Reagan had a birthday party with all of her new friends. Pin the tail on the donkey and a Cakewalk, and of course the princess castle cake...I need to post pictures.
Oh, how I wish everyone in PDX could experience a Christmas with us, but with our luck, it would rain if anyone came for a visit. The last two years have shown us the sunny side of Christmas. Blue skies, white fluffy clouds, plenty of warmth for kids to dash outside in pajamas to play with a new toy. As the day progresses, everyone piles into cars to visit friends and eat Christmas dinner, and nothing, I mean nothing, tastes better than southern cornbread stuffing--even when you accidentally dump the brown sugar intended for the crispy crust of the sweet potato pie into it. It's not a New England Christmas, so, no one thinks about caroling. Instead, someone grabs a football and a game spills off the front porch and on to the street. Jugs of iced tea. Pecan pie. Brownies and Divinity.
It's awfully quiet in a college town on New Year's Eve. Oxymoronic, isn't it? Everyone is asleep by 10:00pm. Not a bang, boom, honk or hoot. No sirens. Everyone is thankful that the town can take a brief nap before the Spring Term arrives.
Then the mad rush to side the house before school started. The mad rush to pull out windows, build walls, insulate, build a new window, set a new door, get the house tight and ready. Time to adjust to getting up early every day. A quick dash to the zoo before Christmas break is over. A nice afternoon spent with Uncle Howell. Starting choir for the kids, dance for Kate, violin for Reagan. Practice some Chinese. Choir for mom and dad.
Deep breath and January is almost over, and time to put together a birthday party for Kate.
