Tonight was the first night in over six weeks where we have been able to sit down together at our own kitchen table and enjoy a meal together. What have we been doing for the past six weeks? Well, it depended on what state of destruction/reconstruction our kitchen was in. We have had picnics on the kitchen floor, we have eaten standing up at the island and we have spent WAY TOO MUCH time in restaurants.
Archive for December 2010
Another family called and invited us to go rollerskating. We had never taken the boys skating before so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Oh my goodness…I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Colm was hilarious. I can’t even tell you how many times he fell down, but he would get right back up every time with a smile on his face. He clung to the wall for a while and then realized that he could skate in the middle of the rink, under the disco ball, without holding onto the wall and there was a pretty good chance that no one would run into him out there. Liam also clung to the wall for a while, fell down a lot less, but melted down into tears towards the end. Rollerskating was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be and he was not as good at it as he thought he should be. With a LOT of encouragement he got back out there and ended the day on a positive note. Phew! (Also, remind me in my next lifetime to teach my kids how to skate when they are younger. When you are helping them not to fall when they weigh 80 lbs and they do fall and pull you down with them…it HURTS!!!)
We went to three different stores before finding the washer and dryer we wanted. We thought we were going to get an LG since so many people had said that they loved theirs, but we ended up getting an Electrolux. We also ended up getting the pedestals because so many people had told us that, although they aren’t very functional as drawers, you almost need them because otherwise the washer and dryer are way too low to the ground. It’s been six weeks since I have been able to do laundry at home. They arrive on Friday! Yippeeee!
And the boys LOVE it! This is from one of their great-grandmas…
I could not put this book down! It was so good. It’s a murder mystery, but not the typical type where the detective is trying to solve a crime…this one involves a whole town. This would be a great book for a book club and I love that it takes place in Kansas.
Santa’s been here
(Project 365-12/25/10)
Gifts from our loved ones from all over the country
Yugioh Cards
Hockey Sticks
Playing with his Cars carwash…the cars change colors when they go through the carwash…he has wanted this thing for forever.
Christmas brunch…scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, cinnamon rolls, Belgian waffles, milk and mimosas
Later in the day….
Colm and I making cookies for our neighbors.
Okay, it’s a little tree, but it’s still a tree and the boys were so excited! Instead of dragging out all the ornaments (since we have to keep things pretty picked up around here so the workmen can do their jobs) we decided to make ornaments and some bigger snowflakes to hang on the windows.
(Project 365-12/24/10)
We have had a few people tell us that we needed to go try this place out, so we did. They are known for having the best burgers in town. I would say that they do have very good hamburgers and shakes, however, the onion rings were just so-so. We would definitely go back again though.
We had a very kind family from school/church invite us over for dinner since our house is still being fixed. So, we went and had a very nice dinner and then we went with them and two other families to The Grotto.
The weather was a little chilly, but it wasn’t raining. 🙂
Singing Christmas carols…they were fantastic.
This was a very cute puppet show. The puppets were kids telling the story of the birth of Jesus…it was very cute and funny, too.
(Project 365-12/22/10)
This is the chapel where they have Mass each day. The night we were there we heard a bell choir playing.
This place is so incredibly neat. (There was more going on than I have pictures of since I spent a good chunk of time standing in line for hot chocolate with half of the other parents while the other half shepherded the kids around.) What I really loved about going to this place is that it was all about Christmas…real Christmas. You aren’t going to find Santa there. I really felt like we needed that little infusion of Christmas we got while we were there. There has been so much going on in our house the last few weeks, that it really wasn’t feeling very Christmasy around here.
I really want to go back during the day when it’s not Christmas time to see what it normally looks like. We were told there is a whole other level to the property that you can go to during the day, but you have to take an elevator to get up there. There is also a monastery there.