Well, a few weeks ago we bought our first Christmas present to ourselves... a new mailbox. We weren't expecting this one but thanks to some bored vandals we have replaced our ugly old florally decaled mailbox with a plain but new brown one. I was comforted by the fact that we weren't the only house, let alone the only neighborhood to get hit. We have been vandalized before - our solar lights along the front path of our house were smashed on 2 separate occasions a few summers back and skidmarks were left on our lawn. I was beginning to think we were singled out for some reason but at least a handful of houses in at least 2 neighborhoods were hit. We honestly weren't sad to see the old mailbox go.
We hosted my in-laws for an overnight on Saturday the 18th before all heading down to Amish country in Pennsylvania for an overnight visit to Jack's grandparents and uncle. We met up with Regan and Strom in PA who drove up from Virginia with their sweet little kitten. We all stayed in a quaint Mennonite-run B&B, which we've stayed at a few times now. 8 of us (all except Joseph) crammed into the 2 bedroom "home away from home" for the night, and it always leaves us feeling like we just took the best vacation. Of course we had a great time with the grandparents and "Uncle/Nephew/Cousin Skip/Mac/Jim/Seamus McDade/McDaid" (he has a new preferred nickname each time we see him it seems and I can't bring myself to call him the latest - "Ugly Stick"). Grandmom of course went above and beyond as usual... plenty of food and desserts, and very generous with her gifts. Doobie was pleasant and conversational which was a bonus as he's in agonizing back pain most of the time now. I of course knew the timing of our gift would fall at the most inconvenient time, but it all worked out. We ordered a photo book for them and had it shipped straight there since we didn't think it would make it here in time before our trek down there. After 2 hours of trying to say goodbye on Monday and finally having our coats on and making our way towards the door, the phone call came that the package had arrived downstairs. I wouldn't have stressed so much if I hadn't planned on making a visit to my aunt and uncle on our way home who were about 15 miles away. Well, coats came back off and I called my aunt to let her know we were running behind. It all worked out. The photo book came out great, and they loved it and we got to see her face as she turned each page!
We somehow made it out of there around 3 (originally attempting to leave at 1), and weaved the country roads to Kinzers where my aunt and uncle live. I hadn't seen them since our wedding 4 years ago, so I was excited to visit, even if only for an hour. It was very nice catching up, and an extra special treat to hear Uncle Malc say "Holy Mackerel!" as I came in the door. He had a stroke about 7 or 8 years ago, so "Holy Mackerel" is a speech for him!
After a short visit we were back on the road, our second consecutive day of driving 6ish hours. Evan didn't take to it so well, nor did he the previous day. We pushed through the frustration with some internal screaming and a few tears on my part, with the hopes that we could convince the family to take a day off from driving and crash at our place for an extra day. Well, there were some plans in Maine that couldn't be put off so the next day (Tuesday), we were on our way again - another 6ish hour drive! We stopped in Freeport at LLBean for a clothing exchange, and a much needed break from the car. It was a Christmas wonderland and an experience in itself just to be in the Flagship store!
We rejoined the family (They got about a 2 hour head start from NY) around 9:30pm finally able to kick up our feet and take a break from driving/riding for the next 5 days (I must admit, Jack did 95% of the driving and I'm eternally grateful for it!).
The next few days were laid back and relaxing - Christmas movies, cocoa, way too many sweets, and lots and lots of family time. One day, after a fresh blanket of snow was laid, my father-in-law dug out the old kiddie sled for Evan. We bundled him up and everyone headed outside to watch. It was a pathetic sight indeed. Evan was all tears the whole time. He did a little better with someone supporting his back since he kept toppling into the snow, but not an ounce of eager excitement was emitted. Didn't stop all of us from cracking up at the pitiful lad.
I'm not sure who it was that first discovered how perfect the snow was for packing into snowballs, but it wasn't long before a snowbrawl fight (spelling is intentional) broke out. Jack took this opportunity to exercise his filmmaker skills and set up some wicked slo-mo snowball attacks and then in about 5 minutes put together this "movie trailer".
The Snow Day from Jack McDade on Vimeo.
Christmas Eve quickly arrived, which is the big day in the McDade household. We prettied ourselves up and headed out to the Christmas Eve service which was rumored to be much different than the usual program they'd put on the past 19 years. Well, I had only been there once before and didn't actually get to witness much of it since Jack and I were trading Evan-watching in the foyer for the duration. No childcare at the second service! From what I heard, it was a terrific service!
Then we all headed to the traditional Christmas Eve party at friends of the family and enjoyed the renowned "chowdah". Jack, Evan and I bailed early to get the Mr Fussypants to bed (Evan that is, not Jack!).
Soon after, the rest of the family came home and we had our birthday party for Jesus which included delectable cheesecake, and the march of the baby Jesus figurine to the Nativity set. Soon after, us "kids" were willingly banished to the basement for a little last minute wrapping, bonding time and anticipation building while the "grown ups" played Santa and organized the gift piles, lit candles, got a fire going (not hard with a gas fireplace!) and laid out platter after platter of sinfully delicious sweets. Word to the wise - save Regan's gourmet brownies for last... just a few bites and you're done for the night!
We were finally called up around 11pm and got some much needed coffee in preparation for the next 4 hours of gift-giving! I remember my first newlywed Christmas, and most people got wedding pictures which are much more expensive than you would think! My newlywed sister-in-law and her husband absolutely spoiled everyone, not to be outdone by well.. everyone there! I was blown away by the generosity. One gift that I wasn't expecting and I'm super excited about is a recipe book for soups. I just made Chicken and Leek soup in my new Dutch Oven a few days ago. My first time cooking with leeks, and it was delicious! I'm so excited to try the others. Although I probably won't try all 100... there are a few funky ones in there!
We wrapped up (or should I say unwrapped up) around 3am and headed to bed. I was up with Evan a few short hours later at 7:15, and was surprised to see most of the family roll out of bed by 9! We hung out in PJs most of the day and Evan had his present opening. He of course loved unwrapping more than the present itself, and would let out the cutest "ooooooh!" with perfectly circular clenched lips with every shred of the paper.
Once we were cleaned up, the preparations for the delicious feast began and some of us were able to sneak away for a few rounds of Bananagrams and Rummikub. I don't remember who won any of the rounds except one round of Rummikub. Strom was ridiculously behind... stuck with less than 30 points in his first put-down hand, drawing tile upon tile every round. In an unexpected turnaround, he ended up winning in a few rounds.... very humbly I might add *insert sarcastic cough*.
Before we knew it, the scents that were teasing us for hours were finally upon our taste buds: ham with a very special homemade cranberry mustard sauce, green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, amish sweet bread (yes, from the B&B!), sweet potato muffins, tossed salad, pistachio salad, applesauce, and pumpkin bread.
It was all over too quickly, but I had something more to anticipate - Christmas with my family was held off for a day so we wouldn't miss it! We packed up the car bright and early the next morning, hoping to get home before the Noreaster hit and we made it! We got in around 2 and headed to Ginger's house for the Stannard festivities. Being the 26th, we were missing a few people but at least all but 1 popped in for part of it! I finally got to see my parents who had flown in a few days earlier. I must admit, my family Christmas is a bit more chaotic than the candlelight Christmas Eve at the McDades, but I'm so glad I didn't miss it! We distributed our secret santa niece/nephew gifts and surprised my parents with their Celtic Woman DVDs and concert tickets. My parents distributed their gifts and shared some videos and pictures from their epic photo safari to Africa in October. Before we knew it, the party was over and it was back to the ol' homestead for about 36 hours of recuperation and cleaning before hosting my parents for their last 2 nights.
It went too fast, but we packed in just about everything I was hoping to do with my parents - Rummikub and Bananagrams, a chick flick with Mom (Leap Year), watching the Star of Bethlehem - an amazing documentary on the cosmic poem that God wrote around the life of Jesus, highly recommended. We squeezed in a quick visit up to my uncle's farm where Evan met the horses, and LOVED them. He kept pointing them out as if to say "they're both the same!" He'd want to go in the barn and point at the horse in there, and then point out the door so he could point to the one outside, and back and forth over and over again. And the display of waterworks that arose when we walked away from the horses led me to believe he got a little more of me in him than I thought!
My parents' final night here was the traditional "Stannard 6" night where my sisters come over for some nuclear family time. We're not cliquish about it though. Jack joined us for some and Sabina/Steve/Levi joined for a bit too. It's always a great sendoff for my parents. Not wanting the visit to end, my parents stayed up with Jack and I until the impressive hour of 1am! We had a few hours with them the following morning where Jack further sold my dad on the idea of going Mac. I begrudgingly brought them to the airport around noon, begging them for a longer visit next year, and hoping to visit them in the spring.
Jack, Evan and I spent yesterday and today lazing about and recovering from the craziness of the last few weeks. We skipped a few parties, but enjoyed staying in for New Years Eve. We had a movie marathon of Invictus, and Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Two very different genres but we liked both!
And that, my friends, is our Christmas blur!
