I'm writing this post from my couch, covered in three blankets trying not to move too much, a victim of the same Influenza virus that seems to be taking down its people in droves. I'm not usually good at being sick, but I kind of feel like I got hit by a truck. Praying the kids stay healthy, that I'm well enough to do my duty of attending BASIC tomorrow night to announce all things IF:Gathering, and praying that this be the end of the sick that has lingered on in our home since the start of this bitterly cold winter.
Three seed packets arrived from Floret Farms yesterday and I could almost feel my toes on that warm green grass. Spring is soon, hold on.
I have one more Christmas memory to post on this blog, a fun family getaway that came to be in a way only God could have a hand it. We were just two days away from having Christmas at my mom and dad's when I saw the sudden opening at Knotty Pine Guest House on Facebook. We spent Christmas at this sweet cabin three years ago when Beau and I were in between homes, we were living at Mom and Dad's, and things just felt unsettled. We were some of the first visitors to stay there and it all just fell into place. Since we all live close to each other and see each other often, rarely do we have opportunities to all stay under the same roof. It was like a little vacation, less than 90 minutes from home, and we all fell in love with Knotty Pine and vowed we'd be back.
So fast forward to this year when I happened upon a sudden opening at Knotty Pine, a discounted rate, and a rare full weekend that we all had off work. I sent a text to Mom rather jokingly, and fifteen minutes later, everyone was on board. We booked it for two nights and immediately got to work throwing sleeping bags and cozies in the car, divvying up meals, and wrapping last minute presents!
We woke up the next morning to a winter storm warning, bitterly cold temperatures, and a black eye that came out of nowhere for my mom following a little spill she took at home a few days before. We sent a lot of group texts, contemplating whether we should do it or forgo our cabin Christmas. We all decided to be brave (or maybe a little stupid) and ventured out the door in the snow to get properly snowed in for the weekend. And boy am I glad we did.
We had the best Christmas at Knotty Pine, surely making memories our kids will talk about for years and years. There was our first night there, eating and eating of course, the kids lined up in sleeping bags to watch the Parent Trap, and all us adults, laying around in blankets by that big stone fireplace, talking and laughing halfway through the night. There were endless games, Headbandz and breakfast burritos Saturday morning, UNO and Memory and puzzles, and of course, Killer, a simple card game where someone acts out a dramatic death and we spend the next half hour debating who winked. The presents were an added bonus, although they took a back seat this year to all the time we spent together around that little table, laughing until we peed and not wanting to go to bed because the next day we would all have to pack up and go home...
Annual Christmas jammie photo! My mom has been doing Christmas jammies for the grandkids since before Christmas jammies were such a thing and while it's not getting any easier to take a photo of them all, they sure look cute when they all come out of the bathroom modeling their attire!
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