I especially love Tai Chi with Mom and Dad on the first
morning after he gets home from his week in Crystal Springs. Add in exercising to the Christmas carols
that Rowen, Ethan, and Ehlana were listening to in the lounge while we were
busy, and a full country breakfast; and we all had a really awesome start to
our morning!
The weekend chores weren’t quite as much fun after Rowen
headed out for her Saturday shift at the store, but at least Mom, Dad, Alicia,
and I mixed in a little play time with the housework that we all did here, and
that Dad and I took care of at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. While we were working over there, it seemed
weird to not have Grandma and Grandpa home already, but it hasn’t been quite
four weeks since they went back to Arizona; and they didn’t really need to rush
back early when our family Christmas is still a week away. They’re home now, as I write this, but didn’t
get in until about an hour ago; so we won’t see them until they come over for
breakfast.
Ethan and Ehlana had fun all morning, and split their time
between supervising the housework and playing with their toys and iPads. The three of us were set free when we stopped
for lunch at one o’clock. We hooked up
with Rowen after eating, and our first stop was Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne’s
house. The welcome home hugs and kisses,
and a little visit with the grown-ups took a while, and after that, we took
Kara, Eddie, and Nicole with us for some chilly afternoon play time at the
park. We’re losing the snow, but there
are still patches of it here and there, and quite a bit in among the trees at
the park; so there may still end up being a bit of white on Christmas even if
the forecast changed again and isn’t looking good for more next week anymore.
Hot chocolate and warm Olde Bakery cookies snack time at my
house followed our park adventure, and then Kara and Nicole started working on
Rowen and me – and the parents – to do a sleepover with them tonight. They’ve both been asleep on the sectional sofa
in the lounge for the last couple of hours, so their dimples, hugs, and kisses
campaign was a complete success. Since
that meant Rowen and I got a bonus night too, we were good with that. We have Ehlana with us too; she’s here in bed
with Rowen, Mandy, and me; and was asleep before we moved her from the lounge
an hour ago after our last movie ended.
Getting approval for the sleepover and helping Kara and
Nicole pack overnight bags took a while, but we had a bit more play time before
they needed to be back at Aunt Leanne and Uncle Adam’s place for dinner with
their family. Rowen ate with us, and it
was nice to have a little break before we were again busy with our three little
sleepover buddies for the rest of the night.
Mom, Dad, and Ethan watched a first movie with us in the lounge and then
headed downstairs so that Ethan could have some rare Mom and Dad alone time
while we moved on to Christmas chick flicks in the lounge. I guess it’d be more accurate to call them
junior chick flicks, since Kara, Nicole, and Ehlana weren’t interested in
full-out mushy; but a couple of ‘Mom for Christmas’ stories do still count as
chick flicks too.
Speaking of chick-related stuff, I had an email from Dawn,
and it sounds like it’s been fun in Woodvale with Violet, Dillon, and the
family Christmas they were having today with the Rice side of Uncle Richard’s
family. I’m sure that everything Dawn
passed on to me was fun for them, but the nugget that’s important for me to add
here is that Violet and Dillon were talking about their college plans at the
Christmas party. Though some of Uncle
Richard’s family may be skeptical of Dillon’s dream of a cutting-edge bio-tech
career in his little home town even after being assured that a lab actually was
going to be built here; I’m glad that he and Violet are getting confident and
serious enough about all of this to talk about it with everyone instead of just
with their closest friends and family.
Dawn’s email also reminded me that I’m really lucky to just
have one big family. Her ‘home’
Christmas weekend is non-stop action.
Today’s party was just the first of four. Tomorrow they have Christmas with her Grandma
Rice’s side of the family, and then they have two more on Monday and Tuesday
with each side of Aunt Melissa’s family.
I have no idea how Violet and Dillon will ever manage to keep up with
both of their families in the future, other than it could take several
Christmases to make the rounds. The good
news for me is that whatever they do with the rest of their families; Witch Falls
will always be home for them – just as it will be for me.
Anyway, getting back to the recap, Rowen and I finished
watching our movies; moved Ehlana into my bed; and we’ve been surfing and
chatting since getting into bed too.
Tonight’s computing included watching some random YouTube Christmas
music videos that ranged from awesome to fairly dreadful. I had a couple of family business email to
deal with, but stayed away from any other work.
It’s getting late, and Sunday is going to be a long day by the time we
get home from the Christmas concert at the church; so I’d better wrap this up
and get some sleep.
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
