Felix: I love this toy.
Me (to the room): I wonder how long it will be around with all those small pieces?
Felix: For YEARS. 'Cause I love it.
Ry: It'll probably be the best man at his wedding.
Later on today:
Felix: Mom guess which toy I love the best?
Me: Your Power Rangers Dino?
Felix: Yes. I LOVE it. E-R-S-O-N, love it!
He occasionally drifted to some other toys, but he always came back to the Zord.
I think Ry may be right.
We wound up having a rough night, Relia wet the bed and woke us at around 2:30.
I didn't understand what she was saying and chastised her for sneaking downstairs on a pretext. then I was awake. 'til 4:30.
Felix quietly snuck into our bed at 5:30. Yay. I told him he could take a peek downstairs. He came back and told me that Santa had been there and there were 60 presents. I'm not sure his estimate was very far off.
We held off dismantling stockings until 7:00 when Leo woke.
We held off dismantling stockings until 7:00 when Leo woke.
Then there was merriment and candy consumption.
We hustled over to nana & grampa's for a branchy breakfast and present-ing. We tortured the children for as long as we could, but finally broke down and let them open gifts. Wow.
My talented mom made me this cute and super warm sweater.
After all of them were opened, Leo asked for one more.
We went back home and after some time to play we had a mandatory quiet/nap time. Then Grandma D arrived!
Later that night, we looked up some beginning guitar YouTube videos, made Relia a pick, and she learned her first cords!
Between Aunts & Uncles, Mom & Dad, Grandparents and Santa each one of our kids got exactly what they'd asked for Christmas. Once again, it was too much, but we are terribly blessed and truly grateful.
Merry Christmas to all.
And the children went biking.
After that, we ate supper and watched Christmasy movies on Netflix.
They were so very tired. I'm not sure if it was because, as Felix said when I picked him up from preschool, "I'm tired and didn't even get a rest time" or if it was the biking, or just exhaustion from anticipation, but they all nestled snug in their beds pretty easily. The past couple of years FP has had to work on Christmas Eve. I like it so so so much better with him here.
We let the kids put out their gifts for everyone. They are so excited to see everyone get their gifts.
FP and I had a nice steak dinner and watched all of the Christmas episodes of Fraiser. Once we were satisfied that the children were out for the count, we spoke not a word but went straight to our work putting out all the wonderful gifts from Momma & Daddy and our far away family.
Tonight Relia made a list for herself and Felix for Santa. I sure hope Santa can come through on at least one of those things (wink)
Today while FP went to get some Christmas presents, Relia and I went and ran errands.
We stopped at the doctors to drop off the health form for Leo's daycare. He's starting in the preschool room next week!
We stopped at the thrift store because it is fun and I had a 30% off coupon. We found some cute Ugg-ish boots for Relia and a couple of great Leo gifts and a bike for Felix next summer (for $4!!).
We came home and FP shooed us out because he was getting ready to clean the house. So we went out for lunch at Panera. We stopped at Home Depot to get some supplies for room switching in the next week.
Then we got home and I was sick. Just stomach stuff, but most of the rest of the day was me on the couch snuggled up with 1, 2 or 3 kids.
Until I got a burst of energy and finally mudded the seams of the wall I put up a year and a half ago.
In the process, the kids had some fun with the tipped over couch.
Silly faces
Tonight I'm wrapping all those awesome gifts!
I got a bed for Leo last spring. Another IKEA Kura loft bed like Felix's. We put it in his tiny room with the crib and it has been pretty tight in there for the last several months. At the same time, he has been adventuring and climbing in and out of his crib more and more.
Last weekend, I finally put up the good night light, so he knows when he is allowed to come out and offered to let him sleep in his big boy bed. He was excited. He slept in his bed all week, so this weekend I took apart the crib and now my last baby is gone.
In fact, everybody loves it!
Sana-bean
Osana bin Kitty
In July of 2003 I bought my house. In late October, I decided to get a cat. I'd never had a pet that didn't live in a cage before. I went to the Humane Society and looked around for quite a while. I saw Sana but couldn't bring myself to commit. 4 weeks later I had accepted that that beautiful cat would not be there anymore.
I looked around and settled on a sweet orange tabby. I had taken her out to the holding cages to get the paperwork started, and had to go back to get something. There, in the cage below my new cat's, was Sana. I felt incredibly guilty, I felt I'd already promised this other cat a home, but I felt drawn to Sana. I switched cats and brought her home. I got her name from one of my students.
We let her go this morning. She was pretty much herself until last Friday, but then she stopped eating. She has always been all about food.
We took her to the vet on Monday morning. They did some tests. We're pretty sure it was her kidneys, just like Roxane and Calypso. We didn't want to put her or us through all of that with no probable good outcome.
This morning Relia and I drove to the vet and said goodbye. I cried. Relia cried. We petted her and she relaxed and purred. I wanted to take in her beautiful blue eyes, but they were so sunken in. I will always remember her pointy ears, blue eyes, super soft watercolor fur and her little "rusty spots".
Occasional moments pop up and I miss her. It is sad, but I know we did the right thing.
