Dec 26

On December 25th, we had a present opening frenzy, but no power for most of the day. Thankfully our house had been transformed into an entertainment bonanza palace and with the help of a few lanterns we played the day away.

To give you a bit of flavor, this is our floor this morning after the paper was picked up and things were "straightened up" a little bit. Any time you tried to give a toy a home, one boy or the other would run over and demand it from you.

 

Dec 24

On the twenty-fourth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, a beautiful B, a Charlie Brown ornament, one fluffy white Christmas tree, and a shining star.

I also got wonderful friends, a tasty dinner, children (my own and others) shrieking with glee as they opened presents, a glass of eggnog, and a few hours playing Star Wars with Charlie. Delightful! 

Dec 23

 On the twenty-third day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, a beautiful B, a Charlie Brown ornament, and a fluffy white Christmas tree.

Dec 21 and 22

On the twenty-first day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, and a beautiful B.

 On the twenty-second day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, a beautiful B, and a Charlie Brown ornament. 

For their present, we got the boys a membership at a kid's gym. They'll have one class a week, and then one day with a free play period. I took them there today to see how things went and Dash loved wallowing in the ball pit. Liam rolled huge balls around the floor and they both ran about like maniacs.  I think this is going to work out well. 

Dec 20

On the twentieth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, and a green Christmas tree. 

The lights progress apace. Today's visitor was the drywall guy. I had the singular pleasure of listening to his holiday negotiations. He took a break for lunch, and after came back with his brother and nephew, who were in the neighborhood doing another job and offered to help him finish up the rest of ours more quickly. His brother has much land and many horses (and also two! sets of twins). Our drywall guy has a teenage daughter who is horse crazy. I bore witness to the conversation that will lead to a girl actually asking for a pony and getting one . They are going to put a huge red bow on it and the whole nine yards. I was almost giddy with excitement. 

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Dash today thought that the ravioli he was eating for lunch would make an effective hair product. He was right.

Dec 19

On the nineteent day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, and Batman. 

Dec 18

On the eighteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, and a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man.

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The chickens are working a Christmas miracle! Even though it's been oh so dark and dismal, the new teenagers are managing to lay their first eggs and then keep on going.  The first pullet eggs are hilariously small, but so far all of them have had a yolk and everything. I can't wait till everyone gets into full swing after the winter passes. I'm guessing we'll get five eggs a day. Time to start lining up frittata recipes! 

Dec 17

On the seventeenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, and a slow tortoise.

I blame that tortoise for being behind by a day with these last few pictures.  To get energized this morning, we are watching videos of Prince playing live shows and rocking out in the living room.

Dec 16

On the sixteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, and a bluebird of happiness.

Dec 15

On the fifteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, and a glowing candle.

Dec 14

On the fourteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, and a shimmering snowflake. 

The living room ceiling has grown many more holes as the electrician added to what the sprinkler guy started. Cans are in, sprinkler head is moved, and now there is just some drywall work before the final fixtures are put in. The electrician was not as fascinating as the sprinkler guy, because there weren't any lengths of piping to play with. Though we have been taking advantage of the temporarily cleared living room floor, having wild wrestling matches and playing in giant Amazon boxes. 

Dec 13

On the thirteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, and a golden bell. 

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It also gave to me a photo taken with the flash on my phone, which is not optimal. We are having some new lights put in the living room ceiling, and that started the day with the dining room chandelier getting pulled down. Then there was a lot of sawing while the sprinkler guy relocated the head that was smack in the middle of the living room. The boys were rapt, sitting back on their feet at the edge of the plastic sheeting on the floor, each of them holding onto a short length of bright orange sprinkler pipe. Entertainment for the day: provided! Tomorrow, the electrician. 

Dec 12

On the twelfth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, and a lovely blue ornament. 

Dec 11

On the eleventhday of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes, and a swimmy goldfish. 

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Humorous point of the day: both boys wearing button-down shirts and no pants, running around the kitchen. They looked like they were doing a Risky Business revival. 

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Second humorous bit: when they start flinging around the contents of the dishtowel drawer, I usually try to cram the tea cozy on someone's head. Typically it gets pulled off immediately but today Liam kind of forgot he was wearing it and kept playing. 

Dec 10

On the tenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, and a bunch of juicy grapes.

Dec 9

On the ninth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, and a russet bird.

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We've had teenage chickens for many months now, and finally someone has laid the first egg! I suspect it is the speckled grey hen, since I think she's the only one that lays white eggs. I need to get a bigger container for all of my first eggs, because this one won't fit in there. 

Dec 8

On the eighth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, and a pale pink ornament. 

Dec 7

On the seventh day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, and a minty candy cane.

Dec 6

On the sixth day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, and a mischievous cat.

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The boys discovered the tree when they woke up this morning. There was a lot of staring and some reaching, and then they happily played around it. Hopefully it will be a little longer before they figure out how to climb up into chairs, onto the windowseat, and then up onto the table. 

Dec 5

On the fifth day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, and a chilly snowman.

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We also have a decorated tree! Courtesy of Target for new lights and some christmas tunes on the stereo for decorating. There is something crazy awesome about hanging an ornament that I made when I was five years old, and then hanging prints of my own kid's hands from when they were three months old. Does that make me old? If it does I don't care, I love it. 

Dec 4

On the fourth day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, and a chipper squirrel.

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We also got our tree today after trying to out-think two 14 month olds. There's no way I could deal with the constant crazy of  a real tree in the living room....the boys are so lurchingly mobile and all grabby hands. Redecorating the tree is one thing. I envisioned them careening into it regularly and pulling it down at least once a day. Not to mention Liam's passion for holding onto things and shaking them as hard as he can to see what happens (yes, maracas are his favorite instrument). 


So for this year we have a shorter tree up on our old kitchen table. It's in the usual place of honor in the middle of the living room window, and if you look over from the current table in the kitchen you can imagine that the tree goes all the way down to the floor. Unfortunately all three of my strings of lights were bunk and I couldn't get them working. So no decorating tonight. At least the house smells great now!

Dec 3

On the third day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, and a green wreath.

Dec 2

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me one bushy santa claus and one brown acorn.

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Also, there were endless Christmas tunes on the stereo and both the ups and the fedex guy knocking on the door. Let the frenzy commence!

Dec 1

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me one bushy santa claus.

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And two completely crazy boys.