Kenney sat on Santa's lap

at the ward Christmas party last night. He didn't say anything to Santa himself but as we were walking away he said "Mom, why does Santa talk like Daddy?"

December 1st brought rain, lots of it

the high school was even flooded.

Then it started snowing. We played outside that afternoon.

Gearing up

I know it's cold, but I'm not sure why they think they need this much gear...

Target popcorn

Sometimes I go to Target just to hang out. We stroll through the baby clothes clearance sections and then back to the toys. Once we can tear ourselves away from there we check out the current seasonal items and treats. Kenney talks about what movies he'd like to buy while I admire the tableware. Sometimes I can make it back to the front and out the door without putting anything in my cart. We grab our free popcorn and make our way to the car. Here's Norah after our trip the other day, still enjoying her popcorn while we play outisde for a few minutes.

Monday

is cleaning day at our house. Luckily I have a lot of help.

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Sunshine

When you think of Ithaca in the late fall/winter, sunshine does not come to mind. So when you have a day like this you take advantage of it. The last few days have been sunshine and blue skies. We played outside all afternoon on Friday! I loved soaking up the sun and the kids loved getting dirty.

When outside we usually have a visit from our Chinese playmate. Annie is such a sweetie. She and Kenney always give each other a big hug when they see each other. She still doesn't speak any English and neither does Grandma but we enjoy each other's company any way.

 Grandma and Grandpa's 6 month visa will be up soon, so they will be going back to China. If I understood correctly (from the motioning language we use to communicate) Annie's other Grandma will be coming to take their place.

Norah love's the dirt just as much as Kenney does. This is what her bed looked like after her nap Friday afternoon. I guess she took some of the dirt to bed with her!

Green Sand!

That's the first thing most visitor's say when the sandbox opens at our house. I never really think of it as being green until someone mentions it that hasn't seen it before. I always wonder how much sand goes home with our playmates each time we play.It get's dumped out onto shoes, flipped into hair and face. Hands are caked with green crystals if the sand has gotten wet. The sand is slowing diminishing. Do you think it will last the rest of our time here in Ithaca?

Melon Baller

Mike recently  purchased a melon baller for me on amazon. We got it on Friday and I didn't remember seeing it again after I helped Kenney cut it out of it's wrapping. I had a frustrating day looking for it yesterday as I wanted to use it for an activity I did today. Things have been disappearing in our house recently. Sometimes when I tell Norah to take something to the kitchen, she takes it to the trash can in the kitchen. Some things have turned up in other places so I wasn't too worried about the potential of it having been thrown out. But I did quiz Kenney all day asking him where he was playing with it last, or where he thought it might be. (I've found my car keys a couple of times this way). I probably was a little too annoyed , after all it was just a melon baller. Not a vital piece of kitchen equipment, just something fun to have around. But it is pretty expensive for what it is and I was a bit upset about it. Well this morning while getting our coats on to play outside I had a tiny laugh to myself and rolled my eyes out of relief instead of annoyance.

Baby it' cold outside

and inside.

I think the hardest part about having Mike gone is going to bed. I always stay up way too late, doing practically nothing and then dread climbing into the cold bed. Last night it was midnight. I "suited up" in my layers of jammies and socks and still couldn't get to sleep I was so frozen. Today I brought out the big guns when I remade my bed.

I thought heating pads were for old people who crank their thermostat up to 72 and wear thermal underwear (this describes my grandpa for sure). Well I guess I'm 33 (is that how old I am?) going on 80! Can't wait to turn my bed on tonight!

Bed Time

My children's bedtime ritual's seem to fluctuate and change every few months. I remember when I lay Norah down a few months ago she would immediately turn onto her belly without a fuss or complaint. At that time we were struggling with Kenney. After getting frustrated one night I told him once I left the room there was no more asking for things or whining about this or that. He's done pretty well since then, but always wants the same ritual of course. Shower, brush teeth, prayer, story (privilege if he's gotten ready quickly), song (same as previous), night time water (his pacifier I think - not that he uses it as a pacifier, just that he always wants it), pretend medicine (initially because he was sick, and there was really nothing to give him to make him feel better, now we put it in with his water because it is just water ;)), stuffed animal from the shelf, music, leave the door open "a little bit". I know it is crazy what we do - but some nights I was just desperate.

So back to present time. Kenney has his ritual and most nights falls of asleep within two minutes of me leaving the room Now Norah is the complainer. Sometimes she throws her pacifier out onto the floor and cries about not having it anymore. The last couple of nights she has put her feet up and banged them on the side of the crib for a few minutes. Then just cried out some more after getting bored with that.

This is what she usually is doing when I go in to lay her down again.And this is what Kenney is doing.
This is what she was doing when I lay her down again before I left and closed the door, and I haven't heard from her since!

Chowing down on the popcorn before it even made it into the caramel sauce.
(I don't think Kenney ever stood on a chair to "help" in the kitchen when he was Norah's age. Now I've always got them both lined up.)

I don't like the smell of shoe polish.

Do you think anyone will notice his shoes?

We spent the evening going through possible "outfits" for his next few days of conference interviews and presentations. He's a show stopper! Can't wait to hear if he makes a few cuts.

Rainy day in Ithaca

means a trip to the Sciencenter. Yes that is how you spell it.

We had fun today rolling penny's, splashing with the ducks and driving the trains. Luckily Norah seems to be drawn to the same corners of the museum as Kenney. There were days when I wondered why we made a trip to the center just to play at the train table, but I really enjoyed today's outing and Kenney still plays every day with his trains at home no matter what he did that morning.

Kitchen help

I love having help in the kitchen! I just wish she could do some chopping and then maybe dishes!

Saying Goodbye

or at least "see you next year", to the costume box.

Halloween

Our ladybug and spider.