A day off for Daddy

To celebrate surviving his game theory midterm, Daddy decided to play hooky from school on Friday and took his girls to the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, instead! (So this was a day off for Daddy. And Monday was, too. It was like a self-declared training holiday!)

We'd last been to the museum at the very end of December and so we were more than ready for a return trip. The girls were beyond excited to check out their favorite exhibits -- and some new ones.

The stagecoach was a big hit with Kathleen. That probably shouldn't have come as a surprise, given that she loves to have us sing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain."

And the toddler (four and under only!) room was perfect for Madeline. Fortunately for us, Kathleen is still young enough to come play, too, and she enjoys it. But Madeline loves it.

Madeline, branching out and exploring on her own...

After we'd had enough of the toddler room, we headed back downstairs to do some waterplay. We hadn't gotten around to the water exhibit last time, so it was all new and all fun! The exhibit is amazing -- gallons and gallons of water pumped through waterfalls and whirlpools that spin and spit colored balls. There were smocks to help keep children from getting too wet, but we didn't bother. We'd known we'd do waterplay, so we'd brought extra clothes for each of us. Mama and Daddy didn't wind up needing to change, but the girls certainly did!

It was a bit crowded in the exhibit; there were lots of schoolchildren on field trips, and even with Mama and Daddy there to advocate for them, Kathleen and Madeline had some challenges getting turns. Daddy's a creative thinker, though, and came up with some ideas for bypassing the other children.

Reaching....

A few moments later, we realized that, like the toddler room upstairs, there was an entire area designated for children four and younger. Once we entered that part of the exhibit, the fun really began. It was far less crowded and everything was easier to reach.

A toddler exhibit -- genius! Now even Madeline could reach the whirlpool.
(Sorry for the blurry photos. The exhibit was great for kids, but not so great for photo-taking Mamas.)

The girls were fascinated by this fountain. They splashed in it. They tossed balls at it.

And they discovered that, if you place the ball just right, it floats. Just like magic!

As you can see, the girls got quite wet. Wet, but happy.

Cheesing it up with Mama.

When the girls were thoroughly waterlogged, Daddy dashed back out to the car for the bag of dry clothes. We dried everyone off and decided that lunch was in order. Creatures of habit (and lured by the mini-cones of frozen yogurt), we headed back to Sweet Tomatoes once again.

Water play and frozen yogurt. It's not your typical Friday-in-February diversion, but it made us very happy, indeed!

Happy hearts for Valentine's Day

When you're three (or thirty-three or seventeen months), you love any excuse for celebration.  And here at the circus, we celebrated Valentine's Day all day long.

We started our morning with heart-shaped, whole-wheat pancakes.  The girls raced downstairs to the kitchen to help Mama make them.  Standing on their chairs, they measured out flour and milk and cracked the egg.  They mixed love right into the pancakes.

Topped with some real maple syrup, that made for a tasty breakfast and some very happy little girls.

 

Even though we serve pancakes with forks, fingers are the preferred method of eating!

After breakfast, Kathleen proudly delivered a Valentine to her Daddy.  (He didn't mind the distraction from studying.)  Kathleen had been saving the card for some time now, and she was very excited to finally give it to him.

We'd made the Valentine -- technically a sun-catcher -- using a tutorial we'd found here.  It combined lots of things Kathleen likes to work with: glitter, tissue paper, foam cutouts, and glue.  It worked well for Valentine's Day, and I expect we'll use the same idea again for other holidays.  (I see a shamrock shaped sun-catcher in our future!)

Later in the day, Daddy and Kathleen presented Mama with a Valentine of her own.  It had been Daddy and Kathleen's secret project, and it was beautiful!

We spent the day relaxing, reading, playing Candyland and Go Fish!, crafting, and napping (but only Madeline).  We enjoyed some special foods -- heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, fresh strawberries, steaks for supper, and some cake that Daddy got us at a local bakery.  Yum! And Mama even got a brand new, shiny cell phone.  (Not that she can figure out how to work it!)  But best of all, we were together all day.  And that made our hearts happy.

We hope that something today made your heart happy, too.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Crazy about the Crafty Crow

Lately we here at the circus have fallen in love with the Crafty Crow.  (Okay, not so much Daddy.  And honestly, Madeline's still fairly ambivalent about crafts.  But Mama and Kathleen really do love this site.)  If you've not visited before, the Crafty Crow daily publishes crafts (complete with tutorials) for children, pulled from all over the internet.  Our friend Paula told us about the site some time ago, and since then we've used it regularly.  Since Kathleen loves -- as in, begs to do -- crafts, we've found the site to be very handy.  The projects range from the super-simple to the fairly complex and are much more inventive than the scissors, glue, glitter projects I'd come up with on my own.

The Crafty Crow is great anytime of year, but we've had even more fun than usual getting ready for Valentine's Day.  Kathleen's favorite craft -- by far -- has been sponge painting Valentine cards like these.  

Sponge-painting love for Valentine's Day.

We made a batch, and then another batch, and then another.  (Of course, we've still not mailed them, so you might be getting sponge-painted heart cards for Easter...)  Perhaps we'll get some big rolls of paper and switch up the sponges to make wrapping paper.  Otherwise, we'll have a card backlog for years to come!

I wasn't quite brave enough to let Madeline in on the painting, so she amused herself with some crayons while Kathleen painted.  And actually, Daddy studied at home that afternoon, so our kitchen table was full of activity.

Madeline contemplates her art.

Daddy contemplates some political science.  

You can tell it's tricky because he's chewing on his finger while he reads.

We had hoped to make these to give to our friends for Valentine's Day, but the commissary didn't cooperate -- no pretzel rings.  (I've contemplated looking elsewhere for them, but figure I shouldn't be running around town to find ingredients for treats I really shouldn't be eating.  Still, though -- and perhaps it's the pregnancy -- but I've thought about it more than once.  Salty and chocolate-y and practically no effort?  Yum.)  Kathleen has been intrigued by these (she saw the sparkly sugar on the laptop from across the room) and I've been tempted by these...  We picked up some fresh strawberries for Valentine's Day dessert, but I find my mind wandering back to sugary, buttery treats.  We'll have to see whether good sense or sugar cravings win out.  (For the record, my money's on the three-minute cakes!)

The circus wishes you the sweetest of Valentine's Days!

Rainy, but not gloomy

It's been rainy today, but certainly not gloomy.

Who could be gloomy with a companion as cute as this?!

A bit of an update

It's been an entire week since the great dinner-stomach virus-laundry debacle, and I think we can say with certainty that the cell phone is dead. We'd held out hope, despite the pieces that fell off as we fished it out of the washing machine. We gave it our best effort, but no matter what we've done to try to dry it out, the water has remained. You can see it in the lovely little screen on the front of the phone. Looks like Mama will be getting a new cell phone for Valentine's Day!

Daddy's been swamped with school work lately -- papers, problem sets, and a midterm. As you can imagine, the circus isn't always the best place for studying. Even when everyone tries to be good and leave Daddy alone, the chaos somehow spills over into quiet we meant to leave for him. So on Friday the girls packed up and headed for Nan and Grandpa's house. Instant peace and quiet for Daddy!

We felt optimistic, though not fully confident, that we'd licked the stomach virus. Thursday had been a pretty good day for Madeline, and no one else was showing signs of sickness. But even though the girls weren't technically sick, they weren't quite themselves yet, either. They were both tired and clingy and grumpy. Madeline was particularly difficult -- it seemed for a time that she'd given up sleep altogether, waking and staying awake from two to five each morning. Consequently, we spent rather a lot of time like this:

A little post-nap snuggling.

We'd thought -- and Nan and Grandpa had thought --that the visit would be a bit of break for Mama, but because the girls were still "off" that just wasn't the case. When you're little and you're not feeling yourself, only your Mama will do, whether it's morning, noon, or night. And even in her sleep-deprived state, Mama knows that, really, being that person -- the one person who can stop the fussing, who can soothe little spirits by her presence and in her embrace -- is a privilege. And that privilege lasts such a short while. The nights might have been long, but they were sweet, too.

Grumpy or no, the girls were still delighted to be with their grandparents and all the spoiling that comes along with such a visit. Nan and Grandpa's house is a fun place, filled with toys and treats. But it's not the things that make a visit great -- it's the people! Kathleen loved having more people to read with and talk to and direct in her imaginary games. Madeline especially loved being with her grandpa. She'd yell, "Bampa!" and race toward him whenever he entered a room, holding up her arms to be held. When he'd leave, she'd cry, truly heartbroken that he'd go somewhere without her. On Tuesday morning some workmen were trimming trees in front of the building, and Madeline and Grandpa stood at the big window, transfixed.

A sweet sight in the morning.

We finally headed home on Tuesday afternoon, and since we've been here, the girls have been getting back to their regular sleep schedules. (Thank goodness!) They missed their own things, we think, and we know they missed their Daddy. Daddy certainly missed them. But the quiet helped Daddy get lots done, and he feels pretty confident about Thursday's exam. (Good luck, Daddy!)

And, not to be left out of any family update, Indiana seems to be growing right on schedule. His little heart was beating well at Mama's appointment last week. When the doctor's office called a few days later, we were nervous that perhaps Mama had failed the dreaded glucose test. But, as it turns out, the sugar levels were fine, but Mama was a bit anemic. (Nice to have an excuse for being tired!) Indiana does not seem to have suffered any from the low iron levels -- he keeps moving all the time. We can hardly believe that we'll be meeting that busy little boy in two and a half months!

Madeline's first make-over

Look who's big enough for pigtails!

Our hairstyling adventures were inspired by our friend's little boy who, when being helped to remember who exactly was coming to a playdate, asked, "Oh, you mean the baby with the hair growing out of her ears?"

Um, yeah. That'd be Madeline. We still haven't stopped laughing about it, because it's a startlingly accurate description of her -- or at least of her hair. (And because it was said with love.) Madeline doesn't have a lot of hair on the top of her head, but the hair in the back is getting some length. (It's a toddler mullet, I know. I should probably cut it, but it's all the hair she has!) Okay, her hair isn't growing out of her ears, but her tufty little locks have a habit of sticking out from her head, just behind her ears. And now we know we can corral those strands into pigtails!

Of course, I'll also have to share that it'll probably be several more months before you see any consistent hairstyling on Miss Madeline, because she's just not that into it. These pigtails? They were gone before I finished taking photos...

And That's Why We Call It The Circus

Madeline was a little cranky Monday, which we attributed to the normal challenges of Sunday (no morning nap when you're at service!) and to the extra excitement of hosting a gathering for the Super Bowl. (It's really a pity I don't have photos of that, because it was pretty hysterical to watch our girls offering pretend pie and cake from their kitchen to a bunch of PhD students who were trying to watch football.) The real cause of the crankiness became clear, though, in the middle of Monday night, when Madeline woke up, sick. Poor Daddy had just gotten into bed after finishing a paper when he was summoned to help with the aftermath...

We muddled through the night and awoke Tuesday morning to find that our middle of the night laundry -- including Madeline's lovey, Yaya -- hadn't finished. The washer had given up. (Fortunately, the washer is under warranty. But no one from Sears can come out to repair it for more than a week.)

We muddled through the day much the way we'd muddled through the night. Daddy stayed home to help mitigate the chaos. Friends loaned us their washer so we could at least finish those sheets. (In case you were wondering, we couldn't hold out that long on the lovey, so Mama had washed it in the sink with boiling water.) And everyone survived.

But today, things were undeniably looking up.

Although Madeline woke early and slightly cranky, she and Mama spent an extra hour snuggling and sleeping in the guest room bed. And by the time they made their way downstairs, they were both in reasonably good spirits. Madeline snuggled in on the sofa for a round of "Signing Time" while Mama set about baking some chocolate chip muffins with the leftover steel cut oats from the weekend. The muffins had come out of the oven, tasty and chocolate-y when Daddy and Kathleen came downstairs, and we ate a family breakfast. Daddy headed off to school, and the girls and Mama played some Candy Land and some Go Fish and a number of imagination games (everyone took turns at being the doctor and Angelina Ballerina and various Disney princesses).

Madeline, all snuggled up and watching "Signing Time."
You can tell she's sick because she's actually still.

Kathleen enjoys a chocolate chip muffin and the Sunday comics.
Why she was so interested in the Sunday comics on Wednesday morning, we'll never know.

Madeline begged for a bottle at naptime, and Mama reluctantly gave her a bit of milk, which she seemed to stomach just fine. By some miracle, the washer decided to work and was immediately pressed into service. Kathleen and Mama worked on more crafts. Nan and Grandpa called to say that they'd found bunkbeds on Craigslist, and that, if we liked them, Nan and Grandpa wanted to give them to the girls. Wow! We did! We do! (Big girl beds arrive tomorrow!) Kathleen and Madeline even rested at the same time in the afternoon, allowing Mama to fold that beautiful, clean laundry while watching some DVR'ed shows. Perfect!

By the time dinner arrived, even Nan had noted that we ought to buy a lottery ticket, things were going so well. Everyone was looking forward to supper since it was a circus favorite: breakfast for supper. The girls stood on the chairs in the kitchen and helped as Mama made fruit salad. Kathleen cracked the eggs without getting any shell in the bowl, and before we knew it, we were done. Daddy arrived home just in time for us all to sit down together. Beautiful!

And then Madeline threw up on the dinner table.

And in the chaos of clean-up, Mama put all her clothes into the laundry. With the cell phone in her pocket.

And that, friends, is why we call this the circus.

How to Spend a Rainy Afternoon

While we haven't endured the frigid temperatures that have struck much of the country, the weather around here has been a bit gloomy of late.  The rain and chill have kept us from the park, so we've had to come up with other ways to spend our time and energy.

Recently we decided to put some sparkle in our day with a bit of glitter.  Kathleen loves glitter (is there a three-year-old girl who doesn't?) and spent almost an hour working on her glittery masterpieces.  Construction paper, glue, and glitter.  Who'd have thought that you could fill so much time with just three things?  (Well, maybe four things -- Kathleen has also recently learned to use scissors -- closely supervised, of course.  So she spent a bit of time cutting paper, too.)

We worked on a jelly roll pan in an attempt to contain the glittery mess.  That didn't work out perfectly, but it worked well enough.  There was a bit of a mess, but that's why we've got a vacuum, right?

Kathleen started with glue.  

Plenty of glue.

And then she happily shook glitter over the glue.  (Sometimes the glue was better covered than others.)

When we'd gotten enough glitter on the pan, she abandoned the shaking and just sprinkled with her fingers.

Not content with the first go at something, Kathleen decided it needed a little something extra.  What could that be?

More glue.  Obviously.

And then more glitter.

When she was completely satisfied with her creation (which, by the way, she immediately announced would be for Grandpa -- to go with the princess card, I suppose) she did the only thing she could. She asked for more paper!

Watching History

We camped out for the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America. . .  but only on the living room floor!

Far more comfortable than the crowds camped out in the cold, cold, weather in DC, Mama and the girls watched the pomp and circumstance on a picnic blanket in front of the television.  The girls even ate their breakfast (whole wheat waffles, veggies sausages, and cut fruit -- an all-time favorite breakfast here at the circus) as they watched!  Although they weren't perfect spectators (Mama thought more than once that she was awfully glad she wasn't trying to corral the girls at the actual event), the girls were surprisingly interested in the goings-on.

Some highlights from the morning:

• As the president-elect appeared on the screen for the first time that morning, Kathleen called out, "Barack Obama!"  No lessons on identifying the president necessary!


• There was some interest in the Obamas' daughters, but a lot more interest in the dog they're going to get.


• The girls did get a little squirmy during Rick Warren's invocation, but Mama was excited for Kathleen to hear him recite the Lord's Prayer.  Kathleen says the Lord's Prayer as part of her bedtime prayers each night, but Daddy and Mama don't think she'd heard anyone else say it, since Kathleen usually heads to the nursery before that part of Sunday service.


• Both girls danced during Aretha Franklin's "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and again during John William's "Air and Simple Gifts."  Oh, and Kathleen liked Aretha Franklin's hat!

They probably won't remember it, but they watched history in the making!

Scenes from the Circus

Mama continues to resist "the plan" to name our darling baby boy-to-be Indiana Jones Golby. Yet, Daddy currently seems to be winning the war. His latest victory: he has enlisted Kathleen in his pro-Indiana campaign. He told her, "Kathleen, the baby in Mama's tummy is named Indiana! We can call him Baby Indy!" She bought this -- hook, line and sinker.

And Mama's sweet girl has become his biggest ally.

She tells perfect strangers that there's a baby in Mama's tummy named Indiana. The one time Mama forgot herself and proposed another (reasonable, usable, Christian) name for the baby, Kathleen became incensed.

"No!" she shouted, on the verge of tears, "The baby in Mama's tummy is named Indiana!"

Apparently they teach those cadets some tactics at West Point.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Mama and the girls are in the drugstore, waiting for Madeline's prescriptions to be filled. (The prescriptions? Antibiotics for a nasty ear infection that had kept Mama and Madeline up all night. Poor little Madeline was a trooper at a very, very long doctor's appointment where Mama practically had to lie on her baby to get her to hold still while the doctor to cleaned out the infected ear a bit, and where the doctor actually took a break from examining Madeline to take Kathleen to the bathroom. Have we mentioned we've been really happy with the medical care at Stanford Children's Hospital? We have been. We are.) We've already walked around the shopping center a few times, stopped for smoothies, and we've still got some time to kill. Madeline's now sleeping in the Beco, but Kathleen is getting a little bored. Inspired, Mama heads for the greeting card aisle and tells Kathleen that we need a card for Grandpa O'Connor's birthday.

"Kathleen, " Mama announces, feeling rather proud of herself, "these are all birthday cards in this section. We need one for Grandpa's birthday. Would you like to pick one out?"

Kathleen answers with a resounding yes, and begins selecting a card immediately. Moments later, she points, "A princess card! I want to get a princess card for Grandpa."

Mama begins to explain how we try to pick things that we think other people will like, not that we want, but the explanation peters out almost as quickly as it starts. What does that mean when you're three? And Mama thinks briefly about making Kathleen pick a different card, but recognizes that that won't work. After all, Mama is the one who said Kathleen could pick.

Kathleen points insistently at the card, and Mama picks it up. Disney princesses adorn the front of the card, which reads, "The princesses think you're special."

Okay. Well, it's not "You're the greatest, Grandpa," which would be ideal, but the princesses in this circus think Grandpa's pretty special. We can salvage this, Mama thinks.

But then she opens the card. And she doesn't just laugh. She snorts.

"Every girl can be a princess" the card sings out.

Grandpa's gonna love this!

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Madeline has recently caught on to the circus's mealtime routine. She and Kathleen climb up into their seats, and once Mama and Daddy are seated, too, Madeline folds her hands and announces, "Pway!" And the whole family prays.

However, Madeline seems to be under the impression that you pray whenever all the members of the family are seated. So, we pray when the meal begins. But if Mama or Daddy forgot something or leave the table for any reason, when they return they are greeted by an enthusiastic, "Pway!"

Reluctant to tell a child not to pray, our little circus has been praying an average of four times at dinner each night...

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Daddy and Kathleen are learning how to play crazy eights together, and Daddy's reviewing the suits.

"Do you know what this one is?" he asks.

When Kathleen says that she doesn't, Daddy gives a hint. "Up above the world so high, like a. . . ." he sings.

"Diamond!" a little voice yells triumphantly.

Only, Kathleen hadn't said anything. Madeline answered first!

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

When Kathleen wakes in the morning, she doesn't usually get out of bed on her own. She waits, singing and talking in her bed, until Mama or Daddy come get her. (We have no idea how this came to pass. We can only attribute it to the grace of God!)

Generally the rest of the household is already up when Kathleen wakes. Madeline rises about an hour and a half earlier than her older sister, so she and Mama are usually downstairs, reading or playing when Kathleen begins to stir. They hear Kathleen over the baby monitor as she wakes.

One of the best parts of this arrangement is the chance to listen in on Kathleen as she waits for us. She usually sings when she's really awake. (This is how we know it's time to go get her. If we get her earlier than this, she's generally a little grumpy.)

One of her favorite morningtime tunes is the old hymn, Holy, Holy Holy. It's one of Mama and Daddy's favorites, too, and it makes us smile to hear her sing it. Well, most of it. Kathleen's got her own version:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning, our song shall rise to me!

We'll work on the theology soon, we promise! But we guess "thee" doesn't make much sense when you're three.

:: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Over the weekend, the girls received one of the best possible gifts -- a new baby cousin. ((The big winner, though, was Grandpa O'Connor. The baby girl was born on his birthday!) After church on Sunday, our circus split up. Daddy and the girls went to a church luncheon, and Mama drove up to meet the newest cousin.

When Mama finally arrived at the hospital, she headed up to the OB floor, dutifully following the signs requiring all guests to check in at the desk. Weighed down with a shopping bag's worth of gifts for the new baby and new mama, Mama stopped at the desk and cheerfully asked the nurses, "Hi! What do I need to do to check in with you?"

The first nurse dropped her pen, stood up, and exclaimed, "Woah, honey! We're going to need more information than that. What's going on, exactly?"

Quickly realizing that the nurses thought that she was going to have a baby, Mama explained that she was only at the hospital to see her sister. As the first nurse chuckled, apologized, and pointed to the guest registry, a second nurse said that she thought she could guess which patient was Mama's sister. She guessed right, and then explained, "Your sister and I were talking about babies this morning, and she told me about how you have a three year old, a one year old, and are about to have another baby. And we agreed that you are very . . . we didn't call it crazy... brave. You are very brave."

"That's okay," Mama responded, "we're pretty comfortable with crazy."

Friday Night Fun

Last Friday our little circus had a big night out.  We met up with some friends for a tasty dinner at Max's and then attended the girls' very first college basketball game.  (Not their first basketball game, mind you.  They were introduced to the elementary school version by their cousins in Illinois!)  Our friends kindly snapped a photo of us shortly after we arrived.

All decked out for the game.  (If you're not, you can't stand in the student section!)

The game didn't start until 7:30pm, which is awfully late for our little girls, (who are usually in bed before then) but the opportunity was just too good to pass up!  For one thing, the girls attended the game for free, while Mama and Daddy paid a truly nominal fee.  For another, because of Christmas vacation there weren't very many students in the student section, where we watched the game.  That meant that the girls had plenty of room to move around.  Although Madeline started out in the backpack, she eventually joined her sister in running around the stands and clapping and dancing along with the band.  It was hysterical to watch her trying to stamp her feet, cheering on the defense!

Although both girls loved being at the game -- the cheers, the music, the general hoopla, if you will -- Kathleen was particularly taken with the dance team.  The basketball?  That's just what happened between dances, as far as she was concerned.

Kathleen peers through the crowd, watching the dance team.

We had a lot of fun, but when we got to the half, we packed up our little girls and took them home.  We were tempted to stay, since the girls were still doing well, but we knew that the late night would catch up with us eventually.  (And we generally find that it's better to leave before we reach total meltdown stage.  But maybe Mama's just a chicken.)  Besides, we'd gotten what we came for -- memories of a fun Friday night!

Fashion Forward?

It would appear that our girls were born with their own, unique sense of fashion.

Madeline recently discovered her sister's rain boots.  She thinks they are the epitome of cool.  We think you can tell.

Kathleen, on the other hand, is in love (love) with her "fairy skirts." She wears a tutu just about every chance she gets. She asks for one as soon as she wakes in the morning and then wears it all day long. (Mama and Daddy narrowly talked her out of wearing one on the adventure to the Children's Discovery Museum.) Sometimes she even asks to sleep in one at night. We're pretty much used to this now, and sometimes we almost forget that it must seem strange to other people that we'll take our preschooler to the commissary in a tutu. (Our mantra: pick your battles.) Every now and then, though, even we see the humor.

(In case you were wondering, that's pajamas, a "fairy skirt," a bathrobe, and a backpack. 

She's ready to face the day, people.)

Clowning around? That seems to be a universal trait in our little circus...

Discovering Fun!

We spent the first few post-Christmas days at home -- lounging about, playing with new toys, and napping.  (Honestly, after the traveling and the excitement of Christmas, it took us more than a few days to get the girls back on their regular schedule.)  We loved the easy, relaxed pace.  It felt like vacation.  (Maybe because it was!)

Eventually, though, we decided our little circus needed adventure beyond our home and neighborhood parks.  We took a mini-adventure to the Palo Alto Children's Library one morning, which was marvelous.  We spent hours browsing the collection and came home with a good collection ourselves.

A few days later, though, we decided we were up for something bigger.  We headed for San Jose and the Children's Discovery Museum.  We've loved our visits to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Marin, and we'd heard glowing reports of the South Bay version from the girls' Auntie Caroline.  Auntie Caroline is a trusted authority on such subjects; we have such faith in her judgment that our little circus went ahead and purchased a membership to the museum before we'd even visited.  And although that might sound a little rash, we didn't regret it at all! 

The museum was really, really busy.  I think that everyone in the South Bay must have decided to get out of the house at the very same time!  But even though it was a bit crowded, the girls had lots of fun.

The first stop was a bubble exhibit.  With a little encouragement, Kathleen stepped up to test out her bubble-making skills.  (They were first-rate, of course!)  Madeline watched in awe.

The girls touched and tested and played with so many different things that morning -- pulleys, balls, costumes.  They spun things and threw things and stacked things.

You'd think that Madeline would be too small for such a place, but she enjoyed herself just as much as her big sister did!

The girls played and played, but eventually everyone needed some lunch.  We'd thought we'd grab something at the museum's cafe, so that we could play some more after eating (we hadn't even ventured into the supercool water play room), but apparently everyone else had that idea, too!  Instead, we decided to pack up a little earlier than we'd intended and stop for lunch on the way home.

The girls were sad to leave the museum, but (like their Mama) they were consoled with a little bit of ice cream after lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.

We're thankful that Daddy might have Fridays free this quarter -- we're hoping he can join us on our next adventure to the Children's Discovery Museum, too!

Christmas Memories...

Without a doubt, one of the things Mama and Daddy will remember about this Christmas is singing "Deck the Halls." Kathleen took a liking to the Christmas carol early on in the season, and for a time it was easily the most-sung song while driving around town in our van. We sung it so much that even Madeline caught on and would join in for the fa-la-la-la-las. (And let me tell you, if singing "Deck the Halls" on a constant repeat in rush hour traffic doesn't make you feel the slightest bit crazy, I don't know what will.)

Just after we returned from our ill-fated trip to Illinois, though, Kathleen discovered a new reason to love "Deck the Halls." Dancing. She'd don a "princess dress" (her costume from last Halloween, or one of the four tutus we own), point imperiously at the sofa and say, "Sit. Please? Will you sing "Deck the Halls" so I can dance?"

And, because we're as hopelessly in love with this little girl as when she arrived in our lives three Christmas seasons ago, we'd indulge her. Indeed, we have three verses of "Deck the Halls" memorized now, just so she could dance. And dance she does. Around and around in circles, dizzy and delighted. From time to time, Madeline joins in, too.

But the best part? No matter how many times we've sung it, the very next thing out of Kathleen's mouth is the same:

"Will you sing it again?"

Mama and Daddy have decreed that, once the Christmas tree is down (which should happen in a few days, before Jim goes back to class), we will sing "Deck the Halls" no more. (Well, not until next year, at least.) But we didn't want you to miss out on our fun, so we've added a little clip here, where you can witness for yourself our happy, dancing girls.  (And you can thank your lucky stars that you don't have to sing the song again and again and again like we do!)

Christmas Day

We had a truly blessed Christmas day.  While our girls never sleep quite as long as hope they will, they slept late enough that we could have a reasonable start to the morning.  (Reasonable meaning that we were awake and had even been able to make a pot of coffee, turn on all the Christmas lights, unload the dishwasher, and put the breakfast casserole in the oven before we brought the girls downstairs.)

A few highlights from our morning:

Since we don't have a fireplace, our stockings were placed, rather than hung on Christmas Eve.  We'd laid them on the loveseat in the living room, so they were the first things the girls saw as they came down the stairs.  The long, knitted stockings posed a challenge for the girls -- they could hardly reach to the bottom to fish out their goodies.  It wasn't as much of a problem for Madeline since she wasn't as interested in taking things out of the stocking as she was interested in putting the stocking on her little foot!

The kitchen, despite its candlelight assembly, was a big hit.  The girls spent a lot of the morning (and a good portion of every day since then) cutting wooden food and preparing imaginary culinary delights.

The girls found plenty of other things to entertain them, too.  They were pleased as punch with the books and puzzles they were given.  Madeline was particularly delighted by a spinny toy that had been in her stocking. . .  once she discovered that the stocking wasn't just for wearing.

We opened presents, we ate a delicious breakfast, we opened more presents.  Madeline napped, and Mama, Daddy and Kathleen played Go Fish.  (Kathleen had gotten the cards in her stocking and caught on like a pro.)  Later in the afternoon we drove up to Nan and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner.  Nan and Grandpa always have English-style crackers at their Christmas dinner.  The crackers open with a bang, giving each person a set of jokes, a paper hat, and a little toy.   Kathleen thinks this a great tradition!

After dinner we continued celebrating with even more gifts from aunts and uncles and Nan and Grandpa.  (It's a good thing we drive a minivan these days.  I'm not sure we'd have been able to haul everything home in our little Versa!)  We finished off the night with dessert.  Uncle Craig, who's from Australia, made us a traditional Austrailian Christmas treat: Pavlova, a light, meringue-y dessert topped with fresh fruit like mangoes and passion fruit.  Yum!

Filled with dessert and overwhelmed by everyone's generosity, we headed home to sleep in our own beds.  What a merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Dear Ones

A blessing for you from our Christmas Eve service last night:

May the joy of the angels,

the eagerness of the shepherds, 

the perseverance of the wise men,

the obedience of Joseph and Mary,

and the peace of the Christ child be yours this Christmas;

and the blessing of God Almighty,

the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always.

Amen

And a greeting from our girls:

Merry, Merry Christmas!