Dec 26

On December 25th, we had a present opening frenzy, but no power for most of the day. Thankfully our house had been transformed into an entertainment bonanza palace and with the help of a few lanterns we played the day away.

To give you a bit of flavor, this is our floor this morning after the paper was picked up and things were "straightened up" a little bit. Any time you tried to give a toy a home, one boy or the other would run over and demand it from you.

 

Dec 24

On the twenty-fourth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, a beautiful B, a Charlie Brown ornament, one fluffy white Christmas tree, and a shining star.

I also got wonderful friends, a tasty dinner, children (my own and others) shrieking with glee as they opened presents, a glass of eggnog, and a few hours playing Star Wars with Charlie. Delightful! 

Dec 23

 On the twenty-third day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, a beautiful B, a Charlie Brown ornament, and a fluffy white Christmas tree.

Dec 21 and 22

On the twenty-first day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, and a beautiful B.

 On the twenty-second day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, one green Christmas tree, a beautiful B, and a Charlie Brown ornament. 

For their present, we got the boys a membership at a kid's gym. They'll have one class a week, and then one day with a free play period. I took them there today to see how things went and Dash loved wallowing in the ball pit. Liam rolled huge balls around the floor and they both ran about like maniacs.  I think this is going to work out well. 

Dec 20

On the twentieth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, Batman, and a green Christmas tree. 

The lights progress apace. Today's visitor was the drywall guy. I had the singular pleasure of listening to his holiday negotiations. He took a break for lunch, and after came back with his brother and nephew, who were in the neighborhood doing another job and offered to help him finish up the rest of ours more quickly. His brother has much land and many horses (and also two! sets of twins). Our drywall guy has a teenage daughter who is horse crazy. I bore witness to the conversation that will lead to a girl actually asking for a pony and getting one . They are going to put a huge red bow on it and the whole nine yards. I was almost giddy with excitement. 

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Dash today thought that the ravioli he was eating for lunch would make an effective hair product. He was right.

Dec 19

On the nineteent day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man, and Batman. 

Dec 18

On the eighteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, a slow tortoise, and a run run run as fast as you can gingerbread man.

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The chickens are working a Christmas miracle! Even though it's been oh so dark and dismal, the new teenagers are managing to lay their first eggs and then keep on going.  The first pullet eggs are hilariously small, but so far all of them have had a yolk and everything. I can't wait till everyone gets into full swing after the winter passes. I'm guessing we'll get five eggs a day. Time to start lining up frittata recipes! 

Dec 17

On the seventeenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, one bluebird of happiness, and a slow tortoise.

I blame that tortoise for being behind by a day with these last few pictures.  To get energized this morning, we are watching videos of Prince playing live shows and rocking out in the living room.

Dec 16

On the sixteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, one glowing candle, and a bluebird of happiness.

Dec 15

On the fifteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, one shimmering snowflake, and a glowing candle.

Dec 14

On the fourteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, a golden bell, and a shimmering snowflake. 

The living room ceiling has grown many more holes as the electrician added to what the sprinkler guy started. Cans are in, sprinkler head is moved, and now there is just some drywall work before the final fixtures are put in. The electrician was not as fascinating as the sprinkler guy, because there weren't any lengths of piping to play with. Though we have been taking advantage of the temporarily cleared living room floor, having wild wrestling matches and playing in giant Amazon boxes. 

Dec 13

On the thirteenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, one lovely blue ornament, and a golden bell. 

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It also gave to me a photo taken with the flash on my phone, which is not optimal. We are having some new lights put in the living room ceiling, and that started the day with the dining room chandelier getting pulled down. Then there was a lot of sawing while the sprinkler guy relocated the head that was smack in the middle of the living room. The boys were rapt, sitting back on their feet at the edge of the plastic sheeting on the floor, each of them holding onto a short length of bright orange sprinkler pipe. Entertainment for the day: provided! Tomorrow, the electrician. 

Dec 12

On the twelfth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes,  a swimmy goldfish, and a lovely blue ornament. 

Dec 11

On the eleventhday of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, a bunch of juicy grapes, and a swimmy goldfish. 

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Humorous point of the day: both boys wearing button-down shirts and no pants, running around the kitchen. They looked like they were doing a Risky Business revival. 

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Second humorous bit: when they start flinging around the contents of the dishtowel drawer, I usually try to cram the tea cozy on someone's head. Typically it gets pulled off immediately but today Liam kind of forgot he was wearing it and kept playing. 

Dec 10

On the tenth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, one russet bird, and a bunch of juicy grapes.

Dec 9

On the ninth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, one pale pink ornament, and a russet bird.

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We've had teenage chickens for many months now, and finally someone has laid the first egg! I suspect it is the speckled grey hen, since I think she's the only one that lays white eggs. I need to get a bigger container for all of my first eggs, because this one won't fit in there. 

Dec 8

On the eighth day of christmas my true love gave to me: one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, a minty candy cane, and a pale pink ornament. 

Dec 7

On the seventh day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, a mischievous cat, and a minty candy cane.

Dec 6

On the sixth day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, a chilly snowman, and a mischievous cat.

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The boys discovered the tree when they woke up this morning. There was a lot of staring and some reaching, and then they happily played around it. Hopefully it will be a little longer before they figure out how to climb up into chairs, onto the windowseat, and then up onto the table. 

Dec 5

On the fifth day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, a chipper squirrel, and a chilly snowman.

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We also have a decorated tree! Courtesy of Target for new lights and some christmas tunes on the stereo for decorating. There is something crazy awesome about hanging an ornament that I made when I was five years old, and then hanging prints of my own kid's hands from when they were three months old. Does that make me old? If it does I don't care, I love it. 

Dec 4

On the fourth day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, a green wreath, and a chipper squirrel.

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We also got our tree today after trying to out-think two 14 month olds. There's no way I could deal with the constant crazy of  a real tree in the living room....the boys are so lurchingly mobile and all grabby hands. Redecorating the tree is one thing. I envisioned them careening into it regularly and pulling it down at least once a day. Not to mention Liam's passion for holding onto things and shaking them as hard as he can to see what happens (yes, maracas are his favorite instrument). 


So for this year we have a shorter tree up on our old kitchen table. It's in the usual place of honor in the middle of the living room window, and if you look over from the current table in the kitchen you can imagine that the tree goes all the way down to the floor. Unfortunately all three of my strings of lights were bunk and I couldn't get them working. So no decorating tonight. At least the house smells great now!

Dec 3

On the third day of christmas my true love gave to me one bushy Santa Claus, one brown acorn, and a green wreath.

Dec 2

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me one bushy santa claus and one brown acorn.

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Also, there were endless Christmas tunes on the stereo and both the ups and the fedex guy knocking on the door. Let the frenzy commence!

Dec 1

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me one bushy santa claus.

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And two completely crazy boys.

Curtains

I was trying to get a picture of the boys for a holiday card, and between the gloom and wiggly boys it just wasn't going to happen. So I give you a "holiday season's opener," if you will. Two boys giggling in the curtains.

Piano Skills

The boys have been fascinated with the piano since they could stand up. Now that there's a bit more whole body dexterity going on, dancing and piano playing are starting to occur a the same time. And if you dance yourself onto the floor, well, you just get up and keep playing. Liam's over in the corner playing with finger cymbals.

Leaves!

Huge maple leaves are fun to play in.

Veteran

pop pop, on a dapper day

I have all sorts of issues with war, and dying, and militaries, and governments. Because of my inability to relate to a person's reasons for joining the military, my private parental sadness I feel whenever I hear one of those ads on the radio from the Marines congratulating yet another local high-schooler by name for taking the first step, I've never known what to say to a serviceman on veterans day. They've made choices I would never make, seen things I will never see, done things I will never do. But they have also carried out orders I cannot stomach, hurt people I will never get to apologize to, and represented my country while doing it.

I was on a crowded flight several months ago, juggling babies, and a grandmotherly woman in the row behind me was trying to get some smiles out of them. A man in fatigues boarded and started down the aisle. As he passed us, the woman turned, touched his arm, and said "thank you for your service." He smiled back, nodded, and continued down to his seat. She returned to playing with the boys. It wasn't veterans day, but there was something in the simplicity of her statement that spoke of a respect without judgement from an older time.

I may not feel moved to say it every time I see a person in uniform, but especially since it's veterans day,

Thanks, pop pop, for your service.
Thanks, dad, for your service.
And thanks to everyone else.

snippet

What is that sound you hear? It is the sound of Liam shrieking any time I am touching a computer.So this will be brief!

 liam regarding you from within the circle of entertainment

liam declaring he is done with breakfast, thank you.

 dash driving the box

mayhem

helping Charlie cook

Five minutes

After dinner tonight the boys were in a particularly good mood. This is five minutes of them doing their thing. It's a little bit funny, a little bit zen, and a little bit mind-blowing the types of entertainment they can consume in a five minute stretch.  I often say that keeping them entertained is like working for a king who loves beheading his jesters.

At 1:45 you can hear them having a little click-fest, one of their favorite vocalizations. Budding anthropologists, already speaking !Kung.



Obviously all it takes to keep them happy is dinner, a partially dismantled jungle exersaucer, a big bouncy ball, a changing table, a table, a toy phone, an empty yogurt container, an empty egg container, a couch, a bunch of board books, and each other.

At least now you can see how the room can go from picked up to chaos in under 10 minutes.

Trappin

I was getting sorely tired of doling out individual O's of cereal, so enter the Snack Traps. They are my attempt to free-feed boys without getting treats strewn absolutely all over the house.

Elapsed time to learning how to use snack trap: 5 minutes, with me showing them how and then pulling pieces of cereal to the top so they reached down for it.

Time to deciding that whatever is in your brother's trap is much tastier than what is in yours: 6 minutes. 

Sanity was restored.  

 Liam appears blameless.

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Images from Italy:

We visited many churches, the most interesting being this one made by Massimilano Fuksas, the Church San Paolo. It was completely still and quiet, and the clear sunshine of the day was I think exactly what he had in mind when he designed it. Floating shapes within shapes.

 

 

rosy cheeked

I am trying to enjoy these days where the boys are relatively adventurous about trying new foods, since I know the days of only-toast and nothing-but-bananas are ahead of us. I've managed to get them to love kale, and we kept getting these luscious bunches of beets in our CSA box. My dirty secret? I really don't want to clean up the aftermath of eating beets. As an adult I can barely make it through a salad that has beets in it without getting stained fingers and possibly something on my shirt. I was not looking forward to people thinking I was some freaky Twilight fan who tried to get her babies to look like vampires.

So...I got creative. I roasted a big mess (literally) of beets and pureed them. Then when Charlie made a batch of waffles I had him reserve half of the batter and add a bunch of beets to it. The result was something that looked like it could be crowned with the title "Martha Stewart's Red Velvet Waffles." These things were gorgeous! Intense purple red. And the boys saw waffles and they hoovered them up. They actually tasted quite good, just not the sort of waffles you'd have with butter and syrup. There will be some experimentation in the future with adult Red Velvet Waffles, perhaps with some poached eggs on top and goat cheese.

But for now, mission accomplished. The boys ate a bunch of beets and the only thing left in the end were smiles.

To illustrate, here is Liam displaying his free-form sign language. He does one thing: when he wants more of something, he uses his right hand to whap-whap-whap against the table top. It is usually rather gentle but if I'm not paying enough attention it turns into slams. Dash, on the other hand, signals his desire by raising both hands in the air and opening and closing his fists like an eager crab.




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Images from Italy:
As with many trips, Charlie and I spent our free time playing cribbage. Bliss!

Dish towel, meet your destiny

Dishtowel of the breads of Italy, bought in Italy, now covering rising loaves of semolina sourdough in my kitchen.

One year cocktail party

It's been a year and the boys are bigger and all of those predictable wonderful things. I'm jet-lagged from a trip to Italy so I'll just leave you with this for now: no nap, just a cocktail party.

Hot Chicks

We have one extraordinarily well-fed bobcat in our neighborhood. When I brokered a deal with my friend a few months ago to raise some chicks to teen-age size, we still had five hens. As of this morning we were down to three.  Enter: The New Girls.

Six new hens. Two blue andalusians, two rose comb brown leghorns, a black sex link, and a silver laced wyandotte. Unfortunately the coyote found my americanas especially tasty so I only have one blue egger left. These girls are going to spend the next month in the coop with no outside time, and then I'll start to let them out and see what happens. 

It's now that I'm very happy that I built a coop big enough for them to fly around in so I don't have to feel too bad about locking them in. They will just have to survive on a steady diet of layer pellets, scratch mix, and all of the delicious greens from our garden and leftover produce. Poor things!

The boys enjoyed some time in the sunshine while I got the new chicks settled in.