Despite the lingering sniffles and coughs (which the boys graciously shared with their cousins) we had another wonderful Christmas. We were up by seven, and the presents were unwrapped in mere minutes. There were a few blips this year.... the remote control garbage truck that Mike had to tinker with for an hour just to get it to work; the new PS2 game that wouldn't play; the hockey game that lost a stick after just two days of use. In the end though, none of that mattered. The garbage truck works fine now, we have a call in to get a new Playstation, and are ordering a replacement player for the hockey game. There are plenty of other things to keep the boys busy in the meantime. And keeping busy they are!! On Christmas Day, Sandi and Mitch came over with the kids, and we spent the day visiting, playing with kids' new toys and games, and laughing. Lots of laughing. Spencer and Paxton occasionally disappeared, and spied on us using their new periscopes. We played outside with the new sand table. Played swingball. Broke in the new sidewalk chalk. Played Spencer's new card game, Qwitch. Watched Elf. Made creations with Playdough. It was a good day, and it was just like I remembered from my own childhood.
Mike had the day after Christmas off, and the play continued. The hockey game got lots of use (until it broke), the boys tried out their new pottery wheel, and we built and created and colored and chatted. We played with the pattern blocks (one of my favorites), and did project after project with the new electronics lab. Yesterday Spencer and I made a shirt with his new tie-dye kit, and today he plans to start building a model house.
The house is a complete mess at the moment, but it's a joyful mess. Joyful messes are good.
