It's been a day to remember...

In the quiet... before

It's quiet now, the wind chimes are blowing softly in the wind outside.  There is the faint sound of the television upstairs and the water flowing through the filter in the turtle's aquarium.  Other than that, it's simply quiet.

The boys are upstairs curled up with Daddy - who spent most of the day out of bed and even joined us for two rounds of present opening and Christmas dinner.  They are all pretty exhausted.  My boy is curled up under the blanket asleep in the other room.  He had a super short night and is trying not to catch a cold.  Somewhere around this big ole house is a kitty, she's probably curled up at the foot of my bed, hoping the boys don't see her - prepared to stand her ground if they do.

There are snippets of wrapping paper, ribbons and bows lying around.  And I need to clean up the kitchen the rest of the way.  Truth is... it's not going to happen. I got the trash collected for the most part, it's all out at the curb.  Finished the majority of the important stuff, food put away, litter cleaned and recycling all gathered too.  And frankly, I am just too tired to do anymore.  My eyes are heavy and every inch of me hurts!  Seriously hurts. 

So I am going to sit right where I am sip my Gluhwein, enjoy the glow of my lights and savor the last two days.  They are ones to cherish forever! I should have thought to grab a picture while we were all together, but something tells me that wasn't going to happen.  Hubs was in PJ's and so were my girls.  Me, I was simply hanging in my jeans and saggy old sweatshirt.   Ya know, it was simply okay!

Over the past 36 hours, there has been laughter, love, tears, more laughter, a touch of sadness and a bit of nostalgia.  We have laughed, giggled, eaten, smiled, gamed, been goofy and had some heart felt conversations.  It has been amazing!

The kids seemed to love both their memory books of their Dad and the converse slippers he'd asked me to make, but that I haven't had the time to do.  By the way "D", you were right... they loved them! I wasn't sure I would get them done, but at the last minute, I did.  I didn't want to let him or them down.  

We were blessed to have all the kids for a bit, thought we'd have the girls all day, but it didn't really work out that way.  Sad, but... 

I would love to share more... I truly would.  But as the clock is ticking, I am realizing how very weary I am and tomorrow will be busy with doctor appointments and cleaning... tomorrow I will find a minute... tomorrow when I am not drifting to sleep while writing...

I pray that everyone had a blessed day... I know we did!