Christmas 2014

Well, it's been a while since my last post!  I didn't mean to let so much time go by, but Christmas is such a busy time, and my blog was pushed to the bottom of the pile.  Between school, church, family, and friends, we had a fun and busy Christmas season.  Here's some of what we did during the month of December.
Drew and I decorated the tree.

Maddie undecorated it.  I came out to find a chair-full of plucked ornaments after my shower one morning.  She had pulled the balls off their tops, so I had to search the tree for the 30 tops that were still hooked onto the branches.  Not fun!!  That time was the worst, but she did the same thing, in much smaller quantities, a few times during the Christmas season.

 Our elf, Eddie, came again this year.

 Drew was in two Christmas programs this year.  He had a solo in his school Christmas program.  He was the sheep with curly horn in "The Friendly Beasts," and he did a great job!

 He was also in our church children's Christmas program.

 I subbed in Drew's class the last day of school before Christmas Break.  The class had their party the day before I subbed, but we did several fun things the day I was there too.  We played a game that involved rolling dice and trying to get a gift unwrapped.

 We also made some Christmas crafts.

 The Kindergarten, First, and Second grade classes watched "The Polar Express" on a smart board during the afternoon.  It was a fun day!

 We had a candlelight service at church the Sunday evening before Christmas.  I'm always a little nervous about all the little candles, but it is a very special service each year.

 I got the best picture I could of Drew and Maddie all dressed up for Christmas at church.

Jim and Drew went Christmas shopping for me, and they came home and wrapped my gifts together.  

 We took dinner over to Jim's mom's apartment the night before Christmas Eve, and we exchanged gifts with her.  We had planned to go out for dinner, but Maddie was not feeling good at all.  She had a fever, and she was very tired.

 She stayed on Jim's lap all evening and didn't want to eat or even open her gifts.

 She got a chalkboard from Grandma, and she perked up long enough to try it out for a minute before going back to sleep.

We did our own little family gift exchange at home on Christmas Eve morning.  We all woke up to gifts under and around the tree.

 Our Doc McStuffins fan got her own doctor kit, a vintage toy cash register, a doll bed, and a toy ironing board.

 Drew got some art supplies, some Lego stuff, a Patriots (our school mascot) hoodie, and a Kindle.

 I got some of my favorite popcorn, some pajamas, and some soap from Bath and Body Works from the kids.  Jim did his shopping for me from my wish list on Amazon, and he had everything shipped to my parents' house.  My mom wrapped everything, and I opened those gifts when we got to South Carolina.  I have an Amazon wish list of random things I like, and Jim decided to use it for his shopping.  It worked out really well!

 Jim got a new snow blower this year, so he didn't get much else for Christmas.  We gave him some undershirts, some athletic pants, and a desk calendar (not very exciting, so not pictured).
Maddie immediately gave George a checkup with her new doctor tools after we finished unwrapping.

 Later that day, we went to Jim's sister's house for lunch and Christmas with Jim's family.  Maddie was feeling sick again, and she fell asleep in the high chair at lunch.  She was feeling so bad that she wasn't even interested in opening her presents.

 Drew was very interested in his gifts!  We left right after the gifts were opened because Maddie was really feeling miserable.  She just needed to go!  We went home, loaded the van, and started our trip to South Carolina.  We were concerned about Maddie, but we hoped that with some naps in the car and a good night's sleep in our hotel, she would feel better soon.

We spent the night in a hotel near Cincinnati.  Maddie had a bit of a rough night, but she woke up feeling pretty good.  We had brought our stockings and one gift for each person along with us, so we had something to open on Christmas morning. 

 Maddie was finally feeling good enough to be excited about her gifts that morning.  She kept saying, "Oh my!" about every gift.

The kids played with their gifts while we got ready, and then we had breakfast at the hotel before leaving to drive the rest of the way to South Carolina.

I had developed a bit of a cough during the night, and by the time we were ready to leave the hotel, I was starting to feel pretty sick.  I thought I was probably getting whatever Maddie had had.  I felt progressively worse all day as we traveled.  By the time we got to my parents' house and began to open gifts with my parents and my sister's family, I was miserable. 

All through the gifts, I was just feeling terrible.  I asked my mom if she would mind if I went to bed.  I was aching everywhere, and I just wanted to lie down.  I ended up missing Christmas dinner and the whole first evening there.

The next morning, Jim took me to Urgent Care, and I tested positive for Influenza type A.  I started on Tamiflu and a steroid that were supposed to make me feel better.  I did feel better from my flu symptoms after another day or two, but the Tamiflu made me feel bad in other ways.  I felt out of it, tired, and irritable.  In retrospect, I wish I had not taken the Tamiflu, and I will probably not go that route if I ever get the flu again.

Jim ended up with a leg infection (it flairs up every now and then from an old college softball injury), and he saw the doctor at Urgent Care the same morning that I did.  He was on an antibiotic all week.  We were quite a pair!  In spite of being sick, we really did have a nice time with my family.  During our week in South Carolina, we played games,

 enjoyed time with cousins,

 took guitar lessons,

 and had a White Elephant gift exchange.

 The adults were the main White Elephant gift participants, but my mom found a pair of clown shoes at a thrift store and couldn't resist getting them for Drew.  His reaction was so funny!

 Here are Jim and me with our gifts - some lovely goose canisters and a paper towel dispenser.

We drove home last Thursday, and we spent the last few days of Christmas break unpacking, undecorating, and getting ready to get back to school and work on Monday.  We had a good Christmas, and I hope you did too!