The Last Christmas Carol

Well, another Christmas has passed, and Elinore was sorry to see it go. She has really enjoyed the whole season (singing carols, turning on the lights of the Christmas tree, making her gifts, visiting loved ones,...). We have had a lot of fun. But here we are on the other side. We had a very successful "make all our own gifts" Christmas again. We continue to learn the value of starting well ahead of the holiday (Kevin had to spend an evening working in the arctic garage and I had to show Elinore her quilt quite unfinished - hopefully in another week...). The thing Elinore was most excited to do all month was give her gifts. She made a shirt for Tobin and a shirt for Kevin (as well as some ornaments for her grandparents and great-grandparents), and couldn't wait to give them. I am so proud of her; she kept the secrets of what they were all the way to the end!! That is a very hard thing for a three year old.

The photo I've posted here is a ballerina sweater that I knit for Elinore when she was a baby. It was a 6-12 mo. size, but always looked kind of bulky/not right on her. She found it in her closet a couple weeks ago and put it on, and it looks really cute! Who would've guessed it would fit just right now. Of course, she loves that it is a "ballerina sweater".
Tobin is such a little dude. He is full of smiles and giggles and boyish growling sounds. His motor skills just amaze me. I can show him how to do something, and see him watching and figuring it out. Within a few minutes he can do it himself. He learned to clap today. And for a minute I thought he was going to start crawling. He moved a little on his hands and knees and then sat right up and clapped for himself. It was so cute to see him all proud. This boy will be a handful though. Every time I turn around his grabby little hands are into something! And he isn't even crawling yet!!

Iron Man

A conversation that happened tonight while Jen was out, I was feeding Tobin:

Elinore: Dad do you want to look at this with me.(She is holding up the DVD case from Iron Man)
Kevin: Sure
E: What is this on his chest?
K: That is part of his suit.
E: What does it do?
K: It Protects him.
E: What is on his head?
K: A helmet.
E: What's it for?
K: To protect his head, while he is flying, and while people are shooting at him...I then proceed to describe Iron Man, his cool suit, the fact that he can fly, and then a short bit on his heroic nature...you know, protecting the innocent and such.
E: slight pause.
E: Dad, when I get bigger I want to be Iron Man.
K: Great, what will you do as Iron Man?
E: I don't know.
K: What does Iron Man do?
E: He Irons


There you have it folks...a really frickin' sweet flying suit equipped with all the latest technology so that he can better remove stubborn wrinkles.

Little Tree

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don't be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i'll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed
you'll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they'll stare!
oh but you'll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we'll dance and sing
"Noel Noel"


e.e. cummings

Us

Just realized that I haven't put much in the way of recent photos of all us on here lately. Since this hasty family picture didn't make the Christmas card "cut" I thought I'd share it.

Unplugging

Kevin and I have been fighting the "TV fight" for a while. It seems to ebb and flow. We find ourselves watching too much TV (and even that is not that much comparatively), and make resolutions to cut back. That goes great for a while until life gets busy and we end up tired at the end of each day. Then the TV becomes the "filler" for the evening. We are suddenly watching stupid stuff because we're too tired to do anything else.

I was at a party at my friend Monica's house and was amazed to find how many projects she was working on, and I envied the time she seemed to have to work on them. She is a mom of three who she homeschools, so I couldn't figure out where she was coming up with all of this extra time. Then I realized that they don't have a TV.

Kevin and I talked seriously about it, and decided that we really like being able to watch movies, so we didn't want to get rid of the TV altogether, we just didn't want to get sucked in to the other aspects of it. So just after the election we took down our rabbit ears. Now we don't get ANY channels. It has been almost a month and I have to admit, I don't miss it! There are a few times when I realized that I would have turned it on, but it is very easy to find something else to do. Maybe it would have been different if we had had the discovery channel or the history channel, and I will always have a small place in my heart for PBS. We'll keep our rabbit ears in a safe place for special occasions (like if Masterpiece Theater ever does a Jane Austen series again!), but in the meantime we are really enjoying the extra time we suddenly have to work on some of the things we really want to be doing.

PS - Thanks, Monica!