Well, That Was...Interesting

The last time we went to the tree lighting downtown was years and years ago, long before kids were in the picture.  So yesterday morning I said to David, "We should go tonight!" and he said "OK!" 

We're still living relatively close to downtown for this one last Christmas, and the kids are big enough to walk by themselves, appreciate the tree, and not fall completely apart if we get home a tad past bedtime.  It seemed like a good year to go.

We took MAX down, which of course was Christian's favorite part.  Except at every stop we made he would pound on the window and yell about how he wanted to move again.  That wasn't at all weird.  Daph sat by herself because she is just too cool for school (and us).

Downtown was crowded and crazy but the kids didn't mind.  We finally found a place to stand and Christian became a little upset about being surrounded by 1000s of legs.  He just wanted to get back on the train.

But he was enthralled by the actual tree lighting.  It really was beautiful, and he didn't take his eyes off of it, no matter where we walked and how he had to twist his neck.

Afterward is when things got a little tricky.  We stopped into Ben and Jerry's for a little snack, and if you've ever been into that downtown one you know it's matchbox tiny.  Then fill it with tree-lighting crowds and figure if there's some sort of emergency everyone's just going to be stuck in there, unable to move.  The kids were being loopy, dancing in line even though we were trying to keep them calm.  Daphne finally took a big tumble backwards and hit the back of her head on the wall.  She fussed a bit and then all was fine.  Except for a few minutes later when we noticed a streak of red on her nose.  (Did she get a nose bleed from hitting the back of her head?  Weird.)  And then Christian's hands were covered in red.  And then the floor.  And the wall.  And what?  Then we noticed the back of Daphne's blonde hair getting redder by the second.  Apparently she'd cut her head pretty badly and now the tiny Ben and Jerry's full of people was starting to look like a crime scene.  It was gross and, I'll admit, embarrassing. 

Fortunately most people there were in good spirits from such a fun event. (I'm sure it would be different if we were trying to buy half price socks at 5AM or something. I have a feeling that crowd wouldn't have been quite as accommodating.)  Now I'm not quite sure what to do about her poor head.  Blonde hair shows blood really well, but cleaning it out has proved difficult.  Maybe she'll just wear a hat for a few days.

So, I think last night was fun?  I don't if I want to do it again anytime soon, at least not with little kids.  Maybe next year we'll just watch it on TV.  I'm sure there would be less chance of blood.

**I just checked her head this morning...her wound is like 3 inches long!!  Poor little thing.  No wonder there was so much blood.  

Thanksgiving

Poor David had to work yesterday.  The kids and I were going to trek down to Albany for the day, but then we decided to stay home and cook a full Thanksgiving meal here, hoping David would be able to come home for dinner and be able to pretend a little like it was a holiday.  Sadly for him, work was so busy all day that he only got to run home and jump out of the car long enough for us to throw to-go plates in his trunk as he sped off again.

But, my parents came up to keep us company at home, our fridge is stuffed with leftovers, and I woke up so early this morning that I could be out shopping since my parents are still here and could act as babysitters...but it's warm here on the sofa and cold outside.  It's been a good holiday.

I think I really like staying home for holidays.  I like it so much I just imagine that's what everyone likes the best.  Hosting is a lot of work, but since I get to stay home I don't mind it at all.  Is that how everyone feels?  That it's the most fun to have the holidays at their own house?  So does that mean if we all just did what we wanted no one would ever leave their houses and hang out with other people?  Or do some people prefer to leave their house and let someone else host?  Such a big loaded question for this Black Friday. 

an Indian girl and a regular boy; why didn't I make him a pilgrim hat?

football with papa

Over David's weekend we got all the Christmas stuff out so that today we can start decorating.  I admit it, I don't like seeing Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving.  Does that make me Grinchy?  David did turn the lights on on the playhouse before Thanksgiving, but I think that was OK because it's in the backyard and no one could really see.  Not even me if I didn't look out the back windows.  Last night Daphne went to sleep with her blinds open so that she could stare at the lights until she fell asleep because she has a perfect view of them from her bumble bed.  I have a feeling that is how every night of December will be. 

We had two people look at our house this week and one more is scheduled.  I didn't realize this time of year would be so busy with house hunters.  I figured things might slow down.  Our house was too big for those first two couples (too big...so funny), but we aren't too worried yet.  Selling in January or February would be nice.  Packing and cleaning during Christmas, not so much. 

Things That Have Been Going on Recently

I did a terrible thing. 

I found a show on Netflix (Emily Owens MD) and watched it even though I knew it had been canceled after only one season.  I fell in LOVE with this show (seriously, funny and cute) and figured I had at least 20-22 episodes to take in before I had to experience the cliff hanger ending I knew would never resolve.  Then the worst happened: it ended at episode 13, way before I was mentally prepared for it, and now I have to live the rest of my life not knowing what was supposed to happen next!!!  Is there anything worse than being in this type of predicament??  (Don't answer that.)

random photo from a pumpkin patch last month

Need a super fun and festive Christmas event to attend?  Here ya go! 

My weekly choir practices this fall have really piqued Daphne's curiosity.  She had no idea what a choir was, so I found a YouTube link to the King's College Choir for her to watch and consequently she spent 30 minutes in rapt attention to their performance.  Now she wants to be in a choir for children.  She's pretty excited about attending this concert on Dec 7th; hopefully Christian is planning on being excited about it, too.  7-9 P.M. are definitely his prime hours as far as good behavior goes. 

Speaking of Christian, he said the funniest thing last week.  I told him it was time to go to BSF and he said "I sick.  I stay home."  How did a barely two-year-old come up with that?

This morning it was 26 degrees when David and I got up at 5:30.  Here's what David had to say about that, "Since it's this cold this early in the year, I think we're going to have lots of snow this winter.  I think the Farmer's Almanac is right."

So there you go.  Lots of snow coming our way.  

Slices of Life, Vol XI

Brought to you by the one and only Daphne Faith:


"I need a little tractor for me with a trailer so I can pull bananas and stuff."


"Did you cut up my paper that I painted?  I didn't want you to do that!  I will miss it!"


"Will your hair turn white when you get old?"
Me:  "I don't know, probably."
"But I like your hair the way it is!!"
 (And then she started crying.)


She saw a 'no smoking' sign at the MAX stop and asked what it meant. 
I tried to explain, "Have you ever seen someone with little things like sticks in their mouths with smoke coming out?"
She answered, "I've only seen Daddy do that."  
(WHAT???)


We were in the car, Daphne's favorite place for some non-stop chatter.
Me: "Hey Daph, how about you stop talking for awhile?"
Her:  "But I want to talk!  Can I talk?"
Me:  "OK, but I'm done answering for a little while so you'll have to just talk to yourself."
Without missing a beat she turned to Christian,
"Christian, what do you want to do tonight?  Do you want to go to sleep and then wake up and we can change minds?"


"I want to be a grandma when I grow up."


"If I could have a little vacuum I could clean up the whole city."


First time going to work (court) with Daddy; she said it was pretty boring:

Working hard on something:

Treats and More

A few months ago Daphne told me she wanted to dress up as Iron Man for trick-or-treat.

I said, "what about Iron Girl?  We could put a little skirt on your outfit and you could be Iron Girl!"

Apparently that was the lamest idea ever.  "Iron Man is not a girl," she said, "And I'm going to be Iron Man."

I asked what she thought Christian should be and she didn't even hesitate: "He can be Baby Thor."

Thus our costume ideas were born.  I sat her down on Pinterest to look at some DIY Iron Man costumes, because I think it's so fun to get creative and try to make what we're wearing.  Buying them is so boring (and also really easy, which is definitely a strong point to consider).  But none of the homemade costumes had anything on what Iron Man is supposed to look like, so I opened the purse strings and bought her an outfit.  Fortunately it was on sale and I had another discount to add, so yay for still getting to be cheap.

Christian's outfit was super easy.  I went to Salvation Army on half price day (at 9PM on the 30th...because why not wait until the last possible second?) and got a red shirt to cut into a cape and a grey shirt to cut circles for his chest.  It cost $2.  I made his hammer out of toilet paper rolls and duct tape.  I didn't spend time making a helmet thing because I knew he wouldn't keep it on and I'm all about not being a time-waster (haha, yeah right).

some character from Narnia and two superheroes

I don't know how your neighborhoods are for Halloween, but ours is really nice with lots of little kids and their parents walking around having fun and lots of neighbors with lights on.  The first house we went to Christian walked himself right into their living room, because typically when you visit someone you go into their house.  Fortunately we have nice neighbors who just gently coaxed him back out to the porch.  It didn't take him long to understand if you stay on the porch and hold up your bucket you get a treat.  SO FUN.

We were only out for maybe half an hour, because we're not really in it for tons of candy and the little kids get tired easily.  We also had pizza at our house and gave out fruit snacks to people to came to our door.  (Daphne would say, "Here!  You can have two!").  I just love the warmth and friendliness that comes out on this night.  The sense of community is heart-warming.

For reals, though, satan's got no hold on this holiday in our house.  In fact, neighbors opening their doors and loving each other?  Kinda reeks of Jesus, if you ask me.  

(I'm a little curious to read the book Redeeming Halloween, which shares the research of church historian Phillip Schaff on the roots of All Saints Day and All Hallow's Eve.  Has anyone read it?)

(Also, I loved this blog post and skimming through people's thoughts in the comments.)

(And just in case you're worried about our heathen status for going trick-or-treating on Halloween, we also get a tree at Christmas and do eggs at Easter.  So yeah, we like to bring out the pagan in all the holidays, because we're cool like that.  Haha.  Although according to that book, the trick-or-treating tradition comes from All Saints Day, not just Samhain?  So apparently we only like to be pagans at Christmas and Easter?  Excellent.)

(OK, one more random side-note:  I've been thinking the last day or two about the giving aspect of trick-or-treat over the receiving aspect.  Like, make it more of us opening our doors and giving out to our community as opposed to going out and being the ones who take?   What's the best way for our family to share Jesus on Halloween?  I know hiding and pretending it doesn't exist isn't our personal family calling...but I don't know.  I don't want my kids getting selfish about wanting candy.  Hmm; food for my thoughts.  Or candy for my thoughts.  Whatever.)