Monday - Brian got home around 8am and went almost straight to bed, but first told us about an amusing story involving his Czech surplus parka that he wore to work for the first time (he bought it for $20 online since it was the cheapest winter coat option he could find). He walked into work the night before and noticed that one of the security guys was keeping an eye on him. He tried to discretely follow Brian until the he saw Brian badge his way into the employee changing room. Brian apparently looked somewhat suspicious and definitely NOT like a physician in his surplus military coat!
I was planning on running to the library and CVS by myself in the morning, but the kids (Nathan) decided he wanted to take Gran and Pawpaw to the library, so we all got bundled up for the cold and took a walk to the library. I left the kids there with the grands while I ran over to CVS to get a few things and once I got back the kids demonstrated how they check out their library books "self". After we got home, Mom and I started our holiday cooking by making dipped chocolate centers and boiled custard.
Brian and I went out for our first date night of the week. We had dinner (yummy fish tacos) and then saw Thor at the theater. We realized after we got into the theater that the girl at the ticket counter gave us the student discount (without asking us), which I definitely took as a compliment. It was also a super cold night but Brian decided that he would not wear his army parka for my sake!
Tuesday - Gran woke up with a sinus headache (bummer!) but was slowly able to recover after getting some meds, taking a nap, and then resting on the sofa for part of the morning. I went out on my own to run a few errands and then stop by the grocery to get the last of our Thansgiving food supplies. The store was packed!! I made it home just in time for lunch then Gran and I continued our cooking in the afternoon - dipping the chocolate centers and making almost seven-layer bars (I couldn't find peanut-free butterschotch chips so we left them out... and of course neither child has touched these cooking so we could have put them in!). Pawpaw treated us to a pasta dinner at Bottega di Capri - we got tortilini alfredo, lobster ravioli alfredo, pumpkin ravioli alfredo, lasagna and bowties with tomato sauce (for the kids). Then Brian and I headed out to the movies again, this time to see Catching Fire (I love The Hunger Games!). (This time we were asked if we qualified for the student discount, to which we said no.)
Wednesday - It was wet but much warmer today (60 degrees!) so I thought it would be fun to go out with the kids and let them stomp in puddles. I had a few new items on hold that I wanted to pick up from the library, so I planned on killing two birds with one stone. Pawpaw joined us on our outing but unfortunately due to extreme attitude issues from the kids it wasn't a fun experience. But I did get another cute picture of them in their rain gear, so it wasn't a total loss!
We stayed inside the rest of the day and did a little more Thanksgiving prep (make cornbread and biscuits for dressing, chicken broth to turn into gravy). Brian had another night shift so Gran and Pawpaw joined me in watching Les Miserables after the kids went to bed (which Brian was thankful to miss!).
Thursday - Brian had an uneventful night shift and came home and fell in bed. Gran and I resumed cooking by making the pecan pie and the crust for the french silk pie. We had a pretty low-key day, but it really didn't feel like Thanksgiving. We decided it was because we had Thanksgiving dinner close to regular dinnertime (5pm) since Brian was napping post-call and also so the kids could have their regular naps (which they desperately needed). But we had a delicious dinner in the evening: ham, sausage dressing, gravy, green beans, pumpkin pudding, cranberry salad, and then pecan and french silk pie for the adults and (dipped) "chocolate balls" for the kids. Brian did tell me this was probably his first Thanksgiving ever not to have turkey - sorry honey! (He didn't mind that we had ham, but just mentioned the fact to me.)
Unfortunately I deleted the pictures of Thanksgiving dinner off my camera by accident, but here's the one Gran took with her camera.
Thanksgiving happened to be the only night of the visit that all four of us adults were home in the evening, so we pulled out the Rummikub and played a few rounds before bed.
Friday - Brian went in for a regular day of work, but the rest of us spent the morning putting up the Christmas tree. It was really fun for both the kids to be old enough to "help" this year and I loved having other adults to work on decorations with me (since its always hit or miss with Brian's schedule and when I'm motivated to put the tree up.) I remember vividly last year Nathan helping me while Sarah was down for her morning nap - he would stretch out the lights from the tree in the dining room all the way back into the kitchen, then "help" me by holding the end and bringing it toward me as I put the lights in the tree. Nathan had the same job this year, although with many other willing hands. Both Nathan and Sarah were really excited about helping to hang up the ornaments too. Nathan even asked specifically for us to find the snowmen ornaments with their names on them that Aunt Karen gave the kids last year. Then they got to open this year's ornaments from Aunt Karen - penguins since they love watching the penguins at the aquarium so much!
Nathan was super excited when we pulled out the singing/dancing snowman and Sarah just needed a "mel-wa ba" (granola bar) to snack on.
She was able to back away from her snack long enough to shoot Gran a smile!
Opening the kids' penguin ornaments.
Nathan and Sarah were super excited about hanging the ornaments on the tree, though both had their "issues". Nathan liked to group all the ornaments he was hanging on the same branch. On one he had 5 similar/identical non-breakable balls crowded together. In another spot he had a couple snowmen snuggled up right next to each other and he told me it was because he didn't want them to be lonely. (I am that mom though that tweaked the ornament placement after he stopped paying attention.) Sarah on the other hand really REALLY wanted to hang ornaments but just didn't have the skills yet to get any of the hangers or thread loops placed on the branches, but thankfully her frustration didn't get in the way of her excitement about the Christmas tree.
After all the hard work, the kids wanted to pull out the camera and tripod and take some pictures - so glad they thought of it or else we may not have gotten pictures with Gran and Pawpaw this visit!
After we got a good shot with all of us, Nathan decided he wanted to take a picture of him jumping. There were lots and lots and lots of takes, but we ended up with more then one good shot of both kids in the air. This one, though, had the best smiles of them all!
We had a great surprise when Brian walked in the door just after 1:00pm; they had let him go early at work since it was such a slow day. The previous week Brian had bought tickets to take me to opening night of the Nutcracker ballet at the Boston Opera House as my birthday present, and since he had gotten home so early we also were going to have time for dinner before the show. We had a great time and really enjoyed the show, although I mentioned to Brian that since neither of us knew much about ballet the high caliber of the performance was probably lost on us. But it was another great Boston memory we made!
Saturday - We said goodbye to Gran and Pawpaw. Sarah especially was very sad about the parting and at first refused to say good-bye to them. But when we got back into the apartment after saying out goodbyes at the curb, Sarah got really upset that she hadn't said bye. So I grabbed her in my arms and we rushed downstairs one more time and I passed her into Gran's arms in the car and she gave hugs and kisses, then we blew kisses and waved until the car had disappeared down the street.
From Aunt Karen: This made my day! What a great picture of you, the children and Mark and Fran! It's the best. And, wow, can Nathan 'get air' when he jumps. Sarah too for her age and size. It sounds like a wonderful visit and Mark and Fran talked about their week there while here. Making new memories. So happy that Nathan remembered the little snowman ornaments from last year which weren't their 'real' name/date ornaments. Just love his memory. I'm glad the children loved the penguin bells. Love to all.
ReplyDelete