Quiet after the big day........

Ah quiet.... I have missed you.  A morning to just drink a cup of tea and enjoy a candle by my computer.  It is a lovely day to just appreciate quiet after all the festivities.  It sure was a fun day yesterday.  Did you have a nice holiday?

Ours started by trying to keep one little boy entertained in my bedroom while the older brothers slept a bit.  He was fine drinking milk and watching Disney Junior while snuggling on my bed.  But then it just came to be too much so we woke those big boys up and headed into the family room to see what Santa brought.

While Santa was unable to give me two extra days before Christmas he was able to bring Little Buddy a Big Boy Bike! This Little One was so excited!!!!

He opened up many presents with his new helmet on his head, and a bit of red marked on his nose so he could be Rudolf.

Mr. 18's girlfriend was visiting from Indiana for the holidays.  Mr. 22's girlfriend comes on Tuesday for a week.  In the background  of this photo you can see the remembrance candle we burn all day long every Christmas.  Adding two more names this year was not fun, That makes a total of six names we have added in just the past two Christmases.  I love the idea, we start the day surrounding the candle and think about the loved ones not with us.  The last person to go to bed blows the candle out so our loved ones are thought about the entire day.

We had a lovely breakfast, lots more presents and then it was time to head outside in the 85 degree heat and help a little boy learn to ride a big boy bike.

Mr 22, the Biggest Brother, was so patient with this little one of mine.  We both tried again and again to get Little Buddy to understand how a big boy bike works.  A tricycle has pedals that are hooked up to the wheel, if your wheels move the pedals do too.  But with a big boy bike you have to move the pedals all by yourself to get the bike to move, which is very hard to do if you have legs that just don't work the way everyone else's do.   

There was lots of helping little legs to push down when they should, his right leg really has a hard time pushing those toes to the floor.  There were lots of discussions on how to do it, and that saying, "I can't" is not something we say.  We say, "I can!"  He almost got it, yesterday after three different training runs.  My money is on Little Buddy and of course his amazing big brother who was out there the whole time, running along side the bike, sweating, and bending over to get that right foot to work better.  

Max's favorite day of the year is Christmas.  He loves presents and being in one room with his family.  There was a big difference in him this year, he was very, very quiet and did not play.  That makes me so sad as we all noticed it.  Max is 11 1/2,  he needs to stay with me a while longer because I have handled about as much loss as I can over these last two years.

We had a phone call from my sister and aunts and a cousin over for dinner.  We ate way too much and had a lot of fun.  I cleaned up everything after everyone left last night so when I woke up this morning I had nothing to do but take the day as it comes.

This morning, in the quiet, I a hear a little one who is investigating his new toys.  We have read his new books, and found all the places where we put his toys in their new home in his room.  We have looked at the new green crocs his Aunts gave him and he has crawled around with them on his hands.  

We are making one run to the store to see if we can find paper and gift tags on sale, but that is it for the day, well that and more training on the big boy bike!

Hope you are enjoying a quiet and peaceful day and that you had a wonderful Holiday.