Christmas.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks since Army-Navy, and not just because I've been down a phone (now returned, and with this pre-game photo on it) and up a nasty bout of strep. 

The day after our 12 Drinks of Christmas party (a total blast), I woke up thinking that hangovers were way worse than I remembered before finally hauling myself to the ER and returning with anitbiotics and a quarters slip. Which was not helpful since CDC was randomly closed and there is virtually nothing worse than being bedridden with not-sick kids. Seth came through in a pinch and whisked the kids off for what may have been coyote hunting? I can't even wrap my mind around what that entails, but I was grateful.

As soon as I was back on my feet, the holidays were upon us with a vengeance. They always kind of sneak up on us, but this year was exceptionally nuts. I think by the time Christmas rolled around we had attended or thrown 8 holiday parties (and Finley had started demanding presents from anybody wearing red.)

By the time Jayne and Tony arrived Friday,  though, we had gotten our second wind in the "holiday spirit department" and were feeling festive. Just in time to make Finley's "gream come true" (her words) Saturday with a girls' trip to see the Rockettes at Radio City, a date Jayne and I had made with her more than a year ago. The show was stupendous

and we even took the "Stagedoor Tour" where Finley got to check out the costumes and the rehearsal hall

and hug an actual Rockette. She hasn't stopped talking about it since.

Of course no holiday trip to the city is complete without pilgrimages to the Rockefeller tree and Magnolia bakery. It was pretty much the rainy Saturday of everybody's greams.

The boys went hunting and watched football and drank beer. And Ford got in time with his buddy Grandpa (and got away with eating straight whipped cream for dinner.)

Christmas Eve we carried out the longstanding family traditions of failing to take even one decent family picture and nearly catching the cadet chapel on fire at the Candlelight Service.

And Christmas was as chock full of joy as a holiday can be, with a dusting of fresh snow, kids little enough to be wide-eyed at the Magic of Christmas and vague notions of Santa and Rudolph, and matching pajamas.

Punctuated, of course, by more than a few tears as the Magic of Sharing has thus far eluded us. (Tough to tell but this was the beginning of one of many wrestling matches over new toys.)

 

We capped off Christmas with a raucous impromptu dinner party with none other than the Ryans. (Pictured: new plasma cars, a truly genius gift inspired by Sally, and one we refused to let Santa get the credit for.) We are really going to miss West Point. 

 

The day after Christmas, Missy flew in!!! And we're all beside ourselves. We celebrated with a trip to the New York Hall of Science,

a year after we first discovered it on our holiday travels to the midwest. We took this photo last December.

And this one yesterday. What a year it's been for the Niemans...!

The holiday celebrating continues, although I have to pop in and out of work. It definitely still feels like vacation when it starts with warm homemade cinnamon rolls!

So many favorites from the Phoneless Period, but a couple recents are of story time with Grandma and Grandpa

 

Ford, all ready for our current arctic cold snap,

and the kids' and my last-minute Christmas shopping. Some of us have also not yet discovered the Magic of Giving.

Hope everyone's Christmas was as magical as these guys'.

The Aftermath of Beating Navy.

Well, we beat Navy. Again. And Seth and I finally got away sans kids, thanks to Jayne. And the weekend in Philly was just stupendous.


But my phone was a casualty, so I am currently not only without a way to communicate (does anyone really email anymore?) but also without camera and photos. The latter is a little rough.


Lincoln Financial Field is incredible and allegedly in the process of mailing my phone back to me, so in the meantime the only photos I have are these two, taken moments before Mikayla snapped her arm in half on ours and the Ryans' first night back to reality (Ford loves stale Wal Mart gingerbread)

and this blurry one from the Corbin Forum Holiday Party I took Finley to after ballet the next day.

So more pics to follow (presumably) once the iPhone shows back up (I'm almost disappointed as I was just talking myself into upgrading!) but cheers from an insane week involving- no kidding- six holiday parties. West Point is insane. I think we'll be in double digits before New Year's hits, and the kids are getting spoiled. At the ACS Christmas party last week, Finley couldn't figure out why this  Santa didn't give her a present. You know, because all the other ones have. Seth and I are getting mad that "Santa" gets all the credit and we're running out of gift ideas...

Wreaths, ribs, and teamwork.

It's been a rough couple months (going on five!) of shouldering most of the parenting and household duties while work has gone nuts and Seth has struggled to deal with the pain in the ass that is trying to do anything by wheelchair and keep up a normal work plus teaching schedule while wrestling with this hard-to-kick infection. Neither of us has been particularly charming, and we've kind of retreated to our own foxholes.

And then today I had huge issue hit at work that I couldn't skate on, and by 0930 Ford had projectile vomited at daycare 3 times. So it's going to be one of those weeks.

It turned out to be a real circus of a day, but was a nice reminder that in a pinch, Team Nieman always pulls it together. Albeit in our own way. I'm typing media responses and drafting litigation frantically on one screen and googling holiday cookie exchange recipes on another. (The holidays are upon us, and in a place like this, the festive obligations really take over.) Seth and Ford are, according to my last phone update, deer hunting. Finley's coming to work with me tonight after I pick her up under bribe of soda (seltzer water) and with any luck I'll have a nanny lined up for tomorrow (Ford is expelled until Wednesday) so we don't have to do this again. 

It's a weird version of nailing it, but we're doing it.

And every once in awhile, for PT I get to jog up a mountain and get this sunrise view. So that doesn't hurt.

Luckily we got in a much-needed "life admin" weekend. It already seems like a distant memory, but at least being temporarily caught up on laundry helps. We made it to the Trimbles twins' birthday party, at which Ford hilariously discovered ribs,

 and hung out with the Ryans (all on one piece of furniture, apparently.)

Finley got to get into trouble with Tommy Ryan,

and talked me into dragging both kids to the West Point holiday show (which was great)

and waiting in line to see Santa (which was as awful as it sounds, although she loved Santa.  Ford flatly refused to have anything to do with that weirdo.)

Ford did get to practice his football drills while we waited for the horrendous traffic to subside.

And we placed wreaths at the cemetery as part of Wreaths Across America, one of my favorite traditions. The kids loved it.

We're all looking forward to Jayne's arrival Thursday, and Seth and I can hardly believe we're going to get our first getaway maybe since Ford was born as we head to Philly for the Army-Navy game. I mean, the game will be great but I really just can't wait to sleep in. I've forgotten what it's like.

We'll miss these guys, though, all the craziness and vomit cleanup notwithstanding. Two more favorites from the week are of Finley sporting the Pippi Longstocking braid she not insists on wearing every day (it sticks straight out and she thinks it looks fancy)

and terrible Ford, acting terrible and trying to hide from bedtime.

Beat Navy! and here's to teamwork, grandmas, and the prospect of sleeping past 0645 just once.

Thanksgiving in Vermont

November is particularly characterized by gratitude in the Nieman family. Monday marked five years since Seth's run-in with a three hundred pound bomb. We celebrated his "Alive Day" this year with a long drive home from Vermont, which gave us the chance to talk about just how much our lives have changed in the last five years. And how grateful we are for exactly the place in which we find ourselves. Life is very, very good five years later, despite the long hours and medical bumps in the road and "who's-on-first" act that is part of juggling two tiny terrorists and two nutty jobs. We wouldn't change a thing.

OK, maybe F+F could sleep through the night. And Ford could develop an affinity for broccoli. And just every once in awhile the laundry could fold itself. But otherwise...

Not everything has changed, of course. After this most recent surgery, Seth spent his con leave deer hunting from his truck pursuant to a special handicapped hunting permit (oh thank you, state of New York.) He definitely bagged this buck when he was supposed to be lying in bed with an ice pack.

As a result, his contribution to "Friendsgiving" was this monstrosity (backstraps wrapped in lots and lots of bacon.) As Sally and Neil are from Georgia, it was a hit.

Things have been completely nuts lately and Thanksgiving actually kind of snuck up on us. We were glad we had made plans for casual hangouts with friends by way of celebration. We did find time to make pies late on Wednesday (you know, to complement the venison),

and spent the holiday (finally!) unwinding, with motorcycle rides in the street at the Hilderbrands',

food, stretchy pants, and the discovery of whipped cream in a can at the Ryans'

followed by a terrible game of Pie in the Face

and a resounding Kid Crash in front of a Disney movie.

Somewhere in there we found time to put up the Christmas tree

and throw a few things in a bag for the trip to Vermont we had decided not to cancel when we found out we'd be plus one (wheelchair) for awhile longer. I know I'm the one who most values our Thanksgiving tradition of getting away as a family, especially when hunting is off the table, and Seth was a real trooper about the whole trip.

We spent three nights in beautiful Stowe, where we got lots of snow and family togetherness. Some might say too much of the latter. This is how Seth fell asleep on "date night,"

which we ended up spending at a Children's Museum in Burlington

 with this incredible view,

 

and at the Zero Gravity Brewery, where Ford cleaned up at shuffleboard.

There were lots of children's museums, actually (we loved the one in Rutland on the drive up),

as well as Chinese acrobats at the Spruce Peak Arts Center,

cider tasting at Cold Hollow,

cheese tasting at Cabot,

and a hugely popular pilgrimage to the Ben & Jerry's factory.

Oh, and our stop at the oldest independent bookstore in Vermont turned into a trip to the Bennington Village Candy Shop. So basically we ate and drank our way through the Green Mountain State.

It was a lovely getaway. I got to visit the Trapp Family Lodge, which was high on the Walters bucket list, and Seth didn't look too disappointed in the German beer and sausage offerings. F+F got in lots of snowball fights and outdoor heated pool time (which feels hugely luxurious in the snow, and I felt terrible that Seth couldn't get in.)

Long drive notwithstanding, we enjoyed the heck out of our Thanksiving, and hadn't realized how much we needed the downtime. As we gear up for the holiday season, which promises to be a zoo, we're glad we'll have some quiet family downtime in reserve. Although I spent last night cursing at Christmas lights, so I may already have used up mine.

Photo of the week is Ford, who deeply enjoys a bit of luxury and loves maple syrup yogurt, enjoying breakfast in bed.