The Week That Was

It started out with my camera dying.  More accurately, I discovered on page 92 of the instruction manual, actually it was the battery that died.

Aha, BUT when I bought the camera I also purchased another battery.  My hope was that it would work when charged as it had been in a drawer for seven years and never charged.  Voila, it charged and has been
working ever since!  I'm a Happy Camper........saved by a battery.

The first photo I took was this one off the balcony of the sunset.  The colors are not photo shopped.  That is truly the color the sky was becoming.  Lovely, isn't it?

It has been a week full of preparations, not only for Christmas, but for my son John's birthday today!
Somehow it always sneaks up on me, just like his birth did.  He wasn't due til the first of February, but decided to be a bundle of joy and a great Christmas present, six days early, lo those many years ago.

Last evening, he and the children arrived for a Birthday Dinner cooked by none other then me.  All of his favorite foods.  Including his favorite cheesecake which is simple to make and one of the few desserts that I don't care for, so I'm not tempted to eat it.

The kids and I had candle holders and candles to put in the top of the dessert.  After one sank to the bottom as we tried to put the candle in after the holder was in there, we realized that we had to put the candle in the holder and then gently place it on top of the cheesecake.  Hence, in the photo, you'll see a slight crater where our experiment went awry.

 The number of candles means nothing.  It's just how many holders came in the package and they wanted to put as many on the cake as they could.

Oh, and if you notice, for some reason, all the candles are on one side of the dessert.  But, I'm so over trying to be precise and perfect, that I now see the humor and sweetness in their adorable attempts.

We had no sooner finished dinner and I was clearing the table that Matilda went zooming up the stairs to the bedroom with Sebastian in hot pursuit.  I could not imagine what they were up to until Sebastian came to the bottom stair and announced "First Call." What?  John said they were getting ready for a play and to go sit down.

And, with that, it began........A Santa Story.

 Matilda had taken Sebastian's jacket and turned it into Santa's coat.  She had stuffed a pillow inside and came down the stairs saying with a very deep voice "Ho Ho Ho!"  She had found my "" Believe in Santa Claus" hat too.

 Sebastian had found my reindeer ears that I plan to wear today to a party and he was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer minus the nose.

 Matilda had found an empty trash bag and some magazines upstairs.  These were the presents that they were going to pass out or leave.  She is again saying loudly, "Ho Ho Ho".

 And, here they are smiling as big as possible.  I was trying not to burst out laughing.

 Sebastian got out the foam rubber ball that we use with the tennis rackets in the house and proclaimed that now he had a nose - yes, a yellow one, but better then no nose.

Finally, after all the shenanigans were over and they were ready to settle down under the blanket and watch TV for a bit, this photo says it all.  Doesn't it?   Two worn out kids who had been going at ninety miles an hour all day were finally worn out!

Whew, I would have hated to have missed getting these photos.  It IS all about the things of life on a daily basis.  Life is never dull around here.