Helooo there!
I hope all y'alls Christmas was as filled with joy, family, laughter, hugs, and as very few minor family crises as mine was. Hope you remembered baby Jesus, and your kids said it was "the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER" as mine have been saying every year since they could talk. Giving those kids stuff is so cool, they are just overjoyed for anything!
I have a sore bottom, from trying out (falling off) Chas' "rip stick" - two swivel wheels on a sort of bendy skateboard. NO one but Chas and Sam could use the thing. They just hopped on and zipped around, spinning in a circle, ducking under things and generally showing off. They look like they are defying all of Newton's laws. Then yesterday we went to the Khan/Kublalsingh (Sean's Mum's) side of the family for MORE FOOD (curry goat and duck, pumpkin takari, roti, curry mango, plenty pepper etc), and two guys there were surfers (Beens and Aliyah's boyfriends, I think) and they hopped on too and managed to stay up for several seconds before falling spectacularly upon their backs. So apparently you have to be a surfer to use a rip stick. Maybe it works the other way: if you learn to use a rip stick, you can surf. But falling off a rip stick HURTS MORE, dudes! Learn to surf first!
The rest of us played cricket and took pictures with our NEW CAMERA! Olympus Stylus 790SW, waterproof and shockproof for falling into rivers and hiking in the rainy forest. I am extatic! This is the coolest toy ever!
Oh, and our NEW COMPUTER! Only problem? It is NEW. And everything we had before doesn't work in it, so we need new "Vista" compatible software for everything. I will read the manual and play this morning, and see what I can figure out. I am technologically disadvantaged, but I am sure that the computer is, like the camera, bebe-proof. (Did y'all know I once worked at ICL in the UK? True! I ticked "yes" in all the little boxes at the temp agency, then ran down to the library for a crash course. Best £6 I ever spent! But that was a long time ago. And very different system. Very.) I know that I can use a computer. We will be friends. I will be hoping for much advice.
Yesterday, the boys played "sega rally racer" and other such games, from about 5.30am till we left home at 2pm. Last night they were tired and grouchy, and were nasty to one another so I said "NO COMPUTER tomorrow till I see that you can all be pleasant to one another!" so they said "what if I am pleasant and HE is not?" and I said "then NO one can use the computer!" Which means that this morning they are all being as sweet as sugar pie, AND I get a turn on the computer. We are not connected to the net as yet, some guys need to come and put a dish up and then things can get EXCITING!
My sister goes back to England today. Waaaah! She and her boyfriend Dan worked as hard as anyone, and Claudette worked harder than anyone, and someone said "Nan, Judy says she'll cook that 15 pound leg of pork for you if you want" I WANT! Thank you Aunty Judes! Do you know how much ROOM 15 pounds of pork takes up? A LOT. It arrived the week before Christmas, with a message that said "Delises said you want pork?" It is organic, and my boys often went to feed the pigs grass and lean into the pens so they were pretty intrigued. I did roasted veggies: potatoes, carrots, eggplant, onions, garlic, etc, etc roasted in olive oil. Mmmmmm.
And fudge for the five thousand.
Claudette made her famous mushroom pie. I will not list all of the food here, because it was A LOT. But mmmmm. Good. We fed 34 at a sit-down "lunch" at about 3.30, and Sean made it! He turned up from work at around 2. And later, instruments were taken out and we played and sang (most memorable: Mum and Claudette's version of "saaaad movies, always make me cry!" and of course I had to sing "white rabbit" for Ailis) and continued eating good things till late into the night. More people arrived during the evening. There were many children, and I had put a basket of noisemakers and other junk on their table so they could be entertained while waiting for everyone to begin eating and listening to the usual speeches. Some of the speeches (and counter-speeches) brought the house down.
My sister is being referred to as "Martha" for her superiour table-decorating skillz. Max had a meltdown at around bedtime-ish (I am NOOOT TIIIIRED!)
It was a wonderful Christmas. But they usually are. Next year, we do sean's Dad's family, since we alternate and that works for us. They have a great Christmas too!
Now for recovery, and mourning. And cleaning. Oh, and some sleep would be cool!
Blessings to all, I hope you survived and your bellies are okay!
I hope all y'alls Christmas was as filled with joy, family, laughter, hugs, and as very few minor family crises as mine was. Hope you remembered baby Jesus, and your kids said it was "the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER" as mine have been saying every year since they could talk. Giving those kids stuff is so cool, they are just overjoyed for anything!
I have a sore bottom, from trying out (falling off) Chas' "rip stick" - two swivel wheels on a sort of bendy skateboard. NO one but Chas and Sam could use the thing. They just hopped on and zipped around, spinning in a circle, ducking under things and generally showing off. They look like they are defying all of Newton's laws. Then yesterday we went to the Khan/Kublalsingh (Sean's Mum's) side of the family for MORE FOOD (curry goat and duck, pumpkin takari, roti, curry mango, plenty pepper etc), and two guys there were surfers (Beens and Aliyah's boyfriends, I think) and they hopped on too and managed to stay up for several seconds before falling spectacularly upon their backs. So apparently you have to be a surfer to use a rip stick. Maybe it works the other way: if you learn to use a rip stick, you can surf. But falling off a rip stick HURTS MORE, dudes! Learn to surf first!
The rest of us played cricket and took pictures with our NEW CAMERA! Olympus Stylus 790SW, waterproof and shockproof for falling into rivers and hiking in the rainy forest. I am extatic! This is the coolest toy ever!
Oh, and our NEW COMPUTER! Only problem? It is NEW. And everything we had before doesn't work in it, so we need new "Vista" compatible software for everything. I will read the manual and play this morning, and see what I can figure out. I am technologically disadvantaged, but I am sure that the computer is, like the camera, bebe-proof. (Did y'all know I once worked at ICL in the UK? True! I ticked "yes" in all the little boxes at the temp agency, then ran down to the library for a crash course. Best £6 I ever spent! But that was a long time ago. And very different system. Very.) I know that I can use a computer. We will be friends. I will be hoping for much advice.
Yesterday, the boys played "sega rally racer" and other such games, from about 5.30am till we left home at 2pm. Last night they were tired and grouchy, and were nasty to one another so I said "NO COMPUTER tomorrow till I see that you can all be pleasant to one another!" so they said "what if I am pleasant and HE is not?" and I said "then NO one can use the computer!" Which means that this morning they are all being as sweet as sugar pie, AND I get a turn on the computer. We are not connected to the net as yet, some guys need to come and put a dish up and then things can get EXCITING!
My sister goes back to England today. Waaaah! She and her boyfriend Dan worked as hard as anyone, and Claudette worked harder than anyone, and someone said "Nan, Judy says she'll cook that 15 pound leg of pork for you if you want" I WANT! Thank you Aunty Judes! Do you know how much ROOM 15 pounds of pork takes up? A LOT. It arrived the week before Christmas, with a message that said "Delises said you want pork?" It is organic, and my boys often went to feed the pigs grass and lean into the pens so they were pretty intrigued. I did roasted veggies: potatoes, carrots, eggplant, onions, garlic, etc, etc roasted in olive oil. Mmmmmm.
And fudge for the five thousand.
Claudette made her famous mushroom pie. I will not list all of the food here, because it was A LOT. But mmmmm. Good. We fed 34 at a sit-down "lunch" at about 3.30, and Sean made it! He turned up from work at around 2. And later, instruments were taken out and we played and sang (most memorable: Mum and Claudette's version of "saaaad movies, always make me cry!" and of course I had to sing "white rabbit" for Ailis) and continued eating good things till late into the night. More people arrived during the evening. There were many children, and I had put a basket of noisemakers and other junk on their table so they could be entertained while waiting for everyone to begin eating and listening to the usual speeches. Some of the speeches (and counter-speeches) brought the house down.
My sister is being referred to as "Martha" for her superiour table-decorating skillz. Max had a meltdown at around bedtime-ish (I am NOOOT TIIIIRED!)
It was a wonderful Christmas. But they usually are. Next year, we do sean's Dad's family, since we alternate and that works for us. They have a great Christmas too!
Now for recovery, and mourning. And cleaning. Oh, and some sleep would be cool!
Blessings to all, I hope you survived and your bellies are okay!
Comments
The BIG surprise will be when they come home tomorrow to discover that we got a Wii. So much for my 9-year stand against video games, lol. It's actually pretty fun; this coming from someone who's never touched a Nintendo before. I do think it's more fun to play things for real than on the screen, so I get bored with it pretty quickly. We'll see how the boys like it. I'm hoping to video tape the reaction and win the hundred grand on America's Funniest Videos. Wish me luck!