Year 2, Day 328 & 329: Post Thanksgiving/Early Christmas

Owie, ow, ow.  I've been going slow still and Jared let me sleep in this morning per my request so that maybe I can kick this cold/vertigo/etc in the butt.  So tired of it.  I need my brain back.  So, I didn't take the Dramamine last night, and I still slept more this morning than I normally could.  And I've been in bed by midnight all week!  So, I know my body is fighting a big fight right now.

So, low and slow.  Yup, words, words, words. Hm,....we did laundry.  We ate food. We pulled out a few Christmasy things....Oh yeah! That's right!  The kids spent a good portion of the day helping Grandpa and Grandma put up their Christmasy things!  And they got paid for doing it! I think it's a new tradition, though, because this is the 2nd year in a row.  Fun!  I stayed home and tried to get caught up on the blog, watched the Lilla Rose sale and help customers, and I'm not sure what else.  We did move the Christmas boxes the few feet from in the garage to inside the house.  And then today when I thought about it a little more, I put out the Christmas books and Jared put up some Christmas lights.  Bryce was hanging out with us again, so I wanted to wait to do the tree until Sunday evening when we will be just the 6 of us again.  Sometimes it's hard to find a few hrs where we are all available to do something.  For example, we never painted the pumpkins we got in early October!  Crazy!  We might all be in or at the house, but Benaiah will have homework, or it's too close to bedtime, or Jared is working on another project.  But anyway, Sunday night is tree night.  Even for just 15 minutes.  It's one of those already put together 4 1/2 ft trees.  I believe it's the same one an older lady at church passed onto us when we got married.  I kept it and then my parents had it when they moved to Indiana.  Then we brought it to Canada with us.  We used it last year because we gave away our big one to save space on the moving truck and because that one was starting to fall apart.  We're hoping to pick up a new tree after Christmas this year on clearance.  That's how we got the big tree in the first place.

But unlike my growing up years and most of the our married life, the tree will not be in the front window but in the back near the fireplace.  Maybe next year the small tree can go in the front window and the big tree near the fireplace.  We'll have to see!  We certainly have enough ornaments to cover both, especially if I dig out more of my parents' ornaments.  So, tree on Sunday, and little bits here and there over the next week.  I want to do it on my own time because it will be the first time putting it up in this house and because I physically don't have the energy to think that hard or physically move things around.  Especially when Abishai's daily messes keep us super busy.  We've got a bunch of stuff coming up this week and next, so I don't want to delay fish on it either.  Bit by bit.

Lights now come on spools! Easier to wrap at the end of the celebrating, too!

Hm,....what's this? I wonder what we do with this?

I help!

Ta da!

I can't believe they are old enough to help!

Obligatory Grandma cookie for breakfast.

She's getting so big!  Keturah helped fluff out the branches because she got to have a sleepover at Grandma's!

When did the little pudgy baby grow up? Wow!

Not sure what's happening here, but I'm glad the boys hang out together.

Speaking of boys, I found these two pictures in the Christmas box today.  This must be Benaiah's.

And this one obviously is Justin's.  I'm guessing Justin was 3 yrs old or so, making Benaiah 7 yrs old at the time.

 Bryce, Justin, and Benaiah all helped Grandpa with his outdoor lights, but no pictures were taken.  It was too windy for any of them to be up on the roof, so I'm guessing Grandpa did the rest of his lights himself.  Benaiah also did some mowing/mulching of leaves in their yard and our front yard.  I think he's going to finish our yard tomorrow, as well as homework.  I'm not really excited to get back to the books but we must for another 3 weeks or 4 weeks.  A little smarter every day, as the YouTube channel by that name suggests.

We had a buddy at church during the first songs tonight.  Quick wake up from nap and he didn't want to go to his class.

Helping put away the chains that block off the back rows so people sit closer to the front.  Only a few more weeks of Saturday night services.  Then they will be moved and combined to one service at 4:30pm on Sunday.  Or as Luke Green said it tonight, "picked up and placed down," as he discussed the rearrangement of middle school activities as well.  It doesn't change our routine terribly much.  We will just be extra tired on Mondays.

RIP Canada sweatshirt that I got on our 2nd trip to PEI before we moved.  I think the damage was done by phone and charger cord that was left on top of it in the kitchen.  But it was only there for a little bit, so maybe I damaged it while roasting marshmallows in the fireplace last night with the kids.  Either way, do NOT leave phones and chargers on soft services!

Paying the boys for their help!

Time for the Christmas train that Becky Sloan gave us for Benaiah when he was 2 or 3 yrs old!  BTW, Abishai is finally figuring out how to hold his fingers up for "2" years old, but now that he's almost 3, he'll have to do it with 3 instead!

Crappy lighting, but yes, we roasted marshmallows in the fire last night.

Yummy!

Yeah for metal skewers used for grilling vegetables and meat!  We had to stick the marshmallows way in there and were pretty warm, but we did it!  Newest fun tradition!

Who can roast the perfect roasted marshmallow?  Justin seems to have it!

So does Daddy!

Looking a bit burnt, but still yummy!

Benaiah said, "Move over and let me show you how it's done!"

Rear end shot.

Very patient puppy, who seems to be doing just fine with his movements now.

I'm glad they are willing to play board and video games.

Abishai and his entourage.

Mr. Climber.

We might leave this up all year!  We love Christmas lights!

Baby in a bucket, again!  Yes, he needs a haircut!  We have the money now, but our hairdresser doesn't have the time.  We will get it done in time for Christmas.

S-T-I-N-K-E-R!!!!

More lights, Christmas books on the bench, 1 of 3 flags possibly going on the wall AND Jared voluntarily fixed the mirror that was my parents and hung it!  Oh, and he worked on fixing up the big "J" carving out front.  I didn't think to take pictures of it has he was doing it though.

Not quite done, but the table has been switched over.  The runner in the middle was made by my mom and Abishai loves the gingerbread men! Keturah asked to make some gingerbread men, but they are roll out cookie so it means more work for me, but we'll see.  I'll have to find a good gluten free recipe first.

Aw, I found a perfect spot for the Howell Advent candle "wreath."  I can see it while I'm in the kitchen or when I'm sitting at my desk.  The colors sort of go with the purple, pink and white candles in advent wreaths a lot of older churches still use.  You light 1 candle on the first Sunday of advent, 2 candles on the second week, etc.  The white one gets turned on on Christmas Eve.  The 3 purple and 1 pink candle represent things like joy, peace, love, and hope.  There are other meanings, too, from what I read.  The evergreen wreath they are usually put on symbolizes eternal life.  I hope to have an advent banner printed and cut out in time for Dec. 1st with readings for each day.  I have a wreath for real candles but not the evergreen for it.  Just a leftover tradition from my youth.  Just like reading the praise book from the Uncle Bill's church and knowing some of the songs, although they are 25 years old.  We started out with those songs back in the early 90's before the big worship movement came along.  I like reliving those memories and these candles certainly do that for me.  The candelabra is probably 30 years old.  I can't believe it still works to be honest.  But I'm certainly glad it does.

Cousin Charles captured this moment between Grandma Cook and Keturah, so I thought I would make sure it got shared.  Thanks, Charles!