Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Quote of the Day



This post falls in the sub-category of Things You Never Imagined You'd Hear Yourself Say.

Elias is obsessed with our kitchen tongs. He loves to cook (and eat!) and spends a lot of time playing with his toy kitchen or trying the "help" Jeff and I with the real deal. But most of all, the boy loves his tongs. He carries them around everywhere, which is how he ended up with them in the bath tub tonight, prompting me to say, "Careful Elias, don't tong your penis!"

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Quote of the Day

This evening, the sixth night of Hanukkah, we lit our menorah and placed it on our dinner table. Sam was sitting right in front of it and remarked dreamily, "Doesn't the shammash (the lighter candle) look like it's holding six babies, with six arms?" My heart lurched a little, like it does every time your child says something sweet or profound. "Yes, it does," I responded, tenderly. "Yeah," he continued, "And it's like all their little heads are on fire." Ahhh, now that's my boy!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Sweet December

The boys and I shared a lovely day today, beginning with a long play date for Sam, which is always a great start to his day. Patch and I basically follow the "big boys" around and try to get them to clean up a little after themselves. After lunch, Sam, Elias, and I headed over to a Winter Faire (yes, with an "e", though I'm not sure quite why). It was a fund raiser for all the Waldorf schools in the Napa Valley, and turned out to be a wonderful experience for us. There were a number of local vendors selling all sorts of homemade crafts, from beautiful baskets and tie-dyed tees to beaded jewelry and wooden toys. They had a great assortment of activities for kids that we took part in- gingerbread cookie decorating, beeswax candle rolling, potpourri satchel making etc. Most of the booths with stuff for sale were inside, but all the activities were outside under tents, next to a stream and a big, warm fire pit. It was a chilly day in Napa, so the fire was a wonderful addition. We ate fresh popcorn and drank mulled cider and spent all my cash on cute trinkets and cookies!! It was a very fun afternoon.
When we got home, I cooked up a big pot of rentil roup (ie lentil soup) for dinner, while the boys played sort of together with some blocks and trucks. We ate on the early side, then got washed up and in pjs. We bundled up in our hats, scarves, and mittens (really, it IS cold for us Californians!!) and went for a nighttime walk to see all the festive lights and decorations in our neighborhood. The boys LOVE this activity and oohed and aahed continuously. We jumped right into Sammy's warm bed when we got home and read a few holiday books. We've hung our chili pepper lights in Sam's room, so after we finished reading and turned out the reading light, his room was bathed in a warm, reddish glow. We sang (by Patchie's request) the Twelve Days of Christmas, with Sam prompting me..."No, its 10 ladies dancing!" Gus (our cat) jumped up and stretched out on top of me and Sam, adding another layer of warmth to the mix. I think Elias was asleep before we got to the drummers drumming, with Sam following quickly after. It was a very sweet moment for me, lying there with my arms around both of my sleeping boys, the cat purring softly, in the dim, red chili pepper light. Happy Holidays!!

Friday, December 7, 2007

Did you know that...

Sam LOVES shrimp?


And that Elias looks WAY cute in his new high top Chucks?