O The Huge Mango!

Christmas cards have started to arrive, despite the fact that I am lame and haven't sent any out since the beginning of this century. I got a really cute picture from JP and The Heather. Not having seen The Mango for a while, I was surprised at how huge he has gotten. He is not fat, but he is certainly tall (I guess it's "long" for babies, since they're not standing up much). He is definitely a huge mango, and adorable to boot.

I also got a very sweet card from my aunt and uncle in Florida (one set of them), wishing me "happy fireplace time at Lakeside with your parents." I am looking forward to a very different and quiet type of Christmas this year, as it will just be me, my folks and the dogs up at the lake.

In today's mail, I got a card from the Pickypants family. It was a picture of my nephews on the Disney island last February. I love the picture, and I love my nephews. That said, having spent a large amount of time with them over the weekend, I'm seriously over the whole little boy experience. Little boys sort of smell, even when they're clean, they like to grunt and belch and say "butt" and "fart" a lot, and they're much too energetic for this old crab.

Still, I think we all had fun over the weekend. Friday night, we went to Blossom Music Center for a drive-through holiday light show, which was really neat. Saturday night, we went to see The Nutcracker at the Akron Civic Theater, then out for ice cream afterwards at Mary Coyle's, which is both an Akron institution and a family tradition.

Sunday morning, the boys and I decorated gingerbread houses, and then I came home and reveled in the quiet and some girly scents. I would have been a lousy mom, but I think I'm a pretty good aunt.

Edited to add pictures of said gingerbread houses: