Huge Exhale

At 1107 today I finished up my last holiday obligation. And just like that, the migraine I've been flirting with for the past 48 hours lifted. Maybe it's just aging, but I'm becoming more and more of an introvert. I like people, but that time away in silence is my recharge. Anyway, we survived an extremely busy weekend (complete with our first ever stomach bug! Yes, in 4.5 years of parenting we have never had a kid get stomach sick...but Hen succumbed to the nasty germs everyone was so kindly and deliberately sharing, but it was very mild so one and done. Phew!).

First, may I quickly comment on the weather, Seriously, what gives??? It's just now starting to look like October out there, and the forecast is calling for temps in the 60's on Christmas!!! Come February when we're buried I might wish this back, but right now I'm ready for some nasty weather to be my excuse to stay home and read.

What we did this weekend: sleep in until 8 (me: Steve got up with the kids at the usual 6, thanks Babe!), bake an insane amount of cookies, wash dishes 1,700 times, deliver cookies to neighbors, walk neighborhood to see lights, bake more cookies, Henri's dance recital, set up the church for program, bake more cookies, Christmas program at church, clean up church, bake cookies all day Monday, brief excitement with stomach bug, final playgroup at church, experience steam radiator exploding boiling steam all over the church while trying to set up playgroup, cleaning up church from water damage and cookie decorating while herding sugared up kids, deep clean of the house, and now: peace. With a sewing project on tap for tonight and a fun knitting project as a reward for when that's done. I have a few odds and ends I might get to for Christmas, but feeling pretty laid back about it. We can celebrate all weekend if need be, and no one is going to care if I don't make a traditional item except me.

Before I can knit I have to (hand)wind all the skeins. Steve got me this years ago and I finally have the perfect project for it (a simple cardigan for me).

I finally convinced him that baseball season is over so now he's all about football. Here he is trying to punt one of the potatoes I was cooking for dinner.

Lots of crafting. They "repainted" a birdhouse using water. So. Much. Water. 

Henri has been sewing up a storm. I think this is a backpack?

Dad went to a conference last week. Which means random vendor gifts. The huge hit this time was an ice mold that makes round ice cubes. The kids have one permanently going in the freezer so they can lick it whenever the urge hits (which is frequent. And yes, I supplement their iron so I'm pretty sure they're not deficient).

Working on bendy wire dolls for Henri's gifts. They'll be fairies and mermaids once I make the clothes. It's a really fun project and I see her enjoying making them once she gets a bit older. Also, wonderfully inexpensive (especially if you have embroidery floss laying around). 

Showing off her skirt from Aunt Abi

Neighbor gifts all packaged. Sadly the lids fit when the pretzels were plain, but adding all the chocolate and toppings made them too big so I had to go the tacky route with plastic wrap and rubber bands

We made 6 varieties. My favorite were the dark chocolate with Andes mints. Mmmmmm.

Seen on the neighborhood lights walk

The perspective of a two year old. Hudson got hold of my phone, overrode my password, changed a bunch of settings, and took a long string of photos. 

She wanted a braid for her recital, so I did an inside out to make sure it stayed in place.

All ready to go! Adding to the chaos her teacher informed me on Thursday of the need for a dark blue skirt and white shirt for Saturday. Hen had neither because there's no way she'd wear anything not pink or purple, so it was a long night of shopping. Old Navy came through for me (and I found two dresses for me for $8 so there was that)

Reviewing their steps with the assistant Miss Kaitlynn

Hen's class

The saga of the reindeer antlers. Basically, she pitched a fit in class because she couldn't keep them. Then on Sat she refused to wear them on her head, but wanted them around her neck...or waist depending on the dance. She was thrilled when Ms. Clare said she got to take them home though.

The whole school. While small, the older girls have competed at the international level and are pretty good. The little kids were just a hot mess. 

My photos never do justice to the scale of decorating we do at church. But it was impressive (as I pat myself on the back...)

But after 7 years of this, we have a system down that works well and looks impressive. Now, imagine this with an extra table added, and then about 30 platters of cookies, cheese, and crackers, turn down the lighting, and have all the candles lit. It went well.

Some of the vanilla meltaways I made.

The world is seriously confused. Hard to see here, but this is all new growth coming up out of the leaves...the stuff we normally see in the spring. 

Bobby is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Hudson is obsessed with her, he's been mothering her like crazy. Which is cute and all, but he freaks if anything is perceived as amiss, and as he doesn't speak well, I'm left to try and interpret whatever it is that a doll might need. It's getting old. I think a third child would be easier at this point. 

They have their whole room to play in but the kitchen is still their favorite room to set up camp. It made baking rather difficult.

The set up for playgroup today. The house is 8" so you can fit a lot of candy and frosting on it :)

The men are my great-grandma's sugar cookie recipe. The secret is in the sour cream...and the fact that the ingredient measurements are kind of left up to your imagination. They're so good. 

They all had a great time and worked very hard at their creations (they wanted to make sure they fit as much candy on as possible)

The finished products, Hen had already eaten a person

While I vacuumed Henri decided it would be helpful to rearrange her bookshelves. In theory it would have been, but in practice all the books came out, and then she started reading them, and then I had three cases of books worth to sort. We are very fortunate to have such a great library though! Found some old favorites to read after nap.

My decor is minimal, and as I love the Scandinavian look, I'll say it is intentional instead of laziness. 

And just like that, naptime is over and the natives are ready to roam. Looking forward to a more laid back rest of the week :)