in-between

We're in that wonderful in-between holidays week here. A few weeks ago I'd decided that since no one else in my department was taking time off this week I would. Good choice!

The Christmas decorations are half put away, I've got so much laundry to do, there are toys all over the house, and mostly I'm just flitting from one project to another without much care if they get done. I have to go into the office for one day this week and then I'm on call over the weekend, but in theory, I could have 9 days off almost in a row.

Much needed.

And now for some pictures of what I declared to be the best Christmas EVER.

And not just because of the 8 inches of snow that fell over Christmas Eve. Even when we got stuck for 45 minutes it didn't really lessen the beauty. For certain this is the whitest Christmas I've ever been it.This year Guthrie picked out her and her brother's clothes for Christmas Eve. She definitely errs on the side of black tie when able! Sometimes when we reserve clothes for a special occasion when said occasion comes she won't wear the clothes. Not so this time. She was SO excited. We even curled her hair. And little Laithe with his clip on tie and black corduroy blazer (I thought his puppy dog knitted cap completed the prep school look). They looked sharp.Well, I would have never picked it out for him but I'm so glad Guthrie did. For herself she chose a black dress with a velvetish top and black dots on the many layered skirt. Worn with silver sparkly tights and red sparkly shoes - of course! And then she told us we had to wear black too. I guess it was the color of the evening. I'm betting that we'll be the under dressed ones at many an event in the future.

My big plan was to have beautiful pics of the family under the Christmas tree. Yeah. That totally worked. My favorite pictures with kids are the ones where it's so obvious that the chaos is barely being held at bay.Our Christmas Eve is traditionally spent visiting the Grandmothers and opening gifts with them. This year we had the special treat of a Grandfather in town. Pop Pop (John's dad) came over for the holidays and it was great to see him. It's been a tough year for the family - losing both of Pop Pop's parents within 8 months of each other. It was good to have joy and little kid laughter about.Christmas morning was a blur of declarations like "I will remember what Santa brought me for FOREVER. I LOVE SANTA." And discussions like, "huh, I didn't think we got the kids that much stuff for Christmas. Where are we going to put all this?" And just general happiness. John cleaned our walkways of the 8 inches of new snow with his new snow blower (which looks a lot like a vacuum) and I reveled in having to only make the ham, mashed potatoes, and dessert for Christmas dinner. We'll talk gifts more in the next few days. I need to get some photos.
The afternoon was spent with Grandparents and new toys. It was a nice lazy kind of day. I didn't even get out of my sweat pants.
And so now I guess it's over. I always hated the day after Christmas when I was little, but I love it now. And this year I'm loving the several days after Christmas even more!Hope you had a wonderful holiday!
*** OH! Biggest news of Christmas! Almost forgot! Laithe surprised us all and took his first steps the day before Christmas Eve! Walking 9 month olds are a sight to behold!***