The meltdown

It's Saturday - We cleaned house a little, Corey put on a crockpot of Clam Chowder and we've been slowly working on the laundry buildup from the past few days. Christmas was fantastic, not just for the gifts, but, for the togetherness we had with our family this year. We had our big Christmas Eve feast with immediate family and others we don't see too often. A white elephant gift exchange provided us with some good house smelling stuff and an atomic clock. Cooper is much like the men in his life, in that he would much rather be around people he is always around, rather than a large group of people he doesn't know. So, after everyone arrived at Grandma's house he was a little overwhelmed, ran to the back door, and was begging "bye-bye, Dada, bye bye!!" He wanted to leave. We had to remove him from the group a few times and when the dinner and gift exchange was over, and guests other than the regulars were leaving, he was happy to assist them with a happy "bye bye" send off at the back door. It was actually pretty cute.

The children were blessed with some great gifts this year: A Wii (for Katie and the family), nintento DS, a new tricycle, clothes, books, a remote controlled ride on toy (for Cooper, of course) and many other wonderful Christmas gifts. Corey, and the twins, haha, gave me a new pair of slippers that won't fall off my feet, and keep them comfy and warm. For reasons unknown, I have been annually gifted slippers that are bright pink and super fluffy from various people. I have kept them over the years, but, with constant use they do wear down and when I am big and pregnant, like now, I have a hard time keeping slippers on that don't have heels. The new slippers, however.........aaaah. It's like heaven on earth. I'm pretty sure they're the most expensive slippers, or any footwear for that matter, that have ever graced my feet and when they're on I feel like royalty. My new microwave (with numbers! - Long story) is a dream, and our new back up camera for our SUV will be great.

I think that Christmas exhausted us this year. With so much snow to have to shovel and clear away during the daylight hours, by evening we were spent. Corey and I were up until well after midnight doing the Christmas morning preparations, and Cooper, not feeling well during Christmas Eve, woke at 4AM and screamed and screamed. Poor little boy! Corey and I both tended to him for an hour before Corey sent me back to bed. Before I headed back to bed, we decided to let Cooper have one of his gifts: A train table. His illness began to dissipate as he watched the train make the rounds, up the hills, around the mountains and over the bridge. It was beautiful to see him somewhat happy again. So, 5 am off to bed I went. An hour later, Cooper tucked in to bed, Corey joined me. 8:30 AM we woke up and attempted to make a plan for the next hour. We were supposed to be up at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the Santa visit gift opening and Christmas Brunch at 9am, but it was obvious we were going to be late. I think we made it there at 10AM, dragging ourselves in after Cooper woke. He was happy as could be and it made for a wonderful, happy Christmas morning.

Yesterday we had to take the tree down. The needles were falling off at warp speed and the tree seemed to be drier than it should have been. We don't need any extra dangers here, so out it went. The decorations came down with the tree and it's all put away for next year. Though Christmas is over, we have so much stuff to remind us all how great it was. Next year, we'll be spreading cheer with 4 children - It will be very interesting to see how we handle that!

The snow is now melting faster than we'd like it to, and the driveways and side roads are hellacious to travel on. I am so thankful we have our big heavy SUV to make it up the driveway in this meltdown. Any other car we've had in the past would be sitting at the bottom of the hill awaiting a total ice-melt before we could make it up the driveway. We just found out that Niko and Kathy, Corey's brother and sis in law, had a little fender bender on the slush covered freeway - They are both fine and the car has minor damage. Just a reminder to us all that we aren't invincible, even as good drivers in a vehicle with four wheel drive.

Tomorrow we will feast again at our annual Japanese New Year Celebration: The Mochi party. We will make fresh Mochi and throw last years for good luck. Several of us will walk away from the party with blistered hands from the scorching hot rice dough. And, others will several times over attempt to make the best ball of mochi, which can be seen in it's shine once the dough has settled. I've made several mochi balls throughout the years, but only maybe 1 or 2 that were brag-worthy. Each party goer will take turns with a big, huge, heavy mallot to beat mochi in a hollowed out tree stump, hoping that we don't lose control and land on someone's fingers instead. It can be dangerous, but I've never seen an accident in the 8 years I've participated. Thank goodness.

I hit walmart yesterday - Yes, Walmart is the only major retail store we have in our town, so I visit there often. I went on the hunt for snow pants and snow boots as we were unable to find what we were looking for prior to Christmas. Still, nothing. The walls were bare, but people were there to find the 50% discounts on Christmas items for next year. I probably should have loaded up, but I just didn't think about that. I did look for babies first Christmas stockings and decor, but was unable to find the right thing. Besides, I'll need two of them and I'll want them to be just right.

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Christmas, and that the new year brings you all joy and happiness. 2009 will be one of the most eventful years of our lives and I am so glad to have all the friends and family that I do to be a part of our adventure. I am proud of my husband for all his accomplishments and look forward to another year with him learning, exploring and growing together to be better spouses and better parents. I am proud of Kaitlyn for all her help while I am not as able to do things as I was a few months back. She has been so helpful and while 2009 will be one of her most eventful life years as well, I know she'll do great and will be able and willing to participate in the family matters that we will endeavor together. I am proud of Cooper for just being him - He doesn't really know that he's trying to do anything, but, he's such a smart, well rounded, curious and active little boy. He's all the boy I ever dreamed of having and I am so glad that he will be the big brother to his little twin sisters. I'm confident that both he and Katie will adapt well to their baby sisters, and will want to help mom and dad as best they can. And last, I am proud to have the family I do - Without them I wouldn't be who I am today. And without them, I couldn't look forward to the adventure of our lifetime that will continue in 2009.

Cheers to all on the best year we can make for ourselves! Happy New Year!