VT Thanksgiving and that start of Christmas

On Saturday we traveled to VT from NY so we could see Abi. For the space of 15 minutes the whole family was home and we got an (uncooperative) photo in front of the tree before Meghan and Allie had to head out. Steve took the bus home on Sunday and the kids and I stayed till Thursday. Little buggers were awake of 4:30 most mornings, Hen contracted a cold and was coughing a lot/rolling out of her bed and under mine and then bumping it, so sleep was minimal. But overall things went well and it was so good to see Abi. Now to convince her to move back. Or at least only a few time zones away.....

Sisters!

On Monday Meg and Nate came back up. And we cleared windfalls.

Can you spot Nate? :)

Wednesday afternoon we were all pretty beat from being up since 4:30 so the fire went on and the knitting came out. Abi knit a pair of socks, I'm still plugging away on just one sock, and Mom worked on a scarf.

Thursday morning it was flurrying. Our first snow!

Hudson "helped" wash dishes. I did such a lousy job of taking pictures of Abi and the kids.We were just having too much fun to stop. Not to mention she's terrible about letting me photograph her.

The first half is a pretty drive home. 

Friday morning bright and early the kids and I headed to Russo's to pick up all the greenery for the church. My two cohorts were both stricken with illness, so I crammed everything (including a crate worth of boughs) into my tiny Civic. That car can hold a ton of stuff! The kids are hidden in the branches back there somewhere....

And as a treat (to myself) we went thrifting. Found this cute mini tree and a bag of mini ornaments for the kids. Hen hung one, but Hudson we so particular about the whole thing, and he patiently decorated till all were hung.

I love his enthusiasm for ritual and tradition. Can't imagine who he got that from ;)

Sigh. There was another dress-up purchase. I'm aware it looks like the kids are constantly getting stuff  but I've been studying their play habits, and today a ton of stuff got pitched. Next week, anything not played with is getting tossed too. They honestly don't care. Hudson has a few loved items, Henri has a few, but otherwise they're always crafting and creating with my recycling so why keep corralling clutter? I'm a big proponent of frequent and extensive purges. And encouraging creative play. So, crafting items remain, most stuffed animals and all baby toys were pitched, sets missing any pieces were gone, most everything else boxed. The dress up and kitchen set remain out as that's in constant use. Fair warning has been issued, and anything found out and not in use is getting thrown. Of course, fair play is in effect so the same applies to my stuff. But since I purge every few months it's a non-issue.

The theme this year was stars. I got in a great workout hauling a ladder around all morning and hanging garlands and those pesky stars (scale isn't great here; they're about 10 feet up and hung on fishing line that was determined to tangle every few inches and took literally an hour to erect).

Making this extra big so you can admire my handiwork. Had a great group out to help and everything was done in a few hours. This year we made the guys do clean up and that was a treat!

Just little spots of cheer scattered throughout

Saturday afternoon we got our tree and watched White Christmas, a favorite tradition of ours. 

Somehow Barnabas ended up with my most recent creation "because he is cold" and I think he pulls it off well. Having a camel guarding your tree feels oddly apropos.

And then another food shot. My diet has been horrendous for.....months, so yesterday I'd finally had enough and it's back to tracking bites and  meal planning (for everything, not just dinner). Kale was a big feature last night in smoothies and raw and steamed. It's fortunate to be healthy AND taste so good!

Tons of baking and more church decorating in the plans for this week. I let some of my normal Monday chores slide because it was so nice out and Hudson and I played instead (Hen opted to stay inside and sew) but I'm sure they'll still be there when I get to them :)