Out-Of-The-Box Easter

Since we came home from Florida on Saturday, there wasn't much time to make detailed plans for Easter Sunday.  So we woke up in the morning and had jelly beans for breakfast, went for a hike in the afternoon, then topped it off with burgers, fries & frosties for dinner.

Here's a sequence of Cole taking pictures of Phil and me in burst mode.  Ahh, young love.

A holiday as untraditional as the family.  L'chaim.

L'Chaim

This Tuesday we hosted our third annual seder at the house. Everyone was a great sport, despite some technical difficulties (imagine 5 adults attempting to run a service for 9 kids). Thank goodness for matzah ice cream cake.

Our friends gave us some Passover goodies, including masks for each of the 10 plagues. After intense negotiations ("I'll trade you hail for boils") we were off and running.

Here's to many more years around the seder table.

2010 Christmas

Phew.

In what seemed like a whirlwind of gift wrap and cookies, the Christmas season came and went. The kids had a great time and the grown-ups are pooped. Here are a few highlights...

Ry has been begging us to join our Fellowship's intergenerational choir. He had his first performance at the Christmas Eve service and held his own with the old pros.

After a feast at the house, our neighbors had us over for dessert and Cole indulged. A lot.

Christmas morning was pretty normal. Muffins, Crispy Brunch, presents, and a mini trampoline. Santa did mess up with the trumpet...let's just say he probably didn't realize how loud it was when he shoved it down the chimney we don't have. Of course all of the boys love it so I'm now in a continual trumpet daze.

Overall I'll give this holiday season two thumbs up. Not to sound like a broken record, but the wine helped. Also the smiles on my children's faces. And the wine.

Happy holidays!!

Thankful

We had Thanksgiving at my sister's house and it included lots of food and plenty of wine. 8 adults, 7 kids. Wine, lots of wine.

We usually have Thanksgiving with Phil's parents and we always decorate a gingerbread house before dinner. Since we missed it this year, my sister-in-law sent home all the fixins and we fired it up at home.

Ry said, "Daddy told me that my side is organized and Cole's side is creative." Can you guess whose side is whose?

I'm thankful for a lot of things. For my awesome hubs, for my 4 crazy boys, and for all of my buds who leave us dinners on the back porch or whisk a kid or two away when we need a breather. For you and you and you - I am thankful!