Happy Belated Thanksgiving. I've been on a bit of a hiatus, trying to mend the rest of my family and enjoy the holiday a bit. I've actually turned the computer off and re-focused on my house and home. I've been getting lots of inspiration and ideas about organizing and nesting, which is weird...like I'm ready to nest now that I've decided not to have any more children. So I've been purging toys and clutter and junk and my God, does it feel great!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. I cooked and hosted, and it was both rewarding and exhausting. But what a feeling to look around our table in our last new home with four generations of our family, healthy, happy and together. I was so thrilled to be together and be home, and then the Eagles beat the pants off the Cardinals. Unexpected and wonderful, but so frustrating that they can't play with any consistency. Ah, but this is not a sports blog, so I will stop my Philly-bred rant there.

Elizabeth did bounce back from her stomach bug - finally - and is now eating like a piggy, playing, trying to walk, moving my kitchen chairs around. She's fine. I am so relieved. Erin also succumbed to the virus last Sunday night and the amount of "stuff" leaving her body, from both ends, was epic. Pete and I took turns sleeping on the floor of the bathroom with her. And we knew she was fine by 7:00 Monday morning when she used the "camp out" on the bathroom floor to incite both jealousy and rage in the heart of Meghan, who was thoroughly dejected that Erin had had such a fun night while she was left to sleep in her room alone. Only Erin could turn an event like a stomach virus (which rendered her exploding on the toilet from the back end while simultaneously holding a bucket in front of her to catch the projectile vomit) into an opportunity to make Meghan feel left out of something grand.

She's such a witch sometimes.

So she's been a royal pest, bored and disinterested with being home all the time. My only saving grace would be a full week of school this week. But alas, my hopes were dashed as I looked to the school district calendar on Friday night to see that she has only one full-day of school this week, and will be finished at 1:00 pm Tuesday through Friday. I almost cried. Pete has a three-day business trip to Massachusetts this week, so it will be a long one. I am bracing myself now.

Otherwise things are status quo. We had a nice weekend together and hope to do some holiday decorating today. No drama, no news...which I guess is good, but makes for really boring blogging. We did go to Haddonfield Friday night and waited in line to see Santa and give him our Christmas Wish Lists. What a beautiful night it was. The weather was perfect, the main street was lit with lights and luminaria, and Erin and Meghan could hardly contain their excitement. Lizzy was absolutely amazed by the lights and the music and all of the people. It was so sweet to see her all bundled in her shearling bunting, with eyes like saucers, amazed in that first Christmas sort of way, by all the activity surrounding her. And as we waited in line for Santa, a small, Mayberry-like orchestra began playing Christmas carols, one of which was "The Little Drummer Boy" - Meghan's favorite. She was so surprised by what she was hearing, and became so overwhelmed, she actually started to cry. "Happy tears, Mommy, not sad ones," she clarified the next day. She just stood listening with gigantic tears rolling down her face. Of course, I asked her what was wrong, why she was crying, and she said, through sobs, "I didn't know that they would play this. I just can't believe that they are playing it."

We all got very choked up, and it seemed like the entire holiday season, and what this one in particular means to us, could be encapsulated in that one little moment of overwhelmed, genuine, childlike joy. I think, in our own ways, none of us can quite believe what is going on around us this year. We are back home, and our children are healthy. We have our family and friends with us, and a happy marriage, and really, the rest of our lives ahead of us. And so I guess it's understandable how we all, even those of us who are four, are a little overcome with emotion after the ride we've been on in the last year. And why at nothing more than the sound of "The Little Drummer Boy" any one of us can come a little unglued.

And so I am off to do my food shopping and try to get a workout in before taking Erin to choir practice and getting the house gussied-up for the holidays. Happy Sunday!