Christmas Morning

I'm so far behind I'm just going to post pictures. That's what the grandparents like best anyway, right?

Christmas Eve

We went to Texas to visit my (Juliet's) family for Christmas.
On Christmas Eve our cousins came over and we had lots of fun. Here the kids are making cookies for Santa. Christopher and John have little experience with homemade cookies. They took "line them up on the pan" literally!

We welcomed the kids into the sister tradition of new pajamas on various occasions. They got to open their new pajamas on Christmas Eve, so they could wear them that night and spend the next day in them. Hurray to Jenny for finding the crown jewel of our search: gender-neutral pajamas in size 5T, 4T, 3T and 12 mo. Not an easy task on the day before Christmas. We love Target!

Here are the stockings hung by the chimney (gas log) with care. These are the Penna stockings, and I let Ada borrow my Vixen one, the reindeer with the pink tutu. You can see the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer.

Writing notes to Santa.

Here is John putting his note on the stocking, facing the chimney so that Santa could see it right when he came down the chimney.

Santa came through. John and Keats-Baby checking the full stockings!

Adverb

I think Christopher already shares my love of diction and grammar. This morning he said, "Look, Mommy, I can open this eas-awee [easily]."

Homework with Grandma Judy

Once a week John goes to "Math Superstars." It's an optional program at each grade level at the school, and the first graders go for half an hour on Mondays before school. I also volunteer. Each week they receive a worksheet of different kinds of age-appropriate word problems that they are supposed to attempt on their own. The next week, we talk through them and hand out a new worksheet. Sometimes we play math-related games.
Anyway, this week, Grandma Judy helped John with a couple problems via Facetime (the Apple kingdom version of Skype).

Go, Grandma! Go, Math!

John

Ever since we read part of the first chapter of "Beezus and Ramona," by Beverly Cleary, John has been interested in getting his own library card.
Today, Tony took him to get it!

Sick Boys Update

Christopher was sick and miserable all week. Actually, city of Clemson had a boil water advisory on Thursday and Friday, and they closed his school Friday (because they couldn't provide adequate handwashing), so that made having him home Friday easier to take. Last night was miserable, and I finally melted down from being stuck in the house practially glued to Christopher since Sunday. I slept in his room because he was waking up a couple times a night, and so it has literally been only at an hour at a time that I have been in a separate room from him. I pretty much thought he was going to be sick for the rest of our natural lives... but his fever was finally gone this morning. He was cranky and fussy, but I finally told him that we've been being extra nice because he was sick, but he had to start being happy again. He mostly has.

Needless to say, I'm very glad he's on the mend. I think it was the 100% juice flavor-ices that cured him. He had about 5-7 a day the last couple days. It was the only way to get fluids into him.

 However, John asked for his temperature to be taken this morning, and it slowly went up from 99.7 to currently 101. Sigh. Round two. I hope he is not as sick as Christopher was. Also, Tony's classes are over, so hopefully I can get to the gym this week, and not be stuck in the house so much.



Thanks to Miss Kerri for the race track. The boys had fun with it!

Sick boys

Christopher and John were both home sick today. Fevers with coughs and congestion. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's not flu. They'll both be home again tomorrow, and I don't have a lot of hope for Wednesday, but we'll see.
Christopher is having the worst of it. His fever is higher than John's. But I think he's one day further along also.

John kept feeling John's head, saying "He's burning, it's like he's on fire." Tony said that means Christopher is the red ninja.