The Pitiful and the Fabulous

Look at this pitiful face:
Evan and I had some quality time yesterday. He has a nasty cough, runny nose, and a low-grade fever. Yep...I said has. He's still home. But...he's a little less punky today. We spent lots of time snuggling, watching animal shows, and reading. He did sneak upstairs to play a little Play-do:

On the whole, though, he was pitiful. He was so pitiful he didn't even care when Issa and I got ready to go to a Christmas party for my old lab group. Check out Miss Fabulous:

One of her little friends at the party announced she was "blindingly sparkly." Issa was thrilled by that proclamation.

It was so good to see everyone, but also a bit unsettling. It's funny how when you move on you pretend everything stays the same. It was strange to see new people in the group and new babies and babies growing into big kids. I suppose time will do that.

The party was good fun, though, especially for the kids! The host always sets up a playroom for them, complete with a craft project. This year, the kids decorated tabletop Christmas trees. At the end of the evening, each child also receives a gift. There is always something common to all of the kids and then something unique to the child. This year, the commonality was an animal hat:

Does life get more fabulous? Issa had to wear it to school today even thought it was 50 degrees.

Well...Mr. Pitiful is done being independent. I think I see The Night Before Christmas in our future.