Advent: a recap

 

 {preparing the house for Christmas}

 {a family walk}

 I took the boys to the Washington National Cathedral to get our Advent calendars and candles. We walked around the Sanctuary first, and when we entered the children's chapel, Jude said, "See Jesus! I see Jesus!" He pulled one of the little chairs up and stood on it so he could get a closer look. It was truly a religious experience for him and a wonderful one during Advent. He was also fascinated by the Creche displays and ran around to each one looking for "Baby Jesus."

 {Felix's birthday crown in the works}

My new favorite place is the Art Works Studio School. I take Henry there for clay classes on Mondays, while Jude and Felix go to the Toddler Art time on Fridays. Henry and I went to the art show/holiday party they had. Pictured here is Henry making a "bearded snowman." He also made an ornament out of corks, jingle bells, and paint that is hanging in the car. I put it there initially to dry on our way home from the party, but I just love looking at it while I'm driving so I think that's where it's going to stay. We also made several gift bags out of tissue paper and old Christmas cards. I just love spending time at this studio.

First day of Forest School. I take all three boys on Tuesdays, and just Henry on Thursdays.

We all LOVE it.

On Friday, I took the boys to the National Gallery to pick up some gifts for Dan. On our way in, we saw two police officers bringing their horses over to the fountain for a drink. What a wonderful treat for us to see!

Advent this year was definitely busier than last year - we were forced into inactivity having a newborn last December, which was such a singularly special time, having a newborn during Advent and Christmas  - but I still feel that it was generally a peaceful, and definitely joyful, preparation for Christmas.

Fall Highlights...now that it's winter

Here are some highlights from Autumn 2011:

Henry made several fall-themed watercolor paintings. See the cornucopia on the left?

I tried out an idea I read about on this blog...you tape contact paper to the window and let the kids attach pieces of tissue paper to create a "stained glass" effect.

I found this Radio Flyer wheelbarrow at Salvation Army for $5. They love it, of course.

Lots of creative setups with the Playmobil toys.

I got Henry a set of "real" Legos (i.e. not Duplos). Big milestone, in my opinion.

Jude, of course, followed suit and began building with the Duplos.

We saw Elizabeth Mitchell in concert on November 5, something I've been hoping to do for years.

This trio of mine plays together more and more each day.

Jude is in the stage where he likes to arrange things in creative ways. More recently, he's started leaving presents for me - like pom poms in the fingers of my dishwashing gloves, googly eyes in my potholders, and blocks in my shoes.

The Band. They LOVE playing music together.

Where do city kids go to play in the leaves? By the curb where the leaves are waiting for the leaf-sucking trucks, of course!

Goodbye, Fall! See you next year!

Catching up: Halloween 2011

Hello there, folks! Our days have been so full and passing so quickly these past several weeks, and I just haven't felt able to lose the sleep required to keep up with posting here. However, now that we are well into Advent (!) I have decided it is high time to get caught up with one another, lost sleep or not. So, for today, Halloween!

Henry was Captain America. I was able to use a few pieces from our dress-up trunk, an old winter hat, some hand-me-down clothes, with just a bit of white felt handsewn on for the details.

His preschool had a parade from the school over to the playground a couple of blocks away. They had a picnic with apple cider and pumpkin muffins.

Batman and Captain America, setting off trick-or-treating.

 Jude's costume was entirely from the dress-up trunk, just a cape and mask. Good thing too, because he only wore it for a few minutes.

He got these two lollipops at the first house we went to, and he clutched them for the rest of the night. He put all the other candy in his bag, but insisted on holding these. He had a complete meltdown when we took them away at bedtime.

Felix was supposed to be the Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is generally fitting for him, but that evening he was the Very Grumpy Caterpillar. He demanded to know why he was shoved into a ridiculous outfit and confined to the stroller instead of placed into his cozy, warm crib as usual.

We were joined again this year by our friend Mattie, who helped Henry pass out candy once he returned from trick-or-treating. Hopefully you can see our "spooky" decorations which Henry requested, as well as the jack-o-lanterns.

{simply ten good things}

I have a lot of little tidbits I want to share, so I decided to borrow an idea from (who else?) SouleMama. So, here goes my first try at simply ten good things...

 {making our own italian seasoning using spices we had in-house}

 {a vintage skillet I found at the flea market on Sunday. It makes the most divine eggs I've ever had, and is the perfect size for warming up a portion of leftovers for lunch}

 {brothers playing together at Hard Bargain Farm on Monday}

 {Felix and Jude loving the swings}

 {a hat knit for a friend's new baby - my first hand-knit gift}

 {the transportation exhibit at the National Museum of American History}

{Jude learning to pedal his trike all by himself}

{a $2 bus found at the thrift store today}

{a $20 thrifted toaster oven that looks and works like new, and warms up my favorite lunch: chicken pot pie}

{a set of thrifted baskets that I'm still not sure what to do with...any ideas?!}

It was warm and sunny this morning, but as I composed this, the air shifted and there is definitely a chill in the air. I am lamenting the fact that I do not have more knitted sweaters, cowls, booties, and vests ready to go...I'd better get to work! Hope you and yours are enjoying this fall season...please share your own "simply good things" here as well!

the morning after {hurricane irene}

We decided to take a walk this morning to see what impact the hurricane had on our neighborhood.


I discovered this wonderful flower box, which somehow I had never seen before...

The worst we found was this:

Henry decided to see what would happen to various objects when he threw them into this puddle (rocks, leaves, etc). Jude and Felix enjoyed looking on:Jude just kept saying "wow!"

I was pleased that our flowers fared well through the storm.

Check out the lantana! It's looking good, if I do say so myself!

Henry really wanted to visit the fallen tree again, so after dinner we set out to see it once more.

We got there just in time to see this:

I've never seen such serious looks on my boys' faces as when they were watching that bulldozer.

I know there was a lot of damage done by this storm, so I am very thankful that the impact on our neighborhood was so minimal.