Better late than never - here is what we did over the holidays.
Christmas Eve, Heather and I make cinnamon rolls.
Christmas morning, the stockings.
Overnight cinnamon rolls, baked in the morning. The house smelled great. We had bacon too. And pancakes.
A little game of Christmas Monopoly, which Heather got for her birthday.
Opening the presents under the tree.
Wes took Cole and Heather over to see Joanie and Grammie, Peter, Jeanne, Katie and Lizzy. Wayne and I stayed behind so as not to spread his hand foot and mouth disease. We did go outside for some fresh air and sledding. We built a ramp in the snow (below) and Wayne went flying. Later when we came back inside, we skyped with Joanie, Grammie and Co. and Wayne played a game of Bolderdash with them via skype, while I got Christmas dinner ready. (Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, honey glazed carrots, stuffing, and green beans, eggnog, wassail) Unfortunately, Wayne's throat hurt so badly that he wasn't able to enjoy it.
A day or so later, Cole and Heather test out our ramp.
Heather got this inflatable "tube" sled for Christmas.
We had a nice time at Mary and Danny's for the big family celebration. I know there were lots of photos being taken. I'm sure Jeanne had them up on facebook in no time. It was great to see the next generation, so grown up now and on with their own lives. We missed those who could not make it to various flus and illnesses going around. Wayne was feeling pretty good by this time, but we told him to keep some distance because he could still be contagious until the rash disappeared.
With Wayne feeling better, he, Heather, I made a trip to Maine to see my mom and bring her gifts. We had dinner with her at her assisted living facility (pork tenderloin with mustard cream sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, fruit, and ice cream sundae.) They have an old pipe organ there, donated by my childhood church. Wayne figured out how to use it and played some of his piano music for her. Heather played a little too, but they had not brought sheet music, so it was hard to remember whole pieces.
We had some warm days and rain, then some cold days which turned the pond into a nice, smooth skating rink.
Cole skating.
We spent Christmas eve day skating like crazy.
I didn't get a picture of Wayne skating before he left to hunting for the last afternoon of partridge season. No luck.
Monday will be a rude awakening, but the kids are looking forward to "winter activities." It's part of their physical education class. Every monday for most of the winter Cole and Heather will be bussed to the indoor rink for ice skating and Wayne will go skiing at Burke Mountain. (It's totally free for 7th and 8th graders, including rentals. Can you believe that?) Some of their friends will go to Craftsbury for cross country skiing.
January will be a busy month with Opus 29 coming right up. Let's hope we stay healthy!
Happy New Year!
I have had so much fun reading your blog, Darlene, and studying all the pictures and videos.
ReplyDeleteLet me just say that those cinnamon buns looked yummy you made with Heather.
The jump that Wayne made for sliding over was incredible. I loved how Heather gave a good scream when she went over the bump!
Also, enjoyed knowing that the pond is good for skating and that the kids are enjoying it. I did wonder if your ice was good about now.
So neat that Wayne and Heather played for your mom at her Assisted Living Home.
What a great two weeks you have all had, excepting Wayne's sickness.
Here's to a Happy, Healthy New Year!
We had gotten about 3 inches of snow overnight, Thursday into Friday morning. Peter came over Friday evening, after spending the afternoon with your mom. He, Wayne, Heather, and Wes cleaned off the ice again and skated for a while.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we should use it as much as possible - it could be a long time before the pond has such good skating conditions.
That's great that Peter came over and skated! I know how much he loves to skate!
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of frozen swamps in our woods. Dan and I were out for a woods walk yesterday and noticed how crystal clear the ice on the swamps was. You could see every leaf and twig frozen under the water.
I didn't even know there was a Christmas edition of Monopoly--that is very cool! Darlene, I loved the picture you took of all the iceskating trails on the ice...that could be your next painting inspiration--it was so beautiful. I loved the sled jump, and the ice skating video. And the descriptions of the Christmas dinner had me drooling. Especially seeing those cinnamon rolls! I love that Wayne & Heather played the organ at your mom's place! I had forgotten about those huge huge stockings!!
ReplyDeleteHeather is really skating well!! She really zipped around! It is great that you made the most of Christmas day with sledding on jumps, baking beautiful buns and playing monopoly!! I will have to check out that Xmas board!! Your school is so supportive of kids being active!! The kids must love the skating and boarding! Remind me to share my stint playing the organ at St Thomas church for ?xmas eve. Hadn't a clue what I was doing!! Maybe Wayne can give me lessons! I bet your Mom loved hearing him play! I also made pecan cinnamon buns on Xmas morning, but yours take the cake!!
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