When I was young, growing up with ten siblings, we did a lot of things for ourselves-we had chores, raised animals, tended gardens, and sewed.  I like sewing, but for years didn't have a working machine.  Then this past Christmas GB and PB bought a new one for me, and so far I have only used it to make things for LB.  This past week I worked every night on her prom dress and spent all day Saturday on the skirt.  She is a complicated child, so of course the dress had to be complicated as well.  I detest hemming second only to patching, so I thought I was being smart when I bought lace hem edging, only to realize later that the skirt had three tiers to it.  Since the top two tiers were not sewn down the sides, and since the satin frayed just about every time I touched or ironed it, that meant three regular hems plus four side "hems".  Fun, fun fun.  Anyway, here are the results:

Here she is with one of her friends-hopefully you can see some of the skirt detail.


And here is the choker that I made to go with the corset.


Then she needed a bag for small stuff


We followed that day with Mother's Day.  GB had a migraine, so I went to his house to get my card after church, did my grocery shopping, visited Mom, helped Aidan fly his new kite-both in the afternoon and again in the evening-and visited with PB and her boys.  MB had the good grace to get his first tooth on Saturday-his gift to his mother and something that has been long awaited!

 

I have been unable to post any pictures for a while, so here is a lot of stuff for lost time.  We've been busy with the dentist (Aidan managed one filling but couldn't sit for a novacaine shot so the second one will have to be done with laughing gas), planning a birthday party (his first at five years old and LB's big 18th), watching my brothers move and spread the cow manure now that it has melted, and celebrating Easter.

Eating cookies at the saphouse


I had trouble again after this picture loaded, so I just threw a bunch together here.  They are Aidan and LB at the Easter egg hunt, the boys checking out the manure pile, visiting the cow pastures with their cousins, my youngest sister's first child at her spring concert, random relatives at the Sunrise Service, cakes that my nephew's fiancee made, and the boys again at the Easter egg hunt.  I'm going to try to post some more pics under Photos and under GB and LB's pages.

 

Today we went out shopping for groceries and all that good stuff, and Aidan got a new pair of shoes with Spiderman on the side (he calls him Space Man).  So now he is jumping everywhere-jumping in place, jumping out of the kitchen (the kitchen is raised), jumping off the stairs, etc.  Obviously he loves them.

During our outing I discovered that my license is missing.  We were at the bank getting a copy of his passport and visa photocopied and certified in order to validate his adoption and get a new birth certificate.  I went to get my license and it wasn't there.  Unfortunately, I had just removed my passport from the case that I took-normally mine would be with his-so that can't get done until Tuesday when the banks and post office open again.

Aidan has been talking a lot this week about Santa coming to town, Santa bringing presents, and having presents at his house.  I don't know if it's just the Valentine's Day holiday and the party atmosphere, but he was a little preoccupied with Christmas until Friday.  Then he got a bag full of cards at daycare with lollipops and candies, and Christmas has been  temporarily forgotten.

PB is the assistant director at the daycare that Aidan goes to, and she makes a photo listing for events like this.  So a couple of Aidan's cards had his photo on the envelope, which was really sweet.  He, himself, gave Sponge Bob cards out.

 

Christmas this year will consist of candlelight service at church, followed by stockings and a tree at G's parents, both on Christmas eve.  On the next day it will be stockings and a tree at home-just the four of us-then a tree at my mother's house-about 40 or 50 of us and a sledding party afterwards.  Then, on the day after Christmas, we will have stockings and a tree with our big kids and their families joining us, followed by lunch of Chinese food.

The Northern Lights came out on our way to George's parents' house.  We didn't see the full light show, since a storm moved in.

Oh, and of course the power outage.  It was out for about 3-1/2 hours on Christmas eve due to high winds and more freezing rain.

RB and Aidan at G's parents' house, above, on Christmas Eve.

Aidan trying on his new Cars helmet that he got from LB.  She gave him both the helmet and shin pads so that she could take him ice skating, but his head is too big.  We'll have to hide the helmet on him because he loves it so much.


LB loved these shades.  She is also sitting in her new computer chair, though you can't see it.

Below, Aidan is both showing off some of his new monster trucks and also his new monster truck shirt.  He insisted on being in the picture though he wouldn't smile for it.

Last, he figured out how to pedal the big wheel.  As soon as our Christmas junk is out of the way, I'm sure he'll be a little speed demon.


Overall, Aidan handled Christmas really well, even my family Christmas.  He was super excited by the idea that these toys were his and his alone.  On Christmas eve night I think he had a moment of fear that they were only temporarily his and that in the morning he would have to share them with other kids or they would be gone, so he didn't want to sleep, but did eventually succumb.  He slept poorly and woke crying once in the middle of the night-sitting straight up and crying-he would not be comforted but rolled into the space between his bunk and wall and eventually went back to sleep.  That was the extent of the rough moments, though.

Pictures of my family's Christmas can be found in the Photos section.

 

Returning to work was great for me.  Aidan did just as I expected-fine the first day, not so fine the second, and very unhappy the third.  On the fourth he stayed with G, and on the fifth he was with me since we lost power and I didn't work.

Here are some random photos from our week:

Aidan decides that he loves turkey, after all.  He came out into the kitchen, sniffed it, said yum-yum and rubbed his belly, then spent a good twenty minutes with the baster.  He also decided that he loves cranberry sauce.

Entertaining in the dark-Aidan loves to operate the camera-forgive our grimy appearance (no showers or baths until the electricity came back on)

We went shopping both to get it done and also to get warm.  Here are the boys, both smiling at the same time, with Santa Claus.

Getting into the Christmas spirit now that the lights are back on.  LB was playing carols in the background (driving me crazy-I can either listen to music or have conversations, but not do both at the same time).  Aidan was trying to be ever so helpful with his first tree.  Mangus was trying to check everything out and also get out of the way (not too successful there).  But we finally got the thing up and lit.

 

Tomorrow I return to work, so I have been preparing Aidan for getting up early and for going places with his backpack for a few hours.  I have also been preparing for my classes, mentally more than anything.  My half year courses need syllabi adjustments because my sub was off schedule and I can't make up for everything before the semester ends.  In addition, I've got college recommendations to give out and AP Microeconomics work to give out to kids taking the class next semester.  I am excited to see my students again, though I hate to leave Aidan, and I am glad that Christmas break is around the corner so that he and I will both have time together again soon.

Speaking of Christmas, we are starting to get ready for that, too!  Aidan is right now watching Frosty the Snowman (which he loves).  He also loves Santa Claus is Coming to Town and I found out last night that he can sing Jingle Bells, though after the first couple of lines he sings it in Chinese.

Here are some of the things we've been up to:

Visit to the Shrine at LaSalette with RB and Aidan

We took the boys to the shrine first, then to McDs for McNuggets, then G had a couple of stores to look in for Christmas gifts, so the boys stayed with me in the car.

Then we came home where the boys hung out until PB arrived-she and JM had gone to her work Christmas party.

I also put a couple of decorations up-tons more to go.


Getting the Christmas Tree

 

Today was the second big test for Aidan of family get-togethers.  The first was my great niece's birthday party and he made it about 40 minutes.  He had no choice but to stay longer at PB's house for Thanksgiving, but he alternated between having fun playing and hanging his head and wanting to leave.  Of course, he ate very little-a couple of spoonfuls of vegetables and two more of squash.  So once we got home LB made a big bowl of Ramen noodles for him with garlic and butter.

Tomorrow he could be in love with turkey; that's just how it is sometimes.  In this photo, below, he is licking the bowl after helping me make chocolate chip cookies.  He loved the dough but refused to eat the cookies (again).  Then the next day when I packed some for tot time and also packed Nilla wafers for him, he wanted the homemade cookies.  He even asked for more when we got home.