Back to Reality

The Christmas season brought many fun times for the boys. They went to a Laser Quest/pizza party with CHEFA. A luncheon & cookie exchange ( we made peanut butter chocolate chip) with MATCH. And walked down Candy Cane Lane, gift exchange & spaghetti dinner with BEST. Remembering this was just with the school groups.
We enjoyed a walk down Christmas Tree Lane & the goodies afterward with the Lim family. going to Tamarack Snow Park & a Christmas dinner/gift exchange with the Shugert family. As well as making Gingerbread houses with the Cunning kiddos. All of these familys are very dear to us.

Then there was the family celebrations full of wonderful traditions.

Becky likes to give out PJ's on Christmas Eve. She also has specific things that go in stockings & a method to her gift giving. She makes a great meal, we look forward to it every year. This year Jeff (Sr) threw in a very nice surprise. Jeff's family comes down from Berkley each year. This year they saved us from our coffee woes. (More on that later)
My Mom has her traditions as well. One thing she like to do is buy a silly gift for the men-folk. This years "toy" was Nerf guns. Yes, each adult male got one. As they were opening their gifts...the war began. This year the kids & Moms got the goofy gift as well. By the time everyone had their guns we took the party outside & it continued until Jim brought the compressor out. Yep. An air compressor. Which was used to blow up balloons, that were strategically set up in the yard to be shot at with 6 shooters. A boys heaven! I didn't feel good (sick yet again) & little Dante didn't get a gun....so I gladly released mine.
We have traditions in our little foursome. We have our celebration on Christmas Eve eating cinnamon rolls, from The Cinnamon Roll Shop for breakfast while we watch the boys open their gifts. Several years back we started a "Manbox" for B&R. Every Christmas we buy a tool for the box. Buy the time they leave home they should be pretty well set. We then pack into the car & head to the snow park.

Next came New Years Eve. Jeff & I believe you should spend the closing off the year & the fresh start (new beginning) with those who are most important to you. And so each year we close out the rest of the world to focus on Jeff, Charity, Billy & Ricky. The phone is turned off & the fun begins. We eat junk food. We play new games that each Grandma buys every Christmas. We watch new movies. We save fireworks from the 4th of July & set them off. We have party poppers, silly string & noise makers that we go crazy with as we watch the ball drop in New York via the T.V. We toast our families happiness & love.

A lot happened this season that was wonderful & somethings that I could have done without. I was disappointed in not seeing my sister & my Jacki. yet very glad to have dinner with my brother. One thing I am very grateful for was the ability to have some rest. The boys went on sleep overs, went to movies & had friends over as well. But we had a lot of reading, watching new movies & sleeping in. However now its back to reality. Its time to hit the books in our little school.