Back In Town

What a week! I trust you all had a spiffy holiday. We've been back home for 8 busy hours. It feels good to relax for a moment before bed. The house is quiet. My baby girl is sound asleep in her own room, under her cozy pink quilt. My Sweets drifted off while reading books in Buby's big bed. {I'll have slip in there and gently tap his leg... since it's back to work for Daddy tomorrow.}


My parents are downstairs snoozing on our mile high playroom pull-out. It's my mom's 55th birthday today, and I'm so happy to have celebrated with her. They are here for just one night. I'm wearing thermals and flannels and hiding under something like 5 blankets.


You see, the furnace blew out sometime last week while we were away, so we came home to 43 degrees. INSIDE THE HOUSE. Burr. Happy Birthday, Mom! It's working now, and coincidentally a crew is coming tomorrow morning to replace our furnace completely.


This week in Family Land was pretty spectac. I love that all of our peeps are from the same area. We travel to one place and see everyone. All together we had 2 road tripping days, 2 "free days" {which filled up fast with play dates and pie making, cookie frosting, lunches, and nights out}, and then 5 holiday parties in 4 consecutive days.


Buby and Bleu devoured so many fresh blueberries this week I thought they'd have blue skin by now. We were in a car accident on Christmas Eve. {Minor... nobody was hurt.} Buby started saying "Saweeet" out of nowhere. Bleu became utterly smitten with her Uncle Billy and her "Bapa!" {That's Grandpa.} I gave my brother Mark a big fat hug. I remembered how funny my brother-in-law Mike can be. {He + Tom had me in stitches Wednesday night.}


But for me, Christmas week is all about watching the cousins interact. There is Spencer (10), Jamie (10), Jessica (10), Ryan (8), Grace (8), Buby (4), Reagan (4), Billy Jr. (3), Parker (3), Sidney (2), Lily (2), Bleu (1.5), Ronan (1), Mason (6 months), and Baby S. (due in 4 weeks). Plus Drew (5), Kenyon (3), and Toby (2) on my mom's side. Ronan didn't make it in from MD this year, but everyone else had their party hats on.


So my camera says I took 626 photos. Oops. It's all those consecutive timer shots. How about I upload tomorrow night, when my eyes don't burn from exhaustion, and post my top 10 before 2010?


P.S. Photo ornament from my super duper thoughtful friend Maria.

Update: The furnace broke again overnight, and by morning our questionably insulated 1867 abode felt like 17 degrees below zero. INSIDE THE HOUSE. The crew has been here for 7 1/2 hours, and the kids and I are purple. It's too cold to leave the house, and it's too cold to function inside it. Wish us luck that we defrost by dinnertime.