After Christmas Craziness

On the 20th, our foster kids left.  They moved to be with grandparents, so I guess it was for the best for them.  We had given our 30 day notice to the county earlier in the week due to some extreme behaviors from the older 2, and the lack of support and therapy from the county.  So, on court day, the judge granted custody to the grandparents, and after an initial few weeks of being monitored by the county, they will be done with CYS.  The parents think they did good by ok'ing custody to grandma, but in the long haul of it, they will find it will be so much harder to get them back from her as it would have been from the system.  But anyway, we're moving on. 

Saturday I got hit by a bad case of the stomach flu.  Or food poisoning.  Not sure which, but I vomited too many times to keep track from Saturday night till Sunday, then slept all day Sunday and all Sunday night into Monday.  I finally ate real food on Christmas day, and still feel a little bit weak and dizzy at times.  Mental games are making me question what was the cause of it all because it was strictly the vomit side of things, and no real fever.  And my cycles are so screwed up lately and I know I totally skipped November and December so far.  But I'm fairly certain that nothing is possible.  Just those 10+ years of trying that plays mind games when I have issues like this.

Christmas was nice.  Really quiet compared to how the past month had been for us, but it was nice.  We made it way more low key and not so over spent this year, mostly because I had no time to shop till the very last week.  He didn't notice the lesser amount of gifts, and was very excited over what he did get.  He still very much believes in Santa so it was cool to still see the magic side of things on Christmas eve and his rush to get sleep.  And then the suspense of hearing him waking up and peaking at 3am.  Then sighing loudly till we finally gave in at around 4:15-4:30ish because we had told him he had to sleep till 5.  We did give in early, and then ended up sending his whiney but back to bed at 6:30 because he was so emotional and over tired still.  After a little nap, we were back up at 8:30 and enjoyed the rest of the day. 
The dogs got lots of chewy bones and toys they can't kill so easily and have been having a blast ever since. 

And our tree.  It has to come down asap.  On Friday I had my babysitting kids come back, and the little one likes to beat the tree and watch stuff fall.  A few little tiny branches came lose, and the dogs got them before I really noticed.  Then they developed a taste for pine.  And ever since, they will sneak a branch when I'm not looking or in the room, and chew for a while.  The tree now looks pathetic so it will be coming down today. 

A few pics, then I'm off to pack up Christmas. Sad to see it go so fast, but it's over now, and time to move on.