Black Friday at the Phippens

Today, we didn't go shopping (although we did hit some Black Friday specials online). We got ready for Christmas. We broke out the Christmas trees (we got a spare one from John's mom and dad and have that in the living room). Asa and Xandri were thrilled to follow the color coding and put the tree together. John carried up our "umbrella" style tree, and like all other years, it got him. He has a scratch from the extremely sharp bits on the tree. After 10 years, moving, and all, our tree needs a good fluff. I haven't gotten around to that part of Christmas yet. It took most of the day to get them up, get the other stuff in, and find the lights in all of what we have.

For Black Friday, I wanted to have a celebration that didn't have anything to do with "stuff"--so we had a special dinner. I set the table with a black table cloth, and we had "black" food. Black Angus beef, black "Forbidden City" rice, and "Black Forest" brownies (brownies with cream and cherries.

Jack is usually very happy. He enjoyed today playing with his best friend Skyler (who is 9 and lives behind us in the "mirror image" of our house).

Asa, who has stopped eating at home completely (as far as I can tell), puts on a happy face. He's been practicing for "Whiniest Child of the Year," but smiled for the camera (after 3 tries).

For two days in a row, Max has been denied a long enough nap. He was dissolving into a puddle of weepy, but he was thrilled to "help" dad make the "Black Forest" brownies (brownie bites from Costco with cherries and whipping cream). He also hammed it up for the camera...

Yup: that's peek-a-boo.

Here he's showing you his good work. I think everyone had a sigh of relief when they were tucked into bed. It was a long day for the kids. They are also tired of each other. I guess that's the trade-off if you're used to going to day care. The same 2 other kids all day long for 3 days starts to wear on you, and them! I'm a bit worried for Christmas break!