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Zeke’s Christmas chapel at FCS:

Abby’s Christmas concert at Bridgewater College:

I started this tea cup puzzle around Thanksgiving. Just finding the edge amongst the many edge like pieces undid Dale’s participation. Later, the Robyn came over with her broken leg, ninja’d some pieces in and finished the edge.

While visiting, Phoebe (age 3) tried to help by sharing pieces with her 9 month old brother Bear. Her dad Ben felt it best if the puzzle was ever to be completed, it needed to disappear from view. The puzzle joined the cat water dish (fun to splash in) and houseplants (dirt tastes yummy) in the mad scramble to “”Oh yeah…I was supposed to child proof.”

Zeke declared the puzzle boring until there were 100 pieces left to do. Gabe was called in when I could not for the life of me find a piece. He placed approximately 7 pieces in the puzzle, but insisted on being included in the picture.

Abby helped with the puzzle over Thanksgiving break and returned for Christmas break to spur me along to the finish.

I love puzzles, but cannot complete them without my family and friend’s grudging assistance.

On a cold day, a week ago, Gabe and I pulled out the lights to decorate the outside trees, roof, porch rail, and shrubs. We were all ready to get our house Holly Jolly for Christmas.

Gabe plugged in the first set of lights – nothing. He plugged in the second set of lights – nothing. He unrolled and tangled the third set of lights before plugging them in – one third of the string lit up. He plugged in the net of lights and one quarter of the net lit up. Two of the three garlands for the rail didn’t work. One strand out of five of the icicle lights operated.

“We’ll put up what works. We’ll just have less lights this year. You can at least wrap the dogwood,” I said.

Gabe wrapped the dogwood with the working string of colored lights. He was only able to wrap the base of the tree and two branches.

It looked really sad. Charlie Brown’s tree had come to visit the Manrys.

“This is the worst!” Gabe declared and went inside.

The next day, I bought a new strand of colored lights so Gabe could finish the dogwood. Later, we hung the remaining working lights around the entrance.

It was a simple display, but it still had a bit of Holly Jolly. I was regaining a little hope.

Yesterday, the surviving colored light strand wrapped around the base of the dogwood burned out.

Christmas 2014 – the year of the burned out Holly Jolly.

Abby’s roommate from college asked her one day, “Don’t you ever get the urge to cook and clean?”

Abby laughed and replied, “No. Never.” (It’s genetic.)

Abby only bakes when she is urged by her mother to do so. Today she baked the peanut butter kiss cookies for us.

My Christmas cactus has been happily blooming since Thanksgiving. It’s a bright spot of cheer when all the landscape is brown.

A few years back, I had the brilliant idea that it needed more space and potted it in a larger pot. It sulked and refused to bloom that year.

Christmas cactus like to be all crowded together. Today, it reminded me of the kids smashed together fighting for their spot on the couch and their section of Dale’s blanket.

There may be blooms of laughter and happiness when families are crowded together for Christmas, but inevitably someone gets poked.