The Christmas Season

A little bit of a cheat post - lots of pics to sum up our holiday season.

What says Christmas more than baking and decorating cookies with Grammy??

James was not a great helper when it came to decorating cookies...

Jason + Tim...Probably one of the best "white elephant" gifts ever.

Christmas Eve celebration with pals.

Happy girl with her new pal Marie Grace on Christmas morning.

Finally, my own scooter!

No more scooter sharing!

My little elves.

Token picture of Tope in one of her many hated Christmas hats (she hates, we like).

Pretty lights.

Oh, that Elf

As always, December marked the return of Tinta the elf.  And this year he was crazier than ever.  Towards the end of the month, Anna recommended we take all the tape out of the house so he couldn't get into anymore sticky situations.

I think this was one of his better hiding spots this year.

Glasses, mustache and suspended in air?

Promoting good dental hygiene.

Christmas Jazz Hands

Is there anything more fun to attend than a preschool holiday concert??  Ok, rhetorical question.  However,when it's your kid, it can be pretty entertaining.  Such was the case with Anna's school performance this year.  Anna is an enthusiastic performer, and especially loves to dance. 

As of now, she says she is going to be a "singing star" when she grows up.  Which is nice for Jason and I because we don't need to worry about a college fund for her...or saving for our retirement because I'm pretty sure having a superstar singer for a daughter will pay off (as long as we don't become overbearing or spill her baby pics to the tabloids.  Might need to take the blog down if she hits it big...)

I digress.  Back to the school concert.  Anna was dolled up for the big gig in her Christmas finery, and she put on a good show.  Here's a video of her - middle front row, rocking the songs and choreography.

Ready for the show.

So, not part of the performance, but Santa did make a visit to her class.

The Christmas performing continued with caroling at a retirement home.

Five (and yes, it's unbelievable)

Somebody is 5. It can't be Anna. She's just a baby, my baby!! But, yes, it is her! I'll say all the trite stuff (but it's true!)...where did the time go? Five years in the blink of an eye. My sweet, silly, kooky, (occasionally) moody, spirited, strong-willed, smart, beautiful little girl. I can't believe you are 5. That's half a decade! What a great 5 years it has been. Mama loves you, Sunshine, Bear, Banana. Happy birthday sweet girl.

On the big day.

Celebrating at school, with special guest baby brother.

Art party!

Purple & pink cake - requested, fulfilled.

Elves, princesses and ponies - you can never trust a group like that.

Carita Feliz

One of Anna's favorite parts of school is Spanish. Each day her class spends 30 minutes with their beloved Ms. Marta, learning letters, numbers, singing songs, and, from what I gather, just plain having fun. 

Ms. Marta loves everything smiley face and doles out stickers, erasers and trinkets with the theme. She also has a "mascot," Carita Feliz, ("happy face"), who is sent home with a different student each weekend. Having Carita Feliz is a "big" responsibility - he has a journal you have to update at the end of your time with him, detailing what he did while with your family (always homework for the parents! ;). 

Anna was over the moon when Ms. Marta chose her to watch Carita Feliz over Thanksgiving break - a full 10 days!! Carita Feliz accompanied us on our trip down to Florida, and he was the best behaved person in the back seat (namely because he didn't throw up, which put him head and shoulders above his back seat companions). 

Anna lugged Carita Feliz everywhere - playgrounds, stores, gramma's pool, butterfly world - and he even helped set the Thanksgiving dinner table and trim the Christmas tree. Phew, what a muy bueno time he had with us!

November 365

Baseball

So, sure, baseball season is over...but I was looking through pictures and realized I never posted these up.  We took James to his first pro baseball game in September and judging from his reaction, I think he'll be attending several more.  Considering his room is decked out in a Red Sox theme, it's not surprising he felt at home in the ballpark.  I'm sure the hot dogs, cotton candy and ice cream had nothing to do with it.

And, lucky kid, he made it out onto the field at his first game.  We participated in a pre-game "parade" around the field which was a pretty cool experience.  Jason had a big grin on his face during the walk and James stopped to pick up and toss the dirt around home plate.  Anna just kept asking for ice cream (the novelty was lost on her, I guess!).

According to Jason, though, they both have yet to truly experience a pro baseball game because they haven't been to one at Fenway.  Soon enough, soon enough.

We also had a really cool experience thanks to our pals - we had the opportunity to sit right behind home plate in the best seats I have ever had for any sporting event.  I don't know if I had more fun watching the game, or trying to spot us on TV (that's us up there!)...So, thanks Kings, and when can we go back?!?

October 365

Halloween

This Halloween Anna and James hit the trick-or-treat path as Ariel the Little Mermaid and her fish friend Flounder.

Being princess-obsessed, Anna's costume choice was not surprising (reference Snow White from last year!). Knowing that James likely will begin to have an opinion on his costumes in the next year or so, I decided to keep them as a pair at least one more time (reference Dopey from last year!). 

Anna of course was giddy with excitement for the trick-or-treating and kept proclaiming her bucket of candy was too heavy to carry. James was much less giddy, in fact he was more confused and overwhelmed at the beginning. That lasted for approximately one house...when he realized he was getting candy, he was all in.  The week before Halloween we had been practicing saying, "trick-or-treat" with him.

During the practice we got the occasional "twick" from James, but when he saw the magic unleashed by the phrase, his diction was all of a sudden perfect! After the first house all we heard was "twick tweet, twick tweet, twick tweet". And, upon leaving a house's front porch, James would get a few feet away and then turn around and say, "more, more, more." 

 Come to think, maybe he won't care too much about his costume...as long as the candy is flowing.

Ariel!

More, more, more!

Neighborhood madness.

Could anything be CUTER?!?

Siblings

22 hours of each day they love each other. A lot. But in 18 months they have discovered the actions that make the other proclaim, "You are the most annoying person in the world!" And that is how the remaining two hours of the day are filled.

Love

Love

What, you want this giraffe?  No, it's mine.  You can't have it.  Oh, that annoys you?  Good.

Exasperation.

Love

Her hair

I had to capture this particular phase Anna is going through. She is obsessed with her hair. Before school each morning she will gaze at herself in the mirror and ponder which hairstyle to go with.

She has her own style vocabulary: Circle braid, sidetail, full hairtail, alien buns, twisties, half braid, full braid, flat, the list goes on.

The style is not the only choice, either - then come the accessories. Flowers, clips, bows, headbands...

And boy, is she particular. Most days the hair gets done without incident. But then there are the other days. The days that make me cringe because they foreshadow days of melt downs over her hair in high school.

If she can't get the curls to lay just right or the clip to go where she wants it to, stand back. She will proclaim her hair "weird" and stomp/roll her eyes better than any 13 year old.

I try to console her as best I can (if my patience allows), but my words usually make the situation worse (a daughter getting annoyed with her mom?!?). I just hate that she would ever not like the way she looks (having those beautiful curls and all), but we've all been there. And, I do believe she has a flair for the dramatic.

I hope the future isn't too hairy in this arena (ha ha)...

I think she's beautiful no matter what!

Circle braid with flowers

Half sidetail with a twist (and blue arms/red face)

Fancy sidetail

Twisties

Headband (and a beautiful sweater made by Grammy)

Shaggy no more

The time finally came - after one too many "cute mullet" comments, I packed James up and headed to the barber shop. I had attempted a minor trim about a month before, but knew my weak shearing skills were no task for a full on "big boy" cut. He was a cooperative subject for most of the cut (I think the lollipop helped), and the results were fantastic. Such a handsome boy.