Well – we survived thrived through another Christmas season! I was most relieved to stop shopping. When Christmas day arrived I was done, for better or worse! Tom prepared a five course meal for Christmas Eve. Here’s the menu: Black Bean Soup Spinach Salad with Raspberries and Cranberries and toasted Pecans Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding and steamed Carrots A selection of cheeses (Manchego – Mizithra – Da Vinci) with Pear and Apple Chocolate Eclairs We invited Alex & Cynthia, Andrew & Sarah, and Travis & Jen and all their kids to join us. Sarah did an excellent job blogging all about it here. It was fun to have everyone together and I think my favorite part is seeing all the kids in their p.j.’s. Wish Kate could have been here too!! I think the kids liked Christmas day well enough and...
So – the faucets in the kids bathroom have been leaking for awhile. They are only about a year old, so I have to suspect our mastermind “what can I do to this before it breaks” kid of tampering with them. First it was the cold water, so we just turned the water off. Then it was the hot. When the kids were having to brush their teeth in the tub I figured it was time to fix the faucets. So, the water being off and all, I took one apart and headed to Home Depot. Did I mention that one of the shutoff values wasn’t working – wouldn’t turn the water all the way off? So I bought four “cartridges (two for each faucet) and a new shutoff valve. The repair of the one faucet went pretty smoothly, except it took me awhile to figure out how to make the faucets turn on and off with the handles in the...
I’m back home after spending a wonderful two weeks away from my regular life. The only downside was missing Tom. But we all have sacrifices to make … My mom and dad graciously opened their home to me and my little kids for the week before Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful vacation! I got a great start (and finish) on quite a few Christmas gifts, got in LOTS of great conversation with Mom, Dad, and my sister Erin, got to play with Kate … It was just a good time. Andrew and Haley glutted themselves on TV – we kept teasing them that their brains were oozing out of their ears! – but they did manage quite a few bike rides and were in seventh heaven when all the cousins began to arrive for Thanksgiving. I think mostly they were happy to 1) be out of school and 2) be out of their own home. You may notice...