Oh my. Oh my, my. Erm. Sorry?
Right then. I could get into the half dozen or so semi reasonable explanations as to why exactly I haven't posted in oh... a few months now is it? But really, you've heard it all before. Think; thrown back, horrible pain meds, Christmas business, and a new educational venture. Sorry.
(posting this picture reminded of the whole "getting the tree from the forest" fiasco this year, oh my. Another post.)
Christmas was... well, wonderful. I have to admit, for the first time in a whole lotta time, I just wasn't feeling it this year. Like I said above, my back was pretty messed up up until about 4 days ago (and gently, cautiously still counting), I was on some really bad meds that made me ill, groggy and generally feel gross, the pressure to have a "perfect Christmas" for the little people, blah blah, turned Mommy into a raging lunatic. Ask my husband, it wasn't a pretty sight.
(Gingerbread house turn taking..)
Once I realized I was better off stopping the the meds altogether and just dealing with the pain, and once I got all the shopping/preparing under control, things went a whole lot smoother. The Sunday before Christmas, to be exact.
(That gift being unwrapped? Most loved of the season.)
We started off the Season by driving to Grande Cache and spending some time with Mimi and Papa. Think mini Christmas, including a huge, wonderful Turkey dinner, morning present opening, after dinner games. We did some sliding, we did some skating, we relaxed and ate a whole batch and some, of Mimi's famous Poppycock. Trust me, it is famous. Oh the stories I could tell about that.. Anyway, a great time was had by all, it is always an uplifting experience being around such generous and gracious hosts. So thanks again Mimi and Papa, you kick started MY Christmas spirit, bigtime.
(See? Happy Thomas playing boy.)
On the way home we stopped in Grande Prairie where I finished up all the last minute shopping, grabbed some Fat Burger, Starbucks and gas and we were home that night, our truck filled to the brim.
(Merry Christmas Santa, From Jackson + Sydney + Isabella)
So we are home a few days, and then Christmas Eve. My father in law comes through for a night, and then my own father for Christmas. It was SO great having him here (as always), especially nice that he didn't mind not having Turkey for Christmas dinner. I had decided that I didn't want to cook it myself, therefore allowing (OK, making may be a better word) Mimi to cook one for dinner a few days prior. We had ham. It was good ham. And I made dessert. Which I had forgotten about until an hour before dinner. Still, managed to pull it off, so yay!! Anyhow, skipped ahead here a bit. Christmas morning was mayhem. Simply mayhem. I started taking pictures, and had to quit halfway through as it was just too crazy to be behind the lens. So there you are, this is it. The kids were spoiled, the adults were spoiled, a good time was had by all.
(Right after Santa left)
New years eve, we were in bed by 11:30, real party animals over here. Isabella made dessert 2 nights in a row, one being a cheesecake for New years supper, that was excellent. That evening, we had Grandpa Ricky and Zachry come through on their way back up home. They stayed for a day, and I got no pictures to prove it. The kids had a blast (Zachry is 8, and fit right in to the craziness) playing Xbox and Wii, we went sliding, ate pizza and watched Avatar. We need to see them more often, hint hint.
(Oh boy..)
So it's over for another year. Hopefully next year I will feel more... jolly? in the weeks leading up to it. It just seemed to come so quickly.. and I was so... grumpy. Things are back to "normal" this week, school, work, etc. I am in the process of de-cluttering the house, always seems to motivate me once the decorations are out of the way, etc.
(Happy child, apparently)
So that's that. Update complete. No promises for now, but I'll try and update more frequently. I get tired of all those nasty phone-calls.
(Chillin' with grampa)
