Christmas 2009 - Mike & Laura Mulhern

This forum is for discussing anything else... Family events, recent news, pretty much anything. In the event that we have an overwhelming need to branch this out further, we can. For now though we'll just leave it as "general".
Post Reply
Mom&DadMulhern
Posts: 53
Joined: Jan 30th, '09, 14:26

Christmas 2009 - Mike & Laura Mulhern

Post by Mom&DadMulhern »

Christmas at the Mulhern household was very good this year. Mike and I moved to Illinois October 1st and by Christmas, we were fairly settled into our new home. With Mike retired and me not working, there was plenty of time to decorate, shop, wrap, and plan the whole holiday. However, even so, it seemed as if it went by very quickly.

We bought an older home located on Lake Lou Yaeger in Litchfield, IL. It needs a lot of updating, but basically, it was move-in ready. I enjoyed decorating this house. I took advice from my mother-in-law, and started decorating and thinking about Christmas as soon as I could after unpacking boxes. I strung garland and bows outside on the back deck, put candles in the windows and wreaths on the doors. All the while smiling inside and out that we are living in Illinois and closer to our kids at last. Although there is still a lot to be done with our house, we will be taking our time with renovations. I discovered with Christmas that cooking in my new kitchen (although not really new), is very do-able. The appliances (although old) managed to make Christmas dinner just fine, and provided easy access to everything I needed. I'm wondering if I really want it to be remodeled :? . Uh. Yeah, I do. But...not necessarily quickly. I kind of like it the way it is.

I could hardly wait for Michael, Meghan and Sydney to come. They arrived on Christmas Day about mid-afternoon. Sydney immediately gave us that big beautiful smile of hers. She was either happy to see us or finally happy to be out of the carseat. Although I'd like to take the credit for the smile, I'm very sure she was happy to be free of sitting for so long in the car on the long trip here. After getting them settled, Jenny, Abe and Cassie came, and we decided to start letting the little ones open their Christmas gifts. There were more for them than for the adults. I guess grandmas and grandpas get a bit carried away with that. Little Cassie was so tired of opening hers, that she even tried to give the last two away. Of course she (like Sydney) had already had a couple of other Christmas celebrations at family members homes on previous days, so this was getting to be kind of routine. She may not have realized that ours was the last for a whole year.

Some of the highlights of gift opening was the tutu, head gear, and wand that Meghan had hand-made for Cassie. So cute. I'm sure there is a picture in the group somewhere. Sydney was less impressed with her gifts and more impressed with the toys that Jenny had brought from home for her to play with, especially the Fisher-Price Playhouse complete with all the lights and sounds. It was a hit for sure. She did like the big box that her baby swing came in. She also got the hang of Michael's old wooden rocking horse that was a gift to him when he was born. It truly makes a mom feel good inside when she saves a toy that belonged to her child and to see her grandchild enjoy it as well. I saved many of Michael's toys, but the rocking horse seems to be the one the girls both like. Castle Grayskull is also in the playroom (former toy of Michael's). Cassie tried to play like it was a Barbie house, but lost interest very quickly. I think you have to be a boy to like that sort of thing. She and Sydney also enjoyed Michael's case of Matchbox Cars and Hot Wheels as well. There is an very antique doll baby stroller that used to belong to my mother, that both Sydney and Cassie enjoyed pushing a teddy bear around in.

Each day that Michael and Meghan stayed became a new adventure for little Sydney. She was so cute. I think she enjoyed the open space to run and play with Cassie. They played follow-the-leader and marched from room to room. And, yes we certainly did enjoy the hide and seek. There are lots of closets to hide in and doors to hide behind, and the girls really seemed to like Jenny and me hiding with them. I thought it might scare little Sydney to hide in a closet, but she sat very still on my lap in the closet and listened and when someone found her, she just giggled and giggled. Cassie, who is three, is still not real good at hide and seek. She likes to hide with either Jenny or me, but can't quite grasp hiding alone. You might find her in the middle of the room in full view with her hands over her eyes. To her, that is fully hidden. So funny. Also, if you hide with her and say, "Where are you?" She'll usually say, "I'm in the closet!" I was hiding with Sydney and Jenny yelled, "Where are you?" Sydney yelled, "google dookle durdle!" Okay, so I'm not sure what she said, but it sounded like something.

Mike and I bought each other a pool table for Christmas. After all, we had the perfect spot and thought the kids would really enjoy that as well. We all need to practice and read the rule book, but nobody cared about the rules, and we enjoyed playing. Mike also mounted an electronic dart board in the family room, so that was fun as well.

Monday came all too soon for us, and Michael and Meghan prepared to leave. Lots to pack up. We were sad to see them go, but so happy that they came. We're hoping there will be many more visits, and now that we live in Illinois, we also hope to visit them much more often as well.

So...from our house to yours...Have a Very Happy New Year!

Love to all,
Mom

Post Reply