painted birdhouses and molded bird seed ornaments for our nature friends to enjoy as well. Thank you Pinterest (which I'm relatively new to...I tried for a long time to resist, but actually a few things I've done from the site have worked out nicely). 

To simply our holidays we hosted everyone at our house in a series of three mini parties. First Silly Grandpa, Gramma, Kendra, Kristin and Heather came by the weekend before Christmas. True to his name, Silly Grandpa chased a squealing Sadie around, pretending to be a crocodile.  And in a stroke of luck, Kristin showed up in a sweater and green khakis that Alex happened to own as well. After a quick change, they were twinsies!

Christmas Eve we were visited by Grandma and Pepere, on their way to Cape Cod. They stopped by for some stuffed shells, salad and gifts. Leo got a few shake n' go cars, which he brilliantly knows how to operate himself now. Hours of excitement and dog torture!

Christmas Eve we also said goodbye to our magic elf, Candy Cane. He was delivered to our house just after Thanksgiving, where he'd keep an eye on Sadie and Leo. He'd zoom back to the North Pole each night while they were sleeping to report to Santa...and upon his return to our house he'd stay active until we awoke in the morning. He did some pretty silly stuff like building a snowman in the freezer, hanging Sadie's underwear in place of our Christmas stockings, roasting marshmallows, dressing in Barbie clothes - and on the last night he sneaked into Sadie's room and painted her nose red. She didn't feel a thing. ;) 

Christmas day we just hung tight. Little did we know at the time, but it was the start of Leo getting sick. Nana and Papa stopped by mid-morning for more gift exchanging. We watched some movies, Leo napped, we played with new toys and projects and tried to clean up some of the madness.

As for New Year's Eve, it was bitterly cold. Our plans with the Roy's never came to fruition because of some illness in their house. Instead Sadie and I bundled up for a First Night Lantern Walk in Holliston, to benefit the new rail trail they are building. We took a 1/4 mile walk down the path to a train tunnel that the committee lit up with Christmas lights. They had little bonfires going and free s'mores, hotdogs and cider. You could call a trip to the doctor a 'party' and my girl would be first in line. I need to be wary of college...