Christmas 2006

Our December was filled with all kinds of pre-Christmas events, and Christmas Day itself was a wonderful flurry of family and gifts. So, without going into too much detail, here are the highlights.

Here's M singing with her performing group in front of the national Christmas tree in D.C. She shone like a little star on her solo!

This is a shot of all the kids after the performance. That really is the White House behind them; I know it's kind of dark and hard to make out.

W and M were in a piano recital a couple of weeks before Christmas. They both did a great job!

Here are the performers with J, their biggest fan.

Finally, Christmas came! Here's our crew waiting for the all clear to come down the stairs to see what Santa brought.

Grandma snapped photos while the kids checked out their gifts.

One thing M got that she really liked was a new Brett Favre jersey.

J had asked for a tarantula, but Mom vetoed the idea. W decided that a remote-controlled version might be a nice idea and wrapped one up for J.

Looks like J was pleased, even though the spider wasn't real.

Relatives from Mississippi sent much-appreciated gifts.

J got his dad a personalized ice cream bowl.

I got a beautiful piano bench from my sweet husband.

I love this time of year!

Indestructable?

So much for the durability of DVDs! They're no match for a miniature schnauzer. Our dog doesn't usually attack movies, but this one was in a Netflix envelope (yes, we damaged a Netflix movie) , and our pet is a wonderful paper shredder. So, this movie is no more. The replacement fee was $20, which wasn't fun to pay, but at least we know now to keep the Netflix envelopes on a higher shelf.

Midnight for Charlie Bone

I saw this book by Jenny Nimmo at our elementary school book fair and wondered about it, but I was reading other stuff at the time. Then my neighbor's little boy dressed as Charlie Bone for Halloween. So, I checked it out of the library for J to read. J is a pretty discriminating reader for a nine-year-old. He got about 40 pages in and told me it just wasn't for him. I read a little of it for myself and realized that J was right. I did work through the entire book, trying to give it a good, honest try before evaluation. The fact of the matter is that the writing is choppy. The story doesn't flow smoothly. Strange things happen all over in this book, and though I waited patiently for some of the dots to connect, many of them never did. The idea is a good one, and it could lend itself to some exciting reading, but, as J said, "It just isn't very well-written." Harry Potter fans who need a quick fix before the final installment of the J.K. Rowling series might be okay with this book, but, try as it may, this isn't Harry Potter.

I saw some reader reviews of Midnight for Charlie Bone and was surprised that it did so well. Maybe I'm just too picky. However, I think that just because a book is written for children doesn't mean you can skimp on character development and plot details. Kids are smart and, as evidenced by my nine-year-old, know when someone is trying to follow a trend without putting enough thought into the final product. It's a shame, really. Jenny Nimmo has an intriguing story here. I just wish she took the time to tell it better.

Giving thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! We were able to host friends and family at our home for a beautiful meal and a really nice time. In all, we had 14 adults and nine kids, plus one dog. Cousins flew in from Chicago, friends drove here from New York and Maryland, and the rest of us Virginians were able to get through nasty weather and busy traffic to spend a blessed day together. We do indeed have much to be thankful for. God is so good!



Here's the adult table. I made the napkins myself!











The kid table. This was a fun group! They ranged in age from four to 11 and got along great!

Our gathering sang the Doxology together after my husband offered thanks to God for all our blessings.

5K run

Since his dad seemed to enjoy running the 10-mile race so much, W decided to join him on a 5K run through his grandparents' neighborhood. My sister-in-law and her husband joined the run, too. Everybody did really well, and W was able to finish with a good time: he got done in less than 30 minutes, averaging at about a nine-minute pace per mile.



Here's our little group of cheerleaders, waiting for our runners to come by.






My sister-in-law and her husband appreciated the support of their fans.

Peter and the Starcatchers

I won't spend a lot of time on this particular blog entry since I think I'm probably the last person in the country to read this book, but I did want to take a quick moment and mention this gem. After I got into the book a little, my first thought was, "Dave Barry co-authored this?" You have to give the guy credit - the Dave Barry wit does shine through. It's just not the kind of work he ordinarily does. But it was captivating and quite imaginative. It takes a special person (or people, in this case; the book was written by Barry, Ridley Pearson, and Greg Call) to take the story of Peter Pan and fill in all the blanks with a prequel. Ever wonder how Peter learned to fly? Or where Tinkerbell came from? Just who are the lost boys, anyway? All your questions are answered in Peter and the Starcatchers. You'll even learn the origins of the Loch Ness monster here. Kids all over the place are singing the praises of this book, and I have to join the throng. This one is a winner.

Me today

So, it's not the best photo of me, but it's fairly recent. If you can't tell, this one was taken at Disneyworld, during our breakfast with the princesses. I'm trying to get in touch with old college friends these days and wanted to have a photo of myself on the blog so they can see how much I've changed.

Lost in the magic

I can't tell the complete Disney story without mentioning that we lost J twice during the trip. The first time happened on our first full day there. The night before we had put our cell phone numbers in all the kids' pockets, but we realized as we were making our way to the park the next day that none of the girls had pockets. So, my sister-in-law came up with the idea of writing phone numbers on the kids' hands. Later in the day, as I stood in line for Splash Mountain, I got a phone call from a kind gentleman who said he had found J. I didn't even realize my son was missing! It turns out that J got distracted sometime between the headcount on the way to Splash Mountain and the time we got in line. When he realized he was lost, J pulled out his map and started making his way to our designated meeting point, looking for a Disney employee along the way along the way. He was following our "if you get lost" instructions very precisely, but he still felt frightened. A family noticed a young boy looking at a map, appearing very scared, and asked if he needed help. J decided that since the family had kids of their own with them, he could probably trust them. He showed them the cell phone number on his hand, and they gave us a call. J said the mom of the group thought our idea was such a good one that she wrote her own cell phone number on her kids' hands while they waited for me to find them. It was so good to see my little lost boy again! Of course, he got separated from our group two days later, but I soon realized he was missing. I got a call from a Disney employee five minutes later and was quickly reunited with J.

I've included photos of the kids' hands, though I did block out the actual numbers since the photos are out here on the Web.

Disneyworld

We decided the kids are all just the right ages to make a Disney trip. The oldest turned eleven while we were there, and the youngest turned six the week before we left. We have wanted to do this for such a long time! So, we took a week off from school and work and went during the off-season, when the lines were shorter and rates were cheaper. It was great! My sister and her family joined us, and my husband's sister and her family also came along. There were thirteen of us in all, including seven kids. The youngest was four and the oldest was twelve.

There are tons of stories I could tell, but I don't want to have a blog with nothing but Disney, so I'll just share a few of the highlights in pictures.


Here are our four little princesses, all ready to go have breakfast with Belle, Snow White, Mulan, Jasmine, and Sleeping Beauty. This was one of the highlights of the trip for the younger group.

The Aerosmith Rocking Rollercoaster was a big hit with the older kids.


J was called to the stage to participate in a bird show at Animal Kingdom. They needed "a boy between the ages of eight and ten who is good in math."




W chose pirate mouse ears as his souvenir.


M got to meet the big guy himself.

We had sooooo much fun! I thought we would get a little tired of all the magic, but we really didn't. There were tears when it was time to leave Florida and fly back home. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to do all the princess stuff with my daughter, ride the Tower of Terror with my boys, and see my kids have the time of their lives. I especially enjoyed having both my sister and sister-in-law together with their families. All the cousins got along splendidly. It occurred to me that I had all my nieces together in one place at the same time for the first time in my life. I have three nephews who didn't join us, either because they were too young or thought they were too old (my oldest nephew is 18). Maybe one day we'll be able to get the whole family together, even if Mickey Mouse doesn't join us.

A couple of books

I realize I'm waaaay behind on blogging lately, due mostly to a recent family trip (more entries on that soon), but I did want to take a moment and post about a couple of children's books I read recently.



The first one is called The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster, originally published in 1961. I usually have a pretty good radar and can seek out quality children's books, but this one somehow got by me. I had never heard of it until W came home with it as assigned reading in his fifth grade advanced reading group. This is a gem of a little book that is rich in figurative language and vocabulary. It is the thought-provoking story of Milo, a little boy who takes off on a journey into worlds he never knew existed. Eventually he is tasked with saving Dictionopolis (the city of words) and Digitopolis (the city of numbers) by rescuing two princesses named Rhyme and Reason. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I love how figures of speech come alive with such literal meaning in this book. For instance, there is a "watchdog" named Tock who accompanies Miles on his journey. Tock has a clock where his belly would be and is in charge of guarding against people who waste or kill time. Then there's the Spelling Bee, who buzzes around annoyingly, and the land of the Doldrums, where Miles regrettably finds himself when he doesn't think. The author had a lot of fun with things like "eating your words" and the "whetherman." I think my favorite one was the vehicle that "goes without saying" (just be quiet and the car will move). Anyway, it's a sweet story with great literary quality. It will make your kids think.



Secondly, I did make it through another Newberry book a few weeks ago. The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman, is a good book, but it's in the young adult section for a reason. The characters and situations are harsh and often cruel. Still, one can't help but root for the heroine, an orphan without a name or a home who eventually finds a name and a place for herself in medieval England. The book gives readers a glimpse into the superstitions and survival mentality of the era, complete with all the sights, smells, and struggles one needs to imagine what it must have really been like at the time. It made me think of how The Witch of Blackbird Pond placed me right in the middle of a Puritan colonial settlement. I do recommend The Midwife's Apprentice for more mature readers; I think my eleven-year-old could handle it, but he wouldn't appreciate it quite yet. Maybe if he were a girl ... I don't know. I think it's a book that would have stuck with me had I read it at about the age of 13.

Girls' night out

My little girl is six! To celebrate, we invited one of her friends to go with us for a very girly adventure. Here they are on the way to our adventure, watching Twelve Dancing Princesses on the car's DVD player.



Our first stop was Libby Lu's for a makeover. We had hair, nails, and makeup done.


Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's having the best birthday of all?








Don't they look fabulous?

We got a little goofy when later when we visited M's favorite restaurant for a birthday dinner.

Army Ten-Mile Run

Last weekend was a pretty big one for my husband. He ran in his first race ever, the Army Ten-Mile Run through Washington, D.C. He worked long and hard for this day; I'm so proud of him! My "run like the wind" brother-in-law joined him, and both made an impressive showing.


Here's a shot of our two guys as they made their first pass by us, in front of the Air and Space Museum (they're the two tiny people just below the red arrow). They ran out of sight, then around the Capitol, and passed back by us one more time. By the time we caught a Metro train back to the finish line at the Pentagon, the guys had finished the race.



We brought a few cheerleaders with us. Chants of "Go, Daddy, go!" seemed to spur on quite a few of the runners. Our kids even got a couple of high fives from race participants.




Not only is this man a really great husband and father, but he ran a ten-mile race at under a nine-minute-per-mile pace. My hero!

Right-brained

I Am 20% Left Brained, 80% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

First quilt

After posting a photo of my second quilt, I realized I had never posted photos of my first one. So, here it is. I started this near the end of 2004 for my daughter's bed. M chose all the fabrics for me, since it was for her room. Her only real priorities were that everything be "pink, purple, and yellow." I tied it since I was too nervous to try quilting it, plus I was in a hurry to see it finished. Well, not that big a hurry I guess; I finally finished it early this summer!

I embroidered her initials at the very top. Here's a close up shot.

My space

Claustrophobia is not a problem for J. We snapped this photo of him last week when we realized that he picked the tightest space in the house in which to relax and play some games.













Even when he sleeps, J prefers the tiny little corridor between his bed and his wall to the wide open spaces of his twin bed. I guess when you're kind of small, fitting in small spaces can be fun.

Finished quilt!

It's small, and it's a "cheater quilt," but I am pleased to announce that I have finished a second quilt! I didn't piece this one. The top is one piece of fabric, except for the heart applique in the center. But, when you quilt it just the right way, it does look like a nice patchwork. This was my first attempt at machine quilting (I tied my first quilt). I would have loved to have hand quilted it, but this is a baby gift, and the baby keeps growing every day. I wanted her to be able to use the quilt while she's still small enough to fit under it!

My front porch

I've been working on getting my porch set up for several months. The flowers I had in hanging baskets couldn't survive the heat this summer - guess I need to research my flowers better - but I still think it's a pleasant place to pass the time. In fact, this might just be my favorite part of the house, especially now that I finally have all the furniture in place. The double rocker is my preferred knitting area these days, now that the weather is cooler.

Fields of green

So what do you do for fun if you have to go to your big brother's football game but really don't understand how the game is played? You bring along your own games!

J and M brought their Gameboys along to the football field this morning. Instead of sitting on the track near the playing field, they made themselves comfortable in the tall grass on a nearby hill.