Rise and Shine

"Daddy, the sun is not sleeping anymore. It's time to get up."

Gingerbread House

Megan put me onto these free workshops that both Home Depot and Lowe's do for kids once or twice a month. Last week we didn't go because we didn't have time, but I was determined that they were going to go this week (yesterday) for the gingerbread house.

Drew said that BB was wielding the wrong side of her hammer, putting divots in the wood. It's a good thing they gave the kids goggles.

They both also received an apron with a patch (think: Girl or Boy Scouts) and a certificate of completion.

Clever Hiding Place

The girls were playing a round of Hide and Seek with Drew, and Drew couldn't find G: he looked all throughout the house twice. Normally, she's tucked herself into a corner with her eyes shut tight, presumably trying to be absorbed into the wall; or crouching behind a door, pretending that she can't be seen. But this time, Drew looked in all the usual places and no G! I volunteered to be part of the search operation, partly out of curiosity. A quick glance through the living room and I happened to spy two sets of fingers and two sets of toes peeking out from the sides of the couch pillows: G had cleverly concealed herself under two pillows in such a way that it couldn't easily be guessed that there was anything underneath them. If she had known to hide her digits, it would have been the completest thing.

Overheard

As I was writing one of my other posts I remembered something Drew once told me that he overheard in the cafeteria line in college. He was standing behind this couple that we used to always see around campus; they were memorable for the matching pajama bottoms that they'd wear to class, as if they'd just rolled out of bed. Anyway this was breakfast and there weren't many people around. The guy requested ready-made scrambled eggs, which there wasn't very much left, and the girl says, "Ha, ha, you got leftovers." And without missing a beat, the guy replies, "What's wrong with leftovers? That's how I got you."

The Hind Quarters

Z, during tummy time, has been making the motions of trying to get her knees under her bottom to crawl. I wish I could know with my adult mind the experiences of a baby making its way through the first year.

How Cold Can They Go

What with all the handy snow outside – it snowed yesterday, two inches at most –, I put the girls out to play. Unlike yesterday when the wind was blowing cold and the sky was overcast, today was all sunshine and almost warm. But I bundled them well and got an unexpected return: they stayed out for more than an hour. They were down in the yard for most of that time, digging, poking, attempting to sit in every patch of sunlit virgin snow. (I forbade them to go in the shaded areas, which would be out of my viewing area and near the gates.) When they were ready to come in, they got sidetracked by all the snow to be had on the deck and spent another quarter of an hour there.

Stump of Jesse

I don't often go on the yearly tree buying trip, so it was news to me when I saw the little Charlie Brown trees for sale at our church. Theirs is a spartan little brownish green thing, perhaps a little stronger limbed – I wanted one the moment I saw it. But for the same price, you could get a fuller CB tree with a plastic watering dish stand at Lowe's. Funny story: while Drew was deciding on a CBt he overheard a husband laughing to his wife, "What are you supposed to do with a little tree like that?" And Drew replied, "Some people use them for Jesse trees." Husband: "Huh." Later, Drew saw the husband carrying one of the little trees out to their car.

I contemplated using our CBt for a Jesse tree, what with the new ornaments that we're getting, but as far as house space is concerned, the CBt was best in the girls' room and maybe it wouldn't be prudent to leave little trinkets in little hands unsupervised. So we strung some lights and it keeps them company at night when they're going to sleep: a happy night light.

This is the before and after of the proper living room tree. I'll wait until the last to outfit it with presents so there's no danger of prying fingers. Of course Drew would argue that that's part of the fun – he was tolerably proficient when he was a kid at unfastening the tape without doing damage and having a peek – so I might wrap up some of the stocking stuffers, since we don't have stockings to hang by the fire with care.

Gin and Tonic

Don't you just love the smell of Christmas, particularly the tree? We got ours this weekend from our church, a cute little fir and a wreath for the front porch. We're starting a little late as far as decorating is concerned, but I tell you, in your private ear, the Christmas music has been playing since before Thanksgiving. Normally, I'm opposed to celebrating holidays out of order, overlapping them, but this year I just couldn't resist: I woke up one Saturday and had to whip up my waffles to Christmas music.

I remember the first time G ever saw a Christmas tree. We put it up after she'd gone to bed, and when she awoke the next morning, she started crying for fear of the big strange thing in the living room. It didn't have lights on it yet because I don't think we had any at the time but after we had it decorated she warmed up to it, even loved it to the point of constantly ripping needles off the lower boughs. Now she absolutely oohs and aahs over all the lights and little ornaments. We have some ribbon that we usually wrap around the tree, along with the lights, but she didn't like that at all, and I think it's because it would obscure the twinkling.

During BB's first Christmas, I caught her eating the needles off the tree. I don't know if that means she liked it or not, but she didn't seem as spooked by it as G was. This year there's a very strong urge to touch and hold all the ornaments. And they're quite taken with the first Christmas ornaments with their pictures in it.

Green Goo

Is it just me: does bright green call medicinal healing qualities to mind? During one of AhPoh's visits, she soothed BB's hurts with a tube of Neosporin. But that stuff's not inexpensive. We had a bottle of aloe gel (green) for treating burns on hand and I easily switched her over. Now whenever I think to do it, I let her point out all her ouchies, which amount to just about any exposed skin not covered by clothing, and I put a little medicine to it, sometimes twice. The cooling sensation must mean it's working. :)

Young and Beautiful

Now that I've had a couple of weeks to "drive" my new age around, I'll tell you how I celebrated my birthday. I'm the low-key down-low kind, don't make a big fuss, a quiet family dinner, definitely a couple of presents. I'm not opposed to having my picture taken on my birthday, but it seems this year I forgot, really not on purpose, only got pictures of everyone else at my "party".

For lunch we went to the First Watch in Independence; and in the evening Drew made his terrific pizza, and I tried a molten chocolate cake recipe I got through email. As to my present, I managed to finagle two. I had a choice between Drew's smooth face, i.e. shaving his beard, or a tulip magnolia. Evidently, there's a nursery here in town that sells the latter, ready to bloom. But to my way of thinking, it's going to be spring before I can set eyes on my gift, and I'll need a yard, which will hopefully have our house on it as well, to set its roots down in, so in the meantime, I shall need to be pacified with the other option. :) One puzzle, birthday related, that's been on Drew's mind: what to do next year? Because it's going to be a big one – I'm turning 20 – and would I want a big blow out party, or the typical discreet affair.