That whole week's a bit of a blur to me. We had 14 people staying in the house for most of the week, with a bump up to 16 for the last four days. The youngest was Gracie, at 15 months. The oldest, my mom's friend Joe D. ... well, I don't know how hold he is, but definitely in the "grandfather" generation.
We had to shop for groceries every day, since the fridge only held enough for about 36 hours. Air mattresses covered most of the square-footage on the second floor. We passed around a couple colds (Gracie had her first, ever), and I came down with mine on Tuesday. So I spent portions of each day napping, both to kick the cold and, I admit, to escape the mayhem. Joe coped by keeping busy: organizing outings, cooking, playing games, doing dishes.
Here are some highlights:
Videogame tournaments in the dining room.
Touch football in the backyard (Rudy was little unclear about the difference between "touch" and "tackle" and had a little problem with late hits)
A cookie-decorating party, at which Wendy Saul revealed herself as a pastry artist, with some tendencies toward OCD.
A visit to Wild Lights at the Zoo.
A competitive, Polman-family crossword puzzle, custom-made by the Baigs, won by Bill.
Clockwise from left foreground:
Scott (J's middle sister's husband)
Josh (J's oldest sister's son)
Joe
Bill (J's older brother)
Laura (middle sister, in background)
Jackie (Bill's main squeeze)
Tim (Jackie's childhood friend from Taiwan)
Dee Dee (youngest sister)
Sarah (oldest sister)
The result of the midnight assembly of presents under the tree. This is one of the major differences between my family's tradition and Joe's. In my family, we put presents out in advance, with tantelizing little clues on them. In Joe's, all the presents magically appear for children on Christmas morning.
Josh, Joe's 24-yr-old nephew, took charge of hiding the tree and gifts from his younger cousins (using blindfolds and sheets hung between rooms) until it was time to open presents. The "reveal" is one of his favorite Christmas memories.
This is a family with some serious Christmas spirit. Laura, on the right, is the prime spirit-keeper. She brought stockings for everyone, helped us with extra decoration for the house, and bedecked herself and her daughter, Gracie, in Santa hats.
That programmable, coffee-warming auto mug just made me weep.
The many Harry Potter gifts included this Choosing Hat.
Gracie, our 15-mo-old niece, was a highlight of the week. She and her Dad, the smallest and the biggest of us, were a killer combination. My mom was in heaven.
Rudy was very well behaved. Not only did he do well with the baby, he even put himself between her and people who seemed to approach her dangerously fast.
Here, he's pretending not to have a bone in his mouth.
We finished two big puzzles! Did you notice this family is big into games and puzzles?
Our understated lights.
Hope you had a happy holiday!
.
We had to shop for groceries every day, since the fridge only held enough for about 36 hours. Air mattresses covered most of the square-footage on the second floor. We passed around a couple colds (Gracie had her first, ever), and I came down with mine on Tuesday. So I spent portions of each day napping, both to kick the cold and, I admit, to escape the mayhem. Joe coped by keeping busy: organizing outings, cooking, playing games, doing dishes.
Here are some highlights:
Videogame tournaments in the dining room.
Touch football in the backyard (Rudy was little unclear about the difference between "touch" and "tackle" and had a little problem with late hits)
A cookie-decorating party, at which Wendy Saul revealed herself as a pastry artist, with some tendencies toward OCD.
A visit to Wild Lights at the Zoo.
A competitive, Polman-family crossword puzzle, custom-made by the Baigs, won by Bill.
Clockwise from left foreground:Scott (J's middle sister's husband)
Josh (J's oldest sister's son)
Joe
Bill (J's older brother)
Laura (middle sister, in background)
Jackie (Bill's main squeeze)
Tim (Jackie's childhood friend from Taiwan)
Dee Dee (youngest sister)
Sarah (oldest sister)
The result of the midnight assembly of presents under the tree. This is one of the major differences between my family's tradition and Joe's. In my family, we put presents out in advance, with tantelizing little clues on them. In Joe's, all the presents magically appear for children on Christmas morning.
Josh, Joe's 24-yr-old nephew, took charge of hiding the tree and gifts from his younger cousins (using blindfolds and sheets hung between rooms) until it was time to open presents. The "reveal" is one of his favorite Christmas memories.This is a family with some serious Christmas spirit. Laura, on the right, is the prime spirit-keeper. She brought stockings for everyone, helped us with extra decoration for the house, and bedecked herself and her daughter, Gracie, in Santa hats.
That programmable, coffee-warming auto mug just made me weep.
The many Harry Potter gifts included this Choosing Hat.
Gracie, our 15-mo-old niece, was a highlight of the week. She and her Dad, the smallest and the biggest of us, were a killer combination. My mom was in heaven.
Rudy was very well behaved. Not only did he do well with the baby, he even put himself between her and people who seemed to approach her dangerously fast.
Here, he's pretending not to have a bone in his mouth.
We finished two big puzzles! Did you notice this family is big into games and puzzles?
Our understated lights.
Hope you had a happy holiday!
.
Comments
Post a Comment