It's been a long time since I posted and the intervening weeks have been full of blessing and beautiful memories. We were surrounded by two families who love us deeply and we enjoyed a quiet, peaceful, wonderful Christmas. I won't even attempt to go back and capture all of it. So, instead, I'll write a little bit about how we spent today, the last day of 2012.
First, a confession: I still haven't unpacked our suitcases from our travels to visit family. We've been back for four days. It's just that we don't often get full days at home together, and there have been so many other things to fill our time. Today my husband spent the morning building an unbelievably complex train track with Henry. Thomas and I played Transformers in the other room, and Cora and I snuggled on the couch. It snowed all morning, so after naptime we went outside to explore the backyard. I piled Cora and Thomas into the sled and raced around the yard with them. Henry giggled and conspired, waiting for the opportune moment to throw a snowball at Micah. We rolled snowballs and made two little snowmen. Thomas helped me pick out carrots and licorice for their faces. They had a blast! We raced around the yard again on the sled before having a family snowball fight. It was cold, but so much fun!
Once we'd dried off and warmed up, we headed to the store to pick out some New Year's treats. We let the kids stay up until
eight fifteen to celebrate! It was big news around here, for kids who are usually in bed by 7:30. They sat at a picnic table in the living room (we broke
all the rules tonight!) and munched on the snacks they'd pick out, watched a new year's show, and drank
fizzy juice! We snuggled on the couch together, sharing sweet little moments and comments back and forth. Cora tried to carry her little snack plate over to the couch, nearly tipping it as she walked. She looked up and shouted, "Whoa!" then carried it as carefully as could be the rest of the way. She climbed up on the couch, grabbed my face in her two little hands, and pulled me in to kiss my cheek. Thomas and Cora shared some sweet little hugs and kisses too. They were the best of little buddies today. Just before bed, Henry rolled over, smiled at Micah, and said, "Nothing makes me happier than snuggling with you, Dad."
If that's not the best way to wrap up the year, I don't know what is. I can't wait to see what the next year holds with these precious people.
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| Starting the day out with a train track (and, yes, those are the suitcases in the background. At least I moved them upstairs later in the day...) |
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| First sled ride of the year. Another inch of snow might have made my job a little easier... |
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| Our little snowmen. I love that everyone's doing something different in this shot: Cora's posing, Henry's catching snowflakes on his tongue, and Thomas is shouting something like, "Winter!" Typical. |
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| I let the real muscle do the work pulling all three. Two kids was about my limit in our skiff of snow! |
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| Enjoying fizzy juice and the taste of freedom. |
