For our first day of vacation, Todd and I had eye appointments. After the exams, we went to look for new glasses. That was when I learned that the price of the frames did not include the lens inside. I had no idea. I don't know how I missed that with the last pair, but I did. So, that was Merry Christmas to us! The remainder of that day was spent freaking out the kids with our giant pupils.
On Christmas Eve, we finally got to decorating the tree. I got to unwrap and enjoy all the ornaments, while the kids had the harder job of hanging them on the tree. Benson was right there in the mix, sniffing each and every ornament. There was one ornament - a salt dough one the boys made back in 2013 - right at Benson's nose level. I caught him sniffing it several times and even sneaking licks. I have been shocked at how well those ornaments have held up.
Todd, Josiah, and I went to the church at our school for their Christmas Eve Service. It was very nice - mostly singing Christmas carols interspersed with reading of the Christmas story from Scripture. We saw what looked to be half the school there, too. There was a pretty sunset when we left.
We had a forum regarding the time one could expect Christmas to begin. 6:45 a.m. was the agreed upon time they could come downstairs and look at their stockings. Really, the time constraint is for Josiah because, while the rest of us are excited, it is never at his level. He was quite proud of himself for sleeping in until 4:30 a.m. He says his usual Christmas wake-up time is 3:00 a.m. Todd was already up making our traditional sausage balls.
Josiah was happy to unwrap his Willy Wonka Lego set. When he originally asked for it, I asked him if he had space in his room to display it. He assured me he did. Today, I asked if he had found a spot for the completed Lego kit. I'm working on it, was the response.
Henry has turned into mid-Century Modern Man. He has been all about decorating his room and future apartment. His absolute favorite thing is lamps. He talks about them frequently. For Christmas, he got a floor lamp and a smaller globe-shaped lamp. Lightbulbs are also a topic of conversation for him and he went with Todd to get colorful light bulbs the day after Christmas. He loves controlling them from his phone. He also got a thin bookcase. It was one of those "objects appear bigger in Amazon pictures." He likes it, but the height of the shelves was slightly unexpected. Shorties.
Caroline gave only one idea for Christmas, so she had the most to be surprised about. She got a Fit Bit and she often quizzes us on what her heartbeat is at that moment. She tends to run high. At the end of the day, we compare all our stats. Her sleep scores are something to be admired. She can rack up the hours. She has loved her new sweater from Grandad and Nana and has worn it frequently.
To ring in the new year, Caroline wanted to try out a different hair style. She had picked out the butterfly cut months ago, but she pulled the trigger the last day of 2025. There was a slight delay in finding a salon, but that was on me. The before and after.
We were supposed to head up to Virginia the day after Christmas, but I woke up that morning with a crazy sore throat and feeling rough in the head. It did not seem wise to hop in the car especially if it turned into more. I spent that day sleeping and watching movies. It has mostly worked it's way out of my system this week, with a lingering annoying dry cough.
I always like getting things organized and clean before the start of the new year. Benson was included in that list. We took advantage of the mild weather and gave him his semi-annual bath. That led to cleaning all his bedding as well. By the end of the day, he was clean, but exhausted, and he fell asleep as soon as his bed was put back together.
On New Year's Eve, we enjoyed some black-eyed peas and shared our resolutions. 4 out of 5 of us would like to eat healthier. I loved that one because then, when I make dinner, they can't complain about not liking it, because 'we need to eat healthier'.
Benson has taken advantage of our vacation and has asked to go out nearly every hour. To try to tire him out one day, we had running races. Henry and Caroline held him at the starting line. Once I said, 3, 2, 1, Go! Benson showed them who was boss.
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Before Christmas, we enjoyed the mild weather and played badminton in the backyard. After Christmas, we tried out their new frisbees. We have played a lot of Clue this break as well. (Josiah is still awaiting the cast list.) We've played a lot of Mafia as well. That's a game the kids used to play at CC.
The kids and I went to see Zootopia 2 because the first Zootopia is probably my favorite animated movie. Flash, Flash, 100 yard dash.
Josiah helped us repair our driveway. We estimated 4 buckets of asphalt. We thought it was an overestimate, which was good because it was supposed to be a little higher than the driveway. Our pothole was a bit larger than we realized. Now instead of our cars going BAHDUMP! they go bahdump.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to keep the dining room table clean. It is literally never clean, so it requires the help of all of us. I'm already getting a little pushback, it's not their resolution, but I'll be a persistent one.
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