On Friday (after Thanksgiving) we were able to spend more time with both of our families. We are so fortunate that both our families live in the same town a short distance away from each other. It makes it very easy to see everyone on holidays and spend time together. However, there are times when I start to feel like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth between the houses. Especially when I feel like our time is already stretched thin or we are expected both places at one time. So, it was nice to have Friday together after such an incredibly busy Thursday.
It is a tradition that I pull out my parents' Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and put it up. This job is much more fun now that William is ready to share in the excitement of the season with me.
"Helping" Megan with the beads. Or, making things more difficult for Megan. Luckily my siblings are exceptionally patient with our kids.
The tree goes up....
And how could we not decorate it? William was SO VERY SUPER DUPER excited about this. I had to really watch and make sure he didn't handle any of the breakable ornaments in his hurry to get them all on the "beautiful Christmas tree". The rule at our house is everyone is supposed to be there in order to decorate the tree. If one person is missing, we usually wait until we can all be together.
Uncle Mike decorates
William was one big shiny ball of happy to have everyone together AND decorating the tree. I'll admit I was right there with him.
The only picture I have of both the kids with the tree.
And you can see William was not the only one fascinated. She took a little longer to get to the tree, but she was MUCH more destructive!Admiring the ornaments. For the rest of the week, any time I couldn't find William I knew to check the tree. He would stand and admire the ornaments and take down a few of his favorites to carry around with him. This year his favorite ornaments were 1)anything with wheels 2) musical instruments which he would pretend to play.
Trying again
And here she is playing chase with her brother around the piano bench. I love the look of trouble on her face. Trouble is what this girl is.
In between all the family togetherness, my sister and I made lots of centerpieces for the tables at our cousin's wedding next weekend. Aren't they tropical looking?
Friday evening, we joined John's family for dinner and some play time for the kids. The big kids decided to play a game of poker. William was interested for a few minutes.
And then decided to find the toys with the smaller kids. Here is cousin Mikey, William and Amelia working on repairing this table.
This stool also needed some work.
Here is Amelia trying to fix a leak with her tool
Amelia and her godmother, Cathy. Amelia was fascinated with Cathy's hair. Every opportunity, she would grab and try to work her fingers through poor Cathy's hair.
And then decided to find the toys with the smaller kids. Here is cousin Mikey, William and Amelia working on repairing this table.
This stool also needed some work.
Here is Amelia trying to fix a leak with her tool
Amelia and her godmother, Cathy. Amelia was fascinated with Cathy's hair. Every opportunity, she would grab and try to work her fingers through poor Cathy's hair.
Amelia and Elena
Amelia, Alex, Elena - I think this younger set has the potential to be trouble in the near future...four grandchildren under the age of three could lead to some excitement!
