One last christmas and another snow day

I dont know about the MountHoreb school system now-a-days. They closed school two hours early for a measly 6 inches on snow. Now, when I was a kid........uphill, both ways..... well, you get the picture. I am just grumpy because now that I am not working, it cuts into my P&Q time, which should be my completing project time but I have not been all that motivated. The boys came home and were eager to get outside to play. I, less eager to start shoveling, went out to have a good time. I was amazed at how well they played together. No fighting, screaming, face-washing, nothing! AND they even worked together on their quest to capture the big, bigger and biggest tree branches(downed from the ice storm) from the yard. no eyes were poked or faces scratched. This one was BIG BIGGER BIGGEST..it was even too big to be brought down the sidewalk where I was shoveling.Can you imagine what this conversation might be... "Hey Jamison, you jump to see how far you go and then I will see if I can beat you. No, you go first". Jamison's action shot. Peter's action shot.

Don and Jill made it to town after their long east coast christmas. One more stop before they can relax in their north woods retreat, or for Don, freeze out on the lake ice fishing. We had a few more presents to exchange. Now, the Cullen family has been known for their wrapping but this year takes the prize! Don was on the hunt for a gift for Pat but was unable to find what he was looking for. SO, a monetary gift was placed in an envelope. Take a close look, the blue crayon colored area says "Don and Jill", an envelope that I gave them with the boys school pictures. This is the best wrapped gift EVER, so much I think we are going to save the wrapping and reuse it (again)! Watch out family and friends. Now I am off to de-christmas the house.

On a tangent, I have a rule in my house, if a toy is on the floor (mainly crayons, legos etc) and I pick it up, I throw it away. Well, last night the boys were playing superheros together...again, really well no fighting, i am wondering if I should take them to a doctor.....they left them all under a chair in the dining room. I guess it was the super heros headquarters. So this morning, Jamison comes down and says..."hey Peter, we should really put these away". I smiled and then continued to make lunches. I came back from getting them on the bus and all the superheros are put away! I am in awe, amazed and gleaming with pride that the many many many times I have nagged them to pick up their stuff has worked! or at least once. I will take any little victory when I can. Now, the bucket of superheros is still on the floor.......little victories, baby steps.