Non-holidays

Christmas has come and gone. The New Year is here. I never did get my Christmas decorations out of storage, didn't decorate or ever really get into the Christmas spirit... Nevertheless, we had a good day. Christmas Eve the kids and I wrapped presents and after they fell asleep, I made fake stockings out of Lowell's wool socks and put them around our "tree". Here are some pictures for the day.
Christmas Day we opened presents after Lowell got home and then relaxed a little before I set about making green chile chicken enchilades, peanut butter cookies and a German chocolate cake for an early birthday for Lowell. After lunch, we sat down to watch A Christmas Story. I had never watched the whole thing, start to finish. And I still haven't. :) Lowell, Jillian and I all feel asleep. It was great to take a nap and just relax.
Unfortunately, due to the move and some other unexpected expenses, we didn't have very much money to spend on Christmas this year. As a result, the kids got a lot of hand-me-down toys and thrift store finds. Unfortuntately, a couple of Nathan's presents were unusable. One of them didn't work at all, and the other was a board game that had most of its pieces, but not the instructions.... I'm still working on downloading the instructions from the web. Dial up internet is a whole new world that I'm not liking.
New Year's Eve I worked and then came home and had fun with the family. We laughed and played Uno and just enjoyed each other's company - all 5 of us. Lowell works in Tempe and the Tempe Block Party for New Year's Eve is one of the biggest parties in the country for ringing in the new year. Every bus that his company has is needed for the night so needless to say, he was extremely busy and a lot was expected of him to be the supervisor on such a crucial night. I'm so proud of him. And he totally spoiled me this morning too. He called to say 'good morning' and to ask what size shoes I wear. Odd, but I didn't question him. He came home with fixings for breakfast, laundry soap and some comfy, warm slippers for me. The heater in our new house doesn't work and our "winter clothes" are in storage... So we've been making it work with blankets and space heaters. It was so thoughtful for him to spoil me with something so practical and helpful! I love him dearly!
New Years Day was just a break - a day off, a day to rest and relax and read a book... Actually I just finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo" and I'm excited to read the next book... The kids and I worked on some homework and they played outside. Tomorrow means more housework and doing some final moving and cleaning at the other house. Just another day...