Christmas Lights

Last year we weren't able to put up lights outside and so this year the girls requested lights outside. We discussed colors and styles and they chose "rainbow".


So, Thanksgiving weekend, in the beautiful 50 degree weather, we put some blanket lights on the overgrown bushes along our house. We love them and they make us smile quite a bit. The girls adore them!

Photo Shoot

Fin requested a photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites. She is quite a character!

Cherry Pie

One of Danny's New Year's resolutions was to make more pie. Well, since he made zero pies in 2010 it would take just one to fulfill his resolution. So, the day after Thanksgiving he and the girls got to making a cherry (and peach) pie! It was quite the event. There were highs and lows but in the end Daddy made a pie that he loved! (He was the only one who likes cherry/peach pie apparently.)


Working the dough.

Concentration! She took the pie making seriously.

On the other hand, this yahoo....

...did as well...at times...

The big one opening cherries and the little one keeping a watchful eye on what the big one is up to!

Dumping...

All of the yahoos together!

Baked...

On the plate...

Thanksgiving Festivities

What a fabulous day.

We started the morning with popcorn, root beer floats and the parade. As a side note, we had promised the girls those treats the night before but we ran out of time. But it was kind of a fun way to start the day...a special treat!

While the kids watched the parade, Danny and I got the turkey in the oven, green beans and stuffing prepped and then settled down to watch with the kids.

There were phone calls to family to say hello and get final recipes.

The weather was gorgeous today...nearly 60. Danny took the girls for a bike ride to pick up a wreath that we ordered. While they were out I made the potatoes and gravy and cooked the beans and stuffing. It was great timing and nice to have outside time for the kids and quiet time for mom.

Dinner was amazing. We passed a leaf that Maya had picked up on one of her adventures and said what we were thankful for. Family, health, and Zuzu were the common offerings.

After lunch the girls played Starfall (ABC/reading website) while Danny and I watched figure skating and football...aka...took a nap.

There was a pretty intense dance party that got things moving and grooving. Lots of shrieking and giggling and busting a move!

The dance party ended, of course, with a wrestling match. How Danny survived this without barfing is beyond me!

Then we settled in for a little Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. The night ended with the girls singing as they "cleaned" up their rooms. The lyrics were something like this..."I didn't do it. You did it. You clean it up. I won't. Yes you will." It went on and on. I'm sure you get the drift!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Winter Lights Parade

Tonight was the big "lighting the lights" event. A friend posted the link to the parade on facebook and we decided to head on down and have a look at the parade. We met Mel and Odin there and had a great time. Lots of lights, lots of candy and just a little bit of wintery wind.

The 3 wingnuts hanging out and waiting for the festivities to begin.

There were lots of sirens to start. Fin didn't think they were all that cool.

For the non-midwesterners. A mini-snow plow decked out in festive parade gear!

Maya loved it all!

Mel and Danny looking cute, cute, cute!

And perhaps THE best worst picture ever! Holy hell. She is mid Tootsie Roll chew. Brilliant!

Maya's Pancakes

On Thursday Maya and Jen wandered over to campus to order a locally-grown, organic, free-range, blah, blah, blah turkey from a special event. While we were there Maya was able to mix up the ingredients for pancakes at one of the booths. So this morning after swim lessons we made them. Enjoyable.

Watching them on the griddle. (Note the hand on the hip.)

Pouring the last giant, Maya-sized pancake.

Sitting down to eat!

Fin had...any guesses? Anyone? PEANUT BUTTER TOAST!!!

Danny declared Maya the new pancake queen! She is pretty proud of the title!

28+6

I haven't posted much in the way of pics of me yet. So here is Zuzu at 28 weeks 6 days.

Everything is going well thus far. She is measuring about a week ahead but that is not surprising for the usual size of the kiddos at birth. I passed my 1-hour test but we did find out that my hemoglobin is really low...so iron supplements here we go. But I'm not going to complain one bit because I don't have gestational diabetes!!!

Maya and Fin are scheduled to go to a Mom's Helper class mid-December and then Danny and I will have a tour of the birth center a couple of days later. It still seems like 11 weeks is a long time away considering all that has to happen between now and then but I know it will be February very, very soon!

First Snow

It was really only a dusting but the girls were excited to get out and play and have snack (of course) in the snow!

Daddy Blog (11/17/11)

Words Can Be Like Huggles

if you’ve read my blog before

this may be a case of stating the obvious

but, I’m going to state it anyway

I love words.

I love language

and wordplay

dialects

and dialogue

I believe that language is an organism

a rhizome

that it is meant to grow and evolve

just as we do

just as our minds do.

from an early age, the 2nd grade I believe,

I realized that I had a home in words…

that language was a place for me

and it had to do with learning about poetry

and e.e. cummings especially…

the idea that language has rules

but you can deign to break them

if by breaking them

you express yourself more deeply

if not more clearly…

ohhh I get jazzed just thinking about it now…

thinking about that feeling

words

i grew up in a house that fostered those feelings

a house of bookworms

a prominent feature of the house I grew up in

where my parents still live

is a built-in bookshelf.

my brother and both of my parents

are voracious readers

it’s no surprise that I married a voracious reader too!

in my house

growing up

wordplay

and word games

were the usual

and long conversations

about this news item, or current event,

or that philosophical theory or mythical allegory

over dinner

were standard…

to the point that family friends

still talk about

the banter

at our house.

and even my grandmother

would comment about our

unique, stimulating dinner dialogue…

now here I am

as a parent

on the brink of experiencing all of that delight

in a new way

it’s wonderful.

The five-year-old is learning to

read and write!

sounding out words and phrases like

love, and donut, and do not disturb…

and I realize that

our dialogue

and our game play,

our relationship

is taking on a whole new dimension

and I am thrilled.

The three-year-old is not far behind…

but her language development is at a different

fun stage

words and wordplay

using words to express herself

means sometimes making up new words out of thin air,

or

combining words she knows

some are for play, nonsense words (I love these a lot)

and some are utilitarian (these I love too)

and some are just for more clear expression of what she’s feeling

a direct line to her heart, as it were. (I love these the most)

my favorite of these

made up just this morning

combines hug and snuggle

huggle

how can you not love huggle?

and how amazing that

my three-year-old

knows that a huggle is what she needs

and knows and understands our strange language

well enough to make up the word.

miraculous.

Gymnastics

We have taken a few months off of gymnastics class but Fin had been expressing interest in taking classes again. So we got our act together and got the girls enrolled. Maya is in Red Stars and Fin is in Little Sparks. This is the first gymnastics class that Fin is doing without a parent and she loves it!

Some pics of the girls.

Ballet Class

We decided this fall would be a good time to get Maya enrolled in a dance class. Her interest in it hadn't waned and so we sort of happened upon Gasper's enrollment period and a signed her up. She is in Ballet 2 and is loving it!

Some shots from the class.

She is always under a watchful eye!