Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Happy New Year!




 




Hello everyone! 
Thank you for being patient with me.  I had a mini vacation from my laptop and I just came back.  For some reason, I didn't touch my laptop over the holidays and although the blog was calling me, it felt good to be away from my computer for a while.  I have been blogging for nearly 8 years now.   How amazing is it that I continue to write our family's story and hopefully share some laughter and food for thought with my readers world-wide.  I rarely stick with doing one thing for a long time, but somehow my little online journal has stuck, thorough good times and bad, helping me take big step forward in many challenges we faced.  So, thank you readers for motivating me to keep writing!  This blog helps me more than you can imagine.

Our Christmas was very jolly, and a little big chaotic.  Ok, very chaotic and that is nothing new.  I sleep less before the Holiday because there are many tasks I must complete every night to be ready for Christmas morning.  The stocking stuffing always comes last and by the time I shove small gifts in the stockings, I am ready to collapse onto the fireplace.  I also shoved the cookies the kids left for Santa Claus in my mouth along with the carrots for reindeer.  I nearly choked on a carrot since I was eating them too fast.  Three plates of cookies and carrots...  where is Mike when I need him (sleeping cozily on the bed, of course). 

The kids usually wake up early on the Christmas day since they are too excited, but this time they woke up at 7:30 am.  That is way better than the usual 6 am.  I always have them get dressed and eat breakfast before they open presents.  I just don't like the idea of them being in their PJ all day long.  Nana came over with coffee in hand to join the present opening ceremony.  I just love looking at children's excited face moments before we give the go sign.  They look purely happy, probably the happiest moment in the whole year for them.  I feel incredibly lucky, too, to be able to see their genuine smile. 

The memorable points this year on Christmas day was that Noah seemed to enjoy opening presents this year.  For many years, we had his siblings or Nana help opening his presents, but this year he could not open fast enough.  I was happy to see him sharing the moment with us.  Mike surprised me with an indoor plant grower, which was totally unexpected on my part since he told me he didn't get anything big for me.  I am growing herbs in my kitchen now and I cannot wait to use them in my cooking.  The girls were very happy to get their favorite stuffed animals and their current obsession, Calico Critters playsets.  Sean's favorite is probably the constellation poster Nana bought him.  He put it on the celling and looks at it every night.  He also got two Lego sets which he put them together by himself.  They were pretty complex sets and I know I would not have the patience to build them myself.  Noah's favorite is the bouncing ball which you can hop on.  He actually uses it to do a handstand by bouncing his tummy on it and he can do it so well that he looks like he might start doing flips!  He is such an active boy and it gives him an appropriate outlet to release his energy indoor.

We had a friend and his son come over for dinner and we feasted on seafood.  We baked salmon and seared tuna.  They were delicious!  I was exhausted by the day ended, but I was happy with a fully belly and house full of happy people.  Mike and Sean had a big trip coming up and my mind was onto the next big thing - preparing for their trip to Japan.  I will write about their trip full of happenings in the next post!

May your new year be filled with happiness and new adventures!

- The Campbells

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