Christmas 2014

And lo, here we are - the eve of New Year's Eve. On the brink of 2015, which is the year. THE YEAR. The one in which Steve finishes 8 years of post-med school, 12 years post-college training, and get a grown-up job. This is amazing for him (you can't go much more than 8 years past med school), and also very exciting for our family as it means we will start our real, grown up lives - find out where we will live, where our children will be "from", put down roots and start traditions that aren't tinged with moving on soon. So this is all very well and good and thrilling and I'm excited to announce... 

that we don't know yet. He has several irons in the fire. Good options, all. Confirmed, nothing And now that the holiday season is winding down (and I have to figure out how to store the new toys without making any long-term storage plans), the giant unknown is haunting me. And that's a post in itself. 

I intended this to be about Christmas! And so, it will be. We really enjoyed the season this year, and I have more pictures on my phone that I want to share soon (Santa arriving by helicopter in the North End!). Because my husband is a machine (in a  good way) who plans everything to a t, we finished our shopping the first week of December and were able to enjoy the festivities - like sitting by the tree, wrapping presents and listening to Christmas music and chatting after the kids were in bed. Or making cookies and fudge for fun without any rush, wander the streets counting Christmas decorations. enjoy holiday parties without feeling any frenzy. The last few years, honestly, I have felt so rushed that the season passed me by, and this year I think we hit the right balance. But for now, I just have photos of Christmas Eve and Day. 

On Christmas Eve, I finished work early and Grace and I went ahead to church to get good seats without making Henry sit a moment longer than necessary. We got soaked on the way there, but then we got to sing carols with the choir and it was wonderful. Afterward, we came home, getting further soaked, and tried to take a family photo. I think 100 were actually taken... and these are the best.

After dinner, the kids opened their new pjs and books from Rudolph. Their book was the Smell of Christmas (or similar), a scratch-and-sniff book that Bucket and I had as kids and loved. My mom still has it, but all the smells are gone from overuse, and now my kiddos have one, which delighted them just as much as I remember.

Mailing envelopes make great hats.

 Scratch-and-sniff.

And the children slept until 6:30 AM! This was good, because nothing says Christmas Eve like a few episodes of Serial, so Steve and I were tired... Boy were the kids jazzed! Not pictured are the scones, coffee, and new (turkey) bacon recipe wherein you rub brown sugar on it and cook under the broiler and then feel only a smidgen guilty while you inhale it.

After gifts, the kids played, I cooked, and we took a walk in the balmy weather. The kids took their new umbrellas and were unbelievably cute playing Mary Poppins. A friend whose family was out of town joined us for the afternoon and dinner (and having his undivided attention was a gift in itself to the kids), and we took no more pictures. Because memories are all we need. And living in the moment.

We are still listening to Christmas music and eating fudge and enjoying the glow of the tree because we party until the Epiphany! Merry Christmas!

Fall happened

I suppose technically it isn't winter for another week, but we're wearing down more often than not, so it counts. 

On Halloween we had a butterfly, a rainbow fish, kermit the frog and fuzzy bear. 

Henry was uncertain at first, but got the hang of trick-or-treating and ended up the most committed of the bunch. He was dedicated to every. single. house. Heaven help you if you tried to pass one because of the (ridiculous) crowd. The big kids started to poop out and were begging us to carry their buckets of candy because they were toooooo heaaaaaavvvvyyy. And they were sooooo tired of getting free candy. Henry did not give up. 

We saw some great costumes: 

- Baby dressed as a lobster, in a stroller made to look like a pot, with her parents dressed as chefs (pssst, EMILY).

- Baby in a bomber jacket with stroller made to look like a fighter jet, complete with Top Gun theme song blasting, and parents dressed in runway control workers (this was Henry's classmate).

- Kid riding in red wagon transformed into a Duck Boat (and in this case dressed as a Red Sox player with trophy).

We realized too late that Henry is the perfect size and wobbliness to have been a minion. Maybe next year!

And, here are some photos of the color during a hike at Middlesex Fells. New England, you definitely have fall going for you.

So much is/has been going on, but I really do want to keep blogging... I also need to make some notes about what the kid are like these days. They are basically best friends with a special adoration of a tiny boy for his big "sisssstah". They pummel each other, and it's not always clear that they are playing the same game (though they think they are), but they also love love love each other, and Grace definitely looks out for Henry. They get so excited to see each other in the morning and after school, which is the greatest thing to see. Henry loves to try to keep up with Grace and her friends, and mostly they include him. It's so funny to see him try to be with the big kids, and he is so happy when they let him play.