Forty-Three Weeks

Some friends of ours gave us a walking device that their son had outgrown.  Chandler found a new use for it.

Getting out of the walking device unassisted was a problem, but she taught herself to sit down out of it.

"Shall I get out of the walking device?"

"Nah."

"Master of all I survey."

It's Advent!

We're going to be home in Arkansas this year for Christmas, but we still wanted to decorate for Advent.  (Ok, I wanted to decorate for Advent.  I love Advent and it's music - I wait all year for the Angel Gabriel, his wings of drifted snow and his eyes of flame.  So strange to picture.)  The day after Thanksgiving, we brought out our decorations and drank a round of hot chocolate.  Chandler pushed chairs.

Here's Chandler with our Advent Tree.

Mark says it reminds him of the tree from Charlie Brown's Christmas, but I like it.  Poor Mark wanted a great big tree, but Chandler eats everything in her path these days and I didn't fancy spending the month vacuuming pine needles.  And, as I believe I  mentioned, we won't be here for Christmas.  So I made us settle for this little guy.  It's alive and doesn't shed needles.  And my mom got us an Advent Calender that divides the Christmas story up into 24 miniature books (the authors got a little creative) that are hung on the tree after reading.  More intense Advent Calender experience than we're used to, but Frances seems to be enjoying it.  (I did skip the line about King Herod wanting to "destroy" the baby Jesus.  Seemed a bit much.)  Happy Advent to all, and to all a Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree!  (That's another hymn.  Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Forty-Two Weeks

Helping Daddy nap.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving morning started like this...

That's Mark and Frances hiding from me.

I decided Frances and I needed to get out of the house during Chandler's nap, even if it was a bit nippy.  So, we got Frances all dressed up like this...

...and headed out for a jog past some of our neighborhood's sites.

First stop was our nearest neighborhood garden, which seemed appropriate for the day we celebrate our harvest.

  Ignore the chain-link fence.  And it's possible Frances is getting a little too big for the jogging stroller.

Then we stopped at the school I hope Frances will attend next year.  We made use of their playground and then went to their outdoor classroom.  Outdoor classrooms seem to be all the rage around here.

Ignore the fact there's very little chance Frances will get a spot at this school.  (Boston's public schools work on a lottery system.  Plus: everyone gets a chance at a good school, and there seem to be a number of good schools.  Minus: everyone gets a chance at a not so good school and some four year-olds don't get in at all.)

Last stop on our jog was this Thankful tree a local family had put out.  The family had glued leaves to tags and then laminated the tags.  They'd left the tree and the tags outside with a permanent marker and invited everyone to add what they were thankful for.

The tree made me so happy - so thankful, you might say - to live in Jamaica Plain.

And this kiddo isn't half bad either.

Then we all took big naps and headed over to our friends' house for dinner.  Not a bad day.

Forty-One Weeks

Forty Weeks

Dance of the (Pink) Snowflakes

A few weeks before we even reached Thanksgiving, I learned that the Children's Museum was having a special Nutcracker day.  Aha!  It pays to horde passes (and all we had to do to get them was submit Frances to a study at MIT)!  Perfect.  I was sure the museum would be a mad house, but I didn't think I could live with myself if I denied Frances an opportunity to mingle with actual Nutcracker characters.  So away we went.  And it wasn't even a mad house.  And Frances got to go out like this:

Just after we got there, we found a free ballet class being offered by a member of the Boston Ballet.  Frances was a bit shy at first, but after a bit I was able to peal her off of me and she joined the other kids in the class.

Heaven.

After the class, we designed our own costumes, made crowns, played in/with some dollhouses and found a real live Sugarplum (I think that's what she was).

Then, guess what?  It was time for another ballet class and we were ready.

Big fun was had by all.

(No, the children weren't all receiving communion.  At the end of the class, the ballet teacher told the kids they'd get a surprise if they held out their hands and closed their eyes.  Then he gave them all a squirt of Purell, because ballet is germy work?  Beats me, but Frances went along with it at the end of both classes.)

Sunday Morning at Our House

Mark and I are helping in Frances's Sunday School class this year, so we've been attending church much more regularly than usual.  Mark and I use the "Divide and Conquer" strategy to get out the door on time; I get Chandler ready and Mark helps Frances.  Sunday mornings often look like this:

That's Mark hosing Frances down, Frances gritting her teeth and Chandler surveying it all.  She's ever so helpful, that Chandler.  She really wants to be in on the action and she knows if she hangs out near the tub long enough, there will eventually be water splashed into her vicinity and she loves playing with water.  Damp Chandler, happy Chandler.

The Party Itself!

Some scenes from Frances's Big 4 party!

Nothing like a good snuggle with a friend to start out a party?

This is one of a very few times I held Chandler during the party.  She was a trooper about being passed from one person to the next while her mother ran around doing party things.  And we had such good friends who didn't seem to mind passing her around at all.

Theo kept himself entertained with a train.  The little boys mostly observed the big boys, who were up to big boy things.

Mark had put together great art supplies for the kids to take home as party favors, but no one told the kids that.  They just opened them up and started creating.  It was a great distraction.  I think Sophia had some of Frances's lipstick on in this picture.  Frances is obsessed with lipstick.      

Dave helped maintain the calm by up-ending any kid who happened by.

Frances is also a fan of My Little Pony lately, so we tried some Pin The Tail on Rainbow Dash.  It was very amusing - at least for me.

Then it was cake time!

Left to right, we've got Tyler, Adler, Sophia, Kealakai (hiding behind Mark's hand), Mark, and Frances.

Let's see - starting at the head of the table and ignoring the adults - we've got Akea, Tyler, Adler, Sophia, Kealakai (with Theo behind), Frances, Valentina and Darby, everyone except Cobi, who was probably on his mama's hip.

Then gifts (we stuck with the basic birthday party structure).

I like all the girls looking at Tyler here.  "What are you up to over there?"

See the wonderment on Frances's face?  She was receiving a great big, pink princess dress, with a tiara, clip-on earrings, shoes and a purse.  She was a tad pleased.  That night, Princess Frances slept in the dress, hoop skirt and all.

And then there was the chapter book her mother got her.  She looks thrilled, no?

In my defense, she keeps talking about chapter books so I thought she might like Mercy Watson, which happens to be a chapter book.  (She's learning to love it, says me.)

And then everybody left and we had oodles of cake left over.  Birthday Party #4 successfully accomplished!