Earlier in the week Sean had his Christmas party in his class. He had been begging me and Scott to come to his class to volunteer for weeks and it was breaking my heart. He has no idea how hard it is to work those logistics out when I'm a teacher with 6 different classes to juggle. I surprised him and showed up to his party! He was so excited! And it was fun for me to see all the kids and get to be a part of a day in the life of a kindergartner. They had a pancake breakfast and then rotated through 3 stations with different crafts and games.
Unfortunately, the rest of the day was a disaster. I left the party with Sean complaining of ear pain. I figured he was just upset about me leaving. Turns out, after returning to work, that I had to turn around and go back to pick him up. He was in so much pain. I've never seen him like that! I ended up taking him to urgent care to get meds right away. He had an ear infection and I felt so bad for him. Although, I was relieved that we caught this on Wednesday instead of over Christmas like 4 years ago...when Evan was 3 months old and in urgent care on Christmas day. Memories...
You can tell that he wasn't feeling well at that point in the party. Crazy how fast things can change with kids...
The next day on Thursday after work, my friend Sarah and I took the boys to the Wayne County Lightfest. I almost didn't make it this year and I wasn't about to let that happen! Scott was being a party pooper, so I found reinforcements and we went. So glad! As tradition the boys wore their Christmas pajamas, ate popcorn, and had hot cocoa.
And then, it was finally break! And Christmas Eve...yikes! I spent all morning cooking for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year I was hosting Christmas Day at my house, which only included my parents, so it was manageable. We were off to Nana and Pops' house by 1:45pm and the boys were so excited!!
The cousins had a great time all playing together, opening presents, and sneaking cookies off the dessert trays. The adults did our annual gift card exchange and poker game. We missed Uncle Tom and Aunt Margret this year, but we'll see them in June in Baltimore for a wedding.
We got home around 10pm, just like usual, and the boys went to sleep quick since we told them Santa couldn't come if they were still awake. Scott and I got to play Santa, rushing to put everything out, and then we just enjoyed each other's company as we watched football and talked about our...jobs. Like really talked about them. It was deep and it was needed. Teaching is so hard right now. So political. Ughhh...
Christmas morning the boys slept until just before 7am and were anxious and ready to head downstairs. I threw an overnight french toast casserole in the oven, set up the camera, and we were ready to tear open the gifts that I spent months picking out and wrapping. Santa was good to us this year!
We ate breakfast, set up a few toys for the boys, and then got ready for church. The boys did a great job at mass, considering we had to be there over 40 minutes early. We came home, fed the boys lunch, and got everything ready for my parents to come over for gifts and dinner. We did a prime rib roast, baked potato casserole, broccoli casserole, salad, and rolls for dinner and it was delicious!
I look back at these pictures already and feel sad. Sad that it's over and over so fast. I couldn't wait for Christmas to be here and it always makes me feel a little down thinking about it being over and the winter ahead of us. But, we're enjoying our break, while being productive and we're looking forward to heading up north on Friday morning to bring in the new year skiing and sledding with our friends. We had a wonderful Christmas season this year and we're enjoying the moments when the boys still "believe" in the magic of it all. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!!
