The kids performed at the local senior center today, with nearly 45 minutes of songs and entertainment.
I sometimes get a bit scrooge-y about these events, thinking the seniors might be humoring us a bit, listening to holiday music that is quite often a bit off key.
But then I take a peek at the audience, pointing and smiling at the kids that are wiggly or wearing songbooks on their heads, some with tears welling up in their eyes. And there it is—the true meaning of the holidays.
Happy birthday to an amazing man.
Somehow, we have misplaced the candles, so we were candle-less on his birthday. So the man with the birthday made this paper candle, and as he blew on it, he snipped the flame with a pair of scissors, and blew it away. Which, of course, the kids thought was fantastic.
It’s somehow symbolic of this man we all love. Not everything in life is exactly where we thought it would be, but he often comes up with a way to roll with it that is somehow more magical and wonderful than we ever could have imagined.
When I was walking into the house the other day, I saw some black objects out of the corner of my eye. A few warm-ish days had melted the snowperson, and this little pile of buttons was all that remained.
I vowed this year to knit hats for everyone in the family. This is Neko’s. It impressive for two reasons. One is that the color choice indicates we have completely moved out of the Pink Phase and are on to more pleasing colors. Hooray!
It is also impressive because it was just supposed to be a regular hat, but then she decided it needed earflaps and pom-poms and, people, I actually made that happen without too much fuss or the whole thing falling apart.
Now if my model would only be a bit more cooperative…
I give all credit to Tom who practically forced me to get my camera and take pictures of the frost on his car on this insanely cold day. He was right—it was worth losing all my body heat to snap a close-up of Mother Nature.
(Hooray for the macro lens!)
We waited a day, and then got around to decorating the tree.
Ellery was Martha Stewart, Jr., spending the better part of an hour decorating and finding the perfect spot for each ornament.
Despite no photographic evidence, Neko was, in fact, there. She likes to hide from the camera and she’s pretty quick. Shep is moving into that territory, as well, sadly. Soon this whole blog will be filled with photos of chickens.
Speaking of chickens, Neko and I made sure they didn’t miss out on the festivities.
I have never met a child who can brave the elements more than Neko. Give her a yard full of snow, and she’ll stay out there for ages. It’s also where her sometimes elusive extreme focus kicks in.
Today she hunkered down, determined to make a snowman, despite the fact that everyone else found the fire and warm slippers a much more attractive alternative. She’d go work for a while, come back in and warm up, and then back out she’d go. Then there was the great debate of how to accessorize, especially since lumps of coal are not common around these parts.
By mid-afternoon, she called us outside to admire her work.
But don’t call it a snowman. Or snow-woman. Apparently, this snow creation is gender neutral.
We meant to get a Christmas tree last weekend, but time ran short, and we decided to push it another week.
Clearly fate meant it to work out that way. We woke to find our first snow of the season. At the Christmas tree farm, things were downright magical. Not only was there a blanket of snow, but perfect, little flakes kept falling on hats and eyelashes.
We need to remember that Christmas trees look bigger next to small people, as we got home and realized our tree was a bit on the small side. (Next year, we’re bringing a measuring tape.)
This is Pooka. He’s made out of a pom-pom, pipe cleaners, and a scrap from an old sock.
Shep came up with the concept all on his own and assembled all the parts this weekend. He hardly told us what he was doing, he was just working furiously on something. Tom helped hot glue a few pieces together, and I helped cut the sock to fit the pipe cleaner shape Shep had bent.
Then all of a sudden he appeared and it was done. And done really well. A little homage that fits in the palm of your hand.
I don’t know what to say about Shep lately—it’s like he’s moving at double-time. I can see him thinking, but instead of just pondering, it’s like whizzing and whirring in his head. Which is somewhat contradictory, as he’s a really laid back kid.
Tonight, as I was tucking him into bed, he said, “Odd numbers have middles.”
“What?” I replied.
“Odd numbers have middles. But the evens don’t. No middles.”
It had been a long day, and I’m not much of a math person. I had no idea what he was talking about. In my head, I was picturing the number itself. I was imagining the literal numbers, with no discernible visible middle. My mind was racing, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
“Explain it again,” I asked, my head hurting a bit.
He held up four fingers. “Four—two and two. See? No middle. Two—one and one. No middle. But five? Two and two and then three is its middle.”
And then he went on and on giving me the examples of numbers and their middles (or lack of a middle).
“How do you know this? Did you talk about this in school?” I ask.
“No,” he replied. “I’m just programmed.”
Can you hear the whizzing and whirring?
(I should include the fact that tonight, on top of all this thought-provoking thinking, he also clocked Neko for the first time in his life. So, um, there’s that, too. Can’t win ’em all, eh?)
This is Pepper, Mary Beth’s new puppy, who we got to meet today.
She is beyond adorable, and she makes me almost consider a puppy again someday. I will make certain that Nancy relays in excruciating detail every item that gets chewed and how she’s getting up every few hours for bathroom breaks.
Because, omigoodness…CUTE.
