Christmas Re-cap

The kids were supposed to go back to school today but because of the cold temps they got one more day at home.  They need to go back, whether they want to or not, so I arranged for Andrew to have a friend over today to keep the peace.  Serve as a wall between him and his brother.  They've started to have physical fights this week.  It's definitely time to get back to school and separate classrooms!  My plan worked perfectly.  Andrew is thrilled and Jackson is left alone.  Dillon, however, is devastated that I had the nerve to make him take a nap in the middle of all this crazy boy fun.

Christmas was great.  We left Manhattan on the 23rd.  We had our own family Christmas on the 21st and had a perfect day.  We went out for breakfast, did some last minute shopping, saw Frozen at the theatre, played at home, it started to snow, we made dinner, then opened gifts and went to bed.  The next morning we had 9 inches of snow.  I flagged down the neighborhood plow guys and paid them to do my driveway (That's what she said. Sorry.) and I was able to get to church on time.  We spent Sunday packing and the boys enjoyed their new gifts.  When we left on Monday it was snowing again but not terribly and it had all cleared up by the time we got to Kansas City.  That's also about the time that Dillon woke up.  And for the next 5 1/2 hours, Dillon screamed as the temperature plummeted. Our nerves were so shot by the time we arrived at Brian's parents' house.  Jackson, who has nothing but patience for Dillon, finally broke down and yelled, "DILLON!  I am going to hit you in the face!"  Nobody actually did it but we all felt Jackson's pain and we didn't even make him apologize.  We arrived in MN frazzled and tired and ohmygoshwasitcold but were welcomed immediately with a warm (hot) fireplace and beautiful Christmas tree.  It's a lot of work to get there, but there's no place we'd rather be at Christmas.

We enjoyed Christmas Eve with the McCornacks.  Brian and I provided the music at church once again.  I wished I had brought more music.  The priest was 25 minutes late so I gave an unplanned concert before Mass.  The boys had a great time with their cousins and Dillon, as expected, was a hoot as we opened gifts.  I LOVE this age at Christmas.  They aren't greedy yet, they don't care what they get, they just love the excitement of it all.

Santa came (whew!) and after we got all packed up again, we bundled up and headed for Winona.  The roads weren't great and it was really cold but we made it and happily unpacked for a few days with my family.  My brother had a week off from work and was staying there too.  Angela and Steve arrived shortly after we did.  Santa also comes to my mom and dad's house (spoiled lucky boys) so we did that and then had our annual Christmas lasagna dinner.  After dinner, the kitchen was cleaned and we opened gifts.  I was very excited to get a Sonicare toothbrush, new towels (so badly needed!) and three settings of Fiesta dinnerware.  (From Brian I got a new used bike. : )  I haven't had a bike in forever and had talked about wanting one a long time ago.  He just graduated a student and she was moving back home to Uruguay and didn't want to take her bike with her.  Sold!  When I opened up the new bike helmet I was very confused. "Do I need a bike helmet?"  Yes, I do!)  The boys got so many nice things.  Our families are so generous with them.  And us.

Christmas Day was still very cold but thankfully, the next three days were really nice.  The boys did lots of sledding and playing outside.  We saw so many people this time.  It was a busy few days but really nice to catch up with friends and family.  Our week ended with the K-State bowl game.  They played U of MI, a team by brother has loved since he was about 7 years old....even while we were at Michigan State!  Ahem. Jackson trash talked my brother for a good hour until we sent him to bed (late game).  K-State beat Michigan but I didn't stay up to see it.  I was asleep by 10:30 and enjoyed almost 10 hours of sleep.

We left on the 29th (with Dillon screaming within 3/4 mile after we left) and stayed with friends in Ames that night to break up the trip.  We were home in Manhattan on the afternoon of the 30th and I do not plan to drive outside city limits until absolutely necessary.  We've all had enough time with Dillon in the van.  We're all still a little rattled.

We spent New Year's Eve with the Dall's as we did last year.  We rang in the new year at approximately 9:15 with about 39 pounds of confetti.  Wow - incredible and messy.  We were home around 11:00 and I was asleep at 12:01.  Happy New Year.

I was at the mall when the doors opened for the annual Dillard's New Year's Day sale.  It's a great day to buy overpriced Nike and Under Armour shirts for the boys because the sale price is half off.  I spent over 2 solitary, blissful hours shopping.  

We've just been playing and hanging out since then.  It was a nice break but it's good to be back.  Now it's time to plan birthday parties and detox from the holidays. We've all got minor colds and I'm hoping they stay that way.  I thought Dillon was in the clear but I can hear today that he's getting the sniffles.  Jackson starts basketball on Friday and he's so looking forward to that.  I suppose that means he needs new shoes.....  Sounds like a good birthday gift to me.

Pictures to come...