12 Days of Christmas Carepackage(s)

Okay I put a lot of thought into this one.  I had already sent a Christmas-esque carepackage, but then I had the brilliant idea of sending a package that kept on giving. (And by "I" had a brilliant idea, I mean I was inspired after reading another blog and loving her idea:  passionatehomemaking.com.) I was nearing the cutoff date to sending him something in time for Christmas, but also at home I was thinking of family traditions I wanted to start.  Growing up we left the Christmas tree up until Ephinany, so while we didn't do an extravagant 12 days of Christmas it was present, and I thought it might be a fun little tradition for my fam.

So I decided to send the Hubby something for each day, giving him nearly two weeks of looking forward to having something to open.  Hopefully making his holidays a little more cheerful. I was proud of myself. Overly proud over something silly? That's a big fat yes!

I pestered co-workers, friends, and even a few online forums I used when I was expecting my kiddos for ideas.  Those What to Expect When you are Expecting and Baby Center Mommas have some great ideas!  Of course I also perused pinterest, and kept in mind the Hubby's wishes. Nothing that just takes up space, nothing he has to worry about getting back home, and easy on the sweets he is working on keeping his manly figure.  This idea was actually a lot harder than I anticipated.  I am a sentimental, keep sake, cute decoration loving gal...and most ideas I came across were snack orientated.  The Hubby is a low maintenance do without fellow.  As far as keepsake-y reminder of home stuff, he wanted letters and a family picture.  That's it.

Then I heard from my Hubby and was giving him the instructions to not suck the fun out of this and trying to make him promise to only open one gift a day in proper order....and he informed me no go.  Apparently he had open them all as soon as they arrived and report the contents.  I didn't think of the inspections.  So my fun idea lost some of the magic.  Think I could talk him into re-wrapping his presents and opening them up again one at a time?  Yea, he didn't think so either.

Anyway, as he has already opened his gifts I can share the goods.

Day 1: one irish spring shower gel and back scrubbie
Day 2: two work gloves
Day 3: three summer sausages
Day 4: four packs of prilosec
Day 5: five $5 scratch tickets (he won about $30)
Day 6: six air freshners (there are 6 guys in the room)
Day 7: $70 i-tunes gift cards
Day 8: eight hot hands warmers
Day 9: nine ferrero rocher truffles
Day 10: ten pairs of socks
Day 11: eleven bags of microwave popcorn
Day 12: twelve packets of hot chocolate and a bag of mini marshmallows

Photo Bomb 33

Dear Hubby,

This week is a bit foggy in my mind.  It is amazing how quickly time moves and I forget the small details.  My big accomplishment for the week is getting Christmas cards mailed out.  We dealt with a sick kiddo also, which why not a whole lot was accomplished. (I'm also lazy what with the livingroom rearrangement and the need to plug in and put away a cord every time I want to get online.)

The Toddler woke up in the wee hours on Wednesday and informed me that his bed was messy and to come see.  I expected that it would be a bit damp...he refused to make a trip to the bathroom before bed and had been chugging water.  Instead it was a much bigger mess!  He had mentioned his stomach hurt before bed, but it was tucked in the middle of a list of excuses:

• I'm not tired
• I'm scared of my room
• I don't like the dark
• I want to sleep in your bed
• I just love you and want to stay with you forever
• I'm hungry
• I'm thirsty
• I want to take a bath
• I want you to read me a book, five times!
• I want to talk to Daddy
• I want to snuggle with you
• I want to sleep on the couch

I stripped him down and his bedding and threw it all in the wash.  Well, him I threw in the bathtub and got him cleaned up.  He was thirst so I gave him a little water and tucked him into my bed.  By this point the Big D was beginning to stir, so I rocked him to sleep in the living-room ...and woke up in the morning to my bed meeting the same fate the Toddler's bed had met.

That is kinda how the week went.  The Big D never did get sick and was 150mph, and the Toddler recovered from his flu bug just in-time to catch a nasty fever and cough. All in all I ended up missing about half the work week...but I wasn't exactly not working.

 We did a lot of vegging on the couch, this is a rare moment of calm for the little one.

The Big D didn't quite grasp the concept of picking up,

but I guess he did get himself put away?

 The Toddler contemplating sending himself to see Daddy.

Measuring everything we can with the Bank's Christmas giveaway tape measure.

The boys playing with book covers
(or as I called them DIY pope hats)

 The Big D really wanting the "balls" on the tree,

and about to get in trouble for hammering the tree.

 Helping Aunt B cook

Seeing how they measure up.

At least someone seems almost as sad as Mamma for growing up too fast.

Photo Bomb 34

Dear Hubby,

This week our household finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and are on the mend.  The Big D escaped any illness, but the Toddler saw it come and go.  Sunday I thought we were in the clear.  We had a fairly big day.  We enjoyed the Christmas Program the kids put on after mass, and after a lovely nap-time and getting to talk to you for several hours (always a big highlight) we had company.  I should have been smart enough to get out my camera....but I didn't.

Both boys enjoyed having two other little boys their age to play with.  I enjoyed having someone my age to visit with too! I was relieved to know I am not the only parent who has little ones with a fascination of tree ornaments.  I think the two moms enjoyed visiting too, at least I did.  I'm looking forward to doing more entertaining and having friends over more often when you get home. There really are so many nice people in this community and as I get to know people better, it feels more and more like home.

Monday we relapsed with a fever returning and nasty cough, so my mom came up and watched the boys at our house.  We couldn't get him into the doctor until Tuesday, poor little guy was getting over a lung infection.  The verdict is that he is unlucky and caught a couple things back to back.  He was cleared for daycare and some antibiotic and has been a go-go-goer ever since.

My sister and her kiddos came up Wednesday and picked the boys up from daycare while I went to my safety meeting after work.  The boys loved the company...so did I, because I forced them to stay longer than they planned.  Mwhahahaha.  The rest of the week was just business as usual. I went to work, the boys to daycare and we chatted with you every chance we got.

Yum Grapes! 

Oh no it broke again!

I fixed this truck for him no less than 25 times...
then I hid it. (good parenting right?)

 Future mechanic?

Attacking Christmas Tree #3

Repelling a pink seahorse off a picture frame.

 Peek-a-Boo!

Did you notice the scratch on the Big D's chin? Apparently he was climbing on something (shocker)at daycare and fell and caught his chin.  There was minimal bleeding and it hasn't seemed to faze him...I guess it just ups his street cred.

Rocking the Spider Man Pajamas.