Merriment.

Tis the season! This week is delightful and busy, getting ready for Monday.

Yesterday was Adam's last day of school, and they had their Christmas program. It's always sweet to see which kids are singing their hearts out, and who, like Adam, are chewing their finger nails and noodling around.

I'm sorry I couldn't get a better picture of this - this is his class, and he's the Wise Man on the far left, with a real goofy grin on his face. Unlike last year, when he refused to put on the angel costume.

Ellie had her class party yesterday, and then she went to the Megaparty for kids who hit a specific fundraising mark with the jogathon. They had a lot of bounce houses, a tug of war (she said girls won) and then did a lot of just playing with her friends. Her bold stylings for the party kill me.

WERK

Then we did some serious cookie decorating with Thomas and Aislinn. Lisa seriously made enough dough to provide cookies for Santa, the elves, and their families.

Tonight, we had a fantastic time taking the Christmas train to the North Pole, meeting Santa.

No one cried, and we actually had a really fun time with these amazing glasses, like 3D glasses, that allowed you to look at Christmas lights and have them turned into a holiday shape. We had snowflakes, Santa, a reindeer, gingerbread man... and it made waiting in the line for the train and Santa himself go much quicker. Adam even wore them all the way home, looking at streetlights. Thanks Auntie Becca!

And lastly, as far as merriment goes, our Christmas kittens are really settling in nicely. They are so sweet and friendly - Taco runs down the hall to greet us, purring before I even reach down to touch him. They slept with Ellie last night, and she said she woke up to find Lucky curled up next to her, purring, which is what we were hoping for with our new cats. I had told the adoption lady, we have crabby old cats, which on one hand is good because it's taught the kids to respect their animals and their boundaries. But on the other hand, I want them to have cats who want to cuddle with them and play with them.

And look at who else wants to play with them!

It's Thor! He loved the bird toy as a kitten, and now he loves it with the kittens! They are all getting along smashingly. I thought it would be weeks before he accepted them enough that we could have all three cats having free run of the house, but Monday night they were all fully integrated and friendly. Taco really wants Thor to be his buddy, and will run up and touch noses with him. Lucky is not as into him, but he hasn't so much as swatted at either of them. Plus I think he likes all the new and entertaining toys. Plus kitten food! It's funny though, now that he's the elder statesman, I keep calling him Chuckie.

I'M LIVING MY BEST LIFE YOU GUYS