Though we slowed down a little from holiday festivities, this was still a pretty full week. I’m sharing blessings with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.
1. A Lego book nook. I haven’t put Legos together since my youngest son was a child, maybe twenty years or more ago. I saw this Lego set and commented on it online somewhere, which my husband saw and then searched for it for Christmas. I put it together while Jeremy and Jesse were at the other end of the table playing games in case I needed help with the instructions or tiny pieces. But I was able to do it all by myself! The instruction booklet said a lady submitted this idea for a Lego challenge and won. How fun it must have been to see her idea turned into an actual Lego kit.
Isn’t that the cutest thing? Here’s a view with the ladder removed:
I love the details–the mail, the feather pen and ink well, the globe, the scroll work at the top of the shelves.
2. Mexican food. Jeremy wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant while he was here because the ones near where he lives in RI don’t have the cheese dip we love. We had a bit of a wait, but once we were seated, everything went well and the food was delicious. Plus some of us had enough for another meal.
3. Games. We love playing games and tried some new ones as well as some old favorites. One new one I got was Ransom Notes–each player has a metal tray and takes a “pinch” of magnetic words. Then a card is turned over with a prompt, and everyone has to try to make sentences to express that prompt. The only downside was that it took a lot of time for each player to get new words each round and spread them out. But otherwise it was a lot of fun. (We found a few inappropriate prompts in the card which we weeded out as we came to them. I’ll probably go through and eliminate any others before we play again.)
Jeremy brought Wave Length, a game where you divide into teams, and one person picks a card with a prompt of extremes, like “hot” on one side and “cold” on the other. They spin a dial and see where the points land. Then then try to give one clue so their team can guess where on the dial the highest points are. So if the highest points were on the left, for “hot” and “cold” you might say “lava” so the team knows the points are on that end of the spectrum. Each team gets points for how close they come to what’s on the dial. Plus the other team can get a point if they correctly guess whether the opposing team guessed too high or too low.
We always love Jackbox games, especially Blather Round and Drawful (Timothy likes Earwax). We play them through the Apple TV so everyone can see the game on the TV, but they cam be played through other systems as well. Each person logs into Jackbox on their phone or tablet to play. Jeremy told us about a new one called Jackbox Survey Scramble, which is somewhat like Family Feud but with several variations: a prompt is given, like “items in a junk drawer,” and we all give answers which are then ranked according to survey results.
4. Gingerbread houses. Somehow we’ve missed this the last few years.
On the left, Jeremy’s at the top, then mine, and Jesse’s. On the right, Mittu’s, Timothy’s, and Jason’s. I had to give Jim center stage because his was so elaborate. I thought his trees looked like something from Dr. Seuss, and he sprinkled everything with powdered sugar through a strainer to look like fresh snow.
5. Christmas cards and letters. I love receiving these every year–even the late ones! It’s so good to catch up with everyone’s families.
Bonus: New calendars! I love setting these up with birthdays and anniversaries for the new year.
Jeremy went home Wednesday. It’s strange how two things can be true at the same time–intensely missing all the family togetherness, yet enjoying a lower-key rest of the week. We’ll take the Christmas stuff down this weekend, which also involves mixed emotions. But I guess that’s life. 🙂
Stray Thoughts 
Your games sound like so much fun! My grandson has Lord of the Rings Monopoly and has promised to come over and play it with me soon.
I love your Legos scene! I would probably need some instructions. Good job!
Christmas is so wonderful but I’m sure you’re missing Jeremy but at the same time, relaxing in the quiet.
I do love Timothy’s gingerbread house! And those trees!
Have a Happy New Year, my friend.
we love games too!
That lego kit!! I need to find that and buy it for my oldest daughter’s birthday in July. She collects various lego kits and i KNOW she doens’t have that one yet plus she’s a total book nerd like me. I love all the details but where’s the globe?? why don’t i see the globe? i see the tea cup, the pen, the mail….
I loved having the whole family over including all my sisters, their children and spouses but i was SO ready for just Dave and I and getting the house back in order. We are enjoying some Hygee practices this winter. We don’t have a lot of snow here in eastern NY but we do have cold temps!
Happy Weekend!
The globe is on top of the bookcase. 🙂 Jim had a hard time finding it before Christmas, but hopefully places have restocked now. The name on the box is “Books Are My Passion,” so maybe you can find it under that title.
Thank you Barbara!! I’m going to look for it!
Oh that Lego reading scene is adorable, and so sweet of your husband to find it for you!
I love playing games but most in my family do not, sadly. I think that gingerbread houses are much like legos. I don’t have the patience for either but I love yours.
Super cute book nook! I’ve seen some stop-action shorts of a guy who makes “food” with legos — fun to see the inventive ways he uses standard legos.
How nice that Jeremy got to have some fave foods while he’s out visiting with you. You all find such interesting games to play together! The gingerbread houses are very cute 🙂
I can imagine how you feel about the bittersweet mixed emotions feeling. Hope you have another lower-key week.
I love your Lego book nook! Such a fun little project that you can continue enjoying 🙂 Your card display is cute too. We’ve started pulling a card out of the stash each night to pray for those people at dinner before getting rid of it. Your gingerbread houses are cute! I haven’t done those since the girls were little, and a major memory is of the roofs often collapsing. I was not exactly a pro at those 🙂 Happy New Year!
Oh, the book nook is just the cutest! My kids never got into Legos when they were young, but my oldest son likes them now, go figure. He added Lego buildings to a Christmas village I gave him.
I share your love of new calendars. I love adding stickers!
Your games sound fun and are all new to me.
Happy New Year, Barbara.
I love the Lego book nook. How cute! Happy New Year!
I love Christmas cards too and always enjoy sending and receiving them. That Lego book nook is very cool! What a great gift from your husband! We got a new game this year too – Uzzle! Lots of fun. We really enjoyed playing it on Christmas Eve. I understand how you feel about enjoying having your family around and also loving the after Christmas quiet. Glad you had a good week. See you again soon!
Hey, Deb–I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I wanted to let you know I have not been able to comment on your blog the last few weeks. In the area to post a comment, it says “Firefox cannot open this page.” I cleared my cache in case that was the problem, but it didn’t change. I’m not sure what the deal is–I see others commenting ok.
I’m like you, I love having the family here together but it’s always nice to enjoy the peace and quiet when they’ve gone. Sounds like you all had a fun time with games and gingerbread houses etc. Your book nook is lovely. I might be searching that out too. Lego seems to be more about making a specific thing these days and then displaying it. When my kids were little it was more about playing with it – building and then dismantling and then building something different rather than just admiring a finished project.
I’m loving seeing the ways your family has fun together! I’m trying to challenge myself to intentionally have fun as a family – I can tend to get pretty task-focused and not make time for things like games or putting together a LEGO creation myself.
I’ll have to look for that Lego kit. It’s perfect for us readers. 🙂 I’m new to Legos as an adult and I’ve found that I love them as much as jigsaw puzzles. My friend recently gave me daffodil Legos to put together. So fun.
The lego build is adorable. How fun and how nice that Jim went looking for that for you. My family played Ranson Notes this Christmas too but I was too tired to join in. The gingerbread houses are cute. I totally get the missing the togetherness but being glad for the quiet!