All Day Rain

This was the best day ever to stay inside.  I thanked Emily many times for doing the school run this morning.  I'll miss her next week when she goes back to work.  My morning was spent either on the phone or on the computer taking care of all the loose ends I needed to.

The chirping smoke alarm got repaired early.  Alec came and stood only on the second step of his ladder.  His height has to be a plus in his job.  It took about 30 seconds, so now it's once more peaceful in the house.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 50s, so it will be welcome, and I'll get out and get stuff done.  Our refrigerator is so empty.

This blurry picture is the only one I have of Graysen's new haircut.  It looks really cute and suits her so well.  I can't believe she let Emily cut it.

They got the tea set out and had a tea party with Scrabble letters and pompoms for the tea and sugar.  I'm glad they have good imaginations.  

Here's one of the obnoxious Pomsies that I got the girls.  I knew they were and gave them to them anyway, and they love them.  They make noises and have moods, and every once in awhile they play dance music, and you have to dance.  It's basically a cat head with a tail and no body.

In the foreground is a box of five boxes of slippers for Emily.  She has been trying to find a comfortable pair with an arch support and hasn't found any, so Ryan, being the good husband he is, gave her five pairs to try.  Surely one of them will work.  Elise gave me some red fur-lined ones that are just perfect.

This was the only thing Graysen asked Santa for.  A Barbie camper.  The little Lottie dolls fit in better than the Barbie they have, and they brought a canoe along.

And a tent and real campfire.  And a pan of hot dogs.

They got real watches in their stockings.  I wasn't sure that was a thing any more.  Regular watches.

Kate asked Santa for a Barbie car for her gift, mainly because Graysen asked her to.  She does love it, in spite of this picture.

They liked the treehouse too, thank goodness.  I hope they'll enjoy it and the little dolls.  Emily and I kind of wanted to play with them ourselves.

Here's a picture of Debby's Sophia when they went to GA to visit them, sitting with her dad Brent.  She's so precious.  It's hard to believe she'll be a year old next month. 

Back to Reality

But not really.  I don't have school duties today because Emily is still off work.  I have been up early checking off things.  First thing was to do the maintenance request for that smoke detector.  It hasn't driven us crazy, but we haven't gotten used to it either.  Hopefully, the office will be back up and running this morning.  I have to go by and show the manager my State Farm rental insurance proof, although State Farm says they send an update every year.  I'll do that on my way to the library to pick up some books Emily asked me to request.  I bet since it's Wednesday, I won't get the Seattle Times today.

At 1:20, I have an appointment for a mammogram at Swedish in Issaquah.  I'm checking off my self-care items.  I got my medications refilled and ready for another 3 months.  I had the house call from my insurance company visiting nurse, and she gave me all sorts of suggestions that I may or may not take.  A good visit though.  Courtney is the same nurse who came last year, and she was very patient with Layla trying to walk all over her computer keyboard.

Some pictures from my visit from the girls Monday.  I keep planning to get rid of this little record player since it seems like they would have outgrown it, but who knew they would get such a thrill out of putting Fruit Snacks on the turntable.

I'm not sure what happened here, but this is Kate's stormcloud face.

A nice treat from Carol that arrived Monday also.   Not the sad apple.  She also was nice enough to send a box of Mama's things that wouldn't fit in the suitcase.  That dip was really good with peppers and cucumbers and some pita bread.  We're saving the lime straws until Emily and Ryan can have some.  

Emily and Ryan gave Elise and me a box of various coffee brands and flavors.  I'm not sure why Elise put them in a bowl, but it's pretty handy for poking around for your favorites.

Like this one!

Layla discovered her own playground when I brought the garlands in and packed them up.

A few pictures from Christmas.  This was a really cute game called Hedbanz.  Graysen gets how to ask questions to find out which card she has, but Katherine doesn't quite know how to get going with it yet.  Me either.  The one time I played, I totally had to give up on my card.

At one point, I heard Emily say, "Hey, girls, it doesn't matter if you don't like the animal you see," talking about a shark.  Katherine only wanted the dolphin card since she has an obsession with dolphins now in addition to cats.

They got a new Google Home thing (I think), and the girls love playing with it by saying, "Hey, Google, what sound does a dolphin make?"  Or a unicorn.  And dying laughing.  When they ask what sounds a baby makes, it gives different sounds, some laughing or gurgling and some crying and fussing.  I'm wondering if that's still a thing around their house or if the parents haven had enough and banned it.

My favorite gift that they got is whatever it is that lets me ask it to turn the thermostat up or down.  Win!  No more shivering because I don't want to mess with it.  

This Nest doorbell thing is also handy and was good for many happy times of ringing the doorbell and waving and jumping up and down.  I can't sneak up on them any more.

So many more Christmas memories, but I'll have to wait on those.

First Day of the New Year

And I can think of nothing else:

This lovely chirp woke me up sometime this morning, and we're trapped with it.  The office is closed today, and we have nothing taller than a two-step ladder.  Ryan took all my Christmas boxes to the garage last night, so I don't want to ask him to get out today and bring the tallest ladder he has, but one of us might break before then.  Or go to their house.  I think they're going to be gone most of the day to Gig Harbor.

Christmas was just perfect in spite of us taking turns with a stomach thing.  Christmas Day was fun, and it's the first time since we've been here that I've managed to spend several hours with family.  Last year it snowed, and the year before that, it was too hard.  I have a lot of pictures but most of them were just craziness and excitement.  I was sitting there in my new fur-lined slippers, drinking something good and just eating it up, how warm and secure and loved I was with most of our family there having such a good time.  The girls were all playing a rowdy game that involved putting cards on your foreheads and guessing what they are, and Ryan had just unwrapped his Auburn hoodie, approved of it, and immediately stretched out and fallen asleep - with his hood up.

The next few days were rainy, windy, stormy, bitterly cold mostly, so I got out no more than I had to.  We kept the girls yesterday for Emily and Ryan to go and pick out a couch for their den.  I did a lot of reading, a good bit of cleaning and taking care of Mama's papers and things, and some working on the puzzle.

Two thousand pieces is just about too big for my table, and it's impossible to sit down and work on it.  You just have to wander around and find what you need.  I see a few pieces under the table.  Layla has pretty much lost interest in it, so I don't have to cover it at night, but the temptation is sometimes too much for her.  

It's a candy shop and very colorful and interesting, so I've mostly enjoyed it when I've had time.

But there are way too many green and brown shelves and jars of candy that all look alike.  I had hoped to finish it before January, but it looks like it may be February.

Just sitting here this morning listening to the chirping and enjoying the fire and a glass of cold ginger ale and hoping for the smoke alarm will die and I'll feel like a cup of coffee.

Let the fun begin

Today Elise and go will go to the Win-Bins and have a relaxing day, eating and putting together puzzles and watching the girls unwrap gifts gradually.  I'm not sure they could take opening them all at once!

They stayed here yesterday while Emily and Ryan went to the Issaquah Costco, which is no place for children OR adults on Christmas Eve or any time.  They were allowed to open one gift to bring over here, and it was a couple from Grandma and Grandpa Bindert - who know these girls very well.

Graysen got an Elsa Lego set.  She couldn't wait to take it out and get started.  She took the instructions, which she called her map, and started organizing.

She's like her dad and is going to love things like this.  I ended up holding the map for her, and letting her see what she needed and finding it.  A few times when I couldn't find the piece, she would immediately go to it.

Katherine's gift was a Paw Patrol book and figures set with a play mat.  She was so thrilled over it and set them up for an adventure.

She really wanted Graysen to pay with her, but Graysen was concentrating on the Legos, so she brought some of her pups to visit Elsa.  They did pretty well playing together, but then Layla decided she was feeling left out.  Those little pieces are hard to resist for a kitty.

More after the afternoon of fun.

Almost Christmas

I worked for what seemed like hours on this treehouse for the girls.  I was excited at how well made it was, all wood and no plastic.  All the pieces were there and all the screws were accounted for.  The pieces were not numbered, though, and there was a subtle difference in each piece that was impossible to figure out from the diagram.  I probably did each step at least twice, and I'm still not sure that door handle is supposed to hit the banister rail.

There's a slide and a swing and a swinging ladder that leads to the trapdoor.

When I finally finished it, it seemed just right.  The drop-down wall snapped back in with a satisfying click instead of dropping down immediately.  It just took a little tightening and settling of one piece.  The door doesn't stay closed well, so I'll see if Ryan can put a little magnet on it.

The girls spent a few hours here yesterday afternoon, and I hid it well in the sewing room.  They'll open the rest of it tomorrow night - 3 little dolls, like this Muddy Puddle one.

They're about the size of Barbies, but they are dressed like little girls and do little girl things - like playing and exploring and drawing - instead of grownup things like Barbies do.

They're getting a camping set and canoe and life vests as well as a dog and cat and all their equipment as well as some extra outfits.

The only thing Graysen asked Santa for this year is a Barbie Camper, so maybe Barbie will let these girls use it.

We went to a Crafternoon Thursday hosted by a Rooster Valley friend, Isabella, and her mom Tanya.  It was a welcome activity for a rainy afternoon.  Emily was in pain with some muscle problems in her back, so I took them.

Katherine and Graysen were both shy at first because there were some girls they didn't know, but another old best friend was there, Brooklyn with her mom Carrie.

Isabella, Brooklyn, and Graysen were together for a couple of years at Rooster Valley and became friends, but this year they go to 3 different kindergartens and haven't seen each other since last spring.

Isabella is the cutest, giggliest little girl, but she has a thing for scissors.  I think she had recently cut up the living room curtains - twice - and that morning had given herself this haircut.

Once when they all trooped upstairs, one mother asked Tanya, "Do you know where all your scissors are?"  It did get pretty quiet at times, and we were all glad to see them come back with their hair intact.

Tanya is very brave and very optimistic.  She had a long table set up with paints and brushes, ornaments, glue, stickers - everything these girls get excited about.  Look at Katherine sitting there like one of the big girls!

As I mentioned on Facebook, Katherine refused to use any color except black.  When you ask what her favorite color is - and even when you don't ask - her answer is, "My favorite color is purple and pink and sparkly and all the colors of the rainbow."  I'm not sure what prompted this gloomy stocking.

I pointed out the holly and the cuff and showed her more paints, but she was having none of it.  It remained black!  I did show her now to do white dots, and she was fascinated with that and decorated it a little.

Graysen used a very un-Christmas-y baby blue with dots and stripes on the back, but did a great job, and they were very pleased with them.

This is what things looked like early on.

The highlight of the party for Katherine was the appearance of this beautiful black cat.  They immediately bonded and kissed and hugged several times.

The whole thing exhausted me, just seeing all that energy and listening to the mothers discuss potty-training and sleeping and skiing lessons and time-outs.  I could sit back and relax and know that my duties ended right after the party, and I could take a long nap.

This is about all I could take of the eating and drinking part, and this was before the hot chocolate got spilled and cookies were crumbled all over the floor.  

Wrapping gifts is now an adventure instead of just a chore.