A boy with many faces

Michael finally got Emily's Barbie and the 3 musketeers mask away from her and really enjoyed trying it on.

But then the garbage men came this afternoon. If we are outside and he hears their truck, he has to run to see them. Today the driver came down and GAVE HIM THIS HAT! I thought he would wet his pants right there...Michael, not the driver. The driver told him, "Here your go dude, this is what the big boys wear!" He wore it the rest of the day, then put it right back on after his bath.

Terry explained to him what camoflauge was, so now he has taken to walking in with it on, and asking if anyone can see him. Gotta embrace your inner redneck.....

Gingerbread Houses and more

December has been a very fun month, how could it not be with all the festivites associated with Christmas? Last week the girls and I went to see The Nutcracker with Pam. A big thanks to her for a wonderful time! I haven't been in years and really enjoyed it. It was Sophie and Emily's first time and they loved it as well. Emily got a little antsy during the 2nd act, but overall did very well. It was such fun to dress up and go to the "big city", reminded me of all our treks into NYC when we were growing up.


And here are my two little angels at their preschool Christmas program. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them dressed up as angels, they won't be able to do that once they hit Kindergarten.

Check out their class, they are a very sweet bunch of kids. Their friends Alex and Sam (also twins) are standing to the left of Emily. Even though Alex is yawning in this picture, he actually did a great job singing. Michael and Emily had their moments as well.

Today Terry and the kids, or should I say Terry, decorated our gingerbread house. I have to give him kudos, it came out great despite all the help they wanted to give him.

No glue gun needed this year, it was already a full house, but he did do a great job with the icing bag. Notice the kids are nowhere to be seen...they called me to come find them in the living room.....

they decided to nap until Dad was ready for them to "help", which was much later on.

All the hard work paid off, now we will see how long it lasts' Emily is dying to get at that candy.

Camp Pine Valley

A few weeks ago Sophie's Brownie troop went Mother/Daughter camping. "Camping" would be a loose term, as we bunked in a cabin, complete with a kitchen and indoor plumbing. But for eight 7-8 year olds and their mothers, it was perfect.

The weather could not have been nicer, sunny and about 65 during the day, and in the 40's at night. We arrived Friday night, and on Saturday morning we went on a "Color Hike" where the girls were paired off and given a color. They had to find items on the hike that were their color.

The foliage was at it's peak, and it was so nice to be outside. For me, it was a pleasure to spend the time with Sophie, to see her interact with her troop and the leaders. Just a joy to have the one on one time with her.

Here they are examining some mushrooms they had found. One was very tiny, the named him Fred and carried him around in half of a nut shell they they also found. But Fred was lost when the girl carrying him took off running. There was much trauma over Fred's fate, and a search party was even convened, with no success. Sophie still talks about him 3 weeks later.

The girls had their own bunk room. There were enough bunks for the mothers to sleep in there as well, but we decided a better idea was to pull our mattresses out to the common room and sleep in front of the indoor fireplace. ( My 6 foot frame would never have fit on those bunks!) This worked out well; we were able to stay up and chat after the girls had gone to bed. This troop is from 3 different elementary schools, so it was a nice chance for me to get to know the other mothers.

Here we are relaxing after our hike and lunch. All the moms had brought books and cell phones to keep up with the kids left at home. (Can you ever truly get away?) We decided to start the outdoor campfire early, so we could do smore's right after dinner. This also gave us an excuse to have to watch said fire vigillantly. During this time the girls played games and explored, it was very relaxing.

Sophie decided to make up a new Try It: Beginning texting for Brownies. Note the sit upons on the bench, I made the exact same kind when I was a Brownie, although they had crib bumper padding in theirs, ours were filled with folded newspaper.

Another one of their Try It activites was on Fire Safety. They learned about this by making an edible fire ring. As you can imagine, that was a big hit.

And of course, no camping trip is complete without s'mores. Just as yummy now as when I made them as a Brownie 30 plus years ago!

Birthday Central

Not to be outdone by big sister, Michael and Emily had some birthday fun of their own. Who knew that 4 years could go by so quickly, and so slowly, all at the same time??

They brought cupcakes to school for the big day, and making them was the best part as I let them lick the batter beaters. Something I was always careful to never let Sophie do...raw eggs, you know. What the heck, I licked MANY a beater in my day, and look how well I turned out.

No kid party this year, but we did have a family party which was a lot of fun. My sister Peg and nephew Brendan were in town, so that made it more special.

My curly haired girl. She is so independent, and really blossoming both socially and "academically"....if there is such a thing for a 4 year old. She can already write her name, and her favorite things to do at school are the writing center, and to play with the other girls. I am always hearing about who her latest friend is. Very into the friend thing these days.

And here's The Mayor. That is what Michael's teacher has nicknamed him, and it is SUCH an apt description of my little guy. He wants to meet everyone, wants to kiss every baby he passes, and wants to tell you all about himself. I will never be able to teach this child "stranger danger" and that's ok, I would rather he see the world with his characteristic optimism that everyone is as excited to see him as he is to see them. He will get that message down the road a bit, for now I enjoy his innocence and enthusiasm for new people and situations.

Cake baked by Grandma Maier and decorated by Grandpa Maier; it was as good as it looks.

The singing of the birthday song, with three seperate areas on the cake for each of their candles.

After the party was over, I stayed up to make these with Emily's new Lego set. I figure this redeems me from all the "towers" and "diving boards" I made when I was a kid.....

Perspective

It's days like yesterday that make it all worth it. Perfect fall weather. Happy, healthly husband and kids enjoying the leaf raking/blowing/jumping/throwing. Counting my blessings.....