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Sometimes it's nice to get a break from the routine, even if we do pay a price for it (it's always such an ordeal to get back into the routine once it's been disrupted, especially for Bitty).
The boys had the whole week this past week off from school, so I took some time off from work too. We already had Thursday and Friday off, so I took an extra day and a half so I could spend some time with the boys.
We mostly spent the time getting ready for the holidays, both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had a few days of really nice weather (for November anyway) so dh put up all the lights outside and picked up a few new decorations for the yard. He gets something new every year, and I'm starting to see how people can end up with their yard and house literally FULL of decorations... somehow I have a feeling that will be us at some point if he keeps this up :).
Tuesday night we planned to pick up our tree, but it started pouring rain, so we waited until Wednesday. We opted to skip the tree farm this year and keep it simple, so we went to Lowe's.
Bitty actually helped us pick out a tree:
Meanwhile, Bearhug and Cuddlebug were wired and couldn't stand still long enough. They ran circles around the tree section...
...and played with the big carts while we looked for the perfect Christmas tree.
Like father, like son... both wearing jackets with their shorts (it wasn't all that cold in the sun, but a little chilly in the shade)
They actually stood still for this one... is it just me, or are they getting big way to fast?!
We found some new Christmas CD's on sale so when we got home with the tree we put those on and blasted Christmas music while Bitty and I decorated the tree. Dh was outside putting the finishing touches on the yard, with the door open so he could hear the music (it was chilly but not too cold to leave the door wide open). Bearhug and Cuddlebug helped him a bit but then returned to their computer games (having "suffered" an afternoon at the stores rather than playing, lol).
It was wonderful having my family all at home, even if two were busy with their games, listening to the same Christmas music from my childhood, appreciating all the adorable handmade ornaments the boys have made over the years as we unpacked them. Bitty even let me sing along, which is R-A-R-E. If you'd ever heard me sing, you'd know why none of the boys ever let me sing out loud (haha), but Bitty is particularly vocal about not wanting to hear anyone sing so I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't start screeching for me to stop. Maybe the CD was loud enough to drown me out :). Maybe he was too busy thinking about the Christmas train that was waiting in its box... I told him we'd set it up as soon as the tree was done.
I was busy trying to put hooks on the ornaments fast enough to keep up with Bitty, and I had to laugh when I looked up to see this (despite the ladder which he has no qualms about climbing up on):
It got to be bedtime, so I finished the ornaments after he went to bed (spreading them out just a bit, lol). We also set up the much-awaited Christmas train so it was ready and waiting when he woke up the next morning.
Of course the first sound we heard the next morning was the little train's engine as it circled the tree. :)
He did express his disapproval of dh's ornaments though, which we put on after he was already in bed.
But dh and I are quite the nerds when it comes to Star Trek, so the ornaments are staying whether Bitty approves or not, and he (thankfully) decided to let it go :). (that second one is a Borg cube that says something along the lines of "Enjoy your holiday, resistance is futile" LOL)
Bearhug loves them, I joked about having almost the entire Federation battling it out on our tree and he got this huge grin and started in with the sound effects :).
And of course no tree of ours would be complete without Longhorn Santa :)
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I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, I miss everyone and am hoping to catch up soon!
