Two More Days!

How are we only two days away from Christmas already???  This last week has flown by!  And the first two days of Christmas break have gone by even faster.  Since the theme of my life seems to be "extremes," we can divide yesterday and today into the categories of the happy and the horrible.

The Happy --

• Movies have been watched.

Yesterday, we kicked off our first full day of vacation with an early bird outing to the movie theater to see Sing.  Scott stayed home with the baby so he could take a nap, while I brought the older five with me.  We all enjoyed it!  {Despite the fact that Jane dropped her Icee almost immediately upon sitting down, Alex spilled popcorn everywhere, and Grace kept moving all around and lounging from the floor to various seats on the very back row where we were sitting.}

• Games have been played.

 Dr. Eureka -- a new game -- was a hit tonight!

Between the new games we've gotten this Christmas and some old ones the kids have rediscovered, there has been tons of family bonding over the last couple of days!  Sophie and Ethan (and Alex) are my biggest gamers.  Ethan and Sophie in particular really like games that require strategy and skill, while Grace usually only has patience for games that are fast moving and require more outside the box thinking.

 This vintage Geo Safari is one of the newly rediscovered games, and it has REALLY captured the attention of Ethan and Jane.  And the others.

 Pictureka -- another oldie.  Alex REALLY likes this one.  And he's really good at finding things.

• Christmas cereal has been procured.

After our movie yesterday, we headed over to the Walmart next door for the kids to pick out their long awaited "Christmas cereal" -- i.e. whatever sugary/junky cereal that I don't really ever buy at any other time during the year.  It's become a tradition for them each to choose their very own box for the holidays.  As an added bonus, I really made their day by letting them pick out a lunchable to take home for lunch.  Hahaha.  We're classy like that.  

 Fruit Loops for Ethan, Lucky Charms for Grace and Alex, Trix for Jane, and Brown Sugar Pop Tarts for Sophie.

• Cookies have been decorated (and eaten).

Today's "fun activity" was making sugar cookies and decorating them.  Of course, fun is the total wrong word, because there is almost nothing (food-making wise) that I hate more than rolling out cookie dough, especially when the hassle will require making two separate batches of dough so that allergy girl can have some to eat, too.  But it's a labor of love that I know will be worth it, because everyone loves decorating cookies.  :)  

 Mmmmmm...icing.

The Horrible -- 

• Kids have been sick.

Jane's asthma has been flaring up the last couple of weeks, and it's been bad enough that we decided it would be better to get her checked out now rather than ending up in the ER on Christmas.  I spent the morning with her at the allergist's office, and after a quick test showed her lung capacity is functioning at half of what it should be, we got a prescription for prednisone, she had another breathing treatment in the office, and then we were on our way.  Jane (along with almost everyone else in the house) has had a stuffy nose for the last week or two, and I'm sure whatever respiratory thing she's got going on is what triggered the current flare-up.  

•  The baby has not slept.

Isaac, meanwhile, hardly slept at all yesterday and last night, and when he woke for the day around 4 something this morning and was burning up with a fever, all the fussiness and crankiness started to make a lot more sense.  Poor little lamb.  I'm REALLY hoping this will be a short-lived sickness -- Alex missed only one day of school earlier this week when he was running a low fever himself -- and we'll all be able to enjoy Christmas morning without any issues!

Bonding moment for Alex and Isaac today playing Wii.

• And, finally, there have been PLENTY of fights and meltdowns over the last two days to counterbalance the moments of happiness and cooperation.

No pictures here, but rest assured that all this "family togetherness" brings out the best and the very WORST in all of us.  I'm hoping the excitement of the next two days will be enough to keep the happy times rolling, but even if there's a little bit of the horrible thrown in the mix, I think it will be the bright and shining times that last and linger in our memories as the years go by.  

Goodnight and Merry Christmas!