A Basket Full of My Babies

Yesterday I finally uploaded over 1,000 pictures that were on my camera to my computer. I never have let myself go so far between getting them off my camera, but the last two weeks have been so full and busy. With the first day of Spring, hurray(!), I’m feeling the need to get out and enjoy the sunshine while it is here. I got to take Maggie in a walk in the stroller this morning while Barry, Audrey, and Sydney held down the fort. It was a quiet and brisk walk, both Maggie and I searching for signs of the new season. We saw the Cherry Blossoms blooming and the sunrise painted the sky a beautiful purple, but we were both freezing by the time we got back home. Right before we got to our driveway, however, we saw a bird pull a worm from the cold ground. Yahoo!! 

Here’s a snippet of life at HBHQ:

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The Last Christmas Post: Where We Celebrate with Delicious Food and Presents

Due do my grandma getting sick on Christmas Day, our celebration with them, my aunt,uncle and cousins was pushed back a few days. Alas, we were all (mostly) healthy for the celebration; however, my cousin, Chaya, was out of town with her boyfriend’s family. She was missed, but, thinking we were funny, we kept her up to date with lots of funny pictures through out the night. Turns out she didn’t think it was as funny as we did. My aunt, Sue, is a terrific hostess and cook and the meal is one where the seafood is abundant and I’m happy as a clam (or shrimp!). I didn’t take any pictures this year of the actual meal, but we were all there…..wearing our crowns, rubbing elbows and shouting our jokes to the heavens. After dinner we headed up the path to my grandparent’s house to eat cookies, drink tea and open presents. Again, lots of yelling and hollering, but tons of laughing. Nobody EVER said that our family was quiet. My mom and dad stayed at our house for the night and if I remember correctly, after they departed, we didn’t leave the house – or get dressed – for a few days following.  (And by the way, even though lots of people (me, Cora, Sue…) weren’t pictured, we were there. )

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Christmas Day Visits

The following pictures are all mixed up and I’m not willing to take the time to put them in the correct order. That said, my Christmas in March blogging spree continues and will until I’m caught up. I got exactly two pictures of Maggie waking up to see what Santa brought her. She went outside to check to see if the reindeer had eaten the food (Thanks, Linda!) that she’d left and then started to play. Our original plan for the day had included a meal at my aunt’s and presents at my grandparents towards the end of the day, but my Grandma ended up getting sick and that plan was changed early Christmas morning. For us, it really was a blessing in disguise because we were able to slow down a bit and not worry so much about fitting it all in. Audrey took a quiet nap and Maggie even watched cartoons – on CHRISTMAS! – while the rest of the adults read and relaxed before we went to visit Barry’s parents and grandparents. 

We’d already had a dinner/presents/Nutcracker exchange a few days before with Barry’s side of the family, since his brother and Darcy had Christmas Day plans of their own, so the time at Greg and Linda’s was mostly playtime mixed with yummy food. Barry’s grandparents live a short walk away and it is always nice to go over and visit when we can. They have a pool table in their front room that every grandkid and great grandkid has been on top of and Audrey was delighted to join in the ranks. I sometimes feel very bashful about asking for posed photos with other adults, because I feel like I’m being pushy, but I’m now wishing that I got Margaret and Luther, Barry’s grandparents, to pose with the girls. 

Because of our plan change, we ended up staying a bit longer to visit Greg and Linda and finally headed home later in the afternoon. That night, because the girls were so tired, they were in bed pretty early and Barry and I had a quiet house together. Because we’d been gone for a few days and weren’t planning on being home for any type of Christmas dinner, I don’t think we had anything to eat except crusty leftovers. I mostly remember us sitting next to each other on the couch, as the Christmas lights twinkled through the window, saying that we couldn’t believe that it was REALLY Christmas since it’d been such a wonky day of plans changing and visits to both sets of grandparents and one set of great grandparents. 
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