Monday, December 23, 2024

Holiday Things

We left 3/5 of the kids home yesterday, and almost all the cookies are gone. AND YOU ALL THOUGHT I MADE SO MANY (lol).

Julie made almost the exact same fudge I did, but hers has half the sugar and uses marshmallows, not marshmallow cream. Like Julie, I avoided the actual Nestle-branded chips. (You guys GOTTA make fantasy fudge-- it is so good. My dad used to make it, and I haven't in YEARS, but I do remember the year my grandpa died-- my dad made a batch almost every day when his dad was sick).

Ben bought himself a car on Saturday. It felt random to me at the time, but, in retrospect, he has been mentioning that he should trade in his 2022 hybrid Highlander before it hit 80K miles (he drives A LOT). (Srsly, we got that car in JUNE of 2022). Every time he said that I was like but I thought we were saving that car for Cooper, and we would drop the subject. So, I was only halfway paying attention. Really, though, that car has always been an awkward fit for us. It is not really comfy for all 7 because the third row is VERY cramped. My Pilot is just a teeny bit bigger, but that teeny bit is vital, it turns out. At the same time, it is kind oif big for one dude to be driving alone, and it is a tall car. Ben has very much NOT ENJOYED being pushed around by the wind on his most recent drives.

ANYWAY, he bought a super sporty looking 2025 Kia sedan (we are so old a sedan is sporty) with AWD (essential for a snowy 3+ hour commute) and lots of cute old man bells and whistles inside (does he love heating his steering wheel via app before he gets in the car? YES HE DOES). It gets better highway miles than his Highlander, and it is really comfortable for 2 kids and 2 adults and will be fine on Mondays when he drives Minnie, Dorothy, Dorothy's dance friend, and Coop on the drop off/pick up loop.

We drove it to visit my mom on Sunday, and it was great-- although I was anxious about being so LOW. It has been 15 years since I was in a car (not a van or SUV) on the highway.

Cooper got to be a judge at Jack's high school alumni dive meet

At the alumni meet, the kids make dive lists for each other and include the most ridiculous dives. LIKE THIS ONE, a classic that found a new audience



Dorothy is thoroughly enjoying winter break
HARRY IS HOME! With either dead bodies or LAUNDRY!
We had a great time at my mom's. Jon and Caleb were there, and they modeled the matching fam Lands End vests we got them

Minnie had a blast

Ben tried out Annabel's toy

And we all tried really hard to put these jammies on Scooter (we also tried front legs first)













2 comments:

  1. Dead bodies or laundry. Hahahah. It must feel AMAZING to have all the kids home again <3

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  2. I've sat in the rear seat of a highlander and it is NOT comfy. It will be nice to have a sedan for all the driving that Ben does! You would laugh at how many miles we have on our cars... like Phil's 2013 Corolla that we still own has maybe 40k miles on it? Our Rav-4 hybrid that we got last October has maybe 10k miles on it? But maybe more like 8k? We barely drive. But we live close to work and all the kids activities are within a few miles of us. I will enjoy this while it lasts as I know it may change (but will be kind of shocked if anyone does a club sport... time will tell). New cars are so fun with all their bells and whistles. I love the heated seats and steering wheel our Rav-4 hybrid has! After having a sedan for 20+ years, I am still adjusting to driving the Rav-4... Probably doesn't help that I backed it into a pilar in a parking garage when it was 2 weeks old - still dealing with PTSD from that...

    Hooray for Jack being home! I hope his re-entry into the family home goes well. That can be kind of touch and go from my memory of watching my siblings return from college for longer breaks...

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