Our holiday weekend!!

It’s been almost a week since I wrote. Wow, so much has happened. I’ll try to give you guys the short version..

 

Last Wednesday, we had a play date with my best friend and her son. They were visiting for Thanksgiving from Arizona. The kids had a good time and it was really nice to catch up. We hadn’t seen them in 14 months, which is crazy when you say it like that. It was awesome having them over.  It made me think that we need to invite other kids over for play dates. Em wasn’t into sharing his toys though. That was the only downfall, but I suppose most kids are that way when it comes to their stuff. Other than that, it was great. We had a nice visit and were extremely sad to see them go. I actually cried after they left. I’ll keep that to myself though. I’m not sure when we will see them again. I guess what I don’t understand is why they moved to be closer to her husband’s family when they can afford to fly back here 5-6 times a year. Why move closer to the people who visit frequently and can afford to visit? Her sisters can’t afford the airfare for themselves, or their children, so it just seems silly why you’d want to move across the country to be closer to people who constantly came to visit. I support whatever decision she wanted to make, but logistically, it doesn’t make sense. Maybe that is me being bitter, or something, but honestly, I have asked myself this question many times. We were chatting about airfare prices, etc, and she even said that her sister hasn’t paid her back yet for their visit earlier this year. Even for her to fly out here, it’s not that easy. The cost is insane. I just don’t get why you’d move so far away from people who literally cannot afford to come visit very often, yet his parents come out so many times a year. I guess she just wanted to be around his parents more than just a few times a year so that they could help her with her son.  We were happy to see them, but it sucks that it can’t be more often. I feel bad for her sisters though. I am sure it’s awful for them not being able to see their sister, or nephew.

 

Anyway, Thursday was the big day. We laid around most of the day watching Christmas movies, then went to my parent’s for dinner after naptime. It was nice. We weren’t there for very long. Just two hours. We had a good time though. I ate too much-shocker.  We headed home around 730pm. We took a couple of leftovers with us. Nothing major though. It was a nice holiday. My older sister ended up showing up. I was shocked. We haven’t seen her since June. Anyway, we didn’t talk, or anything, but it wasn’t hostile. It never is. I just prefer not to acknowledge her because she just isn’t a very nice person for what she has done to our family. I think it’s horrendous how she pretends Emerson doesn’t exist. She doesn’t have to like me, but to treat my child like he doesn’t exist is not right. She said “bye, be good buddy” to him on Thanksgiving. That was all she said to him. I pay close attention to her interaction with him. It’s easy to because it doesn’t exist. She apparently bought Emerson a Christmas present. Shocking. I had to ask her if she bought him a birthday present THREE months after his birthday. Funny, right? She said she did. Really? Then why didn’t you make it a point to see him for his second birthday to give it to him? That’s right, because you didn’t have a gift. She ended up bringing it to my nephew’s birthday party THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FACT. Anyway, it bothers me that she doesn’t ask me what she should get him for Christmas. She doesn’t know him, doesn’t know what we already have, etc, so why wouldn’t you ask? Apparently she bought him a piano that he can walk on. Okay, thanks, but he doesn’t really need any more toys, especially toys that are going to take up massive amounts of space because we have no room. He needs socks, underwear, warm clothes, extra hats, gloves, and a new coat. He needs fine motor toys like lacing puzzles. Yes, the thought counts, but why not ask me? She asks my sister what my nephew WANTS. I think she figures as long as she is buying him something that it doesn’t matter. Well, it does matter. What if we already owned that? I wouldn’t be surprised if she bought it from the salvation army, or got it as a hand me down from her girlfriend’s nephew. She’s really good for doing stuff like that. She isn’t financially struggling either. I think she just thinks because she doesn’t really like Emerson she can give him used crap as a Christmas present.  Thanks, but no thanks.  She’s bought him used clothing from the thrift store before that was way too big, or way too small because she never asks me sizes, or anything. The funniest is she purchases brand-new stuff for her girlfriend’s nephews. If everyone was getting used stuff, then fine, but that’s not the case. They get so much nice stuff from her. She invites them to her house and babysits them all the time. I don’t think Emerson even knows that she is his aunt. I’d rather not even see her for Christmas. Maybe she can just stay away until after we leave. That would be the best gift of all. I honestly cannot stomach how she bypasses my child like he isn’t even standing in front of her. You’d think for someone who isn’t having children, she’d actually cherish the time she has with her nephew. Nope. I think she held him a total of 3 times when he was a baby. She is just a sucky person.

 

Okay, enough of that. Friday, we ventured to the mall, so that Emerson could ride the Christmas train. We had a good time! He loved it. After the train, he threw a ton of coins into the fountain,  we walked around the mall, then had lunch. It was a pretty tame day. After nap, we just hung at home, had dinner, and watched “The Croods”. It was such a good movie! We ended up watching it a couple of more times over the weekend.

 

Saturday was Friendsgiving! My sister came over early to help me pack both of our cars with the chairs, tables, and décor. We headed to her house to set up. I cannot believe how gorgeous it all came out. I was so proud of myself! I worked so hard handmaking all of the decorations. I never get to do any kind of fancy party, so this tickled me pink! While I was hanging my handmade poms, the table collapsed underneath of me and I fell pretty hard. I was okay, but it was scary as hell! We laughed so hard afterward. Anyway, Em and I went home for lunch and nap, then got ready, and headed back to my sister’s house around 5pm. The party started at 6pm, but we had to make the mashed potatoes, and I had to get the spicy caramel appletinis ready. Everyone arrived mostly on time. I served everyone up martinis, while we waited for dinner. The kids were running around crazy! They had such a good time though. My sister did a great job on the turkey. It was so tender that it literally fell off the bone. We had plenty of seats for everyone. I was so nervous about that, but the kids migrated to the living room and put on a Christmas movie, while they ate. All of the adults sat in the dining room. Everyone had such a good time! The food was amazing. Everyone outdid themselves. We had so many leftovers. The mac and cheese was my favorite! I made sure I took leftovers home with me. Em tore that up!  It turned out so nice though and we had such a good time. We had a great group of people over. I can’t tell you enough how much we appreciated everyone coming together and contributing dishes. I can’t wait to throw another shindig!

 

Sunday was probably favorite day out of the whole holiday break. We spent the morning at my parent’s, then went home for lunch and nap. That evening, we headed to Kennywood for the lights! WOW. Absolutely magical. I can’t describe it any other way. I actually teared up a couple of times. It was so beautiful. The kids had such a great time. They had some of the rides open too, so I know they overly enjoyed that. We had hot chocolate and kettle corn too! Delicious!  It was so pretty! I hardly even felt like I was at the amusement park. We bundled up, but it really wasn’t that cold. I think we felt the most cold after we sat inside the theater for too long to watch the Polar Express in 4D. They had a mini version of the film, which lasted for about 15 minutes. We warmed up too much, so when we came back outside, we were all frozen. We ended up hanging out by one of the bon-fires that were set up and enjoying the light show. They had the lights synchronized with different Christmas songs. It was beautiful and so neat to watch! The kids were dancing and running around, while my sister and I watched in amazement. Three hours whizzed by so quickly. By the time we got home, and Em got a bath and in bed, it was nearly 9pm! That’s late for a school night.

 

Being back to work today is nice. It’s good to be back to our routine. We did enjoy our four days off. It was nice to sleep in a little. 7am is sleeping in for us. On Thanksgiving, we slept in until just after 9! That was a real treat. I have to say, Em was well-behaved our entire vacation. I didn’t have to yell too much-haha. These breaks can become rather exhausting if he’s extremely unruly. It sometimes turns into an all-day battle, but we worked together pretty well. I had enough to occupy him with activities at home, then adventures outside. On Thanksgiving, he painted a pumpkin, and colored a turkey, so that was fun. He loved it. I try to set up little activities throughout, so that he has enough structure to avoid finding trouble on his own. We have to do an art project this week to submit for the holiday contest this Wednesday. I plan on having Emerson paint a Santa canvas. Hopefully he wins! If so, he gets a $25 gift card to Toys R Us! My hope is that it doesn’t look like I helped too much. LOL.

 

This week, we have nothing planned at all. We’re just trying to get back into the swing of things.  On Friday, we’re attending the Festival of Trees. It’s a celebration of Christimas trees supplied from various schools, clubs, and organizations. It’s pretty cool, plus Santa will be there. Emerson isn’t too fond of Santa, but we’ll give it a try again. Our friend is actually playing Santa, so maybe Em will warm up to him. We’ll see! I think we’re going to see the Christmas lights on Sunday at Overly’s. I have to check with my sister. Funds are super low now that I’ve paid all the bills, friendsgiving, and Kennywood, so we’ll have to see. I’d prefer to do it when it’s still semi-warm out and this weekend is looking good, so it might be best to just do it now rather than later. It only costs $18 per car, so maybe my sister can split that with me since I paid for my nephew’s admission into the park last night, our hot chocolate, and kettle corn. On Saturday, there is a live reindeer event downtown in the strip, but I think we’re skipping that. I don’t want to use all of that gas, then have to pay to park. My  mom said she wanted to make new ornaments this weekend, so maybe we can just do that.

 

Alright, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and has a great week!

Here are some pics :)