Cabin fever, the bonus day, and stroller skating

I suppose I shouldn't have made fun of our Seattle snowstorm, because it apparently took offense and dumped a lot more on us. Good news: a white Christmas! Bad news: I have only left the house twice since last Wednesday. With DH working overtime, that meant most of my intelligent conversations during the day were with the dog. Don't get me wrong, Evey is quite sharp for a Schnoodle. It's just that she's so opinionated and obstinate, sometimes it feels like a one-sided conversation.

In my desperation for something to do with Bean that didn't involve driving on treacherous unplowed roads, I decided to give him his Christmas gift a few days early. (Oh, come on, it's not like it matters. The kid doesn't give a crap what day it is.) Much to my delight, he loves the rocking horse. When I plop him on the seat, he holds one arm in the air like he's riding a bull, and then he grabs the handle with the other hand and rapidly pushes back and forth like he's rocking it.

I could have used the extra time at home to decorate the house for Christmas, but I was overwhelmed by all the moving boxes in the garage and loft, so I stayed away from them completely. DH and I did manage to put up and decorate our tree. Our families were so generous and sent us packages to open on Christmas morning. Luckily gifts do a pretty decent job of filling the hole left by not going home for the holidays. Good thinking, guys, we appreciate it! (Especially you, mom and dad. You guys are the bestest. Ever.)

The only other decorations up are a couple of small items I couldn't resist at Fred Meyer (the Seattle equivalent of Meijer, for you Michiganders), and a huge snowman that DH's grandma mailed to Bean. He enjoyed checking it out as he practiced standing up, his little hips swaying in his best Elvis imitation.

With snow falling all of Sunday night, I was concerned about DH navigating the roads on Monday morning. I convinced him not to go into work, and he was able to do a four-hour online training class from our home computer. Because of how his hours are recorded at work, that meant that today he had to either go into work for a full 12 hours, or take a vacation day. Luckily he's not insane and decided to start the holidays early. A bonus day with DH, hooray! We took advantage of it and went to a local roller rink for some stroller skating with the MOMS Club. Bean sported his usual "I'm only tolerating this for you two" look the entire time. Sometimes I get the feeling that the harder I try to do something fun, the more I'm just annoying him. His biggest laughs today came when he was repeatedly throwing a pen on the floor and DH would pick it up and hand it back to him.

Despite being far from our family, I am looking forward to Christmas and can't wait to spend it with my three loves. We have some yummy items on the menu (DH is making roasted lamb), and Netflix is providing the entertainment. It's going to be a very Mummy holiday in our house this year. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas!