Wonderful time of year: Part I

I love traditions of all shapes and sizes, and part of my favorite thing about being a mom is establishing family traditions.  But part of that is figuring out what works for our family, and in what form.  So as we start to pack up the Christmas decorations and music and books, I want to take a moment to reflect.  And to share some pictures.

We start on the first Sunday of Advent.  Our Advent wreath is some fake greenery formed into a ring around a thrift store candleabra.  We light the candle(s) before dinner and after eating sing a verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” and extinguish them (using a fancy schmancy snuffer, which makes it ever-so-fun).  Doing the “an-els” was also big motivation for Big Brother to take his plate to the kitchen.  He was  a little enthusiastic with the snuffer, but did a great job with some assistance.  This year I think we did verses 1, 4, 6, and 7 (at least as they’re numbered in the Methodist hymnal we use).  We switch verses every week, but sing multiple verses on Sundays.

Then, on December 6th, the presents start.  St. Nicholas Day is a fun new thing for me, but dovetails quite nicely with my fond memories of hanging my stocking by the chimney with care.  We have special orange pecan French toast (no significance, just a favorite) and discover the contents of our stockings—toothpaste, lip balm, socks and the like.  Oh, and a magazine.  A very important component.

And uploading these pictures has used up my time allotted, so I’ll have to continue next time.

Rest in Peace Little Handknits

 

I just called the last place I could think of that they might have been left. 

Goodbye little vest.  You were soft and warm, even if you did get yellow dye on a couple of Little Brother’s onesies.  You took a lot of drooling abuse, but you kept trucking.

Goodbye little hat.  This would have been your third winter with us, keeping Big Brother’s big head warm.  You were fun and spunky and made cold days just a little bit sunnier.  You even made it into Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas cards.  I particularly loved the specks of chartreuse-y-lime in your yarn while I was knitting you.

(links are Ravelry links).

A week in pictures

Mini baking soda and vinegar volcanoes.  Yet another activity where what I thought would be cool (fizzing!  foaming!) was not nearly as cool as something else (smooshing the baking soda around with his hands).

It’s fun hanging out in Mom and Dad’s bed on a lazy morning.

A week in pictures

Yes!  Just one!  Because there are some good ones this week.

Yes!  Halloween!  I’m a bad sewing mommy and didn’t make either of my children’s costumes.  I didn’t have any fun ideas, and thus lack of motivation to go to the crazy lengths that I see other sewers online going to.  So we had a daytime racoon/nighttime hot dog (you’re welcome Dad), and a skeleton trying to eat his candy before it has even been unwrapped.  We made it to probably 7 houses before calling it a night.  But it was fun, even if the two times I attempted to get video, no one answered the door (come on people, get with the program.  Lights on==Halloween fun, okay?)

Big Brother is disappointed in my cleaning efforts.  He got out the vacuum, took all the cushions off the couch, and then left the vacuum there for me.  I did not take the hint.  In my defense, I did vacuum the sofa within the last two weeks.

For those of you who can’t tell what’s going on, Big Brother is taking Little Brother’s measurements (so he can sew him some clothes, don’t you know?).  After careful observation, he recorded the results in his notebook.  He did this back and forth at least 10 times.  Meticulous, that one.

My artistic endeavors.

Five months

 

Little Brother is five months old!  He and Big Brother are starting to really interact, and boy, can they crack each other up.  He’s starting to reach out and grab things, which is making Mom and Dad’s lives a lot more interesting.  Particularly Mom, whose long hair is proving quite tempting to the chubby little fingers.

Lots of people say he has an old face.  We’re thinking that’s mostly because he’s relatively lean-of-face.  He’s still cute and chubby, but he was in the 80th percentile for height and the 40th for weight at his last doctor’s visit.

He is almost ready to sit up—he leans way forward whenever we try it and supports himself on his hands.

We love him!

Two weeks in photos

This does seem to be turning into more of a bi-weekly thing than a weekly feature, eh?  Little Brother usually gets short shrift in these things, so you’ll see a little extra from him this time.

 

Weekend walk.

Big Brother pulled the wagon all the way to the end of the little Nature Walk behind our house.  It was a long walk.

Doesn’t he have beautiful eyes?

This is my view on these walks.

Big Brother’s photography skills are improving.

He’s good at holding his head up.  He just doesn’t roll over.  Whenever you’re ready, little guy.

I posted a similar picture on Facebook, but this one has bubbles!

A. remarked that Big Brother’s overclothes were kind of incongruous with the bow tie, but I finally remembered this week that the playground is often wet and/or dirty so overclothes or a change of clothes are needed.  Overclothes are easier with Little Brother in hand, so there you have it.

Two weeks in photos: Chicago and before the party

 

Boy, it’s been a busy two weeks.  And I think I say that every time, so maybe you should take what I say with a grain of salt.  At any rate, we’ve been cleaning, and travelling, and guest-having, so I think that totally counts.

It’s amazing how empty our family room feels (and sounds!) with the soft furnishings removed.  Less amazing is how often that happens (read: very infrequently).

Our two prettiest trees (lucky us, they’re in the front of our house), have already colored and dropped their leaves

While travelling, Dad invented a new mode of transport.  Big Brother was a fan.

Look!  It’s the whole family!

Whole family shot graciously provided by my college roommate who came to Chicago (from Nebraska) for football, pizza, and a quilt.

The Bean—source of many wonders.

After a trip to the Big City, everyone has to pitch in assembling the new Ikea furniture.

The rest of the two weeks was a party, so I’m going to wait until I have some more pictures of the festivities in my hot little hands.