And I Think to Myself...What a Wonderful World

The weeks leading up to Christmas this year were crazier than the normal crazy of years past. Our living room, which has been torn apart for months for a redo due to a leaky roof, was put on hold until the roof was replaced, a huge job as two layers of roofing needed to be removed before the new roof could be put on. With the help of our daughter Meagan and son by love Erik, my brother John, Lou's brother Charly, nephew Nicolaus, and family friend Paul, Lou was able to replace the roof on Thanksgiving weekend. We have certainly been blessed with a wonderful family and how thankful I am to them for their help. Son by love Chad, otherwise known as the Darlin' D's Daddy, helped Lou replace the crown moulding and other woodwork in living room the weekend before Christmas.

I had planned to put the tree in the living room as it is a larger room than the family room and wow am I glad I decided not to wait and set the tree up in the family room instead because on Tuesday Lou was just sanding the spackled ceiling. While it's wonderful to have a hubbie who can do everything, it ends up being the old tale of the shoemakers children going barefoot. On Wednesday, Lou had a problem with his back, so the painting of the room was down to one roller and brusher...me! But, I believe in the fear that I might run away from home, the dear man rallied on Thursday and we were able to get everything painted but the mouldings around the doors and windows. The morning of Christmas Eve, with the help of Meagan and Erik, we had the furniture back in place, curtains on the window.

Then, at 7:45 the evening of the 24th, I am tucking the bottle of window cleaner under the kitchen sink and find the floor of the cabinet covered with water. The trap under the sink had a hole in it and when touched it just fell apart into tiny pieces. Of course no store that would carry replacement parts is open on Christmas Eve...so an empty spackle bucket was tucked under the cabinet, which made it possible to use the water for Christmas morning, however dishes had to be washed in the bathroom sink.

Even with all the delay and drama, our Christmas was wonderful.
Holly, Chad, Dylan and their dog Dre slept here on Christmas Eve.
Dylan hung his stocking on the family room fireplace.

In the morning, my family was here for a breakfast of kielbasa, egg casserole, crumb cake, French toast casserole and fresh fruit.
However, before we ate we all watched "the child" open gifts.

Lucy enjoyed her gift...
a pink flamingo and it took all of 30 seconds to get the squeaker out of it

Dylan helped Dre opened his present.

And in the evening, at Lou's sister's home, I was able to get this photo of Holly, niece Jamie and niece Leslie. All 3 will be having babies in 2012. Those of you who have been followers of this blog for a while, may remember that Holly and Leslie were expecting at the same time in 2009. Holly had Dylan 2 weeks after Leslie had Cali. The second babies are also due 2 weeks apart and both are girls. It will be several weeks before we know if Jamie is having a boy or a girl.
The next generation of cousins...

And I Think to Myself...What a Wonderful World.