Merry Christmas Everyone!



We have a surfer



We had a snowman corps robbing a train

 I thought I'd share some decorating images with you.  I'm proud of my family's creativity.  We started with some cookies late in the day on Friday. 



And a quadraplegic moose with wheels

There were some normal looking holly leaves and bells and stars but who wants to see them?  We ate some cheesesteak sandwiches while the cookies were being decorated and then moved onto the tree.

Pk puts the lights on and then I unpack the ornaments and the kids hang them.  Everyone helps out with the tinsel.   It was finished by about 10 o'clock and it's beautiful. 

We were up early this morning and spent a happy few hours opening presents.  I think the best part is the explanations that go with the presents.  The "oh, I got this because....." parts.  That's what memories are made of, not the gift itself.

I must have been an especially good girl this year because I got some lovely presents including one that made me smile and laugh out loud.

I have an inordinate fondness for pop-up books.  Kate gave me a Star Wars pop up book that is so cool.  Here's a photo of R2D2 and C3PO.  How cool is that?  And it's a thick book filled with pages that pop up all over.  And the final page has Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and their light sabres light up.  It was tons of fun. 

We had a lovely roast beef with roasted veggies for dinner.  Best part?  It all went into the oven with minimal fuss and came out 2 and a half hours later just perfect.  The oven did all the work while I napped and did some knitting.  This was important because the "little head cold" that I had on the 23rd blossomed into a colossal sneezing, nose blowing, eye watering mess.  I managed to make it through the day in one piece but I'm beat.  I will be doing nothing tomorrow but sitting around in my pajamas and eating soup.  (although I did make it through most of a game of Risk with Kate, Patrick, Elanor and Pk before Kate spilled wine and we had to mop everything up rather quickly)

Our holiday was peaceful and filled with joy.  It's a pleasure to watch my children interact with one another.  There is an intimacy there that warms my heart.  I am so grateful for what I have.  And my wonderful Peter Kevin!  I almost forgot to tell you that he made me some darning eggs!  I can now darn my handknit socks without using a lightbulb.  And here is the gift from Mumbai.  It's a knife blank.  Pk is making the handle for it.  It's a gift for Jim.  It didn't get finished because when Pk drilled the wood for the rivets on the handle, it cracked and was irreparable.  It'll be finished sometime this week.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see the etchings on the blade.  It's really pretty (Jim likes it).  It came with paperwork in three languages all declaring "this is not a weapon".  We got a kick out of that.  If it had come in the two days it was promised (instead of the ten actual days), it would have been done. 

This is our weather forecast for tomorrow. They've been toying with us all week saying 'it will snow', 'it won't snow' until it finally looks like it WILL snow sometime tomorrow morning through Monday morning. Over a foot is likely. I will be watching it from the inside and being very glad I don't have to go outside.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas (or if it's not your holiday, a happy weekend) !