End of Year Catch-Up

The second half of December was a whirlwind of activity in the house. Randy and I were trying to cultivate a little of the Christmas spirit and the construction crew was working hard to get our first floor in a livable state. 

The kids were upset about the lack of Christmas tree, but were satisfied for a while with the centerpiece that I was given at an office holiday party. 

 On December 15th, Dumbledore was moved out of the house so that the hardwood floors could be finished. It was a sad week with his beautiful sound in the house.

 That week I met a really neat lady who owns a beekeeping supply shop nearby. Randy and I wanted to surprise the kids with a hive for Christmas. I had fun learning all about what we'd need to start keeping bees.

 Our floors were finished on Wednesday December 21st and we were able to walk on them starting Thursday the 22nd. Randy and I worked really hard putting the house back together as much as we could and even got a Christmas tree on Friday the 23rd. I even managed to bake several hundred Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve and we were able to deliver lots of them to our friends.

Christmas morning was lovely in our new first floor. It didn't matter at all that we had no furniture. The kids enjoyed getting winter gear, a new watch for Lina, and a FitBit for Levi. 

 Oscar was even treated with a few fun cat toys!

 Levi has been very interested in the beekeeping process and loved looking at a book that I got on the topic.

 Adelina was given a little chicken harness and leash and she was thrilled to try it out. Needless to say, the chickens hated it! But we all got a good laugh.

Levi and I had the best time assembling our bee hive and all the frames that go inside. Levi proved to be quite the carpenter and was amazingly accurate at driving in nails. 

December Happenings

Adelina got a big haircut! 

 I tried to bring a little holiday cheer into the house by getting a gingerbread house. Unfortunately, it didn't withstand the decorating!

 We went to see the Nutcracker in Boston as a family last weekend. It was really cold, so I hit the rook when we got downtown and discovered that Levi didn't bring a coat. Thankfully I had a really big scarf that he wrapped up in.

 In lieu of a Christmas tree, we've taken to decorating this centerpiece that I won at an office Christmas party!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

In the blink of an eye, a decade of parenthood has passed and Caleb is 10! We had a great day celebrating his birthday on Wednesday. Caleb's friend Dante came out to dinner (at Rang) with us and then we came back to the house for coconut cream pie (yay for the toaster oven once again). We were so excited to give Caleb his gift, a Garmin 25 GPS watch...and he was thrilled to get it! It's been the greatest pleasure parenting this kid! Looking forward to what the next year will bring. 

Renovation Update

The house continues to make progress, but our patience with the project is waning.  The cabinets and counters are in, as are the appliances. Most of the light fixtures are up and the bathroom is just about finished. Paint is happening slowly and the floors are to be finished next week. The piano left on Thursday and will be gone until the floors are finished. A lot of details will have to wait until after Christmas, but at least our house will be mostly livable.  

Thanksgiving

The week before Thanksgiving, we found this turkey multiple times around Main Street. I think we all passed by it while on a run and then we saw it again causing a traffic jam in the middle of the road. 

 Since our house is still under construction, we had to get a little creative to celebrate Thanksgiving. We usually have the Dana and Inge over, but this year we took Thanksgiving to them. On Wednesday, I did a lot of prep work at my faux 2nd floor kitchen and discovered that I could bake pies in a toaster oven. I baked some sides and Dana and Inge's house and we set the stage for a day of cooking on Thursday. We spent the whole day on Thursday with Dana and Inge, I cooked and listened to Inge talk about her childhood and the kids went birdwatching, looked at mineral collections, and did art projects.

 We had a very lovely feast and only missed a couple of dishes that I typically prepare.

 The kids loved making whipped cream with a hand mixer!

 It was a very special day with good friends!

On Friday, we took a nice long hike in the Lynn Woods, and were undaunted by the cold and rain. We were rewarded with beautiful scenes!