Friday, December 23, 2016

Santas all over.

We are barreling down the pike. CHRISTMAS IS A-COMING. This has been the year of Many Santas. There was a santa at Eleanor's Christmas concert!


I love Geneva's little Applause Hands, she takes applauding so seriously. (This is back when her eye was rill bad still.)


Excellent job concerting, you tiny festive pirate.


There was a santa at Eleanor's field trip to Petey's Country Christmas!


He was the most thorough santa, and there were so many kids waiting, and he just kept talking and talking and his elves kept coming by to let him know the kids had to get to their crafts


and their hot chocolate.


A+ for thoroughness and also setting, grade lowered for lack of expediency.

Last but not at all least, the santa at Dicken's Sweet Shoppe, this bonkers little British Things And Some Food museum downtown. It's free! They have a winter wonderland! It has a horse you can ride!


There's a santa! Which is why we came!


But we stayed for the enormous dollhouse


and the Very British Cows


and the ceiling full of old-timey egg beaters.


Tomorrow we get to be santa, showing up with a bag of gifts and crying HO HO HO. I'm so excited I may die.

Perpetual decking machines.

These tiny trees have earned me dozens of minutes at a time.


Dozens!


Look at them decking.


Deck, deck, deck.


Monday, December 12, 2016

The games

Another snew day! Preschool was cancelled, we went nowhere, we cleaned the house and made soup and had tea while wearing our Santa hats.


The girls are such a rumpus together right now. Look at them reading this look-and-find book, and Eleanor finding stuff but not pointing at it until Geneva finds it!


They have devised a series of complicated games to play together. A while back it was 'detective,' where one of them would hide things in the front room while the other one waited in the living room with a triceratops backpack and a magnifying glass, and then the hider (the 'thief') would hide THEMSELVES and then the detective had to find them and make them tell where the missing items were.

Then it was 'vacation walk,' where they would load up every bag and purse they could find with random toys and then go 'on vacation' into my bedroom and I'm sketchy on the details here because I would just let them do it while I hung out by myself in the living room for tens of minutes (wheeeee!). I know at least part of it included fake-sleeping, and part of it was playing 'up-down' on the bed (when one of them is standing up, the other one is lying down! And then they switch!).

Lately, they've been playing 'tap dance.' They each put on a pair of 'tap shoes' (i.e. shoes that they found while I was looking for something else. They are much too big) and, if possible, an apron on their heads. Eleanor will sometimes wear a belt of mine if she can find it.


Then they go 'tap' in the kitchen (this used to involve actual tap-stomping but is now just really aggressive jumping) until one of them 'wins.' Eleanor declares the winner, but she alternates between them so that it's fair. The winner picks what they do next, the options being: decorate their trees, play the Shopping Cart Game (a board game Eleanor got for Christmas a few years back), go on an Ornament Hunt (where they go around the house pointing out all the Christmas decorations they can find), or 'run crazy,' which I feel is self-explanatory.


The best thing about running crazy is that Eleanor has gotten it into her head that they need to clean up both the living room and the front room first, so that they don't trip over anything. 'Mom, where should we put this box of diapers!' 'In Geneva's room, please.' 'Ok!'


It's like Geneva made a leap in her ability to follow directions and Eleanor made a leap in her ability to tailor a game to someone else's ability and now they're off to the races (and sometimes having literal races).

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Gingermansion

Also! We completed the gingermansion. Once again many thanks to Josie's mom, who texted me pictures of her recipe because the link I had been using is now broken, and I neglected to write it down. I HAVE WRITTEN IT DOWN NOW. So get yer supplies.


Dump in some stuff.


Pour that molasses, you teeny dextrous baby.


'Gonna wick dis mowasses.'


The more things change, the more Geneva is always eating my lemons.


Supervise it, but don't touch it because then your hand will get mixed right in and then we'll have hand-batter. (What?)


Sugarbaby.


Evening and morning, the first day. Day two! Get yer tools.


Roll some stuff, cut some stuff.


Look at all this fun we're having.


(Also look at this.


And this.


It's not a proper gingerbreadding until everyone has thrown at least one tantrum.) Evening and morning, the second day! Day three: Decorate like fools.


The success of this day depended on whether Geneva could figure out the squirt bag, because she needs to do things herself and her fuse is v v v short right now. But look at this tiny pastry chef!


Eleanor, you old pro.


Geneva's walls.


Eleanor's walls.


Joel's wall.


My prerogative as the one doing all the work here is that I get the front wall.


And then everything dries for almost 24 hours because I know better by now. I put the house together over naptime because I have to say every swear word I know or it won't hold, and then Eleanor shingled it when she woke up.


We had some outdoors situation to play in, so it wasn't until day five that we planted the lollipop forest and made it to snow upon the house.


Gingermansion, you look so good.


Snow Day

It snew! Ahhhhhhh it is so delightful. And I know it's not sticking, I'm not going to be knocking snow off my boots for the next six months, so I am HERE FOR THIS. It snowed a little


and then it snowed a bonsh.


Good thing we have all this snow gear.


We have been sledding so many times.


And those snow shovels I bought in Saskatoon are getting USAGE.


We thought it would be good snowman snow but it was not, so Eleanor made herself into a snowperson.


We also went to a Christmas party! We drove there in the snow! In my extremely safe and practical vehicle, which I adore. Many car adorned the ditch by the highway! Anyway. I wore a heinous sweater


and got festively drunk and cut the sleeves off of my sweater because I was too hot.


Tra la la!

Thursday, December 08, 2016

Lights!

I keep telling myself that this is our Exploratory Year, where we figure out where stuff is and what's worth going to and how to dress ourselves for the weather. WE DID THE PARADE WRONG we didn't realize how cold rain is, and also, what the hell are you people doing, doing outdoor things at night. Do outdoor things in the day like civilized people.


Hnnnnnngh. We got so wet, and I forgot lap blankets for the girls and Geneva refused to wear my scarf over her lap because she is STUBBORN AF and we parked miles away because of parade congestion and anyway, I had to give Geneva her first foot bath when we got home because her toe-toes were SO COLD.


But. The next night was clear, and we'd heard from Jane about some lights! At main beach! Which is near us! And it was free! 'We are entering a magical land,' says Eleanor.


'This is my favorite one.' Eleanor pats a tree. 'Dis is MY favwit wun.' Geneva pats literally any other tree that is not the one Eleanor patted.


There were fire fighters roasting marshmallows. There was a Santa, but the line was LONG and the lighting was poor and we're frankly pretty Santa-rich this year. It was beautiful and free and near by. A+ holiday activity.