Christmas 2018

Somehow, Christmas ended with Anders having acquired a large bowl of . . . slime. Goldie tried (unsuccessfully and for some time) to convince me it was soothing to play with (if I’d only try calling it a different name or thinking of it as a different color). But from the moment it entered my home I began mentally calculating how long it would have to remain before I could dispose of the revolting substance.

Also, . . . we gave Jesse a rock tumbler. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that tumbling rocks might possibly be loud. But never mind that. It only takes ONE MONTH of constant tumbling to polish those rocks to shiny, gem-like perfection!

(Mike did actually move it to the garage after a day. And I no longer hear it at all.)

However favorably or unfavorably you might view the above two situations, Christmas was a success. In fact, it was miraculous to me how smoothly it all fell into place. Gifts all purchased. Everything wrapped. Everyone tucked in bed (the girls — all cozied up together in the big, open room downstairs). And the house magically set up and somehow glowing with something more than gift wrap and filled stockings and lights. (What is it? Nostalgia? Anticipation? Coziness? I don’t know. But it’s real. And it always feels a bit hard to turn off the Christmas music playing hushed in the background, unplug the lights, and tear myself away from the low-level celestial vibrations that seem to emanate from that quiet, late-night scene.)

A few gift highlights?

Some type of fancy bike pump for Abe that can do something . . . that I don’t quite understand.

Magic Tracks for Jesse and Anders. (Who knew they’d like them so much?)

A calligraphy set for Daisy.

(Not actually pictured. I believe it’s Abe’s gyroscope being viewed here.)

A telescope for Goldie (plus a glowing owl lamp and FOUR dresses!).

A set of eight small baby dolls each with their own little swing or crib or high chair, etc. for Summer. (This was meant to be a joint present for the two little girls; but Summer clung to all the tiny babies so possessively, and Mette showed such indifference, that we ended up letting Summer have all the babies [and giving Mette the Little People princess set that was also originally intended for both girls].)

A Bluetooth microphone (and some small strobe lights) for Penny. (She’s forever having “dance parties” with the kids. And what kid doesn’t love using a microphone? Dancing or not! It’s been in more constant use since Christmas morning than any of the other day’s gifts except maybe for Daisy’s 1000 piece puzzle [which she sets herself to working on whenever there is a dull moment].)

Shoes and a little train set for Hans. (Oh alright. Those were no highlight. They seemed right up his alley as he is forever bringing me shoes to put on him and is fond of driving things about. But he seemed to lose his love of shoes at precisely the same moment as he got his new Christmas-morning pair. And the train set tracks seemed to be just tricky enough to set up as well as just easy enough to mess up once they were set up as to cause him primarily grief. His favorite gift was probably the four matchbox cars Daisy gave him on Christmas Eve (even though we already have matchbox cars and to spare!).

Some Sorel boots for me. (My feet haven’t been warm in snow for years and years!)

A snowmobile for Mike! (And the rest of us.) I always feel a bit silly mentioning these crazy big TOYS we get. But Mike really does adore them and, particularly with our regular cabin visits, we use them all a great deal. They have provided an incredible amount of memories and fun for our little family! (We will probably stick Mike and Abe getting it stuck in incredibly deep, wet snow on Christmas afternoon in the “memories” category as opposed to the “fun” category.)