Christmas 2024

 Hello all,

Not sure if or how you mark Christmas, but however you do - or don't - keep yourselves safe and calm.

PH and I had our Christmas weekend with the kids and grands on the 21st and 22nd. That's how we always do it, we get the weekend before Christmas.  They all come at noon on Saturday and stay till noon on Sunday.  Our son and his family are 2 hours away and while Australia miles don't think this is much, here, in winter it can be. We were lucky again this year with dry roads, sunny but cold weather.

They are all getting so tall and old!  Things aren't like they used to be when they were little and this weekend was one long, wild time.  Now they are calm almost adults and were very respectful about staying off their phones and actually visiting with us adults.  Especially if I gave them the evil eye.  I was button popping proud of them.

We had LOTS of food all day and a table full of cookies to nibble on.  I cooked and cooked and baked and baked.  And when they left it was with grocery bags full of leftovers.  

In the evening instead of little kid chaos we played a couple of card games.  Adults know the game as Screw Your Neighbor but our son's kids know it at Quarters.  Even their dog had a seat at the table! 

But this is what I loved the most.  After we all went to bed....we adults, that is, the kids all sleep in the living room on the floor and couch except for Charlie who gets a bed, decided to roast marshmallows in the fire. I didn't think anything of it when they fed and stoked up the fire just as I was going to bed.  I think this was project probably Elizabeth's idea.  She comes up with some good ones.

We never heard them as they found mini marshmallows in the cupboard and used cake pop sticks ( I don't know why I had those but there they were...) and they threaded minis onto the sticks and roasted marshmallows for a midnight snack.  I know it was a midnight snack because I went to bed at 11:30.  I don't even know for sure if it worked and they actually roasted those minis or just tried to.  

Elizabeth and Adelaide have grown up as part of our lives here.  They know what they can and can't do at our house and we've never squashed their creativity.  We trust them implicitly.  So when Elizabeth showed me the pictures she took of their midnight marshmallow adventure I loved it and told her so. This was complete pure cousin time with no adult around to tell them what to or not to do.  They don't get this kind of alone time together.

So while I bask in the glow I hope you all have a peaceful holiday season.