Merry Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve at our house, and things are quiet.  We're having some cruddy, windy, icy weather outside, plus both boys have colds and Lily has pneumonia.  So ... a quiet inside day at home, it is!!  I made Grandma Gross's cookies last night, which have a German name that I don't actually know.  They are flaky, layery, buttery yumminess!  I hope to make Almond Kringle later today, but that depends on whether there is any almond paste to be found around here.  Our Christmas dinner tomorrow will be at Mom and Dad's house, and a blissfully simple menu:  pot roast with veggies and potatoes cooked around it, and pumpkin pie for dessert.  No stress or chaos for anyone!!

What?  You want pictures?  You don't come on here to read my fascinating commentary about the minutae of our lives?  Well ... OK.  I have some pictures.  For starters, look at my incredible luck with plants (it IS luck, not skill!).  Both my amaryllis and Christmas cactus are blooming just in time for Christmas!  I don't have any idea what makes a Christmas cactus decide it's time to bloom.  I've had this one bloom at any and every time of year, but so far never actually on Christmas!  And this amaryllis Ibought on a whim during Black Friday shopping, and that fast it's blooming!

Pretty, yes?

In case you were wondering, the kids aren't tired of the doggie yet.  They still think he's a sweetie.

Rudy was bounding around the house (supervised!) yesterday, and came across this sock.  He picked it up and trotted around carrying it for a while, then took it to the living room carpet to rough it up a little.  It was just so terribly cute to watch.  That is actually a very small sock - it belongs to Gregory. 

Here's a cautious first meeting.  These two have been carefully avoiding each other since Rudy came to stay here.  Yesterday, Rudy decided he felt brave enough to tip-toe up to meet the cat, and Harold was cautiously willing.  It's insane how much smaller that dog is than that cat!!