Typical, but a bit unusual. There! Five words that summarize the day well. Cold, but not too cold. Brown, gray. Like this:
It's the day when I push back the sleeves and clean. I do that. I like a tidy farmhouse.
Breakfast. Late again. But late is good -- it means something was accomplished from the getgo. Even before I start peeling the mango for the morning meal.
A mish mash of chores follows. That's typical too. If the weather is drizzly cold (half snow, but mostly rain), we're not going to look for outdoor projects. Or hikes. Or adventures. (Well, I'm not. Ed is motivated to take a walk. He comes back with wet hair plastered to his forehead.)
In the early afternoon, I have a mini adventure with Snowdrop and her mom. With little ones, you're always looking for clever things to do on the weekends and in December, options abound. This is the beauty of the month: it offers choices at a time when your imagination can get stuck, waiting for that snowfall, or bit of sunshine, or spring -- something to lure you out of your home once more. Today, we go visit reindeer. On this foggy drizzly day, you can actually venture out to hang out with real reindeer.
They're at the Bruce Company -- a landscaping place that also happens to sell trees and ornaments at Christmas time. Getting a few reindeer in your parking lot is an incredible lure! The line to have your picture taken with some elf like person and a reindeer is huge, despite the rain. Well, we're not hankering for a photo. We just want to see the animals. And we do see them.
Who knew that reindeer are this small!! No bigger than an Icelandic horse! When they pull Santa's sleigh, they look huge! Like elk, or moose.
Snowdrop is somewhat amused by the whole set up. These Santas that come and go, lines of kids, many quite intimidated by the guy with the white beard, the whole pageant is sort of fun, especially for a girl who sees herself as growing up in leaps and bounds.
And of course, predictably, we wander inside the store and I pick up a Christmas cactus, because the old cactus I had was as old as my puffer jacket and I finally had to put it to rest this summer.
I stop by Snowdrop's home after.
Yes, the joy is still there...
Sparrow comes down...
And of course, these moments are so delicious, so very undrizzly, ungray, so joy-filled!
(Snowdrop loves to trace shapes...)
(Sparrow is perfecting his sitting skills...)
Today, is, of course, the first day of Hanukkah. Snowdrop and Sparrow are going with their parents to friends to celebrate this holiday and so I wont see them for dinner tonight, but I am so very happy to see this little book on their table! I used to read All-of-a-Kind Family books to my girls (they depict the lives of a Jewish family living in the lower east side of New York in the early 20th century) some thirty years ago. It's a real whiff of nostalgia for me and a very nice description of Hanukkah for little Snowdrop.
Later, much later, I am in an unusually quiet farmhouse. Quiet for Sunday that is. I make a cup of coffee, take out a gingerbread cookie and listen to music, throwing an occasional glance at the Christmas cactus on the table.
It's the day when I push back the sleeves and clean. I do that. I like a tidy farmhouse.
Breakfast. Late again. But late is good -- it means something was accomplished from the getgo. Even before I start peeling the mango for the morning meal.
A mish mash of chores follows. That's typical too. If the weather is drizzly cold (half snow, but mostly rain), we're not going to look for outdoor projects. Or hikes. Or adventures. (Well, I'm not. Ed is motivated to take a walk. He comes back with wet hair plastered to his forehead.)
In the early afternoon, I have a mini adventure with Snowdrop and her mom. With little ones, you're always looking for clever things to do on the weekends and in December, options abound. This is the beauty of the month: it offers choices at a time when your imagination can get stuck, waiting for that snowfall, or bit of sunshine, or spring -- something to lure you out of your home once more. Today, we go visit reindeer. On this foggy drizzly day, you can actually venture out to hang out with real reindeer.
They're at the Bruce Company -- a landscaping place that also happens to sell trees and ornaments at Christmas time. Getting a few reindeer in your parking lot is an incredible lure! The line to have your picture taken with some elf like person and a reindeer is huge, despite the rain. Well, we're not hankering for a photo. We just want to see the animals. And we do see them.
Who knew that reindeer are this small!! No bigger than an Icelandic horse! When they pull Santa's sleigh, they look huge! Like elk, or moose.
Snowdrop is somewhat amused by the whole set up. These Santas that come and go, lines of kids, many quite intimidated by the guy with the white beard, the whole pageant is sort of fun, especially for a girl who sees herself as growing up in leaps and bounds.
And of course, predictably, we wander inside the store and I pick up a Christmas cactus, because the old cactus I had was as old as my puffer jacket and I finally had to put it to rest this summer.
I stop by Snowdrop's home after.
Yes, the joy is still there...
Sparrow comes down...
And of course, these moments are so delicious, so very undrizzly, ungray, so joy-filled!
(Snowdrop loves to trace shapes...)
(Sparrow is perfecting his sitting skills...)
Today, is, of course, the first day of Hanukkah. Snowdrop and Sparrow are going with their parents to friends to celebrate this holiday and so I wont see them for dinner tonight, but I am so very happy to see this little book on their table! I used to read All-of-a-Kind Family books to my girls (they depict the lives of a Jewish family living in the lower east side of New York in the early 20th century) some thirty years ago. It's a real whiff of nostalgia for me and a very nice description of Hanukkah for little Snowdrop.
Later, much later, I am in an unusually quiet farmhouse. Quiet for Sunday that is. I make a cup of coffee, take out a gingerbread cookie and listen to music, throwing an occasional glance at the Christmas cactus on the table.
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