Monday, December 26, 2011

A Day Late

I completely missed the Picture of the Day for Christmas. Missed, in fact, that I didn't have a picture for the day. I blame the nasty virus that has hit all three of the adults in this household, which made for a very weary, somewhat cranky, but otherwise very pleasant holiday at home.

Christmas this year involved lovely gifts, great food, and a lot of napping. The boys got a pair of Android tablets that they will be able to use to look up things on the Web (under strict adult supervision, of course), read books with the Kindle reader, and send and receive email (so send them some email and embarrass them into keeping in touch with you).

They can also use the tablets on long trips to watch movies, play games, and listen to music. I've promised them both an initial selection of movies and music, two games each (including the wildly popular Angry Birds, which they both wanted), two paid-for e-books, and an unlimited number of (approved) public domain e-books. I installed Treasure Island on William's tablet, and The Wind In the Willows on Daniel's to get them started.

It's all part of getting out family to put more function into less space, and to have less stuff overall. In fact, a lot of the gifts we've given each other are gifts of activities, or tools to do things with. The boys gave Karen a wood burning kit, with which she hope to decorate many of the wood doors in the house, and I gave her a book on painting in miniature, something she has wanted to do for a long time.

The boys gave me something I've wanted ever since I saw one of my fellow Little Shop cast members playing one: an ukulele. I don't have it yet; they promised it to me by each drawing one half of it, and wrapping the cardboard drawings. Really cute!

(Note to the English purists who might wonder at my use of "an" instead of "a" for an indefinite article accompanying ukulele. It has recently come to my attention that the proper pronunciation for this Polynesian instrument is not the Anglo "yoo-kuh-lay-lee," but the proper Hawaiian "oo-koo-lay-lay." After a few trips to the islands, I should have know that, but I wasn't paying enough attention.)

Karen is off for the whole week, and we have many family activities planned, although not all of them will come to fruition unless the adults start feeling better soon. When we do get out and about, be assured that there will be pictures posted here and, if I'm feeling ambitious, blog entries describing the whole exciting week.

Happy Holidays, everyone!