Holiday Highs and Lows

This Christmas will not soon be forgotten, it has been packed with both good times and challenges.  To begin with, Paul and I got to slip away to Salt Lake City with baby Charles for a quick visit with friends and family.  The rest of the kids were left in the care of my sister Mary and Nanny and Poppy with the older boys in charge of all the animals duties.  I am grateful to all who allowed this trip to happen.

I had big plans to sleep in every day in the warmth of my parents home but something funny happened, with no work to do, I had an excess of energy and found myself unable to sleep.  I simply enjoyed the company of my parents and got spoiled with their attention. I presented my mom with her Christmas present, it was a pillow I made from some needle work my grandma did many years ago.  We found the piece in a box in the barn last summer and I asked my mom if I could keep it, she agreed without a clue of what my plans were for it.

For my dad I hand carried a leg of lamb on the airplane for him.  It was frozen and wrapped in a Trader Joe's bag and spent a few minutes running through the X-ray machine before I was questioned about it.  The TSA officer and I were quite chatty about how much we love lamb and I think it irritated the pile of travelers behind me.  Any way, I convinced my dad to buy a new dutch oven for my mom for Christmas and in it we cooked a perfect leg of lamb, it was delicious!

The visit with my parents seemed too short but I got back just in time as the flu hit our family hard just a day after my return.  It moved through everyone, our normally buzzing home felt lifeless; on the evening of 12-21-12 Maryanna said, "it seems like the world did end, everyone is so quiet and no one is eating".  I wish the flu ended right there but we suffered high fevers, body aches, stomach aches, head aches, and coughing for over a week.  It robbed us of our normal Christmas festivities and there are a few who are still working through the last of it.  Here are a few shots of the suffering, not pictured is the moaning, weeping and chorus of coughing but you get the idea. 

I was quite desperate for a nap and set the younger kids up with a movie on my laptop.  It was a couple hours later that I discovered someone had spilled a cup of water all over the device and there was no saving it.  We've been airing it out but all I can hope for is a chance at salvaging the hard drive. Totally bummed but finding more and more presence as I distance myself from computer time.  Drawing in deep to find the blessing in this unfortunate episode.

On a lighter note we've been blessed with the beauty of snow.  From every window it looks like a postcard. Those who were well enough have been playing all day in it.

We missed out on visiting with cousins and Nanny and Poppy for our usual Christmas eve festivities, we played it safe in keeping the ones we love far from our germs.  Instead we bundled up and made lanterns out of baby food jars and mason jars and sang carols to the animals.  It was quiet and peaceful out in the night and in the barn and everyone but the oldest were cozy in bed and asleep by 7:30 pm.

Christmas morning was missing its normal bounce, I was still "out" with the flu, so James did his best to make breakfast special.
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The younger ones slept in as needed, then one by one found their way to their stockings.

Paul got a new drum which Charles has also found interest in.

Paul was too sick to work out any sentimental surprises for me so he ran to the tiny gas station/ hardware store around the corner and picked me up this sweatshirt.

Clara's been enjoying her two new little dolls, and I've been equally enjoying eavesdropping on her play.

Peter got some football equipment but has yet to gather the energy needed to head outside and tackle his brothers.

Henry danced from room to room in his new knight's armor.

George got a really cool fagus tractor but pretty much cried all day for any gift that was not his.  He stole a happy moment playing with Clara's telescope while she was knocked out on the couch.

  

And most the other gifts were open ended and kept the kids quietly creating throughout the whole day.  William and James mastered a new marble run and James also got a Bear Grylls survival knife and spent some time with Paul watching their old favorite episodes. 

 

William also got a basket making kit and was totally focused on completing it, he is not sure it is secure enough for gathering eggs but says it is a perfect size for berries.

Maryanna got a fairy building kit and did a lovely job of decorating it and Clara painted a new piggy bank

Here we are after a quiet day of celebrating, only half well (as you can probably tell from the photo) but happy together, no one I'd rather spend a flu filled Christmas with.

Almost a week later we finally gained enough of an appetite to cook up the ham that was wrapped and waiting in the fridge; my sister Mary joined us with her family and we played games, ate, talked, and laughed until beyond reasonable bedtimes.

New's Eve we traced our hands and wrote down 5 goals on the fingers.  Paul brought in Chinese food and everybody took their fortune cookies really seriously.  James was the only child who made up till midnight, Paul, James and I played a 3 hour game of Monopoly and I was almost too tired to count spaces.  I got lucky and won, or maybe they just let me win because it was a holiday and they did not want to see me give up and fall asleep.

And now we are at a new year.  Everyone was well enough to bundle up and spend the day with Nanny and Poppy to celebrate a belated Christmas.  I brought over 5 loads of laundry, which Nanny quietly processed for me between watching football, opening presents, feeding us, knitting and serving dessert.  Poppy then walked us down to a nearby sledding hill and the kids wore themselves out in the sun and snow going down and then climbing back up over and over. I took a few runs down the hill myself and it was fun until I hit a good bump and quickly felt the memory of a tailbone injury from three years ago. 

I feel very blessed today.  These past couple weeks have been unusual and unpredictable and even very uncomfortable at times, and I am grateful for the space it has allowed me to be still and be close to the ones I love.

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